STICKS, MAYBE STONES TOO

Giving In

George had noticed that Brandon had been in better mood lately, he was watching tv on the lounge with a smile on his face. Brandon was watching it daily, like he was waiting for something to happen. George had found it cute always sitting beside him acting busy but all his attention was on Brandon, observing him, drinking him in. He had felt lighter after getting rid of Jonathan and Brandon had been a lot better since then. George had been assured by Brandon's change that Jonathan was the cause of his trauma.

On that day after coming home from the Ritz Carlton George had told Brandon what he did, part of him feared that Brandon would get mad at him but that was not case. Brandon had not been angry in fact he had not reacted much, he only mumbled something about Jonathan getting what he had deserved. Truth be told Brandon had not felt anything for Jonathan's situation he was not the real Brandon anyways but he felt touched that George had taken revenge for him.

The gratitude had soon turned into guilt, he did not deserve any of this. Brandon was dead and here was enjoying thing that did not belong to him. He did not want things to be like this either but he had no choice so he decided to go with the flow. Maybe someday he would tell George the truth.

"Morrison Holdings CEO was today heckled by citizens on his was to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, the man thirty five has been on the trending topics following murder allegation...." the news anchor droned on. George turned just in time to see the evil smirk on Brandon's face, he had never seen him with that look. He felt his heart skip a beat at the site.

"Are interested in this case?" he asked curiously

"Mmmmh" Brandon hummed in reply. He was invested in the case, he was the master of this case, the one moving the chess pieces into place but George did not know that.

"Do you think he did it? Elvis?" George went on, he had gotten a topic to discuss with Brandon. Their conversations had always been so awkward. He was curious onto what Brandon was thinking.

"Yes, I think he did it," Brandon picked his choice of words carefully, he could not give himself away. The game had just began.

George had not expected that answer as clearly indicated by the raised eyebrows, "why would you think that? The loved each other, Elvis proposed to him before died. The would be married now." he was skeptical. Why would Elvis kill the man he loved? Back then he had looked up to the couple. Tony James was on of the factor that drove into being a successful business man, paved the way for other gay men in business. He had been devastated when Tony had died, he had felt like he lost a brother and was one of the people that had supported Elvis during his grief.

"Not everything is as it seems" Brandon replied mysteriously, spooking George. He did not think Brandon knew anyone in the business world let alone Tony and Elvis. Then it hit him, the new watching had started when the case came  light. Brandon would stop everything he was doing just to follow this case. 

"Do you know Tony and Elvis?" George just could not stop himself from asking, curiosity surpassing rationality. He was very interested in what Brandon would say.

"You could say so," Brandon had shrugged in a non comital way while looking away. While Brandon was thinking he had thrown George off his tail the man instead was even more curious. He had an inkling that Brandon was hiding something from him, he had to know something. He could not help but wonder how Brandon knew those two.

He would know if he had met them, after all he had done an extensive background check on his husband. Country T may not be big but Brandon did not socialize much. At one point he thought that he may have known them through Jonathan but had quickly banished the thought, Jonathan was not close to a lot of business men they hated his guts.

Head tilted he studying Brandon like he was trying to read his mind, he enjoyed watching The Listener maybe if tried hard enough he could be like Toby and hear his thoughts such a great gift. What could Brandon be hiding? So he decided to poke some more.

"Say, you do know them. Why would Elvis do it?" he was trying to find out where Brandon's thoughts were at.

"For money, money can end nations." Brandon answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "My dad sold me for just a little bit of money, how hard is it then to kill someone for a successful business empire?" The thought may seem a little far fetched but it made sense when you actual thought about it, human beings were naturally selfish creatures.

Brandon got of the couch mumbling something that George did not catch but  he had refused to repeat what he had said.

"Bee, find out what the semester schedule is and email it to me. You can use the laptop in the study." Brandon had almost jumped when he heard that, he had spent a lot of time racking his brain for strategies that he did not need in the end. He had mumbled his thanks before walking away.

George in fact had not want to let Brandon go back to school but had realized how bored he was staying home alone. It was not safe to keep home like a pet, today after having that conversation he noticed how complex his husbands thoughts were he made up his mind. 

The George's mind started wondering on how different his husband was, the man he had met before their engagement ceremony was a quiet introvert, he could not hold a conversation, could not voice his own thoughts, always hid in a corner but the Brandon today was assertive, confident he was not scared on voicing his thoughts. 

That tiny feeling George had been suppressing came back. It felt like he was married to a different man.