On The Surface

Bad Taste

Waylon was beyond paranoid as he pulled into the shopping complex after dark. The large gates that were always opened and seemed mostly decorative, suddenly seemed sinister and frightening. The dim, flickering street lights made him jump with each electrical noise. He pounded on Eddie's door as though the hounds of hell were at his heels.

Eddie seemed annoyed—then alarmed. He brought his lover inside and locked the door's many locks. "Darling? Are you quite alright? You look terrified....darling you're shaking." Eddie put a strong hand against Waylon's brow and felt the clammy sweat there. "You need to lie down."

"No. No, Eddie, listen to me," Waylon shifted his laptop satchel on his shoulder and peered out the window, unable to see anything in the dark parking lot with the interior lights on. "Let's go upstairs. Away from the windows."

Eddie's face was full of motherly concern, but he helped Waylon upstairs and watched as his lover dropped his laptop satchel to the ground and began pacing the floor.

"This is bad Eddie. Really bad," Waylon said, wringing his hands together.

"You're going to have to explain yourself better than that, darling."

Waylon stopped pacing and walked to stand a breath away from Eddie, allowing him to talk at a barely audible whisper. "Murkoff. They threatened me today. They threatened you."

"Threatened me how," Eddie asked, his striking blue eyes darkening and the angles of his face suddenly seeming sharp and rough. Waylon warred with himself as he considered telling Eddie openly about the photographs and videos, but he was too ashamed to bring up the disconcerting details. He decided it might be better to shield his lover from the embarrassment.

"If I don't work for them, they'll hurt you. Evict you. Make it so you can't ever work again. Or even get you locked away again. They'll hurt me too. Hurt my reputation. Shame me. Use you against me," Waylon's eyes were shimmering now. Eddie wrapped his strong arms around his lover.

"There there, darling," Eddie whispered against Waylon's hair. "When was the last time you showered? You really need to relax."

"I can't relax. I...I may have fucked up," Waylon said, pulling away from Eddie and resuming his maniacal pacing. "I went to Upshur. I know you don't trust him, but I just...fuck Blaire. Man, fuck him, seriously."

"What did you do then?" Eddie prodded. His expression was nonplussed but Waylon could sense Eddie was more nervous than he allowed to show. It seemed they were both holding back to protect the other.

Waylon returned to his close position to whisper again. "Pulled out some files. Every file mentioning this...protocol. I don't know what it is. Miles has a source on the inside who said it's really bad and Murkoff could be in a lot of trouble if anyone knew. But no one does. Because they've paid off everyone there is to pay off. I have no idea the outcome of it, but I got the information and passed it off to Miles. He's going to confront his source with it now. I don't know if Murkoff will find out. If they do, they will likely try to hurt us both."

Eddie looked at the carpet, a deep frown on his face. "You did what you felt was right. I don't like having those fucks standing over me, holding me prisoner like this either. Maybe it's for the best. Whatever they throw at us, we can take it. Together."

Tears streaked Waylon's dirty cheeks when he finally looked up to meet Eddie's clear blue eyes. Waylon threw his arms around Eddie, kissing him hard, noses butting against one another. "Leave with me," Waylon said against Eddie's lips. "Leave with me now. Let's go away. They can't hurt us or hold anything over us if we don't need them; where they can't bother us."

"They're not going to win this," Eddie said gently, running a hand through Waylon's dirty hair. "You mean too much to me. I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you. I'll protect you. Come on, let's get you cleaned up and into my bed." Eddie gave a suggestive smile at the last part, and Waylon sighed. There really was nothing Waylon could do at that time. He couldn't take back those files. He couldn't change the fact that someone owned pornographic videos of him and Eddie. He decided to focus on things he could control. Waylon took a shower, and crawled into bed with Eddie.