Ghosts of The Heart -- Ch. 8 is up.

Deacon moaned softly and buried his face deeper into the pillow, and beside him Lex giggled quietly. “Do it again, Astor.” He said to his twin. “He makes the funniest noises.”

“Fuck you, Lex.” Deacon mumbled. “Your sister can do the most.... ohhh…” he trailed off as Astor dug her fingers into the skin of his shoulders and worked in tiny circles. Both the twins laughed this time, and Deacon felt Lex shift to lay beside him. “So you guys are coming tonight?” he asked.

Lex nodded, reaching over to run his fingers along the side of Deacon’s neck. “Yep. But we’re going to the show, you’re going to the movies. We can walk over there though, and hang out before the show. Apparently there’s a lobby that’s more like a huge coffee shop.”

Astor wiggled a little to make herself more comfortable. “Your ass is really bony.” She complained to Deacon. “It hurts to sit on.”

Deacon ignored her comment and turned his head so he could look at Lex. “I heard they serve alcohol, too, and they have some contract with a company so that their concession stand sells really old candy, like razzles and sky bars and zagnuts.” Lex laughed at this, grinning.

“Man, razzles are nasty.”

“I like them.” Astor said, finding a knot in one of Deacon’s shoulders. She worked at it, and he moaned again, making both the twins laugh.

“I’ve never eaten them.” Deacon said, and both the twins stopped, glaring at him like he’d said he’d killed a kitten. “What? My parents were overprotective. I never ate candy as a kid.”

“Man, no wonder you’re all fucked up.” Lex poked him, and Deacon poked him back. “I’ll buy you a box tonight, and then you’ll see they’re nasty, but at least you’ll have tried them.”

Deacon closed his eyes, and Astor laid down on top of him, resting her forehead against the back of his neck. “Have you figured out what you’re going to do about the Archers?” she asked him softly, and Lex rolled over onto his side to face Deacon.

Deacon sighed and put an arm around Lex’s waist, so that the three of them were all huddled together. “No.” she said quietly. “Johnny wants me to break up with Jess.”

“Of course he does.” Astor said softly. “He loves you.”

Lex scowled. “That kid’s a freak.” Astor shot him a glare, and he shrugged. “What? He is. Who gets off on their sister’s sloppy seconds?”

Deacon pinched his hip. “Don’t call me that.”

“You don’t even like Jess.” Astor pointed out. “You two fight constantly, you say the sex is boring-“

“It is boring, compared to Johnny.” Deacon muttered.

“I know you don’t feel guilty about any of this, and I’m not saying you should.” Astor and Lex had literally no morals in the slightest. Deacon did feel a twinge of guilt for sleeping with both siblings, but it was only because he knew that when they both did find out, there would be consequences. If he figured he could just get away from them both before the shit hit the fan, he wouldn’t care. He supposed he had very little morals either. Astor was talking, again, so he paid attention. “I’m just saying that when the shit hits the fan, you’re going to have to make a decision.”

“Let’s all move to Columbia and stalk that guy who looks like you.” Lex suggested. Deacon opened his eyes to look at him. “What? I can’t sleep with you. I might as well try to nail someone who looks like you.”

Astor laughed. “I’m voting for this idea.” She said, and placed a wet, open mouthed kiss on the back of Deacon’s neck.

“You two are such whores.” Deacon said, and rolled over onto his back. Astor sat up, straddling his hips, and Lex scooted closer, putting his arm around Deacon’s chest. “We talked about this.”

“I know.” Astor said. “No sex between any of us.”

“Unless you two want to have an incestuous moment.” Deacon said, and the twins laughed. “In which case I get to watch.”

“If we ever get that drunk, we’ll call you before the pants come off.” Lex assured him.

“If you were attractive, I wouldn’t have to be drunk.” Astor told her brother. “But you look like a moose.”

“You look like a chipmunk.” Lex told her, and Astor dove off of Deacon to wrestle her brother off the bed. They hit the floor with a heavy thud, and both of them started yelling and swearing, trying to overcome the other. Deacon rolled onto his side, propping his head up on one hand, and watched the two, a smile on his face.

He was glad he had the twins. Despite their lack of morality and complete disregard for anything remotely resembling consciences, they were loyal friends. From time to time, one of them would make a blatant move on him, and he would gently push them away. It happened more frequently than he would’ve liked. Although they were attractive, a strange sort of way, he couldn’t imagine actually sleeping with either one of them. Still, he had touched both of them in intimate ways, a kiss here, and a caress there, more because they were so close rather than any real attraction he felt for them. He couldn’t say why, he just knew that sex with either of them would probably be painful, awkward, and unsatisfying.

Deacon checked his watch; it was six already. “I’d better go get dressed.” He told them, and they stopped fighting to look at him. “Opening’s at seven.”

“The shoe doesn’t start till nine, though so we weren’t going to go right away.” Lex told him, and then howled in pain when Astor placed her knee on the big muscle in his thigh and pushed her weight down.

Deacon rolled his eyes and got off of Astor’s bed. “I’ll see you later then. I want to get there when the doors open.” They chimed their goodbyes and resumed the fight. Deacon went to his own room.

He took a quick shower, more to rid himself of Astor’s perfume than a need to clean himself; this was his second shower of the day. Then he dressed, a pair of black jeans, his red Dresden Dolls clock tee shirt, and his black engineer boots. He tried to make his unruly hair do something that looked like it was intentional, but his hair refused to do anything but stick up in spikes and loops. He glared at his hair in the mirror, wondering if he had time to just shave it all off. Deciding he’d regret doing so later, he put his watch back on, found his favorite necklace (a voodoo fertility charm Lex had brought back from New Orleans last summer) and put his white plastic belt on. This had been a gift from Astor, some inside joke from junior high he didn’t even remember anymore. He thought it was aptly fitting for the night; that line from one of the songs from Rocky Horror mentioned it. He wondered if anyone else would get the reference.

As he was riding the elevator down the first floor, he thought about Lucas. He knew Lucas wanted to be left alone, but something about that bothered Deacon a lot. The man was so lonely it was like he was swimming in it, and he wanted that? Deacon didn’t think so. He smirked to himself. Even if Lucas couldn’t help him find out anything about the man he thought might be his father, he was going to get close to him anyway. Lucas was interesting, and more than that, Lucas was a challenge. He liked challenges.

As he pushed his way through the glass doors out onto the street, he saw Johnny standing by the row of motorcycles. He grinned and walked over, allowing Johnny to plant a kiss on him and wrap an arm around his waist.

”You smell like Astor.” Johnny commented, his nose wrinkling.

“I thought the shower would get rid of that.” Deacon shrugged and they crossed the street just as the double glass doors swung open.

“You look nice.” Johnny said, eyeing him as Deacon passed the doorman his money and received his token. He looked at it carefully; it was metal, an burnished bronze in color. On one side was the theater logo, on the other an imprint of a projector. Johnny got one too, but he saw that some other people had one with the projector replaced by the comedy tragedy masks.

“Let’s get some coffee.” Deacon suggested, pulling Johnny by the hand towards the café area. “The movies don’t start until nine.”

“Why are we here early then?” Johnny asked him, but Deacon ignored the question. The café area was blocked off from the rest of the huge lobby area by black lacquered screens. They were very plain. Behind them, though, the café was beautiful. Everything was done in teal, espresso brown, and cream. There were couches and café tables, and the counter was L-shaped near the back. Three workers stood behind it, all in black tee shirts with the theater’s logo printed on the breast. Deacon steered Johnny towards the cutest of them, a taller, spiky haired boy with a hoop through his bottom lip.

They ordered their coffee, both of them flirting with the worker until his ears were bright pink, and then found a table near the far back. Johnny was grinning, and Deacon had to admit this was already more fun than he’d had in a long time. He looked around, seeing that there were a lot of people who had shown up early. A woman caught his eye. She was standing by the entrance to the café, in a pair of blue jeans and a theater shirt, a clipboard in her hand. Her hay colored hair was pulled up into a painfully tight ponytail. She looked familiar.

When Lucas walked over out of nowhere and leaned down to speak to her, Deacon realized that she was the girl in the photograph. He got off the stool he’d been sitting on. “I’ll be right back.” He told Johnny, and darted over to them before Johnny could protest.

“Lucas?” Deacon said curiously, as though he hadn’t expected to him the man hear, despite the fact that it was his theater. Lucas stiffened and turned to look at him, his eyes wide. Deacon beamed up at him and slipped his arm through Lucas’s. “Hi. I’m glad I ran into you again.”

The woman shot Lucas a murderous, ‘what-the-hell-is-he-talking-about’ look, but stuck her hand out to Deacon anyway. “Hi, I’m Anna Marsh.” She greeted, forcing a smile.

Deacon shook her hand. “Deacon Carter. Nice to meet you.” He laughed. “Fifteen years has treated you well, Anna, you’re just as pretty as your picture.”

He felt Lucas’s hand close around his free forearm, the fingers biting in a little too hard. “Can I talk to you in private, Deacon?” he asked quietly, and propelled him away before Deacon could reply. He dragged him to an alcove that hid a backstage door. Deacon filed its location away for later reference. He only had a moment though, because Lucas threw the door open and pushed him inside.

“Are you insane?” Lucas hissed, kicking the door behind him. “I didn’t tell Anna, I met you, and now she’ll think-“

“Hiding me, are you?” Deacon asked, grinning. He looked around and took a step towards Lucas. “Cozy.”

Lucas took a step away, his back hitting the door. “Deacon, you can’t just waltz up and introduce yourself to Anna. She’s-“

“I don’t know her. What should I care?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Then you should’ve specified at the diner.”

Lucas tugged at his ponytail absently. “You said you wouldn’t bother me.”

“I wasn’t bothering you. I was bothering her.” Deacon pointed out. “You seem to be going through an awful lot of trouble to keep me away from her. Why?”

Lucas sighed. “Listen, I didn’t tell her about our conversation. Now she’s going to think I approached you because you look like David, and her fucked up little mind is going to make connections that aren’t there.”

For a moment Deacon was confused. Then the look on Lucas’s face made him realize the implications of his words, and he burst out laughing. “You mean that Anna’s going to think we’re sleeping together just because I look like your ex?”

“That’s exactly what she’s going to think.” Lucas said miserably. “All because I didn’t tell her about the diner thing.” He hit himself in the forehead with the palm of his hand. “Goddamnit.”

Deacon smirked. “You’re doing a great job of not giving her more fuel. Dragging me into a secluded, darkened hallway like we have some important private business together.” He shook his head. “You know what my theory on rumors is?”

Lucas glared at him. “I don’t think I want to.”

Deacon ignored this. Instead, he stepped closer again, and very deliberately rested his hand on Lucas’s stomach, his fingers splayed. “If someone starts a rumor, make it a true story.”

Lucas fumbled around behind him for a second, and then the door opened and he tumbled out into the lobby. Deacon caught the terrorized, painful look on his face a moment before he disappeared from his line of sight. Deacon sighed and went back to the café.

Lucas really was very testy. Deacon didn’t know why he’d pushed his buttons like that, why he’d come on to the long haired man. It had been fun, sure, but he’d seen the outcome of it before he’d even moved. He was positive that Lucas would avoid him like the plague after that little stunt, but this didn’t bother Deacon. He didn’t give up that easily.

He sat back down with Johnny, who had been joined by none other than Jess. Neither of them looked happy, and Deacon was instantly enraged at her.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he snapped at her.

Her face lit up, ignoring his words. “Deacon, sweetie!” she chimed, and Johnny winced beside her. “I came to see the show with you. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“No.” Deacon and Johnny said at the exact same time, and some of the happiness was slapped off her face. She tried to maintain her smile, though.

Deacon glared at her. “Jess, I told you, tonight I was spending with Johnny.”

“Yes, well, I thought it would be great if I came and was with you for this. We never really do the things you like, and I guess as a girlfriend I haven’t been too giving, so I thought-“

“You thought wrong.” Deacon interrupted, and her smile disappeared completely.

“It’s not fair.” She whined. “You spend more time with him than you do with me. I’m your girlfriend, Deacon. You’re supposed to be with me. You never do anything with me. It’s just not fair!”

Deacon felt something in him snap. A slow, cruel smile spread over his face, and he twined his fingers into the hair at the base of Johnny’s neck without looking at him. He felt Johnny push back against his fingers. Deacon kept his eyes on Jess, it was obvious that she hadn’t noticed the movement. “Jess, do you want to know why I spend more time with your little brother than I do with you?”

“Yes. I just don’t get it!” she looked miserable and confused, and something in Deacon liked that.

Deacon’s smile widened a bit more, and Johnny had the distinct thought that he looked a bit like a shark that way. “Jess.” Deacon said softly, and leaned forward, bracing himself on the table with his free hand. “I spend more time with Johnny because he’s a hell of a lot better in bed than you.”

Jess looked confused, then shocked. Deacon didn’t give her more time to change her expression before he hauled Johnny forward by the hair and crushed their mouths together. Johnny made a low, moaning sound, his lips parting for Deacon’s tongue. Deacon felt Johnny’s hands on his shoulders, digging into the skin there like claws. This was the first time they’d kissed anymore than a peck in public, and it was clear he was enjoying it.

When they finally broke apart, Jess was gone. Johnny was panting, his eyes glazed, and Deacon let him go with a small sigh.

“You know that won’t get rid of her.” Johnny mumbled, running a hand over his face. He looked dazed and happy. “She’ll show up at your place tomorrow, all smiles and sunshine, and laugh at our little prank.”

“Of course.” Deacon agreed, and picked up his coffee cup. “But it made her leave for now, so…”

Johnny smiled at him. “That was great.”

Deacon smiled back. “You’re welcome.”

From the entrance to the café’ Anna watched the little scene. The blond girl nearly knocked her over trying to get out of there, and Anna studied the boy who looked like David, her eyes narrowed.

If it was David’s son, it was obvious that his cruelty gene had been passed down.

She turned on her heel and stomped away to check on the actors backstage. She had one hell of a bone to pick with Lucas tonight, after closing.

“He’d better have an explanation.” She muttered to herself. She was so angry she completely missed the man watching her from near the front doors. He was tall and wide shouldered, good looking in a heavy, blunt sort of way, and wearing a charcoal suit. In one hand had held a bunch of chrysanthemums; he knew they were Anna’s favorite.
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Mini a/n, just a shout out to breath caught holding: it's funny you made that comment about the D/L hook up. I'm not sure if it will really happen, but I like the idea of the depraved little Deacon going after Lucas. So here was the beginning of that; I had the thought to get that going on my way home from work, and when I got in to check my email, I read your comment. Funny how that works...