Scars - A Sequel to Life Is Beautiful

Chapter Two

Jon took his time under the warm water after washing away all bodily fluids, from himself and the wall. He reflected on the sweetest of reunions and hummed happily to himself; genuinely happy for the first time in a long time. He flicked off the water, not knowing what the command was for the robotic thing; he made a mental note to ask for next time. He'd heard Richie come back upstairs a few minutes earlier, saying that he'd unpack Jon's bag for him.

Jon half expected to see his bag still zipped and dumped on the nearest chair and a naked Richie reclining on the bed waiting for him to emerge for round two of their reunion. Not bothering with modesty Jon wore only a towel around his neck, absently drying his hair, as he walked back to the bedroom.

Richie was on the bed as expected but he wasn't looking all soft and sexy, he was looking horrified and slightly ill. He had his laptop open, the light from the screen casting a blue tinge over his face.

"Hey. Baby, you okay?" Jon asked worriedly, as he moved closer to the side of the bed. "What are you looking at that's making you look like you're gonna puke?"

Richie slid his eyes up to Jon's and wordlessly turned the laptop to him. Jon looked down at the screen, his smile fading as he saw himself bound, gagged and blindfolded on the first night with Nikki. He felt his knees start to give way as Richie absently scrolled through photo after photo until he stopped at the set taken at the body modification parlour. His face in a pained grimace but the focus being on the knife slicing through his skin.

"Baby, let me explain. It was-" Jon started to say but was cut off when Richie yanked the towel from his shoulder and his fingers sunk viciously into his chest hair searching out the scar. Jon swallowed heavily, his eyes never leaving Richie's as his fingers brushed over the scar. Jon schooled himself to show no outward effect from Richie's touch, but he couldn't stop the slight hitch in his breathing or the telltale twitch in his cock as Richie traced over the mark Nikki had left.

"You can explain can you, Jon?" Richie's voice was low and frosty as he kept scrolling through to the last set, enlarging the final one of Jon and Nikki kissing to the full screen. "Is this why you were invited to his birthday? Are you going to be some kind of party favour to be shared around?"

"Fuck?! No!" Jon spat, stopping Richie's line of questioning in its track. He reached out and closed the screen and took the laptop from Richie, setting it aside.

"May I sit? We need to talk about this. I'm gonna tell you it all, no holds barred...then if you want me to go, I will." His heart was pounding against his chest wall at the thought that he could lose Richie again so soon after they'd found their way back to each other. "Please, baby?"

Richie nodded once and moved his legs to allow Jon to sit. Jon could see Richie's signs of distress as clearly as he felt his own. Eyes shiny with unshed tears and unable to hold Jon's gaze, breathing erratic and his pulse racing at the base of his neck.

Jon sat, cross-legged, in front of Richie and inhaled a deep breath before starting at the beginning. He kept trying to hold Richie's gaze but when the brunette kept sliding his away, he dropped his head and watched himself pick at his thumb. He took a deep breath and jumped in with both feet.

"Nikki and I- Nikki and I have a Dom/sub agreement. He is my Master and I am his pup. We've had this relationship since I came out here in '90. You remember when you wanted some time out and I wanted to apologise for all the fuck-ups in Moscow?" He glanced up to Richie to gauge his reaction. "He, ahh, he introduced me into that world back then."

"That's why you wanted me to do all that stuff when you got home," Richie said quietly, "How many more times, Jon?"

"That was the first and only time we saw each other. Until...until a couple of months ago." Jon nervously licked his lips, praying that Richie was going to understand all of his explanation. "When you left...when you left 5 years ago, I was broken. I'd lost my bandmate, my best friend and the love of my life in one fell swoop and with no explanation."