HIATUS

Roman was standing in front of Charlie, worried about the look on his face. “I-well,” he fidgeted. “I was bored today, so I went swimming for a little bit,” his voice was so low he was afraid Charlie didn’t hear him.

(I’VE MISSED YOU TOO OMG. LUV U)

Roman swallowed thickly when Charlie told him to quit fidgeting like that. He never did that, told Roman to quit. Charlie usually understood the reason Roman did the things he did. He was tense, looking up at the other. It took Roman a long time to learn to trust him and this situation was just really pushing against that trust.

Roman flinched just a little bit when Charlie’s hands were placed on his shoulders. He listened intently to the words coming from him not wanting to add another thing to make the other angry at him. He relaxed a little bit when Charlie said he loved him. It made him feel better, knowing the other wasn’t too angry at him. He nodded his head. “I wouldn’t want to ever do that to you,” he whispered softly, tears coming to his eyes. “I really am sorry,” he whimpered. He closed his eyes when Charlie kissed his forehead, relaxing more at the affectionate touches. How could he think Charlie would hurt him?

Charlie cupped Roman’s face with his hands. ‘My boy.’ He whispered softly. ‘You scared me for a moment there.’ He kissed his forehead again. ‘I didn’t want to upset you. I’m worried about your safety, you know that?’

He wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close. Despite the fact that the situation was sorted, his hands were still shaking. The thought of Roman all alone in the open water terrified him. He couldn’t lose someone else like that again. But it was still hard for him to bring up that topic and speak freely about his grief and fears. Roman could probably feel his racing heart against him.

Roman was standing in front of Charlie, worried about the look on his face. “I-well,” he fidgeted. “I was bored today, so I went swimming for a little bit,” his voice was so low he was afraid Charlie didn’t hear him.

(I’VE MISSED YOU TOO OMG. LUV U)

Roman was staring at their feet and his shoulders rose a little bit, a habit of his from his previous master. It protected him a little more when the other man lashed out. “I’m sorry,” he said softly, fidgeting. “I promise,” he looked back up at the other. “I’m sorry,” he said again, so worried about Charlie’s reaction.

‘Hey,’ Charlie said. ‘Stop fidgeting, look at me.’ 

He then placed his hands on Roman’s shoulders. ‘I love you so much, Roman. If something bad happened to you, I’d be devastated.’ His voice was now softer. ‘That’s why we have rules, okay?’

Charlie leaned closer and kissed his forehead. 

The angel frowned, his brow furrowing as he looked to Joseph. He couldn’t understand why the comment had been made. He’d merely been pacing. Not like he was bothering him. “My apologies. I was just thinking,” he breathed, sliding down into a chair at the other’s kitchen table. 

There was too much resting on the Angel’s shoulders. He was restless. How did he even begin to explain?

“I… Then mayne I should go,” he breathed a bit gruffly.

“I’m sorry to have caused you trouble. I just need…” He trailed off, unsure of himself. What did he need?

@extremesquirrel

‘Babe.’ Joseph said, placing the piping bag on the counter. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t want you to go.’ He was now standing behind the angel and wrapped his arms around him.

‘You don’t cause me any trouble. I’m just stressed and grumpy.’ He assured. ‘What do you need?’

Roman was standing in front of Charlie, worried about the look on his face. “I-well,” he fidgeted. “I was bored today, so I went swimming for a little bit,” his voice was so low he was afraid Charlie didn’t hear him.

(I’VE MISSED YOU TOO OMG. LUV U)

‘If you want to swim, I-I’ll get the pool fixed, okay? But you have to promise me you won’t go swimming on your own again.’

“How the fuck did…. no, you know what, I don’t wanna know,” Josh sighed, shaking his head. “I was only gone for like an hour. How the hell did this even happen?” There was so much blood. How was there this much blood in their motel room if there were no bodies?

Without giving the other a chance to answer, he started packing their things. “Come on. We’re skipping out of here. We need to move on.”

‘Josh, darling, I didn’t mean to freak you out. Listen, let me take a shower and I’ll get everything sorted. You can wait for me at the pub across the street? I know you don’t like-’ He waved his hand. ‘Any of this.’

Rage sparked in emerald hues as the hunter turned on her heels to face the vampire. He’d done and said a lot in his past to set her off, but this? This was just him being in denial. Before she could stop herself, she struck out, her fist making harsh contact with his cheekbone. It hurt her hand just as much as his face, that much she was sure of, but she felt at least a bit of satisfaction at the red mark it left behind. 

“You don’t get to throw this one in my face Joseph!” She hissed, her anger more than evident in her tone. Her footsteps echoed on the wooden floor with each step she took now to distance herself from him. 

“I’m running from you because you don’t know how to take no for an answer! I told you months ago that I was done, and I meant it! I love Dani. In his world, I come first. Not second, Not third. Not…. just whenever he feels lonely and wants to get his dick wet!” Her voice was shaking. “I love him, and I can’t love you anymore. I meant what I said. I’m done. You don’t have to worry about me anymore.”

He definitely deserved it, yet he never expected to receive a punch of all things. It made him stumble backwards, eyes flashing crimson mostly out of surprise. He brought the back of his hand to his cheekbone, feeling the heat of the blow on his cold skin. 

He gasped. 

Making this situation even worse was not what he intended, he had to bite his lip to physically contain himself from spitting out the venom pooling inside his mouth.

Of course, a stray who barely washes his own ass. You fed him and he followed you home, you let him stay at your house and he made himself all snug and comfy, he even spends more time there than you. Do you even know he still sells drugs behind your back? You’ll never shake the habit off him, he’ll always be a stray, and once he feels caged he will run.

Joseph shook his head.

For fuck’s sake, he was upset. He even felt his eyes well up with tears. This was a lot more painful than he expected, but he knew he deserved it.

He looked away, it was way easier to be a jerk when things hurt this bad. He had no right to feel hurt or offended or sad, he had made his choices and it was only fair that she made hers. But he loved her,  he still did and her words were too painful to hear.

‘You speak like if I never truly cared for you.’

To anyone on the outside looking in, Jim’s smile that followed her comment would have seemed warm. Except it didn’t reach his eyes…Reaching out gently, his fingers brushed under her chin, forcing her in the most tender of ways to look him in the eye. “Lying is how we get what we want, and it’s like I’ve told you from the beginning. I always get what I want. Besides, it shouldn’t matter to you if I’m lying as long as I provide for you.”

‘The power you have seems exhausting, is there a limit?’ Vick asked in a soft voice. Did the reply really matter? He knew exactly what she wanted to hear every time, and she would do anything he asked because of that very reason. She had accepted the fact that she would never get the truth from him a very long time ago. 

He was right though, did it matter? She had everything she needed or wanted. But she was becoming curious. She had to be cautious, though. After all, she was just as disposable as everyone else.

“Is it really that evil if it’s justified?”

“You play these simple parts and ignore the grey in between.”

“I don’t want to admit it’s more fun… but…”

“Does this cause you pain?”

“Being ignorant is just as bad as committing the act itself.”

“Terrible is just a means of perspective, really…”

“Feel that? That well of emotion? How does it feel?”

“Playing heroes and villains… how pitifully precious that all used to be.”

“Appealing to any sense of humanity in you was a mistake.”

“You may think I have a lingering sense of guilt, but you’re wrong.”

“It’s amazing what will turn people when they have nothing left to lose.”

“A monster? Perhaps, but monsters are far too easily discarded in the eyes of fear.”

“You’ve taken almost everything from me, I dare you to try it again.”

“Death is only a tool to me. Nothing else.”

“Oh, anything can feel. It’s a matter of how you deal with them.”

“The sooner they fall, the more power to us.”

“It could be swift and painless, but there isn’t any fun in that.”

“You forget the lengths I’m willing to go. Don’t test them.”

“If we’re going to be tossing blame around, it’s really your fault, isn’t it?”

“I can break you down in ways that horrify your own nightmares.”

“Good and evil don’t exist, only the extremes of passion and how far someone is willing to go.”

“There might be a way to persuade just a fragment of mercy out of me.”

“Screams and cries are just background noise to my everyday life.”

“Please, keep trying. The futility is still entertaining.”

Hurt blossomed in hazel hues and the archangel sighed. “I didn’t mean to leave,” he muttered. “When I left here the last time, I had every intention on coming back.” He kept his voice low, glancing to the kitchen. The lobby of the bakery was empty, but he knew her husband was in the back. “Meet me tonight. Please? Let me explain. I swear I won’t leave anything out. I won’t leave you again…please Vick.”

It was a wound that never closed, and she hated how her lips trembled when she tried to speak. She slapped his arm. ‘You hurt me.’ She stated, slapping his arm again. ‘You made me cry. And you expect me to wait until tonight to hear an explanation?’ She pushed him towards the door. ‘Forget it, we are doing this now. Go get in my car.’

The angel frowned, his brow furrowing as he looked to Joseph. He couldn’t understand why the comment had been made. He’d merely been pacing. Not like he was bothering him. “My apologies. I was just thinking,” he breathed, sliding down into a chair at the other’s kitchen table. 

He sighed as he stepped back to look at the cake. Cleaned the tip again. ‘Sorry, Cas, it’s just- if I mess up this cake I’m going to get my throat cut.’

Roman knew he wasn’t great at conversation and he found the silence to make him a little anxious. When Charlie broke it, he startled slightly, looking up at the other with wide brown eyes, expectant on what else was to come out of the man’s mouth. Roman didn’t move his hand when Charlie started tracing over his skin, but he couldn’t stop the goosebumps from appearing or the shiver that ran up his spine. That felt so good, he almost couldn’t handle it. He hadn’t realized that his eyes moved from Charlie’s to watch the man’s hand move until he heard the word dinner and his eyes snapped back up to Charlie’s, so surprised. His heart started to pound in his chest and Alexander laid his chin in Roman’s lap to try to give him some stability. The shock kept him from answering until Charlie was completely done - even inviting Roman to a ballet.

Seconds ticked by between them before Roman got his voice back and nearly vomited his reply on the table. He didn’t want Charlie to think he wasn’t answering because he didn’t want to go on a date with him, quite the opposite really. “Ah-yeah! Yes! I would love to do both with you,” his voice was high and panicked while his face was bright red. “That sounds really nice,” he giggled softly and ran the fingers of his free hand through the puppy’s fur gently. 

“What ballet is it? Swan Lake? Cinderella? I think it’s too early in the year for the Nutcracker,” he mused to himself. He quite liked ballet. He would have loved to be a dancer but his parents couldn’t ever know that. Instead he went to school to be a teacher. They would approve of that and it wasn’t like he didn’t like teaching kids…but it would have been nice to do something for himself for once was all. “Ah, I’m sorry, I’m rambling,” he blushed and looked down at Alexander once more.

A soft sigh of relief escaped Charlie when Roman replied. Part of him was afraid the other would reject the offer, after all, he had forgotten how it was like to have a proper date and even though he wanted to spoil Roman as much as he could, he didn’t know what was too much.

‘Ah, I’m glad you’re excited.’ Charlie said with a soft laugh. ‘I am as well.’ He looked down to his hand, he was still tracing Roman’s hand. He wanted more contact, he felt an ache in his skin he knew very well. But everything had its right moment, he had to be patient.

‘Swan Lake, actually.’ He continued. ‘I always donate to the theatre, and even after I got divorced they still kept sending two free tickets every now and then. Though I didn’t have anyone to go with. So I’m very happy you accepted my invitation.’ He smiled at him, opening up a little. Something he wasn’t used to and made him feel rather vulnerable.

16. a  kiss  to  gain  control

‘Your mind is racing.’ Joseph breathed when he pulled away. ‘Quiet now, do you understand?’ He placed his hand loosely around the other’s neck.

‘I’m going to kiss you again now.’

Finally, he pressed his lips against Jason’s. His grips tightening around his throat, he sighed as he felt his pulse against his fingertips. 

‘Don’t make me go in there, Jason.’ Joseph breathed, tapping Jason’s temple with the fingers of his free hand. ‘I know you can do it.’