In the weeks following the fire at BlackPearl, Vincent and I talked a little bit about the friendship I had with Markus. I didn’t tell him about the past I had with Markus, but I did explain that there was not a single bit of feelings, emotional or sexual, between me and Markus. He’s just someone who takes care of me when I need it. I didn’t tell him this part, but when my last Dom hurt me to the point of leaving scars, Markus was the one who helped stitch me up and care for my wounds… mostly because I was far too embarrassed to go to a hospital for the proper care, but also because he was the only person I trusted to help me without judgement.

Also in the weeks following the fire, some of the guys from the station and a few of the full time employees at the club helped Mama rescue anything that was salvageable, and then they cleaned out the rest for trash. Mama dealt with getting a demo company to take down the building and construction workers to start building again. The club was still in the early stages of being rebuild, but apparently Mama was really good with his money, and was able to continue paying his full time dancers, and bar tenders at least for now. A few of the employees and some of the guys here worked on fund raiser type events to help Mama pay for the rebuild. It was a wide range of events, from auctions for dates, to sexy car wash, and everything in between. They ended up raising a shit ton of money, and Mama used most of it to rebuild, but the rest went into his savings account for the club, which honestly was an incredibly smart move on his part.

Anyway, I digress. I haven’t been much help with anything. With my leg being out of commission, all I do is lay on the couch in the lounge at the station, avoid most people, and watch TV. Like right now. I wish I could just be alone, but I’d have to actually go back to my apartment for that…

“Ow ow ow ow ow! Watch the ankle! Damn.” I complained loudly as Daniel shifted the pillows propping my leg up out of his way so he could sit down next to me. The lounge was empty, except for the two of us, so why did he have to sit right next to me?

“My bad. It’s been what? Four weeks since it broke, right? It really shouldn’t be that sensitive still. Sore, maybe, but come on man. Don’t be such a bitch.” He rolled his eyes at me.

“You’re much more pleasant when you’re on stage. Why are you so mean to me?!” I whined.

“Because you’re my buddy, and a bit of tough love never hurt no one. Plus. I kind of hate you right now because Dom won’t give me the time of day.” He sighed, grabbing my injured foot and putting it in his lap gently.

“Like I want him to be obsessed with me. I can’t stand him. He’s got no morals, and no respect for anyone’s feelings. I can’t stand people like that.” I rolled my eyes.

“See, what I don’t understand is that you talk like that to his face too, so what the hell does he even see in you still?!” Daniel sighed.

“I’m hot. And a good lay. Duh.” I laughed. Daniel tapped my ankle just hard enough to make me wince, but not hard enough to cause any damage.

“I’m hot too. And pretty confident in my sex skills.” Daniel boasted… but it came out oddly shyly.

“I wouldn’t know anything about how you have sex. But I do know Dom pretends he’s a sub. So if you want to tap that, maybe show some dominance for once, instead of this weird bold but shy thing. Not that he’d be a good sub either way.” I told him.

“How so?”

“He doesn’t listen, he’s incredibly rude all the time, and all he cares about is getting fucked. But I’ll at least give him props for being loyal. Granted we had a contract, and he clearly didn’t want it to be broken. If he just wanted rough sex, he doesn’t need to go around pretending he’s a submissive when he isn’t.”

“Maybe you just weren’t a good dom.” He sniped.

“Wow. Okay.” I sat up, getting ready to leave the lounge to go literally anywhere else. That was a low blow to criticize my ability to be a do =m.

“Ugh, I’ll say it again, don’t be such a bitch. I didn’t mean it the way it came out. I meant like maybe you just weren’t the right match for him. I get he’s hung up on your looks and your cock, but maybe he just needs a dom who can handle him better. Plus, didn’t you start as Mark’s sub anyway? Why are you even a dom now if you can’t handle one misbehaved sub?”

“First of all, fuck you. Secondly, I’m not talking about my past with you. It ain’t your business.” I grabbed my crutches and hobbled out of the room. Not many people know Markus and I were partners before, and even fewer know that he trained me as a sub back when I first discovered the world of doms and subs. It pissed me off when people that did know about it brought that part of my life up because it wasn’t something I was proud of. Markus was an amazing dom for me back then, but when we broke off our relationship, the I had other doms who weren’t great.

“Hey Piccolo. What’s wrong with you?” I ran into Markus right outside the door.

“Daniel is a prick. I’m going to go lay down.” I pushed past him.

“What’d you do now Dan?” I heard Markus ask in a stern tone.

“I’m innocent. He’s just sensitive.” Daniel replied.

“You brought up his past again, didn’t you?” Markus was smart, he knew exactly what pissed me off like this, so he knew Daniel had to have done something. I had moved too far away from them to hear the remainder of the conversation.

I hobbled past the locker room, not looking in to see my gear hanging in my locker just waiting for me to use it again. I made it to the bunk room, I had planned to go lay down and take a nap, but just being here was starting to piss me off. I need to get out of the station, it’s not like I was doing anything here anyway. I grabbed my keys and hobbled out to my truck. The loud roar of the diesel engine must have caught Markus’ attention because he came running out the door like a bat out of hell.

“THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!” He shouted at me. Honestly, he was probably only ahouting to make sure I heard him over the engine.

“Going anywhere that isn’t here.” I said just as I slammed the door shut. He was scowling very angerly at me.

“If you don’t get out of the damn truck right now, I will bust the window open and make you get out.” He threatened. I rolled my eyes, then rolled the window down.

“You aren’t my daddy. I don’t have to listen to you. Move.”

“Are you seriously about to drive off in that condition all because Dan was insensitive?” Markus asked, stepping up on the step bar outside my door and reaching his arm across my steering wheel, “You’re acting like a child who can’t express his feelings right now.”

“Dan and Dominic would be perfect together. Neither one of them gives a shit about anyone’s feelings. The two are a match made in hell.” I shot back angerly. Markus shut the engine off, and took my keys.

“And that means you need to drive around with a broken ankle? Why do you let them get under your skin like that?” Markus asked trying to calm his tone.

“I can’t help it. You didn’t hear the snide comment he made about me. And talking about my past always gets me like this. You of all people should know that, Markus.” I shoved him back, making him fall off the step. I opened the door a got out.

“Piccolo, you need to get help. It’s not healthy to keep all that rage of the past all pent up. You know I’m here for you as your friend, but you have to let someone other than me in eventually. I understand why you came to me back then, but I can’t be the only one in your life that you depend on, especially since we aren’t partners like that anymore. You have to open your heart up to someone.” Markus pleaded with me.

“I just wanted to get out of this place and clear my mind. Why can’t you stop treating me like an incapable child?” I shoved past him, taking my keys out of his hand and going back inside. Honestly, I couldn’t explain the childlike rage I was feeling. All I knew was that thinking of the past set of this unbearable anxiety that made me so angry inside. And Markus pushing me to open up about it didn’t help. I pulled out my phone to make a call, just because Markus wasn’t going to let me drive, didn’t mean I was just going to stay stuck here.

“Hello?”

“Hey Vincent. You busy?” For whatever reason, hearing his voice instantly calmed me down.

“No. What’s up?”

“Can you come kidnap me from the station. I really need to get out of here and Markus won’t let me drive.”

“Yeah. I can come get you. I’ll be there in a few. You want me to come in and get you, or you meeting me outside?” He asked.

“I’ll meet you outside.” I answered. I didn’t want him bringing attention to the fact that I was trying to escape again. I wanted to get out as quietly as possible.

After a few minutes, I went outside at the back of the station just in time to see Vincent pulling up. I felt  slight relief in my anxiety when I saw him. But of course nothing around here went unnoticed. Just as I was about to get into Vincent’s car, Markus found me again and grabbed me to stop me.

“What are you, my fucking stalker?! Jesus.” I yanked my arm free with too much force, nearly knocking myself over.

“Hey Vinny. Where you taking this kid?” He ignored me completely, grabbing me again to stop me from falling.

“Away from here?” Vincent said in a way that sounded like what he was doing was self-explanatory.

“Thanks smart ass. Where is away from here?” Markus retorted.

“Anywhere he wants to go. Because he called me and asked me to kidnap him. Now if you wouldn’t mind?” Vincent said, looking at Markus’ hand on my arm, as if to tell him to let go of me.

“Markus let go. I’m not driving myself, so what’s the problem now? Why don’t you go play with Owen? I’m sure he misses his Daddy.”

“Your attitude is really starting to piss me off, Piccolo. You better come back here in a better mood and apologize to me after you two knock boots a couple – “

“Let me stop you right there, Old Man. I don’t know what’s going on between you two right now, but we aren’t in that sort of relationship. I’m simply offering him peace and quiet away from the men he spends 24/7 with.” Vincent interrupted. Him saying that we weren’t in that type of relationship kind of hurt, because I thought we were working toward that kind of relationship.

“Hm. Is that so? Just friends? That’s all you two are?” Markus pressed, looking back and forth between Vincent and I, waiting for one of us to reply.

I sighed, “Yeah. Just friends. Like he said. I just need some fresh air, away from all of you. Between Daniel prodding me for information about my past, and you treating me like a child and acting like you’re my parent, I feel like I’m suffocating.” Markus was really starting to get under my skin. But deep down I knew he just wanted what was best for me. He’s always been looking out for me, and making sure I was always well taken care of after what happened to me in the past.

“You know what Roy. Fine. You’re right, you’re not a child. My bad for just trying to help you. Whatever. But when you come back to me whining about this shit” he waved his hand toward Vincent, “all I’m saying to you is that I fucking told you so.” He said loudly. The look on his face was a mix of hurt and anger.

I didn’t respond. I just got into Vincent’s car and we drove off in silence. I knew it was only a matter of time before even Markus got fed up with me acting like a spoiled brat. I did appreciate him being the one I could rely on all this time, but we’re both moving on now, and like he said, he can’t be the only one I rely on forever. He’s ready to get with Owen, and I need to back off a little and let their relationship grow.

“Roy? You okay over there? You’re awfully quiet.” Vincent asked in a soft voice.

“I’m fine. Can you just drop me off at a bar? It’s been ages since I’ve been laid, so I think I’m just gonna find me some random one-night stand to hook up with.” I sighed. I figure since Vin and I are ‘just friends’ who fucking cares anymore.

“Seriously? You’d rather fuck some random John instead of-” He paused, sighed, and groaned “you know what, never mind.” Vincent sounded agitated, “No. I won’t take you to a bar. You can’t drink anyway. All those pain killers you’ve been on since you broke you ankle don’t mix with alcohol.” He lectured.

“What would you know about the pain killers I’ve been taking?” I groaned, and rolled my eyes.

“Don’t you roll your eyes at me, you disobedient little shit.” Vincent barked at me, ignoring my question.

“Excuse me?” I was stunned.

“Did I stutter? Sit there quietly until we get to my place.”  He ordered. Aside from the fact that I had this inexplicable rush of excitement telling me to obey the orders given to me, I was too stunned to actually say anything even if I wanted too.