Chapter 2

Caruss's best friend, Sheena Becker - the actress, soon salvaged him after knowing his condition. With little space in her condo, Caruss has no option but to stay. He decided to dwell first at Sheena's house and search for an apartment hereafter daybreak.

"I'm so sorry if I bothered you, Sheena. I just don't have anyone else to seek help. My bank accounts were locked with just a click of Papa's phone right away. So, I have no option to reach you," Caruss explained as he was racked with coughing spasms while Sheena couldn't decipher what he said.

"How...how much do you want?" Sheena's forehead furrowed and asked how much money Caruss needed.

"Huh? No, it's not like that. I truly have no one else to approach at this moment except you," Caruss wondered as he tried to explain. He also felt ashamed in front of her due to the fast incident.

"Is that what you mean? Oh Caruss, don't mind it. You're the one I'm worried about right now because of the spreading tape," Sheena came closer and clasped him while a concern can be heard from her tone.

"Uhm, you have already seen it?" Caruss was alarmed. He couldn't resist his eyes widening after he heard his best friend.

"I'm sorry. I just want to be sure if that is you. But, you know, nothing will change. I won't be going to judge or hate you or whatever. I'm still your best friend," Sheena smiled and even dared to hold Caruss's hands.

"So, did you ever watch the whole scene?" He asked and got even gulped an air. "And you saw your gay best friend was there who did nothing but only enjoyed with those strippers as he keeps mentioning his ogling hunk idol, Gregory Wayle?" Caruss stuttered as he struggled to suppress the dripping of his tears.

"Caruss," Sheena sighed deeply. "Though I've already seen it, I know who you are. And that can't even destroy our good friendship. I have accepted you, ever since. You know that" she answered once closer slightly.

"How lucky I am to be your best bud," Caruss chuckled as he joke. "But, forgive me if I only reached you when I am in need," he added.

"Oh, Caruss. It's fine, bud. We are not children anymore. Though we have priorities, our friendship will always remain. My arms are always open to welcome you, buddy. Just stay here whenever you want. Besides, I am used to being a loner," Sheena explained and tried to calm him down.

"No, I insist. You know how dreadful Papa is when he gets furious. I'll look for an apartment to stay in right away," Caruss's stubbornness as he reminded her.

"Yeah, he has two horns and a halo in his head," she laughed as if the world was going to explode because of the truth. "But if you haven't found one yet, why not stay here anyway?" she persuaded him again.

"I...I don't know," Caruss strumbled as he wasn't sure what to utter.

"Bud? Please, don't be mean. You know, just don't think about your father. I mean... you've been kicked out, this is your life battle now," Sheena enlightened Caruss and still wishes to convince him to just live with her. But, what Caruss still wants is to be followed.

"I understand. But you don't have to do this to me, Sheena. You know how virtuous a person I am. Thank you for the promising offer, but I still want to acquaint myself to the life of being without my family's wealth," he reasoned out.

"Alright. If that's what you want, I will still be going to support you. As long as you're always welcome here, you can count on me, buddy." Sheena chuckled and even got a tap on his shoulders.

"Thanks, I don't know how to reimburse you back," he replied when he confronted her.

"Ugh! What best friends are for? And hey, enough for the drama. Just...Just fix your things now." She replied with widened cheeks and instructed Caruss to fix his things. 

Caruss moved swiftly to fix his stuff. Later, the silence was broken as Sheena hurried to leave.

"By the way, I have to go," she said as she was busy packing her things.

"Hey...you...you have a shoot?" To his surprise, Caruss stopped fixing his stuff.

"Oh, yeah. It's a good thing I still rescued you earlier. And if you feel hungry, there's available food in the fridge. I'm sorry, bud. Let's just talk when I come back okay?" The actress explained as she continued packing her belongings.

"Huh? Wait, how many days will you be gone?" Caruss wondered and was confused.

"A three or two? I don't know yet. Just beep me right away if you need anything, okay?" Then she replied and hurriedly took a step out.

When Sheena finally left, Caruss reminisced the scenes that happened earlier as he couldn't deduce the degree of time that he was no longer with his family.

He is deeply anguished by the incidents, mostly since his father already kicked him out. He could not determine how the tape would diffuse and intends to have it investigated. 

But when he called the lawyer, he was being told to better thwart his idea since it would only deteriorate the problem, knowing that Lord Pearson did not want to vitiate their image and lineage anymore.

So, what he can do? He doesn't want to let his image be marred in public as well. But he also realized that maybe it was just his father's deliverance to protect the fame and make him learn from the misstep. Because no matter what he will do, the whole Greentown State would never eschew.

Time passed by as he felt famished, he hurried to the kitchen to get something to eat. Unluckily, he was dismayed by what he found when the fridge was contained with only yogurts and beverages. 

So, he concluded to take his dinner outside. He wore a hoodie jacket to cloak himself so that no one would even recognize him.

After purchasing food from a vending machine, Caruss sought the news in the LED screen that stirred the humanity of the whole town, the spreading tape with different reactions of netizens, the media, the buzz, and the statement of Gregory Wayle as he cited. 

Caruss abruptly turned his gaze away knowing that his ultimate crush had already discovered the footage.

He was gaily sipping the soda on his way back to the condo. Meanwhile, in a scary moment at the crossroad, his eyes broadened to see the shocking image of a guy in the distance. 

He muttered with consternation at what he saw. The guy barely slumped in an expensive Lamborghini Veneno car while squandering time on some intoxicating liquors.

"Wait, am I seeing things clear here? Was he truly the one I see?" Caruss talked to himself as he marveled and couldn't speculate on what he had seen since it's a smatter of murky around.

Caruss drew closer to avoid fallible verdicts. His vision was astounded when the guy swiveled to him that causing his stares to lunge. 

He didn't even anticipate the frigging scenario, that he finally met his ogling hunk idol, Gregory Wayle, for the first time.

"Gosh darn it! You've defiled the name that I'm taking care of, horse pucky!" The hunk model screeched as he couldn't control himself for the bottle of wines to break out.

Caruss can feel the overflowing and streaking outrage of Greg. He seemingly twitched by what he discovered while he was being hesitant in striding nigher to him.

He didn't drop in at first and even dared to huddle himself into the inclement caliginous structure beside him, wanting to listen further to Greg's grievances.

"I don't know how you can forgive me, Greg. I'm so sorry. I don't think you will be affected by my foolishness. I also wonder why the tape has such an impact on you. I just mention your name but why?" Caruss inquired to himself while he keeps watching him.

But instead, Greg would enunciate more nasty assertions, he began to sob, and the clear saline fluid secreted by the lacrimal gland of his eyes proves how affected he was by the spreading tape.

"What else will dad be going to tell me? That I'm another failure child? Darn it! Is it still my fault, huh?! Fuck that Caruss Pearson! Damn! I'm so tired of following all your wishes!" He yelled, and there were furious and crushed emotions that could be seen on his face.

"Seriously, are you truly that mad at me? This is insane! When else do you have known me, then here is what I did to you?" Caruss felt sorry for himself.

When he took nigher, even more, he couldn't restrain himself to gulp after he felt Greg's animosity and conflagrant heart. 

Caruss's heart was crumbled too when he finally assimilated that a modeling career was very valuable to Greg's life. Though he was not the one to dispraise for what had happened, however, he could not swerve everything right away.

"Please forgive me if I hadn't taken upkeep of my name," Greg asserted while letting his tears ebb. "Though I gained notoriety when my exposed photographs appeared in magazines, my image will still be ruined because of him. I can't let that happen and I am so sorry if I let you be disappointed," he even grumbled.

"If so, are you doing everything to make your father proud of you? Gregory Wayle, we're just the same. It’s just that, I didn’t truly mean everything to happen. I didn't even know they had taped the scene. I'm so sorry for being obsessed with you," Caruss even mumbled.

Caruss was still watching him and had cognizance of every story coming out of Greg's mouth. 

Few people pass and even seized records to Greg while some were gawking and back chatting. Greg didn't mind them if there will be a fallout since his grievance was not about the slow-spreading tape that caused them confusion but the only supervening incident in which his image in public has been tarnished.

A minute passed by, Greg suddenly went insane afterward and yelled all sorts of things that were said to be painful as the amount of paparazzi was also increasing. 

"How pitiful? He is unfortunate. A faggot who went viral bruised his feelings as well as his image too in public," said a female fan as Gregory was being videotaped.

Gregory's eyes began to gloss and drifted around as his gaze floated, his jaw was hanging slack and doesn’t have any control over his fine motor skills. His gestures also became even more pronounced and sweeping, that causing him to fall. 

"Yeah, and it seems he was indeed devastated after the spreading scene. Maybe we can also make a statement about him now," the man with her replied as it keeps to huddle to see even more.

"Hell yeah. Let's break the internet again, babe. So that everyone will discover what his grudges are," the woman replied.

That was all Caruss heard while he still peering at his hunk idol. Then, his shocking face came to the rescue after seeing Gregory was already lying on the floor.

 Meanwhile, more paparazzi loomed just to film the hunk model, while Caruss didn't prefer Greg's public image to worsen, so, he was determined to help.

Since Caruss could no longer bear to see Greg being snickered and poked fun by people, he bears down in posthaste, covering him with his jacket and gently pulling away. 

What he did perplex the paparazzi that furthermore made new headlines throughout Greentown and even went viral in just a quick time.

Along his way, other paparazzi tried to heed him as he carried Greg on his shoulders, rushing his feet back to the condo as he wants his hunk idol to rest and spend the night with him first. 

When arrived, they were stumbling around the corner as their footsteps were irregular. Caruss's body was going to lurch unpredictably as he tried to keep the balance due to the heavyweight Greg has. Then, he was shocked when Greg leaned against the wall and stared at him intently.