Hezekiah's POV

Winterhaven, one hour later...

"It's an honor to have you young men stay at my place, even more so since I've been hoping that you'd stop by," Landon McMurray says as Chance and I finally arrived in the winter-themed neighborhood of the Nexus and crossed the threshold of the chalet-themed house of the resident in question. "Although things might've been in different circumstances with what's going on and all."

"It's good to be here," I replied, my soulmate squeezing my hands as the designated seraphims who acted as our escorts helped us with our bags. "And yeah, I kind of wished that things might've been under different circumstances with Rosalia Domingue's jealousy turning into a rage after Chance and I became official."

"Definitely," Chance agreed. "I made it clear that I wanted nothing to do with her, but she's not going to back down unless I either choose to become hers or she gets rid of us. I'm actually surprised that she kept up her 'Catalina Slade' persona for this long. Still, it's all the more reason to keep low and all."

"All will be well," one of the seraphs assured him as he and his partner gave us our bags. "God and Lucifer will make sure that Miss Domingue will be dealt with. For now, just let Mr. McMurray show you boys the best of Winterhaven. Eris and I will be watching from afar to make sure that there's no danger."

I nodded. "Thank you," I said gratefully.

After Landon showed us to the guestroom that Chance and I would share together and getting settled in, we soon ended up in the living room as our hosts distributed cups of hot cocoa topped with whipped cream as a platter of fresh fruits served as snacks. "So what's your story, Mr. McMurray?" I couldn't help but ask. "You seem to know more about Chance and myself and how we came here. Let's get to know a little more about you."

The older man nodded, pausing to sip on his cup of cocoa before setting it down on the coffee table. "I assume that Louis the gatekeeper gave you a small insight of my life story," he replied.

"He did mention that you died in a car crash back in the sixties," Chance commented. "And that you had to hide your sexuality for the most part of your life."

"That's definitely true, given that I was from an extremely religious family that left no room for disobedience," the older man stated. "And in the Deep South during the time of Jim Crow, my family believed that the parents had to make sure that their children obeyed them. With me being an only child, it was even more so since my father was a preacher and expected me to be a man's man. That meant no lusting after other guys, finding a suitable woman who was loyal to the faith, and being able to provide. Add in mandatory attendance at church every Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday; and you can say that everyone who knew my family would make sure that I was the perfect son."

"Did you ever rebel in any way?" I asked.

"Not once, seeing that everyone in my old neighborhood knew one another and gossip flowed like water. And trust me, if a kid or teen was caught in the act of disobedience your parents would know and you'd be punished before you had the chance. Again, boys, everyone knew my dad and my family was well-respected so I had no other choice but to put on the performance of a lifetime."

"Wow," I breathed. "I can definitely understand how that's like since I had to make sure that I stayed on my toes and never misbehave, even though I never made any social appearances since my family didn't want the public to know about me."

Landon gave me a look of pity. "We all have our burdens, son," he assured me. "Anyway, I never got the chance to know whether or not I was truly gay since homosexuality during my lifetime was seen as taboo. After finishing up with college, I was soon arrange to marry the daughter of one of my father's friends and let's just say that the relationship that we had was indifferent at best and cold at worst. Laura Coates hated me because she thought that I wasn't the handsome military man that she wanted to marry. Our parents hoped that our marriage would seal the deal and maybe make us more closer. Well, ten years went by before Laura left with our daughters to find her military dreamboat, leaving me with the divorce papers and the home that we shared. In the letter she left me, she said that I wasn't man enough for her and that she wished that she had jilted me at the altar when she had the chance."

Chance shook his head. "She was so wrong," he said. "How did your parents react?"

"They weren't pleased about it, but not at me since I was a dutiful husband. They just wished that they had seen the signs in the first place," Landon replied. "Her parents, on the other hand, sided with their daughter and blamed me for everything that went wrong. After that, the Coates left and I was soon back with my parents. Of course, I still remained loyal to the family values and never stepped out of toe since the times were changing; but I kind of wished that I was more spontaneous and exciting like Laura wanted. But Pa expected me to show restraint and never be a part of a world where moral decay was apparent with the arrival of the hippie movement.

"The day of my death, my parents were talking about how one of the neighbor's kids was being sent away because he was caught kissing a boy and how they were glad that 'faggots were being sent to therapy centers to cure them of their sins,' as Pa put it. 'The end of days is upon us all and the more our country is allowing these hippies to take over, the more sinful this world gets.' He reminded me that I was to start finding a suitable woman or make a choice to remain celibate, praising me that I was stayed true to the rules he laid down while I was younger before sending me on my way. That was when I knew that I had missed out on every chance of being rebellious when I had the chance and let my parents dictated what I should and shouldn't do."

Chance and I nodded. "Did you hate them for forging your path?" I couldn't help but ask.

Landon inhaled deeply. "I wanted to, but I couldn't or wouldn't because something in me wanted to have that approval from my parents and I wanted to make them happy, especially my preacher of a father. He was a strict man when I was growing up and wasn't afraid to whip a rowdy boy or girl when need be. Of course, I rarely got punished, but even I wasn't immune to a belt or a switch."

"Didn't your family hate you enough for you to be sent here?" Chance asked.

"Not at all, son. Much to my surprise, it turned out that I wasn't meant to be born alongside my twin brother who died of stillbirth.  Louis Theodore McMurray was his name. He died while I lived and he's now in heaven. In the alternative timeline, I saw my parents die of heartbreak after I was pronounce stillborn alongside my twin. Ma died from childbed fever seven days after the stillbirths  while Pa died minutes after her, thus ending the McMurray family tree since our family consisted of only children."

"How sad," Chance replied. "At least your family loved you as long as you behaved. My parents hated me for being a boy and a queer."

"While mine hated me because I was a product of rape," I remarked. "It's amazing how fate works in mysterious ways, us guys being born in families that expected nothing short of perfection."

"That's you and Landon, babe," Chance commented, giving me a wry grin."Mine just hated me because I wasn't a girl like my sisters and I had the hots for you."

"True."

The rest of the afternoon was spent in fraternal camaraderie as we got to know more about each other and how we were adapting to life in the Nexus. It felt good just letting ourselves airing things out and being ourselves. Of course, Landon still made the offer for a threesome, which Chance and I declined politely but assured Landon that he would find his true soulmate.

Hey, there are some lines that certain hosts for their guests shouldn't have to cross.

***************

"It's amazing that Landon had to keep his true self under wraps just to make his family happy," I told Chance as he and I laid down in our bed. "The guy had it rough in the Southeast, especially when sexuality wasn't talked about freely during his lifetime."

"At least he was able to earn his parents' love unlike you and I," Chance agreed, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer to him. "Still, you gotta admit that his ex-wife did him dirty by leaving him after ten years of marriage and establishing a family together. Landon gave it his all with his relationship with her, but she said that it wasn't enough for him. Kind of makes you think how he approached us at the beach with the offer for a threesome, don't you think?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sold on the idea of getting with an older guy. Besides, something tells me that he'll find his real soulmate in due time. I can't truly explain how I know, but I can feel it within."

I heard Chance laugh softly before we were soon face to face. "Maybe he'll finally be free to be himself just like you and me," he teased as he climbed on top of me. "And maybe he can stop with the one-nighters."

I smirked at him, caressing his toned chest and abs. "Maybe he will," I remarked, placing a light kiss on his lips. "For now, I do want to be reckless myself. And tonight does call for a bit of passion between us."

"Is that so?"

"Hell yeah. What do you say to that?"

"Count me in, babe."

Wouldn't you know it, Chance and I made good use of our late-night romp before Landon himself came in and hungrily watched us go at it. And despite ourselves, the twosome did become a threesome at some point, but I'm not one to drop the full details, folks. You'll have to use your imagination for that part.

Ladies and gentlemen, apologies for the lack of the smutty goodness. I figured that I keep the second half of the chapter on the fade-to-black side. But at least you know that my boys are going to be in Winterhaven for a while.

Anyway, it's time to head back to Earth for more journal entries from Hezekiah's private diary and a stop at St. Anslem's with Cameron and his roommate. Stay tuned!

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