It's not true. It's not true. He's just...mad. About the past. This is different, you're different.

"I...I'm sorry, Hodek, I really am. But I know they'll want me back. They wouldn't just reject me like your brother did you. I'm sure he just didn't understand," I struggled to say, twiddling my thumbs. His expression shifted slowly from regret to pure hatred.

"You really think that?"

"I..."

"Listen to me for a second, buddy. I don't think it's your place to say that Liu 'didn't understand' anything. He knew perfectly well what he was doing, and what that meant for me. Tell me, how can you be so sure that your parents, siblings, whatever are gonna be so glad to have you again? Huh? Are they criminals, too? Have they been watching you for the past however many years?"

"They told me to come back to them!"

I shot my answer back, not even thinking about what I was saying. Before I could take it back and replace it with something more sensible, Hodek's mouth twisted into a chilling, almost monstrous smile.

"Oh, did they now?"

"L-let me try again. I meant that before we were...separated, they—"

"I don't think I've gotten through to you yet, Masquerade. Whoever 'they' are, they've given up on you. So I wouldn't bother trying."

"Are you afraid that I'm going to leave?"

The moment that thought slipped out, my hand flew to my belt in case something horrible happened. I've finally done it. I fucked up. I fucked up bad. He's going to kill me for this.

Jeff took one step closer.

"Care to repeat that for me?" He asked so quietly I could barely hear him. I figured, why stop now. This was as dead as I was going to get.

"You're scared that I'm going to leave you. You don't want to be alone again, but you think you will be anyways sooner or later. So you're trying to drive me away from you, so you won't have to deal with me choosing to go. I...um, sorry. No, I've said that too much. Just—"

I was cut off by him grabbing the collar of my shirt and pulling my face so close to his, I could see each vein of his bloodshot eyes. He didn't even look that angry anymore, but something was telling me this was the most dangerous state he'd been in since we met.

"You think apologizing, over and over again, is just going to...oh, my god. You really are as stupid as you look."

He held my right there for almost a minute more, but then the fire in his eyes faded. He shook his head, dropped me to the ground, and went to sit in a corner of the hall, with his hands tangled in his hair like he was about to rip it all out.

Through all that, while I could have been frightened for my life (which I still very much was), all I could think when I saw him curled up there was...

He's hurt.

Even though everything else in me was screaming to run as soon as possible, I stayed completely still. I was almost urged to follow him, sit with him in silence until he calmed down. But I just stayed there for a few minutes, unsure of exactly what to do next.

"You really like just looking at me, don't you."

He glared at me from several feet away like there was some sort of barrier between us. Like he wanted to kill me more than anything, but couldn't bring himself to.

"I'd like to think that I'm not about to die at your hands," I said, shakily standing up and walking towards him with my pliers in hand.

"Having you in my sight makes me just a little more sure of it."

He went still at that. Eventually, his expression grew more confused. "Why would I..." His eyes widened as he realized what had just happened. "...oh. Ugh. Why did I do that?! Stupid guy got into my mind again!" He held his head again, looking away from me in what I assumed was shame. I hesitantly sat down in front of him, folding one arm over my knees and placing my other hand on his.

So all that was because of the Grimville thing, too?

"Don't worry. I'm not going to leave you."

I thought about it for a short while, then gave in.

"You're my friend."

Jeff lifted his head and furrowed his eyebrows. He looked almost sad. "That's the stupidest thing that's ever come out of your mouth. But..."

He sat up and leaned in closer to me until we were about an inch apart. He was practically on top of me. I couldn't tell for the life of me what he was doing; I didn't know whether to be scared, or relaxed, or ready and set to use my weapon.

After nearly thirty seconds, he pressed his lips to mine.

I shifted backwards and clenched my hands, not knowing how to process this. Something about him had changed but I couldn't place what. He was kissing me.

He held my face with one hand, stroking my cheek with his thumb. It felt softer than I'd have thought; I almost kissed back, because it seemed so nice. But before I could do anything he pulled away, his expression stony and his eyes as narrow as they were allowed to be.

"How does it feel," he muttered.

That was straightforward. I couldn't lie. "Amazing."

His hand suddenly shifted to my neck, and he dug his nails into it. "Not that, you idiot. Guilt. How does it feel to actually think about your actions?" He released me, his eyes continuing to bore into mine.

I hesitated. "Oh. Well, I mean...it feels terrible. I usually try to ignore it, but I just can't. Sometimes, I wish...I wish I didn't have to feel anything." I paused. "Why?"

He scoffed and tugged on a lock of hair. "You really do, huh."

"I mean, kind of," I muttered. "You can just kill people. Take innocent lives. And you don't have to deal with anything after that. I do."

He hesitated, then shook his head. "I don't get you. I really don't. You're definitely not human anymore. But you're not even like me."

I opened my mouth to argue, but realized he was right. I wasn't like him. But I wasn't close to normal either. After a few moments, I asked him quietly.

"Why did you kiss me?"

"Because I'm a hopeless romantic trapped in a psychotic shell," he deadpanned, raising his eyebrows like he just told a joke. When I didn't respond, he sighed and grabbed my chin, yanking me forward. "Because you're funny, dumbass. You act like some...scared employee, and then you kill someone. You almost got me to kill you, just so you could call me out. You're weird. You're vulnerable. You're something else."

With every word he said, I felt a strange, uncomfortable heat start to flood my face. He was almost looming over me, like a predator.

Am I still his prey?

"So, you..." I gulped quietly, furrowing my eyebrows. "...you love me?"

His grin seemed to widen, and something sent a wave of shivers down my spine.

"No," he breathed, forcing my arms to the ground. "I own you. Starting now."