A/N: Hey everyone, again, yes, yes, it's been a while. But there's a reason for that, for once. A couple of weeks ago I went on a very important holiday, to Vegas, to a little thing called MorrisonCon, where I met, yep, Gerard Way.
That man is honestly the nicest, sweetest, most humble and attentive person on this earth. I got the chance to sit and talk with him for 10 minutes, which was the most incredible and surreal 10 minutes of my life. To be able to meet the person who inspires me so much, and be able to tell him so was just... Amazing. To be able to say 'thank you', and hear him say thank you back...
It was an insane weekend, and I'm barely even describing the half of it, but yeah, to sum up, Gerard is fucking awesome (as is Mikey, my God, they are both... Wow.) And I will admit, for a little while I found it kinda hard to write about him (them!) But, finally the muses kicked in again and this chapter was finished in a matter of days.
As ALWAYS thank you so much for your reviews!
Gasoline Diamond: Oh you are really gonna want Saint Jimmy shot after this chapter... I'll make it worse by saying he is no where near done yet. Maybe someone could shoot him in the arm or something? I still need him :P
MyChemicalLoveAffair: Aww, what's pissing you off about Poison? (If it's about the way he's being with Ghoul... That might be explained in this chapter) But thank you, glad you're enjoying it :)
Anyway! Let's get to it shall we? So much happening, a couple of bombshells, maybe some thing people have been waiting for, somethings people were never expecting. I hope you all enjoy, and, as always, please review :)
The title from this chapter is, obviously, from 'Give me Novocaine'. It's not literal but... Well. You'll see.
Disclaimer: I may have met two of them, but I certainly don't own any of the boys ;)
Chapter 25 - Give Me Novocaine
When he heard the door creak quietly open, Party Poison opened his eyes. He realised he'd slept in, again, none of the others were in the room with him. He'd fallen asleep fully dressed, except for his jacket which laid crumpled at the end of the bed. He vaguely remembered shrugging it off and throwing it there.
He pushed himself up slowly, opening his eyes fully in time to see his brother walking into the room.
Kobra Kid gave him a small smile.
"What time is it?" Poison asked, looking for the windows he already knew didn't exist.
"Late." Kobra Kid replied, smirking a little as he saw Party Poison wince. "Why didn't anyone wake me?" Kobra Kid shrugged. "We didn't want-" He stopped abruptly when Poison shot him a sharp look. Kid sighed. "Poison… Stop that. I'm sorry we're being protective, I'm sorry if you feel like we're babying you, but we're not going to stop, alright? Not until we know you're okay. So just… Get used to it." Party Poison scowled at him, then softened. "I know. I'd be the same to any of you.""And we'd all be just as pissed off. We get it, Poison." Party Poison laughed lightly. "Yeah."
Then, suddenly looking slightly unsure, Kobra Kid sat down on the end of the bed. "But… Uh…" Party Poison watched him, waiting for him to carry on. "I'm sorry about yesterday. When you wanted to train and I held out on you. I… I know you just want to get back to where you were but I-""Don't worry about it, Kid." Poison told him, shaking his head. "I do know why."
Kobra Kid looked up again and smiled, happy to see his brother smiling back. For a second everything felt… Normal. Like it was before.
Not the before as in before Poison had been taken by Better Living, but the before before that.
They easily could've been sitting together, talking about a show, talking about a song Gerard was just starting to work on, or just simply talking about their day.
It suddenly struck Kobra Kid that he'd thought of his brother as 'Gerard' rather than 'Party Poison'. It'd been happening a lot, he realised. He'd have to be careful not to say it out loud, he wasn't sure on the reaction he'd get.
Kobra Kid shrugged. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter now, that I didn't step up. I mean, after Saint…" He trailed off. Another shrug. "Guess he isn't so bad after all."
Party Poison didn't reply to that. But the smile faded, and he looked away.
Saint Jimmy on top of him, holding him down.
"Isn't this familiar?"
Yes. Too familiar. He'd been so scared then, even though logic told him Saint Jimmy wouldn't do anything while the others were right there, watching. And he knew they wouldn't have just stood back and let it happen. He knew they'd help him. He knew Fun Ghoul especially would've been there the second he though Saint Jimmy was going to do something, he knew, after all.
Kobra Kid's words hurt. "Guess he isn't so bad after all"Even though Kobra Kid had no idea. As far as Kid knew, Saint Jimmy just liked taking little digs at Party Poison, he'd never actually done him any harm.
For the first time, Poison really wanted to tell someone. He wanted to tell Kobra Kid what'd happened, what Saint Jimmy had done. Kid was his brother, he'd never kept anything secret from him before, and it suddenly physically hurt to keep this from him. Some brotherly instinct kicking in, a need to talk to him.
But then another instinct kicked in. I need to protect, he didn't want Kobra Kid hearing what Saint Jimmy had done, didn't want him to know. Despite all the shit they'd been through, all the things they'd seen, Poison still felt the need to keep the bad things from his little brother, though he knew he'd seen too much already. Party Poison couldn't burden his brother with this, he just couldn't. And he couldn't stand the idea of making him worry more.
And just how was Poison going to explain that Saint Jimmy knew his name, how he'd given it up so easily?
He couldn't. So, he stayed silent, and Kobra Kid kept talking. "I mean, he helped get you out of Better Living. The drugs he's giving you to make you better, and helping you train and-" Kobra Kid stopped, abruptly then, as he saw Party Poison staring at him, eyes and mouth wide with shock.
Eventually Poison asked, "What did you just say?"
"What?" Kobra Kid asked, thrown by Party Poison's reaction. What'd he said wrong?
"The drugs, Kid!" Party Poison said, looking more agitated. "What did you just say about drugs?" Hesitantly, Kobra Kid replied. "He… He's been giving you drugs, pills. To help you, to make you stronger, make sure you don't go back under their…" He trailed off, then, looking at Party Poison, scared of the answer as he continued, "Has… Hasn't he?"
Party Poison shook his head, slowly. "No. No Kid. He hasn't."
Kobra Kid felt sick.
What'd he done?
"Kid." Poison said, his voice filled with urgency. "Tell me everything, what do you know? What do you know about these drugs?" Kobra shook his head, "Nothing! I mean… Not much. I… Saw him, he was… I don't know! He said he was helping you! He said if I told anyone what I saw he wouldn't be able to help you anymore and then we'd loose you again and I- Fuck!" Kobra Kid stood up suddenly, turning away from Party Poison, covering his face. How had he got this so wrong?
Party Poison stood too, went to his brother, a hand on his shoulder, "It's okay, Kid. It's fine." He assured. "You weren't-""Why did I trust him?" Kid snapped, at himself, not at Poison, though he moved away from him, the hand on his shoulder fell. And that was the real question, wasn't it? Why had he trusted him? Why had he listened to him, when he knew every instinct told him not to trust Saint Jimmy?
"Forget it, Kid. It's not important." Poison told him, firmly. "What is important is finding out what Saint is really up to."
But Kobra Kid was still too wrapped up in what he'd done, he'd screwed up. He'd never screwed up like this before. He'd been given vital information, and he hadn't shared it. He'd let them down. He'd let his brother down.
"I'm sorry Poison. I'm sorry. I should've told you… I. Fuck. What if I put us in danger? What if I put you in danger? I thought… I thought I was protecting you. I-"
He was cut off as he became aware of Poison's hands on his arms, grabbing him, turning him around. Then a hand under his chin, forcing him to look up, to look Party Poison right in the eyes, which were intense, focused. "Mikey! Stop it." He demanded. "Enough. Stop beating yourself up about this. We have other things to worry about, okay?"
And, slowly, Kobra Kid felt himself calm. He wasn't sure if it was the commanding sound to his voice, or the physical grab which had snapped him out of it. Or if it was the simple act of looking at his brother and knowing Poison wasn't mad at him and that they were going to sort this out. He was certain, however, that it had something to do with the fact that, for the first time in so long, his brother had called him by his real name.
Finally, Kobra Kid nodded, and Party Poison let him go.
"Let's go find Saint."
Saint Jimmy was outside, laying in the sun, he clearly didn't pay the slightest attention to the warnings that were often given. But that wasn't exactly surprising. Saint Jimmy rarely listened to anyone.
"Saint!" Party Poison called out, as he strode towards him, Kobra Kid just a step behind. Saint Jimmy opened one eye and turned his head. He grinned as he saw the Killjoy leader. He was certain he wasn't the only one who noticed the small wince Poison made occasionally as he walked, some wound or other stretching painfully as he moved. Saint Jimmy deigned to open his other eye, but didn't sit up. "Hey Cherry Top." He drawled. "Care to join me?" He asked, patting the ground next to himself. Party Poison ignored him. "Where are the drugs?" Still without sitting up, Saint Jimmy stared up at him, looking slightly surprised. "What drugs?" He asked, innocently. "Don't play cute, Saint, you know what I'm talking about." Then Saint Jimmy glanced at Kobra Kid. "Ahh, so Kiddie let the cat out of the bag, huh? Bad boy."
Party Poison kicked Saint Jimmy in the side, doing it gently so it was as if he was getting his attention. In truth he'd wanted to kick him hard for the way he'd just talked to Kid. "The drugs, Saint. Now!" With a laugh Saint Jimmy sat up, then sprung to his feet, standing face to face and close to Party Poison. He rubbed his side where Poison had kicked him, still smiling, "Ow." He said, simply. Then, "Okay. You want to know where the drugs are?" Party Poison continued to stare back, though watching carefully as Saint Jimmy's hand slipped into his pocket, pulled back out again, with his fingers curled around a small, instantly recognisable pot.
He held out his hand to Party Poison, the look on his face openly devious.
"And the rest, Saint." Party Poison said, simply. "Who says there's more?" Now it was Poison's turn to smile. "You're a dealer Saint. You're not going to make much with just that. Not when you're supporting your own habit too."
"The man knows business." Saint Jimmy said, almost approvingly. Then, "Okay, Cherry Top, follow me." And Saint Jimmy headed back towards the safe house, being careful to brush against Party Poison as he did, his hand purposely touching his leg, fingers grazing across his hand. Poison stepped back, and snatched his hand away sharply. Saw Saint Jimmy smirk at him, he knew exactly the effect he'd just had. Then he carried on walking, and Party Poison followed, again with Kobra Kid close behind.
The others had noticed something was happening by now, and they also followed, asking what was going on.
Saint Jimmy led them to the back of the diner, got down on the floor, pulled out the wood panelling at the base of one of the benches, stuck his hand in the hole inside.
Finally he stood up, another five pots in hand, a proud smile on his face. "Gotta thank you boys." He said, "This particular trip was very… Fruitful. Amazing what you can achieve when the powers that be are distracted by a bunch of rebels." The Killjoys stared at Saint Jimmy, confused, and, in the case of Jet Star and Fun Ghoul, shocked to see the pills at all. "Poison." Ghoul said, leaning in, "What's going on? What-""That's where you went." Jet Star said, flatly, causing the others to now stare at him, and Saint Jimmy to tip his head approvingly in Jet's direction. "Where he went, when?" Fun Ghoul demanded. "When we were getting Poison. After we let Poison down he disappeared. He wasn't gone long, so I didn't mention it, I figured he was outside checking the coast was clear." "And that's exactly what you were supposed to think." Said Saint Jimmy. "Of course, I didn't expect to slip away so unnoticed, I expected one of you to ask where I'd been, but thankfully you were all too distracted by the fact Cherry Top had opened his eyes. Very convenient."
"That's how you knew how to get in." Jet Star said. Then Fun Ghoul added, "You've been working for them all along. That's why you-" Party Poison grabbed his arm, squeezing tightly, but Fun Ghoul had stopped himself in time anyway, realising what he'd nearly blurted out. Saint Jimmy smiled, he knew what Ghoul had been about to say too. "You're all so fucking stupid. Didn't you hear me? I got the drugs while they were distracted with you. While the powers that be were busy panicking and trying to figure out why all the cameras to their favourite show were down, I was able to sneak in and steal the… Supplements. And, I promise you, anything I do, I do because I want to."
"You bastard." Kobra Kid snarled. "You used us, we thought you were helping us get Poison back when in reality you were just-""HEY!" Saint Jimmy interrupted. "I still helped get him out didn't I? I still risked my fucking life going back in to save this one, didn't I?" A tip of the head at Fun Ghoul now, and slowly Party Poison looked at him too. "You never said you were-""It was nothing, I was fine." Ghoul said, dismissively. "Yeah. Because you weren't about to be executed like a fucking dog at the feet of a Drac or anything, huh?" Fun Ghoul glared at Saint Jimmy. "That's enough." Poison snapped, stepping forward, closer to Saint Jimmy. "Aww. Protecting your boy, are you Cherry Top? That's adorable." Then, mirroring Party Poison, Saint also stepped closer. "You should ask him to show you what that Drac did to him, I bet it still looks pretty nasty." Barely reacting, though Saint Jimmy gleefully noted a flash of anger in his eyes, Poison simply repeated, "I said, that's enough." Then, he held out his hand.
Saint Jimmy stared at the hand, frowning, a little confused, then he smiled again as he understood what Poison was doing. Picking up one of the pots and shaking it slightly, a muffled rattle coming from it, "What? Want them?"
Kobra Kid instantly moved closer, "Poison, what're you-""Hand them over." Poison said, bluntly. Saint Jimmy's smile grew and then he nodded, in a way it was almost a bow.
One by one he placed five of the six pots in Party Poison's hand, the last he paused with, then held up in front of Party Poison's face, making sure he was watching. Then he reached forward, grabbing Poison's jeans by the front pocket, still keeping locked eye contact, Saint Jimmy slowly slipped the pot into the pocket, patting it before discreetly running his hand over Poison's thigh. "Tight fit." Saint Jimmy said, quietly. Party Poison didn't reply. But as soon as Saint Jimmy gave him enough room to do so, he stuck his hand into his pocket, adding four of the five pots in his hand to the one already in there.
For what seemed the longest time, he stared down at the pot in his hand. Then last time he'd touched one of these, it'd been to snatch them from someone and throw them away. The time before that, he'd been throwing them away for himself, the time before that he'd…
The Killjoys watched, confused, then scared as Party Poison took the pot, carefully popped the top off it, and then tipped the contents into his palm, gently nudging them with the tip of his finger, studying them, staring.
"Poison…" Fun Ghoul said, timidly. Please stop looking at them like that. Words he couldn't make himself say out loud.
"Tempted, Cherry Top?" Saint Jimmy asked, gleefully. He'd been watching Party Poison as closely as the Killjoys, but he was more than pleased by what he was seeing. "Go on." He urged. "Take one. You know you want to. Go on." He was closer, again. "You can get away from all that pain, I'm sure you're still hurting pretty bad, huh? I mean… The things they did to you… Nasty."
"Stop it, Jimmy." Rave finally piped in, she'd been watching, in horror as her past and present collided in an awful way. Saint Jimmy was just the same as he'd always been, and now he was going to drag Poison into that too. She'd heard all of Saint Jimmy's coaxing words before, he was using that same voice, his dealers voice, soothing, a promise of relief. "Poison, please." She begged. "You-" But Party Poison wasn't hearing anyone it seemed, wasn't reacting, wasn't responding. All he was doing was staring down at the little pills in his hand.
"It'd be nice to escape that pain, wouldn't it?" Saint Jimmy continued. "Escape the memories of that place.""He doesn't remember anyway!" Kobra Kid snapped. But it was clear it wasn't only Party Poison who wasn't listening, Saint Jimmy wasn't either. It was like the two of them were in a different room, separate, there was only the two of them. "You never know, Cherry Top," Saint Jimmy said, coming closer, lowering his voice so the others wouldn't hear. "Maybe you'll also forget what I did to you."
Then, finally, whispered right in his ear, "Forget what you gave me. Gerard."
Party Poison shuddered slightly, his eyes blinking fast, the first reaction he'd had since tipping out those pills.
None of them heard what Saint Jimmy said, but Kobra Kid decided Saint was far too close to Poison now, he moved forward, ready to push Saint Jimmy away, but Party Poison, sensing what Kid was about to do, held up his hand, pausing his brother.
For another, eternal second, with complete, tense silence from the others, Party Poison continued to stare.
Then, in one, swift movement, he threw the pills to the floor, grabbing the other ones from his pocket and tipping those to the ground too, he brought his foot down on them over and over and over, grinding the stuff into the ground, until there was barely even dust left, until there was hardly any trace of them at all.
Then he looked up, grinning, saw Saint Jimmy staring at the nothing at his feet, looking shocked, a blankness to his eyes that Party Poison had (apparently) been faking. "Congratulations, Saint." Poison said, happily, a hint of smugness to his voice, "You just took your first step to coming clean."
Slowly, Saint Jimmy looked up, and he looked furious, terrifying. "You are gonna pay for that." He snarled. The Killjoys instantly sensed what Saint Jimmy was going to do, they could feel his intent. They knew that if he got hold of Poison now, he was going to hurt him, really hurt him. Kobra Kid grabbed Poison, pulling him back, while he and the other Killjoys all got in between Saint Jimmy and their leader.
"You do not threaten Party Poison, you got that?" Kobra Kid snapped. "You will not touch him."
"We'll make sure of that." Fun Ghoul added, and Saint Jimmy smirked at him, though it faltered as he took in the rest of the Killjoys.
Saint Jimmy shrugged, then, pushing past Kobra Kid, he, once again, left.
No one spoke about the incident, partly because, although it'd ended well, it'd shaken them all. Party Poison was noticeably quiet, and, as soon as he'd been able, he'd slipped away. Though they all desperately wanted to follow him, they knew it was best not to.
Late that night, and still no sign of Party Poison. No one dared say they were worried.
Eventually it was Fun Ghoul who gave in, went looking for him.
Party Poison didn't know how long he'd been sitting there. He'd only meant to be gone a little while, thought maybe he could pretend he was getting something, that the small time alone with his thoughts would be enough to sort them, quiet them, and then be able to return, his mind more at peace and able to lift the tenseness that had descended on the group.
It hadn't worked out like that though.
And now here he still was, sat on the floor, back against the wall, his head tilted back and eyes closed. To anyone watching he'd look peaceful, but inside his head was the complete opposite.
Images of white walls and blinding lights. Of nasty smiles and shiny weapons. Feelings of people too close. A frame against his back, a floor against his back. Metal bonds round his wrists, a tight hand holding him just as still. The feel of pain both sharp and dull. The feel of a hand touching him and…
Memories getting mixed up, swirling in his head. Better Living. Saint Jimmy. Both memories he wanted to forget, but knew he couldn't.
Then the image of the pills in his hand. It'd been like all these years out in the zones hadn't existed, just for a second, he was back in that house, filled with false memories, a comforting cloudiness to his brain.
It wouldn't have hurt to take just one… Just one to get rid of all the aches, all the pains. He didn't mention it to the others, knew they'd get more protective of him if they knew. But he hurt. All the time. Some days he did just want to stay in bed all day, not move. But what sort of leader would he be if he did that?
It wouldn't have hurt to just take one. Would it?
Of course it would. Because it never was just one, was it? He didn't like to think about it, but he'd seen other rebels fall for the same thing. "Just one"They'd say "Just one. I'm bad today, really bad. I just need one, just to get me through today, I'll be fine tomorrow."
It never worked like that.
The others had all been watching him too. It would've killed them to see him succumb.
Even so, he'd been tempted.
He'd been glad he'd had the strength to destroy those pills completely, it wasn't just punishing Saint Jimmy.
He was protecting himself.
"Poison?"
Party Poison opened his eyes, bracing his hands against the wall, ready to stand, then he saw Fun Ghoul, walking towards him. He was holding his hand up, telling Poison it was fine, he could stay were he was. So Poison relaxed again, and watched as Fun Ghoul sat down next to him.
"What's wrong?" Ghoul asked, bluntly. Party Poison couldn't help but laugh. "Where do I start?"
"Okay. What's on your mind?"
That's the same question. Party Poison thought. But he didn't say that. He didn't answer at all at first, there were too many things he didn't want to talk about, too many things he was scared to talk about.
But there was one thing he wanted to talk about, and it was something he could only talk to Ghoul about.
He sighed, building the courage to start talking, to admit what he was thinking. Finally, he began.
"Just… For a second there. I thought. I thought there was a reason for… What happened." This was the other thing on his mind, and it was plaguing him as surely as anything else. Fun Ghoul frowned slightly, not quite getting it. "For what Saint did, you mean?" Party Poison nodded. "I just thought… If it'd been because of them, at least it would've been the whole fucking company I'd been up against." Now Ghoul got it, and he felt a horrible sinking feeling as Poison carried on talking. "Now I know. It was just him. And I lost." The next bit was so quiet, if Fun Ghoul hadn't been sat next to him, he knew he'd never have heard it. "Because I'm that fucking weak."
And with that, Ghoul's fears were confirmed, he'd known that was where this was going, though he'd hoped it wasn't. Ghoul had thought, when he saw Poison go up against Saint Jimmy earlier, seen him take away the one thing Saint Jimmy actually needed, he thought maybe Party Poison was getting past this. Now it looked like that wasn't true at all. "You really believe that, don't you?" Fun Ghoul asked. Without looking at him, Party Poison nodded. "Then I've gotta ask you something." Fun Ghoul tried to stay calm, but he knew he couldn't. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Poison flinched, but Ghoul didn't stop, he had to get through to him, somehow. If yelling at him was the only way to do it, fine. "You think you're so weak? That Saint's so fucking strong? You know what Saint really fucking is? He's a pathetic, scared piece of trash who can only make himself feel important through intimidation and assault. You, Poison, you are the strong-" Ghoul paused as he saw Party Poison bury his face in his hands, shaking his head more and more as Ghoul went on. "What?" Fun Ghoul snapped. "Why are you shaking your head?"
"Because it's not true." Poison said. Oh please, please don't be crying, please. I'm not trying to make you cry. Fun Ghoul silently begged. "Because I'm not-""What?" Fun Ghoul interrupted, not letting Party Poison say it. "Not strong? Not a fighter? Is that what you're saying? You're saying you don't fight every single fucking day? Are you trying to tell me you didn't fight him?"
"I'm saying it wasn't enough!" Now Party Poison looked up, he yelled back. For a second, there was fire in him. Only a second though. "And… After everything else… After what he did. I still ended up backing down. Submitting." Fun Ghoul's turn to flinch. That was one of Saint Jimmy's words. 'Submit'. 'Submissive'. 'Submitting'. Don't you dare start believing him, Poison. "He still got what he wanted. Still got my name, I know why he wanted it now. Power. He has his fucking power over me." He paused. He knew this was going to be difficult to say. "I might as well have let him fuck me. He still has the same hold over me." And that was exactly what Fun Ghoul had been scared of. "No." He told Poison, determinedly. "No! Poison. You're not listening to me!""No." Party Poison argued, just as surely. "It's you who's not listening. I gave in. I let him win. When he stopped, it was because he fucking felt like it." Fun Ghoul shook his head, and moved even closer. "I'll tell you what you did, Poison. You did what you had to, to protect yourself. And that is not being weak. And you know what? I watched you, minutes later, getting up, stepping up, being our leader again, burying everything, carrying on. That is strong. Now. What's it gonna take? What do I have to say, or do to make you believe me? You are the fucking rebel leader. You are better and stronger than anyone who to stupid or vain enough to challenge you. You defiantly survive Better Living, come back fighting. You are Party Poison and-"
He wasn't even thinking, one second he was sitting, listening, watching, the next thing Poison knew, he'd pushed Fun Ghoul up against the wall, and kissed him.
For an eternal second, they stayed perfectly still, like they were so shocked by what had just happened. Scared to move. Poison's hand on Ghoul's shoulder, their eyes closed, lips just barely apart.
Their hearts were pounding.
Poison hadn't realised he'd been holding his breath, he finally let it out, and Ghoul felt it against his lips, caught the taste of it.
Still not moving, or even opening his eyes, Poison said, quietly, "I- I'm sorry.""Don't be." Ghoul replied, quickly. It was nearly killing him to have Poison so close.
That was solved too soon when Party Poison finally backed away, sitting back on his heels, eyes open, wide, staring. Fun Ghoul opened his eyes just in time to see Poison lick his lips, obviously without meaning to, though the reason for it was clear, and Fun Ghoul couldn't help but copy him.
Party Poison's mind was racing, why had he done that? Why had he just kissed one of his best friends?
But Fun Ghoul wasn't just that, wasn't just a friend, wasn't even just a best friend. Suddenly a stream of images ran through Poison's head. Glances, smiles, kisses, some innocent, some not so innocent. And then… All the other stuff. Clothes hastily pulled off, hands roaming across skin, touches and moans and-
"I'm sorry." Party Poison hurried to his feet then rushed out the door.
Fun Ghoul stared after him, confused, oddly grateful for what'd happened, but also annoyed at Party Poison for doing it. For apologising for it. For leaving.
Party Poison didn't get much further than just outside the door. He was still reeling, not just from the kiss now, but from the realisation he'd had.
Suddenly, so much made sense. How nervous Fun Ghoul had been around him since he'd recovered, how protective, how he'd hesitated to touch him a few times, and other times couldn't stop touching him.
He'd known, somewhere, deep down, he'd known what was going on with Ghoul. He'd just thought…
Poison couldn't ignore it now, that kiss had proved too much, he knew he wasn't imagining it.
Fun Ghoul was… In love with him.
And the thing that had really taken Party Poison by surprise, though, really, it shouldn't have. He'd known. For longer than he'd care to admit, he'd known.
Poison was in love with him too.
Running a hand over his face, then pushing back through his hair, Party Poison glanced at the door, behind which Fun Ghoul was still sitting.
"Fuck."