Hey there!
I wasn't sure if I should split this chapter, but I decided not to. Hope it doesn't take away from the tension you're hopefully feeling while reading this :) I hope you like this chapter!
Enjoy!
"Good, you came," Julian said from behind, closing the door.
"...You did this to him?" Greg asked while bending over Nick, checking on his wounds.
"He asked for it." Julian walked up to them. He had a black eye and a bloody nose.
Greg took his cell phone out and started dialing 911.
"Don't you dare!" Julian yelled, running up to Greg and whipping the phone out of his hand, grabbing him on the shoulders.
"He needs medical attention!" Greg said desperately, trying to break free from Julian's grip. Please!"
Julian let go of Greg and started walking around the room nervously. He kept running his fingers through his hair and was shaking. "I didn't want to hurt him like that, Greg, I swear. He was supposed to be at work!"
"...How did you get in here?"
"Oh please. Nick had his spare key in his locker." He laughed. "Not a smart move, Nick!" he said, looking at a still unconscious Nick.
"And what do you want here?" Greg said with desperation in his voice, trying to fight back tears. He was more worried about Nick than himself.
"I just wanted to borrow the key to your apartment!" Julian said as if it wasn't a completely lunatic thing to say. "He should be at work, why was he here?" he yelled aggressively towards Nick.
"He changed shift with Ray... What about you? Hodges claims you're at work. Does he know you're here?" Greg asked, not wanting to believe Hodges would do something like that.
Julian grinned. "No, I told him I wanted to get some donuts, but he would have to lie for me if he wanted some, too, when someone asks where I am... He's so naive, it's almost cute."
Thank god, Hodges is not in on this, Greg thought.
"I acted in self defense, you see?" Julian said as he pointed on his bruised face. Nick did throw a few punches at him, but only after Julian first attacked him, of course. "He came at me. It's his fault."
Greg nodded. He knew it would be best not to upset Julian right now. Just agree with him, no matter what he says, he thought.
"Let's get both of you some medical attention, alright? I'm sure your bruised eye hurts, too, right?" Greg said, slowly walking towards the cordless phone.
Julian nodded. "I think he broke my nose."
Good, Greg thought. "How about I call an ambulance for the both of you?" He picked up the cordless phone. "Okay? Don't worry, we'll figure this out. Everything's going to be fine..."
"Give me the phone." Julian walked up to Greg and reached his hand out for him to hand him the phone.
"Please, Julian..." Greg said helplessly.
"The phone. Give it to me." He came a step closer and Greg handed it to him reluctantly. "Now sit down on the couch."
Greg did. He was sitting a few feet away from Nick now, but kept his eyes on him. "What now?" he asked fearful.
"I need to think about this..." Julian started walking up and down the room again. He was really nervous and had no idea what to do. Greg noticed that Julian was shaking. He didn't look too good.
As Julian's cell phone rang, Nick was slowly regaining consciousness again, but didn't move. He had his eyes open now, which Greg thought was a good sign, but he kept lying on the floor. Greg wasn't sure if this meant he wasn't able to get up, or didn't want to. Either way, he thought it was best for Nick to stay down.
"Aren't you going to answer that?" Greg asked when Julian let the phone ring.
"Shut up! I need to think now."
"Julian, what the hell are we doing here? Come on, let us go. We won't tell anyone, I swear."
He laughed. "Yeah right you won't. The second I let you walk out of here I'll get arrested for something I didn't even do!"
"You did attack Nick..." Greg said quietly. He knew it was stupid to say something like that, but he just couldn't resist. He was too angry.
Julian threw the cordless phone at Greg, almost hitting him on the head with it, but he dodged quick enough. Julian had a shocked look on his face. "Greg... I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to... I don't want to hurt you! Why do I keep doing this?"
Greg looked confused. Julian had no problem kicking the hell out of these three men that tried to rob him and Greg. He had no problem beating Nick, either. But he apologized for almost hurting Greg? "You don't want to hurt me?"
"Of course not!"
"Do you really think it's not hurting me when I see Nick like that? When I see what you're capable of?" He shook his head. "That's worse than any physical pain you could ever inflict."
Tears started rolling down Julian's cheeks. "I didn't mean to... I just wanted... You! I love you, and all you do is waste your time on Nick!"
"You don't love me."
"Of course I do!" Julian yelled angrily.
"It's obsession, not love! If you'd really love me you'd never do something like that!"
"I DO love you!" Julian walked up to him. "That's why I'm doing this! I can't stand the thought of being apart from you!"
Greg laughed humorlessly. "You're obsessed with me, you're not in love. You probably don't even know what it feels like to love somebody."
Greg was right, and Julian knew that. He didn't want to admit it, but deep down, he knew. He was a narcissist who wasn't able to feel love for anybody else but himself. "SHUT UP!" he yelled as he punched Greg with his fist. As he saw Greg lying on the couch, putting his hand on the spot Julian's fist hit him at, he immediately calmed down. "I'm so sorry..." He sat down on the couch next to Greg.
If he would be able to, he'd scoot over, trying to get as far away from Julian as possible. But Julian struck him quite hard, he was dizzy.
"You know..." Julian started stroking Greg's face. "You don't believe me, fine. But I really love you. Maybe there's a way to show you..." He grabbed Greg's arms and pulled him close to him.
"No..." Greg said, trying to push him back. But due to the hit he just received, he was too weak to be successful at his attempt. Julian kissed him.
The dizziness slowly stopped and Greg was finally able to push Julian away.
"Julian, please... Let me get help for Nick. You can leave, I don't care. I'll make up a story about how Nick got hurt, nobody will know about this, alright? And tomorrow in the lab, we'll act like nothing happened." Greg's cell phone rang. "I'll answer my phone now, okay?" He slowly walked over to where the phone was lying after Julian whipped it out of Greg's hand.
"I have a better idea..." He got up and walked over to the kitchen, pulling out a knife from a drawer.
"Don't hurt him..." Greg wanted to get over to Nick and protect him, but he would have to walk pass Julian, first.
"I don't want to hurt him, Greg... But I will..."
"No!" Greg walked up to Julian, but kept a distance. While he was trying to convince Julian not to hurt Nick, Nick slowly stood up. As Greg noticed this, he tried to keep Julian focused on him. "I'll do everything, just don't hurt him, please..." he said as Nick got his gun from the side table next to the door.
Greg took a few steps back, looking at Nick, who was now standing behind Julian, pointing the gun at him.
"Put the knife down and get your hands up..." Nick said weakly.
"I knew I should've hit you harder..." Julian said with a smirk. He didn't throw the knife away or put his hands up.
"Julian, please do what he says..." Greg said, trying to convince him to give up.
"You'd really shoot me? Is that how you want this to end?" he asked Nick as he turned around to face him.
Both Julian and Greg noticed that Nick wasn't feeling too good right now. He was wobbling and having a hard time keeping his eyes open.
"Don't you dare!" Greg said aggressively as he noticed Julian trying to get closer to Nick. He walked over to Nick, took the gun out of his hand and pointed it at Julian.
Julian laughed. "You're going to shoot me? Right... Remember what you told me about killing someone? You don't want to do this."
"Of course not!" Greg said. His hands were shaking a bit. "But sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do. Wouldn't be the first time."
"Of course, I heard about it. What did this make you feel like? Do you want to go through it again?" Julian slowly came closer.
"One more step and I'll do it!" Greg took a step back. He really didn't want to kill Julian, but he knew he might have to. And he was scared even thinking about it.
Julian took another step, grinning provocatively. "See? You just can't do it. You're not a killer..." He walked up to Nick and Greg, still the knife in his hand, when he suddenly felt a bullet piercing through his body. He went down.