It took just over half an hour for Howard's curiosity to get the better of him. He got up, grabbed his coat and went to Vince's house. It wasn't until he got outside the huge home that he realised how stalker-esque this really was. He was on the opposite pavement to chez Noir, pressing himself against the wall, hidden in the shadows. Now he was here, he couldn't think of any good reason to go barging into Vince's house. He couldn't even summon the courage to knock on the door. He didn't think he could stand rejection twice in one night. He was about to go home, when the front door opened and out came an attractive woman. She was wearing a fluffy blue dressing gown and carrying a black bin bag. And that's when Howard worked it all out. Vince was still with his girlfriend. It all made sense now. Vince didn't want them to be seen out together. He didn't kiss Howard but he said he wanted to. He'd seemed guilty. He wouldn't let Howard go to his home.

Vince wanted Howard to be some dirty little secret. Well, he could forget that. Howard Moon just wasn't that kind of man. He emerged from the shadows and marched across the road with little concern for the screeching car.

"Oi. Katharine, isn't it?"

Kath looked up, her eyes widening with fear as she saw the oncoming six foot plus psycho-maniac yelling at her.

"Your boyfriend is lying cheating scum."

Boyfriend? Kath frowned. Vince? But who the hell could this man be? And then it hit her.

"Howard?" she asked nervously.

"He's told you about me? What kind of relationship is this?"

"No. You don't understand." she said, holding her hands out pleadingly.

"Stop telling me I don't understand." Howard screamed.

Kath jumped violently and blinked, dark blue eyes flashing with fear. She was bitterly aware of next door's curtain twitching and the opposite house's lights flicking on.

"Perhaps you'd like to come inside." she offered. She did not want to brawl on the streets.

"What? Are you going to try some sick little ménage à trois?" Howard spat.

"Don't be ridiculous." Kath yelled back. She was so angry now, she was shaking. "Vince and I broke up."

"So why are you still living together?"

"Because he still needs me. He needs someone to lean on. You have no idea what he's going through. You just make him feel guilty because he can't do the things you want."

"Guilty? If he hasn't done anything wrong then he'd have nothing to feel guilty about."

Suddenly, there was a sharp slap and a dull ringing in Howard's ears as palm connected with face. The pain seared his skin. When he looked up, Kath was glaring at him, tears shining in her eyes.

"He hasn't done anything wrong." she spat with venom coated ferocity, "None of this is his fault. Don't you dare try and suggest otherwise."

There was silence for a moment, with only the hushed sounds of far away cars to disturb them. They stood, staring each other down, trying to gage how far they could trust the other. Eventually, the silence was broken.

"What's going on?" Howard asked quietly. "I mean, really… What happened to Vince the day he left school? You know, don't you?"

"You need to come inside." Kath said stepping aside and guiding Howard into the house.

"Is Vince here?"

"He's relaxing in the shower. He was in a right state when he came home this evening."

Kath sat Howard down on a pristine white sofa. The design was so unlike Vince, so clearly her influence. She went to get to mugs of coffee and a small bottle of whiskey, she was pretty sure the impending conversation would merit it. When she returned, Howard thanked her for the drink and she began to tell Vince's story. Howard didn't say a thing except;

"He told me some boy at school broke his nose."
"He told me the same thing."

By the end, Howard was furious. The anger was whipping up inside him. How could Vince's dad do that? How could he be so heartless? Everyone in the village could see Vince wasn't the same, they could all see how broken and weak he was and yet no one ever did anything to stop it. Howard never did anything to stop it. He felt sick. He'd allowed that to happen, right under his nose. He'd seen the affects of the 'treatment' first hand and he'd never mentioned it to a soul. He'd just let it happen.

"It's all my fault." he said coldly. "I should've known. I should've done something."

"You couldn't have known." Kath said, rubbing his arm gently.

"I walked away from it!" Howard cried angrily "I knew something wasn't right but I walked away. I could've done something!" And suddenly he was sobbing, uncontrollable tears escaping his tear ducts and pouring down his cheeks.

It was years since he'd cried, probably since the last time he'd skinned his knee, when he fell of his bike aged about ten. Vince had laughed at him and it had made him angry and upset but, when he'd cried, Vince had put his arms around his shoulders and made everything better. Vince had always been there for him, when he needed him growing up and where was Howard when Vince had needed him most? He was with the rest of the villagers looking fervently in the other direction. He sobbed harder. Kath put her arms around him awkwardly and he could feel that she was crying too.

"How could his parents let that happen to him?" Howard asked eventually, detaching himself from Kath.

"I like to think they didn't know." Vince's voice brought them both back into a sort of reality.

"Vince?" Howard said, looking up to find him, stood in the doorway, wrapped up tightly in a cream dressing gown. Standing up and wiping his face with his sleeve, Howard asked, "Are you okay?"

The smaller man nodded and looked at Kath. "You told him then?"

"I had to. He thought you and I were a couple. He needed to know the truth and how hard all this is for you."

"Vince I…" Howard started but he was cut off as Vince flew across the room and collided with Howard, arms tight around his waist.

"It was so horrible." Vince said, tears rolling down his own face and soaking into Howard's shirt. "I was so alone, I had no one to turn to."

"I was there."

"I couldn't… you saw what being with you did to me. It brought back everything too vividly. I wanted to reach out to you, I tried to but… I dreamt of you saving me for a while and then… and then every thought I had of you was tainted. Every memory stained by illness and pain. I couldn't even dream about you without hurling everywhere."

"I'm so sorry Vince. I'm sorry I wasn't there to stop it."

"It's okay." Vince said, pressing his face further into Howard's chest. "You're here now."

Please Review?? xx
Next chapter will be longer! =]