Eric followed Alexei, who generously paid for his bus fare—public transport, what a nightmare!—until they arrived at an old concrete building on a quiet side road. The large shopping windows on the ground floor were covered with wooden planks and the four floors above appeared to be offices; some windows on the upper floors were broken and pigeons seemed to be the only occupants. Clearly, the building was no longer used for its intended purpose. 

Inside, the old shop floor was empty, except for rubbish, bin bags, and other random clutter. The bags rustled as if disturbed by them and someone—no, something dashed across the room. In the faint light from the mostly blocked windows, Eric could only hope that it was a cat and not a rat.

As he walked further into the room, his stomach turned upside down, and he covered his mouth with his hands, afraid he would vomit. The stench was abysmal—weirdly sweet and skunk-like with a mix of urine, stale booze, and vomit. 

“Damn idiot hasn’t paid the electricity bill again,” Alexei complained as if the lack of light was the main problem.

The next room was even dirtier and the smell evolved to dense miasma—Eric could hardly breathe. There were a few people, leaning against the wall or each other due to the lack of furniture other than a makeshift table with empty bottles on it. Some seemed to be asleep—at least Eric hoped they were: given their paleness, they could also be dead. 

One person, if one could call them that, was awake but paid no attention to the visitors, they were completely fixated on heating up a substance on a spoon over a lighter. The small flame was the only source of light in the room other than the barred windows and Eric couldn’t help but look at it and the brown bubbling liquid, although the hollow eyes of the creature gave him chills.

If he still had a life, Eric would have immediately called his driver and probably the security staff as well, but now he just accepted the scene as his new reality, lacking the energy to care.   

As they walked up the damp staircase, the smell weakened—or perhaps Eric had just gotten used to it. His stomach returned to near normal, except for a lingering feeling of unease mixed with fluttering caused by the hot stranger.

“Yo, Alexei, how was Juvie?” a voice asked, and seconds later, its owner emerged from one of the rooms. Shirtless, Eric had a full view of his bronze skin and for a moment his heartbeat rose in anticipation of touching the guy’s naked chest—but then his brain processed the man’s words. “Babe, you were in prison? Don’t tell me they locked you up for being too hot?” He gave it his best grin. “If so, then I guess you are guilty as charged.” 

For some reason, Alexei shot daggers at him. “I was in for murder.”

Eric froze, the grin still stuck on his face. How could someone as perfect as Alexei be a murderer? But as a murderer, perhaps Alexei would be able to understand him on a level that was deeper than sexual attraction? 

“You’re funny, you sat for theft.” The other guy laughed and Eric didn’t know whether he felt relieved or disappointed. 

“You murder sentence finished last year.”

So he was a murderer... Fate must have brought them together; for the first time in a long while, Eric’s smile was genuine. 

“By the way, I got you a little welcome-back present.” The guy waved a small plastic bag containing a white powder. “Bet you missed this.”

“Babe, you’re using?” It wasn’t like Eric had never played with party drugs before, but he didn’t want Alexei to be like the junkies downstairs. Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed his arms and pushed up the sleeves. Eric had never interacted with a junkie before but he immediately recognised the marks on his arms.  

Alexei shook off Eric’s hands easily and pushed him away—he was stronger than he looked. “None of your damn business. And if you call me ‘babe’ again, you’re dead.” 

“Who’s that? Did you find a lover in prison?” the half-naked stranger asked as if he had only noticed Eric now.

“I’m his sugar babe, can’t you see that?”

The other guy burst into laughter. “That’s a good one! Alexei is fucking broke, all he does is freeloading here.” 

“Freeloading no longer.” Alexei threw Eric’s watch at his friend. “That idiot is fucking loaded, Jorey. Bet his parents will give us a nice ransom.” 

“Sweet!” The guy called Jorey put the watch on his arm, his eyes sparkling as he looked at it. 

“W- Wha—” Eric’s voice cracked. His mouth froze in a rictus grin—this couldn’t be true! Why would his sweet angel sell him out? But as Alexei noisily closed the door to the staircase to cut off his escape route, it became clear that he wasn’t joking.  

If the two really contacted his parents, running away would have been meaningless. At home, Eric would have to face the consequences of his actions—anything but that! His mind raced, frantically searching for a way out but finding only disconnected thoughts. And his brother; the lie he had told him. 

“I was disinherited. My parents won’t care what happens to me!” Despite his inner panic, Eric’s voice sounded as firm and confident as always; acting was second nature for all members of the Nightingale household after all. 

“Nice try,” Alexei replied, evidently not convinced. 

But Eric didn’t give up. “Do you think I would have followed you if I had somewhere else to go?” He would but Alexei didn’t need to know.  

“He does have a point,” Jorey remarked.

“Shit.” Alexei rubbed his brows and sighed noisily. “What a fucking waste of time. To think I put up with this nonsense for nothing…”

Eric grinned victoriously. “So let me stay here?”