A/N: Review responses at the next chapter, promise :)

Edit: At Faith's suggestion, I did some editing...many thanks, it looks better, simpler. I'll work on it some more later.

INTERMISSION

“I can’t do this right now! I have to go to work!”

“BULLSHIT!” Nathaniel nearly roared, slamming the iron skillet on the kitchen floor – a glass shattered, and the distinct sound of a fist connecting with the granite counter, “Get the fuck back here, Bri!”

“I have to go!” Bristol stormed out of the kitchen, shaking his head, hands clutching at his hair, his ears, as if he could deafen the sound of Nathaniel screaming at him if he squeezed hard enough.

“Oh yeah?! You just can’t wait, can you?!” Nathaniel chased after Bristol, something he felt like he’d been doing all his fucking life, and this was just too much. Nat nearly punched his way through the swinging kitchen door, and he winced – Bristol’s back, that’s what he was seeing. It hurt, it hurt so much…he just…he wanted to… “I’m never gonna be enough for you, am I?” Nathaniel demanded, voice catching into a whisper, face tearstained and accusing – and Bristol paused, he lost his step, but he didn’t turn around. He didn’t even- “LOOK AT ME!” Nat’s voice broke, somewhere between a scream and a sob, and then he was too angry to give a fuck, blue eyes bloodshot, “What is it?! Am I not…not…tall enough? Attractive enough? Smart enough? Not man enough?! Just fucking tell me, Bristol!”

“It’s not like that!” he retorted violently, “Jesus fucking Christ, Nat! It’s not about you!” Bristol spun around, shoulders colliding with the door, nails digging into the white wood, and he glared wearily at his shorter, but ultimately dominating, partner. His shoulders slumped in defeat, and Bri just stared at Nathaniel, lips parted, the red swelling from the initial slap fading from his right cheek.

That answer wasn’t good enough.

“Look,” Bri said sharply, “We’ll talk about this later.” He pushed back the sleeve of his jacket, swearing under his breath at the time. Fifteen minutes already, his boss was going to kill him! “I have to-“

"Fuck you, Bristol! We need to deal with this!"

"Nat-"

"DON'T! Don't fucking patronize me! What does it take, Bri? What?! You wa-want money?! That's what you're worried about?! HERE! TAKE IT!" Nathaniel's movements were all vicious, jerky, he tore his wallet out of his back pocket, snatching a twenty - crumpling it in his fist. He wasn't going to let Bristol go that easy, cornering the other boy against the door in a matter of seconds.

He shoved the money down Bri's pants, jamming the bill in his waistband, viciously enough that his nails dug into soft skin, provoking a gasp.

"There!" Nat hissed, nodding to Bristol's crotch - "What's that worth, huh? Five minutes? A blowjob? If I give you another ten, can I fuck you, or...is that a free deal?! First come, first served kind of-fuck!"

Bri slammed his fist into Nathaniel's face, knuckles crashing into the sneering, venemous jawline, his nose, the punch hard enough that Nat cried out, head snapping to the side as pain shot through his mouth, his body, his eyes watering, and all he saw were stars, and all he heard was-

"How dare you talk to me that way!" Bristol gasped the words, cradling his fist to his chest. His voice was raw with pain, stripped of any false ego, any sexuality, it was just pain, "I am not some piece of ass, dickhead, I am your goddamned boyfriend, and I deserve some fucking respect! Who the hell do you think you are, huh?! God, Nathaniel! If you can't deal, just leave!"

Nat recovered, no thanks to Bristol, and he swivelled towards the other man with a near snarl at the words. Shame and rage warred inside of him, and Nat slammed his hands on either side of his lover’s head, causing Bri to flinch at their sudden proximity. Bristol half expected to get hit again, in retort, and he tilted his chin up, bracing himself with a heady, defiant look in his eyes.

I'm sorry. Nat's lips formed the words, but he couldn't say them.

Bri sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, biting down until he tasted blood - it kept the crying at bay. "Nat...Nathaniel, I-come here, baby, I..." He obeyed, though the steely blue gaze was completely unreadable as he leaned forward, and it wasn’t fear that caught in Bri’s throat this time.

“Tell me,” Nat whispered, lips barely touching Bri’s, tilting his head so that his cheek touched his lover’s, then his lips, smearing tear-stained kisses all along Bri’s skin, jaw, his throat. Those blue eyes slid shut, but Nathaniel didn't need to see anything. He knew every curve of Bristol's face, the taste of him, the bones that shifted beneath his flesh, and as long as his eyes were closed...he didn't have to...to think about...and Bristol’s fingers, palms, were digging, tugging, pulling at Nathaniel’s shirt, desperately sliding beneath his collar, up under the cuffs, slipping underneath the hem at his waist, skin to skin, touching, and Bri tilted his head towards Nat’s, lips parted for tiny gasps, eyes flashing with shared heat, seeking lips and tongue. But Nathaniel wouldn’t kiss him, no matter how Bri’s throat, his mouth, strained to trap Nat’s own. Panting breaths, strangled and hoarse, mingling desire and rage and hurt, and Bristol shuddered, rattling the doorframe as Nathaniel’s tongue flicked along the curve of his collarbone. The boy’s eyes nearly rolled back into his head with the gasp, and Bri squirmed, a whimper dragged from his throat,

“I love you,” he hissed in response. He didn’t have to ask what Nathaniel wanted to hear, Bri knew.

Nathaniel tensed beneath Bristol’s searching fingers, and he touched his lover’s chin, his jaw, studying his face, every arch from his brow to full, bitable lips, his cheekbones. It was exactly what he wanted to hear, but somehow it didn’t help. It made him feel worse. “I-I…God, I don’t believe you.” He sounded weak, like a lost puppy, and he sounded afraid. Afraid of the truth? Afraid of reality?

“What?!” Bri demanded incredulously. No response. Bristol’s lips twisted into a snarl of disbelief, but Nathaniel’s rage was gone, replaced by doubt, by disgust, by hurt, goddamn! They’d been together almost two years, and this…this was enough to…to make him doubt it all?! Everything?!

“I…I don’t. You lied to me, you’ve been-“ Nat laughed once, harsh and sharp, and the moment was gone, whatever gentleness had been shared - gone. “Jesus, you’ve been lying to me for months! How can I…I believe anything you…y-“

Bristol shoved him, sending Nathaniel staggering back a handful of paces. “For fuck’s sake, Nat! I come home to you every single night…every night! What the hell’s wrong with you?!”

“You said you were going back to school!”

“I’m trying, goddamnit! Not all of us have our mommies and daddies to pay our way!”

“So you decide to whore yourself out?! THAT MAKES A HELL OF A LOT OF SENSE!”

Bristol gritted his teeth against the tears, flinching as Nat practically spit the words in his face, fists balled up at his sides, his entire frame shaking with rage. Bri had never seen him this angry before - and their relationship had never been smooth sailing, but this... “I’m not a whore," Bri corrected through clenched teeth, each word punctured with his frustration, "I’m an entertainer-“

“You’re a fucking stripper!”

“I-“

“And you lied to me!”

“Because I knew you wouldn’t understand!" Bristol shouted, "You’re blowing this out of proportion, Nathaniel!”

NATHANIEL

You’re blowing this out of proportion, Nathaniel!

Staring at my muddied reflection in the bathroom mirror, I hear his voice. And I'm struck by the realization, fingers curling over the porcelain sink - God, I can't do this.