To Fran's disappointment, it seemed that neither Belphegor nor Mammon had their phones on them as they hadn't replied back to the text he had sent two hours ago asking if he could come over. It had been an inconvenience as he really didn't feel comfortable being here while Xanxus was drunk, but he hadn't been bothered again by the man thankfully; the teen was almost sure that his guardian had disappeared somewhere in order to jack off to some porn, and it made him glad that the man still knew better than to try and rape Fran.

As he sat on his bed with his laptop open, Fran held a milkshake with one hand and typed away at the keys with the other. His attention was divided between sucking slowly at his straw and talking to Mukuro over Facebook; after telling him what Xanxus had done and that he couldn't get Bel or Mammon to answer their phones, the long-haired man had been concerned and wanted to come and get him. Finally, he could almost convince the older male that he was fine now and didn't need to be picked up; sometimes he felt that his long-haired friend worried too much about him.

'I think he passed out again somewhere,' Fran explained. 'He's not bothering me now. Thank you anyway, Master.'

'Are you sure?' The teenager could almost read the concern in the other's words, and it kind of warmed his heart to know that his big brother figure cared so much for him. 'You should not be alone with him if he could harass you like that. You will be safer out of there – at least until he sobers up.'

'I'm fine. I still haven't heard from Mammon or Bel-senpai, but if he does anything again, I'll tell you.'

'Alright, Fran. Be sure to let someone know.'

'I will. I think Mammon and Bel-senpai might be fucking again, Master; they both usually always have their phones on, and they can fuck for hours.'

'I do not need to know this, little one; it was bad enough hanging around them with Belphegor always trying to suck Viper's face off when we were teenagers and I really do not want to know about their private lives; I am blessed enough I was always able to leave the room whenever Belphegor got into Viper's pants .'

Fran hummed to himself at this. He knew that Mukuro was much more uncomfortable around intimacy than he was, so while the teenager had barely batted an eyelid whenever Bel got his way with Mammon and was able to mostly ignore it, Mukuro found it harder and a much more awkward situation. Fran couldn't blame him; Bel had no shame, and watching him go down on his girlfriend wherever he pleased was something the teenager could have gone without seeing. 'Sorry, Master.'

'It is okay.'

Fran scrolled through his newsfeed as he waited for Mukuro to finish typing out his message. There wasn't much of interest to him, so he instead turned to look out of his window and watched the trees sway with the strong winds. He sucked again on his straw before his attention was gathered by the soft ping his phone made.

Grabbing the phone from beside him, Fran opened the new message to find it was from Mammon.

'What's wrong?' the woman had asked.

'It's not important anymore. Don't worry.' After tossing the phone back down onto the mattress, Fran turned to read the message Mukuro had sent to him. He replied back, the man having asked him how he was going in general.

'I'm okay, Master.' Fran wondered if there was anything on his mind he wanted to tell the man. He felt rather okay, but Mukuro knew him well enough to know that when something was bothering the teal-haired male, the younger wouldn't open up without a bit of probing. 'I had tests all day at school but I'm otherwise okay.'

Mukuro was pleased by this response and begun telling Fran little bits of his own day. The younger was patient as he read everything that was typed and responded accordingly when he needed to. There was the occasional text from Mammon on his phone making sure that he was okay and nothing had happened; she had always seemed to have a sixth sense like that.

The sky outside became darker as the light in Fran's room faded until he eventually had to stand up to turn the light switch on. He walked over to his desk so that he could look out into the stormy weather, hearing the soft pattering of falling rain gradually getting louder until it was pouring heavily with the distant rumble of thunder.

Sliding the window closed, Fran went back to his laptop to strike up more conversation with Mukuro. He had been halfway through writing something before he looked up to find Xanxus standing in the doorway with red eyes fixed on him.

"Can I help you?" Fran blinked. He could see that Xanxus had slept away his intoxicated state as the man could actually stand without swaying and he had a more relaxed air around him. That was a good thing; the teen couldn't say he was extremely fond of drunken Xanxus.

"Light the fire and make me food," Xanxus demanded. "I want sirloin tonight."

Fran was used to being ordered around like this; he had never once heard the man say please, and sometimes he found himself wondering if the other truly did think he was above everyone and treated them like shit on purpose, or if he did have a bone that meant somewhat well in him. He didn't know, and he wasn't sure he would ever find out.

Clicking away at the keyboard once more, Fran explained to Mukuro the situation before he pushed the laptop away and stood up to do as told.

Back in the living room, Xanxus sat in his favourite chair before kicking his feet up on the coffee table. He watched Fran throw some kindling and firelighters into the fireplace grate as he listened to the thunder rumbling softly outside. Sneering at this, he said, "I bet that prince trash pissed his pants when he realised there was a storm coming. Stupid scum pissed all through his bed in the first week we had him because he woke up and there was a storm. So the slut let him sleep with us, and a few hours late we both woke up covered in the trash's piss, too. That was the one and only time he's been in my bed; if the piece of shit was too scared to sleep by himself, I'd kick the slut out of my room for the night after I was done fucking him."

Fran didn't reply to this; he just grabbed the fire iron and lighter, starting the flames. He did like Xanxus, but sometimes he wished the older male was just a bit nicer to him and Bel. He had once been questioned by someone from his school how he could stand to live in this house due to everyone somehow knowing what went on – he couldn't be sure, but he believed it was because everyone knew of Xanxus and his reputation since his adoptive family had so much influence and power in their community. He had replied that he thought the environment was normal, and that he was used to it and was much happier there than he had ever been elsewhere. He didn't understand why he had been given a look of pity before the other student left him alone; after all, why would he be pitied for something that was normal?

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Fran tossed a log onto the fire before standing up. "Sirloin?"

"Damn straight." Xanxus watched the other leave before slumping back in his chair and closing his eyes. He remembered what he had done earlier in the day, after he had gotten drunk; he knew he shouldn't have harassed Fran like that, but damn did that kid have a nice ass; it was rather feminine, a nice change to Squalo's own. He hadn't been able to help himself, despite having never looked at Fran in that way before – then again, he had never looked at the boy's ass before.

It was no secret Xanxus was getting bored of Squalo. Squalo knew it, Fran knew it, and even Mammon and Belphegor knew it, and the blond hadn't been living here for two years now. None of them knew what Squalo had done for the man to change his feelings, but nothing the long-haired male had done could truly have been the cause; Squalo loved Xanxus with all his heart, put up with abuse and mistreatment, and did everything for the man – so why was Xanxus starting to turn on the younger?

"Fucking trash..." Xanxus kicked at the coffee table, deciding it was Fran's fault he was confused – well... Fran and Squalo's fault.

~~XX~~

Having checked into his hotel late at night, Squalo sighed as he threw his bag carelessly onto the ground. He then carried himself towards the bed and dropped onto it into exhaustion before rolling onto his side and gripping the thick blanket. He frowned as his dark eyes looking longingly at the side Xanxus always slept on; what he wouldn't give to have the man here to snuggle in against the same way he used to all those years ago – now, he would be lucky if his lover would even let him into their bed.

"Stupid asshole..." The long-haired man rubbed at his bruised cheek as he remembered how Xanxus had hit him earlier. He couldn't deny that it hurt greatly to have the stronger male abuse him on occasion, but he would let it slide each and every time; it was nothing he couldn't handle, and the man had yet to truly beat him – if it would ever come to such serious matters, then Squalo would reconsider his relationship. "I hate that I love you so much..."

It had been a while since Squalo had felt truly happy with Xanxus, but he did love the man more than anything; he just knew that Xanxus didn't happen to love him back. Sometimes he considered leaving his partner, but the thought of not having the older male by his side scared him – even here in Sweden, it was killing him to be apart from his lover like this.

Rolling onto his other side, Squalo tugged the blankets out from under him, preparing himself for sleep; he was tired from the flight, and the stress that had been undulating because of his relationship was too much for him.

"He'd better at least behave for Fran..." Squalo snorted to himself, knowing the teenager would probably give Xanxus a run for his money. Closing his eyes, he fell asleep almost instantly.