Chapter Five

                                    

                                          



"You okay?" Ren had asked on that night as he tenderly ran a warm cloth over Kai's stomach to clean up the remaining evidence of their lovemaking, having finally pulled away from his embrace and dealt with the condom.
Kai pressed his lips into a thin line before nodding, "It's just..."
"Alex?" Ren finished his sentence, "What about him?"
Kai replied, a little sadness in his tone, "He's just been so unreasonable recently.  I mean, he's always been a little overprotective and cloying, but recently, I don't know... it's like he's smothering me.  Like, he knows I'm... different, I don't like going to these big get togethers and gatherings but it's like he cannot physically function unless I'm there with him.  He's been quite... harsh about it, really."
"Maybe he needs to meet someone." Ren brushed strands of hair from his face.
Kai revealed, "I think he already has.  The other week, I overheard him talking about hooking up with someone on the phone.  Whoever it is, though, it's obvious they've not got his full attention because he's still forcing me to do things with him.  I mean, I love him but I–"
"Don't love him?" Ren cocked an eyebrow.
Kai looked up into his face, gaze softened, "So you know?"
"I have a working pair of eyes, yes." Ren replied simply, "Anyone who does can see that he has a thing for you."
At that, Kai wondered, "And you don't mind?"
"Well, do I mind if someone else is into the man I love?" Ren leaned back against the pillows, huffing, "I mean, I'm human, so yeah.  But I know him, and I know you and I know that I trust you."
Kai's face broke out into a smile and he leaned in to kiss Ren softly, whispering, "I love you."
Ren's arm came around to embrace him, his fingers running through his hair as he brought him into another kiss, one that was slightly more fervent as he lowered Kai down onto the mattress once more, resting between his legs – Kai giggled as Ren started to suck at the column of his neck, their hands interlocking.
"God, you're insatiable." Kai jested.
Before they could escalate to a second round, however, the sound of Alex's angry voice cut through the air, "That's the fucking problem!  You don't know when to turn it off!  Twenty four fucking seven, you're just a complete and utter asshole!"
Kai pushed Ren away, sitting up, "Is that–"
He'd never heard Alex sound as angry in all the years they'd known each other, and the barking back and forth that followed spiked his anxiety once again as he hurriedly grabbed his clothes, Ren watching him with concern.  Kai pulled on his trousers, socks, shirt and shoes.
"What's happening?" Ren asked, also grabbing his own garments.
Kai's voice was quiet, a sudden wave of nausea coming over him, "I don't know, but something's... something's wrong."
As if on cue, they heard the loud, squelching thud, followed by a series of horrified shrieks that Kai recognised as Mariana and Mitsy, with Loretta exclaiming, "Oh, my God."
As the voices from below became more panicked, the duo rushed downstairs, Ren having to fix his belt along the way as they rushed outside – Kai first took in Frank's reaction, as he had been standing by the door.  His typically careless expression was shocked white, whilst the girls were all sobbing in horror, a hand clasped over Mariana's mouth.
Worse, however, was Sam, who was weeping hysterically, crouched over something that was bloody and broken looking as Dylan tried his best to pull him away, whispering somthing barely audible into his ear.