E r o s

Since the unnecessary feud between that insignificant group has died down with Silver's help, I could finally get a second to do some normal work for once but my thoughts couldn't really stay focused as I sifted through the papers.

I had a lesser load than usual so my thoughts were free to stray for just a few minutes, or however long I pleased given the person I usually thought about.

Cole seemed to be colder than usual last night and I was delighted by the fact that he actually chose to cling to me instead of grabbing a thicker blanket. I had more than enough warmth for him but at times, I figured Cole was just too shy to say that he wanted me to hug him closely.

He was still pretty reserved in that area but I figured it's okay since I get to see his more vulnerable side when he does admit to his secret wishes.

"What's with him?"

"He's in his 'Thinking of Cole' mode. One second"

"Eros."

There was suddenly some chatter filling my ears and I instantly grew annoyed when I found myself coming back to reality as a hand touched my shoulder.

"What suddenly gave you the idea that you have the right to touch me so intimately?" I said with a chilling glare and Mikhail simply smiled before removing his hand.

"Intimate? That was anything but intimate" he said and I frowned.

"Well for future reference, I'm off limits so that means you're not allowed to touch me" I said stubbornly and Jamie just scoffed at me.

"Oh lord" He said as he rolled his eyes.

"What do you want? I was in a sufficiently good mood before you two ruined it" I grumbled as I leaned my head on my fist.

"Someone wants to speak to you on line three" Mikhail said and I raised a brow as he pointed to the phone next to me.

Hitting line three and bringing the phone to my ear, I answered in a bored tone.

"Eros Azure speaking, how can I be of service today?" I droned and a chuckle that I hadn't heard in a while filled my ears, making me sit up in my seat.

"Eros, I see you're as jolly as ever" Alistair said and I sat up a bit in my seat.

"Alice...it's been a while. What's picking at your brain for you to be calling at such an hour?" I asked.

"What is this I'm hearing of Northway's group being explosively disbanded?" Alistair asked, getting straight to the point and I gave a response immediately.

"You're asking the wrong guy" I said simply.

"So who is the right guy?" Alistair quizzed and I gave a 'hm' as if I was actually contemplating as well.

"I'm not at liberty to say but I will tell you this, he deserved it" I said ambiguously and my long time friend only sighed at my response.

"Well I'm going to hope for your sake that you had no part in it. The news is spreading like wildfire and Northway's allies are not exactly pleased to learn that their biggest partner has been blown off the face of the earth" Alistair warned.

Hearing this only made me wonder how bad the damage Silver had dealt was, I didn't know the guy that well to know all his tricks but he seemed to be one tick from exploding most times when people piss him off.

"Yes, I know. Don't worry about it, a compensation plan has already been put into effect" I said.

"And that is...?" Alistair trailed.

"A gift basket with an 'im sorry' card on the inside" I said and I could see the look on Alistair's face despite him being thousands of miles away.

"Your humor never fails to amuse me, Eros" he said and I smiled.

"Glad I can still play the role of your jester from time to time" I said.

"Seriously though, be careful. I'm across the world and I still managed to learn about this. If his partners find out who is to blame for the disruptance in their trade systems, I'm afraid that some of them will make it their business to set an example of you guys"

"Even across the ocean, you still nag and worry like a mother. I truly do wish you'd come visit soon so I can hear it in person" I said, clearly being sarcastic about the nagging part but I was honest about wanting to see my friend.

Ever since Italy, we've only had the occasional formal messages and Skype videos. Alistair was normally an outgoing guy when he had the time to be but he's become so busy I'm sure it's beginning to wear him down a bit.

"I'll take your words into consideration" Alistair said and with that, we ended the conversation.

"Never thought I'd still be getting scolded at the age of 29" I said with a sigh.

"Well, how about we go out for some air? You've been in here all day, after all. I'm pretty sure Cole is finished with classes soon anyways" Jamie suggested and with that I stood up out of my chair.

"You sure know how to cheer a fella up" I said and Jamie gave a slight smile.

"It wasn't for you. I just want to see Harvey" he said and I frowned.

"Well thanks anyways" I said sarcastically and Jamie just chuckled before walking out of the door and I followed suit.

Mikhail, at my request, had also tagged along as well seeing as there were some things I had to discuss with him on the way there. It didn't take too long and we'd finished our conversation before we even reached the campus.

"It sure is busy out here today" Mikhail mentioned as he saw all the students crowding the campus.

"Perhaps it's some kind of event" I said as I finished parking and took a look out the window.

There was a crowd of students towards the right of the campus but deciding that had nothing to do with me, I was going to ignore it until my eyes caught sight of something that made them want to pop out of their sockets.

"What in god's name...?" I muttered.

"What's wrong?" Jamie asked but just as he said that, his eyes caught on the exactly what I was seeing.

"Oh wow, I guess that play really skyrocketed Cole's popularity" Jamie said.

Seeing a guy walking by with one of the pins, I snatched it out of his hand, glaring all the while to ensure that he had absolutely no objections of my theft. Successfully scaring the kid off, I glared at the small brooch in my hand.

A horrible photo of Cole was plastered on it, the pin not even being able to scrape the surface of capturing Cole's true beauty. The photo was slightly blurry, as if being captured by a cheap camera with a shaky handed cameraman.

I'm going to murder whoever is behind this...mockery!

Seeing one of the people we had been originally waiting for, I made a fast track for Harvey as I gripped the man by his scarf and dragged him closer.

"Harvey...what is the meaning of this?" I asked coldly as I held the pin up to his face and he only looked in confusion at the pin.

"What? I had nothing to do with this! Do you really think I'd be on board with this Craigslist worthy merchandise?" Harvey exclaimed and seeing as I wasn't going to get the answers I wanted, I let go of the man.

"Where is Cole?" I asked.

"He's discussing some stuff with his professor and said he'd meet me out here" Harvey said.

"Oh! Harvey! Mr. Boyfriend!" Coming up to us was one of Cole's friends, I believe his name was Jean, I couldn't really care to remember seeing as just the sight of his face left a sour taste in my mouth.

His eyes immediately went to the pin in my hand and a smile bloomed across his face.

"I see you got one of the pins! Do you like it? All the girls on campus grew to like Cole even more after his performance and some of them even started a fan club. Of course I saw the potential in the situation so we started a merch line for him! All the profits we receive go directly to the club's expenses" Jean explained, his expression that of a proud businessman which only ticked me off further.

"So in other words you're exploiting my lover for your useless profits" I said and Jean pouted.

"Uh...I wouldn't really call it that" he said and I folded my arms.

"Is Cole aware of this?" I asked.

"Perhaps...?" Jean trailed.

This kid...

"So not only is he not getting a percentage of the profits, he is also unaware of what's going on. That's illegal in my book so I will be properly handling this situation" I stated before turning to my companions.

"Mikhail" I stated and said male looked at me with slight weariness.

"...yes?" He trailed, likely already sending what I was about to say.

"Have that stand evacuated and confiscate all of the merchandise. Burn all of it as soon as you're finished" I said and a loud gasp sounded from Jean.

"Burn?!?! Mr. Boyfriend, have you lost your mind?!" He screamed and I just looked back at him nonchalantly.

"It'll be a cold day in hell before I allow anyone to go home with Cole's face so they can 'admire' him" I said. Jean was looking amongst all of us with a bewildered expression on his face.

"He can't do this can he?" Jean cried and Jamie shrugged.

"What the boss man wants, he gets. Sorry dude" he said.

"Harvey, we're friends! Can't you put in a good word?" Jean said as he grabbed Harvey by his shoulders to which Jamie gave a sour look to the guy.

"Uh, not really. Even if I could, it'd either end up completely ignored or with him threatening to jab his gu— uh, I mean fist, into my face" Harvey said with a nervous chuckle as he looked away from Jean's intense stare.

"Impossible..." Jean murmured as he gave a defeated sigh.

"I guess it was nice while it lasted...for the one day it did" he said dejectedly.

I suppose it was the evil part of my self but I was completely happy that this kid had given up. Winning an argument had never been so easy before.

"What are all you guys doing here?" The voice behind us belonged to Cole as he approached us.

"Cole! You have to stop him! Convince him to let us keep the merchandise!" Jean cried as he tried latched on to Cole who stared at him with a confused face but before he could, I stopped him with a grip to his arm.

"Don't touch him or else you'll just end up pissing me off even more than you already have" I said and Jean once again slumped in defeat.

"Is this about...that?" Cole asked as he jabbed his thumb back towards the stand.

"You knew?" Mikhail asked and Cole shrugged.

"No, not until I just saw a few girls wearing them...I do have to admit I'm not exactly sure what's going on" Cole said as he rubbed the nape of his neck, the confusion clear on his face which only fueled my desire to obliterate that stand even more.

"Mikhail. Now please" I said and Mikhail nodded before walking off.

"You. Go find the students you've already distributed these to and get rid of them" I said as I let go of Jean and the man gave a mock salute dejectedly.

"Yes sir" he said before taking his own leave.

"As always, you sure know how to clear a place out" Jamie said with a chuckle.

"I wouldn't be the boss if I couldn't, now would I?" I said in response.

After waiting for Mikhail to shut down that god awful stand, the man soon came back with a box in his hands.

"Good job" I said as I grabbed the box from him.

"I thought you wanted me to...get rid of them?" Mikhail asked and I looked away nonchalantly.

"No need. I'll do it myself" I said and I could feel Mikhail's stare from a million miles, if he were that far but unfortunately he was right in front of me.

"You're gonna keep them aren't you?" He said.

"He totally is" Jamie said with a snicker.

"I will not answer such an incriminating question" I said before walking to the car.

I refused to allow any of these guys to question me further, not necessarily wanting to deal with their quips of how I'm being a hypocrite. I can do this because I'm Cole's husband, so me keeping these was instantly justified.

And definitely not because I actually saw a good one...

After heading back to the main building, we all went our separate ways after that, and I was sure to hurry home seeing as Cole had a bit of a tired look to his face.

I'd noticed how as the end of the semester drew near, the more work piled up. I never went to college, I was lucky enough to scrape by high school by the skin of my teeth. But I figured the amount of paperwork I've had while being a leader is roughly the equivalent of the paper hell Cole is going through.

As soon as we were home, Cole went face first into the pillows on the couch and I watched as he let out a huge sigh.

He's exhausted...

Heading to the fridge, I grabbed one of the pudding cups inside and before I closed the fridge, I paused. I'll grab another one just to be sure.

One may not be enough after all.

Grabbing a spoon, I walked back into the room where Cole's body remained unmoving and I nudged his shoulder with the bottom of the spoon.

Cole sat up and turned his head to me, eyes narrowing a bit when seeing the cups in my hand.

"Two?" He asked.

"Mhm" I nodded.

"I'm being spoiled...thanks" Cole said as he grabbed the cups from me.

"I only aim to please you" I said with a chuckle.

I've always done my best to make sure he doesn't overdose on pudding but I guess overlooking it every once in a while was alright. Cole seemed thoroughly happy as he quietly finished off his first cup.

Deciding that now was as good as time as ever, I lifted my laptop from off the table and opened it up.

"Cole, are you interested in taking a trip? Your semester is almost over, so I figured it should be okay if we went somewhere. Just the two of us" I said and Cole looked at me, eyes widened a bit and spoon still in his mouth.

Removing the spoon, Cole nodded.

"I would like that" Cole said with a smile and I nodded as I turned my laptop towards him.

"Good, because I've already prepared several villas across the country for your choosing. If none of these are to your liking, then I can broaden the search and purchase one overseas. Perhaps that's a better idea, the farther we are from these people, the less chances of interruptions there are" I explained.

Cole seemed stunned at my sudden presentation but he was quick to regain his composure as he let out an unexpected laugh.

"I don't really care where we go. I just want to go with you" he said and that was enough to make myself pause.

My heart could never keep up with the words of this man who has nothing but the most sincere wishes in his heart and I found myself needing to take a second to compose myself.

Cole would never know just how easily his words could make me happy, they may seem like just words to him but for me, they were so much more.

Getting over my moment of joy, I continued on with our conversation.

"Yeah, that is true. Still, we'll go wherever you like so take your time and choose one. Or as many as you'd like, our trip doesn't have to be limited to only one destination" I said as Cole gave me an unsure look.

"I don't think it would be okay for you to leave the group unattended for so long" he stated but I just tilted my head in response.

"What do you mean? Mikhail is obviously in charge while I'm gone. He's as capable as capable gets" I said.

"Poor man..." Cole muttered.

"Before we can go, there are some loose ends I have to tie up, which won't take long at all. Once your semester is finished, we can start packing" I stated and Cole nodded.

Some wouldn't catch it given that Cole isn't the most expressive person, but I could tell he was excited, even with the small smile on his face. The excited glimmer in his eyes as he stared at me was enough to tell me everything.

And now it's my job to make sure that his happiness is at it's peak with this trip.