Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 10:26:03 -0600
From: Michael Yost <myost@charter.net>
Subject: Real World Chapter 42

"You mean you're going to lay back  and let me indulge in every filthy oral
gratification I ever fantasized about?" Pete said  in provocative voice,
hooking his fingers into the belt loops of Josh's jeans, pressing his groin to
Josh's ass.  His eyes glittering dangerously.

"Just remember I'm your treat not your victim," Josh laughed a little nervously.

"Yes, you're my treat," Pete grinned, licking the tip of his ear.

"Don't hurt me," Josh laughed,

I'll try to be gentle," Pete said, winking at Josh.

Peeking out from behind a tree, Christov whispered to Henri,  "Damn you.  You
won out bet."

"I told you they wouldn't break up," Henri said, trying not to sound as smug as
he felt.  Henri pocketed the ten dollars.

"What can you expect from mince meats?" Christov sighed, pulling out from his
pocket two plane tickets to Paris. Looks like we're not going to need these."

"You realize thanks to you and Henri's over protection of him, and my trying to
shove Pete into making a commitment he wasn't ready for Pete will probably
always have a human side to him more than most night walkers," Michael said,
wrapped in a leather trench coat. "We ruined that child."

"We have rather  failed in our education of him," Henri said smiling.

"Oh well, better to have loved and lost someone then never to have loved at
all,"  Michael said lighting a cigarette, "I'll always be In Pete's life. Even
if it is as only a watcher."

"Keep it that way," Christov snorted, "Nothing like obsession to keep a corpse
alive."

"You and I know that relationships for night walkers only last but a human life
time.  I'll give it time.  It won't last forever," Michael said dreamily.

A lone figure walked from between the trees,  "Michael," Ovid whispered. His
face glowing like angelic damnation, his voice gentle and penetrating to the
soul, "You need not be alone"

"Join us Michael," sang a girl's voice. Lena appeared beside Ovid, her arms out
stretched.  Snow fell gently on her rags.

We can be the companions, your lovers," Emil said, his blood dripping from a
small wound on his throat.

"Be fair to us Michael, " Ovid pleased, "Josh and Pete did break up after all."

Drawing the smoke from his cigarette into his dead lungs, Michael flicked the
cigarette at Ovid.

Ovid gasped, his body feeling strangely hot and fevered.

Coals seemed to ember in his insides.  Falling into Emil, Ovid groaned.

"Kill Ovid, kill us all" Lena cursed.

"Who said anything about killing anyone?' Michael said in a mocking voice of
concerned surprise.

Shaking his finger in Lena's  face, Michael tantalized her with his mouth so
close to the faint pulse in her throat,  "Want a little taste of me Lena, Emil?
Need a little hit, just a little hit of my power?"

Snatching the plane tickers out of Christov's  hands, Michael thrust the tickets
at Ovid,  "Get another ticket and go to Paris, quickly. And the next time you
have dealings with a night walkers processed of first brood and powerful blood
take a care to be cautious Do not take the risk of upsetting them.  No one can
really  predict how they'll  finally die. Can they?"

Pulling Ovid along  with them, Emil and Lena left

"You were a little hard on those youngers." Henri said arching his eye brow.

"Was I?" Michael said pleasantly.

"You so need to get laid.  You should have taken Ovid up on his offer," Christov
said cheerfully, grinning evilly at him.

"I think not," Michael said huffily, "I'll see you both in New Orleans."

"We can't wait," Christov snorted.

"Let's  contact Armand and let him fly us to New Orleans," Christov said as they
watched Michael take off into the sky.

Christov headed off  into an encroaching mist and blowing snow.

What if I decide not to join you?  What if this is the moment I decide we are
going to part, Henri thought frustrated, What if I'm tired of your aloofness,
your fears, your mockery of me? Henri thought sullenly, Your constant rejection
of me.

"Henri,"  Christov said, spinning around,  his hands on his hips, "Are you
coming with me or not!"



Sighing,  Henri ran up to Christov and linked arms with him, saying "Why do you
suppose Michael was so upset with Ovid?  What kind of business do you think
Michael had with Ovid's coven?"

"Do you think Michael was Ovid's lover?  And that ancient.  Why did he fly off
when I tossed my gris gris at him I mean what was in that gris gris to make it
work?'

Falling into a serious gossip session Christov and Henri lost   themselves in
their world   for  at least the moment.

>From a distance, Marie Glapion watched the two vampires keeping each other spell
bound.

Slowly her form dissolved into that of a frail, forlorn, young woman, her hair
tied back in a lank pony tail  Her child appeared at her side.  Gliding above
the ground, they followed Christov and Henri.

Months  later Josh was with the Real World cast doing a reunion show.

Smiling for the cameras, Joey  said to the live audience, "I date,  and I'm
doing my medical internship."

"I'm with a partner," Marcia said, holding hands with Joey, "After the show Joey
and I moved to San Francisco together."

"We helped each other out,'" Joey said, kissing Marcia's cheek.

"I can't tell you all my partner's  name.  She's in the army over in Saudi
Arabia.  You now how it is with that stupid don't ask, don't tell rule.  I don't
want her to get kicked  out of the service so all I can say is,  honey if your
watching,  and I hope your watching, I love you.  Can't wait till you come back
home to me," Marcia said, blowing a kiss  to the camera.

"I'm with a steady too," Thomas said, "I'm hosting parties at my place and going
for  my pilot license."

"And I'm married to a man! " Amy laughed, "And I have a kid on the way!"

"I'm happy with my partner Pete" Josh said, beaming, "We  haven't had a
commitment ceremony yet but we're planing on it.  We bought a house together."

"It's too bad the part on the film  where we met Pete ended up missing, " Thomas
said.

"The tension in the Chicago house went down once Marcia,  Joey, and Josh
finally  came out of the closet,"  Paul said,  his handsome dark face wearing a
smile, holding Joanie's hand. "Joanie and I got together after the show."

"We've lived  together for two months," Joanie said making a peace sign for the
cameras.

"Then we broke up," Paul said, "We're still managed to stay friends much  like
we all managed to stay friends."

"I'm going to Harvard to be a lawyer," Tan said breathlessly, her oriental face
beaming, "No man in my life.  Not yet."

"Josh remember the skinny dipping parry we went to?"  Thomas teased, "The night
Joey licked champagne out of your tummy button?"

"All in good clean fun," Josh said, grinning like a fool remembering the terse
conversation he and Pete got into once he was back in New Orleans, and Pete
caught that episode. Actually there was a lot of tense moments between him and
Pete when Pete sat down with his mouth wide open,  his eyes glaring fixated at
the television,  watching  Josh bopping, flirting, not drinking booze, dancing
up a storm at gay bars with his roommates and various hot looking mortal boys.
One night Josh even was shimmying down with a trio  of night walkers wearing
carnival masks which covered the upper parts of their faces.  The night
walkers   suspiciously reminded Pete of  Lena, Ovid, and Emil.  Josh whispered
to the night walker who looked like Ovid, 'Once you had sun you know you've had
fun, wanna try sun walker?   The vampire who looked like Ovid had a   intrigued
look on his lips.  Later,  Pete found out from Josh they  actually were the
coven of children.  They were hanging out in Chicago till they went to Paris the
next night.  Josh reported that he and the children actually got along after
having a conversation. He relayed their good wishes to Pete.   Bygones being
bygones.   The good parts of the show for Pete was watching Josh on television
talking on the phone, Pete got to relive their sappy, embarrassingly, teary eyed
conversations they had when Josh would go back to the Chicago house  after
partying and call him up before he went to bed alone.

"Remember the time you entered that naked go-go boy dance contest at the lucky
Horseshoe Lounge  I can't believe you won second place," Joey snickered.

"You're only bringing that up because you got first place. And it's only because
I wouldn't bend over and shake it up like some people I know," Josh groused.

"I adored that contest,' Amy leered.

Who did you vote for?' Tan asked

"I'm not telling," Amy giggled, winking at Josh.

"I voted for Joey," Maricia said sticking her tongue at Josh.

"I can't believe a fun guy like you is going to go through a commitment
ceremony.  How did you ask him to marry you?"  Thomas said wistfully.

"I asked him after a huge fight," Josh said, smiling.

"Do you and your boyfriend Pete still fight?" Joey said in a worried tone.

"All the time. Not.  We get along great," Josh assured him, "Pete thinks the
house we bought is haunted. He woke up and he thought he saw a woman staring
into his face. He almost pinched my arm black and blue swearing that he saw a
ghost. I still think it was just a nightmare."

"Dreaming about a woman would seem like a nightmare to you Josh," Amy said
cattily.

"Especially about a woman who has trouble with the word no," Thomas said
cuttingly to Amy.

"I backed off when Josh finally fussed up!" Amy said.

Once Andre persuaded Mr. Links in exchanged e-mails to stop threatening to sue
Josh.  Josh  came out big time, telling his friends all about Pete, and
apologizing for telling them Pete was his cousin.

After the cast fielded questions from the live audience, Josh left the studio.

"Josh,"  Joey cried, running up to him, "Meet us at the House of Blue's bars
tonight so we can catch up on old times some more."

"I'll be there," Josh said.  The grip Joey had on his shoulder turned into a
caress to his face.

"After we're done at the House of Blue you and I we should hit the bars tonight
later.  Alone." Joey said.

"Invite Thomas, too," Josh protested,' And everyone else."

"Of course," Joey  said a little let down. "Josh,  he said in a hesitant voice,
"You know even through you ended up not being my first  I'll always think of you
as my first real love."

He's cute, but not the cutest of the cute, Josh thought, not being able to
resist checking out Joey's ass as Joey walked to his car.

Starting to cross the street, Josh quickly jumped back.

A sleek muscle car of a red convertible raced throughout the night.

The top was down, Mr. Links was driving, his foot slammed down the acellator.
His mouth full of hot deals.  Mr, Links babbled about how happy he was to
finally meet Andre,  and how he was going to make Andre a star. A big star.

Andre was sitting beside him, looking perfectly sexy in the leather seat.  His
auburn hair whisking in the breeze.

Waving at Josh, Andre projected into Josh's  mind the words:  Dead man.  Andre
blissfully turned his attention to the middle aged man. Both of them had hunger
on their faces.


Laughing,  Josh crossed the street,  his thoughts on the  hurricane of a life he
led which was full of the tribulations of friends and family.

Dee-.Jaying part time, and going to school full time, hunting mortals, writing
novels to pay the bills,  videotaping Ace's first game of T-ball so I  can watch
it with Pete later in the evening, I sometimes fell  like my  life is a pressure
cooker with Pete the peaceful eye of my storm, except for the one terrible night
when  I discovered Pete had a one night stand with Ray my best best because Pete
thought I was having an affair with Brent.  It ended my friendship with Ray.  My
and Pete's relationship managed to survive and thrive.  Cripes, Pete losing his
virginity to Ray of all people.

I wonder what life would have been like if I had decided to take the easy way
out and lived my life as only a hunter? No direction. No plans. No stress. It
wouldn't have been half as exiting as my life is now, Josh thought more than
ready to leave Chicago and go back to the world he and Pete created for their
family in New Orleans.

After a wild night of partying at the House of Blues Bar, and spending a day
with the cast,    Josh flew home the next night without a plane,  having fully
matured into his day walker's  powers he didn't have when he was first in
Chicago.  Josh landed in this backyard in New Orleans.

"How was it like being reunited with your Real World friends," Pete said coming
up to Josh.

"Nothing I would ever want to do again," Josh said,  his heart pounding as it
always did when Pete was in the vicinity.  Giving Pete a hug, thinking him to be
the sexiest undead boi in the world Josh put his arm around him going inside
their home.

Despite the attempts at keeping chaos at bay their home had that definite lived
in with kids look


TBC