Title: Tall, Dark, Deadly
Fandom: Being Human US
Pairing: Aidan/Josh, Jesse/Josh, OMC/Josh
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not even the prompt.
Prompt: From beinghumankink: "Aidan is struggling to keep his feelings for Josh to himself. Unfortunately, a new guy from work is posing a threat of taking Josh away from him. Normally it wouldn't be a big deal, but the new guy is an alpha werewolf and he happens to want Josh to be his beta. Definitely want bottom!Josh. You can make Aidan as possessive as you want. :)"
Tall, Dark, Deadly
"Don't look now, but your new best friend is coming this way," Aidan warned Josh, clapping him on the back, in a gesture intended to get his ass moving.
"Oh. Crap." Josh dropped his dust pan and shot to his feet. "Distract him for me? Please?" Josh's eyes darted across the hall. Sure enough, there was Jesse. Jesse smiled and waved exuberantly when Josh caught his eye. Josh gave a tentative wave back. "Please? Help me," he whispered to Aidan, his grin frozen into a grimace as Jesse headed towards him.
Aidan smirked – in the way that told Josh he was going to owe him big time – and nodded to the door at the far end of the hallway. "Go on. I'll take care of it."
"Thank you," Josh whispered vehemently. "Thank you." He picked up his dust pan and used it to wave at Jesse. "I've got to go do that – thing. I'll see you later," he said, too loudly, so Jesse would hear, then turned and strode to the door Aidan pointed to. He forced himself to walk at a normal pace – it would look weird if he broke into a sprint, like he wanted to.
"Hey, Josh! Wait up!" Jesse called.
Josh tensed, until he heard Aidan intercept him, saying he needed to talk to Jesse. Josh didn't look back, afraid any encouragement on his part would inspire Jesse to ignore Aidan, and Josh couldn't endure another awkward flirtation and invitation to a party (in his pants) today.
Josh went through the double doors and heaved a sigh of relief when he was on the other side, with a barrier between him and his new friend-turned stalker.
Jesse wasn't a bad guy. He was actually pretty cool – smart, funny, willing to listen to Josh's boring stories. He just liked Josh a little too much. Josh would have been fine with being Jesse's friend and hanging out. That might have been fun, and helped Josh feel just a little bit normal. Sally and Aidan were awesome friends, but Josh always felt exactly like what he was when he was around them – a freak.
But Jesse – pretty obviously – wasn't content to just be friends. Ever since the tagger incident, Jesse seemed to go from "mildly interested" to "Josh Radcliff's #1 Fanboy." Aidan thought it was hilarious, in that "Aw, look at the harmless puppy – it thinks it's people" kind of way he sometimes got around normal humans. Like Jesse had just learned a new trick or something.
Sally didn't know yet, unless Aidan had told her (and he better not have, because that was Josh's private business). Josh didn't want to know what her reaction would be. She'd probably die (again) from laughter. And then she and Aidan would both laugh and laugh (and laugh) about it together, and it would be just awful.
"I think the wall can hold itself up, now," a masculine voice – deep and smooth as honey – said.
Josh's eyes flew open, and he realized he's pressed himself against the wall, as if to hide from Jesse, like a rabbit trying to hide from a wolf in an open field. "Yeah," he muttered, embarrassed. "Just – a long shift, you know?"
The man – doctor, going by the color of his scrubs – nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I just got off the clock myself." The man turned to walk away, and Josh felt compelled to follow. "You're – Josh, right? Jesse's friend?"
Josh felt his face grow red. Jesse was talking about him to other people? Of course he was, because that made sense. For some reason, Jesse thought Josh was interesting. "Y-yeah. Yeah, I'm Josh," he stammered, reaching up to scratch his head. He stopped his hand and lowered it. Aidan said he looked like a dog scratching at fleas when he did that.
"It's nice to finally meet the man behind the chatter. Jesse's told us a lot about you."
"Us?" Josh squeaked. Who exactly had Jesse been talking to? The cops? Was this guy an undercover cop, here to arrest Josh for beating up the tagger? Josh thought Jesse liked him. You don't turn in people you like to the cops, do you?
"Oh, god, where are my manners? You don't even know who I am, do you?" The doctor stuck out his hand. "I'm James, one of the new residents. Jesse and I started at the same time, along with a couple of others."
"Oh, right," Josh laughed, his breath coming back to him all at once. He shook James's hand. "I think I've seen you around."
"So, what are you doing, holding up walls in your spare time?"
"Um, I was just testing the structural integrity of the. . ." Damn it, that didn't make any sense. He'd try again. "Or, no – I mean, I was trying to learn how to sleep standing up? While waiting for Aidan to finish up and drive me home?"
James laughed. At Josh. Of course. He had never been good about coming up with a lie on the spot like that.
"Jesse was right about you," James said, still chuckling under his breath. "You're really cute. This Aidan is a really lucky guy."
"Um, what?" Josh said. If life was like the movies, there would be the sound of a record scratching, and the scene would freeze. Josh had to wait a moment for his brain to catch up. "I think sleep deprivation is screwing with me. What did you say?"
"Jesse was right?" James asked, twisting so he was walking backwards in front of Josh, looking him dead in the eye. It was uncomfortable, and Josh quickly looked at the floor.
"No. The, uh, the other part."
"About you being cute, or about your boyfriend being one lucky man?" James swerved around a cleaning cart he couldn't possibly have seen from his angle.
Was James making fun of him, or was he flirting? Josh could never really tell the difference, unless it was really (really, really, really) obvious, like with Jesse. "I'm not dating Aidan," he said, to set the record straight. "We're just roommates."
People were always thinking that he an Aidan had this big gay love for each other, but Josh had never been able to figure out why. They were best friends – of course they were close! Also, Aidan was pretty obviously straight, if the way he went through the pretty female staff like a knife through warm cheese was any indication.
"Awesome," James said, twisting to walk step-in-step with Josh. "Jesse's going to be really happy to hear that."
"Wait." Josh stopped. "You mean Jesse thought I had a – boyfriend, and he still. . .?"
James nodded. "Yup. It was killing him to hold back like that."
Josh made a choking/gurgling noise in his throat that sounded like his stomach was trying to jump out of his mouth. "Holding back?"
"Yeah. It was painful to watch. He hates your roommate, you know, for cheating on you with that nurse. He thinks you're really tragic."
Josh ran to catch up with James, who had kept walking. "I know." Jesse had said something similar just the other day, but Josh hadn't given it much thought. "He likes tragic."
"I'm not real fond of tragic," James announced, wrapping a hand around Josh's bicep to steer him outside. "It gets boring after awhile, don't you think? I much prefer. . .strong, don't you?"
"Um, I guess," Josh said, staring at James's hand on his arm. Josh must have been spending too much time around Aidan (whose skin was fairly cold) and Sally (who couldn't be touched), because James's hand felt hot, almost like it could burn him.
"So, Josh," James said, removing his hand from Josh's arm, taking his heat with him. "If you're not dating Aidan, who are you dating? Or are you single?"
Josh shook his head. "I'm not really dating anyone right now." For some reason, he felt the urge to mention his ex-fiancée, but he didn't. He didn't even talk to Aidan about her, much less some strange man he just met a few minutes ago.
"Good – living the bachelor life, like me," James beamed, showing a row of sharp white teeth that made Josh think less of toothpaste commercials and more of Thumper lying dead in the grass. "Hey, listen, I'm new in Boston. Just moved here for the job," he gestured to the hospital, "and I don't know a lot of people here. Do you want to hang out sometime? Get some dinner, watch a movie?"
"Uh, sure," Josh said, before he could stop himself. He never could bring himself to say no – two years without seeing his mother, and he still ceded to her etiquette lessons. Which is why he was so grateful that Aidan would take care of Jesse. Otherwise, he would have agreed to another not-date, where Jesse spent the whole time staring at him mournfully, like it was Josh's fault he didn't feel the same way.
"Great! Awesome. How's Friday? I'll pick you up at 8," James declared, and Josh realized – Aidan or no, he had just set himself up on another date.
"Um, yeah, sure. Sounds great. Oh, look, there's Aidan!" He pointed at a random black-haired man a couple hundred yards away. "Guess he finished up sooner than I thought. Look, it was great talking to you, but I got to go." His voice got higher and shriller with each word, but he couldn't seem to stop it. Without waiting for a response, Josh gave a little wave and took off towards Aidan's car (thankfully in the same direction he had pointed).
"Wait!" James yelled after him. "I don't have your phone number!"
Josh pretended not to hear him. He found Aidan's car, and crouched down by it, so James couldn't see him just standing around. He had to wait about 20 minutes before Aidan came strolling up, like he had all the time in the world (which he kind of did, being an immortal vampire and everything).
"Why are you sitting on the ground?" Aidan asked, opening the car door. "It's unlocked."
"Oh," Josh murmured, unfolding from his crouch and sliding into the passenger seat.
Aidan gave him a look. "You are so weird," he said, flinging an arm around the back of Josh's seat. "Anyway, I've done you a big favor, so you should thank me."
Josh hesitated. That sounded good. Should he really find out what Aidan thought of as a "favor", or should he remain in blissful ignorance? "What did you do?" Josh asked.
"Jesse seemed to think I was your lover," Aidan's voice went low and husky on 'lover,' "I know how uncomfortable you get when people make that mistake, so I set him straight, so to speak."
Josh's throat made that choke/gurgle noise again. He might to get that checked out if it kept on.
"Anyway, I did tell him a small lie. A tiny thing really. Not worth mentioning."
"Aidan." Josh said. Aidan's mouth curved in a smile, but he didn't look at Josh, pretending to be focused on his driving. "Would you tell me what you told Jesse?"
"Say please." Aidan's dimples deepened.
"Aidan," Josh ground out.
"Oh, fine. I told him that we used to date, but I broke up with you, and you were obviously too devastated to start another relationship this soon. So he should just. Back. Off." Aidan growled the last sentence. Josh wouldn't lie – it was a little scary.
"Oh," Josh said, taken aback. "That was actually – that will probably help. Though, James said that Jesse hates your guts, so it might just make him more persistent. And why did you break up with me? I'm awesome. Obviously you were lying – if we were dating, and it ended, it would totally be me breaking up with you."
"Who's James?" Aidan asked, refusing to be baited.
"Him? Oh, no one important," Josh said. He crossed his fingers that Aidan would let it go. He would never live it down if Aidan found out about his newest not-date.
"If you say so." Aidan flicked Josh's hair. "You know you'll tell me eventually. Might as well get it over with."
"He's just some guy at the hospital. One of Jesse's friends – a new resident."
"Was he good looking? Do I need to let Small Fry know he has competition besides my studly self?"
"Shut up," Josh ordered. "I wasn't exactly staring dreamily into his eyes for hours. We just talked on the way out, today."
"And then you decided to do some squats by the car."
"Well, I have been meaning to get more exercise."
There was something Josh wasn't telling Aidan, and he didn't like it. For almost two years, ever since Aidan saved Josh from getting beaten up by a gang of vampires, he and Josh had been close. Aidan would even go so far as to say Josh hero-worshipped him, just a bit. Okay, so probably not. At the very least, Josh thought Aidan was charming and suave and super-cool. And Aidan felt responsible for Josh's well-being. This "Josh having secrets" thing did not sit well with him.
Aidan had scared the bejeesus out of that Jesse guy on Tuesday. It had been fun as hell, and as a bonus, Aidan growled at him under his breath every chance he got. Jesse hadn't bothered Josh at all the rest of the week.
Still, it was Friday, two days before the full moon, and Josh still hadn't told Aidan what was upsetting him. Aidan had even tried to conscript Sally to help him (by spying on Josh in his most private moments, and reporting back anything unusual), but she wouldn't. Aidan thought she had grown to like Josh better – because he bought her books and magazines, and would sit and turn the pages for her for hours on end.
A loud crash and a scream – Sally – brought Aidan to his feet. That came from Josh's room! Aidan ran up the stairs, halting at Josh's door. Josh's room was a mess – Aidan's room looked neater at the moment (and Aidan was not very neat).
"Sally, this is not going to work," a muffled voice came from inside the closet. A plaid shirt came flying out. "I have nothing to wear." Josh came out of the closet, a pout Aidan had never seen before on his face. "Oh, Aidan. Hey." Josh blushed, rubbing self-consciously at the scars on his bare chest. "Did you see Sally?"
Aidan shook his head. "What's going on?" he asked, trying to be nonchalant. This must be what Josh was trying to hide – a date.
"Oh, I think she's mad at me. She was trying to help me find something to wear, you see, but she kept turning down all my clothes. So I got a little frustrated, and," he gestured to the state of his room, "I threw some things. Kind of, at her. But it's not like I could have actually hit her! Shit." He collapsed on his bed. "I screw everything up, don't I?"
Aidan slumped down beside him. "No, just most things," he joked. Josh tensed, and Aidan sighed. "Sally will be okay," Aidan comforted. "She'll come back, and scream, and we'll have to get Danny – or a real plumber – over before either of us will be able to take a real shower, but then she'll be fine. And of course, you'll need to apologize."
"Yeah," Josh said, sitting up. His scars bunched and twisted as he levered himself up, doing odd things to Aidan's stomach in the process. "That doesn't take care of the other problem."
"I was going to ask. It doesn't seem very smart to go on a date tonight, with, you know, the moon." The full moon was tomorrow night, and Josh always got a little, let's say 'fussy' during the preceding week.
"It's not a date. Not exactly. I'm going out with James, the guy I told you about. He doesn't know a lot of people in Boston, so he invited me out." Josh blushed, which told Aidan exactly what he wanted to know.
"So, is this the kind of not-a-date that other people can come on, or the kind that might end in sex?" Aidan had a smile on his face. Unlike Josh, he was a good liar. He'd had a couple centuries practice, after all.
Josh hesitated. "Definitely more the former than the latter," he decided on. "And since James doesn't know anyone here, bringing someone would just widen his social circle, right?"
"Josh, are you asking me to chaperone your date?" This time, the smile was real.
Josh huffed. "Not if you're going to say it like that." Josh started digging through the pile of shirts on his bed. "I can take care of myself, you know."
"Hey. I'm sorry," Aidan said, putting a pout on his face that never failed to get him his way. "Please let me come out with you and your friend tonight on your completely platonic non-date."
Josh looked at Aidan over his shoulder. "Are you going to make fun of me?"
Aidan shook his head. "I promise I will only ridicule people who are not you."
"And James?"
Aidan shrugged. "That, I can't promise."
Josh picked out a random shirt that seemed the same as all the others. "Fine," he capitulated. "But the 'no making fun of me' applies even after we get back home."
"Deal," Aidan said, easing himself out of Josh's room. "Now put some clothes on, before I start acting like half the guys in this city, and just can't help myself from pouncing on you."
"It's two guys!" Josh yelled, throwing a shoe at the hastily shut door. "Two!"
Josh would never admit it, but he was really very glad that Aidan was coming with him. He had just texted James (who got Josh to give up his phone number before he got off work today) that he was bringing a friend.
If James had wanted a real date, he should have asked for one. It still made Josh feel passive-aggressive in the worst ways. If Josh didn't want to go on a date, he should just say no.
"Sally?" Josh called out. "I'm really sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have thrown that lamp at you. Or my shoe. Or that book. It was wrong, and I'm really sorry. Thank you for trying to help." He didn't know if she heard him, but he would bring her back the new Dean Koontz book she'd been wanting, and he would turn every single page, until she forgave him. The lamp in the corner (the one he didn't throw) flickered, and he took it as a good sign. "Aidan's coming with me. We'll be back in a few hours."
Josh took a deep breath, checking against his hand that it smelled okay. He had just brushed his teeth, but sometimes it seemed like he could never wash off the wolf smell. He took one last look in the mirror before declaring himself ready, and thundering down the stairs.
"Someone's excited," Aidan commented, and Josh pointed at him. "I know, I know." He zipped his fingers across his lips. "I'm silent. Is he coming here, or are we meeting somewhere?"
"He was going to pick me up, but I figured, since you're coming, we could just meet him. Is that okay?"
Aidan shrugged. "Whatever. Where are we going?"
Josh told him the restaurant, wincing as he realized that Aidan wouldn't be able to eat anything on the menu. It was harder to pretend to eat at a full restaurant. "I could call him, suggest a café or something?"
"Naw, it's fine," Aidan insisted. "Let's go." He slapped Josh on the ass to get him moving. Josh tried not to react, but he squeaked (like always), making Aidan laugh.
Josh almost got to the door, before whirling around, pressing his back to it. "I can't do this. I'm being a coward, aren't I? Having you come with me?" Josh looked at Aidan, trying to read his face to see what he should do. Aidan was impassive, as always. "I think I should go on this date. And it should be a date," he decided. "I'm going to call James. "
Josh ran back up the stairs, and Aidan thundered after him. "Are you – are you sure!" he yelled through Josh's closed door.
"Yeah, it's fine!" Josh hollered, on the verge of hyperventilating. He had never told Aidan, but he had had one homosexual relationship before. Actually, he'd only ever had 2 sexual relationships in his life. One was his fiancée – the other was her brother, who was killed the same night Josh was attacked and turned into a werewolf. She hadn't known, of course. Josh had taken him camping for one last hurrah before they broke it off, so he could focus on his fiancée.
If Josh was straight, he wouldn't be a werewolf, and Tom would still be alive. It kind of put a cramp in trying to have another relationship. Add that to his monthly visitor, and it equals a two year dry spell and suffocation at the very thought of gay sex.
Josh pulled out his phone and dialed James's number. He answered on the first ring. "James. Hi," Josh said, trying to calm his breathing.
"Hey?" James said, hesitating. He was probably confused as to why Josh was calling – or expecting him to try to weasel out of the date all together. Which he still totally could. "Are you okay?"
Aidan pounded on the door. "Josh?" he called. "Let me in!"
"Yeah, everything's great. Just - a change of plans. Aidan can't make it. Can you pick me up, like we said before?" Josh said in a rush. He quickly opened the door, and let Aidan in – otherwise, he would beat the door down, and Josh's room was already in a sorry enough state.
"Really?" he asked, his voice going higher – a bit into a squeak, like Josh's voice was prone to do when he was excited. "Yeah – yeah, that would be fine. I can be at your place in 10 minutes. Fifteen, tops."
"Great," Josh said. "I'm sorry about all the changes, but. . ." He didn't really know how to finish that thought.
"Hey, don't worry about it. We'll still have a good time, even without your roommate, right?"
"Yeah," Josh simpered, trying to keep himself from sounding like an idiot. "I'll see you when you get here."
"What was that?" Aidan demanded after Josh hung up.
"What was what?" Josh asked, as though he hadn't just been extraordinarily weird.
"You, acting like you want to go on an actual, real date with this guy."
"Maybe I do," Josh said, and Aidan felt like he'd just been nailed in the gut. Again.
"You sure?" Aidan asked. "You're shaking like an old dog on his last day at the pound."
"Again, with the dog jokes? That gets old."
"All right – I'm sorry. What do you want me to say? It's suspicious. You're not gay, and then all of a sudden, you want to have a big gay relationship with a man I've never met." Aidan had a horrible thought. "He's not a vampire, is he? Because Bishop knows you're my friend, and he'd hurt you to get to me."
Josh frowned. "James isn't a vampire – not everything's about you, Aidan. Besides, he doesn't smell anything like you. He smells, well, good. Really, really good."
Aidan didn't like the sound of that. "A vampire could compel you to make you think that."
"Yeah, well, if he's a vampire who wanted to hurt me, he wouldn't exactly be happy about coming here, where you live, to pick me up, now would he?" Josh shot back.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Sorry."
"It's okay," Josh said. "Apology accepted."
"It's just – you've never exactly given me any clue that you're interested in men, before." Aidan didn't like that – Josh not telling him. If Josh liked men, well, that could change things. Between them.
"I did have a life before I met you, you know, and I don't like to talk about it much, okay?" Josh countered. "Besides, James is really good looking. And tall. I like tall."
"Yeah, okay." Aidan placated, holding up his hands in the universal gesture of surrender. If Josh was actually interested in men in general and this man in particular, that could be a problem. A Josh who was straight, Aidan could take. A Josh who was gay – or bi-sexual, whatever – and wanted a man who wasn't Aidan, that would be a little harder to handle.
Aidan was going to give Josh a hard time about that – he had lied to Aidan, for years – but Josh looked so wrung out when he apologized, that Aidan had to forgive him. He was going to tell him so, when Josh's date rung the doorbell.
"Oh, god, I look horrible," Josh freaked out at the last minute, whirling to stare at his hair in the mirror. It was sticking up in a wild tangle, where he'd been running his hands through it. "I think I'm going to be sick."
"You'll be fine," Aidan said, deciding to be nice. Josh shot him a suspicious look, but Aidan could be nice, every now and again. Usually right after Josh's change, but only if he hurt himself during the night or something. The doorbell rang again. "Look, take a couple of deep breaths, fix your hair, and I'll go answer the door."
Josh nodded, chewing his lip, and Aidan bounded down the stairs. He pulled open the door. "Josh is on his way. . ."
There was a werewolf on his doorstep. A very dominant wolf, by the smell. The small hairs on Aidan's neck stood up, and he felt his fangs come out.
There was only one reason for one werewolf to show up at another one's house. Werewolves – especially alphas, like this one – were very territorial. And if one wolf held territory another wanted (say, Boston), there tended to be a fight, which both werewolves walked away from. The weaker one just tended to leave the confrontation digesting in the belly of the winner.
That must be why James wanted to take Josh out so close to the full moon. He was bigger than Josh, and would be a lot stronger than him, especially now. Too bad – for him – that he didn't count on Josh's vampire roommate.
"Leave, before I drink you dry," Aidan said, the words hard to speak around his fangs. Josh hesitated as he came down the stairs, picking up on the tension at the door.
"Aidan?" he asked, not coming closer than the foot of the stairs. "Are you going to let James in?"
"Stay back," Aidan told him, not taking his eyes off of the other werewolf. "He wants to kill you."
"What?" Josh laughed. "Don't be. . ." His voice trailed off, and Aidan could feel him brooding on the weirdness of his life. "Are you sure?" Aidan shifted slightly, so he could see Josh out of the corner of his eye. "I mean, he. . .he asked me out."
"He's a werewolf butting in on your territory," Aidan bit out. "There's only one reason for that."
"Actually, there are two," James interjected solicitously. Aidan snarled, and James flinched back. "Can we maybe do this inside, before the neighbors see your. . .?" he pointed to Aidan's eyes, which must be black as coal.
"No," Aidan said, as Josh said, "Yes!"
James made to come in, and Aidan snapped at him, but when Josh moved towards them, he took priority. Aidan flew to Josh and put his arm around him, thrusting Josh behind him. James quickly stepped in and slammed the door behind him.
"Look, Josh, I'm not here to kill you," James asserted, eyes only for Josh. "Usually, if one male werewolf came to another's house, then, yes, one of them would end up killing the other. But I don't want to kill you." His pupils dilated as he raked his eyes down what he could see of Josh. "I want to fuck you."
Josh squeaked his unbelievably cute squeal, and Aidan pushed his body to more fully cover Josh's. "He's not interested, werewolf. And he doesn't believe you. Go away."
"Aidan, I can speak for myself," Josh insisted, pushing a hand at Aidan's shoulder.
"He's lying. I can tell by the way he smells. You couldn't even tell he was a werewolf," Aidan argued, but he let Josh come forward a bit – just a bit. Aidan could shove himself in front of Josh and rip out the other werewolf's throat in less time than it would take James to think about attacking Josh.
"I didn't know what werewolf smelled like," Josh said, and Aidan was struck to hear something like wonder in Josh's voice. He was speaking to James. "I've never met another werewolf, other than the one who bit me, and I wasn't exactly up to sniffing him."
"I knew you were like me from the moment I saw you across the hospital," James said. "And I could smell him on you." A nod in Aidan's direction. "It pissed me off. Sorry."
Aidan could sympathize, except no, not really. Josh was Aidan's werewolf – Aidan's friend. Hell, he was just Aidan's.
James took a step toward Josh, a look of longing on his face, and Aidan snarled again, lunging forward to drag Josh back. James was the enemy, and he wasn't getting any closer to Josh, if Aidan could help it.
There was something wrong with Aidan. Josh didn't think he'd ever seen Aidan this – vamped out? Was that a word? It scared Josh. Just a little, of course.
He knew Aidan wouldn't hurt him, but if Josh didn't do something fast, someone was going to get hurt. When Aidan grabbed Josh this last time, James's eyes had flashed this gold color, and he had growled.
(A small part, deep in the reptile part of Josh's brain, thought that growl was one of the sexiest sounds he had ever heard. The other part his brain said it was a toss-up between that and Aidan's snarl).
They were both on edge – all on edge – and the scent of vampire and werewolf was almost enough to choke Josh. Somebody needed to defuse the situation, or it was going to get bloody. And as the obvious weak link in the house, Josh knew just who was going to get hurt the worst when Aidan and James went at it. (That would be Josh – he would get hurt. And it would be awful, and Aidan would never forgive himself.)
"Why don't we all just take a deep breath – Aidan, you can pretend – and just calm down?" Josh said, following his own advice, inhaling, then exhaling in a whush. "There, isn't that bett-nope? No one's even going to listen?"
"You're scaring him," James asserted, turning from Josh to stare deep into Aidan's vampire eyes. "Can't you see what you're doing to him? I can smell his fear from here."
"If you left, he wouldn't need to be afraid." Aidan cocked his head, slowly pushing Josh further behind him. Josh tried to stand his ground, but that was like trying to stand firm against an avalanche – it didn't matter what he wanted, his body went where the force told it to. Aidan took one menacing step toward James.
"I think we're all forgetting the most important thing!" Josh announced, in an attempt to get Aidan's attention back on him. "If we just keep standing around like this, we're going to miss the beginning of the movie." Aidan swiveled his head to stare, unblinking, at Josh. Creepy, but he would count it as a partial win. "And, you know how much I hate not getting to see the previews. It just ruins the whole movie-going experience, right? No amount of popcorn can fix that."
"I'm not letting you leave with him," Aidan said. "He can't have you. You're mine."
"Um, okay, weird," Josh forced himself to laugh. Aidan's eyes narrowed, and he advanced on Josh. "Buttotallyunderstandable!" Josh held his hands up in a gesture of peace. "Obviously, I'm yours, and James is – poaching, or something. But he didn't know, and now he does, and he's very sorry. Right, James?"
When Josh was a kid, before he wanted to be a doctor, he'd wanted to be a lawyer. And in the 4-6 months he'd been passionate about lawyering, he had learned one important rule – in a court of law, never ask a question you don't already know the answer to. If Josh had never seen Apollo 13 (bringing about his next great love – being an astronaut), he might have actually remembered that rule.
"No," James said. "I'm not sorry. I don't want to hurt you, but I do want to take you away." He sneered at Aidan in disdain. "And if I had known you were living with this thing, I would have done it already."
Josh grabbed at Aidan as he tensed, using his body like a fulcrum to propel himself between Aidan and James. He thrust his arms out to either side, looking to Aidan, James, back to Aidan. He had a momentary thought that they were going to grab his arms and play out their game of tug-of-war in a more literal sense.
"Look, um, both of you," Josh panted, positive that it didn't matter what he said, they were going to try their damndest to kill each other – but he had to try, anyway. "Aidan, I," he pointed to himself, his voice wavering, "I can be friends with whoever I want and you can't stop me."
"You're mine," Aidan growled.
Josh took a step back before he thought, and winced. Aidan wasn't going to hurt him – not now, not ever. He was just being. . .weird, and he needed Josh's help to calm down. Acting afraid was not the way to do that. "Be that," he cleared his throat, "be that as it may. I'm an adult, andyou'renothebossofme."
Before Aidan could respond, he rounded on James. "However, Aidan is my best friend, and if he's this uncomfortable around you, then I don't think I should see you. Plus, he's a person, not a thing. I've seen some of the other vampires, and if Aidan was like them, you'd be rotting meat on the floor by now."
"Yeah, so get out, before I stop being so sweet," Aidan warned.
"I'm leaving him here alone with you like this," James scoffed, his fists bunching. "He could kill you, and not even know it," he directed to Josh.
"I'll be okay," Josh promised, hoping it was the truth. "I can handle him better if I don't have to worry about you. He won't hurt me." Cold arms wrapped around his waist, heavy as a tomb.
"You smell like fear," Aidan leered, not bothering to lower his voice. (Not that it would have made much difference – James was a werewolf. He would have heard it, anyway.) "I like it."
"Yup," Josh said, patting Aidan's arm around his stomach. "I'll be perfectly fine. You just – go," he made a shooing motion at the door, "and I'll see you," he squeaked when Aidan's lips touched his neck. "I'll see you at work."
Josh froze as Aidan mouthed his throat. Josh thought he would be okay if he held perfectly still. He and Aidan were friends – best friends – and he trusted his friend implicitly.
Please don't bite, please don't please just let me go.
"Aidan, buddy, can you not do that, right now? This is really only making the situation worse," he stammered.
Aidan smirked at the other werewolf as he took Josh's pulse between his teeth and gnawed, but didn't break the skin. Josh's pulse was flying like a hummingbird between his lips, but he wasn't trying to get away. He wanted to stay with Aidan – he wanted that other guy gone.
He wouldn't bite Josh – wouldn't do that to him - Aidan just needed to bathe Josh in his scent, so that other werewolf would finally take the hint that Josh didn't want him and leave.
James vibrated with repressed fury. He looked like he wanted to take a swing at Aidan, but didn't dare with Josh in the way. Aidan laughed, splaying his hand under Josh's shirt on his flat stomach.
He sucked Josh's ear in lips and Josh moaned, the sound sweeter than he would have thought possible.
"You don't want him here, do you?" Aidan asked, delighted to find such an accessible erogenous zone. "James should leave, don't you think?" Aidan licked a swathe up Josh's neck to his ear. "If he wasn't here, I could make you feel so good. Let me make him leave."
"Mmng," Josh said. The smell of his sudden arousal made Aidan's fangs pop out more.
James glared at Aidan with a dark look of jealousy. He could smell Josh, too, the scent of his arousal heavy on the air.
"I'll leave," James said. "But I'll be back. And when you hurt him – which you will – he'll beg me to take him away from you."
Aidan would have killed him then and there, but Josh did this little rocking thing with his hips, and that required Aidan's full attention.
Josh sighed in relief when James left – now that he was safely out of the way, all Josh needed to do was calm Aidan down, and everything would be hunky dory.
"Whoo, I'm glad that's –" Aidan whirled Josh around as the door shut, pressing him against the wall. He shoved his face into Josh's neck, and Josh wondered – just for a moment, of course – if he made the right decision, playing into Aidan's seduction in order to get James to leave. "Hey, there, buddy," Josh said, trying to keep his voice steady. He patted Aidan's arm. "Can you let me go now?"
Aidan didn't seem to pay any attention to him, just pressed his entire body flush against Josh's, making his erection very evident against him.
"Uh," Josh tried to say. "Um."
"I want you," Aidan growled into Josh's neck. "Now."
"What? Oh, no," Josh protested. "We really shouldn't. These kinds of things don't always work out between roommates, and if it doesn't, well I don't really have any place to go."
"Don't be a cock tease," Aidan growled, grinding his pelvis into Josh's erection.
"Yeah, okay – I'll admit, there is some interest." Josh tried to calm down, but it was very hard to do that when a horny vampire had his teeth at your throat, just one temper tantrum away from chowing down. "I just thought, you know, maybe – maybe, we should date first, before the uh, the sex. You know, I just turned down a hot piece of manimal for you, and I need you to, um, well, I just need some convincing that I made the right choice." Josh struggled to find the magic words that would make Aidan let him go, and not go running after James to tear him to pieces. "I need wooing. You have to pitch me some woo, and if you're good at it, and I catch it – 'cause remember, I'm clumsy – then we can date, and maybe, in three or four years, we can get to the. . .sex part."
Aidan removed his mouth from Josh's (very tender, very fragile) throat. "You want me to woo you? For real?"
Aidan's eyes were almost their real color again, so obviously, confusing and discombobulating him was the right way to go about this.
"Totally for reals," Josh declared, as seriously as he could. "I'm Jewish. We're Victorian like that." They weren't. "So you need to let me go, before we do something to upset my religion."
"But you don't even pract-" Aidan whined.
"Bu-bu-bu," Josh protested. "I need to pray. I've sinned a lot tonight. Like, a lot. I can't be adding to that."
Aidan moved back enough that Josh could squeeze past him. As he did, Aidan grabbed his arm. "You're having me on, right? You're not really going to make me wait for sex."
Josh threw a smirk over his shoulder. "I suppose that's up to you. If you're really good, I might give it up in only a few months – instead of years."
Aidan dropped his arm with a groan, and Josh took the opportunity to run up the stairs. He thought about locking himself in his bedroom, but just shut the door, instead.
"Guess where I've been?" Sally sang as she misted into Josh's bedroom. He was probably going crazy with worry about her – she's been pretty mad when she left, and he could never stand it when people were mad at him.
She snuck a peek on the bed, and saw Josh. Curled up in the corner, with his all his clothes still on, trembling on top of the covers.
"Josh?" she whispered, and tried to grasp his shoulder to get him to look at her. Her hand passed through, of course, but he looked up at her. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing – I'm okay," he lied. His eyes darted to the door.
"Did something happen on your date?"
"Not really," He said. "There was a misunderstanding – and things got out of hand. Everything's fine. I just can't seem to stop – shaking."
Sally wished she could touch him, comfort him. "Do you want me to get Aidan?"
"No!" Josh's front half rose off the bed, before collapsing back. "No," he said, quietly. "He'll only be worried, and I'm just being stupid."
Sally misted next to him on the bed, curled up beside where he lay. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really. Just, can you stay with me? Just for a little while. I'll be fine in the morning."
"Okay," she said, watching him. It took a long time for him to fall asleep.