"You're everything to me, you know that?" Carl whispered to Linder as he stood by the window of their new place and looked out of it.

         Linder knew that. Because Carl couldn't really look at anything else other than him. Everything that he did, revolved around Linder.

         He knew it more than he knew anything else; in the unhealthiest way, Carl was obsessed with him. He didn't even know exactly why.

     "Hmm?" He asked.

   "Yes, I know," Linder answered him.

   "You're so perfect Lin," said Carl. It made Linder's skin crawl every time he heard that.

"Why do you even like me so much?"Linder muttered under his breath.

"Like?" Carl asked. "How can you say that, how dare you?" He turned him around from the window to face him.

        Carl's hand went to cup Linder's chin and turn it up to himself. "I love you. What I feel is too strong to merely be called a 'like'. We're meant to be... You know that right?"

        Carl leaned and bent a little when Linder didn't answer.

        "Right?" He repeated.

"Right, yeah," said Linder. Carl smiled widely.

   He didn't want Carl to see the look on his face so he turned back to look outside the window, away from him.

        It's a small price to pay. He thought to himself. Mikhail is safe. Lily is safe. Eden is safe. Tadashi is safe. It is a small price to pay.

    Linder tried hard not to flinch when he felt Carl's lips on his nape. "I'm getting your favorite today. Chinese take-out."

It was always easy for Linder to forget that Carl knew every single thing about him, down to his favorite everything.

And it wasn't even because he was creepy. Because Linder knew everything about him too.

        They had actually been really in love. Linder had never opened up so fully to someone before. He gave everything he had to Carl, until he'd trampled it on the ground.

Carl gathered some of his hair and pressed it to his nose and inhaled. "Maybe... we could... go for a walk later."

He sounded so hopeful. If Linder didn't know better, he would have said yes.

"My leg hurts a little Carl, I can't–"

"Oh, of course not," Carl immediately said. "Where does it hurt? Do you want me to give you a massage? I know you've always liked my massages."

Even this, wasn't even a lie. Carl gave the best massages he'd ever got but even the thought of that now was repulsive.

"Don't worry about it, it's not that bad," said Linder.

"Aw, baby. If you need me to do anything, just tell me. I'll do anything for you. Anything you want," said Carl.

Like erase your existence from my life?

"Come here," Linder said instead.

He rested his head on Carl's chest when he got close. Linder covered the hand on his shoulder with his.

It's like Linder could sense Carl getting horny. Which was a lot of the time now. Had he always been like this? Or did he notice now because he despised him?

      It's like I can't get enough of you," Carl said.

When he tried to pull Linder's shirt up, he quickly held his hand. He really didn't want to do this.

"Come on..." insisted Carl. There were more kisses on his neck. "Just a quickie, I promise not to put any pressure on your leg." He felt his member prod against his ass.

"Carl..." Linder gasped when he felt Carl stroke his crotch. "I... not now."

Carl harrumphed like an upset child. "Okay," he said a little grumpily.

Carl tried to cup his cheek and Linder's face turned to the side, where at the same moment, the door opened, revealing Tadashi.

There was no doubt, it was him. How did he find them? What was he doing here?!

Carl was more dangerous than they all thought, why couldn't they all just understand that?

Linder was too shocked to even move. He registered the way Tadashi watched how Carl held him. He had never seen him so angry. Linder doubted if angry even began to cover it.

Carl finally noticed. He quickly pushed Linder behind him and at that same time, Tadashi closed the door.

•••

       Zel was confused when he found Alexander dressing up again. "Are you going somewhere?"

       He felt a little sad that there was nothing he could do to cheer Alexander up, so he wrapped his hands around him in a hug.

"Yes princess," replied Alexander. He bent down and captured Zel's lips in a brief kiss. "Tadashi is in trouble, and the more I think about it, the less I can just sit still."

    "But..." began Zel. He didn't know what to say because he thought Alexander was doing the right thing, but putting himself in danger too. "But that means–"

"It'll be fine," said Alexander. "I promise."

    Zel rubbed his face against Alexander's chest as the man waited for his answer. "Okay," said Zel.

"Eden left," said Mason. He was standing with Jet at the door. "With the kids."

"What? Why?" Asked Alexander. Zel went to hug Mason so that he could finish dressing up. "Where did they go?"

"His parents'" replied Mason. "He did point out that uh... Carl looked just like Jet. So I guess..." Mason shrugged.

           Alexander remembered when Tadashi had told him that. He'd believed him, but he didn't put a lot of attention to it, he just figured there was a resemblance between the two.

           Right now he wondered how much it could be, to force Eden to leave with Linder's siblings when they'd just got here.

           Shit. "I should have remembered," said Alexander. "Carl is a dangerous person from Linder's past."

          "Is Linder in danger?" Asked Zel worriedly.

      "Probably," said Alexander. "It's safe to assume that, after the background research I did on Carl."

        He found out everything about Carl. Enough to know where he would be heading to.

        "Carl is a criminal," continued Alexander. "And to top it all off, he's crazy and rich. Putting him behind bars is almost pointless because he's gotten out every single time."

         Alexander thought he had a pretty good idea what Tadashi was going to attempt to do because he knew him that well and he knew that just like him, Tadashi already knew everything about Carl, and where to find him.

     "You be careful, alright?" Said Mason. He couldn't find the courage to embrace him for some reason. He just wanted to close his eyes and open them when Alexander was back safely.

      Alexander hugged him anyway. "Mason," he tilted his chin to look up at him. "I'm going to be okay."

"I know," said Mason. "It's not like I'm scared or anything."

    "I know," said Alexander. "You're one of the toughest people I know."

      Mason turned away from him and crossed his arms. "Corny ass."

   Alexander chuckled. Jet spoke before he could think of a retort.

          "I swear to God, if you are not careful," Jet seized his arm.

          "Hmm? Do I hear a threat?" Alexander smiled despite himself. "What are you going to do?"

      "Just come back with one scratch and I'll show you," said Jet with not so much as a smile on his face.

       "I'm just joking little cub, I'll be careful don't worry," said Alexander, even if he knew there was no way Jet would not worry.

         In fact, there was no way any one of them would not worry. He was so fucking lucky.

         They were suddenly onto each other, their lips on each other like they couldn't get close enough.

            Jet sighed and lost himself in it. It was one of those kisses that threatened to make you forget your own name. He held on to Alexander's arms as the man cupped his cheeks, drawing him closer.

       Alexander groaned then parted from Jet. "I'll be careful," he said.

•••

Tadashi was going to kill Carl, even if it was the last thing he did.

    In a split second he had pulled his arm back and curled his fingers to a tight ball, Tadashi threw it forward with a force that knocked Carl backwards when it connected.

     He grunted in pain, and the gasp he let out confirmed that Tadashi had disoriented him.

      Carl sidestepped his next punch and instead thrusted his fists at Tadashi, returning all the damage that had been made on him.

Carl was strong, he'd give him that. But all the adrenaline pumping inside him didn't care.

    Tadashi ducked when one of the punches came flying from the man, sending his own into his gut. The force propelled Carl backwards.

        He needed him lower, but he was sturdy, sure in all his steps. It made it a little difficult for Tadashi as they fought in the room.

    It didn't matter that it was a big room, fighting in it made it feel like it was cramped.

It wasn't easy to get Carl on the floor, but once he did, it was going to be to his advantage.

        It came as a total surprise when Tadashi was tackled to the ground. He fell with a thud and hit the back of his head at a hard part of the bed, causing him to see dark spots.

      Before Tadashi could move, he was trapped again by Carl's thighs.

          Carl punched him again and again. "Why. Won't. You. People. Just. Let. Us. Be. Happy?!"

          Tadashi couldn't dodge all the fists. But he managed to seize the opportunity of an opening and rolled them both so that he was now trapping Carl.

  He balled his fists and rained punches down on him, until his knuckles cracked and felt raw with all the force.

     "Linder will never be happy with you!" Said Tadashi. "Tell me...when was the last time... you saw him smile?"

Carl tried to move but he forced him down.

"Linder's doesn't deserve this," said Tadashi. "He deserves better."

"I won't let you touch him," Carl said weakly. "He's mine... we're in love."

"You are obsessed, to the point of madness and until you stop breathing, he'll never be at peace."

Tadashi's hands closed around Carl's neck, and squeezed.

The motherfucker laughed. "I won't die that easily."

   The next time Carl swung his arm, in that instant, someone's hand covered a larger part of his face.

       Blood dripped from Alexander's hand. Had he been two seconds late, then it would have been Tadashi's face bleeding.

       The next swipe should have been Tadashi's shoulder, instead it nicked Linder's forearm. Blood dripped out of the wound.

         How had he put them in harm in such a short time? Both of those cuts should have been him! Tadashi seethed.

"Linder!" Carl shrieked. "Look what you made me do!" He said to Tadashi. His eyes had turned the coldest he'd ever seen.

       Carl turned the tables in a split second and Tadashi was suddenly beneath him. "How could you do that to Linder?!" He put the knife to Tadashi's throat, holding him down in a death grip. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Carl!" Linder shouted, it was the only thing that made the man stop. "Carl, don't please..."

         Carl looked at him, confused. "But...but don't you see? If I don't kill him now, they'll never leave us alone."

          Alexander finally managed to snap out of his trance and made a move forward. He was probably shocked because of Carl's appearance. After all, he was the type of man who would rather die first, than knowingly hurt Jet.

      And even if he knew that it wasn't actually Jet, the resemblance was enough to shock anyone, and put him in a trance.

"Stop, Alexander!" Tadashi said and he stopped in his tracks. "Don't interfere."

"No–"

      "I'll never forgive you if you do," said Tadashi. He just needed him away from danger for fuck's sake. "This is my fight, you understand right?"

       No matter how much anger rolled off Alexander, he understood. Tadashi knew because he had pulled Linder back, preventing him from rushing forward, despite his protests.

       He knocked the knife out of Carl's hand but Carl immediately picked it back up again.

      It was okay. It was enough time for Tadashi to get on his feet.

"Wait Tadashi, there's no need to fight! I chose this–" said Linder, failing miserably to get out of Alexander's hold.

"Stay out of this," he told Linder.

"No, I can't be the reason–"

"Linder!" Tadashi growled.

           It finally got to him. Linder gasped, frozen where he was and staring at Tadashi. There was no stopping him, no getting in his way, no matter how dangerous this was. Especially because of how dangerous this was.

         Carl jumped to the side and Tadashi quickly got in his space. He lunged and punched Carl. And then he did it again. Each blow drove Carl towards one of the windows in the room.

         The other man staggered back before finding balance once again. He tried to scramble out of reach but it was futile, with the speed at which Tadashi hit him.

       It was a last resort move for Carl, fueled by his rage and hate. He swung as hard as he could and swiped the knife against Tadashi.

        Pain sliced up his skin. Tadashi's shirt was torn, a red gash over his muscled abdomen. Tadashi took one step back and retaliated as if the fatal wound had no effect on him at all.

       He tackled Carl and held him down. The knife fell off his grasp and slid to the far corner of the room.

        Again, Tadashi closed his hand around Carl's throat, but this time, he didn't let go. And this time, Carl did not laugh.

        Nothing was going to pry his hands off, not even the fact that his vision was already beginning to swim.

        Carl struggled to get him off but he wasn't going to move.

       He was aware of Alexander trying to haul him off but he only heard half of what he was trying to say.

       He was aware of several men filing into the room. There was no need for them anymore. He had everything under control.

       Carl stopped struggling but Tadashi still didn't let go. He had to be sure. He felt the other hands trying to pry him off, but he still wouldn't let go.

      It was until he heard Linder's voice that he listened. "Enough, Tadashi..." he said like he was trying not to break.

     Tadashi finally let go.

     It felt like a breath of fresh air. It felt like a tight coil inside Tadashi had finally unfurled.

      The two men lay opposite each other. One of them drawing in deep breaths and trying to calm down, his chest heaving. The other one lay lifeless, unable to make a single movement.

       Carl was dead.

Tadashi raised his bloody hands as if to inspect them. His vision was swimming and that made the hands look like they were dancing too.

        I guess that makes me a murderer, he thought to himself.

His head was pounding as he tried to keep awake. He couldn't do it any more, it would be so easy to close his eyes right now.

At least the threat was now gone, at least Linder was safe. Mikhail, Lily, Eden... all of them were safe from this monster. That's all that mattered.

He would gladly close his eyes. It felt like his entire body was pounding.

Someone who suspiciously looked like Alexander was keeping pressure on the deep gash on his stomach. "Stay with me Tadashi! Don't you dare close your eyes."

        Tadashi coughed and spluttered out blood. Damn, it hurt.

"Fuck."

"Oh shut up Alexander... you're so loud," said the man on the floor, barely hanging on to his life.

Tadashi took deeper breaths and tried to calm the shaking in his body.

"Please," his boss said. "I can't lose you." He sounded so devastated.

"Hey uh... Alexander..." said Tadashi.

"Hmm?" The man replied.

"Remember when you..." he coughed and took in a deeper breath. "...made that embarrassing speech?"

"I don't remember, you idiot," said Alexander. "Now keep your mouth shut and just take deep breaths. The paramedics are almost here."

Tadashi laughed weakly. "Well, you're my family too. You don't know how grateful... and happy I am... to have you–" he coughed up more blood.

"Shut up. Just... shut up," said Alexander. He wouldn't allow Tadashi to speak like that. He couldn't. "When you are fine, then you can give me the speech, I don't want to hear it right now."

Tadashi smiled. "I'm sorry for making you both cry."

Alexander's hands were both preoccupied with making sure Tadashi lost as little blood as possible so he couldn't wipe the single tear away. He let it roll down his cheek. He let the rest fall.

Tadashi extended a hand to Linder. He felt the slimmer hands engulf his. They were trembling. "I might not make it..." he said.

Linder shook his head vigorously and cried breathily.

"I need you to know..."

"Tell me after," said Linder before kissing his fingertips.

He shouldn't. Didn't he think he was a killer now? Those same hands had forced the life out of Carl.

"Linder..." Tadashi couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. "I love you."

The last thing he heard was Linder's voice breaking into a sob as his hand was squeezed tighter. Tadashi let a short breath out.

He could rest easy.