Since Justin had wood boards over his windows and all Ethan's stories were fascinating, he lost track of time.

When his phone rang, he looked at the clock for the first time in hours.

"Holy fuck." It was nearing noon the following day. "Brian," he whispered into the phone, trying to sound as if he'd just woken up. "You were right. I think I came down with something." He faked a cough.

"Here I was ready to scold you for standing me up. I'm the bearer of good news. The electronics company called to reschedule because their boss had to head home for a family emergency."

"Nice. Well, uh... I guess I'm not coming in today."

"I'm not expecting you to come here. Do you need anything? I can bring you some drugs."

Justin shot Ethan a dirty look when he chuckled at Brian's concern. "I'm fine, Brian. I just need to sleep this off. See you around."

"Okay, then. Get better."

"Yeah."

Once he'd hung up, Ethan rolled around on the bed, laughing so hard the bed started shaking.

"Would you stop being an ass? I can't believe I lost track of time."

"What with your bunker here..." He waved toward the sealed windows.

"I'd rather not sizzle every time I get near the windows in daylight. Speaking of which, I think we should sleep."

"Do you still need it?" Ethan asked, curiously.

"Sometimes. Why? Don't you?"

"Not always."

"I can go on for days without sleeping if I feed constantly, but you know I've stopped killing."

"Oh, now I know why you have so many friends here."

"I'm not eating rats. How fucking disgusting!"

"When you're delirious with hunger, you'll eat anything. Trust me. When I was in the tunnels with Bernard...all kinds of underground animals were life-savers."

Justin shuddered. "I don't want to know what savage acts he committed when he came out and saw people."

"I've no idea. I told you, we separated."

Justin could still hear the adoration in Ethan's voice. Ethan had never been able to break the bond between himself and his maker, which always played to his disadvantage, especially when it came to Justin. Considering Justin was able to break the bond and was considered a rebel, Bernard thought Ethan was going to help him get Justin back or take him out of the picture. What Bernard hadn't taken into account was Ethan's love for Justin—that had stopped Ethan many times from harming him.

"Ethan, you need to break that bond. You're your own person."

"Do you think I haven't tried?"

"It's not that difficult. Whenever you hear his voice in your head saying what you should do, you scream 'NO' and do the opposite. He taught me killing is in our nature. Killing is a choice, just like with humans. They choose to become murderers; they aren't born that way."

"You know how many fights we've had over this..."

"Because you refuse to listen to me! Who do you trust more, Ethan - that monster, or me? I always taught you well. And I remember a time when I stopped you from killing that piano player you had the recital with."

Ethan averted his eyes.

Justin sighed, shuffling closer and rubbing a hand over his back. "I know. I know you went back after him, but I also know that you're stronger than this. Stop listening to Bernard's voice! He's filled your brain with so much shit."

"It's not that easy, Jus."

"Yes, it is. Look, you have to break this link between you two if you want to stay here with me. I can't risk Brian's life. If he's here... I'll make sure to do everything in my power to keep him away, but I need you to help me. Two are stronger than one."

"I will try, Jus. For you."

"Good. Now, let's sleep."

"Can I stay here? I promise I won't try to seduce you," Ethan said as seriously as possible.

Justin laughed. "Stay."

"You were always so warm."

"Yeah? Can you tell Brian that? He's too perceptive. He keeps asking if I'm okay, because I'm always cold."

"Smart guy."

oOo

Close to nine that night, Justin took Ethan to Liberty Avenue. Justin only needed a few minutes to find Brian, and he led Ethan toward the diner.

"Are your friends going to be surprised you brought me?"

"I don't have friends. They're Brian's friends."

They stepped into the crowded place, and Justin could feel Ethan tensing. His eyes cut to his friend.

Don't do anything stupid!

Ethan gulped thickly, trying to ignore the inviting smells.

"Ethan," Justin hissed. "You're not a fucking killer. We talked about this. Resist the urge," he whispered hurriedly.

"There he is!" Emmett exclaimed exuberantly, waving to Justin. "Look, he brought a friend!"

Keeping a tight grip on Ethan's elbow, Justin made his way to the booth where Brian and his friends were sitting. "Hi. This is my friend Ethan."

Emmett introduced everyone, not noticing the damage his fluttering hand was doing.

Brian tugged Justin until he was sitting on his lap. He kissed his temple. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah." He gave him a small smile, keeping his eyes on Ethan, who was standing rooted at the end of the table. "If you don't mind, I'll take Ethan to Woody's. See you there?"

"Sure. Is he okay?"

"He's socially awkward," Justin explained, knowing he'd get hell from Ethan later. He kissed Brian slowly, stroking his head. "Later."

Brian kissed him back with promises of more before letting him go.

"I'm socially awkward?" Ethan snapped when they stepped out of the diner.

"You were acting like a total weirdo. Let me show you Woody's. And remember, you can taste, but you can't have it all."

"I've got it, Justin. It's just...hard."

"If you want to stay, you have to learn to control the urge. There were times when 'resist the urge' was my mantra, especially in big crowds."

Ethan huffed. "How old were you when you decided to do that?"

"Not much older than you. So don't think I was over a century old back then. You can do it, Ethan." Justin froze in the middle of the street, his head turning to the other side of the road. For a split second, he thought he saw a flash of sandy blond hair. "Come on."

"What's there?" Ethan pointed across the street to the long line leading inside Brian's club.

"That's Babylon. I think we should start with smaller crowds."

"I want to go there."

Justin frowned at Ethan's demand to go to Babylon in a voice that didn't even sound like him. He glanced back in the direction of Babylon, and everything stopped. There he was. On the steps of the club. His eyes caught Justin's before he disappeared inside.

"You brought him here!" Justin yelled, shaking Ethan.

"What? Where are you going?" Ethan rushed to catch up with Justin, who was running toward Babylon. "I thought we were going to Woody's."

"You just demanded... FUCK!" Justin pinned Ethan to the wall near the entrance in Babylon. "Stop letting him in your head!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Bernard! He's in there!"

"I thought you boys were headed to Woody's," Brian said from behind them.

"No!" Justin grabbed his elbow when he made to go into his club. "Uh, can we go to yours? I've missed you."

"What about your friend?"

"He's headed home," Justin said sternly, glaring at Ethan. Go home and reject all his attempts to get inside your mind!

"Maybe he'd like a drink and a dance. I have some things I need to take care of."

Justin made eye-contact with Brian. He hated what he was about to do. "Paperwork can wait until tomorrow. If we go to the loft now, I promise you many hours of fantastic sex."

"How can I refuse that?"

"Let me find Ethan a cab."

It didn't take much effort to hail a cab and stuff Ethan in the backseat.

In Brian's jeep on the way to the loft, Justin rejoiced at the small victory, but he knew his problems had just begun.

Despite Justin's desire to forget about Bernard, that was the only thing on his mind, making Brian realize he wasn't into their fucking. Where usually Justin was a vocal participant, that night he simply lay under Brian, letting him to take him to absolute bliss.

After their second round, Brian pulled Justin close, brushing his fingers through his hair. "What's bothering you, Sunshine?"

That nickname made him giggle. "It's nothing."

"Bullshit. Is this about your friend? Is he more than a friend?"

"Brian, I thought we were fuck buddies who didn't talk feelings."

"So he's your boyfriend. Or maybe, another fuck buddy?"

"Hey! I'm not a fucking whore!" Justin snapped, immediately regretting his irrational anger. "Sorry. I guess, I have a lot on my mind."

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me."

Brian rolled out of the bed, heading into the bathroom.

"Ethan and I were sort of together when I was in Paris. That's all."

"You were in Paris?"

"Yeah, in high school, through this exchange program." The necessary lie tumbled out of Justin's mouth.

"Sweet." Brian returned to bed. "Up for one more?"

"Do you mind if we leave it for another time? I don't want to be a rude host." As Justin got dressed, he tried to reason out his next move. The last time Bernard had found him, he'd made his boyfriend into a vampire, attempting to turn Ethan against him.

He refused to allow Bernard to hurt Brian. At the front door, Justin glanced back to see Brian leaning naked against the panels dividing his bedroom from the living space, smoking a cigarette. Because he wanted to assure Brian they were okay, he blew him kiss.

Brian chuckled, and dramatically caught the kiss, bringing his hand to his dick. It made Justin laugh.

As he left, he could feel the conflicting emotions inside Brian.

Me too, Brian. Me too. Justin thought mournfully. He was falling hard for Brian and although he'd embraced the feeling a few days ago, at the moment he wasn't so sure it was a good idea.

Justin went back to Babylon.

It wasn't difficult to track down Bernard. He was in the middle of the dance floor, getting serviced by two guys.

Justin spotted Brian's friends by the bar, watching the scene unfold with disgust. He strolled to Bernard's side, kicking the boys out of the way, zipping up his pants, glad to hear the hiss of pain when the zipper caught flesh, before dragging his creator out of the club.

"My, my. Someone is pissed."

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Justin shouted, turning to face Bernard.

"I missed you, love." He made to touch Justin's face.

Justin took a step back, away from the hand trying to touch him. "Cut the crap, Bernard! You followed Ethan! You knew he was looking for me! Would you give it a rest? I'm not yours! I never was!"

"Quite the feisty kitten, aren't we?"

"I swear, I'm going to kill you!"

"Promises, promises. You don't have the power."

Justin stepped so close, they were nose to nose. "I'm your creation. I'm your mirror image. You have no idea what I'm capable of doing. Don't test me, Bernard."

"Is he worth it?" The older vampire drawled.

"Is that a threat?" Justin hissed.

"All I'm saying is...remember how you watched helplessly while I bit and turned your precious fiddler into a creature of the night? Do you want a repeat of that?"

"What the fuck do you want from me?"

"Come back to me. Obey me," Bernard explained.

"In your dreams." Justin turned his back, heading down the street when he heard his name being called. "What," he snapped, glancing back at Bernard.

"I go by Brandon these days."