Evan slapped his bag down on the sweaty gym bench and pulled out a bottle of water. After a gruelling workout session like that, he needed to replenish himself. Today was arm day, and he could barely lift his numb arms up to his mouth to drink. After he screwed the cap on tightly and put his bottle away, Evan looked up and locked eyes with a pair of familiar blue orbs. Jonathan.
"Hey Jon!" Evan waved Jon over, arms almost too numb to lift. Jon walked over and took the seat next to Evan, sinking into the soft material. He looked flushed, like he had just finished his own workout. Jon was sporting a tank top similar to Evan's but his was a baby blue. It was tight fitting, and Evan could see each ragged breath he drew. Evan was not going to lie to himself, seeing Jonathan in a tight shirt and shorts, out of breath, was doing things to him.
Evan could feel Jon's thigh flush against his own, burning skin on burning skin. Evan's pulsed raced, and it only intensified when he met Jon's gaze.
"What are you doing here?" Evan asked.
"Working out? I thought that much was obvious," Jon replied. Evan blushed, realising how dumb he must sound.
"Oh, um, see you tonight then?" Evan awkwardly asked. He ruined his chance at conversation with a dumb question.
"Sure Ev," Jon leaned over and quickly kissed Evan, and then looked around for anyone who might get angry. The two had been dating for two months now, and they had received their fair share of homophobic abuse from random strangers. One man threatened to report them to the police, even though there is nothing criminal about it. The only criminal element was the sin that was Jonathan's lips. Pink and plush and Evan could never get enough.
That hot feeling returned to Evan's groin, so he picked up his bag with a final goodbye to Jonathan and left before it escalated into what would be a terrible erection.
Vanoss was staring straight into the blue eyes of Delirious for what felt like the millionth time. His mask was still strapped firmly to his face, and there was a stained smattering of blood across the left cheek.
A large van waited behind Delirious, filled with who Vanoss now knew as Mini Ladd, Terroriser, and Lui. They were shouting and ushering for Delirious to join them, but he was too caught up in staring into his enemies' eyes. Vanoss was disgusted.
Only a few feet away laid the bodies of three middle aged men in suits. They were ripped apart in broad daylight by the three gang members while Delirious stole his briefcase. Vanoss was already in the area, hearing of a bomb threat that was set to detonate around the same time. It was a surprise to see Delirious strike in the day, usually he used the shadows as his disguise. Vanoss pondered that the bomb threat was most likely a set up from the four men, designed to lure him in to kill him. But why would they strike three harmless men?
Maybe it was that infamous blood lust of Delirious'.
No sooner had the incident occurred, five separate photographers started taking photos and three news crews began to set up. There must have been a journalism or photography lunch in the cafe across from the place where the men were killed.
"Delirious! Do it now or leave!" Lui screamed, knocking both Vanoss and Delirious from their daze. As soon as Lui shouted, Delirious surged forward, his hands clawing at Vanoss' mask. Vanoss quickly pushed him back while grabbing the strings of the hockey mask. To Vanoss' joy the strings snapped, but Delirious' hand flew up to pin the mask to his face before it could fall to the ground.
Delirious turned on his heel and ran into the van just as the cops started pulling up. The cops tried to usher Vanoss over to get answers from him, but Evan muttered something about running late, and briefly explained that Delirious savagely attacked the three men lying on the pavement.
Vanoss had Tyler parked around the corner, so once he got in the car Tyler sped off towards the base. Once Vanoss was in the security of the car it clicked, Delirious was trying to expose his face to the public. Delirious had almost foiled him, ruined his life. Albeit, Evan had done the same to him, but at least Evan was not a cold blooded murderer.
Jonathan came through the door at 7:00 that night, and he was sporting his camera and tripod. He set them down on the bench while blowing on his fingers to warm them up.
"Hey, sorry I'm late, you won't believe the shots I got today!" Jon said, excitement laced his tenor voice. Once Jon's fingers were thoroughly warmed, he grabbed his camera and brought it over to where Evan and his laptop were residing. He set it up and quickly the images of Vanoss and Delirious were showcased on the screen. They were of exceptional quality, as Jonathan's work always was. But Evan's mind reeled because he didn't remember seeing Jon there today, and he couldn't ask.
"These are amazing, they'll make a brilliant front cover," Evan remarked, eyes looking at the zoomed in photo of himself and Delirious staring each other down, faces so close, ready to tear out each other's throats.
"Thanks Ev," Jon smiled, hand knitting into Evan's.
"But," Evan started, "what were you doing so close to that? He killed three people! He could've hurt you Jon. And I don't know what I would do without you." Evan swallowed harshly, trying not to imagine Jonathan's body lying on the ground alongside the other men. Jonathan sighed.
"I'm sorry Ev, I'll try not to do it again. Although, it is worth it for shots like this," Jon said. Evan thought for a second.
"I remember when Delirious was even more of a mystery than he is now, he once killed a photographer for taking pictures of him. How come he isn't coming after you?" Evan asked. It was a reasonable question, Jonathan seemed to know a bit about the murderer without explanation.
"I don't paint him in a bad light, those photos probably contained the crime, while I only get him in the frame," Jon shrugged. Evan nodded, but his answer wasn't totally convincing. Delirious didn't sound like the type of guy to reason with someone. Jon shut off his computer.
"Alright, goodnight Ev," Jon said and walked to his bedroom. Evan stayed up for a while longer, still processing everything. He was sure he didn't see Jon amongst the photographers, but maybe the adrenaline stopped him from noticing the finer details. Evan was going to keep a closer watch on Jonathan from now on, to make sure he wasn't going to get hurt.
Evan also wanted to make sure he wasn't dealing with the devil.
Just to clarify this is set two months after the end of the last chapter.