Saving the Villain

"Don't make it too obvious, though. He's a bit sensitive and insensitive at the same time, but protects him if I'm not around. He's very important to me."

"Him?" Remo frowned, considering that he didn't really have a good impression of Luke. Luke was like a child who rarely thought of what was coming out of his mouth. If Remo wasn't staying out of trouble, he was certain he would've picked on him just because he was loud.

"If you don't want to, just tell me now." Maxen cast him a side-eye. "You might have a different impression on him, but you'll find him tolerable if you stick with him a bit. He always worries me."

Remo assessed Maxen, and for some reason, he just sounded like a big brother to Luke. Well, from what he had seen, Luke and Maxen seemed to have a really strong relationship. If only he knew how these two started, he would also wonder just what sort of sorcery did Maxen do for Luke to stick to Maxen like glue.

Little did he know, Remo was about to find out the answer soon.

"Is that all?" Remo asked calmly. "That's all I need to do? If someone picked on them, I'll use this fist?"

"No. You'll use your reputation and scare them away. If that isn't enough, then use those fists to defend and not to assault." Maxen yawned, pushing himself from the beanbag. "In that case, we have the upper hand if we ever need to take things to court."

When Maxen sat down on the edge of the bed, he gazed at Remo. "Sleep some more so you can start working. I'll send you the contract for your employment tomorrow."

"Oh…" Remo had no idea what Maxen was talking about because the only legal job that accepted him was part-time without contracts, but he took them as they were.

"Go. I can't sleep first, knowing she's sleeping with two other guys around," Maxen remarked lazily.

"Right…" Remo carefully laid down, wincing.

When he was already lying down, Maxen turned on the night lamp and walked toward the switch. Once the lights were out, he carefully laid beside Cosette. However, unlike their usual position of hugging each other, Maxen kept his distance with respect to Luke's wishes to keep his place at PG-13.

Lying flat on the bed, Maxen stared at the ceiling. Even though he initially felt sleepy, as it was getting late, he couldn't. For the next fifteen minutes, Maxen just stayed like that with his eyes on the ceiling.

"Sleep," he said after another minute, knowing Remo was doing the same as him. "I told you, I can't sleep before you."

"I throw my fists so easily, but I never violate girls."

"Still, sleep."

Another minute of silence followed Maxen's remark.

"Oy, Max —"

"Should I kick you?" Maxen wondered, shutting up Remo before he could even say anything. The latter didn't speak anymore, shutting his eyes, and eventually fell asleep. Meanwhile, Maxen raised his arm over his forehead, still wasn't able to sleep for the next thirty minutes.

He still kept his eyes on the ceiling, wondering why he couldn't sleep. When he was about to stand up to do some warm-up stretching, he felt slender hands reaching out to him. His brows arched, turning his head to Cosette, only to see her smiling whilst sleeping.

"Love love," she mumbled in her sleep, moving to him until there was no gap in between them. Cosette moaned and frowned when he didn't hug her back.

'Ahh…' Maxen slowly rolled to his side, slipping his arm underneath her neck. He embraced her, rubbing her back affectionately. 'I'm just used to this.'

Maxen sniffed her hair and smiled, planting a soft kiss on top of her head. As his body relaxed with her in his embrace and her warmth transferred to him, he realized that sleep required peace. Cosette was his peace, his safe haven.

And just as expected, this time, it didn't take long for Maxen to fall into a deep and peaceful slumber.

*****

[ FLASHBACK ]

"Oy, Remo."

Remo slowly raised his eyes at the person sitting on the bench across from him. Maxen had visited him for the first time in the juvenile. He didn't know what Maxen want, but Remo could tell the guy looked even more depressed than the last time he saw him. It was as if Maxen was the one who was locked up instead of him.

"I heard your grandfather was rushed to the hospital," said Maxen in a somber tone, keeping his eyes down.

"So what?" Remo let out a ridiculing scoff. "Don't tell me you came here to tell me that? I already know weeks ago, and I swear I'm itching to punch your face right now that I wasn't there to take care of him —"

"Is he important to you?" Maxen cut him off in the same tone.

"Ah?"

"Your grandfather… is he important to you, Remo?" He repeated, slowly lifting his eyes to Remo.

To Remo's surprise, Maxen might appear depressed. However, upon seeing Maxen's eyes, he realized that wasn't the case. Maxen's eyes… were just blank, empty. He didn't look sad or anything of the sort; it just looked like his soul had left its shell.

"If he is important, should we transfer him to a better hospital?" Maxen asked, keeping his empty eyes at Remo. "What do you think?"

"Oy… did you snap already?"

"What do you think, Remo?" Maxen ignored his question, repeating his question again. "I can do that now, you know. Just days ago, a huge amount of money was transferred to my account. But I don't know what to do with it. I bought a sports car, but it's actually boring. I bought a lot of things too — expensive ones — and even burned a few of them."

The side of Maxen's lips curled up, but nothing changed in his eyes. "I don't know what it was for — money — and why everyone needs so much. So, I thought of you."

"You… did you…?"

"Mhm." Maxen rocked his head and chuckled weakly. "I did, Remo. I did. I even pulled the trigger, leaving a hole in someone's head."