Price of Fame

[WrittenHollowness]

"Don't touch me." Davin said, coldly. He really didn't have time to be fooled by the only person he held dear. Not after all he has given up, in one day to top it off. And he was being condescended like a child, just because of two people that Davin had no knowledge of? He was insulted and hurt, and wanted to be as far away from all this as possible. They were lucky he was in a moving car and this wasn't Winstrom--where he could roll out of a moving car.

 

[ROUX]

Will slowly removed his arm, dropping it limply in his lap. He knew very well how much Davin hated it when people lied to him, but this was one truth he wasn't ready to reveal-whether Dav liked it it not. He honestly thought he had a better chance this way...


The car was eerily silent as Camille drove around the last corner and into the parking lot of their destination. Will pushed his door open once the car stopped, stepping out first, feeling the shame and tension weighing down on him. Ben was next, walking up to him. "Hey look, I'm sorry. Shouldn't have said anything..." He muttered, walking up with the brunette to the restaurant. Will shook his head, averting his eyes.


"Not your fault...someone would have brought it up sooner or later, I mean it's one of my legacies after all..." He said. "It's just - I can't tell him now. You know what I was like before the island, Ben, I was an a*****e. He thought I was snobbish when he first met me, and that's not even a sliver of who I am. Or was, at least."


---


Camille pocketed her keys, opening the door and balancing on her wedges on in the street while checking her phone. She looked up, then back at Davin, who looked thoroughly POed. She decided to wait for him anyway...maybe she could talk him out of hating Will for the time being so they could just enjoy the food.


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[WrittenHollowness]

Davin was next to step out of the vehicle, walking past Will with the coldest shoulder on his side of the globe. He walked into the eatablishment and waited for the others to catch up so to get a table. He didn't like feeling this way...especially not toward his baby. It was eating him, slowly. But, Will needed to understand that they had to be completely honest, otherwise they'd self destruct. Dishonesty led to a knife at his throat in his sleep. He forgave the man time and time again, but his chances were sliwly running thin. Davin choked down a sob and kept on a face that would make any German proud.

 

[ROUX]

Camille ran up behind Davin, tapping him on the shoulder.


"Hey. Hey you."


She glanced back, seeing Will was still dragging his feet, before actually grabbing Davin by the collar and dragging him to a table, shoving him towards one of the chairs and putting her hands on her hips, a hard determination in her eyes.


"Ok look, I know you're p***ed. You kind of have a right to be...but lemme tell you this one thing." She leaned down, close to his face, staring him straight in the eye.


"Will may have lied, but he has a damn good reason for doing so. His logic? If he tells you the truth, he looses you. I know it's stupid, but you're just gonna have to let him tell you on his own time. And if you think I'm just playing the part of the over-protective best friend..."


She sniffed, flipping her hair over her shoulder at the thought. "You'd be wrong honey. So wrong. Because I could have chosen to be mad at him forever too.


And I could even be mad at him right now, for vanishing for five years doing God-knows-what, and I could b**** at him until he finally spills whatever horrible truth he's been hiding. But I trust him Davin, I trust that he'll tell me in time. Because the thing that's eating at him is going to force it's way out sometime soon, you can count on that," she finished, just as Ben reached the table with a pale faced Will and a waiter.


Cami sat down hard, shaking her head. "I need a damn drink," she muttered, motioning the waiter to her and ordering a cocktail.


Will chose to sit across from Davin rather than next to him, Ben sitting down beside him looking extremely uncomfortable as he did so. Will pit his head in his hands, for once not feeling the imminent urge to strike up conversation at his table.


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[WrittenHollowness]

"So...I'm too scary to sit near?" Davin asked. He had tried to.make it sound like a joke, but the words fell flat at the table. A waiter came to their table and was met with a hard glare, causing him to blanch immediately. "Would you like drinks?" he asked, trembling a bit. Sighing, Davin pinched the bridge of his nose and forced a smile. It looked like a beautifully crafted bear-trap. I'll take a Cherry Peach Martini, dirty, shaken. What does everyone else want?" he asked in a calm, flat tone.

 

[ROUX]

Camille, who had already ordered, looked at Ben who asked for wine.


Will just looked up, saying the first thing the came to his mind when it was his turn to order, ignoring Davin's earlier comment.


"Coke."


The waiter gave him a look, and Will guessed there were few people that would walk into a classy restaurant like this one and order something so...plain. But he was no longer in the mood for eating or drinking. In fact, he just wanted to go home, curl up in his covers, and pretend no one else was alive.


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[WrittenHollowness]

"...Are you mad at me now?" Davin asked, trying to be a little warmer toward his boyfriend. "Look...I...uh....I know I get pissed easily. And I over-reacted. I freely admit this. But, William Sanderson...look at me." He snapped, catching his lover's attention. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Nothing you can possibly say will make me run. That's what I'm pissed off about. You don't trust me enough to communicate." He crossed his arms, ignoring the looks from both Cami and Ben.

 

[ROUX]

Will stared at Davin, emotionless as he thought over the European's words before nodding slowly. He still didn't think Davin would be true to his word after he told him, and he wouldn't blame the man either...but he'd go ahead and tell him. He stood up, pushing his empty hair back under the table.


"I'll...I'll be right back alright?" He told his friends, before gazing at Davin fearfully and motioning for the man to follow him out the doors, and to a park bench a ways down from the entrance. With every step he regretted agreeing, and the tightness in his chest grew.


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[WrittenHollowness]

Davin followed silently as they exited the resturant, stepping out into the autumn air. When they stopped, he exhaled. Before Will could get a word out, he kissed him softly, then stood back. The old Davin would punch even William in the face, and he wasn't quite sure that version pf himself was fully butied away yet. He waited quietly, motioning foe the man to say what he had to say.

 

[ROUX]

Will savored the kiss, feeling as if it might the last he would get for a long time. His leg bounced again as he thought about how he was going to say his piece feeling a bit of déjà vu in the moment.


"So...there's this secret society that every respectable senior at my High School wanted to get in to - they called it the Skull and Bones society. It was utterly exclusive, and nearly impossible to get in to, even for people like me. But the work was worth it, cause if you do get in, you're set for life. College? Guaranteed Ivy League. Money wise? More than you could spend in a hundred years. And the connections you'd have been set up with...they were impressive. Very impressive."


Will's eyes lit up at the prospect of it, even now. Who wouldn't, at such an obvious free path so success? Well. Free depending I. How you looked at it.


"The path to get in was simple enough. The students the society had chosen were all abducted, and brought to some old church in Yale. We were given instructions in how we could impress them, and had our perfect little lives threatened so we wouldn't tell anyone. There were three parts to the test that they had for us. The first was, of course, purely academic. The top three guys and top three girls overall would continue to round two at the end of the first semester, expected to keep their grades up afterwards still.


That wasn't really hard for me, and I came in second for GPA.


Phase two was a bit harder.


We were supposed to host an event, of any kind, and expose a huge scandal in such a way that would result in someone getting destroyed... Now this was my area of experience. My annual Blizzard, I called it, went on each winter, and it was the perfect time to follow the order. So, I publicly outed the Headmistress's husband, and uncovered his long time affair with none they than his wife's brother.


By the time all that went down, it was only me, Ashton Vanderbilt, and Kaitlyn Cress - the mayor's daughter.


For round three, we were all given out instructions separately, with no idea we were all playing the same damn game.


The trail of Roses they called it, after the trail of tears. It was the most cold and twisted of all the tests, meant to expose the pure ambition behind each of us, showing we would do anything to get to the top. The others were expected to go far, the Vanderbilt's have been running the organization for ages. And Kaitlyn was the mayor's daughter. As rich as my family is, I was the underdog, and It made me want it more than both of them. Much more."


Will paused before launching into the final chapter of the tale, taking a deep breath.


"We were each instructed to seduce one powerful stranger, one person closest to us, and then one out of the three of us.


The relationships were never intended to be real, just plainly a one night stand. A rose was to be left in the room of whomever you had seduced, letting them know they had been played. Students feared those roses, and everyone was skittish towards the end of the year because of it. Nevertheless, they all still fell our prey...


The stranger part wasn't difficult at all. I ended up doing a Belgian girl that was in line for Duchess. I never saw her again.


The next part was the hardest...and the part I most hate myself for. I couldn't fake my way out of it-Camille and I were inseparable, and she was the clear choice. I lured her to a party, and it's never very hard to get her started drinking..." He broke off, his voice cracking at the memory, not even able to lift his head to look at Davin. "Leaving that rose in her room, after I took her virginity...I felt horrible. But not horrible enough, apparently, and I moved on to the final task.


I've got to give it to her, that Cress girl is clever. She nearly reeled me in at a masquerade ball, but unfortunately for her, I had a plan. I read the girl like a book, appealing to her ambition, and suggesting we join the society together, as the power couple, and the first. She was so drawn in by the idea that I came up with the horrid idea of proposing to her on the spot - after I'd given her the time of her life of course. She accepted, and fell straight into the trap." Will was unmoving at this point, completely aware of the impact of the words he was about to utter. But Davin had asked him to be truthful...he would. Even If it was the end of them this time.


"I left her standing at that altar, holding a single white rose, not even showing up at the ceremony."


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[WrittenHollowness]

Davin stared at Will, his motuh agape. Thrre was really nothing to say, and if there was, it'd be a out how twisted his boyfriend was. He stood there and said nothing. All the hopes and dreams he'd had were alreadly lived--for some prank. That's all it was, an elaborate prank that ran over many lives and crushed to many hearts. A horrible thought crossed Davin's mind and it was out of his mouth before he could halt or even slow it down.


"Do I get a fucking rose too?"

 

[ROUX]

"NO!" Will jumped up, pleading with the man with his eyes and with his words. "Davin please - I'd never do that to you. Never. It's over, is been over ever since I got sent to that island. Please Dav," he sobbed, dropping to his knees as he did so, afraid of loosing the only person he'd ever truly wanted. "I love you Dav, believe me, I do!


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[WrittenHollowness]

"I can't even begin to explain how repulsed I am. You know how I finished high school? By taking a GED with 16 stitches in my scalp. I paud for college by selling drugs. And I didn't have shit. You had it all, and you did all that just to get the best out of life? When you had it already?" Davin turned to the doors of the resturant and sighed, with steel in his breath. "I think we...need..."


He couldn't say it. The words were there, but he couldn't tell him he wanted to go. Because with all honesty, he loved the monster he'd gotten entwined with.

 

[ROUX]

"You...you want me to go..."


The words may not have been spoken by the other man, but they were obviously implied.


Will realized it as he said it, his heart feeling like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand. He'd have preferred it if Dav had hit him, slapped him, threatened to kill him, but anything besides this. He had seen it coming, but It still shocked him, hurt him, made him feel utterly lost. Davin was leaving him, and his heart was breaking right in front of the man.


He supposed he deserved it. Every bit of it. He never understood the pain of those he'd done wrong during the trail - except maybe Camille's - and now he was feeling it times ten.


He got to his feet, walking up behind Dav and gripped his forearm, turning him around.


"Please Davin..." He tried one last time, staring at the German, completely distraught. "I'm so sorry."


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[WrittenHollowness]

"There you go...being condescending again. I CAN'T LEAVE YOU. There, happy?" Davin asked, shocked that he got the inclination without him saying it. "I couldn't leave if I tried. Granted, I'm not touching you....for a long time. But, I can't leave now." he said out loud, being choked up. He was hungry, felt like he was hit by a bus, and needed a cry. "We'll....get through it. But, you did wrong. I hope you accept that, and the limits of my forgiveness."

 

[ROUX]

Will grabbed fistfuls of Dav's shirt, pulling him close, and burying his face into the crook of the man's neck, beyond relief that Davin wasn't leaving him. He knew Dav didn't want to touch him, but at the moment he could care less, as he clung to the fabric of his love's shirt. That was too close. Much too close to the end, and Will hung on, crying into Davin's shoulder as he realized just how much he depended on the man, in mind, body, and heart.


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[WrittenHollowness]

Davin let Will hold on to him. It was a bittersweet moment, with Davin not knowing where to go from there. Surely, this was the right way to go with this? He had no idea, so he pulled away, took Willia's hand, and pulled him into the resturant. They approached and Davin mouthed to Ben, telling him to move.

 

[ROUX]

Will went to his seat, feigning a pleasant expression as Davin sat down next to him. He looked up, only to see Camille waving a caramel frappe in his face. He took it, thankfully.


"Thanks, how did you-"


"Oh be quiet and drink, Will, we all know how you act when you don't have your coffee," she chided, looking at him pointedly, and the corner of Will's mouth twitched in the beginnings of a genuine smile.


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[WrittenHollowness]

Davin took aa sip of his alcoholic beverage. It wasn't anything as good as his own, but that was personal opinion. Dav looked around the table and sighed. "I apologize for my broodiness." he said in a defeated tone.

 

[ROUX]

Ben shrugged, and Cami shook her head. "It's fine darling, I'm just glad we can enjoy the food now," she said, scanning the menu.


"So what do you do, Dav, besides being a nearly certified Chef?" Ben asked, swirling his drink around in his glass.


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[WrittenHollowness]

"I used to distribute and manufacture heavy drugs." Davin quipped, tired of this guy's snarkiness. He downed the rest of his drink, looking to the menu for some sort of comfort food.


There were only dishes that were probably child sized portions. "Excuse me, can ypur chef prepare the most decicious set of nachos this side of the US?" he asked a nearby waiter, slipping a few hundereds in his pocket

 

[ROUX]

Ben choked on his wine, spluttering at Davjn's reply. "You're - a drug dealer?!" He said, utterly surprised. Camille too looked a little taken aback, and Will looked between the two of them. "He said USED TO," he snapped, automatically defending his boyfriend.


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[WrittenHollowness]

"You...Ben is it? Shut the fuck up." Davin said, fed up with the erratc outbursts and all out obnoxiousness. "I am a former dealer. Will knows this. He is also the reason I stoped making and doing said substances. He is my rock....and rocks last longer than roses." he added, crossing his arms.

 

[ROUX]

"Oh, shove it up your- OW!"


Camille cleared her throat, kicking Ben under the table before he could say anything else to aggravate the couple. She turned to Will, poking his cheek from across the table. "Hey, have you been watching the World Cup this year?" She asked him, successfully diverting his attention. "A bit," he responded thoughtfully, going over the stats in his head. "Watched the Ghana game last Friday."


Ben rapped his knuckles in the edge of the table leaning back in his chair. "Thank God we won - never woulda been able to show our faces if we'd gotten knocked out a third time..." He mused triumphantly, addressing team USA.


Will nodded, agreeing. "Clint Dempsey huh? That guy's got talent."


Camille looked at Davin, grinning at him before pointing to the two soccer fanatics and rolling her eyes. "No idea what they're talking about, really," she whispered to him.

 

[WrittenHollowness]

"Just don't bring up Game of Thrones." Davin whispered back, as quietly as he could. His plate of nachos had appeared and he was starving. As the bpys talked their games, he dug in. Pushing the plate betwee he and Cami, he offered her food with only a smile. He knew she'd get the idea.