Torn Inbetween
" Rudger, what's that sound? " Hakase's voice carried a worrisome tone as his blue hues turned to the Momentum reactor they were currently working on. Rex had been busying himself by scanning over a few documents filled with equations, data, and whatnot, however, even he turned to stare over to the Fudo's life's work. The blond man gave a soft chuckle as if nothing were wrong and gave a gentle tap to the control panel.
" You worry too much. I'm pretty sure that something is just loose in there, " as Hakase fretted over it, Rudger walked off in order to tighten the screw he believed was loose. The elder of the Goodwin brothers lifted up a screwdriver and started to tighten the bolt on the large machine. The sound was no longer there, and it saved the lead developer from succumbing to a more than certain heart attack or stroke. " Professor, you worry far too much, " he kidded as his smile returned back onto his face. See? All that worrying for nothing. Rudger walked off over back to his younger brother and employer, standing beside the spiky - hair scientist.
" I have plenty reason to worry, " Hakase smiled back, " If things went wrong, I wouldn't want to think about the consequences, " he admitted before turning his attention over to his younger assistant that was currently sighing in his relief. " Rex, I believe we're done here for the day. I would like to talk to your brother in private, he won't keep you waiting long, "
Rex gave a nod of his head as he smiled gently as well, " Brother, I'll wait for you at home, " he then decided, currently wanting to just head back to their apartment in Satellite instead of waiting around for the blond. When the two spoke about Momentum, it could take hours until they decided to just go home! However, Rex was unaware that they did more than just talk about science and physics. The younger Goodwin left the laboratory blissfully unaware of the current relationship Rudger and Hakase have been sharing for the past three months.
Almost instantly, when they were sure Rex was out of ear shot, their lips smashed together. Hakase's arms slinked around his assistant's neck and Rudger brought a hand to the other's side while his other trailed up Hakase's thigh and eventually settled on his rear to give it a small squeeze. Their tongues were fighting for dominance throughout the kiss until they finally pulled away, only for the dire need of air. " All day you keep me waiting ... " Rudger purred huskily as he lifted up the slimmer man to place him on a work table, albeit, a bit roughly. " When can we tell your wife about us? " he started to kiss and nibble on Hakase's neck, an obvious pleasure point for the man since it sent him into a fit of moans out of his ecstasy.
" S - she'll go crazy ... how am I supposed to tell her? " Hakase managed to answer as Rudger continued the torture to his erogenous zone by suckling and biting down into it. " Y-you'll leave a mark! " The two were usually very careful when they did anything, they didn't leave any "love bites" on the other for the sake of keeping their relationship a secret.
" Speak from your heart, " was Rudger's reply as he lifted up the other's hand to give a kiss to the back of it. " You can't deny yourself of what you truly want ... it only makes you miserable, " at the professor's silence, the taller man went on in his explanation. " Everything will turn out alright. It's good to do something for yourself for a change, Hakase, "
" You're right, but -- "
" When you leave her, we can get married, " Rudger then proposed. His lips were twisted in a gentle smile as he pulled out a small box from his pocket in order to give to the man below him. Placing it in one of his hands, Rudger awaited Hakase's reaction as the scientist opened it up. As was most likely expected, there was a ring sitting there. A golden one with a blue diamond sitting in the center, since Hakase mentioned it being his favorite gem when questioned about it weeks prior. Hakase supported himself by his elbows to sit up as much as he could on the table, eyes focused on the ring for a moment longer until he finally looked back up to Rudger in shock. " How about it? "
" ... The answer's yes, you hopeless romantic. " Hakase smiled in pure bliss while his lover took the initiative to lift up the ring and slide it onto his slender finger in order to make the engagement official. " With this ... I'm yours. My heart, body, and soul all belong to you, " It was needless to say what happened from there. The next hour was filled with nothing but pleasure and sin and they enjoyed every single second of it.
The feeling of bliss and happiness soon turned into dread upon his arrival home. He knew he had to tell his wife what he had been hiding from her for the past few months, she deserved to know the truth, but Hakase was so apprehensive about it. The woman was sitting peacefully on the couch when he arrived, eyes locked on the flat screen television hanging on the wall as she fed their infant son with a bottle filled with breast milk. She tore those chocolate colored eyes away from the screen to get a look at her husband, " You're late again, Honey, " Hana sighed in disappointment, having hoped she could have some time to spend with the man. Since Yusei was born, they never got any time together ... sure, they tried to make time for romance, but it was either Yusei or work getting in the way. Before Hakase gave his reply, she took notice to the new piece of jewlery that was now on his ring finger. Hm ...? Where was his wedding band? " Hakase ...? Where did you get that? " Hana questioned, pointing to the man's finger in curiosity. " Where did your wedding band go? "
Hakase dug a hand into his pocket to pull out the golden band that had been taken off for his engagement ring, " Here ... "
" Why --? " the woman questioned in shock.
" That's what I've been wanting to tell you ... I've been with someone else, " Hakase started off, however, he did not have the chance to explain whatsoever before his wife became infuriated.
" With who?! " she nearly screamed, causing the infant in her arms to begin crying. She paid no mind to him at the moment.
" Rudger ... " Hakase's response was feeble since he was expecting Hana to continue her yelling and not give him a chance to explain whatsoever. She had quite a temper, if it wasn't obvious.
" H - how could you?! " Hana screamed at the spiky haired man, causing him to flinch from surprise of her hysterical reaction. Out of both the feelings of anger and betrayal, her eyes became filled with tears which soon began to trail down her cheeks and land on her shirt. Hakase always hated seeing her cry ... but what he was hating the most was what they were arguing right in front of Yusei. He didn't need to be involved in this at all! Poor baby .... " Do I mean nothing to you?! What about your son?! What am I supposed to tell him when he gets older!? 'Daddy didn't care about you so he betrayed our family'? "
He didn't even get the chance to explain! Though her words cut through his heart like a knife. The man put his hands over his ears to try to block out her voice, a feeble attempt for he could still hear her very clearly. " I'm sorry ... " Professor Fudo started to repeat that phrase again and again to the raging woman as if she might actually forgive him for what he had done.
" Break it off or you're going to lose the two people that supposedly mean the world to you, " Without another word, she stormed off into her child's bedroom in order to place the crying baby boy down for his slumber.
In the hallway, Hakase was leaning up against the wall, eyes dead locked on the engagement ring he received roughly two hours ago with his eyes brimming with tears of their own. Break ... it off? He loved Rudger! For once Hakase felt like he was doing something for himself , to make him happy but ... the last thing he wanted to do was to lose his baby boy. He loved Yusei more than anything else in the entire world and ... no ... he just couldn't lose him. " I'm sorry ... I love you, Rudger, " Hakase whispered under his breath. He felt the hand with the engagement ring very tightly to his heart. It was decided. Hakase had to break it off with the man he loved for the sake of keeping his family together.
It wasn't his choice to make any longer.
That night was awkward ... to say the least. After putting Yusei to bed, something came over Hana, as if she needed to prove that she was better than the man her husband was having an affair with. As Hakase was coming out of the bathroom in only a pair of dark gray pajama pants and a towel on his wet hair, Hana was waiting there for him dressed up in a black see - through teddiette a female co-worker had given her as a gag gift in order to "keep Hakase's interest" ... as the co-worker had put it. The long brown hair she usually kept up with that light beige clip was now down and flowing over her shoulders, stopping about mid-way pass her average - sized chest. She was in a rather alluring position as she laid on the bed, beckoning almost any man who would see her to come to her without question. " H - hana? Have you been dipping into the wine? " was Hakase's natural response, seeing as his wife was always this innocent, traditional, kind of girl in bed. It was a surprise she would do anything like this for him.
" Of course not, " Hana said with a low purr. " If he could pleasure you ... why can't I? " she sat up on her knees, her arms squeezing those two soft mounds together.
A bright red flush appeared on the scientist's face, however, he turned away his gaze for the simple fact that he did not want to sleep with Hana after just accepting a proposal from Rudger ... regardless of his new found intention to break it off. It was the principle of the thing, even if it may sound a little complicated and contradictory. " I'm not in the mood, " was Hakase's fateful reply. That waas enough to set off the woman's temper, it was the last straw for her. Her attempts to prove herself as the 'better' candidate to fulfill her husband's emotional and sexual desires had failed upon hearing that one answer.
" And you would readily accept any offer from him would you?! " Hana hissed bitterly in return. She didn't even mention Rudger's name, merely referring to him held such venom and fury!
" Hana ... i -- "
" I don't want to hear your excuses! Why don't you want to have sex with me anymore?! "
" Hana, please don't do this ... " Hakase muttered in a feeble attempt to calm his wife down ; the last thing he wanted to do was say something he knew he would end up regretting later.
" Tell me why! Everything was fine before he started working for you! Everything changed ... why is that, Hakase? Dammit, answer me! " In her anger and sadness, her body was trembling. She desperately wanted to hear Hakase say how much he loved her like he had done practically every day of their marriage. For some reason he had stopped altogether five months ago, even before the elder Goodwin took the job opportunity to work by Professor Fudo's side.
" I don't love you anymore! " Hakase spat back almost instantly. There. The truth finally came out. Hana's eyes were widened with shock ; she had assumed the man as just needy for attention right now ... she didn't consider at all that she could have lost his love.
" How long ...? " was the obvious question Hana sputtered as she pulled a sheet over her body to cover up the lingerie she had put on for the sole purpose of pleasing the man before her.
" ... Five months, " Hakase tore his gaze away almost shamefully. He should have told her, he knew that ... but he didn't have the courage to do so up until this very moment. " I just looked at you one day, and it wasn't the same anymore. Rudger had nothing to do with it, "
" You bastard! " screaming, Hana grabbed the nearest object by the bed - in this case, a digital alarm clock - and hit Hakase right in his face with it. As he stumbled back a few steps, she discarded the device and aimed to hit him with her fist. He made no effort to stop her ; this was Hana's way of coping, with anger and lashing out ... She was usually this very calm woman who rarely became angry, but now, she was seething with fury. " I wasted five years with you! And for what?! For you to leave me for some man?! You insensitive bastard! " Hana screamed at the top of her lungs as she repeatedly striked at her husband's face, even after long - since drawing blood.
" ... I-I'll make it better ... we'll be a family, " Hakase replied in a low voice as he brought one hand to wipe away the blood dripping from his hair-line.
" You better! You'll lose Yusei if you screw this up! " Hana practically hissed as she finally drew her hand away from the man and took her place to lay on the bed. Hakase accepted the offer when she told him to lay beside her, and the rest of the night, and the morning that followed, was filled with a very awkward silence between the two that only Yusei's occasional crying and fussing could break.
If the Fudo wasn't already miserable enough as it was ... now there was a very painful conversation with Rudger to complete. It began with Rudger fussing over those newly formed cuts, bruises, and whatnot on the Professor's face that made him appear like he had gotten mugged or that he had gotten himself into a nasty bar fight. However, the blond was caught off guard when met with an icy exterior that his employer had never radiated before in the entire time they had known each other. Along with that, Rudger was also very shocked to see that the engagement ring he had given Hakase just the day before was now missing and replaced with his wedding band. Luckily, Rex was not here at the moment, so, it left them with room to talk to each toher freely about their relationship.
" Hakase ....? Where's your ring? " Rudger questioned as he pointed down to his lover's hand.
" I threw it in the garbage where it belongs, " Despite how hard it was to do something like this to Rudger, he kept that icy exterior up. It would make things easier to be cruel and heartless to the other ... it would be less painful for them both if they broke off their relationship hating each other. Or at least, it would be easier for Rudger if he hated Hakase.
" W-what?! " Rudger was downright appalled at hearing this. How could this possibly be? Hakase said he loved him and now ... " What are you talking about, Professor? " the man questioned in his disbelief. " Was it all a lie? " How could all those countless times Hakase said he loved Rudger be a lie? How?
" Yes, " his voice was monotone, devoid of any emotion as he turned his attention onto the work that needed to be completed on Momentum before the work day came to an end. " You were there, and I wanted sex. You're a fool to believe that I love you, " Hakase kept his back facing his assistant, for the simple reason that his expression could determine how broken up inside he was about this. His face was filled with the emotional anguish of giving up the one person he loved so much for the sake of keeping his family together and keeping himself from losing his beloved son. Such family loyalty was only bringing him misery.
" You can't do this --! " Rudger was about to yell but he was only cut off..
" I can and I will. You mean nothing to me, you're only an assistant and it's going to stay that way, " Hakase said in return.
" You're going to regret this ... I'll make sure you do! You'll regret it all and come back groveling for forgiveness and wishing you can take it all back, " It did not just stop there. Rudger was furious, he was hurt, he felt betrayed and used. He wasted no time in communicating those feelings he was holding so near and dear to his heart at the moment. " I'll make you regret it all .. then I'll take what's mine. Your heart, body, and soul, you promised it all to me and I'll take it! "
With that, Rudger stormed off. The next time the two met was the day the Zero Reverse occured.
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Author's note :: I decided to write an entire flash back chapter just to write about what the hell went on seventeen years ago. ~ It ended up longer than I planned ... owo AWESOME.
