Sequel to "Do I Know You From Somewhere"

*****

I'm not like that. Not like that at all. The thought kept spinning around in Chris Larabee's mind. That's what he'd told Buck, and that was what he was trying to convince himself of now. He'd met other men who were like that. He hadn't understood it, but had never objected either. He didn't approve of people butting into his personal life, so he never interfered with other people's personal lives. Of course, back then, he'd never ever thought of another man in that way, and that was the pure truth. But now, blue eyes, a beautiful smile and a gentle voice was taking him over in a way he'd never expected. He couldn't let it happen, couldn't allow himself to let it happen. But the thought of never seeing Vin again was more than he could handle. He'd already lost so much, losing Vin was out of the question. Besides, he'd already told Vin he'd come with him to Tascosa, and he intended to keep that promise. If for no other reason than to have the young man by his side some more time, till it eventually became a natural decision to stay together.

Chris groaned and shook his head slowly, staring into the half empty glass of whiskey. He cursed himself silently for still thinking about staying together with Vin after they'd taken care of the Tascosa business. He should just help Vin get rid of the bounty on his head, then move on. In one direction, making sure Vin moved on in the other direction. Then everyone, Buck and himself included, would know that he wasn't like that. Chris shook his head again, his confusion growing along with the alcohol intake. One second, he'd decided to try to keep Vin by his side, as a friend if nothing more, for as long as he could, the next he'd decided it would be best if they never saw each other again. He realised he'd never considered what Vin wanted, or how he felt. Maybe Vin wasn't like that? Maybe Vin didn't steal glances at him when he thought he didn't notice, maybe he wasn't shy around him sometimes when there was no reason for him to be, maybe his voice wasn't extra soft and caring when he spoke to him? Chris downed the rest of the whiskey, then filled the shot glass again. Yeah, right. And maybe he'd just imagined the chemistry between them. Not likely... He heard the door to the saloon open, but didn't look up. Not until he heard the voice that seemed to be on his mind so very often these days.

"Hey, cowboy. Join you?"

And maybe Vin wasn't the only one who dared invade his privacy in more ways than one... Chris watched the younger man sit down and take off his hat. He pushed the glass of whiskey to Vin's side of the table.

"I was thinking about getting an early start for Tascosa."

Chris winced at hearing the name of a town he already disliked, despite the fact that he'd never been there. Tascosa was synonymous with trouble. He could handle trouble, like he and the others had done today with Lucas James and his fellas, but trouble for Vin, he'd rather not hear about. But it already existed, nothing to do anything about, except take care of it. But it was too soon. "I was thinking about whiskey. A room, a bed... more whiskey." Chris watched Vin, saw that his suggestion was not an option for him. "You should give it a few days," he tried.

"With this bounty on my head, I ain't got a few days."

"I never met a man who was in such a hurry to get himself hung." Chris felt sick at the thought of Vin getting hung, but he didn't show it. It didn't quite feel like the right moment to start showing emotions of the warmer kind.

"Chance I gotta take," Vin said, looking at Chris briefly, wondering if he understood. "Need to clear my name," he added, thinking that if Chris didn't understand anything else, he should at least understand that. "I'm leavin' in the mornin'. Wouldn't blame you if you prefer to stay." Vin put his hat back on, getting ready to leave.

I would prefer to stay, Chris thought, the thought of Tascosa not appealing at all. If it wasn't for the fact that that was where Vin was going. "What are the women like in Tascosa?" he asked, needing a more legitimate reason to come along. It seemed like the right thing to say as well, even if it possibly came off as a bit pathetic, to himself at least, especially considering that whenever Vin was around, women were the last thing on his mind.

"Don't come much livelier."

Chris smiled. Either that was Vin's honest reply, or he was playing along, having seen through him. He sort of hoped it was the latter. "See you in the morning," he said, noticing the somewhat peculiar look on Vin's face. He watched him for a short moment, then left without saying another word, wondering if he'd overdone it. Whether he had or not, and whether his actions were transparent to Vin or not, surely Vin understood what it was that he was doing, and why? But the look on Vin's face after they'd discussed the women in Tascosa wouldn't leave his mind. He headed for his room, his thoughts darker and more confused than ever.

*

"Do you know what you're getting yourself into?"

Vin stood by his horse making sure that all was right when he heard Buck's voice. He turned around, confused, the question not making any sense. The one thing he was getting himself into now was something that he had to do, so it wasn't like he had a choice. And it wasn't like it was something that Buck had anything to do with. "Some things just gotta be done, Buck," he said.

Buck laughed, despite not finding the situation all that funny. "I guess you're talking about your going to Tascosa?"

"Yeah," Vin said, raising his eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, son, I guess I'm sort of talking about you going to Tascosa too." Buck knew Vin was expecting him to get to the point, but he was trying to get Vin to understand who was in charge here. From day one, Vin had seemed too cocky and assertive for such a young man, and Buck wouldn't have any of it. Not that he could stop Vin from acting however he wanted, but around him he'd better know who was the older one. And who had known Chris the longest. He did remember that he'd promised Chris to leave Vin alone, but there was no way he was just going to stand by and watch when this young man, pretty or not, dragged his oldest friend down to the bottom of the society they lived in. "With Chris," he added.

Vin looked at him, wondering what was going on. Wondering why Buck disliked him so much. "What are you talking about, Buck?"

"Apparently Chris is coming with you to Tascosa," Buck said. "Don't you think he's got enough things to take care of without you dragging him along to take care of your personal business?"

Vin was stunned. This kind of hatred was seldom directed towards him, at least not without an accompanying gun pointing at him. And he was sure that was contempt he could hear in Buck's voice. "I'm not dragging him with me, Buck, he offered to come along," he said, feeling his own anger rising. They were all adults here, it would be nice if they could all act like it too.

"And all your dreams and wishes came true, didn't they?" Buck said, his own wish that Vin would get so annoyed with him that he just left right away. Without a trace, preferably.

"My what...?" Vin couldn't believe what he was hearing. What the hell did Buck know about his dreams and wishes?

Buck took one step closer to Vin, then another, till he was invading Vin's personal space. "I know what you're after, Vin, and you ain't gonna get it from Chris, you hear that?"

Vin was getting seriously pissed off by now. "What am I after, Buck, and what does Chris have to do with it?" he asked, his tone every bit as threatening as Buck's. But he was beginning to understand. He didn't think he'd done anything obvious, though, but apparently Buck had noticed something. Too bad it wasn't Chris who had noticed something, Vin thought, smiling a bit sadly, for a moment forgetting that Buck stood right by him.

"You think this is funny, do you?" Buck said, then tried to calm down, intending to tell Vin about Chris. A man that he'd known for ages, and Vin for about a week. "I knew Sarah, you know," he said, "She was a lovely woman, and she gave Chris a beautiful son. What do you think you could give him?"

It didn't surprise Vin that Buck was so straight forward. It was obvious that he wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. "You are so wrong, Buck," Vin lied, wondering how Buck could be so right, so attentive, when no one else, including Chris it seemed, had noticed anything. But at least now he knew why Buck disliked him.

"Do you know what would happen if I called Chris a cowboy?" Buck went on, "If anyone called Chris a cowboy? You've seen some of Chris's temper, so you can imagine, can't you?"

"And because I called him a cowboy, and he didn't beat the shit out of me, something is going on between us?" Vin said, wanting to defend himself, and make Buck see how wrong he was. Even though he wasn't.

"It's not just that, it's..." Buck looked exasperated. He'd seen Vin looking at Chris, had seen the way he acted around him, the way he stood close to him. Closer than anyone else in their right mind would. He'd also seen how Chris looked at Vin, sought his company, his eyes and voice softening when he spoke to the younger man. And he'd talked to Chris about it, but in a more teasing way. He knew deep inside that he'd never dare be this aggressive about the matter with Chris, but Vin was another issue. Vin was just a kid, like JD, but he didn't act like JD at all, Buck had soon learned. JD would listen to what he said, what other older men said, in a way that Vin would never dream doing. Vin made his own decisions, listened to his own intuition, and to hell with what everyone else had to say, unless Chris was the one talking. Vin probably didn't give a damn about what he was saying right now, and a small part of Buck wondered why he even bothered. "Look Vin," he said, attempting to be more reasoning. "Maybe it's best if you just left for Tascosa alone. Chris is still not himself after what happened to his family. I don't think you have the right to try and get him into something he doesn't really want."

Vin wasn't sure if Buck was talking about Tascosa or about Chris and he, but he didn't really care. He'd heard more than he wanted from Buck already. "And I think that maybe Chris is old enough to decide for himself what he wants," he said, simply. And just because Buck had annoyed him no end, he added, "But you know, Buck, if you interpret the interaction between me and Chris the way you do, how do you think people interpret the interaction between you and JD?"

Buck couldn't believe his ears. What did JD have to do with this? "What the fuck are you saying, Vin?"

"You heard me," Vin said, turning his attention back to his horse. He couldn't wait to get away from this town. If he never saw Buck again, so much the better. As long as he had Chris. Even if he didn't quite have him the way he wanted to.

Buck turned away from Vin and crossed the street, fuming with anger. He walked straight to the jail, where he had been headed when he'd spotted Vin, intending to take care of this sheriff business he'd heard about. What was wrong with young men today, anyway? Running after older men, becoming sheriffs. What was next?

*

Chris Larabee left Gloria Potter's store without giving Mary Travis another chance to tell him how she understood what he was going through. Sure, she had lost her husband. He could see that she had suffered too, possibly the same way he had, and still did. But that wasn't why she tried to talk to him about it, Chris knew that very well. She'd been after him from the day he came to the town, and Chris suspected that she wanted to do more than talk to him. Not to mention that she was obviously looking for a new dad for her son. He wasn't the man for her though, and he wondered how rude and unkind to her he would have to be for her to understand.

There was no doubt that Mary Travis was a beautiful woman, but there was something so dull and predictable about her. And did that woman have more than one expression, anyway? She wasn't at all what he wanted. And she was definitely not what he needed. For the last few years he'd found release with the whores in whatever town he'd been in, and that had worked just fine. Emotional involvement wasn't really his thing, had only been his thing when he had been with Sarah and Adam.

That is, until a gorgeous young man crossed his path, and refused to leave his mind, no matter how hard Chris tried. Why on earth had he agreed to come to Tascosa with him? Being with Vin might be all he wanted, but it was also all that he shouldn't let himself have. How hard could it be for his brain to get that? To understand that if he'd got by so far without feeling any special attraction to other men, then he could keep doing without it. He hated not having control of everything about himself, and in his mind he was beginning to direct his anger towards Vin. If Vin had just not been the way he was, been so good looking, so goddamn nice to him, then maybe he wouldn't have fallen for him. Not this hard.

Things weren't made better by the fact that Buck ran around telling Mary about things that belonged to him, and him only. He walked inside the barbers', by now furious, grabbed the razor blade from the unresisting barber and took hold of Buck's head, holding it still in a steady grip, the razor blade against the other man's throat. "My past is my own, Buck, it's not something you can use for conversation."

Buck's heart had skipped a few beats till he'd realised who it was. "She asked," he said, secure in the knowledge that Chris would never really slit his throat, but still uncomfortable with the situation.

"Guess you didn't hear me?"

"I hear you. And I'm sorry, Chris, but what the hell am I supposed to say when people ask?"

"Nothing," Chris said, slowly letting go of Buck, leaving him to think it over. They might be old friends, might have shared a lot, but there were limits to what he would take from him. He walked along the main street, looking for Vin. He spotted him coming out of the sheriff's office, and walked towards him. When Vin saw him, a bright smile lit up his face, a smile that Chris felt throughout his whole being. It had been a while since anyone smiled like that just seeing him. "Hey, Vin. Helping JD out?" he said, feeling both excited and angry about being around Vin. He'd hoped that this thing he felt for Vin would be temporary, and that it would pass when he got more used to seeing him and talking to him, but it didn't, instead just got stronger. Why couldn't Vin just keep his distance, like everyone else?

Vin walked towards Chris, meeting him halfway. He couldn't stop smiling, and felt a bit silly. "Yeah. He had some trouble with a bunch of people, and since I was passing by, I thought I'd help him."

"Was that recently? It seems calm here now."

"It was a while ago. I just stuck around here talking to JD," Vin said, looking down on the ground, his smile slowly disappearing. There was something about Chris, the way he acted. He seemed cold, somehow. The way he talked now was not at all how he had talked to him before. This cold side of Chris was something that he'd seen when Chris spoke to people that he didn't know, but with him Chris had never been like that. And the conversations they'd had so far had been far different from this. He and Chris hadn't known each other for long, but Vin had never been this close to another person before, had never let anyone so close to him that he had with Chris. "Are you all right, Chris?" he asked, becoming a bit worried.

"I'm fine, Vin," Chris said. "Is your horse ready?" he asked, his anger increasing again. What was with people? First Mary assuming that she knew how he felt, now Vin asking him how he felt. He should've known it was a mistake to stay in this town for so long. He wasn't anonymous any longer. He knew people's names now, they knew his name. And now he was more or less on his way to Tascosa, with the sweetest man he'd ever met, and he hated himself for feeling the way he did, felt anger towards this sweet man for making him feel that way.

"Yeah," Vin said, his heart sinking. Maybe Chris wasn't the man he'd thought he was, after all? Or maybe something had happened to get him angry, something that had nothing to do with him. He looked at the taller man, as always stunned by how handsome he was. Especially today, when he was wearing a blue shirt, instead of his usual black one. Maybe the Chris he'd got to know so far wasn't the real Chris, maybe he was. It didn't matter much, because Vin was so in love with him by now that this chilly side that the older man was showing today was far from enough to scare him off. "I got your horse ready too," he said, slowly beginning to walk towards where he'd tied their two dark horses.

Chris started walking too, coming up alongside Vin. "Been busy, haven't you?"

"Not really," Vin said. "It didn't take long. I got them ready, then I just took a walk around town, and that's when I noticed that JD needed help, and then I stayed there for a while, and..." Vin noticed he was beginning to ramble. Chris was making him nervous with his behavior, and he just couldn't help it. "And then I saw you," he finished quietly.

Chris looked at him. The smile was all gone, and he seemed uncomfortable. Chris assumed it was because of him, and a part of him was content, another part of him hated the whole situation. Vin hadn't done anything to him, he had no right to hurt him like this. But some things just had to be done. He was beginning to feel that he'd be able to control himself, and now he had to make sure that Vin could too, even if it included pushing him away.

They both stayed silent the rest of the short walk to their horses, then checked them a last time. Just when they were about to mount them, gunshots were heard. Chris listened, hearing that it came from the saloon. He told Vin, then began running, Vin close behind him. Chris had thought he wouldn't have to deal with things like this for at least a while, but it seemed there was no such luck in store for him. He fired his gun, trying to cover Vin at the same time. They reached the saloon, both shooting incessantly. Vin stayed outside while Chris broke a window and got inside, the sight of Judge Travis on the floor the first he saw. He wasn't happy about not having Vin around, not being able to protect him, but he knew that Vin was, if possible, an even better shot than himself, and that thought calmed him.

When it was over he yelled at JD to go get Nathan. The young man left, and he heard Vin from outside yell at him to get down, his strong voice assuring him that he was all right. Chris began breathing normally, glad that it was over for this time, then squatted beside Judge Travis, waiting for Nathan to come. Mary Travis came into the saloon before him, though, the ever suffering expression as always on her face. But at least this time she had a reason to look that way, Chris thought, trying to be fair.

When Nathan arrived, he efficiently took care of the judge's injuries, while Chris went away to rent a room where he'd be safe till he was better. He left Mary alone in the room with the judge, then walked outside, looking for Vin. As he expected, Vin had gone to check on the horses, knowing they might have been spooked by all the gunshots. He walked up to him, but found himself lost for words. He saw that Vin had noticed him coming, but he didn't look up. Chris could see that he glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, though. When Chris just stood there without saying anything, Vin finally looked at him, his eyes filled with that sadness that Chris hated seeing, knowing that he was responsible for it, at least partly.

"You okay, Chris?" Vin asked, breaking the silence. His voice was as gentle as it always was when he spoke to Chris.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Chris said, then, against his better judgment, couldn't resist saying, "What about you, Vin? You look so sad..."

Vin looked surprised, hearing Chris's words. Then he simply figured that Chris had got a bit of a scare during the shooting, and had maybe been afraid that he'd been hurt. Now that he could see with his own eyes that he wasn't hurt, he'd probably go right back to being the cold Chris of the last couple of days. He knew he shouldn't say too much, reveal too much, but there was just something about Chris that made him more honest than would probably be healthy for him in the long run. "I'm not sad, really," he said, "I just got a bit scared when I heard the commotion going on inside the saloon and I didn't know what was going on." He looked down at the ground, not daring to meet Chris's eyes. He briefly wondered if Chris would feel honored if he knew that this was the first time he admitted out loud to another man that he got scared sometimes. "Then JD came out, and he said you'd told him to go get Nathan, and I knew you were all right."

Chris looked at him for a long moment, feeling a tenderness that he didn't even know he was capable of. He wanted to pull Vin into an embrace, hold him close, caress his hair. Kiss him gently. Then he wanted to take him up to his room, undress him, feel his lips around him, move in and out of his soft warmth... Chris shook his head. Get over it for fuck's sake, he told himself. Take control again, you've done it before. "I guess we're both all right, then," he said. "Look, I'm gonna go check on the judge. It looks like we might have to stay here for a while, so why don't you go get some rest. Go get a drink or something."

Or go do whatever, as long as I get out of your way, Vin thought. Chris had been right when he'd said that he looked sad. He was sad, but not so much because he'd been worried about Chris. He'd only had to worry for a short while before JD had come out of the saloon. His sadness had more to do with him not having a clue what he'd done to Chris to make him act this way with him. He'd thought long and hard about what he might have done, but couldn't think of anything. He nodded, watching Chris walk away.

When Chris came back to the room where Judge Travis was, he knocked at the door, then stepped inside. He'd had the fleeting thought that maybe he should court Mary, for the simple reason that it might keep his thoughts away from Vin, but he'd known from the start that it wasn't a very good idea. As soon as he saw her standing by the window he realised that he didn't even like her much. He knew he could easily have her though, he'd noticed her interest for him more than once. But she wasn't the one. And it wasn't she that he dreamed of being inside. It occured to him that the way he went on he'd have neither her nor Vin, but maybe that was for the best. Maybe, after Sarah, it was his destiny to make do with cheap whores.

He shook off his thoughts before they went too far and, after making sure that the judge's health was improving, began telling Mary what he'd come there to tell her. He'd almost left without doing it, wanting to get away from her as soon as he could. As he'd expected, though, she wouldn't have any of it. He couldn't blame her really, and it wasn't his business anyway whether she stayed in the town or not. But he wanted to at least have talked to her about it, had hoped that she would have taken it as a friendly advice. And he did mean it when he said that he'd hate to see her son lose his mama. But if she didn't want to listen, it wasn't his responsibility to try to convince her that there might be safer places than this town for her. He was just about to leave when there was a knock at the door. Some of his bad mood disappeared when he saw Vin come inside, briefly acknowledging Mary, then turning his attention to him.

"A couple of James's boys are over in the saloon asking about the judge, wondering if he's still alive," Vin said, as always standing just a bit closer to Chris than he should. He'd seen the way Mary looked at Chris sometimes, but he hadn't seen Chris show any interest for her. No matter what, though, he wouldn't give up without a fight. Buck might have had a point when he'd asked him what he could give Chris. Maybe he couldn't give Chris the one thing that Mary could, but he knew without a doubt that no one could love Chris the way he did. Not Mary, not any other woman. If only Chris could see that...

"They're just waiting for him to die," Mary said, joining the conversation.

Chris thought about that. He watched Vin intensely, waiting to see if maybe he had a suggestion what to do. If not, he had an idea that might just work. He noticed the younger man averting his eyes after a moment, an almost submissive motion. He hoped Mary hadn't seen it. The last thing he needed was her suspecting that something was going on between he and Vin. It was bad enough that Buck was on him about it, but at least Buck kept it to himself, which he wasn't so sure Mary would do. "Maybe it's better if he does," he said, letting Vin and Mary in on his idea.

A while later he, together with Vin and JD, had arranged for a fake funeral. Mary was there too, and they all played their parts. Especially JD who seemed to take it very seriously. Chris smiled at his and Vin's bickering about just how real they should make the funeral. For a moment, Chris almost forgot about his desire to leave this town, his decision to keep his distance from Vin, no matter how much it hurt. For a moment, everything felt almost good.

*

Before he even asked Buck to come with them, Chris knew that he wouldn't. Their friendship had been seriously hurt. First, when Buck had more or less harassed him about Vin, and he'd told him in no kind words that he should stop that. And then when he'd told him to stop telling other people about his past, with a razor blade to his throat. Chris could see how that would piss him off, but he also knew that he'd had the right to do what he'd done. Old friends or not, he wouldn't take all the shit Buck had been giving him lately. It seemed Buck was a bit touchy, though, at least compared to Vin. He'd had two little fights with Buck, and suddenly they weren't so good friends anymore, but he'd treated Vin like dirt pretty much since the battle with Anderson and his army was over, and still the younger man seemed in no hurry to leave his side. It was strange how things, people, were sometimes. He watched Buck leave with his lady for the day. "As I said, you can always count on Buck." He glanced at Vin, who looked back at him without saying anything. He began walking out of the saloon, stopping just outside. "I'll go get JD, Vin. Could you go check if Josiah and Nathan are ready?"

"Yeah," Vin said, walking off.

Chris walked to the jail, his intention to walk out with JD, but he ended up having Ezra come along too. He figured Ezra had been behind bars long enough to have been taught a lesson. And he might have been a bad boy, but Chris was pretty sure that if Ezra kept his promise not to run out on him again he'd be useful. The three of them joined Vin, Josiah and Nathan, and soon they were on their way to James's ranch. When they were close, they dismounted their horses to have a closer look at what they were up for.

Vin used his spyglass to look at the surroundings. "It looks like a few more than we planned on," he said, having seen the large amount of people, some of which were there as guards.

JD lay down on the ground beside him. "How many more?"

"The word regiment mean anything to you?" Vin asked.

Chris looked at his two younger companions, his annoyance increasing. "Would you like to come back when there are less of them?" he said. He wanted to just get this business over and done with. He heard Nathan's comment about it being a shame to leave now that they'd come this far and was glad that at least he could keep his sense of humor, because he himself was not amused by all this. They mounted their horses again, and were soon entering James's property. Chris spotted a man with a rifle on one of the roofs. "Can you handle him?" he asked Vin who was close behind him.

"Like lickin' butter off a knife," Vin replied, walking away.

Not an expression Chris had heard before, but he hoped that Vin was right, that it would be that easy. He'd hate to see Vin or any of the others hurt or killed because of men like James and Lucas. With their combined efforts though, it did prove to be that easy, and within a few minutes they had Lucas in handcuffs and were on their way back to Four Corners. Unfortunately, it was less easy to get rid of the posse that followed them. They rode as fast as they could, shooting, trying to avoid being hit by any of the bullets coming from behind. When the gunshots suddenly ceased, Chris stopped his horse and looked back. He saw Buck on his horse, rifle in his hand. The look he got from him was less than friendly, but at least he was there, helping them. Maybe their friendship was still worth something to him after all.

"Good thing I came along," Buck said when he got closer.

"Good thing you did," Chris replied, then rode on. He and Buck might need to have a talk, but that would have to wait till another time.

*

A couple of hours later the seven of them were in the saloon, celebrating the good outcome of the day. Chris kept filling his shot glass with whiskey, and he knew he'd be drunk before the night came. He'd told Judge Travis he had a feeling he was gonna regret staying in this town, and right now, that's exactly how it felt. A month. That's how long he'd be in this town, at least. And so would Vin, his young friend who was still sitting by his table after the others one after another left the saloon. "You're not much of a drinker, are you, Vin?" he asked.

"I guess not," Vin said. He'd only had half a shot glass of whiskey so far, and it wouldn't be much more. He never got really drunk, he didn't like the feeling.

"Think I drink too much, Vin?" Chris asked, looking into Vin's eyes.

"Ain't none of my business if you do," Vin said. He just knew that Chris was going to say something to him to try to push him away. He wasn't stupid, he knew what Chris was doing. He knew Chris was scared of the attraction between them. Well, so was he, but maybe some fears were worth dealing with. He did begin to consider it his business if Chris drank too much, though. He hadn't stayed only because he wanted to be with Chris, but to make sure he didn't hurt himself, or that anyone hurt him.

"Damn right it ain't," Chris said, downing the rest of the whiskey. He swallowed, then grimaced, both from the strong taste and to make a point. He looked at Vin, expecting him to look hurt, or sad, the way he had before when he'd been rude to him. But all he saw now was a pair of eyes looking at him with patience and tenderness. He looked down at the table, shaking his head, wondering what it would take for the younger man to get the message, wondering how much he himself would be able to hurt Vin to make him understand. But it wouldn't be easy to hurt the one person in his life who cared about him and wanted to be with him. Especially since he now finally understood just how strong his own feelings for this person were.

*****

End, part II. On to Part III