Law had been worried when one o’clock in the morning came and Dallas was still not home. But then again, he knew where the man was. Could practically smell the alcohol on his lover from here.
It’d been a month since he’d cheated and by now, everyone in the pack knew. It was obvious with the tension between the two couples involved. The two that had been cheated on were having very different reactions. Finn was taking it out on everything that moved, cursing Jesse and threatening to leave every chance he got. He was gone most of the time. But Dallas was swearing everything was fine, had never been better. He cared too much about his children to make them witness the failing of their parent’s marriage. He was unaware that unfortunately, his acting wasn’t that good. Everyone could smell the deterioration of the man’s mental state. And his kids could sense it better than anyone. That didn’t stop him from trying though.
He would swear up and down he was doing just peachy during the daytime. But when night fell, there was a different story. Every night for the past two weeks Law had caught the man somewhere around the home, slumped over with an open bottle still clutched in one hand. It could be anywhere, the bathroom, the basement, the roof, Sawyer’s bedroom when the boy was over at Britt’s. Law would find him and drag him back up to bed even though the man was reluctant to go if he was conscious enough to protest. He didn’t want to sleep with Law. It was apparent even if he never actually confessed to it out loud.
Tonight though, had been different. Just after dinner Law had cornered his lover before he could sneak off with his booze.
“Why won’t you just talk to me, oui?” He had said, taking the man’s face into his hands, stomach churning when his lover jerked away from him. Dallas never wanted to touch him lately, not anymore. Of course, he should have expected as much.
A fight had started, which was normally a good sign that their relationship was going well. But this fight was different, ending with tears in the veteran’s eyes as he stormed out of the home, warning Law not to follow him.
Law had resigned to his bedroom, keeping track of the man’s heartbeat to make sure he wouldn’t get into any trouble. He already had had an idea of where his husband was heading, but he couldn’t help but hope he was wrong.
His heart had fallen though when the man arrived at his old favorite bar, one he hadn’t been to in years. All over now, because he had fucked up.
He hated himself.
It was just after one o’clock when he let himself doze off, sensing that his lover did not have any plans to quit drinking any time soon. He had not slept hardly at all in the past few weeks, unable to without Dallas curling up against him, nuzzling his neck. The sleep was bound to catch up with him sometime.
It was nearly three when he finally woke up, cursing himself as he realized what had happened and Dallas did not seem to be at the bar anymore. The man could not be driving like this. What kind of bartender would allow him to leave so obviously drunk? Well, if Dallas had gotten aggressive, which was likely, Law couldn’t quite blame the man. But he would if his lover was injured, car turned over in a ditch somewhere.
As he dressed and made his way outside to his own vehicle, he was relieved to finally get a grip on his lover’s whereabouts. He was at Britt and Ajax’s apartment. He probably went to find Sawyer, though the only problem was that Sawyer and Britt were staying over here for the night. He grimaced to think of the possibility of what could be going on if Dallas and Ajax were alone together in an apartment. But he calmed himself quickly, knowing that he’d be able to tell if the man were cheating and even if he was, he deserved it.
Ten minutes of driving over the speed limit and he had arrived at the building, climbing up several flights of stairs until he arrived at the door, knocking furiously until a tired-eyed Ajax opened the door, sighing with relief to see him.
“You can take him, my man. I just made him a bed though.” The tattoo artist gestured back to the couch, where Dallas was curled up in a blanket, sound asleep. Law could smell the beer on him even from here without using his wolf senses.
Law was still worried for a moment until his eyes drifted up to see a naked boy peeking out from Ajax’s bedroom, nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. He blushed to see Law but nodded at him anyways.
The doctor could not describe his relief at seeing that Ajax already had company. He moved forward then, scooping his lover into his arms.
“He was looking for Sawyer.” Ajax informed and Law only nodded. He had figured as much. He was glad the man hadn’t found him though. Sawyer didn’t need to see him like this.
“Thank you for looking after him, oui.”
“Not a problem, I was used to it before.” He smirked lightly. “I’ve never seen him this bad though, you might want to get him some help.”
“No kidding.” Law sighed as he began the trudge down the stairs and back out to the car. Dallas woke then, once he was already buckled in and they were on the drive home. “How are you doing, sleepyhead?” Law attempted to speak softly, not wanting to set the man off if he was still irritable.
“Bartender took my damn keys.” He slurred softly. “Have to go get my car…”
“We’ll get it tomorrow.” Law reassured, reaching over to pat the man’s shoulder.
“Why’d you come pick me up?” The man frowned. “I didn’t want to come home.”
“Well you have to. I was worried.”
“I don’t have to do shit.” The veteran grouched and Law only sighed, realizing he was only succeeding in irritating the man, no matter what he did.
“You’re right.” He spoke, attempting to pacify him. “But I wanted you home, I missed you.”
“Mhm.” That was all the man said as they pulled up near the house.
Law got out and waited for his lover, watching the man stumble as he stepped outside before moving over to wrap an arm around him, helping him up and attempting to stabilize him. Dallas tried to jerk away from him but he held the man still, leading him inside the home and trying to get back up to their room without waking anyone.
However, Dallas decided to make that damn near impossible.
“Don’t touch me, Trafalgar!” The man was growling, squirming away and kicking his feet when Law was forced to lift him, like he was a small child throwing a tantrum.
As they walked down the hallway, doors opened and pack members looked out, merely watching the struggle in the hallway. Law knew their boys had to have heard by now but he still had hope as he dragged Dallas past their rooms and the doors were still closed.
Just in time though, Sawyer’s door opened, the boy appearing with Britt at his side. His face fell to see his father like this, reeking of booze and slumped over into his mother’s arms with bloodshot eyes. The man was too busy throwing punches that missed at his husband to notice his son staring at him with wide, disappointed eyes. It was a good thing he didn’t, because it most likely would have just escalated his anger in this current state.
Sinclair opened his door then, mouth open to ask if his mother needed any help before he thought better of it. Law would hate for Dallas to yell at him and that was sure to happen if he tried to get involved. He simply gave his mother a sympathetic smile, sighing as he watched his father finally yanked into their bedroom, the door shut behind them.
“You need to stop acting like a child.” Law spoke firmly, though instead of looking angry he was merely saddened by the pathetic sight in front of him. His lover, his strong army man, nothing more than a drunken mess lying on their floor.
“Fuck you.” Dallas slurred softly as he tried to get to his feet only to fall right back over, the room spinning around him. “M’sleeping here.” He grunted, reaching up to grab a pillow before placing it on the ground in front of him.
“No you’re not. You’re getting in bed with me.”
“No!” Dallas snapped, roughly shoving his lover when the man tried to grab his wrist. “I don’t want to touch you!” He growled, scooting further away from the man, curling into a ball in the corner like a scared animal might scurry away from a human they were afraid of.
The words stung even though Law had of course already known this. So even though he didn’t want the answer, he still asked the next question.
“Why not?”
“Because he did!” Dallas snapped finally, getting to his feet long enough to barrel into his lover, pushing him roughly in the chest, hard enough to knock him to the ground. “Stop trying to touch me again!”
Law stared up at his lover, chest aching with his hurt. He deserved it though, he knew he did.
“Dallas, I’m sorry. Just please, tell me what to do, oui. Hit me, yell at me, do something, anything! Don’t just ignore me, please.”
“I don’t want to fucking hit you!” Dallas cursed under his breath then, turning around to let himself fall back on the bed when the room began to spin around him. “I want to pretend he didn’t fuck you and you didn’t enjoy every fucking second of it! I don’t want to touch you because then I have to fucking think about if he did it better!”
Law could only nod his head, staying on the ground to avoid being knocked down again in his husband’s rage. He hated hearing these words, cringing at how badly he had hurt his lover. But this was what he had wanted, he wanted Dallas to open up to him, to talk about it. If he had to get drunk to do that honestly, then so be it.
“I fucking hate him and I hate you for doing this to me!” The veteran cried out, hands coming to clutch at either side of his head to combat the oncoming headache he was sure to have the next morning.
“I’m sorry.” Law repeated softly. It was all the confirmation he needed. He had done this, he was the reason Dallas was drunk off of his ass tonight. He had driven the man to drink again.
“Sorry doesn’t fucking do anything!”
“What does, Dallas? I know I can’t fix it, oui. But tell me, what can I do?” The doctor pleaded gently, staring up at the man he loved.
“Not a damn thing, Trafalgar!” He growled, feeling the urge to hit something and instead clearing the bedside table in his anger. “I don’t know what you can do and that’s what I hate! There’s no fucking escaping it! Even getting shitfaced doesn’t help! It’s still here! It’s all I can think about, how I’m not fucking good enough!” He was back to his feet then, seeming to have regained his balance as his wolf fought off the alcohol. The drunken rage took much longer to fade though. He wanted to hit something. “I wish I could fucking hate you but I can’t! All I want when I hurt this bad is for you to hold me but I can’t have that now because you went and ruined it! The only thing I can do to numb it is drink and that just reminds me what a fucking piece of shit I am!” He had finally nearly gotten rid of all of his insecurities. He was a good father, despite his worries. He was a good husband. He’d quit drinking. But now all that was fucking over. His relationship was in shambles. He’d started drinking again and let his son see him in such a pathetic state, making him no longer the father of the year he’d wanted to be. It was all ruined.
Law had finally chanced getting back up, reaching out to hold his lover only to receive a fist to the jaw. It stung. Not physically, he’d been hit by the man before. But it hurt because Dallas was not just doing this for a rush this time like they always did. It wasn’t playful in nature. This was real. Dallas wanted him to hurt. And honestly, he couldn’t blame the man.
