I'm gonna finish this damned story if it kills me, which it might!
Sorry, the chapters SO long, but i didn't know where to stop =].


Slowly, over time, Moon began to notice his friendship with the young fop taking a new turn. Vince seemed even more obsessed with cuddling up to him which had eventually led to him widening his sofa so that they could both lie on it comfortably. The younger man had even started to move his own stuff into Moon's. Moon was furious when he walked into the living room one morning and tripped over an easel that Vince had left there. He'd promised himself he'd tell the younger man to get it out of the house next time he saw him.

Vince would go to Moon's house almost everyday without fail. Often under the cover of darkness or at times when the rest of the Stepford town were eating or at the assembly hall for the Borsch twins most recent dreadful dancing.

"Where are your parents?" Moon asked, one afternoon whist relaxing on the sofa and reading the newspaper he'd requested Vince bring with him.

"Hmm?" Vince asked looking up from his easel, bloody thing was still there. How many times had he asked him to move it now? Four? Five?

"Where are your parents?" he repeated.

"Oh, there's a concert down the school. It's like a singing competition or something. People you don't like murdering the songs you do."

"Sounds fun."

"Mmm." Vince muttered, chewing thoughtfully on his paintbrush.

"What are you painting?"

"You just wait and see."

"I don't want to wait." Moon frowned, clicking his fingers so that the painting disappeared and reappeared in his own hands. He was gob smacked.

"That's… I mean it's… wow." he breathed, looking up at Vince who'd turned beetroot red.

"You like it?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Vince smiled as the portrait of Moon reappeared on his easel. He carried on painting but he was quickly aware that Moon was staring at him. "What?" he asked without looking round.

"Nothing, just… thanks."

The younger man's eyes flicked to Moon and back so quickly it was hardly noticeable and although he said nothing, the smirk on his face told Moon everything he needed to know.

Moments like that were why Vince would keep going back. Moments like this were why he thought he should keep away:

It had been like it always was. There was the quiet comfortable atmosphere that Moon's house had. Moon was reading the paper. Vince was fiddling with all the things in Moon's house, like he always did. They were magic and he was drawn to things he didn't quite understand.

"Be careful Vincent." Moon warned, as Vince picked up a little ornament and twisted it around in his hands.

"I am." But Moon couldn't relax, he kept watching to make sure Vince hadn't broken anything yet. "Don't you trust me?" whinged Vince.

"No."

The younger man pouted immediately, "But I wont break it and even if I do… you can just make a new one."

"That's not how you should look at it." scowled Moon, getting up and ripping the ornament out of Vince's hand and replacing it on the mantelpiece.

"Boring." Vince smiled cheekily, picking up another one.

"Vincent. Put it down!"

"Calm down, calm down." he laughed, putting the ugly glass monument back and smirking as Moon leapt out of the seat to check it thoroughly, very thoroughly. In fact, by the time Moon had looked up, Vince had disappeared.

"VINCE!?" he yelled. "VINCE?! Where are you?"

The clicking of boots on wooden floorboards from above his head gave him the answer. Moon crashed up the stairs and found Vince in the attic. The younger man was gazing longingly at a large blue orb floating in the middle of the room. All around the wall were hundreds of mirrors each one with the name of a different villager underneath it. Some of them were shiny and new, others were dusty and dirty - old looking.

Vince was staring at the one with his brothers name underneath it 'Antony Noir'. He watched as Antony strolled confidently around the courtroom talking about what was morally right. Next to it was his sister's 'Shelly Gardner'; she was just sat watching television. Vince looked around him. They were all there; Borsch twins, vicar, teacher, butcher, van driver, shop owner… everyone. Vince took a step backwards and suddenly found himself toppling backwards. He was heading for that menacing looking blue orb; he didn't know what would happen, but he knew it wasn't good. His head hit the orb and a freezing cold overcame him suddenly. The air seemed to be sucked from within him. It was dark and empty. There was nothing. Just nothing. Endless nothing. Was this... was this death?

Then he felt something tug on his ankle. He felt the cold disappearing and he was suddenly in Moon's strong arms, holding him close. Vince could feel the older man's heart pummelling against his rib cage. They were so close. Vince gazing gratefully up at the older man; he buried his head in his chest and let out a long sigh.

"Oh my god!" breathed Vince. "What was that?"

"Get out." Howard said calmly, he seemed to mean it but he hadn't let go.

"what?" Vince asked, looking up confusion etched on his pretty features.

"Get out."

"But?"

"OUT!"

Vince ran. Ran. Confusion overcoming him.

That evening Moon apologized in dream form ("I was scared." He admited "I thought i'dlost you."). Vince easily forgave him and Moon felt guilty, which made Vince laugh, then Moon had laughed and they went back to being friends.

--

"When's your birthday?" Moon had asked one evening, after Vince had crept across 'the bridge' and made himself at home lying the floor with a huge pile of sweets, which he'd asked Moon to conjure up for him. "it's soon isn't it?"

"Tomorrow." Vince nodded, pushing the sweets around to make a smiley face.

"Tomorrow?" Moon exclaimed, "what do you want?"

The younger man shrugged. "I've asked for a car but… I don't think I'm going to get it."

"No, from me."

"What?" Vince asked, turning to look at his friend.

"What present do you want from me?"

"Nothing. You've already done enough." he smiled, pushing himself up off the floor and landing softly on the sofa next to Moon. "You let me escape from my family. That's the best present ever."

"So you don't want that?" Moon asked, as a silver pendant hung in the air like an orb. "Or that?" he asked as another one joined it. "Or that? Or this? Oh, what about that one?" Within seconds hundreds of pendants and clothes were floating slowly around, as though they were on a midair conveyor belt. Vince's jaw dropped open and Moon smiled leant in close to Vince and whispered, "Choose one then."

Vince shook his head slowly. "I just want to watch them floating." he smiled, suddenly snuggling up to Moon, resting his head on his broad shoulder.

The older man stiffened immediately. He felt totally uncomfortable. He'd have thought by now he'd have gotten used to random cuddles off Vince. It wasn't that he didn't like Vince leaning on him and cuddling him, or zipping and unzipping his jacket because 'zips are fun'; it was just, he wasn't used to it. He wasn't used to people and he still struggled with human things like the concept of sarcasm, which Vince thought was hysterical.

"Howard." he whispered contentedly as a white boot floated gently past their faces.

"Yes."

"Relax a bit." he smiled, pulling Moon's strong arm around his shoulders. Then he started giggling.

"What?"

"I was just thinking… if my dad saw me now, he'd be furious."

"Oh."

"But it's okay, you could zap him couldn't you. Or magic up a dragon and get it to eat him."

"I could kill him if you wanted." Moon said with brutal honesty.

Vince didn't really know how to react to that, so he just laughed a little nervously. "But you wouldn't, would you?"

"I'll do whatever you want."

"Could you make me a bouncy castle?"

"Yeah, if that's what you want me to do. Like I said, whatever you want."

Vince shifted slightly so that he could look at Moon.

"You're mad, you know that right?"

Moon just smiled mysteriously as a pendant flew past.

--

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR VINCE,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU."

Vince blew the candles out and the whole village cheered. The town hall was packed; full of family and family friends and nameless, faceless people that Vince didn't care about. Vince had begged Moon to come to the party but he had looked at him with an expression similar to that of someone who's just been asked to donate a kidney and told him he was completely mad. Vince had sulked and pouted in the corner until Moon had apologized by conjuring up Mick Jagger and forcing him to play a few songs for Vince. Vince had gawped and, when it was over, had thrown himself at Moon making them both crash to the floor in a heap.

Vince was laughing hysterically and even Moon chuckled to himself, though his back was throbbing from the sudden impact. He reversed their positions and tickled Vince until he was screaming for mercy. Eventually, they fell quiet, the silence punctuated only be tiny little bursts of giddy laughter. Neither of them moved; Vince on the floor with Moon above him. They gazed at each other. It was just them, nothing else matter. It was all about…

"Oi. Mate. You gonna pay me or what?" They both looked up to see the ageing rockstar looking pretty angry. Moon got up angrily and clicked his fingers and Jagger disappeared.

Vince thought it was the best birthday present ever and he didn't just mean seeing Jagger.

"Are you alright darling?" asked his mum, when he was sat on a chair, watching the rest of the village enjoying his disco.

"Hmm, yeah. Great party. Thanks mum."

"You don't seem to be enjoying yourself."

"I am."

"Don't lie to me. What's up?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Come and dance then."

"Mmm. In a minute."

He didn't move. It wasn't that he wasn't grateful. He was, but he didn't fancy dancing with all these people that he didn't know. Besides, he was still remembering his morning with Moon. He was sure something had happened between. He felt confident that that silence had been loaded with something? There'd been a spark, he knew it.

"What are you doing you ungrateful git?" scowled Antony sitting down next to him. "Mum spent ages organising all this. The least you could do is pretend to be enjoying yourself."

"I know. I am trying."

"Try harder!" he hissed, fully prepared to storm off when Vince's quiet voice stopped him.

"Antony?"

"What?"

"How do you know when you're in love?"

"What?" his brother guffawed

"How do you know?"

"What's all this about? I haven't seen you talking to anyone. You have to get to actually know someone before you fall in love."

"But what if I was talking to someone and you just didn't know about it?" Antony fixed his little brother with an incredulous expression.

"You keeping secrets Vincent?"

"Not really."

"Because you know what this towns like. Nothing stays secret for long."

"Rubbish. You lot only see what you want to see."

"So you do have a secret."

"No." lied Vince, quickly regreting asking the question.

Antony frowned, clearly confused. Then again everything his starry-eyed brother did confused him. "You're a freak." he concluded. "Go and dance with Elisa, mum says you fancy her."

Vince just sighed and with painstaking effort plastered on a smile and put on a big 'look at me, I'm enjoying myself' show for everyone involved. He danced with Elisa, who, apparently, had managed to develop some kind of crush on him, when she leant in and tried to kiss him. He'd managed to dodge it skillfully and make it look like part of the dance, saving them a potentially embarrassing situation. Then he'd requested a song. He'd danced to Saturday Night and he and in the melee of the Macarena, he'd slipped out and ran away.

--

Moon opened his door before Vince had even reached the path. He didn't stop to ask how Moon had known he was on his way, he already knew; "you been watching me in your little mirror thingy?" he asked happily, stood in the middle of the living room, hands on hips.

Moon said nothing. He didn't even acknowledge the younger man's presence.

"Oi!" Vince said, prodding Moon gently on the shoulder.

"What?" Moon snapped. Vince jumped.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. Question is, why did you leave your party?"

"I was bored."

"Bored?"

"Yes." Vince frowned, Moon was acting strange. Each word he spoke was loaded and he seemed angry. Really, really angry. "Have I done something to upset you?" he asked, when Moon had stood up as he'd tried to squeeze onto the sofa with him.

"No." Moon replied too quickly and too loudly.

"What have I done?"

"You could have told me you were in love." Moon said bitterly. Vince blushed furiously. "I thought we we're friends. I though friends told each other stuff like that."

"We're are friends." Vince reassured.

"So, why have you never mentioned Elisa?" Elisa? What did she have to do with… oh.

"We didn't kiss."

"I know that."

So what was Moon on about, and then it hit him. Antony. "Have you been eavesdropping on my conversations with my big, stupid brother?"

"No." Moon lied.

"You want to ignore him. He thinks Elisa is the only person who'll even put up with me."

"You said you were in love."

"No, I said I didn't know if I was… anyway, not with Elisa. She's not my type."

"She's pretty."

"Not my type." Vince repeated, relaxing back in the sofa and tapping the vacant space next to him. Moon begrudgingly sat in the space and allowed Vince to snuggle up to him again. He was beginning to get used to all this attention. He was even starting to enjoy it. "Anyone would think you were jealous." grinned Vince.

"Don't be ridiculous." scorned Moon but deep down, Vince was right. He had been jealous but why? What of? It was stupid.

--

They'd been lying peacefully for a while when Vince spotted something on the mantelpiece. He leapt up and ran to the object. A snow globe. He picked it up and peered in at the figure inside, who looked strangely familiar.

"Is this me?" he asked.

"No." Moon blushed suddenly.

"It is, isn't it?"

"No." Howard clicked his finger behind his back. "It's this house."

Vince looked again and sure enough inside was the black tiles and crooked chimney of the house.

"You've done some of your voodoo." cried the younger man, "That was me! Or it was someone."

"No, it's always been the house."

"Whatever." Vince turned the snow globe upside down, covering the model house in fake snow. "I love snow globes." he smiled, "this one's beautiful."

"You think that's good, look out the window."

Vince frowned and walked curiously to the curtain and pulled it open slightly. It was snowing.

"Oh my god!" he gasped. "but it's he middle of summer."

"And you made it snow."

"Oh my god, do these snow globes…?"

"Yeah, watch this." Moon smiled creating a new one with himself in, he turning it upside down and the floor around Moon was suddenly littered with specs of snow.

Vince jaw dropped, he shook his own globe again and looked out the window as more snow began to fall."Can we go outside?" he asked.

"People might see us."

"So?"

"I don't… I'm not…"

"What?" urged Vince.

"You wouldn't mind people knowing you were at my house?"

"Don't be ridiculous." laughed the younger man, leaping up from his chair and grabbing Moon's arm dragging him towards the front door. "Anyway most of them are at my party."

"Look, Vince. I'm not really sure if…"

Moon was cut short as Vince swung the door open and danced out into the snow. He twirled around, the snowflakes landing in his black hair and catching on his long eyelashes. His red boots creating footprints in the freshly fallen snow.

"Howard, come on." moaned Vince, sticking his arms out and gesturing for the older man to join him. "You can't just hide in that house forever. Come and dance."

"Don't be silly, there's no music."

"So make some. You're magic. Aren't you?" Vince smiled, walking over to him and taking him by the hand.

"I…"

"Please Howard, dance with me." begged the younger man, tugging gently on Moon's arm.

"We need music to dance."

"I'll sing." suggested Vince.

"No," laughed Howard, "I've heard you singing. Let's try this." he lifted his hand gently and touched Vince's temple. Suddenly, the younger man could hear the most beautiful music. He looked around as though searching for what produced it. "Is that better?" Howard whispered, his hand still resting gently on the younger man's cheek. He nodded mutedly and suddenly kissed Moon swiftly, before stepping back into the snow and twirling around. Moon just stood routed to the spot, his fingers going instinctively to his lips as he watched the young fantasist rocking his hips in time to the music in his head. He looked around, no one else seemed to be outside so he took a deep breath and stepped into the garden. Vince looked up at him and smiled, taking him once again by the hand and pulling him in close. Moon felt a little awkward, but he felt a strange warmth flowing through him, culminating in his chest as Vince rested his head on his shoulder.

Vince made a soft murmuring noise and Moon smiled as they rocked gently to the music that only one of them could hear. The snowflakes were landing in their hair. It was perfect.

"VINCENT!" screamed a high pitched voice.

"Ahh." Vince dropped to his knees, his head pounding. It felt like feedback reverberating around his brain or that sound of a really big folk scraping on a really big plate.

"Vincent!" came his mothers screachagaincausing another white hot flash of pain through his skull. His teeth mashed together and he punched the ground, desperate to relieve the agony.

"Stop it." Moon shouted at Mrs Noir, "Stop it, your hurting him."

"You get away from him. You better not have touched him. Murderer."

"Shut up, you old bat." Moon yelled, dropping to his knee's to examine the man who was in pain.

"Howard." Vince whimpered from his heap on the floor. "Howard. Stop it hurting."

"GET AWAY FROM HIM! MURDER. MURDER." Mrs Noir screeched, causing her son to squeal again.

Moon touched Vince's temple and the pain was gone. The blissful release causing the younger man to collapse sweatily on to Moon.

"What was that?" he whispered.

"I put magic in your head and when something from outside my land reached it the magic shattered. I'm sorry. You okay now?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." he pushed himself up so that he could bury his throbbing head in the crook of Moon's neck. Moon put his arms around him, trying to ignore the growing crowd at his gate.

"Vincent Noir." barked his dad, Vince lifted his heavy head and looked over his shoulder. There were his parents looking furious as well as his Gran, the vicar half the school children, the local school teacher, the milkman, policeman, fireman, his brother and sister, everyone who was at the party. "Vincent! Get away from that man! He's a psychopath."

"You better go." whispered Moon, detaching himself from the younger man.

"I don't want to." was the strangled reply.

"I know but you…"

"But I think I…" Vince cut in, turning so that their eyes met. "I think I love you."

"Don't be ridiculous Vincent. You're nineteen. You don't what love is."

"Does anyone?"

"I will."

"You will. What does that mean?"

"VINCENT."

"Go." hissed Moon.

"I don't…"

"GO!" he shouted. Vince jumped violently and scrambled away across the no longer snow-covered ground and ran to the gate, as soon as he'd left the garden his mother grabbed him and slapped him hard across the face. The pain struck like lightning.

"Don't you dare go there again! You hear me!"

Vince looked around to see the villagers starting to launch stones and bricks or anything else they could find at Moon.

"Stop it." he yelled, "Stop throwing stuff at him."

Moon glared at them and hissed recoiling, almost animal like, towards his house.

"Yeah! Get back in there you monster!"

"Murderer!"

"Rapist!"

--

"Did he touch you?"

"What?"

"Did he make you do… anything? Anything you didn't want to do."

"…"

"Vincent?"

"…"

"Vincent?"

"…"

"Vincent!"

"What dad?!"

"Did he hurt you?"

"No! He would never hurt me. He cares about me."

"I knew you were a bit deluded Vincent but I didn't realise you were so brainless boy."

"I'm not a boy anymore dad. I'm a man and I can do what I want."

"If you believe that, your more foolish than I thought."

"How Dad? How is that even possible? You seem to think I'm the worst thing on the planet."

"No! He's the worst thing on the planet." his dad shouted, pointing uselessly in the general direction of Moon's house. "You're just a poor misguided child."

"I'm not. A. child!" Vince yelled, then he turned and ran up the stairs in floods of tears. He legged it into his room and threw himself down on to the bed. How had he got himself into such a hopeless situation? How had he allowed himself to fall for Moon? And why, why did he tell him he loved him? He didn't even know for sure. He couldn't know for sure.


Thanks for reading!!

Sisi...xx