'Cause baby now we got bad blood
You know it used to be mad love
So take a look at what you've done
'Cause baby now we got bad blood

--"Bad Blood," Taylor Swift (2015)

Sunday, July 15

Justin was abruptly awoken by the sound of "Low" by Flo Rida feat. T-Pain playing out of his phone way too loud.

"Shawty had them Apple Bottom jeans, boots with the fur. The whole club was lookin' at her. She hit the flo', next thing you know, Shawty got low low low-"

After getting his bearings, he was finally able to grab his phone from an end table and answer it.

"Hey, Daph," Justin said to his best friend.

"Hey," she replied. "So... what's going on?"

"Not much, I'm just waking up."

The young lady, who had never been known for bullshitting, let out a chuckle. "Uh, it doesn't seem like ‘not much' is going on, from where I'm standing. I saw the thing on Facebook that Brian posted yesterday, it's fucking blowing up with comments from people. It's really long, and I only got through a few pages before I had to go to sleep last night, but damn, it's crazy. I'm trying to understand how you're involved in it, because I saw that he tagged you; that's how I ended up seeing it on my timeline."

Justin had either talked on the phone or chatted on Hangouts with Daphne every day since they had been apart, so she knew all about what had been going on between Justin and Brian. Daphne was currently in a village in India building a house with Habitat for Humanity. It was first planned for Justin to go with her and a few of their other friends that Daphne had recruited to go for a two-week trip. However, when it came time to book their airline tickets, Justin allowed his fear of flying to keep him from going, and no amount of begging or having his manhood challenged from Daphne would change his mind.

After leaving Brian's house the previous day, Justin had turned off his Facebook and Messenger notifications, since he knew that Brian would probably try to contact him through those apps. They hadn't exchanged phone numbers or email addresses, which Justin was happy about as that gave Brian fewer avenues to contact him. After what he'd read in that disgusting "The Twink" document, he never wanted to see or hear from Brian again.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't looked at Facebook since yesterday," Justin said to Daphne as he rubbed at his eye goobers.

"Well, you really should. Who is that Brandon Greene douchebag?"

"Hang on, Daph," Justin said before putting his phone to his chest.

Ted had shuffled into the living room in a pair of cotton flannel pants, looking like a sleepy puppy.

"I'm sorry, did my phone wake you? I didn't know I had my ringer up so loud," Justin asked from his spot on the couch, which had been his bed during the previous night.

"No, I was already awake, I'm an early riser," Ted answered on his way to the kitchen. "I needed to get up to do laundry, anyway. These pants are the last semi-clean thing I have. Do you want some coffee?"

"That would be awesome, with a Sweet'N Low, if you have it," he said before getting back to Daphne. "You still there?"

"Yeah, so who the fuck is Brandon?" she said.

"He's Brian's new step-brother. They've also been friends for a long time, it seems."

"Well, this Brandon guy sounds like some kind of movie villain. You really need to read the thing that Brian posted, especially since he tagged you... wait, are you guys kaput? What's going on with you two?"

"Jesus, you're the one who's roaming through the jungle, probably trying not to get eaten by lions, and you're worried about little ol' me," Justin said, shaking his head.

Daphne laughed. "First of all, they have tigers in India, and secondly, it's really not as exotic as you're making it sound, trust me. Haven't seen any tigers, just huge bugs, lizards, and some snakes. We have wifi here at the place we're staying, it's pretty modern. So, tell me, are you not talking to Brian anymore? When we chatted on Friday, you were totally gaga over that boy. I was expecting you to ask me if I'd be your best man at the wedding."

"He's an asshole. I found out yesterday that he'd made a bet with Brandon that he could get me into bed this summer, so as you could imagine, I dumped his ass."

"What a fucking pig!" Daphne said, always protective of her best friend. "Sounds like he's no better than Brandon. Ugh, I wish I was there so I could kick both of those guys in the balls."

Justin smiled. "I wish you were here so I could hug you. Do you remember Ted Schmidt? He was two years ahead of us and his family goes to our country club."

"I think so. His mom's name is Margaret, right? She always brought those fancy cupcakes for school fundraisers, they were so fucking good."

"Yeah, that's him. He's letting me crash on his couch until my parents come and we can move into the new house. I just couldn't stay at Debbie's anymore, since Brian was only three houses away."

"I don't blame you," Daphne said.

They chatted for a bit longer until it was time for Daphne to eat dinner. There was a 9 ½ hour time difference between Pittsburgh and the village in India.

"I wish I was there with you," Justin said as they were wrapping up their conversation. "If I'd gone with you, I wouldn't have met Brian and this whole debacle would never have happened. I really ought to get some kind of anxiety med for the fear of flying."

"You live and you learn. Next time maybe you'll think with your head instead of your dick when a cute guy comes around. I'll be home next week. Maybe I'll drive out to see you for a few days before I move into the dorms."

Daphne was planning to attend the University of Pennsylvania in the fall, which was in Justin's old hometown of Philadelphia, a five-hour drive away.

"You'd better come to visit me, otherwise we won't see each other again until Christmas break, when we go to see the family back East. Well, I love you, Daffy Duck."

"Love you too, Sunshine."

Justin groaned. "God, I wish I hadn't told you about that."

"See you later," Daphne said, giggling before she ended the call.

Ted carried over a cup of coffee for Justin and sat it on the table. No sooner did Emmett join them in the living room.

"Mmm, do I smell coffee?" asked the nelly boy, who was wearing nothing but a pair of tight blue boxer briefs.

"Yes, I was about to bring some to you," Ted answered before receiving a kiss from his lover; he preferred "lover" over "boyfriend."

"Oh, Justin, I forgot that you were out here. I would have gotten dressed," Emmett said, suddenly feeling shy about his lack of attire.

Justin waved his hand. "It's fine... you certainly didn't remember that I was out here last night."

Emmett ducked his head behind Ted, embarrassed. "Oh God, did you hear us?"

"I think the whole building heard you," Justin said with a smile.

Ted and Emmett sat at the small table in Ted's dining alcove, drinking their coffee and playing footsie under the table. Justin stayed on the couch, debating with himself before he decided to look at his Facebook app. Since he had been tagged in Brian's post, it appeared in his notifications.

He opened the Google Docs link and saw that it was for a document titled "The Ice King."

"Hey, did either of you read this Ice King thing?" Justin asked the guys.

"Oh, God, yes," Emmett said, his voice heavy with scorn. "I gave Brandon's voicemail a piece of my mind yesterday. I hate myself for ever loving him, that fucking piece of shit, good for nothing, yellow-bellied..."

"You were tempted by a pretty face and a big dick, no one would blame you," Ted said to Emmett before turning to Justin. "I didn't read it, because I don't know Brandon very well and already got the cliff notes version from Em."

Justin sipped his coffee while he read the sordid tale of Brandon "The Ice King" Greene. It was a challenge to drink the coffee without it dribbling down his shirt, since Justin had his mouth open in shock and awe as he read.

"Asshole," he said several times throughout the document.

"Mmm-hmm," Emmett replied each time.

Justin finally finished reading, feeling like he needed a shower before he could go on living. Instead, his stomach was telling him he needed food if he wanted the energy to do anything else.

The three of them went to the Liberty Avenue Diner for lunch, which Justin enjoyed. There was nothing he loved more than a greasy cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate milkshake and the diner did not disappoint.

"Michael said that Debbie used to work here," Emmett told Justin.

"Really?"

"Yep, she was a waitress and her gay brother was a cook. She met Michael's dad here."

Justin looked around the old-fashioned diner, which was packed with gay people and rainbow-patterned decor. "What was he doing here? Was he gay, too?"

Emmett shrugged. "Maybe he just liked the burgers."

Brandon woke up on Sunday morning when his bedmate rolled over on top of him, squeezing the air out of his lungs. He was used to Rocco waking him up like that, but this particular bedmate was heavier. He opened his eyes to find a pair of unfamiliar brown ones staring back him.

"Good morning, champ," Drew said.

Brandon pushed him away so he could breathe. "Morning."

"Last night was amazing. That thing you did with your mouth? Wow!"

Brandon smiled, always happy to hear a positive review from a customer. "I'm glad you had a good time."

"I'm trying to decide who's better: you or Brian."

"Uh... how about you just keep that answer to yourself?" Brandon suggested, not wanting to know if he didn't measure up to the great God Kinney, whose cock and stamina were things of legend on Liberty Avenue.

"I guess you need to be leaving, huh?" Drew asked.

Brandon looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand, which revealed that it was 10:12 AM.

"No, I can stay if you want me to."

"I do want you to," Drew said as he ran his hand across Brandon's bare ass. "So, how about you let me do some things to you?"

Brandon could guess what types of things the man wanted to do to him, so he gave his standard answer to that particular inquiry.

"I decided long ago that the only man who will have my ass will be my husband," Brandon claimed.

Drew chuckled. "O...kay."

Brandon fucked Drew until the young man literally passed out from exhaustion. He then grabbed his cell phone from his pants off the floor, which he had turned off the previous day to avoid any more messages from Brian.

He took his phone into the bathroom and closed the door. After the phone booted up, several notifications for messages and calls popped up, prompting Brandon to turn the volume off so it wouldn't wake the sleeping man in the bedroom.

The first thing he decided to look at were missed calls, which included ones from Brian, Michael, Emmett, and Elaine. Wondering who had died, he next checked how many voicemails the callers had left him, finding several.

Brandon chose the oldest one first, which was from Brian. He listened to Brian's threat of violence when he saw him next, which made him chuckle.

Next was a message from Emmett.

"Brandon, it's Emmett..." the nelly boy began before sighing dramatically. "You know, I knew you were a son of a bitch, but I didn't know just how big of a son of a bitch you truly were until today. I just can't believe what a sorry sack of shit you are. I mean, how in the fuck can one person be so cold? What you did to Michael... Jesus Christ. Do me a favor, okay? Don't ever call me again. If you see me in public, don't even look at me. Rot in Hell, you little fucker."

Brandon figured Michael must have told Emmett about the kissing lesson and the blowjob, but he didn't understand why Emmett would be so upset to hear about that. Maybe someone told him about his attempt to get between Michael and Ben? Brian, maybe? When would this conversation have taken place? Brandon had last talked to Emmett twenty-four hours before then, and the fruitcake was bummed that Brandon hadn't participated in an orgy...

He next chose the voicemail he'd received from his mother.

"Brandon, I... God. Here I am, having a wonderful time on my honeymoon with my new husband, and this falls into my lap. I just can't believe that the boy I raised turned out to be such a conniving monster. You and I are going to have a serious talk when I get home."

Now he was really confused, having no idea what he could have done to upset his mother, who was normally quite indifferent toward him. What did she know? Who told her? She and Brian weren't exactly friendly with each other, so he couldn't imagine his step-brother calling Elaine and gossiping about him.

Deciding to switch to something else for answers, since his voicemail messages so far had been nothing but vague, Brandon brought up his Facebook notifications. There he found that he had "99+" notifications, which surprised him. He selected the most recent one, which was a reply to a post he was tagged in.

Brandon sat his bare ass down on the toilet lid as he began to read the document that Brian had posted the previous afternoon.

The Ice King

There has never been a single person in human existence quite like Brandon Francis Greene. Gorgeous face, nice hair, great body, huge cock, smart as hell, athletic, popular...

Cold as ice.

He cares about absolutely no one but himself, having elevated self-absorption into an art form. He believes in nothing and laughs in the face of sadness and sincerity. A person solely observing him and having seen the damage he's done to so many lives would most likely classify him as evil. He'll spend night after night in drunken, drug-induced debauchery, fucking his way through gay Pittsburgh, but lives this other life as the consummate perfect angel. He is in a sense brilliant, as evidenced by the fact that he has indeed completely fooled everyone, from his parents to teachers to boyfriends.

Everyone except for me.

I caught on to Brandon's bullshit very early, after he had attempted to get me into bed during our freshman year of high school. We became friends when we realized that we weren't sexually compatible; specifically, after I refused to bottom for him. We are very similar people except that I have a heart, and from time to time, actually feel emotions that Brandon may not even be capable of, such as guilt and sympathy. I have seen him break the spirits of others, lie to anyone supposedly important to him, manipulate people for his own enjoyment, and all of these things are done without so much as a second thought.

Before Brandon could read any further, there was a knock at the door.

"Are you okay?" Drew asked. "You've been in there for a while."

Brandon realized he had tears running down his cheeks. He sat his phone down on the sink so he could wipe his face with some toilet paper.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute," he answered.

He scrolled down through the long document, noticing that Brian had documented many stories where Brandon had lied to, manipulated, or intentionally hurt someone over the years. Included were mentions of Elaine, his father Frank, Emmett, and most recently Michael and Ben.

He didn't realize how long he'd been looking at his phone until Drew knocked on the door again.

"Is it okay if I come in?"

Brandon opened the door for Drew. "Sorry, I was checking my messages."

"Anything good?"

Brandon shook his head. "Nah."

Back at Ted's, Justin finally decided to look at his Facebook Messenger. He wasn't surprised to find a message from Brian, asking him to look at what appeared to be the same link that had been previously sent to him, the one containing that disgusting "The Twink" document. There was also something about how Brian owed him Thai food.

Against his better judgment, Justin clicked on the link, which opened to the familiar document. He scrolled through it before noticing that there had been several paragraphs added to it. As Brian had promised, after all of the filth, the tone of the piece changed as Brian described the time that he'd spent with Justin.

He wrote about their outing to the Warhol Museum and the mall, when he realized that Justin was much more than a pretty face and a beautiful ass, that he was intelligent, passionate about art, and strong in his resolve, even as Brian knew that Justin wasn't being honest about his claims that he wasn't gay.

Next Brian wrote about their amazing day on Thursday that began at the sushi place, then the fun time they'd had at the pottery painting studio, where Brian admitted to enjoying chatting with Justin as they painted their pieces, followed by Brian freaking Justin out as he sped down the road in the Mustang. Justin remembered exactly what happened next, of course: Brian had taken him back to Debbie's house and kissed him for the first time. Justin finally came out to Brian later that evening and they had sex that night after dancing at Babylon. Brian described their tryst in graphic terms, which made Justin hard as he remembered how Brian made him feel on that magical night.

The final section of the document described how Brian had developed true feelings for Justin, feelings he claimed he'd never had for another man before.

What is it about this kid that has captivated me? Is it the blond hair, the blue eyes, the juicy lips, the sexy body, the impressively large cock, the squeezable ass? Well, yes, all of the above, but that's certainly not all. It's also the way he stares into eyes, as if he's challenging me to be real. The way he laughs and smiles, as if there were no evils in the world. The way he kisses me, the way he holds onto me when we kiss, dance, and fuck, the way he talks about art with a passion that I don't feel for much of anything, the way he... everything.

The Twink snuck in and stole my heart.

Justin inhaled quickly, his breath catching in his chest.

"Fuck," he said as tears fell from his eyes.