Chapter Text
Ben woke with a start, cheek stinging, Callum's hand pressing on his face.
"Well, I've not missed that!" He grumbled, stretching his body out like a cat, them curling himself around the warmth of Callum's long body beside him.
"Sorry sweetheart, I didn't mean to wake you..."
"No, just to brain me." Ben propped his head onto Callum's chest, looking up at him with a smile.
"I was just, i dunno, checking you were there?"
"Thanks for staying last night, Cal. That was the best sleep I've had in... well, in a long time."
Callum lifted his head and kissed Ben's hair, running fingers up his back.
"We need to go to the police, Ben."
Ben sighed, rolled over and sat up. Callum reached for him, but he pulled away.
"No. I told you. I'm not going to the cops, Cal."
"Why not!?"
"They won't believe me, will they?! I've no proof, I'm the one the sent him messages, I'm the one who..." He trailed off, Callum's face drawn.
"I'm sorry Cal"
"It's not important now." His eyes told a different story.
Ben took Callum's hand to say, "All that matters to me is that you're talking to me. And... and that you believe me."
Callum squeezed his hand reassuringly.
"Do you want to get a takeaway tonight, and watch a film? Jay's coming round."
"I can't Ben, sorry. I've got to work. I'll bring home a pizza, eh?"
Ben nodded, smiled, and went for a shower.
Callum picked up his phone from the bedside cabinet and hit a number.
"Jay? He's in the shower, we've got 10 minutes maybe. Here's the plan..."
--
Callum walked into Albert just after 11, and there he was, cleaning down the counter without a care in the world.
"Alright, pretty boy? You're a bit late, I'm afraid. We're closed."
The bile rose in Callums throat at his slimy words, but he forced himself to stay calm.
"I thought we could have a little lock-in, if eveyone else has gone." he said. Turning to lock the door, he pulled down the shade.
The bar manager's face smoothed into a smug smile.
"I haven't had such a good offer in weeks. If your ex is anything to go by, we'll have a great time. What can I do for you?
Callum strode across the bar and with one swift punch, knocked him to the ground.
Placing a hard kick to his ribs, he growled:
"You can shut the fuck up."
--
He came-to strapped to a chair in a tiled, windowless room, his mouth taped shut.
"It lives." Callum whispered. "Do you know where you are?"
A shake of the head.
"The family business. My family. Coker and Mitchell. Funeral Directors."
He began to struggle in his chair.
"I wouldn't bother. I was a boy scout. Very good with knots. You know what this room is for? I think you do. Embalming."
He tried to beg through the tape covering his mouth.
"Begging for mercy? Bit ironic, innit? Shut up." Callum landed a punch right to the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
He stood in front of him, towering over him.
" I think you think I'm a soft touch. The nice one. I think you think I'll give you a bit of a going over then take you down the police station. Cos you know me, I'm a good guy. Thing is, 'pretty boy',"
Callum lent down into his face, yanking his hair so he had to stare into is eyes, hard with fury and ice-cold.
"You don't know me at all."
A hammer to the knee, and he blacked out for the first time that night.
--
Jay popped by to see Kathy, just to let her know how Ben was getting on and give her a reassuring hug. They exchanged firm nods as she handed over her key.
Slipping into the bar, Jay emptied the till. Grabbing a few bottles of high-content spirits, he dumped them on the bar and over the booths and smashed them on the ground. Leaving, locking up behind him, he chucked a rock through the window and followed it with a little molotov cocktail. Good riddance to the place, he thought as flames licked over the paintwork.
He slunk off into the darkness.
One more stop to make.
---
Callum opened the door to their flat, with a cheery "Honey, I'm home!"
Walking to the lounge, Ben was sitting on the couch grinning in his direction.
"Jay gone already?"
"Yeah, he got a text from Honey. So whipped."
"Useless! I got us a pepperoni, that okay?""
"Extra jalapeño?"
"Naturally" Callum laughed as he dropped next to Ben on the couch and passed over the box.
"Your hands - what's happened to you?"
"Oh, just a tussle with a no-mark scumbag. Nothing for you to worry about, darling". He held his arm up, and Ben happily leant against him, opening the pizza box and filling him in on what he'd missed in whatever Gerard Butler movie he was watching.
Callum smiled, sipped his beer and tightened his arm around Ben's waist, holding him closer.
---
On a dark night, on a dark street, there is a dark funeral parlour, with a dark basement. If you listened very carefully, you could maybe hear a faint scratching coming from a coffin, nailed up and ready for burial the very next day. Maybe.
Or maybe it was just a ghost.