It wasn't every day Squalo sat out in the living room with his kid and watched TV with the other, but ever since Bel had woken earlier that morning and found his guardian was home, the blond brat had clung to him like glue, refusing even to attend school. Squalo couldn't say it hadn't agitated him, but what else was he supposed to do? He knew the other was only acting out because of the way he had vanished, so he kept quiet and went along with the little shit's every whim.

The only problem was, though Squalo hadn't minded watching a movie with the younger, he hadn't been prepared for… that.

"Turn this shit off, Bel!" Squalo shifted in uneasiness on the couch he was sitting on. He looked to his kid, and his eyes were nearly bulging out of their sockets as he noticed just how interested the other was in the scene that was playing on the TV; how could the younger… It was just fucking sick! "Bel! Turn it off!"

Bel gave his guardian a look that was clearly disappointed, but at the same time, there was also a look of fear buried beneath it. In a quiet tone that wasn't fitting for him, he said, "What's wrong with two guys being together, Squ…?"

The long-haired man ignored the question completely as he snapped back, "Are you a fuckin' fag, too, Belphegor?! You like that kind of shit?!"

The boy's response was whispered, and beneath his long bangs, his eyes gave away the insecurity he was feeling. "No… I like girls, too, Squ…"

"If I ever catch you with another male, I'll fuckin' skin you alive! It's fucking disgusting! I won't have any fags in my home!"

Bel looked away at these words. He was silent for several seconds before he said, "But you're still friends with Lussuria… I can have a boyfriend if I want one – I mean, I don't want a boyfriend, but if I did, I could!"

"If I ever found out you had a boyfriend, I'd beat you so hard, you'd be black and blue for the rest of your life!"

Bel didn't reply to those words; he got off the couch and went to his bedroom. Squalo shuddered as he grabbed the TV remote and changed the channel; he couldn't stop worrying about the possibility of his kid being gay – but the more he thought about it, the more he couldn't help but ponder if maybe… No! Squalo wasn't gay, and he would never give off any sort of vibe that could so much as influence Bel to want to be a homo. He was simply overthinking things; if anyone had encouraged Bel into wanting a filthy lifestyle, it was that fag, Lussuria. That's right; it was Lussuria's fault!

With a sigh, Squalo stood up and moved to the kitchen so he could pour himself a glass of wine; he needed a drink…

~~XX~~

"The fuck are you doing here?"

Squalo tried to blink away the double vision that was plaguing him. In a slightly slurred manner, he muttered, "Forget that; I need somethin' heavy; I'm all out."

Xanxus moved away from the door to let the younger inside. He looked the other up and down when the long-haired male stumbled and almost fell to the floor. "How much have you drank?"

Squalo shrugged. "Dunno… Just… Ahh, that fuckin' brat… Think he's a fag… Don't want him anymore… Gonna give him back to the adoption agency, I think…"

Xanxus said nothing; he just moved into the living room to sit back down on his favourite chair and resume stoking the flames in the fireplace. He looked at Squalo from the corner of his eye when he heard the younger sit on the couch and muttered, "You're an asshole to that kid lately. Don't know why the trash likes you so much with the way you treat him. If I were him, I'd loathe you."

"Voi! I treat him fine! Fuck you!"

The scarred male grabbed his phone from the side table next to his chair. He threw it at the younger before he said, "You used to. His Facebook says otherwise."

Squalo snorted. He made no effort to touch the phone, not caring enough to see what his friend was trying to tell him. "He's just attention seeking. Fuck him. I don't care what the little shit puts on there."

"Fucking trash, you are."

"Hey, let me stay here tonight." Squalo dropped himself onto the couch so he could lay down. "I don't wanna go home."

"Why the fuck should I?"

"Because I drove here smashed and hit somethin' on the way. You want me to die?"

Xanxus made an agitated sound as he got up from his chair and stomped out of the house so he could inspect the damage done to the other's car. Though he was pissed off to find the front of Squalo's Mercedes was indeed rather damaged, what made him really furious was the fact that the other's idea of parking was side-swiping his Lexus SUV and hitting his garage door.

It took an insane amount of self-control to contain the rage inside him at this discovery, and Xanxus had every intention of letting it loose on Squalo as soon as he had stepped back into his living room, but when he came face-to-face with the sudden depression that was etched onto the younger's face by now, he stopped. He remained still for several seconds before he reached out in silence and took Squalo's keys, but nothing else was said, not until the smaller male spoke in a defeated tone.

"Hey… Xanxus…"

Xanxus, who had gone back to his chair, turned to look at the other. He raised his eyebrow. "…"

"Do you ever…" Squalo's fingertips rubbed against the couch beneath him in an absentminded manner. "…Do you ever feel like… Like you're incomplete, or somethin'…? I just… I've been feeling so empty lately… Nothing I do makes it go away… I hate this feeling, Xanxus… I don't know what it is; it just… It's eating away at me…"

"…"

"Do you ever feel like that, Xanxus? Even a little?"

"No."

Squalo sighed. "All the alcohol, and the sleeping around… It doesn't work anymore… It used to numb everything… But I still feel as shit as ever…"

"Why are you telling me this shit?" Xanxus growled. "Don't expect fuckin' sympathy or whatever; all you're doing is pissing me off, shitty shark."

Squalo couldn't help but snort. "I knew it was useless… telling you about my problems… But even so… You're the only one I felt comfortable with telling…"

Xanxus shook his head. "Go to sleep; you're annoying, you piece of trash."

Squalo mumbled something unintelligible before he closed his eyes and passed out, too drunk to remain awake any longer. Xanxus remained sitting on his chair, just watching the younger; like Squalo's other friends, he too could tell that something was seriously wrong – he just didn't know what.

~~XX~~

When Squalo awoke the next morning, he was hit by a raging hangover. He groaned loudly as he slung his arm over his eyes, trying to block out the light from the window that was pouring over him.

"What the fuck…" Hesitantly, the man pushed himself into a sitting position so he could try and work out where he was; he wasn't on the floor of his house like he usually was after drinking so much, so… "Ah, fuck… Xanxus! Xanxus, you awake?!"

From somewhere in the house, Xanxus could be heard shouting back. "Shut the fuck up, trash!"

Squalo grunted as the pounding inside his head grew worse. He held his head in a feeble attempt at stopping it, but it was useless; he still felt as if he were about to throw up. He looked up only when he heard footsteps stop in the doorway of the living room, and part of him wasn't surprised to see a female behind him. "Fuckin'… Was she there while I was awake?"

"I hired her after you passed out, shitty shark; we didn't have a threesome, so shut the fuck up."

Squalo hissed back, but he left it at that; his head was hurting too much to argue. But a threesome with Xanxus… That didn't sound so bad… He could just imagine that rough voice calling out, and all of that muscle… No! Bad Squalo! Don't think such disgusting thoughts! It's the hangover talking!

"The fuck is wrong with you?" After letting the prostitute out of his home, Xanxus moved to stand once again in the doorway of his living room. "You spacing out or something?"

"Fuck you…"

"I'm getting food delivered; get yourself cleaned up and presentable." With that said, Xanxus left again so he could have a shower.

Squalo lay on the couch in misery for what felt like an eternity before Xanxus made another reappearance.

"Now that you're sober, you can tell me just how you plan on paying for the damage done to my car and garage door."

Squalo couldn't help but let out an agitated cry; it seemed that his life was progressively becoming suckier each passing day without fail.