The Whole Thing

The Part With The Escape

It had been a long day.

Julian removed the key from the ignition and drew a deep sigh. He rubbed his eyes, careful not to poke them out with the key before reluctantly getting out of the car. He stumbled across the stepping stones to his beautiful cottage home. His lonely cottage home.

He got to the door but he stopped to close his eyes. Noel Fielding was going to be publicly executed the very next day. He would fall asleep and wake up to the day Noel Fielding was destined to die. It made him sick to the stomach.

Opening his eyes, he raised his house-key to the door but was startled to find the door already open. It was just adjacent, just out of place so he could barely notice but he did notice. He pushed it open and cautiously stepped into his home. His dark living room was scarier than ever before. He shut the door behind him and turned on the light.

"Boo"

Julian didn't jump or get goosebumps. His sick stomach dropped, however. So Noel Fielding had escaped and was now grinning at him. How predictable.

Noel did not get the reaction he was hoping for when Julian took off his jacket, kicked off his shoes and put his keys on a table like it was just a normal day. Noel got up off the couch he was sitting on and desperately wandered over to Julian, craving a bigger reaction.

"I escaped. I got out of the prison. I bet they don't even know I'm gone yet. We're gone. I got out with friends. They're setting up for us to skip town but I told them I needed to see you first. One last shag and then I'm gone out of your hair, forever"

He was still grinning but he probably didn't mean it. Underneath his cocky exterior he was scared shitless and probably scared to let Julian go even if he had been avoiding him the past few days. 

Julian continued to ignore him and made his way over to the kitchen. Noel just followed like an attention-seeking puppy.

"You told me you were married?"

"And?"

"Where is she? And where are your kids too?"

Julian stopped what he was doing. He turned around to face Noel who was on the other side of the kitchen island.

"They left. She left me and took the kids"

"When? Why?"

"Pretty much when our affair started"

Julian said no more and Noel felt it was best to drop the subject. Julian opened his freezer and pulled out two microwaveable meals. Noel frowned as Julian heated them up. Julian folded his arms as he waited and refused to make eye contact.

"Do you want to know how I escaped?"

"You know I could turn you in? I'm the head of security at the prison you escaped from. How stupid can you be? Did you not think that I could arrest you? I'm qualified to do that. I could arrest you right now and have backup here in minutes"

"...It had been planned from the second I was transferred. Dave Brown and I used to go to art school together.  When I arrived, he was at max for meddling with files but I knew this already as the files he meddled with were my cell arrangements. He organised for me to share a cell with his colleague, Rich Fulcher. The plans had to be organised precisely and with as much time as possible so I needed to get to max to talk to him, hence the shanking. He was going to organise new profiles for us that meant new names, passports, identification and whatever we needed to restart our lives. Rich would drive the getaway vehicle. My brother was our outside man who would provide us with a place to stay and a place to go out of the country. My job was simple, to get the code for the gate and every other code to ensure no alarms would be triggered"

"I saw one of the codes scribbled on your wall" Julian grumbled, "I should've reported you"

"I got the codes from you, Julian... You let me in. You let me in so easily. You loved me so much you probably never thought I was stealing from you. The first code was easy to get. All I had to do was be put on van duty on your day and watch you punch it in. You didn't shield it from me like the other guards. You were such an easy target. You let me in"

"I let you in" Julian sighed, "And now you're here"

The microwave dinged and he removed the meals from it. He stuck forks in them and passed one to Noel. He ambled over to the living room again, turned on the television and sat down. Noel hesitantly sat on a couch adjacent and picked at his food with his fork. Julian was famished and ate it quickly whilst enjoying a mindless slasher movie because that's all that was ever on that late.

"I hate horror movies"

Julian looked at Noel with confusion.

"Your life is a horror movie"

Noel snorted and finally felt comfortable enough to start eating.

"Before... I've never heard you talk so sophisticated"

"Shut up" Noel chuckled.

"I'm serious. You should talk like that more often. I like it"

Noel was blushing. As time wore on he kept sneaking glances at Julian who kept sneaking glances back but their eyes never connected.

When the movie finished, Noel put his dish on the coffee table and turned to talk to Julian. There was so much more he had to say. Yet when his eyes fell on the security guard, he was fast asleep. It made him smile though, if only for a split second.

Noel stood up and wandered over to him. He removed the dirty dish from his lap and put it next to his own. He grabbed the blanket at the man's feet and covered him up to his shoulders. He tucked him in and stroked his hair.

"They say I'm a killer but you're the real one" He sighed, "You killed me with kindness. I was using you and you probably knew it but you still were nice and kind and charming. You even fell in love with me. That's insane"

Noel shook his head. Julian's hair felt like silk between his pale fingers.

"I was scared because I knew I was leaving and you didn't know. You told me you loved me and I was going to leave. I was scared because I'd have to leave without you. No, I was scared because I didn't think I could leave without you. I had to. I have to. I can't stay around here and pretend like we could actually be together. I might not be in love with you but I could. I could fall madly in love with you if I don't leave. You don't want that. Heck, I don't want that. I'll be caught. Sent back to prison. Killed. I can't stay, not for you, not for anyone!"

Noel had tears in his eyes. His lips were quivering as he stood up, pulling away from Julian's sleeping body. He walked to the front door and got as far as opening it before turning back to finish his speech.

"You were right. My life is a bloody horror movie. I can't sit around and watch horror movies with you when I'm living one. I hate you. I fucking hate you for telling me you were in love with me because it's all I can think about. We can't be together. We can't be a normal couple. It'll be another scene in my horror movie. I have to go. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for everything"

He exited the house with such deep regret, he couldn't stop himself from looking back. Yet he kept walking forward.

Julian opened his eyes.