Whore.

Chapter 36: Clandestine

"Jay? Jay bear, you have to sit down. Please."

My gaze went back to Jason, who looked like he was about to rush out of the room and do something drastic. I couldn’t understand the weird changes in their behaviors all of a sudden. I began to wonder what was going on. Had Jeff told Jason that he did not have any exes? That could explain both their behaviors: Jason's annoyance and Jeff's fear. After all, I couldn't predict Jason's reaction to such news, and if I had been the one on the other end of his anger, I'd be pretty scared too. Jason was a big guy, even with his recent post-hospitalization weight loss. Jason looked at his boyfriend then slowly sat on the bed. It was almost comical to watch; the smaller guy had such a hold on the big one. But I wasn't in the mood to laugh.

"Jeff, what are you both so upset about?" I didn't have any other ideas. And my working theory seemed unlikely as Jason did not seem angry at Jeff. Maybe he and Malone were old enemies. Jason could have been thinking of doing something violent on hearing the name and Jeff was only scared of the results. That was another meaningful thought path. Except that this was Jason. Jason was the sweetest guy I knew. I didn't think it possible for him to ever hold a grudge.

"Michael, I need you work on the same brain frequency as me right now. Abandon all other thoughts and focus."
"Okay..." I looked at him with concern. "I have no idea what's going on right now."
"Michael? Have you and Malone had sex?"
"Yeah sure."

His eyes widened with a look that said 'Oh shit'. I began to feel some of his fear rise in me. It was almost like it was being directly transferred into me via some psychic bond. I had heard those things about twins, that they could feel what the other felt sometimes, but I couldn't fully bring myself to believe it. But at this very moment, I was beginning to doubt my own doubt. Whatever link we were supposed to have was working. I was scared and I had no idea why. He exhaled.

"Okay, you've had sex. Have you ever been the one to initiate it? Like...have you ever been the one to make it happen through anything you've done? Teasing, asking, commanding, anything?"
I remembered being the one to ask -even beg - for it several times but I couldn't understand the relevance of that. "Yeah, so?"

Jeff squeezed his eyes and seemed to flinch. His reactions were getting weirder and weirder. I was at my limit with patience. If there was something I needed to know, I'd prefer to know now.

"What is wrong with asking for sex?"

He opened his eyes and gave me a knowing look, then sighed.

"Michael, do you have any idea what a sociopath is?"

It was my turn to flinch. I couldn't believe what Jeff was trying to imply. I actually felt myself get angry. It was one thing to bad mouth your ex, but this level of accusation bordered on the psychopathic.

"What the hell are you talking about? Listen Jeff, I've known you for barely six hours and you've done nothing but ruin my outlook on the world around me. I've had my childhood destroyed, both my parents killed, and the people I thought were my parents turned into surrogates. Even before I met you, I got threatened twice by loan sharks on your account. Why do you have to ruin everything in my life? Why couldn't you have just stayed dead?"
Jeff shrank back, looking both shocked and confused. "Who told you I was dead?"

I reprocessed my own thought. Malone. Malone told me he was dead. Malone who was supposed to be a sociopath. I had barely considered the idea fully when Jeff started laughing almost like a maniac.

"Oh, I see what's going on here."
"What?" I felt completely in the dark. I had no idea what was going on.
"He told you about me, didn't he?"
"Yeah."
"I'm sure he accidentally called my name a few times."
"Yeah."
"And he probably only told you I looked like you, but I was dead. He needed to keep you quiet."
"Why are you so sure?"
"I told him I had a twin."