“Walt? Hey, it’s me... Listen, would you mind if I moved back in with you for a while? I don’t... I don’t really feel safe here anymore.”

***

It didn’t take Walter very long to make it to my apartment. Despite living on my own, completely independently of him, for the last twenty years, we still lived relatively close to each other. Before that, he had raised me for many more decades, treated me like his very own son. It had felt wrong to move further away from him. And now, when my habit of taking home men I met at the club came back to bite me in the ass, I was all the more thankful for it.

When he opened the door to my apartment, which I hadn’t bothered to lock, I looked up at him from where I was sitting on the floor of the hallway. Through my tears, I could only barely make out that this was, indeed, Walter. An agonizing sob escaped me as I tried to speak, only more painful as my throat still hurt from the strain put on it by Alexander, earlier. I croaked out an unintelligible attempt at words, but the older man hushed me as he knelt down by my side.

“It’s okay, Barclay. You’re going to be okay. Let’s get you out of here.” He whispered to me, and I blacked out before we could even get to his car.

***

I whimpered and hissed in pain as Walter spread an antiseptic cream over the burn mark on my neck. It stung like Hell, but it was a necessary evil, I guessed. I struggled to hold still as every instinct I had screamed at me to move away from the pressure.

“Look, son, I understand this hurts, but I’m going to need you to sit still a little longer.” Walter mumbled as he placed a gauze over the wound. “Hold this for a second, please.”

“Easier said than done.” I sighed as my hand reached up and gingerly held the gauze in place, as Walter firmly wrapped a bandage around it.

“That means it’s working.” He tried, an optimistic smile on his face, though it quickly fell when he realized I couldn’t bring myself to return it.

It had been years upon years since I had last allowed Walter to take care of me like this. I had always been so desperate to grow up, and be independent, as my human friends aged and grew up so much faster than I did. This kind of intimacy was so different from the kind I was used to nowadays, but it only made me realize just how much I missed the time we had spent together when I was just a little boy.

“I’m sorry I was such an idiot…” I sobbed when Walter fastened the bandage around my neck with two pieces of medical tape. “I shouldn’t have trusted him, I shouldn’t have been so naive… You’ve warned me before, but I didn’t listen…” I said hoarsely, and hiccupped as tears started to stream down my face.

“It’s not your fault, Barclay.” Walter sighed, taking hold of my hands as he looked right into my eyes. Being able to read the man was a rare occasion for me, but now his eyes were overflowing with worry and desperation. I quietly hugged the man. Walter was never one for physical displays of affection, which made it all the more powerful when he returned the embrace. “He came onto you under false pretenses. You couldn’t possibly know the outcome of tonight.”

“I hypnotized him, Walt… I broke my promise.” I confessed, gazing away as I no longer dared to look him in the eye. Though, surprisingly, a smile appeared on his face. It was sad, pained even, but it was a smile nonetheless.

“I only set that rule because I wanted to raise you to become an honest young man who works for what he wants, rather than obtaining what he desires through control and manipulation. You only used your power in self defence. You did the right thing, and I’m proud of you.”

“He called me an incubus, Walt.” I mumbled. “Did you know that’s what I am?” I asked, meekly looking up at him. I wasn’t usually nervous around Walter. The only other time I was this nervous, had been when I first told him that I liked boys, instead of girls.

“No, I didn’t know... I never wanted to know.”

“Why not?”

“Because what you are doesn’t define you. Once she knew she was dying, your mother told me she wanted me to raise you as my own, and that’s exactly what I did. I raised and treated you exactly the way I would have a human, a witch, or even an angel. I simply raised you to be the son I could never have.”

“So,” I barely dared to to speak, my heart pounding in my ears and a lump firmly stuck in my throat. “this doesn’t change anything between us?”

“Of course not.” He smiled. “I still love you as the son I always wanted, and it’s not likely I’ll ever stop doing so. However, it does explain a lot about your nightly escapades.” Walter chuckled.

"Walt!"

A deep sigh escaped Walter as the smile on his face dissipated.

“Come to think of it, what did you do about work? That mark is going to last for a while, and I can imagine you wouldn’t want to show up at the club like this...”

“I called my boss and told her that the guy that took me home was a religious fanatic who tried to murder me but I managed to escape... That it was a despicable hate crime, which I guess it kind of was... They promised to up security to keep everyone safe.” And I supposed everyone would have been safe, as long as I stayed away from them until this whole thing died down.

Walter nodded, placing a hand on my back, rubbing between my shoulderblades.

“She said I should take as much time off as I need to fully recover.” I whispered, feeling defeated.

“Hey now, chin up. It’s only temporary. You’ll be back on your feet before you know it.” Walter smiled as he gave my shoulder a reassuring pat.

I scratched at the bandage around my neck, as the scratchy fabric irritated my skin. “How long do you expect this mark to last anyway?” I asked, hoping to get rid of the wrapping soon.

“Well…” Walter tried to stall as he presumably thought about his answer. “The good news is you get to stock up on scarves and turtlenecks. I’m paying.”

***

Continued in part 2