Author: Selune (selune2 )
Title: Track You Down Among The Pine-Sol
Fandom: Being Human US
Spoilers: Up to 1.4, to be safe
Pairing: Aidan/Josh, OMC/Josh
POV: Third Person limited – Josh, Aidan, Sally (minor: Bishop & OMC)
Rating: R
Word count: 9,037
Warnings: Stalking, kidnapping, violence, dub-con, death (not Josh or Aidan). Possible triggers? This is a lot darker than the previous two. This is not a comedy, despite what the title may suggest.
Summary: Sequel to "Better Dead Than Red." In which Josh freaks out, for perfectly valid reasons.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except Dr. Werewolf.
Author's note: Oh, wow, guys. This hurt to write. Thanks for all the reviews on the first two parts! There will be one more part in this series, to wrap everything up.
Track You Down Among The Pine-Sol
"Moonlight walking
I smell your softness
Carnivorous and lusting
To track you down among the pines
I want you stuffed into my mouth
Hold you down and tear you open
Live inside you
Oh, love I'd never hurt you"
-The Horror of Our Love, by Ludo
"I'm gonna go – shower," Josh said, pointing behind himself to the stairs, as soon as he and Aidan made it back to the house.
"That's probably for the best," Aidan replied, not looking at him. Josh tried not to take it personally – he wouldn't want to look at him, either, after what he did (and smelling like he did, and being what he was).
Josh jerked his head in a nod, and flew up the stairs two at a time, reaching the bathroom in record time. He almost slammed the door behind him, but caught it right before it hit, shutting it gently. He stepped into the shower, clothes and all, and turned the spray on as hot as it would go.
It was freezing, at first (it always was, in a house this old – and it usually wasn't even Sally's fault, like most of their other plumbing problems), but he stuck his face into the spray, anyway, letting it wash him clean. God, he was a mess. He needed to clean up – rid himself of James's scent.
Josh grabbed a bar of soap, without checking to see if it was his or Aidan's. He scrubbed his face, and his neck and arms, and anything else he could reach, until his skin was gleaming red. Then he did it again, and when he was finished, the water had turned into a billowing steam.
His clothes were dripping wet, hanging on him like 20 pounds of sin (like Jacob Marley, in A Christmas Carol, they weighed on Josh like the chains of Marley's greed). Josh tried to rip the shirt off, but it wouldn't tear, so he raked it over his head, throwing it on the far side of the tub – he wouldn't need to touch it for awhile, until he was done here, and could throw it away. He gave his jeans, underwear, shoes, and socks the same treatment, and finally, he was naked.
He grabbed the shampoo, and lathered his hair. He thought his hair was fine – James hadn't marked him there except to kiss him – but Josh needed to be sure he was completely free of James's odor. Josh didn't even want to smell like himself – he wasn't leaving this bathroom – this shower – until he smelled like nothing more than generic Wal-Mart body cleanser and good old fashioned soap.
Josh washed the shampoo out of his hair, and squirted another batch into his hands, scrubbing at his scalp until it started to bleed. He rinsed, and started on his body, again – focusing on the parts that had been covered. The parts Aidan hadn't seen, down in the depths of the hospital, or on the ride back home, when neither of them had spoken a word, and Aidan hadn't looked at him more than once or twice – which normally Josh would have been happy about (he was driving, after all, and should keep his eyes on the road, vampire reflexes or no) – but Aidan was always ruffling Josh's hair, and smiling at him, and tapping him on the shoulder, no matter how un-distracted he should be.
The bar of soap was only a sliver, now – nowhere good enough for the good scrubbing Josh needed. He threw it back where he got it, and grabbed the bottle of body wash (something Sally had seen in a magazine, and begged Josh to get, because she always used it when she was alive, and she was convinced Danny would see it and know she was still here, if he bought it for her). It smelled like fake peaches. Josh had forgotten to get a wash cloth from the linen closet, so he just squirted it in his hands, and rubbed it over himself, the scrubbing beads in the product helping slough the taint off his skin.
Josh slowly became aware of a low, constant keening sound. He was going to yell at Aidan to stop making fun of him, but then he realized the noise was coming from himself. He decided to ignore it, and washed his stomach and backside, again – where the smell had been the strongest.
"Josh?" Knocking at the door. "Do you need anything?" It was Aidan – of course. Sally couldn't knock, and even if she could, she wouldn't. She would just appear in the bathroom.
"N-no!" Josh called out, then reconsidered. "Maybe – bring me a washcloth, and another bar of soap. He paused. "And a towel! And maybe a loofah, one of the scrubby ones." He didn't think they had any loofahs, so that was probably a lost cause. Aidan wasn't going to run to Costco to get him one, no doubt, so he would just make do without it.
If only he had thought to grab the salt from the kitchen table, before he came up here, he could make a DIY exfoliator. He would just have to do that later, after he got the basic sanitation out of the way.
"Josh, I'm coming in," Aidan called. He jiggled the knob and Josh yelled.
"No! You can't come in! I'm naked in here!" He dashed out of the shower and threw himself against the door. He, quick, turned the lock. "Just leave the stuff outside. I'll get it in a minute."
Aidan stopped trying to open the door, for which Josh was grateful. The flimsy lock wouldn't stop Aidan if he really wanted in (the pure oak door wouldn't stop Aidan if he really wanted in). Locking it had just been to show Aidan that he was serious about wanting to be alone, to bathe.
"Are you okay?" Aidan said. He sounded weird – but not the same kind of weird as the other night, when he'd wanted to kill a werewolf he thought was trying to kill (or take) Josh, and when he'd wanted to bend Josh over the nearest surface and fuck him through it. He sounded worried – almost human. Like any normal guy would be, if his friend had. . .well, Josh wasn't exactly sure what Aidan thought had happened, but he probably thought it was worse than it actually was.
"I'm fine," Josh said, bringing his arm up to sniff at the wrist, where James had grabbed him. The smell was still there, underneath the soap. He would just have to try harder to get it off. "Everything's copacetic. Go away."
There was something wrong with Josh. Aidan knew this. Josh knew Aidan knew this. And Aidan knew Josh knew that Aidan knew. But Aidan didn't seem to be doing anything about his knowledge.
"Well?" Sally demanded, when Aidan came back downstairs, after trying to talk to Josh. "What happened?"
"He wouldn't let me in," Aidan said, his voice flat and monotone.
"He wouldn't let you in?" Sally asked. "What did he do, drop a boulder in front of the door? Wire it with explosives?" Aidan was a vampire. He was strong enough to go where he wanted.
"No." Aidan shook his head. "He told me to go away, and I respected his wishes."
"You respected his. . ." she trailed off. "You know what he's doing up there, right?"
"Yeah," Aidan said, his voice and body stiffening in tandem, arms crossing in front of his chest. "I can smell the blood from here."
"Then go up there and stop him," Sally begged. Somebody needed to, and Sally couldn't. She couldn't even touch Josh, much less make him leave the bathroom. She was afraid if she tried to do anything (like blow up the pipes, so there was no more water, and Josh had no more reason to lock himself in the bathroom) that she would screw it up, and end up boiling the water, or something, and re-enacting the bathroom scene from Carrie (or something equally horrible for everyone involved).
Sally wasn't even completely sure what was going on. All she knew was that Josh had (apparently) spent the night with Dr. Werewolf, and when Aidan had found out, he'd gone tearing out of here like a bat out of hell.
Sally had just thought he was being jealous (again), and was going to beat the shit out of the guy it seemed Josh had chosen over him. But if that's what happened, Josh certainly wouldn't have gotten in Aidan's car and come back home with him – not voluntarily, anyway. And Josh didn't seem to have a problem being near Aidan. It seemed more the other way around – Aidan hadn't looked at Josh once since they got back to the house.
Plus, there was the fact that Josh was – at this very moment – actively trying to triple this month's water bill. OCD or no, this was not normal Josh behavior, and it worried her.
"He's a big boy, Sally," Aidan said. "He knows what he's doing."
Aidan sat down on the couch, taking in the scent of him and Josh, mingling with comforting familiarity after living together for so long. He had changed his clothes when he was upstairs – when Josh hugged him at the hospital, he transferred some of James's stench to Aidan, and Aidan couldn't stand it any longer.
He couldn't stand it on Josh, either, which is why he wasn't going to try to make Josh leave the bathroom before he was good and ready. On the ride back home – and even once they got back to the house – he forced himself to keep his eyes off his roommate. Every time he thought about that other werewolf claiming Josh as his own, it made Aidan very angry (angrier than he'd been in a long, long time; a deep rage similar to his bloodlust on first becoming a vampire, which scared even him). He knew that if he so much as glanced at Josh, he would attack him – and force his own claim.
He would explain to Josh that he wasn't mad at him (not much, anyway) – but only after Josh smelled like himself and this house. And not the werewolf that Aidan was trying, and failing, to avoid thinking about – and all the ways a vampire as old as Aidan could punish him for trying to take Josh away – for trying to hurt him.
Josh was clean, or as clean as he was going to get. Aidan had never brought him more soap, and he had used up all that was in the bathroom (including a bar he found under the sink). The water had gone cold quite a while ago, and cold water just didn't clean as well.
Josh turned off the shower and stepped onto the rug. He didn't have a towel or any clothes that he was willing to wear (the clothes he'd been wearing were still in a puddle at one end of the tub). He could probably make it back to his room without being seen, and dry off with the towel he always kept in there, for emergencies.
He cracked open the bathroom door and peeked out. "Aidan?" he called. "Sally?" Neither of them showed up (though, Aidan, at least, would have heard him, no matter where he was in the house). "I'm coming out now. Please don't come upstairs just yet."
He waited a beat, to make sure they weren't going to jump out at him, demanding to know what the hell was wrong with him (like his father had always done, after Josh had had to clean up after getting excessively dirty). When Aidan didn't come barreling up the stairs and Sally didn't appear out of thin air in front of him, he decided it was safe, and ran to his room.
He had always hated being naked in a communal area, ever since he was a little kid – even if he was alone in the house. It made him feel vulnerable and exposed. Nudity should be confined to the bedroom and the bathroom. Even stripping before his change, alone in the woods on the night of the full moon, made him shudder with paranoia that someone would see.
Josh shut his door behind him, and grabbed the towel off the hook hanging on the back of it. He put it to his hair, and started drying off before he dripped all over everything.
"So, what's goin' on?" Sally asked, and Josh squeaked and jerked around to find her misting into being on his bed.
"I'm naked!" he yelled, wrapping the towel around his waist.
"Normally, I would be very excited about that," she said with a leer, "but, you're not looking your best at the moment." She gave him a critical once-over. "Frankly, you look like a plague victim. Or what a community theater prop designer thinks a plague victim should look like."
Josh looked down at himself. He looked fine. Sure, his skin was a little red, and there were little scratches up and down his arms (and on his stomach, and his legs, and probably on his back and ass) where he'd scrubbed just a little too hard – but at least he was clean, which more than made up for any temporary discomfort. "What do you want?"
She shrugged. "I just want to talk. You know, see what's up with you." She picked at a loose thread on his bed covering (well, she tried). "What's new."
"Nothing's going on with me," he said. He decided she wasn't leaving anytime soon, and walked to his closet to get some fresh clothes. "Everything's fine." She looked at him – and it was that look, the one that said she wasn't buying what he was selling, no matter how good the deal sounded. "Okay, so, James is a douche."
"And?" she asked.
"And I'm pretty sure Aidan hates me, right now." He forced himself to give a chuckle, to lighten his words. "But I think he'll get over it, eventually."
She crossed her arms, straightening her posture and locking her gaze with his. "You going to tell me what happened?"
He hesitated, and turned to pull on a shirt. He slipped on a pair of briefs without taking the towel off before looking back at her. "I went looking for James last night, like we talked about. And it didn't really go well."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
He didn't, not really. But he probably should – if only so he could figure out what he was going to say when he talked to Aidan. If he had it all planned out, first, he might even be able to convince Aidan to forgive him and stay friends with him.
Sure, Aidan had joked about having sex with him – and there had been that kiss (that Josh was almost 70% sure Aidan had responded to) – but after that, it was all stone-cold silence. Josh figured Aidan just didn't let his anger set in until they were out of the hospital, and he knew Josh was safe.
Josh told Sally what had happened. He left out a lot of the details – like how scared he had really been when he figured out just how insane James was – but she got the gist of it.
"Shit," Sally said, when he was finished. "I'm sorry. Like, really sorry." She wrung her hands in her cardigan. "If I hadn't encouraged you. . ."
"Something else would have happened," Josh said. James didn't strike him as the kind of person to just sit around and do nothing when he wanted something (or someone). "Plus, if I hadn't been looking for James, I would have changed while Aidan and I were. . .out" (on their date) "and I might have hurt somebody. Almost definitely would have hurt somebody. I could never forgive myself if I did that."
Last night was bad, yes, but it could have been worse. Sure, Josh had been humiliated and degraded like he was James's personal chew toy, but at least no one got really hurt. No one died, or was turned into a werewolf. Josh's secret was still safe.
"Yeah, but. . ." she trailed off. "Does Aidan know? You know, everything?"
He shook his head. "We didn't really talk on the way home."
"You should – "
"I know. I will." He just needed to gather his courage. And put on pants.
"All right." Sally nodded, the movement jerky. "I'll just go let Aidan know that you'll be down in a minute, then. Okay?" She spoke softly to him, like you would a wounded animal.
It should have ticked him off, but for some reason, he found it soothing. "That would be nice."
He would need to get some food, too, when he went downstairs. Obviously, there had been no food where he'd been, last night, and transforming into the wolf always made him ravenous. Josh thought it had to have something to do with the change in metabolic processes between his human and wolf bodies, but he'd never been able to confirm it (since he couldn't exactly go to a doctor's office, and get it checked out).
Yesterday morning, Aidan had cooked him breakfast. Josh did not hold his breath that this would happen a second time.
He pulled on a pair of track pants (which he had bought only so he would have something that would slip off easily, for full moon nights), and ran down the stairs. Aidan wasn't in the living room, so he went to the kitchen, where he found Sally.
"He was already gone when I got down here," Sally said, pointing to the fridge. There was a note.
Josh crossed the kitchen, and pulled the note off the fridge. It said, "Got called in. Be back later. A." Josh put the note back where he got it, underneath the Hello Kitty magnet Aidan bought to embarrass him, the last time they'd gone grocery shopping together (Aidan occasionally went with Josh, to help carry things, and to marvel at the food that was available nowadays).
The note didn't mean anything. Aidan had to go to work – it wasn't like he was avoiding Josh on purpose. Maybe this was better, anyway. It would give them both the whole day to think about things, and then they could talk tonight, after getting some distance from what happened this morning.
It's just, Aidan and Josh were both really good about keeping each other informed on things like their work schedule (Aidan had always said it was so that neither of them would be surprised by a roommate who was inexplicably at home, if they ever decided to bring a girl home, but Josh wasn't sure how true that was, now). As far as Josh knew, Aidan hadn't been on-call.
He decided he wasn't going to worry about it. If Aidan was at work, that was fine - obviously. If he lied about going to work, then he must just need some time away from Josh. And Josh was going to let him have it.
Mind made up, he set about making himself some breakfast. It was no turducken, but Josh had become a relatively good cook in the last couple of years. He was able to whip himself up some bacon and eggs in no time, and scarfed it down in even less.
The whole time, he could feel Sally staring worriedly at his back. He was going to ignore it, unless she actually said something. She was entitled to her feelings – she could be as worried as she wanted. Her. . .existence (not life, since she was dead) would also be affected if Aidan decided that he didn't want anything more to do with Josh.
One of them would probably have to move out – maybe even both of them, since they could really only afford this place because they were renting together – and then she would be alone, again, until the next tenants moved in. And they wouldn't be able to see her, and would move out because they thought the house was creepy. And she would be alone, again, and the cycle would repeat.
Josh wasn't really sure how the whole ghost thing worked, but if it did end up that he (and/or Aidan) had to leave, he would try to see if she could come with him. He knew she was able to leave the house, now, after the time she spent with Eighties ghost (whose name Josh had never really learned). But she always came back here, even though she could have spent all her time haunting her fiancée. Josh didn't know if she did it because there were people here who could actually see and talk to her, or if there was some law of ghost physics that said she had to return to the place where she'd died.
"I'll talk to him when he gets off work," Josh told her after he had washed and dried his dishes, and put them away. He kept his tone casual, like it didn't really matter if he had to wait until tonight to talk to Aidan, or tomorrow, or next week. He thought he did a pretty good job of it.
"Yeah," Sally said, a smile spreading on her face. "It'll all work out." For a minute there, she almost had him fooled, if it wasn't for the look in her eyes.
Josh tried to think of what he should say (something comforting, for sure), when his phone rang. It was on the kitchen table – right where he'd left it, when he went out, last night. Josh picked it up and answered, without looking at who was calling.
"Josh? You actually answered." It was Jesse.
It filled Josh with a pang of regret, to realize that only a few days ago, Jesse's little crush on him had been his biggest problem (well, except for the whole werewolf thing, obviously). "Yeah, it's me," Josh answered, trying to sound casual. "What's up?"
Josh could feel Jesse's hesitation – he took a breath that lasted just a little too long, letting it all out in a rush. "I just – I didn't get to talk to you much, last week. And I just wanted to ask – I mean, I know you just got out of a relationship and everything – and your ex is really, just extra-scary. So I wanted to ask – do you want to hang out with me? Like, just hang out? Watch movies and eat popcorn all day kinda thing?"
Just out of a relationship? Oh, yeah – Aidan had told Jesse that they'd been dating, to get him to stop hounding Josh. Seems like it didn't work as well as Aidan had thought. "You know, Jesse, thank you. Really. But I just don't really feel up to getting in a new relationship right now," Josh said. "I mean, I think you're great, but it's just not really a good – time."
"No, I know!" Jesse said, talking fast. "I understand completely, and I wasn't asking you over for a date or anything. I figured we could hang out – just as friends – and it might take your mind off Aidan. I mean, I know you still live with him and everything, so it's gotta be tough, getting over the break-up."
Josh hesitated. Jesse must have felt it, because he continued. "If it makes you feel better, I can invite some more people over, so it won't be just the two of us."
Josh thought about it. On the one hand, he could sit here, in the house, all day alone with Sally (if she stuck around, and didn't decide to go see what Danny was doing) and obsess over what he should say to Aidan, and if Aidan would forgive him, and what he did to Aidan. Or, he could go hang out with a really cool guy – and friends – and distract himself with some mindless entertainment until Aidan got off work.
"You know what?" Josh said. "I actually think that could be a lot of fun. What time should I come over?"
Aidan growled all the way into work – on the drive over, the walk from the parking lot, even the ride in the elevator (which freaked out the middle age soccer mom and her kids, who were in it with him). He couldn't believe that – today, of all days! – he'd actually been called in on his day off.
He had wanted to tell his boss that he had the flu, and thus couldn't possibly come in (none of the hospital staff were allowed to be on duty if they had a contagious illness), but too many people had seen him that morning, when he'd come to pick up Josh, obviously in good health.
"All right, let's get this over with," he snarled at the day shift charge nurse as he grabbed his patient charts.
"Rough night?" She smiled sweetly at him.
"You have no idea." He stalked away from her.
Josh showed up at Jesse's place a little before noon. He had been surprised that Jesse wanted him there so early, but according to Jesse, (fake) break-up pain didn't pay attention to the time. The earlier they started their distractions, the sooner he would get over Aidan. (And, he didn't say this, only implied it, but the sooner Josh got over Aidan, the sooner he could move on to someone else – maybe even Jesse.)
"Hey," Josh said, hands in his pockets when Jesse opened the door. Jesse had been to his house a couple of times, but Josh had never seen Jesse's apartment. It was nice – something a new doctor should have, Josh decided.
"Hey," Jesse replied, a smile forming when he saw Josh. He opened the door wider, ushering Josh in. "Come on in. I could only wrangle one other person to come, at such short notice. But I think you'll like him – he's really funny. He should be here in just a few minutes."
Josh nodded absently, examining the odd little figurines Jesse had scattered all over the living room.
Jesse noticed what he was looking at and blushed. "My mom bought me those, and I never can bring myself to put them up. She'd get so upset if she thought I didn't like them."
"They're nice," Josh said, picking up an especially odd one – a clown with only half a face. "What's the story behind one this one?"
"Oh, it's, uh, Mom bought it for me after I saw the movie It. She said it would help me get over my fear of clowns."
"Did it work?" Josh asked, setting the figurine down in its spot.
"Well, I'm not afraid of clowns, if that's what you mean. Still can't watch that movie, though." Jesse put a bowl of chips on the coffee table, and motioned for Josh to have some. "I have pizza coming, and there's beer and coke in the fridge, if you want any."
"Thanks." Josh smiled. Jesse was a really sweet guy – and he tried so hard. He was right to come here. This was a much better way to pass the time, rather than brooding at home all day. "I mean it. Thanks."
Jesse blushed, looking at his feet. "You're welcome."
After a moment of awkward silence, Josh cleared his throat and plopped down on the couch. "So, what's the plan, today?"
Jesse grabbed a stack of DVDs from a shelf by his TV (a massive flat screen hanging on the wall), and started laying them out on the coffee table. "I thought we could start with some classic horror films. You know, The Thing, The Exorcist, Miracle on 34th Street."
Josh burst out laughing. "Miracle on 34th Street is a horror movie?" he asked, and Jesse smiled up at him.
"Yeah," Jesse said, dead serious. "Think about it – the US government declares that Santa Claus exists because he gets mail. That's terrifying, dude."
Josh had to agree. "All right, accepted. What else?"
Jesse ran him through the other movies he thought they should watch. By the time he was through – and Josh had finally accepted a beer – the doorbell rang.
"That must be the pizza," Jesse ambled over to get the door. He got his wallet out to pay and opened the door. "How much is it – Oh, hey, he said. "False alarm," he called to Josh. "It's not the food – just this loser."
Josh turned to look at who it was, and all the blood rushed from his face. It was James. Of course. The day they met, he'd mentioned that he was friends with Jesse. Josh should have expected this.
"Hi," James said, sauntering into the room like he had every right to be there. "It's nice to see you, again."
Josh clutched a throw pillow in a death grip (Jesse claimed these were also gifts from his mother, but Josh thought Jesse was just embarrassed that he liked them). "Hey," Josh said through clenched teeth.
Jesse looked between the two of them. "You two know each other?" He smacked his forehead. "Of course, you do! I should have realized. It's not exactly like the hospital is all that big."
"Yeah," Josh agreed. Horror grew in his belly, starting soft and slow, then multiplying exponentially with each second James stared at him. He wondered – if he got up and just ran out, would James follow him? And if he did, was Josh fast enough to outrun him?
Jesse didn't seem to notice the tension, and carried on like everything was fine. He explained to James what movies they were going to watch and showed him where the refreshments were. The pizza arrived, and in just a few minutes, Jesse had the lights dimmed, and the first movie was starting.
Josh stiffened when James sat down next to him, throwing his arm around Josh on the back of the couch. Josh held himself perfectly still, so that no part of his body touched James.
Maybe he could fake a text. He wouldn't have to say who it was from – just that it was an emergency, and he had to go.
James would know, though. The extra senses the full moon brought on lingered for a few days afterward. He would know that Josh's phone hadn't vibrated – and even Jesse would pick up that it didn't ding to signal a text.
Surely, James wouldn't pull anything with Jesse right there. Jesse was a mundane human. He didn't know anything about the supernatural world – it was kind of an unspoken rule to keep it that way. But maybe James didn't know this rule.
About 20 minutes into the movie, James brought his hand up to play with the hair at the nape of Josh's neck. Josh leaned his head forward, to get away from it, and James stopped. Until Josh relaxed and settled back.
The hand came back, and Josh sprang out of his seat. Jesse gave him a strange look. "Is everything okay?" he asked.
"Yeah! Uh, yeah," Josh lied. "I just – small bladder. Like a little girl's. Where's your bathroom?"
Jesse pointed, and Josh took off for the room at the end of a short hall. "Do you want me to pause the movie?" Jesse called.
"No! That's okay!" Josh yelled, shutting the door, and shoving the laundry hamper (the only thing Josh could find that wasn't nailed down) in front of the door. "I've seen this, like, 900 times!"
He sat on the hamper, his breath coming in short pants. Okay, obviously, what he needed to do was leave. Yes. He had to leave. Just get up, and walk out the door. Go home, and wait for Aidan to get off work. That's what he should have done in the first place.
He turned the volume off his phone. He would say he had it on silent, and when he glanced down at the phone to see what time it was, he saw the text. He could say it was from Aidan – no, bad idea. If James thought he was going to see Aidan, he would never let Josh out of the apartment. He might hurt Jesse. He certainly seemed capable of violence.
Maybe he could say it was from Sally? Neither of them knew that she was a ghost, and thus unable to send a text. Hell, he could say it was from Emperor Palpatine, for all they knew. Neither of them knew him well enough to know who his other friends were – or that he wasn't in contact with his family. He would just say it was from his sister. And then he would leave.
When he got home, he could decide what to do about James, so he didn't bother Josh again. He didn't know what, but surely he would be able to come up with something. He was a frickin' genius, for crying out loud.
That settled, Josh moved the hamper back to its appropriate spot, peed and flushed the toilet(because he actually did need to go), washed his hands, and was ready to get out of there.
He opened the door, to find Josh standing at the threshold. Josh jumped. "Geeze," he complained, holding his hand to his chest. "Give me a heart attack, why don't you."
"You were in there a long time," James said, looming over Josh.
"I have a shy bladder. It takes me a while to go, when I know other people can hear."
"You're going to try to leave, aren't you?" James asked, a dark look on his face. "Run back to your vampire, like the whore you are."
Josh forced himself to laugh. "What? No! I'm uh, well, actually, my sister did just ask me to meet her, so we could talk about some. . .things." Josh backed up, when James advanced on him.
"Don't lie to me," James growled. "I hate it when people lie to me."
"I'm not – "
"I can smell it on you!" James said, spittle flying from his lips.
Josh flinched at the anger in his voice. "I, uh. . ." This was not how this was supposed to go. Werewolves did not do this kind of shit around normal humans – and Jesse was right in the other room. He had to be wondering why they were both back here – and what the devil was taking so long. "I'm – I can't –"
"You can't leave me, is what you can't do," James said, matter of factly. Like it was a universal truth – like gravity, or taxes.
Josh wished he had been blessed with the ability to come up with a quick, believable lie. If he had, he might be able to get out from under James's arm, and flee into the relative safety of Jesse's living room, before James knew he was gone. But he wasn't.
"I don't want to be with you," he snapped, his voice a whisper. "Just – find somebody else. You're gorgeous, and you're a doctor. I'm sure you have the men lining up around the block to be with you."
"I want you," James said, crowding Josh into the small bathroom.
Josh looked frantically past him, trying to calculate the distance, the angle of James arm hovering around him, to see what the chances were that he could make it to the hall before James grabbed him. The numbers weren't promising.
"You and only you," James continued, crooning low in his throat. He dipped his head to kiss Josh's cheek. "I love you. The way your eyes light up when you're talking about something geeky, that fascinates you. The way you babble when you're nervous. The way you hold out on the change for as long as you can, even though it hurts to do it, and it would be so much easier if you just gave in. You're so stubborn.
"I've been watching you for a while," James confessed, kissing Josh again, closer to the mouth. "That's why I took this job – so I could be close to you."
"How long?" Josh asked, trembling at James's touch. "How long have you been watching me?"
"Months," James answered. "I smelled you, one night in the woods, and followed you home. You were still living in that hotel, then. I almost approached you so many times – and then you moved in with that thing, and I thought I would have to give you up."
Josh's previous fear was nothing compared to the terror he felt now. He'd thought James just happened to stumble upon him, after taking the job at the hospital. James's obsession with him was bad enough, with just that. But Josh and Aidan had been living together now for over 4 months – and James had started watching (no, Josh, say the real world – stalking) him before that. And he never even knkew.
This was not a man who would be easily dissuaded by a glib comment and an invitation to talk later. Plus, he most likely knew who all of Josh's friends were (is that why he befriended Jesse?) and that Josh hadn't seen any of his family, except his sister, since he was attacked.
This was – bad. Really bad. Get in the unmarked van, and never be heard from again bad.
"Where's Jesse?" Josh asked, knowing, in the back of his mind, that James had done something to him. Jesse wasn't stupid – he would be wondering what was wrong, if he was okay.
"He's taking a nap."
Josh jerked at James's cruel laugh.
"Relax, he's fine," James said, crowding Josh further into the wall. "I just gave him a little something to make him sleep. He'll wake up in a few hours a little groggy, but otherwise okay." James correctly interpreted Josh's disbelief –and it pissed him off, if the punch he threw next to Josh's head was any indication. "I wouldn't hurt the little guy. He's no competition to me, and I know you like him."
"What –" Josh coughed. "What happens now?"
"Now, you and I get out of here. I have a little place upstate I've been wanting to take you to," James said. "All we need is a little alone time. After we spend some time together, I know you'll come to love me just as much as I love you." James ran a finger down Josh's jaw line, and Josh forced himself not to shudder.
"Yeah," Josh said. "That's a great idea." He just needed to go along with James, for now, until he could get away. Just lull him into a sense of complacency, and beat feet at the first opportunity.
He wouldn't go home, either – it was straight to the police, for him. James might be a werewolf, but this was not a supernatural matter. Josh would just tell the cops that James was stalking him, and that he might have hurt Jesse (oh, please let him be telling the truth about Jesse – don't let him be dead because Josh was his friend). They would take care of it, and then Josh could relax.
"Where are we going?" Josh asked, smiling up at James.
James beamed and wrapped a warm arm around Josh's shoulders. "I knew I could talk you around!" he cried. He started talking about the cabin he was taking Josh to – somewhere in the north of the state, just south of the New Hampshire border. Josh tuned him out, trying to think of an escape plan ". . .and for the next full moon, we can run together!" James finished, tightening his arm around Josh. "I can't wait until you see it."
"Me – me neither!" Josh said, trying to sound as excited as James thought he would be. "It sounds great."
"Yeah, there's just one thing," Josh said, his voice full of disappointment.
The fear that had almost left Josh came back in a rush. "What?" he asked frantically. He'd done everything right!
"I can still smell when you lie," James said. He did something to Josh's neck – Josh felt a prick, and then he started to feel woozy, his sight fading in and out.
"You-you drugged me?" Josh said, his body going numb. He felt himself start to fall, and James caught him. He tried to fight him – tried to push him away – but his limbs were uncooperative. He started to whimper, and didn't even care that he should be embarrassed.
"Sh, sh," James said, running his hand over Josh's hair. "It'll be okay. You'll see. Everything's going to be fine."
Aidan got home at 9pm, in a foul mood. Some douche human nurse had come down with the flu, and called in sick, so Aidan was asked to stay late, on the day he should have been off in the first place.
He hadn't gotten to talk to Josh all day, and given Josh's propensity for blowing things out of proportion, and the way they left things this morning, he had probably worked himself up into quite the tizzy.
Aidan just wanted to hold Josh, and tell him that he didn't care that Josh went to James last night. He understood – Josh was young. Of course he needed to check out his other options, before settling on Aidan. It had been Aidan that he'd kissed, though. Of his own free will – he even initiated!
Aidan loved Josh – as a friend, first, and now, maybe as something more. He didn't want to lose Josh for anything. He didn't give Josh up for Bishop and his "family." He sure as hell wasn't giving him up because of that mongrel werewolf. Even if James had turned out to be an okay guy (which, obviously, wasn't the case), and Josh chose him over Aidan, Aidan would still have stayed Josh's friend and roommate.
"Josh?" Aidan called, turning on the living room light, when he came in. "Sally? Why are all the lights off?"
Sally appeared in front of him, and he stared at her. "What?" he asked.
"Josh isn't home," she said. "He went to hang out with Jesse."
"Oh. Okay. Do you know when he's coming back?"
"Nope." She shook her head. "You could call him, though. He took his phone."
Aidan didn't want to interrupt Josh if he was having fun with Jesse. Jesse was an okay guy, on the whole. And he did pretty much worship the ground Josh walked on. Best of all, Josh didn't return his feelings in the slightest, so Aidan didn't even have anything to feel jealous over.
"Naw," he said. "I'll just talk to him when he gets back."
Sally tapped her foot. "You acted like a jerk," she said. "We were upset."
"You mean Josh was upset."
"I know what I said!" she shrieked, tension making her vibrate.
Aidan took a deep breath. Sally had always been insecure, and Aidan had been ignoring her, of late. He sat on the couch, and patted the cushion beside him. "Sit down," he said. "Why don't you tell me what you were up to today – or did you spend all day sitting here in the dark?"
Sally gave him a tentative grin and jumped on the couch. "I went to see my mom, today," she said.
"Really?" Aidan asked. "And how did that go?"
"It. Was. Amazing," Sally gushed. She started talking about it, and once she got started, well, Aidan knew there was no stopping her. Aidan relaxed back into the couch, and let her distract him.
It was dark. He was thirsty. A hand held his chin. "Drink this," a voice said. Josh didn't want to, but the man made him. He choked and spit some of it out, but the man gave him more.
"Where am I?" Josh asked, but no one answered. He was scared.
"Sh. Sh," the same voice soothed. "It's okay, Josh. You're okay."
When morning came around, and Josh still wasn't home, Aidan gave in and called him. It went to voice mail, and Aidan left a message. "Josh, it's Aidan. Call me back."
He woke up, again, and it was still dark. He was lying on something soft – a bed? – so he was somewhere different. He couldn't move his arms. They were stuck at his side.
"Sh. Sh," the same voice as before said. "You're okay, darling. Everything's okay. Just drink something." He forced liquid down Josh's throat. Josh was so thirsty, that he drank it all without complaint.
"Where? Who?" Josh asked, but the other man didn't answer, and Josh slipped back into sleep.
It had been two days. Aidan had to wait one more – 72 hours – before he could call the cops, and report Josh as missing.
He called Josh's phone, again, but couldn't leave a voice mail. It was full – Aidan had called a lot. Apparently, Josh hadn't erased them, yet.
Sally stared at the phone, ringing her hands. "Anything?" she asked. Aidan just shook his head.
The next time Josh woke up, there was enough light to see by. He seemed to be in a log cabin – one room, from the look of it. He was tied down to a bed – just his arms. His legs were free.
James sat in a chair in the corner. He watched Josh, unblinking, and jumped up when he saw Josh was awake. He rushed to Josh, and rubbed his hand down Josh's jaw. "Sh. Sh," he said, as he had before. Josh remembered, now, what was going on.
"You drugged me," Josh accused. He still felt so weak.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," James babbled. "I gave you too much – I didn't mean to – I thought you were. . ."
"Oh," Josh said, turning his head away from James. So, he'd almost died. That would have been one way out of this situation – but definitely not Josh's preferred route.
"I'm sorry," James repeated. "Forgive me, love."
Josh didn't answer him, or look at him. He felt wetness on his cheeks, and couldn't even wipe it away.
"I love you, you know that, right?" James asked, desperation in his voice. "I would never hurt you. I'll give you anything you want, if you'll forgive me."
"Let me go," Josh demanded. "Let me go, right now, and I'll forgive you."
"Anything but that," James said, his hands hovering over Josh, as if begging permission to touch. Josh wouldn't give it to him. "I'll give you anything but that."
Aidan went to Bishop. Of course he went to Bishop. Bishop knew everything that went on in this city. He could help Aidan find James Whittaker. Aidan knew enough about Josh's disappearance to know that James was involved. Jesse had come forward yesterday – apparently, James had knocked him out, and that was the last anyone had seen of either James or Josh.
The police were looking into the matter, and Bishop was police, so he had to help.
"You know you'll owe me for this, right?" Bishop asked, when Aidan told him what he wanted. Aidan nodded – he didn't care what it cost. Bishop got the information, but it didn't help.
"I don't know who that werewolf was, but I can tell you right now it wasn't Dr. James Whittaker. The real Whittaker washed up in the harbor about a week ago. The coroner just identified him."
Josh told James he loved him, and James let Josh out of the bed. He kept his hands cuffed together, but any movement at all felt like heaven to Josh.
Two weeks before the next full moon, and their senses were almost as dull as a human's. James couldn't smell out his lies.
"I'll love you more if you take these off," Josh said, holding up his cuffed wrists. James couldn't smell the lies, but he wasn't stupid. The cuffs stayed on.
Two weeks. Two weeks Josh had been gone, and there were no leads. Bishop said they were looking, but that it wasn't a priority. Aidan had tried looking himself, but couldn't come up with anything.
"If you don't find him, I'm never coming back," Aidan threatened. "I'll spend the rest of my days making your life hell. You won't be able to sleep for cleaning up after me."
"You know how hot it makes me when you talk like that," Bishop said, fanning himself. "I'll let you know if we find your dog."
"I want to have sex with you," Josh told James, and it was the truth. It was two days before the full moon, and he could smell a lie from 30 paces.
"Okay," James said, moving in for a kiss.
"Not like this," Josh said, holding up a hand. "You have to take this off me." He jiggled the shackles on his legs that James put on him, after the last time he tried to run away.
"No, but –"
"Shh," Josh said, a finger on James's lips. "I'm not going anywhere." Truth.
"What did they say?" Sally ambushed Aidan, as soon as he got back. "Did they find anything?"
Aidan slumped on the couch, and put his head in his hands. He shoved the junk off the other end, so he could lay across the couch like Josh liked to do. He picked up Josh's Sudoku book – the one he'd been working on the night they almost had their first date – and flipped to the last unfinished puzzle. Aidan had tried to complete it, but couldn't bring himself to. He was never good at these puzzles – he would mess it up.
"Oh," Sally said, when Aidan didn't answer her. The clock over the TV exploded in a shower of glass, covering the floor in more detritus. She had stopped apologizing for it over a week ago.
"Sh. Sh," James said as he undressed Josh. Josh was trembling.
"It's been a while since I've done this," he said, which was understandable. "Can I be on top? I want to ride you."
James nodded, leaning in to kiss Josh's bared shoulder. "Of course, love."
Aidan answered the phone on the first ring. "Tell me you have something," he demanded.
"A-yuh," Bishop said. "A big something." He paused, waiting for Aidan to interject. "Somebody saw your doctor friend a little over a week ago, out buying groceries."
"Where?" Aidan said.
"New York – a little town outside of Buffalo."
"Great." Aidan hung up.
"You so owe me," Bishop told the dead line.
"The full moon is tomorrow, isn't it?" Josh asked, turning around to kiss James.
"Yeah," James said, taking full advantage of his strength to dominate the kiss.
"Where are we going? I mean, you're not going to make me stay inside, are you?" Josh pulled on James's neck until he leaned in, giving the advantage to Josh.
"No – of course not." James stroked his hand down Josh's side. Josh shook in his arms – James liked it. "There's no one around here for miles, so we'll have the whole place to ourselves."
"Of course," Josh said. "That makes sense." He bit his lip. "Lie on the bed? I want to touch you."
Once he knew a general area, it was pretty easy to narrow down where Josh could be. Aidan had Bishop do a search of the missing person's database for homeowners in that area.
He didn't find anyone who checked out, but when Aidan did a search of local blogs, he came up with one possibility – a local man, described as a "hermit" by the author – who hadn't been seen in almost a month. He didn't mention having reported the man's disappearance to the authorities.
Aidan could be there in less than 8 hours, if he took the I-90.
Josh stank of sweat and fear, his breath hitching as James prepared him.
"Sh. Sh," James soothed, rubbing Josh's stomach. His fingers hit that little bundle of nerves, and Josh surprised him with a long, low moan. "Yeah, that's right," James said. "You like it."
Josh pushed against his fingers, moaning. "I'm r-ready," he panted, and pushed on James's chest. "Lay down."
James did as he asked, and Josh climbed on top of him. James lifted to hips to grind against Josh's buttocks, catching Josh off guard.
Josh leered at him, chuckling under his breath. He reached beneath his body to grasp James. "Do you want me?" he asked, stroking James.
"Yes," James panted, his excitement growing.
"Do you want to fuck me?" Josh asked.
"Oh—oh, yes," James cooed.
"Do you want to have me, forever and ever and ever?" Josh asked.
"M-my god, yes. I want you forever."
Josh leaned in, suddenly, with no warning, and hissed in James's ears. "You can't have me." And he brought the shackles he'd hidden down on James's head – the same one he'd been tied to for the last two weeks.
James's head cracked open, blood spraying into Josh's face, and he brought it down again. James tried to get up – his body twitching – and Josh hit him again.
Josh didn't count how many times he hit James, just that it was enough. When it was done, he climbed off him, and went to take a shower.
He was, apparently, in the middle of nowhere, but he was a werewolf. And tomorrow was the full moon. It shouldn't be too difficult for him to walk to the next town.
The rain and unfamiliarity with the local roads forced Aidan to drive much slower than he would have preferred. But he would be no use to Josh if he wrapped himself around a tree, trying to get to him.
His high beams flashed on someone – a man— walking along the side of the road. It was unusual enough for Aidan to slow down and take a second look. Was that. . .? No! It couldn't be, could it?
He stopped, in the middle of the road, and rolled down his window. "Josh?" he called.
The man stopped and turned to face him, the movement as graceful and quick as any predator in the wild. "Aidan?"
It was him. Aidan fumbled with the door, but got it open on only the second try. "Josh!" He ran to his friend, and threw his arms around him.
Josh stiffened, for half a second, before melting in his arms. "I missed you," he said, returning Aidan's hug.
"Me, too," Aidan said, pulling back just long enough to drink in Josh's face. "Me, too."
"Are you real?" Josh asked, a vulnerability in his voice that Aidan had never expected to hear, coming from him.
"I'm real," Aidan answered. "I'm here to take you home."