No Rest for the Wicked.

Somehow, for the past four years, Kaoru had successfully managed to avoid attending Kyo’s Halloween movie marathons, his excuses growing more and more inventive every time. He was sick, or his mother had invited him round, or he was meeting an old friend for a couple of beers, or his hamster had died and he was too busy mourning.

Surprisingly, they had all worked rather well and while the other band members were scaring themselves shitless with the latest zombie-fest, he was left alone at home, able to do whatever he wanted. Of course, he’d rather his partner was with him for the whole evening, but still, he got the best of both worlds when the redhead came back, full of beer and babbling endlessly, face bright and cheerful.

After all, the alcohol always made the younger man’s skin hot and his blood boil and he somehow always managed to strip off in the middle of the living room, effectively distracting Kaoru from his vivid rundown of how many limbs were severed and how much blood there was in comparison to the previous year. It was definitely a welcome distraction, the sight of his bare, firm chest both appealing and inviting and, gosh, the second those beautiful thighs were unveiled, Die’s ranting was cut short as he was tackled to the floor.

But, this year, he’d run out of excuses and they wouldn’t have helped him out anyway. Die had grown highly suspicious of his reasons for never going with him to Kyo’s apartment for Halloween. Sure, the hamster had really died but Kaoru didn’t seem too upset about it when Die returned home and was practically pounced upon by the other man the second he stepped through the door. He wasn’t drunk enough to forget Kaoru’s tongue on his skin, his hands eagerly skating over every inch of skin he could find and when Die asked if he was really okay about the rodent’s demise, he simply got an impatient grunt as a response.

So, this year, he wasn’t buying it, wasn’t going to allow the older man to wriggle his way out of attending the vocalist’s late night soiree. He was going to see people get eaten alive whether he liked it or not. The dark-haired man didn’t like it, not one little bit, but he couldn’t admit to his lover that he hated those films, he couldn’t admit to his friends that he was a huge wimp and even the lamest horror movies gave him nightmares. They’d never let him live it down, for Christ sake, not when he had tried so hard to be the tough, stoic leader for all these years.

Reluctantly, he had allowed the redhead to drag him over to the blonde’s apartment and was now seated between his grinning lover and Toshiya on the comfy old couch, Die’s arm naturally falling around his shoulders and squeezing him tightly.

“So, you didn’t chicken out this time, Kaoru?” The bassist winked at him, exposing his crooked teeth in a wide grin. The remark was met with a glare and a grunt that made both men laugh at him. Toshiya smirked, looking at Die this time. “What did you have to do to get him to come tonight?”

“Do we really want to know?” muttered Shinya, raising an eyebrow. He was sitting cross-legged on a beanbag on the floor and the cushion the redhead threw at his head made him topple off it, cursing as he went. When he had recovered, he fixed the younger guitarist with a challenging gaze and nodded once, sticking his chin up defiantly. “So, come on, out with it. I’m actually quite curious now.”

“I didn’t do anything,” the redhead insisted with a smile that suggested otherwise, shrugging his shoulders before continuing. “Kaoru’s a big boy. He wanted to come. It’s not like he’s scared or anything.”

“Can we stop talking about me like I’m not here, please?” Kaoru asked grumpily, glowering at the man on his left, who, in return, kissed him cheerfully on the cheek. He didn’t like his lover’s mocking tone at all and was worried he knew that he was indeed scared, that they all knew he was scared. He sunk lower in his seat as Kyo entered the room, grinning evilly at the bandleader before announcing he’d picked the scariest film he could find to start the evening off, resulting in a cheer from three of the four remaining friends.

Despairingly, the bearded man looked around the room but there was nothing to hide behind. Die’s cushion was still on the floor in the centre of the room and he couldn’t ask Toshiya for his. That would be too damn obvious. Plus, the brunette looked comfortable and was unlikely to give it to him even if he asked. He settled for slouching in his seat, as if becoming smaller would save him from the evil beings now lurching across the television screen, accompanied by a soundtrack ripped from his nightmares.

He kept fidgeting, squirming in his seat, the suspense setting his hair on end. He’d checked his nails several times within the first ten minutes, they were tidy and cut down, and nothing he could sort out in an effort to distract himself from the horrors in front of him. Half an hour in and he could sense something was going to happen to that pretty cheerleader because she went into the dark, scary house alone.

Who the fuck would do that? Seriously. Her boyfriend just got eaten and she decides to go into a derelict, spooky house with creaking floorboards and everything. Kaoru rolled his eyes at the idiocy, almost forgetting that his stomach was twitching unpleasantly and goosebumps were rising on his arms.

Only almost though and he remembered just in time, suddenly turning and seizing Die’s head, kissing him roughly. The redhead blinked a few times, then relaxed, mewling quietly and allowing his lover’s tongue to explore his mouth, even tangling his fingers in his soft, black hair.

“Stop slurping over the fucking movie!” Kyo’s angry voice made them both jump, as it seemed to come from nowhere. They sprung apart, Die chuckling quietly to himself, Kaoru feeling slightly nauseous. The kiss had been effective in keeping him from seeing the girl get massacred but it hadn’t blocked out the frantic screams, the sound of metal cutting through flesh and the thick, heavy thump of something dense dropping to the floor. Besides, he couldn’t keep doing that every time someone was about to get slaughtered and as the film went on, he found himself regretting using that trick so quickly. The deaths were getting more extreme, more graphic, more downright ridiculous and he had nothing to do but watch in horror.

After what seemed like a decade, it was finally over and Kyo switched the lights back on, leaving the room to find the next film. Kaoru was growing frantic and he turned to look at Die, who was standing up and re-enacting a scene with Toshiya, playing the part of the beauty queen who seemed to really love screaming her pretty head off. Shinya watched them from his perch on the floor, giggling and making chainsaw noises while the bassist pretended to cut the redhead’s arm off. It was quite amusing, watching the guitarist thrash around in apparent agony, emitting high, unmanly shrieks, but Kaoru couldn’t laugh.

Instead, he stood and tapped his lover on the shoulder, talking in a low voice so the other men couldn’t hear him. “Die, can we go now?”

“Go?” Die repeated, looking at him as if he were mad. “But Kao, we’ve not even started yet!” The look on his partner’s face worried him though and Kaoru’s skin had lost practically all its colour. He sighed and nodded, waving to the two brunettes. “We’re off, guys. Have fun! And Tosh, don’t vomit on Kyo’s shoes again. You know he doesn’t like it.” He winked playfully at the bassist, who stuck his middle finger up in response.

“Hey! You’d have been sick too if you watched that guy eat his wife’s brains. But, no. You were hiding behind your hands like a pansy.”

“I had something in my eye!” Die defended himself, slapping the taller man’s arm lightly, a wide grin on his face.

“What? Both of them?” Toshiya chuckled, not managing to dodge the hit completely. Then, he looked at Kaoru and nudged the redhead, pointing at the leader with his index finger. “I think you better get him home sharpish. Otherwise, he’ll be the one vomiting.”

Die nodded and waved again, before dragging his lover from the living room and into the hall, where they were met by Kyo’s frowning face.

“You’re leaving already?” He sounded disbelieving, slightly offended even, but one look at Kaoru’s pale face gave him the reason and he nodded, dismissing the pair with a wave of his hand. Then, as he reached the doorframe, he turned to grin at Die. “Better find him a teddy bear tonight. Otherwise, he won’t sleep. Poor thing.”

“I assume you have one to lend me?” The redhead laughed lightly, wrapping his arms around his Kaoru protectively. “Or do you need it yourself?”

Kyo narrowed his eyes, pursed his lips and told him to fuck off and so he did, pulling Kaoru along with him back to the car. The drive back was a silent one, the older man on edge, gasping at every single shadowy figure they drove past, jumping at every sound from outside. Trick or treaters gave him a heart attack when they ran screaming past the car in their vulgar costumes and when they finally got to the residential car park, a rustling of leaves and a swift black shape nearly made him die on the spot, his hand clutching to Die’s arm tightly.

“It was the cat, babe.” The redhead rolled his eyes, but there was a soft smile on his lips and opened the front door to let all three of them in. Immediately, the black haired man fumbled for the light switch, then proceeded to turn the lights on in the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. Zombies and serial killers didn’t like the light apparently. They never attacked you in a well-lit room. The younger guitarist watched him bustling around, leaning on the wall for support, the soft smile still on his face. “That film really scared you, eh, Kao?”

“No.” The smaller man glared at him, stopping dead in his tracks so Die could feel the full strength of his powerful glare. It had about as much effect on him as a light, almost non-existent summer breeze has on a tree and he laughed again, wrapping his arms around his man. “I’m not scared,” Kaoru insisted, the words muffled by Die’s broad shoulder and he looked up into his deep brown eyes and felt a little safer for a few seconds. “Can we go to bed now, please?”

Die smiled, kissed his small, angular nose and shuffled backwards through the bedroom door, pulling his lover along with him. Only when they were fully undressed and curled beneath the duvet, the taller wrapped around his man from behind, did Kaoru finally switch off the lights on the cabinets, shivering a little as they were plunged into darkness.

For a long while, he tried desperately to focus on the warmth radiating from the body so close to his, the way Die’s breathing was slowing down into a slow, regular rhythm, his chest rising and falling against his back. But every small sound, every little creak was amplified ten times louder than normal in his ears, the shadows seemed to move around him and there was a dark shape looming at the door that seemed to be getting closer to the bed.

Without thinking, he fumbled for the lamp, light suddenly filling their entire bedroom. Die groaned and swung round so he was lying on his back, his eyes squinting as he turned to face his partner.

“Kaoru, what the hell?”

“I’m sorry… I just…” He was ashamed and embarrassed, looking down at his hands as he spoke. “I just thought your dressing gown was a monster.” The words sounded incredibly babyish, especially to him and Die blinked a couple of times, wondering if he’d heard correctly. Then, he started laughing, making the bed shake beneath him. Kaoru glared at him, pursing his lips. “Don’t laugh at me.”

“I’m not, hun. I’m not.” The redhead tried to get rid of the wide grin but failed. He pulled Kaoru back down so his head was resting on his chest and brushed his cheek against his hair. It took him a while to stop laughing but when he did, his voice was soft and gentle. “I always knew you were a big baby, despite your hardcore attitude.”

A small growl came from his better half but Kaoru was too tired to really fight back. Instead, he ran his lips across the soft skin of his lover’s chest, up towards his neck where he planted a delicate kiss just above the collarbone. He felt Die’s long arms tighten around his waist and smiled to himself, at last feeling totally content. Still, he had to ensure his reputation would stay unmarked by his reaction to a stupid horror film and so, he spoke up, his voice admonishing. “Just promise me you won’t say anything to the others about this.”

Die suppressed a chuckle. The others already knew, just like he did, that Kaoru was a huge wimp. They’d known for four years. But still, he nodded, the grip around the other man tightening, his tone honest. “I promise. It’ll be our little secret.”