Justin's POV

I'd gone to the police station with Brian, Ben, and Carl and was now looking at mug shots, trying to identify men from the Sap's party last year. Suddenly, Brian looked up, through the crack in the door (he was sitting next to me, his hand in mine), and, then, he glanced over at Ben, staring at him intensely. Ben looked where Brian had and stiffened.

Brian kissed my cheek and whispered, "I'll be right back, Angel."

A little nervous, I asked, "Where are you going?"

Brian smiled. He seemed to be making an effort to appear calm. "Just to talk to Ben. I won't be gone long."

I said, "Okay," but I was uneasy. Something wasn't right.

Ben's POV

Brian and I left the interrogation room. I made sure to close the door so that Justin didn't see what had gotten Brian so upset, Ethan. The cops had apparently brought him in, and he was sitting by someone's desk, as a cop fingerprinted him. Once done, the cop, one of the more open-minded ones, caught Brian's eye and, then, left to 'file some paperwork.'

Brian smiled at Ethan, a frightening look in his eyes. Ethan stiffened, watching him approach warily. I was nervous, too. I assumed that, sometime soon, Brian would attack him and that I would need to pull him off Ethan before he beat the son of a bitch to death. A small part of me wondered if I'd manage it. The look in his eyes scared even me.

Brian continued moving toward Ethan but, then, stopped dead in his tracks. He looked back at the interrogation room, lost in thought. Then, he turned to Ethan, who looked like he was about to shit his pants, and said evenly, "In spite of your efforts to the contrary, Justin is happy and healthy, and we're solid. Long after you're rotting in jail, when you're nothing but a distant memory, Justin and I will be together. Happy."

Then, he calmly walked out of the station. I stared at Ethan incredulously for a moment, but, then, followed Brian.

When I found him, he was punching a brick wall. His hands were already bloody. I ran over and pulled him into my arms. This time, he didn't resist at all, though he didn't reciprocate. He started trembling and croaked out, "If I had touched him, I would have killed him. Maybe I should have. What kind of boyfriend am I? I should have beat him to within an inch of his life. But…I know I wouldn't have been able to stop…and Justin…"

He pulled himself out of my arms and looked at me helplessly. "Justin…"

I stated firmly, "Justin wouldn't want to lose you over Ethan. Justin wouldn't want to lose you at all, but especially not because of Ethan. That son of a bitch has taken too much from Justin already."

Brian stared into space and nodded slowly, but I'm not sure he believed me.

Still staring into space, he whispered, "I don't want Justin to think I don't…that I don't love him (his voice broke), but I don't want him to recoil in horror, either."

Justin's POV

I had managed to identify two men from the Sap's party and walked out of the interrogation room in search of Brian. What I found instead was Ethan. He was sitting in a chair next to some cop's desk. As soon as I saw him, I turned around, my mind racing.

Suddenly, I felt his hot breath on my ear. My skin crawled, my stomach turned, and I had the urge to vomit.

"Can you still feel me inside you, Sunshine?" Ethan whispered. "Did you enjoy it? I know how much you like being fucked."

I was still facing away from him. I didn't want to see him leering at me.

Not looking at him also gave me a little more courage. I seethed, "How the fuck would you know? You had me ONCE, and I didn't want it or you."

I was overwhelmed by fear, and adrenaline was pumping through my veins, but there was something else. Rage. Black murderous rage. I had never hated anyone as much as I hated Ethan at that moment. It was a little frightening, but empowering, too. I wanted to rip the grin I knew he was wearing, the grin I could hear in his voice, off his ugly face, and, suddenly, I felt capable of doing it. I wheeled around, grabbed him by the throat with both hands, and shoved him against the nearest wall.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw cops jumping to their feet. Brian had appeared, I don't know from where, and Carl looked at him. Master. Just seeing him centered me. He was watching me, but his expression was unreadable. After a moment's pause, he shook his head, and Carl waved his men away.

Turning my full attention back to Ethan, I squeezed until I heard him gasping. Then I hissed, "You are a scum-sucking bottom feeder. Were you always a sleazy predator? Or did my dumping your ass push you over the edge? How could you? You served me up on a silver platter to the person who nearly took everything from me, the person who hates me most on the planet! For all I know, you helped him murder me!"

"What?" he sputtered. I saw confusion in his eyes. He couldn't be that clueless. Could he?

"From the way he was taunting me, there's a very real chance that he's positive, and you, you, let him fuck me without a condom!" I spit.

"I…I didn't know!"

"You are so stupid! You can't play with hatred like that! You can't control it! You're a fucking little boy throwing a hissy fit over a lost toy. When whining, begging, and crying didn't get you what you wanted, you tried to break me! To make sure Brian could never have me whole. Well, listen up!"

I squeezed harder and slammed his head against the wall.

"I'm still here! I'm still here rejecting you! The only person I ever really wanted, the only person I ever really loved, was Brian, not you! Never you! I didn't let you fuck me because you weren't special enough. And now, you are less than nothing to me. Irrelevant."

I let go, and he fell to the ground, coughing and clutching his throat.

I turned around and found myself enveloped in warm arms and a familiar scent…cigarettes, coffee, and fancy Italian soap.

Brian. I relaxed into his embrace. He kissed my cheek, and a tear followed, falling softly onto my face. Was Brian crying? Then, he whispered, his voice warm, "I love you, and I'm proud of you, Angel." Had he known? Had he known that I could still feel Ethan's hot moist breath on my ear, his words echoing ominously in my head? But, with just a few words, he'd managed to banish every trace of Ethan.

As he led me out of the station, Ben in tow, I heard Ethan screaming.

He yelled, rather hoarsely, I couldn't help but note with a smile, "Aren't you going to arrest him? He could have killed me! I could sue you for negligence. You let him attack me. Stood around and watched!"

Carl sounded confused. "I didn't see anything." To the officers standing around, he asked, "Did any of you?"

I looked back and saw them all shaking their heads.

Then, Carl addressed Ethan again, "Did you go off any meds recently? You should take better care of yourself. Mental health is as important as physical health."

Brian and I just smiled.