"I think we should leave. It's only a matter of time 'til someone gets seriously hurt." Zed glanced over at Phil, who was shaking his head at Tania. That didn't look good.
"What are they doing?"
"We're going," Zed answered the voice in his head... ear. "You only exist if there's someone to haunt."
Alex glanced behind him and took a step away.
"You're not leaving. Not again, not now that I have you back. We will be together forever, like you always said."
"You can't stop me."
"Zed," Alex warned. "Maybe you shouldn't--"
"I can. I can stop you and stop them from leaving."
"No."
Kitty was past hysterical by now, crying into Travis' shirt while Travis tried in vain to calm her. Mel was pacing and muttering. Rhys was talking quietly with Tania and Phil, while Becca wrapped Phil's ankle. It looked as though Phil'd be staying. Jon and Blake were talking quietly, casting mutinous glances across the lawn and at the cars.
"No," Zed said again, more reasonably. "Let them have a car and I'll stay; let them go."
"You have no choice, you're staying with me. But he can go. I don't like him." Opal pointed to Alex. "And they can go." She waved her hand dismissively at the rest of the group.
"I'm staying."
Opal looked confused, but didn't bother to question either of them further.
"You should go. She doesn't like you."
"Yeah." Alex gave a grim laugh. "And she likes you a bit too much. I don't know what was happening before, but it's over. I love you, and I'm not leaving you."
Zed slipped his hand into Alex's. "Love you, too." But there was still a little grain of doubt that, if Zed thought about it too much, could fester and make a big deal of their argument. Why was Alex so quick to accuse, so quick to assume Zed was cheating... wanted to cheat? He hadn't given Alex any reason to doubt his fidelity, not in the six months they'd been together. He was perfectly happy to stick with Alex forever. Six months with one man was a long time for Zed. He smiled and squeezed Alex's fingers, the most content and safe he'd ever been.
"Are you guys coming, or what?" Blake shouted. "We're just getting some stuff to take with us and then we'll be off, before it gets too much darker and the drunk drivers get out there."
"They can take a car, but you mustn't try to leave." Opal said. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you force me too."
"Okay. I don't want you to hurt me either." That sounded pretty final to Zed. Well, surely he could spend one night -- and he wouldn't be alone -- with ghostly danger. What could happen in one night? He'd reached that sort of truce with himself wherein he wasn't as scared, but nor was he complacent. He'd sort of accepted Opal; she was just there and there wasn't anything he could do about it.
"No, Zed, you can't." Mel returned from her tent to hear Zed. "It's not safe."
"You're leaving me," Phil commented, ruefully.
"Only because you can't walk. Not 'cause we want to. I don't think anyone should stay."
"Relax," Zed said. "She said you can take a car if I stay. You can get Phil to hospital at least. Be somewhere safe."
"But--"
"I'll be staying with him," Alex spoke up, as if that would settle any arguments anyone else might have.
Jon came back into hearing range. "So we leave the two of you here. Do I need to remind you that she doesn't like Alex. What if--?"
"She won't hurt Alex."
"Look, we'll look after each other, okay?" Alex stated. "We're big boys now. Come back tomorrow if you like; things are always worse at night."
Jon nodded. "We will. Might try to find out what we can do, too." He grinned. "An exorcism?"
"Are they real?" Zed asked.
Jon shrugged. "A few days ago, I'd have been asking that about ghosts."
***
The fire was lit -- not as huge a roaring inferno as Zed had envisioned or would have liked, but you took what you could get. Zed had spread as many blankets on the hard ground as he could find. There was no way he was trapping himself in a tent with the possibility that Opal might decide to share it with him. Not that running anywhere was much of an option, either. Fuck, when had this enjoyable holiday party become so difficult?
Alex had raided the kitchen for as much food and drink as he could, which was way more than they would need. But Zed knew that Alex liked ensuring he wasn't going to starve if things became tough.
There had been no sign of Opal for a few hours now. If that was because she thought she had all the time in the world now the others had gone was anyone's guess.
"So," Alex said, pulling Zed close and laying back on the soft blankets. "Why you?"
"I'm lucky that way." Zed rested his head on Alex's shoulder. "Didn't we always say that if aliens decided to visit, they'd pick me?"
Alex laughed, and Zed knew he was remembering their Star Trek fantasies as well. Zed had always had a bit of a thing for Spock -- said it was his stern demeanor.
They lay in silence. The stars were so bright in such a dark sky, and there were so many more of them away from the city lights. Showers of rainbow colors erupted occasionally, bathing the area in blue, purple, red. A half moon glowed -- still low on the horizon -- not at all bothered by the showiness of the fireworks.
"Were you really that pissed at me this morning?" Zed asked. He'd tried to phrase it as a casual question, almost scared of the answer.
"No," Alex replied, sounding puzzled. "I knew I was overreacting. I... it wasn't me. But there was nothing I could do."
"You knew just what to say to hurt me."
"Yes, but I couldn't stop it. A voice in the back of my head kept telling me what to say and how to react -- I couldn't stop it. I couldn't resist."
"You think Opal could mess with your head?"
"That's an explanation, I guess. Makes about as much sense as anything else."
"Do you really still think those things?" Zed asked, seconds before he wished he hadn't. Did he really want to know?
"Zed." Alex rolled on his side and looked into Zed's eyes. "I've known you since you were two. You're different with me; it's not like with your other boy toys. I may have a fleeting moment of doubt." Alex grinned. "I'm only human. But I trust you."
And now came the moment when Zed confessed to lusting after Travis for about twenty minutes. Except... did Alex really need to know about that? Zed nodded, instead. He hadn't strayed -- hadn't even felt like straying -- since he and Alex had got together. He'd never make a move on Travis; Travis'd thump him. As much as they were friends, Travis wasn't even bi-curious -- never asking questions, just accepting that he and Alex were gay, and treating them the same as he treated everyone else.
"You can, I promise." Zed dropped an arm around Alex and kissed him, pushing his knee between Alex's thighs. "We can fuck out here tonight. No one likely to disturb us."
Alex laughed. "No one except the angry ghost that has her eye on you and hates me."
"Wonder if she even knows men can love other men." Zed gave a quick laugh. "We must be confusing the hell outta her."
"I think she'd know about gays. She'd just believe what society told her about the deviation."
"That's the best bit." Zed rolled Alex onto his back and straddled him, holding his hands above his head while rubbing up against him.
"Stop it." Alex wriggled out from under Zed. "Now is not the time. Once we are ghost-free then sure, we can fuck like bunnies."
"So, priority is to get rid of ghost," Zed said thoughtfully. "So I can have sex. How are you with exorcisms?"
Alex laughed. "I skipped those courses at college. We'll think of something. She can't keep us here forever."
"She wants to. Well, me anyway."
"That's hardly practical. She has to know that won't work. It goes against every... Logic..." Alex sounded frustrated, like there was so much he wanted to say, but didn't know where to begin. "She is insane."
"She's a ghost, love. I don't think the words 'logical' and 'practical' apply."
"We'll think of something." Alex's voice dropped to a whisper. "She can't have you; you're mine."
"Always have been." Zed grinned. Yeah, they could say that, but if push came to shove, Opal could toss Alex around like a rag-doll, and there really wouldn't be much Zed could do about it. "If we're not gonna fuck, give me a beer."
Alex reached into the mini cooler and grabbed a beer. "I am sorry about what happened." He handed over the cold bottle. "I would never hurt you like that. As if you'd cheat on me with Rhys -- while I was a foot away."
Zed sat up and took the beer. "As if I'd cheat on you at all. I know you've seen me do all sorts of things to guys, but you have to trust me on that one."
"I do trust you." Alex grabbed a beer and twisted off the cap. "After what happened at Christmas, I know you wouldn't. You have no idea how much it hurt me to hear myself saying the things I said... hurting you and not being able to fix it."
"But you didn't... you stopped and helped me. Maybe that's what made her so annoyed. You broke her hold on you."
"Maybe." Alex shrugged. "Who's to say what the ghost psyche is like? Fuck, who knows what they're capable of?"
"Not me." Zed ran a hand through his hair. "I just wanna go home, Alex. I'm fucking scared." He heard the wobble in his voice and took a deep breath. It was nothing, and he was not going to cry. He was tired, and the events of the day were catching up with him. So why was his chin quivering and tears welling in his eyes? "Why did you bring me here?" Fuck, he felt like he had when he was seven and had fallen off the trampoline and Alex's mom had hugged him and told him it was okay to cry and told Alex off for laughing at him and then taken them both inside for ice cream.
"I'm sorry." Alex moved closer, wrapping his arm around Zed's waist. "If I had known all this shit would happen... Don't worry, tomorrow we'll find a way home."
"You think the others'll come back?" Zed sniffed.
"Would you?"
"Hypothetically or honestly? Selfish me or moralistic me?"
Alex laughed. "You'd run for the hills and only come back if I made you."
"Why'd you ask, then?"
Still laughing to himself, Alex answered, "Dunno. And, just for the record, you may run in this situation, but there are many others where you'd come back and stick with your friends."
"Let's hope one of them comes back with a ghost hunter then."
"I wouldn't hold your breath." Alex took a long pull of his beer. "I think someone would have mentioned knowing a ghost hunter."
"That's what I thought you'd say."
"Phil and Tania will be back. No way would Tania abandon this farm -- she loves it too much."
"Let's hope they've Googled 'how to get rid of ghosties', then. I can't see even Tania and her love of this place wanting to be here with both me and Opal stuck here."
"I think you underestimate Tania -- and our friends." Alex finished off his beer and stretched out on the ground. "But if you want we can make a break for it. She hasn't been around has she? She might not notice you missing."
"She might not notice me missing?" Zed wondered where Alex had been for the last day. "I think she might; everything she's done has somehow revolved around me. And I'm not sure ghosts aren't around just because they're not in your face. I get the feeling that she's hovering."
"She probably is, waiting to ensnare you with her womanly charms." Alex yawned.
"Yeah, like that'll work. If Becca couldn't do it, I don't know who could." Zed finished his beer and leaned over Alex to get another. Drinking seemed to be the thing to do.
"Don't think the ghost will give up as easily as Becca did."
"I'll have you know that Bec was devastated when I told her. She only gave up because she realized it was a hopeless task to save me from 'The Gay'. You were just a shoulder to cry on. She's a brave, brave girl." Zed finished his speech dramatically and wiped an imaginary tear. He gave a heartfelt sniff, a pretend sob catching on the words. "Such a little trooper. I broke her heart."
Alex snorted. "Yeah, I was just her rebound guy."
"Sorry, Alex. It's a painful reminder, but girls just don't find you attractive. So lucky you have me." Zed drank half his beer and smiled down at his boyfriend. Zed was the lucky one, and he knew it.
"I'm damn lucky you find me attractive."
"I'm saving you from growing old alone."
"Yes, you're sacrificing yourself to save me from a terrible fate."
"The things I do." Zed looked around. Where was Opal? Maybe her plans weren't as clear cut as she'd have Zed believe. What if she was bluffing and he and Alex could leave? It'd be stupid to not at least try. "C'mon, let's try the leaving thing." He stood quickly and closed his eyes as the world righted on its axis. Two beers? Who'd have thought?
"Sure, let's make a break for it," Alex mumbled. "See if we can out-run the ghostie."
"Out-running isn't the problem, loverboy, it's out-witting." Zed leaned over and pulled Alex into a sitting position. "Stand up sleepy-head. I can't carry you."