Tempted by the fruit of another
Tempted but the truth is discovered
What's been going on
Now that you have gone
Ain't no other
Tempted by the fruit of another
Tempted but the truth is discovered
~Squeeze, "Tempted"

---

So pathetic. That's what this is.

Sick sick sick. Fucking sick.

A married man with three young children, having an affair.

With another man.

That other man being his own brother.

Pavel stares into my eyes, worry flashing on his face. "Val, you okay?" he asks, softly.

I shake my head and turn my back on him. "I'm not...okay, Pavs."

"What's wrong?" He leans up in bed, touching my bare back.

I inch away from him. "This is wrong, you know. We're going to go to hell."

"As long as we go together, I'm happy," he says, teasingly.

I don't understand why he doesn't take this more seriously. "Will you just stop joking around?" I snap at him, glaring harshly. Pavel's large blue eyes blink, innocently, and I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Stop looking at me. Look at the wall or something."

"Why're you being mean, Val?" He crawls onto his knees behind me and rests his chin on my shoulder. I hate when he does that, it weakens me.

"I'm not being mean, okay? Just...get off of me." I push him away from me and get out of bed, grabbing for my boxers.

Pavel folds his arms across his chest, giving me the familiar Pavel Pout, jutting out his bottom lip. "Come on, Valeri..."

I pull on my boxers. "I should really talk to Keenan about changing roomies. I don't like how they always put us together."

"Come on, Val, you know you like it," he says.

I step into my jeans and button them around my waist, going on as if he hasn't spoken. "I'm going to see if I can't room with Viktor. I can't be around you anymore."

"Why? I thought you LIKED being around me," he states, challenging me with his hard blue eyes.

"I don't. It makes me feel sick inside, Pavel." I pull on the rest of my clothing and slip my wedding band onto my ring finger, kissing it, replacing Pavel's body in my mind with Candy's.

"Then why do you come to me?" he asks, defiantly, sitting up in bed.

I gaze at him, balefully. "Because you're around?"

"You know that's not true, you know what we do together excites you." He smiles at me, twisting his soft lips into an ugly smirk. "You like what we do to one another. You like the way I touch you, and the way I make you feel inside."

"Shut up," I snap at him, angrily. "Will you just shut up and get dressed?! We've got practice..." I grab my jacket and turn my back on him, knowing he's telling the truth.

Fics | Part 2