It had been a few days since Blackwood was visited by the demons, and he hadn't gone out to follow Wesley, either. He had dutifully obeyed the duo's instructions and left Daniel alone as well, much to the younger man's concern. Daniel had tried repeatedly to contact him. Whenever he called, he was quickly sent to voicemail. The Westley wasn't sure what to make of it, so he expected nothing good. Blackwood was ill, after all. He was troubled by his visions of supernatural beings, and work was killing him. The curiosity and concern of the younger man never faded, however, and eventually, he was compelled to stop by his lover's apartment to check up on him.

When the Westley arrived at Paul's door, he was hesitant to knock for some reason. He didn't know why, but it felt as though he wasn't supposed to be there. Still, he persisted after a minute or two of standing outside of Blackwood's door. He knocked quietly at first, then increased the volume as he didn't receive a response. He recalled seeing the man's car in the parking garage on his way up, so he knew he was home. Little did he know about the turmoil that was happening on the other side of the barrier.

Blackwood was already in a tizzy, ducking in and out of rooms as he gathered his things. He crammed as many clothes and valuables as he could into a few suitcases. He had been preparing for this over the past few days; frantically. He knew a storm was coming. He could feel it in his bones. When he heard a knock at the door, he nearly jumped out of his skin! Waiting, he paused to listen. His muscles tensed as he froze. The man didn't dare take in a breath as he waited, seeing if the visitor would leave or identify himself. Surely it was the demons again, and if they knew that he was packing his bags, they would surely punish him. Blackwood just knew it.

"Paul?" called Daniel after he continuously failed to get a response. "Hello? Are you okay in there?"

"Fuck." mouthed the assistant, furrowing his brow as he tried to think of a way out. He did not want to engage the Westley, as he knew that a slow and painful death surely awaited him if he continued his interactions with him.

"Paul!" the younger man persisted, knocking harder. "I know you're in there! What's up with you? I haven't heard from you in a week!"

"Go away!" Blackwood shouted from behind the door. "Leave me alone!"

"What's wrong? Paul, it's okay. Just talk to m-"

"I said go away!" the assistant interrupted, his voice louder this time. "I don't want to see you!"

That made the brunet's heart drop suddenly. His fingers went numb, and he froze where he stood, uncertain if the other man meant what he thought he did. Daniel didn't know how to respond. Usually, he would have been able to come up with something, but right now, he was completely mute. It was as though he couldn't bring it upon himself to form words. It was a while before he was finally able to force a bit of speech, although it seemed strained.

"What?" he asked, swallowing. "Paul… Paul, did I… Did I do something wrong? Paul?"

"You didn't do anything wrong." the other man said from the safety of his apartment. "I just don't want to be around you anymore. Look, you're a nice kid, and you were fun, but it's not worth it."

"Whuh?" Daniel couldn't even say the word correctly as he was once again stunned into silence. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was being dumped? Again? They hadn't even been together a month, but now it was over? How could that be? Daniel didn't understand. He wouldn't understand until later what he meant and he had time to process it all. For now, however, he was dumbfounded.

True, Blackwood would be lying if he said he didn't have fun with Daniel. The assistant hadn't been in a physical relationship in several years, so he did enjoy those exchanges immensely. He simply had no further use for the Westley beyond that and getting back at the younger man's father. They had nothing in common. They had none of the same interests, and their values were different. Daniel didn't have anything else to offer Blackwood, and the truth had come out. Blackwood had fun using Daniel, but not enough fun to risk his life over.

"Didn't you hear?" questioned Blackwood from the other side of the door. "I'm done with you! What part of that do you not understand?"

Absent-mindedly, the Westley placed his arms over his abdomen and gripped his sides. He held the fabric of his jacket tightly as he stared at the door, burning up in the garment as his face turned red and his eye grew damp. Water began to fall down his cheeks in bitter droplets. His face was pained, contorting into an ugly expression as he tried not to make a sound. For the longest time, he stared at the door until it became unbearable to him. The floor was no better, as he watched his tears fall and wet the carpet.

Deep down, he knew it was coming. He knew, but he hoped it wouldn't for a while. At least, he hoped it would last until he had grown up more and was able to make do without the attention. He knew he didn't think Blackwood was the most handsome, or even particularly interesting. Daniel didn't understand what the assistant was talking about the majority of the time, but loved the attention. The brunet loved feeling important and valuable. He knew. He knew from the beginning, but that didn't stop him. He thought that maybe he could come to love Blackwood, or Blackwoodwould to him. It didn't, though. There was no way that it would. Daniel supposed that he knew that, too, but it didn't make it any easier to be told that he was not wanted- that he was just a quick fling.

Daniel knew better. He knew that he should have waited until he found someone who he truly trusted, but he was in a hurry. He wanted someone to make his loneliness and pain to go away right then and there, and Blackwood fit the bill. Perhaps Daniel had been using Blackwood as well, but not to the extent that Blackwood had. The assistant had blatantly manipulated the young man. The Westley felt that if he didn't go along with it, he would lose his chance.

He had already lost it, though. He knew that. He knew that very well. It felt like his chance would never come again, right then, as he stared at the floor. It felt like he was doomed to be alone for the rest of his life. He didn't know that this was alright as well, nor did he know what fate held for him. No one did; not even Blackwood's all-seeing eye.

Eventually, Daniel turned around and left. His pace was slow, but it got him where he needed to go. There was no pep in his step, making the trip back to his car a long one. He didn't feel like moving that much. The Westley was watched by Blackwood on the other side of the peephole as he left, prompting the assistant to get back to work. Paul still had much to do if he was going to avoid the demons. It was only a matter of time, now that he's broken the man's heart.

Both men, however, were ignorant to the magnitude of what was to come. There was no way that they could know. How could they? The information was not within their grasp. Granted, they would know very soon. Misfortune that was a long time coming had arrived today, but an even greater misfortune would be arriving within the week.


A/N: Allo, allo! I've been saying "Yikes" a lot, but... yikes...

Things will turn up eventually. Not soon, but eventually.

I'm trying to do A/Ns more often now. I feel like I should be, for some reason. I'm not sure why. I don't ever really have anything to say, either. That's why I stopped adding them for a while...

The important thing is that I'm trying to update as often as I can. How many times have I posted this week? Twice? Progress is progress. I seriously miss being able to update every day... The once of week thing feels so bizarre...

As I said, I'd be doing character shet again, so you'll be seeing that below the A/N! I actually had to look up how to do character shet, since it's been so long...

Baby steps...

Until the next chapter, my duckies~! (I almost said "dickies". Just thought you oughta know.)


CHARACTER SHET

Question: "Hey Alois, been a while since we heard from you! To lighten the mood, have you watched any new TV shows/read any new books you might want to talk about?" by Spitechilla

Alois: "Yeah, I've been bingeing a couple shows on Netflix instead of doing homework, lately... I know, I know, I'm bad. I've been really into 'Bob's Burgers', lately. It's weird because I'm weirdly reminded of my family and people I know? It's so fuckin' bizzarre... I feel like Louise is what would happen if Ciel and I had a baby. I love this family because they feel like my family, only with a restaurant and no supernatural, secret agent stuff. I don't know if I could work in a restaurant... Could I? No, probably not. I like my job to much... not, in like, a creepy way or anything, though. It has good benefits and I don't have to work that much except for sometimes."