"Would you like to go back to the " apartment" now?" Tim asks. Adam nodded. "Wait!" He stops Tim just as they started walking to the gate. "Hmm?" Tim hummed. Adam pulled his collar, their lips briefly meeting. The tingling sensation was gone as soon as it happened because Adam pulled away way too quickly. 

"That should be enough to last me for a while." The blonde smirks. "And if it runs out?" Tim says sarcastically. "Then I'll go steal another one." He turned away, quickly pressing the buzzer. 

Guard Jones smiled when he saw a now smiling Tim. Adam's face is a bit flushed too, but his face looks more relaxed. "Well, I'm just glad that you boys patched it up." He smiles. Tim and Adam shared a knowing look, before smiling towards Jones's equally goofy partner Officer Mel Gibson. 

"Hey, can you move that thief down to A?" Tim says. Adam blushed and hurried back inside. "For stealing what?" Officer Gibson manages to ask in between fits of laughter. "My heart." Tim whispers softly. He said a brief goodbye to the guards as they headed back inside. 

Officer Gibson leaned over Jones. "I'm secretly rooting for them, you know? I mean, you always see prisoners hooking up, but I've never, in my twenty-five years of service, seen two prisoners actually fall in love. That's something else." He whispers with a smirk. 

"So, what do you want to do?" Tim asks, sitting at the foot of his bed. "Can we cuddle?" Adam says excitedly like a child. The look on his face almost made the brown-eyed man give in. 

"No. We've set rules, remember?" Tim raises his eyebrows. The look of disappointment on Adam's face is almost unbearable for Tim. He reached out and caressed the blue-eyed man's cheek softly."I'm sorry. I'd love to cuddle with you but we already agreed to take it slow. Plus, you were the one who told me that we must respect the sanctity of marriage, right? " 

Adam exhaled sharply. "I understand. I'm sorry. You're just so...attractive." He started climbing up his lonely bunk, almost shivering at its coldness. He laid down with his back turned against the wall. 

"Hey, what are you doing up there?" Tim asked from below. "You said we can't cuddle." He replied. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean I don't want to spend time with you. Come here, let's study." Adam's heart swelled, it almost broke. 

It doesn't take but a few words for Tim to make him smile. He climbed back down, sitting beside the other man. He took Tim's book in his hands, and in his best stern voice says, "My name is Mr. Adam Rupp, and I'm your Chemistry teacher." Making Tim crack up. "Whatever." Adam rolls his eyes. 

As they studied, Tim caught on with the lesson quickly. He only needed a little help from Adam, a little help called "inspiration". "Aww, look at you two." Avi says as he and Chance passed by, both were covering God knows what on their necks. 

"RUPP! KAPLAN! GET THE F*CK OUT HERE, NOW!" Clooney roars from the hallway. 

"What the hell is that?" Avi asks as Tim and Adam exited their cell. 

"What the hell is your problem?" Tim growls. 

"You stay out of this, Foust. I want to know why these two sluts beat up Grassi. What did he ever do you?!" Clooney says, full of hatred. 

"Don't you even dare call me a slut, you dick sucking idiot sack! He came on to our- my man!" Adam defends, taking Tim's hand. 

"Don't talk shit, Clooney. You don't know what happened." Avi mumbles. 

Clooney's eyes widened in disbelief. "You beat him up so bad he obtained internal injuries. He was just moved to an ICU outside the state prison. He may not even survive the night. You could've killed him!" 

"Boo-hoo. Are you getting angry because you won't get blowies tonight? Well, tell your sex slave to keep his mouth shut. Next time, he might survive." Tim was losing patience. 

The warden turned his attention to the guard. "You! Why aren't these two in the oven?" He says. 

"I didn't see what happened." Chance shrugs with a mocking smile. Just as he did, a prisoner walked by. 

Tim grabbed his arm roughly, shoving him towards the warden. "Here. Ask him. He saw what happened." Tim says. The poor passerby looked as if he's about to piss his pants. 

Clooney seemed skeptical, evaluating the situation, but finally gave in. "What happened inside the cafeteria?" Clooney asks. 

"T-there was talking. That's it. That's all I saw." He says quickly as he scampered away. 

"I'm warning you, Foust. That little group of yours, if they mess up one more time, I'll have them put in another prison. Try me." Clooney says through gritted teeth.

"You can't do that, especially for your own satisfaction. I can testify against you." Chance countered in a warning tone. All four of them glared at Clooney, daring him to say another word. 

The warden finally gave up. "Alright, alright. Please, just... Don't touch mine, and I won't touch yours, got it?" He held his hand out to Tim. 

"I told you f*ck with me one more time, Clooney." Tim slapped his hand away, going back inside his cell, he pulled Adam with him. There was a long instance of uncomfortable silence before Adam decided to speak. 

"So, uh, where were we?" He smiles, trying to sound enthusiastic. "I think we left off at atomic number and mass." Tim replied. 

"Thanks, by the way. For helping me out with Clooney. I was honestly scared to death." Adam says quietly. "That's... Oxygen potassium." Tim replies, trying not to laugh. Adam looked over at him in confusion. "Oxygen potassium? O..K? Okay! You smart *ss!" Adam laughs, slapping Tim with his book. 

"Honestly, though, I'm here to protect you, to keep you safe. Ain't no one gonna hurt you while I'm here, I'll be sure of it." Adam looked into Tim's eyes, they were sincere, full of hope and unspoken promises. It's not hard to fall for him, if not for Austin. "Adam?" Tim whispers hoarsely. "Hmm?" Adam hummed. "I'm trying so hard not to kiss you right now." He says quietly.

  Adam leaned forward, their lips almost touching. "What's stopping you?" Adam whispered back. "Your marriage. Let's finish studying. I promised Avi I'll come over to play chess with him." Tim says, leaving Adam disappointed yet again. 

He sighed and pulled Tim's hand. "Please?" He pleads wearily, almost a cry. "Baby, no. I try to be better than Matt and his lover...lovers." Adam nodded. Although still disappointed, Adam didn't say another word. Tim's right, anyway. It would be unfair to pressure him into an adulterous relationship, especially because he wouldn't give up on Austin. That's very selfish. "Okay. Compound elements..." 

"I'll be back in an hour." Tim says over his shoulder. Adam crashed on Tim's pillow, letting the sobs he held all day fall freely. He can never disclose any reason for his crying. He's crying because of shame, because of rejection, and because he misses the murderer's touch, and sweet kisses, the special "bonding" in the middle of the night. The only thing he can't explain is, why choosing his husband over Tim hurt him so much it seems so wrong. He should be happy he'd done the right thing. Maybe because a big part of his brain still scream for explanations with certain actions, and reasons behind decisions from his exceptionally distant husband. "Tears will do you no good, you weakling." Adam scolds himself. 

He decided to brush his hair and look for something else to distract him. As he rummaged through the dresser, he couldn't help but pick up Tim's notebook, the one he frequently scribbles stuff. He took the notebook and sat down on the bed. Adam wiped a few stray tears on his cheeks. He smiled as he opened the book. Tim's penmanship could be mistaken as a woman's, seeing how meticulous the cursive writings are. "Did he really write this?" Adam gasps, with his back turned away from the door, he didn't notice Tim entering, at least until the bass-voiced man spoke. 

"I forgot my glasses, hey! Why are you reading that?" Tim snarls. Adam turned around, his eyes meeting Tim's. "Oh, look!" Adam grinned as he flips the pages. 

"Mr. Spider, how fearful I am of you, you come in different colors, each a different hue." Adam read the poem out loud, moving closer to the door with every word. 

"Stop that!" Tim whispered loudly. By then, Adam was laughing like a maniac. "Nope!" He shouts into Tim's face as he quickly took off to another side of the confined room. But the cell is quite small. Tim will catch up pretty fast. 

"Just. Give. It. Back." Tim breathed heavily. "Not a chance!" Adam says. Stumbled over Tim's bunk, but he wouldn't accept defeat. He climbed up above his bunk as his last chance. Tim climbed up after him. 

"GIVE ME MY BOOK BACK!" Tim roared in anger. Adam hid the notebook behind him. Tim tackled him, pinning him on the bed. "Gotcha." The brown eyed man smirks. "Wait." Adam, shocked, looked around. "No, I won't fall for that." Tim chuckles. "No, seriously. The bed, it's moving. ". No sooner than the words left his mouth. The bed collapsed from beneath their bodies. 

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" They held on to each other as tight as they could. The loud crash resounded throughout the cell block, drawing everyone's attention. 

"What's going on?" "They did it, didn't they?" The prisoners whispered amongst each other, fearing that he will hear them. 

Tim raised up, only to realize that he is mounted above Adam. Between his legs. Their hands around each other. "O...kay?" Chance raised his eyebrows to the two stunned prisoners. 

"Damn, Foust. I know it's been a while but you didn't have to overdo it." Avi laughs loudly. The secret lovers left clutching their stomach from laughing so hard. 

Finally getting some sense, Tim glared at the other prisoners. "We didn't, okay?" He says defensively. "Uh, we didn't say you did." One by one they went back to their respective cells. 

Tim got off of his cellmate and helped him up. "Are you okay?" He asked Adam worriedly. "Yeah. Are you okay?" Adam answered. Tim nodded. 

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to read your works. They're pretty good." Adam leaned his head on Tim's shoulder, hoping that he's not really mad at him. 

Tim sighed and gave him a quick kiss on his forehead. "Alright. You can read, okay? But not out loud. I'll just go see if Chance needs help with fixing YOUR bed." He winked and left abruptly. 

Adam opened the book excitedly. It was a plethora of different works of literature; limericks, ballads, sonnets, choruses and a few freestyle poems. Some made him giggle, especially with titles like, "Mr. Spider", "Clooney is An Asshole", and "I Live In A Gated Community". But despite the laughs, one poem stuck out, the one on the back most page of the book, a poem called, "Friend of Mine". 

My friend, if you are able,
Please come and join my table.
With laughing eyes and toothy smile,
My friend, can you stay a while?
I never knew I could recover from this fall,
You were there through it all.
My friend I'd sell my soul if I can,
Just to talk to you again.
To talk about your cats,
To heal and treat my cuts.
To tell me your story over and over,
You gave a lot for me to discover.
To thank you for your wisdom,
To show you the better person I've become.
Your time did quickly come,
You left, and now you're in God's kingdom. 

Tears fell on Adam's cheeks as he closed the book, the poem was so depressing that he cried himself to sleep, thinking about that mysterious "Crazy Jack", and how much he changed Tim. 

*One hour later*  

"Check. " Avi smirked as he placed his Queen in front of Tim's king. But Tim shook his head and moved one of his bishops, trapping Avi's king between the bishop, a pawn and a horse. "Mate." He says, wiping the smirk off Avi's lips. But an ear-splitting scream resonated throughout the cell block yet again. It was... 

"ADAM!" Tim jumps, up knocking chess pieces to the floor and ran immediately. 

*Yann Trinaydor*

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