A/N: so I left you with a big cliff hanger and then wrote a chapter flashback, don't hate me lol here's chapter 4, enjoy and review, it'll encourage me to write!
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Vince screwed up his eyes tightly as he felt a course hand move under his black shirt and roughly run along his skin. The hand that still gripped his hair pulled his head back sharply and the tall mans mouth bit into his neck causing Vince to whimper slightly. Fresh tears ran down his cheeks and he felt his legs shaking, threatening to collapse. First his heart was broken all over again at the sight of his old love, and now his body was going to be vandalised as well. He wondered quietly to himself what the point was in going on, he hadn't been happy in 7 years, he'd tried but nothing could bring back the feelings he had for Howard, nothing could take away the guilt he felt for forcing his friend to leave. He deserved this, he deserved everything he got and more. He was hideous, both in his body and his mind. He'd done terrible things to the people he loved, and now he was paying for it. Please God, just let it be quick.
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Howard yawned loudly and stretched his arms high into the air, bringing them back to his sides with a heavy thump. Pulling back the sleeve of his jumper he checked his watch, staring at it blearily as he tried to focus on the hands in his drunken state. He smiled slightly to himself, the dopey sort of smile you see on drunk peoples faces where they've reached a point where nothing matters.
"S'one o'clock fella's, time for me to call it a night." he pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against and blinked furiously as his head began to swim with the sudden movement. He let out a little giggle and stumbled forwards slightly, a large hand firmly grasping him at the shoulder.
"Whoa there, careful Howey boy, don't fall now." Jeff beamed at his friend, that same drunken glint in his eye, and Howard beamed back at him. Jeff laughed a little and put his arm round Howard's shoulder. "Come on lads, lets get this piss head into a taxi." his friends laughed and they all agreed it was time to go home, making their way out of the club, thanking the bouncer's at the door a little too enthusiastically for a good night out.
Stumbling onto the pavement Howard stood on the edge of the curb, his eyes attempting to focus on the road ahead to see if there was a taxi in sight. Sighing he turned back to Jeffrey and shrugged.
"Never around when you need them a?" beaming at the larger man he found his gaze wondering down the alley that lead to the back entrance of the club. About halfway down were a couple getting rather close with one another and Howard smiled childishly his shoulder's relaxing slightly. "Aww." he mused aloud. Jeff followed his gaze down the alley and his smile broadened.
"Oi oi!" he bellowed, stumbling towards them slightly. "Good night for you too then?" he laughed as he got closer, but his smile soon faded as the woman looked at him, fear in her pale blue eyes. "You alright love?" the man with her raised his head from her neck and stared at them.
"Piss off, we're busy." his eyes were mad and anyone, drunk or not, could tell that something wasn't right. Jeffrey raised his voice slightly. "Oi love, this guy harassing you?" the woman opened her mouth to speak, a slight whimper escaping her lips before the man pressing again her shook her by her hair, causing her mouth to shut instantly, her eyes filling with tears. Jeff sobered up almost instantly and he and his friends closed in on the alley. "Oi, let her go, now!" suddenly the man pulled a knife from his pocket and put it against the woman's throat causing Howard and the rest of them to stop in their tracks.
"Whoa now!" Howard spoke up from the back of the crowd. Think man, think, you're supposed to be a man of action. Well, once maybe, for him. It was no use, Howard's brain just wasn't working properly with all the alcohol in his system.
"Come any closer and I'll slit his throat!" He looked into the eyes of the young man, it appeared, and smiled manically. "don't think I won't, my little prostitute. Just do as your told and you'll live to see another day, maybe." his grin widened. Vince's eyes closed tight. He couldn't take it, he was weak, he was always weak. No, I wasn't always weak, I used to be Vince Noir, the elecrto poof, the confuser. I never took shit from no one, so why's this guy any different? Coz he's got a knife? I've had worse. Vince's eyes opened and he glared at his assailant, causing his smile to momentarily weaken. That was the chance he was looking for. Vince quickly raised his leg and put all his force into bringing his knee in contact with the mans balls. His hair was released and the hand holding the knife dropped slightly but before he had time to run the knife was brought back to his neck and pushed hard against the skin as his attacker struggled to stand.
"I'll fucking kill you!" he screamed and as Vince took in a deep breath waiting for the inevitable, a hot trickle of blood rolling down his neck, the knife was gone, and so was the man in front of him. Hearing a thud on his left and turning, he saw the crowd of men that had gathered around the alley entrance bundled on top of the knife wielding mad man, all that was visible was the hand holding the knife that flew about madly, attempting to cause any damage possible. Vince walked up next to the crazy dog pile and stamped on the flailing hand with all his might, the knife was dropped instantly and a yelp was heard at the bottom of the pile.
One by one the men climbed off one another until just Jeffrey was left sat on top of the now unconscious attacker. Everyone was bruised and battered and Howard was already sporting a black eye, but forgetting his own pain for once he walked up to the scrawny man they'd just rescued, his hand pressed against his neck, blood trickling down his shirt from between his fingers.
"Are you alright?" Howard asked in what he hoped was a concerned voice, he hadn't had much use for kind emotions lately with all the mixed up thoughts in his head. As he neared the shaking man he looked up at Howard and his face fell, eyes widening slightly. He looked scared, horrified almost. Didn't he realise that Howard was there to help, not to hurt him. "Whoa, its ok, we're here to help." he put his hands up in surrender and stopped advancing on the smaller man. Something about him was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. There was something about the mans watery blue eyes that moved him, a wave of calm seemed to engulf him every time he looked at them. Yet he could see this enormous pit of pain and despair bubbling just below the surface, hidden from everyone. Even himself? "How's that wound? Is it serious? Can I have a look? You can trust me, I won't hurt you." the man before him looked confused, like Howard's words hurt almost, but he slowly took his hand away from his neck and Howard took it as a gesture to come forwards.
When he got closer to the wound he realised that it wasn't that deep, on closer inspection the knife had only broken the skin, but had obviously been sharp enough to cause the blood to keep flowing for so long. "Its alright, its not a deep wound, you shouldn't need stitches or anything, but we could take you down the hospital if you wanted, might be an idea to call the police as well." The mans hand returned to his neck and his gaze reached the floor. He looked confused still, his eyes darting across the floor, thoughts and ideas shooting through his head like bullets. He was so confused.
"No." he said eventually, his voice quivering slightly as he rested a hand against the wall. "No I'll be fine, I work just inside the club so I'll get some bandages there." He looked up slowly at Howard who returned a sincere look of concern but this just made the younger man look more hurt inside as he began to walk back towards the entrance of the club.
"Do you want us to come with you, explain what happened. Are you sure you're alright?" the man had begun to shake violently but he just continued to walk down the alley.
"No," His voice was shaking now, the sound it made as someone tried desperately to hold in tears. Howard's face fell, he didn't know why he felt so much for this man, obviously he'd been in a terrifying situation but Howard was unexplainably emotional about the whole experience, like it affected him directly. "I'm fine, thanks anyway." he continued to walk away but Howard ran after him, taking a piece of paper and a pen out of his trouser pockets. ' "You always need what you haven't got, so I'm not taking any chances, no sir." that's what he'd said right before they left that night, he loved it when he was right.
"Here, at least take my phone number in case the police need to contact us for statements or something, or if you just wanna talk, you know." Howard scribbled his number onto the paper and held it in front of him. The smaller man turned and almost ripped the paper out of his hand, turning back round quickly in an attempt to hide the tears now flooding down his cheeks. Howard's face fell further but before another word was exchanged the man had run from the alley and back inside the club.
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Tada! Another chapter finished, I'm quite proud of myself, managing to stay rather on top of this, at the moment anyway lol. Keep the reviews coming and I'll keep the chapters coming and hopefully I'll update soon!