OK guys, it's here. Please don't ever think I'm not going to finish this story. It's just that my free time is a little on the lean side these days.

The words forming seemed utterly alien to Jackson and he couldn't help his heavy blink as Aaron paused in his story. At some point, the younger man had backed himself into the corner of the van seat and detached himself from Jackson's hand. Jackson hadn't stopped him. He was struggling to look at Aaron, whose words contradicted what he knew of him. Aaron, a manipulator? Aaron, someone who could use sex to exact revenge? The kid he'd met less than a year ago was not the man of this tale. That kid could barely cope with a kiss, this man openly sought sexual encounters.

He spared a glance at Aaron, who looked back, his eyes wide. "Say something."

Jackson couldn't, he was still sifting through the information.

"Prison sounded awful." He could have kicked himself for his ridiculously understated comment but then Jackson didn't know what else to say. At least, Aaron didn't answer it with an incredulous response. "I'm sorry about everything that's happened to you."

"But what about what I did?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean everything." Aaron bit on his bottom lip. "I became a sordid little prison bitch."

"No, you didn't."

"I didn't? I tricked a man and I did it by allowing him to shove his cock up my arse."

This language was shocking to Jackson; when had it so openly entered Aaron's vernacular? How had he gone from that scared guy too afraid to utter anything that even alluded to his sexuality to one sitting in his van churning out vulgar terms through gritted teeth? But then Jackson knew the answer, knew it because he'd just spent the last hour listening to the horrific details. He reached out a hand, "You did what you had to."

Aaron snorted and pulled away.

"So, what happened next. Did Daniels come after you?"

There was a pause, "No, he didn't come after me. He came looking for me. He was scared, I'd only ever seen that expression on his face once, after Simmons attacked me. He had no idea I was even behind it."

"So, what happened?"

Aaron's head dropped to his hands. "I was in the library storeroom. I'd been keeping away, terrified at what I had done and what would happen next. Ironically, my counsellor had finally asked me to compile that list of 'things I'd hoped to achieve upon my release' and there was no paper in the printer. I'd been given permission to go to the store room. I have no idea how Daniels found me there."

"Aaron." Fear leapt to Aaron's heart the minute the heavy storeroom door was pulled closed and Daniels uttered his name. He turned to find Daniels was moving back and forth around the five-foot squared room, his expression was one of panic.

"What's wrong?" The words barely formed.

A sudden roar escaped Daniels lips and he smashed a fist against a metal-rimmed shelf lining the wall. The crashing rattled loudly in the confines of the room.

"He's done it. I don't know how but he's done it." There were gasps and stuttering and a fleeting look of madness on Daniels face.

"D-ddone whhat?"

Another fist flew into a shelf and blood bubbled up from the grazes on Daniels knuckles. "That bastard, he's done it. He's got to Louise, he's got a video of you and me."

"What?" The door was blocked by Daniels large frame as he crashed his head back against the wall.

"Her solicitor has just showed some stills. It's you and me in the library. It's me fucking you!"

This was it, the moment that Aaron had envisioned, the result that had begun this spiralling sequence of events. Aaron didn't like the fear he felt, it didn't match his expectation, didn't fit the image he had when all this began. This was about sending a message, getting his revenge, gloating glaringly as Daniels fell apart. He wasn't meant to be cowering in the corner, wasn't meant to be terrified.

Daniels was still talking, "I don't know what she's gonna do. What is she gonna do? She's gonna leave me, I know it, I know it!"

Even now, Daniels had no idea. He was looking to Aaron for help, just like one would from someone they considered their partner. For a moment it made Aaron smile, made him forget what all this was about. In that moment he part-compartmentalised his actions and just wanted to reach out to the man that had become everything to him.

"It will be OK."

Daniels looked at him like he was out of his mind, "How will it be OK?"

"I don't know." Aaron stepped forward, he pulled at Daniels' arms, "It's OK."

"She's all I've ever known, we've been together since we were kids."

"I know."

He was three people right now. The first was a terrified kid, looking for escape. The second, a man intent on protecting Daniels, who felt overwhelming emphatic desperation. And finally, a creature full of contempt. This creature had done this, he had achieved this. He was all powerful, he was now God and Daniels was just a scared creature moments from drowning.

Daniels pulled away. "I'm gonna get the fucker, I'm gonna fucking kill him." Bared teeth and wide eyes shone. "He ain't getting his hands on her. I'll fucking kill Stalk before he gets his hands on her. I'll kill her as well."

Watching the other man turn red with fury, Aaron suddenly felt a sense of self preservation. He'd never really experienced it before, always running head first into any dangerous situation with little regard for his life. It would have been simple, so simple just to allow Daniels to continue with this tirade. To let him run off and find Stalk, to watch him rip him to shreds and deny any involvement. Aaron almost laughed. What was he anyway? What was he to be saved and protected? What was he? He was nothing and to remain silent would mean returning to that snivelling creature he'd become.

He'd set out on this mission, he'd started the ball rolling. When God flooded the earth, he didn't hide away, didn't panic in the corner regretting his decision. He stood proud, that's what Daniels said. He said that all those people had understood exactly what was happening.

They'd understood and that's exactly what was going to happen now.

Aaron swallowed, "It was me."

There was this sort of dazed look to Daniels' face that instantly replaced the anger. He blinked each eye in succession and then again, as if the second time he was trying to synch the movements.

Aaron pushed himself from the wall. "I set it up, I told Stalk where to find us." His heart thudded like a ball bouncing between the confines of a tight space. "I knew he had the video camera, I gave him Louise's address from one of the envelopes in our cell."

There was a slight jerking to Daniels features, maybe a thousand tiny currents of electricity surging through him. "Why?"

This was it, the moment Aaron had been waiting for. The big question. The big reveal. This moment required attitude, it required style, the perfect one-liner otherwise nothing had changed. He squared his shoulders.

"Because you fucked with me and nobody fucks with me."

Normally, when such a perfect line is uttered in a film, that's the end. The point when the protagonist has won. The bad guys never get up, revenge was not sought. The drowning citizens of earth do not charge at God.

Life was not a film.

Aaron felt the hands around his neck long before he heard the charge. Daniels was in front of him, two eyes too large for his face. Spittle hit Aaron's lips as he was screamed at. "How could you do this to me?"

Aaron clawed at the fingers gripping him. "Simmons," he chocked out, and was released.

"Simmons, Simmons?" The roar of Daniels' words engulfed the small room.

"You set Simmons up to attack me!" A fist landed on Aaron's face and an explosion of blood spurted forth. Aaron lifted his arms to protect himself but it was no use, he was always no match for the giant in front of him with the giant strength.

Another blow was felt, this time to Aaron's temple and then a third. He crumpled to the floor, an eye instantly swelling. Daniels was going to kill him, this was obvious. Maybe Aaron had always known this, maybe that's why he'd done it. He was ready to end.

The front of his clothes was gripped and Aaron rattled as he was shaken. "She's going to leave me!" Oh yeah, that was what this was about. The pain pulsating Aaron's body had momentarily made him forget. This was what it was all about. Revenge. Daniels alone. Aaron victorious, and yeah, so what if he was dead. At the end of it, he'd be the one standing there smirking down next to God.

Aaron pulled his lips back revealing gritted teeth, sure that they shone bright red. "Yeah, she's gonna leave you." His torso dangled from Daniels' arms, "I hope it was worth it, what you got Simmons to do to me. I hope when the divorce papers come through, it was all worth it!"

"What I got Simmons to do to you, what I got him to do!" Aaron was released and Daniels dropped to his knees. His punches landed indiscriminately. "You don't know what I got Simmons to do to you. You don't know even the half of what I paid him to do! He did half a job. He got you to your knees but didn't manage to even get his cock in your mouth!"

Through the swarm of pain and wavering of vision, Aaron looked up into Daniels eyes.

"That's right! I paid Simmons to rip you a new one."

"Wha-?"

"He was going to make you wish you'd never been born and then he was going to put an end to your miserable, pathetic life. You hated being gay? Well he was going to sort that but not before he reminded you of the faggot you are!"

No, no, no, that wasn't right, "but you broke his leg!"

"Yeah, he needed to be punished for doing a shit job. I needed to do something to convince you not to go running to the guards about what happened!"

"You bastard!" Aaron lunged weakly, wanting a fist to connect with Daniels jaw but his hand was easily caught.

"There I was, in our cell, crying over my poor Aaron. Crying because the piece of shit was still in my life! You should have been a corpse. You should be a corpse now!"

This wasn't right, this wasn't how it should have ended. Aaron didn't mind the death part, welcomed it even. But not like this, even with death, Aaron was meant to have the last laugh. He now knew nothing though, in this moment Aaron realised that he had no idea what the the truth between them was. Crazed eyed looked at at him. Daniels now appeared inhuman, but then how could anyone without the tiniest bit of humanity ever have been human in the first place.

"I thought..." Aaron choked out. The panting beast above him rose. "I thought..."

"You make me sick! You were a hole to shove my dick! You were an annoyance that I wore like shackles! I wanted you dead!"

This was it, the truth. He'd never belonged after all, his sense of security was a thin veil. Why should he even be surprised, this was how it had always been. Aaron thought back over his life, being abandoned by his Mum and then Dad. As if in prison he was ever going to find a sense of place. He'd never had that person that would do anything for him. He was alone.

A moment of complete indifference washed over Aaron. He had a clarity and there was a giddiness that accompanied his disregard of consequence. His lips split as he smiled, "Do you think Louise will come to my funeral?"

Daniels roared. He punched and hit and kicked. This was how it was going to end. Daniels in a blind rage from Aaron's final words. But at least he'd had the last word and that was all that mattered. Through his swollen eyes, Aaron could see how out of control Daniels was, could see the burning rage, could see the malicious cruelty that Aaron knew he was capable of. Daniels stooped, was paused in his face, his heavy breaths pushed out between gritted teeth. He was just staring.

Hands suddenly reached for Aaron's belt.

"What...," Aaron barely gasped. Instinctively, he reached to stop Daniels' hands but another blow to his face ended with him face down to the ground. The edges of his vision darkened. He could feel himself dying. It was like he'd been looking through the slitted gaps of a mask and was now slowly retreating.

A hissing was felt beside his ear. "I'm gonna finish the job Simmons started." Aaron was pulled in into a sitting position. Daniels was unrecognisable, his teeth now fangs, his hands claws. Or maybe this was just Aaron's imagination, his skin colour had certainly changed at least, or was this just from all of Aaron's blood?

"I'm gonna shove my cock up your arse one last time."

Aaron knew that his trousers were being tugged at. He felt a distant sense of panic.

I'm gonna let you know exactly what you were to me."

Daniels stood, his form wavering, becoming solid and then faint. Aaron saw Daniels pull down his trousers to reveal his penis. His vision blackened and for a second he was aware of nothing before coming to again.

"You were an object to me, Aaron. A possession, something I bought off again and again. Remember poor little Haines, that guy who met his end? Remember what he said about me paying you for sex? Well, here's the truth of it, Aaron." He brought his lips to Aaron's ear. "I owned you, just like I owned him. I did what I wanted to both of you and you were just a disgusting little whore, doing anything I demanded. And when I was done with him, I ended him. Just like I'm going to do to you now."

So, this was it, the repercussion. Him raped in the prison library storeroom before bleeding to death. He didn't feel fear, he didn't feel anything anymore. He was nothing anyway, certainly not something that deserved a last-minute save. He briefly thought of Jackson, his only real sense of regret. In a way, he was almost glad it was ending like this. He was dying in the manner that had always been his life. Fucked.

At least he was consistent.

Aaron's eyelids closed and his head lulled and the last thing he was aware of was Daniels large hands on his thighs.