Hey guys, I'm  going to make this very quick. sorry for delays, had to edit the whole book which took me weeks longer than expected. Who knew i'd already written up to 130K words??? Crazy right? Well, it's been over a year of writing so I guess it makes sense. But it took A LOT of time to edit the story in it's entirity and write a suitable ending. Then I wanted to publish on a meaningful date so i picked 10-13-16 I'm not sure why but i thought it was quite poetic. So, the book has been published, but i won't tell you guys how to get it until tomorrow. But for now, here's the second to last chapter. TRY NOT TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK WHILST READING. KEKEKE

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August froze. His lips trembled and so did his hands. “ tape? W-What tape?” 
“Oh, come on, don’t play coy. It’s been a few hours, and I’m sure you must have seen the headlines by now. Everyone’s talking about it.”
“Aaand that’s all for this interview, thank you very much for your time but we’ve got other things scheduled for today, so why don’t we just wrap this whole thing up ASAP.” Korn said, standing between the interviewer and August. Literally. August wasn’t sure whether to be grateful or to kick him out of his face, so instead, he just sat there. Frozen.
Confused.
What should he say? What could he say? Ngern had made a tape… but of who? With who? When? Did he already know? Surely not. They’d spent the whole night together and he’d even seen him this mor—NO! No no no. It couldn’t be. August had sensed something was a little off, but there’s no way it could have been something like this. If Ngern knew he would have told him, right?
Right?!
“Who?!” The word escaped his lips before he had a chance to censor himself. But August didn’t regret it. He really did want to know. Who had it been in that video? Ngern had never officially declared himself taken since his earlier days, and though he’d heard some talk about him smooching some girl a few weeks back, right after his return from Ariara, he’d been on a “Ngern detox” phase and had dug a mental hole lava hole deep and bury it inside. Hell, if not for the news he was now receiving he’d probably have never thought about it again. 
But he was, now. 
His interest was officially piqued. 

*** 

Something didn’t feel right. It was over an hour now since he’d received the phone call from phone call from P’Kim, and she’d assured him he’d be there in a moments time. Well, that seemed to have been forever ago, and he was a few breaths away from losing his .
He’d seen the pictures. He’d seen the pictures. The headlines were plastered all over the web-o-sphere. Questions were being asked, the fans were going crazy. The nations good boy had gone rotten, and in the most embarrassing was possible.
 Knock! Knock!
Earn damn nearly jumped out of his skin. He half walked, half ran to the door and paused long enough to spy through the peep hole. Sighing in relief at Earn’s impatient scowling face on the other end of the door, he unlocked and turned the knob. 
Earn bowed his head as he pulled the door aside, creating a space big enough for Kim’s petite frame to squeeze through. And when she didn’t, he thought to look up with a questioning glance… then thought better of it. He couldn’t look at her. He just couldn’t.
But her firm fingers against his chin, pushing his head upwards, gave him little choice. He tried to resist, but weight of his head had fled to his heart, leaving it feather light. Their eyes met as a rogue tear ran down his face. 
No words were necessary as they stared into each other’s eyes. Earn’s, red from sobbing and Kim’s hollow and wrinkled around the edges. She’d clearly had a tough morning, and Earn knew it wasn’t about to get any easier on either of them. 
“I’ll find them, whomever they are, and when I do, I’ll make sure they pay. I promise you this, Earn.” Though her voice wavered, Earn knew she meant every word. All he could do was nod.
She stepped into the room and immediately commenced a walk-through, suspiciously eying all the electronics in the space. 
“Have you had any visits from the room service?”
“Yes. No. I mean, we called up some dinner, but when they arrived I asked them to leave the food at the door, I didn’t want anyone seeing both us here, alone.”
“Good, good. Smart thinking, kiddo.” Kim praised. “At least this room should be off the radar for now.”
“Kim, I still don’t fully understand what is going on. You said something about a camera… in my home.” Earn wasn’t sure if he really wanted to hear what Kim had to say, but he had no choice. If they had any hopes of fixing the situation, he had to be fully briefed on just what exactly was going on.
“I’d think you’d have looked it up by now, Earn.” Kim said, “There’s some idiot claiming to have a -tape of you and some girl—girls. I woke up this morning to a voicemail full of nosy reporters trying to get an exclusive on whether it was a valid claim or not.”
“Of course not. Kim, I’m not dumb enough to make a ing -tape with anybody, you know this.” Earn fumed.
“Yes, I do, but we both know that’s not how camera’s work. Technology has no loyalties to anyone. As long as that “record” button has been pressed, that’s exactly what it’d do.”
“You mean—someone did it without my consent?” Earn’s jaw clenched as he tried to hold himself up. 
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” Kim said, finally done with the walk-through. She made her way for the living room and collapsed onto the couch with a sigh of relief. “Which is why I’ll need a full list of everyone you’ve ever slept with, if you can remember their names, that is.”
    That made Earn lightheaded. How many one night stands had he had over the span of his career? How many girls had he taken out his ual frustration on? Earn could barely make out more than three names and he doubted it would be any of those, considering the only reason he could remember them was because they’d been co-stars on one project or another, and they, themselves, would suffer greatly under such a scandal as they too were celebrities. As he stood there, for the first time in his life, it weighed on Earn just how dangerous and stupid he’d been, hoping in and out of strangers’ homes; And how willfully nonchalant, thinking a piece of lubricated rubber was all the protection he needed from the big bad world. 
    “Earn, please tell me you have some names for me.” Kim said, noticing how fidgety Earn had suddenly become. “At least ten. Even only ten. Please.”
    “I—Uh…P’Kim…”
    “Oh God, this child’s gone and stuck his little wee-wee into every tramp and in Bangkok.” Kim chided, turning away from Earn as if she couldn’t bear to look at him directly. Earn felt his face get hot, and beads of sweat formed at the top of his lips and forehead. Having a mother-figure learn of one’s ual promiscuity was nerve-racking, even for a top talent, it seems.
    Kim patted the space next to her, non-verbally inviting Earn to sit next to her. Earn complied. 
    “Maybe I should have done this a lot earlier… but I just… I didn’t think we’ll find ourselves in a situation like this.” Kim said, wringing her hands together nervously. “Maybe it’s too late already, but… Oh well.” The longer she dragged on, the more nervous Earn felt. IT wasn’t like Kim to pick her words very carefully with him, so her sudden hesitation sent shockwaves of worry down his spine.
    “Listen, I know you’re still so young, and at this age, must seem like the most important thing… and your hormones are on a constant up and up… and…” Oh God, please tell me this is not what I think it is… “you probably want to stick yourself into every short skirt you see passing by…”
    It wasn’t possible, right? There’s no way Kim was trying to have “the talk” with him at that moment, with everything that was already going on. No way, and yet, there she was, wrung fingers and all. Nervous as hell like a mother about to do that exact same thing. Earn wasn’t sure whether to bust out laughing, or roll himself into a bowl and bounce away. He did the former. 
    It was one of those richly intense, guttural laughs. The kind that only came from a place of desperation of a much-needed refuge. Loud and aggressive. Throat-choking, gut-wrenching, rib cage rattling, all consuming. 
    Even with the half baffled, half irritated look Kim was shooting his way, Earn couldn’t stop himself. He needed it. He needed to laugh away his nerves before his whole body shut down from the pressure. Before his truth became too much to bear. 
    And as with most things inexplicable, Earn’s laughter became contagious, jumping from his being to the small woman seated next to him, making it so that they were both red eyed, teary-cheeked, cackling fools by the time the knock on the door happened. 
    They both quickly sobered up, and Kim placed her finger on her lip, signaling for Earn to be quiet. She quietly made her way to the door, and hunched-up on her tippy-toes to spy through the peep-hole. Clearly satisfied with whoever she saw on the other end, she opened the door wide enough to allow the visitor in.
    Visitors, more like it. Earn was surprised to see the small team that filtered through the open space, and gathered in the parlor of the hotel suite. Most of them he recognized as employees from Kim’s agency, but some of them he’d never seen before. Each of them had a smart phone, tablet, and black messenger bags smartly worn around their chests.
    “P’Kim, what’s going on?” Earn asked, slowly standing up.
    “Crisis management. I’m sure you recognize some of the faces here.” Earn nodded. “The office is being hounded by paparazzi and phone calls from the media houses as we speak. This is the best location for us to keep a low profile and concentrate and strategize on how we get a handle over this whole mess.” 
    All traces of a smile had dissipated from Kim’s face, as she slipped back into her most comfortable role. The boss. 
    “Do a proper sweep of the room for any bugs, I did a walk-through already, and it all seems to be clean, but for safety sake.” Kim said, addressing a particular young man. He nodded. “Everybody else, set up shop. With any luck this won’t be an all-nighter for any of us.”
    The gathered team of nine quickly dispersed in uniformed groups of threes, each forming a cluster on one corner of the room or the other. Earn noticed the young man Kim had addressed earlier was the first to settle, and with one swift swipe, ped his bag and pulled from it what looked like a radio. Thick and black, with a round nod and few buttons. He then proceeded to walking around the room just as Kim had done earlier, only, much slower, with his radio held in front of him. Earn watched in amazement as the rest of them set up their laptops and tablets, turning on their Bluetooth earpieces before wearing them. In that moment, Earn rationalized that if they’d ever been an appropriate team to manage any crisis, it was this small group Kim had put together. 
    “Okay, people, I need updates. What have you guys uncovered since we last spoke? Good news, people. Give me good news.” The room was dead silent. “Nothing? It’s been over two hours. The longer we let this sit the more suspicious it appears to everyone else out there. Make sure all our ears at every mag, paper, and blog are stapled to the ground, there is a pending offer, I can practically smell it, and when it is made, we need to be at the forefront…”
    “Kim!” One of the two women in the group called out. She sat by the window with her small group, looking perplexed at her cellphone. 
    “What is it, girl.” Kim asked, impatiently.
    “It’s the Deputy Chief.” The girl said, looking uncertain on what to do.
    “The chief?! Quick, answer. Put it on speaker.” Kim said, rushing towards the girl

"C-Chief, I thought we agreed not to call me that."

"Ah, Narawat. Good to hear from you after so long, sounding as young as ever."
"Oh, God, I see you still have that sly tongue of yours even after all this time."
"You of all should know better than anyone else that i don't say what I don't mean. But I'm sure you didn't ask your assistant to bombard my personal line all morning long fishing for compliments. I have a desk full of paperwork I have to get through, so, let's cut through the chase. If this is about that pirate boy of yours, then I'm sorry to say, I don't think I can get involved."
"You've heard..."
"Of course I've heard. Need I remind you I have two teenage girls?"
"Chief, hear me out..."
"Narawat, I'm sorry, I just can't involve myself in any kind of scandals right now. It's only a few months to re-elections, and the last thing I need is the media placing me side by side with some hormonal child. You should have trained your boy better."
"But, Chief..." Kim tried to say, before being cut off again.
"My department receives hundreds of cases a day, you know, some a lot worse than the leakage of some vulgar video. What would it look like for the Chief to isolate one case and make it more of a priority than the next? You of people know the first thing everybody will shout is favoritism. My whole establishment will be investigated by the media on these claims, and I just can't put my officers at such risk. You're great at your job, you helped put me in this chair with your press managements, and for that I'm eternally grateful and have absolute faith that you'll find another way around this. But as for me, my hands are tied on this one. You'll just have to file a complaint like everyone else, Narawat, I'm sorry to say."
Earn could tell Kim was at her breaking point. Not only did she hate being interrupted, but woe befall any one who stands in her way of getting her way. The tight fist resting on her waste and her lips smacking together were enough of an indication that croaking voice on the other end was about to get a serious tongue lashing. Earn squirmed in anticipation.
"Quite on the contrary, Chief. You seem to be under the assumption that my client is the only one with something to gain from this, and that couldn't be any further from the truth. Yes, I'm sure you get hundreds of cases like this a day, but how many of those cases trend on social media? How many of those cases are being followed by millions of people within and even beyond this nation? I am also aware that you're only a few months away a from re-election, which is why my advice for you, as the same media expert who helped put you in that sit, is that you grab this opportunity by the balls and run all the way to the ballot with it. When else are you going to get a chance like this to prove the competence and steadfastness of the police department under your control? If you handle this quickly and neatly, it is true that some people might view it as a act of favoritism, but most people will see it for exactly what it is. A government protecting a law abiding citizen within its confines. A citizen whose home has been invaded, whose privacy has been compromised. A citizen whose case is just one of millions, and who happens to have millions keeping an eagle eye on him. Millions who will be more than grateful to have a police department that they can trust to deal justice when necessary, and more than willing to march down come Election Day and place turn in their vote for the Chief Deputy of this great province who not only protected a national treasure by the name of Earn Anova, but made them all feel safely guarded at the same time. Surely, I don't have to remind you that when it comes down to the court of public opinion, It's not always about what is, but what it seems to be. And as an added bonus, you get to be the coolest dad on earth to you teenage girls. It worked for you amazingly the first time around, I made sure of that, now let me help make your second go a bit easier for old times sake. Have your people call mine me when your investigative unit has zoned in on the IP Address of the bastard who first released the information. I'd like to have a one-on-one with him, I want my face to be the only thing he remembers as he rots in jail."
With that, Kim did the only thing left to do after a proper read, she hung up the call.
Earn was happy to see he wasn't the only one whose face had damn near hit the floor.

August:

August was at his wits end. He'd never felt sweated so much in a fully ventilated car, and the temperature seemed to only be getting hotter.
He'd just spent the last few minutes reading up on everything that was going on, and now he practically had the chronological order of the unfolding of events memorized to a T. First, was the article published via TMD--Thailand's Media Delegation, the hottest, most trusted and visited celebrity gossip website in the nation--claiming that an individual had come forth with a tape starring Earn, at 01:13 AM. Seeing as it was a Friday night, and a festive period with the University Friendly match in occurrence, the young, hip, partying crowd were awake and alert. Gossiping, and taking selfies as the sipped on one cheaply mixed concoction or the other. Hence why the article was trending less than forty minutes after its publication, with Earns fangirls and boys coming up with more than a few creative ways to attack the website with accusations of malicious intent against their angelic superstar.  
In an attempt to stabilize the situation and preserve their reputation as the most liable source of celebrity gossip, TMD had released still shots of the broad, well sculpted back of whom they claimed to be Earn, in a poorly lit room. August couldn't help but notice how considerably fewer the comments on the second post were. He knew he wasn't the only one wondering if it was in fact Earn's back in that picture.
Then came the icing on the cake, a third post, at a 06:16 AM, of a video over three hours long of the interior of Earn's apartment. Though the glare from the Windows made it hard to see clearly, August immediately recognized the living room furniture. TMD claimed their source had cameras planted all over Earn's house, which is how they'd captured his tape. And had it not been that August had personal insight on the situation, he would have had no reason to doubt the claims. But he did. He'd spent the past month in that apartment, and he knew it like the back of his hand. Which was why he could see so clearly, the inconsistency of the story that the general public couldn't. Firstly, the article said their source claimed he had cameras planted all over Earn's house, which was how they had obtained the video of Earn's tape. Which meant it had happened in his home, in his room. But that was the problem. That wasn't Earn's room. Yes, the picture was very dark, and the back that supposedly belonged to Earn covered most of the half the view, but from the other half August could see, that wasn't Earn's room. He'd slept on Earn's bed. He'd luxuriated on it. He'd healed on it. He'd cried, sulked, and read a horribly cheesy, horribly fan fiction on it. Yes, he knew that bed. He knew that room. That wasn't Earn's room. Maybe the back, yes, he couldn't deny that, but not the room. 
Then, why does it look so ing familiar? August simmered, but the buzzing in his head and the racing of his heart wouldn't let him rationalize an answer. He knew he knew that room.
But why couldn't he think of how? He was so close to making it out... So close...
Which brought him to his second reason of doubt, if the source was claiming he had videographic evidence of Earn and someone going at it, then he was clearly touting for offers. A tape like that could sell for millions, no doubt. Wouldn't it make more sense then to expose just how much more scandalous it was? August had read and reread those posts on TMD and in no way had any of them so much as hinted at Earn's partner being another man. 
A tape of a superstar could sell for tens of millions of bahts... A tape of a straight superstar with another man... It just didn't make sense that this 'source' wasn't using such a scandal to his benefit. Unless...
"Auggie!"
"Huh?" August turned, eyes wide, startled out of his trance.
"I said we're here." Korn said, looking at him, worried.
"H-Here?"
"Yes, rehearsal hall?"
"O-Oh. Right. Yeah, sorry." August said, opening the passenger door.
"Listen," Korn said, placing a firm hand on August's arm.
"I know it's been a rough morning with that whole interview thing, so I totally understand if you don't want  to rehearse today. We can just postpone it."
"No, don't be silly. Why would we postpone  rehearsals? Don't we have a taping for a variety show tonight?"
"About that, I've been thinking of cancelling that too."
"Why would you do that? Aren't you the one always telling us every show matters? That we have to promote more?
"Yes, but there's always an exception. Right now I can guarantee you all that everyone wants to talk about is Earn's supposed tape, and you too not only being old cast mates, but also being ripped by the same agency--they'll ask questions. I'm sure I don't have to remind you already of what happened earlier."
August leaned back in his seat and sighed. He was beyond exhausted. How had he gone from extreme happiness and satisfaction to complete chaos and confusion in only a matter of hours? 
Him? tape? His parents would a cow if it ever came out. And what about his career? He'd just gotten a second chance at making it work, how had he already managed to screw up so royally? 
But most of all, what would this mean for he and Earn?
"So? What do you think?" Korn asked. "I really don't see how bad one cancelled appearance could affect us at this point. I mean, you do have two hot tracks on the radio, you know."
"Are you sure they won't sue me or anything?"
"I doubt it. These shows always have backups in case of last minute cancellations. Besides. The episode doesn't air until Monday, so, they have more than enough time to fill up the space with another rising star."
"Ouch. Good to know I'm that easily replaceable." August tried to joke, but even the little chuckle that followed felt tight even to him.
"Yeah, sorry, bud. This is the entertainment industry. Nobody is irreplaceable."
"Come on, let's go tell the others about the change of plans." He said, motioning with his head.
They both climbed out of the car and walked to the building.
It only  took a few seconds until they were in the building, and looking around, August could see all his band mates had been gathered and waiting.
They all sat together on the stage, talking in hushed voices amongst themselves. It was only after Korn cleared his throat that they noticed them.
"P', you're here, what took you so long. Rehearsal were supposed to start like 30 minutes ago. You're never late." It was the youngest of the group. 
"Sorry guys, his interview ran a little longer than expected." Korn quickly interjected before August had a chance to reply. "But, I have good news for you guys."
That clearly got everyone's attention as they all sat up.
"I talked to Kim earlier, and she was so happy about how awesome you all did last night that she decided to give you guys the rest of the weekend off to relax and have fun."
The boys all erupted in cheers, everyone except Palm, that is. He didn't even seem to be listening to anything that was being said. His head was bowed and shoulders hunched. He seemed to be in as much of a pitiful state as August.
Oh, right! He knows about me and Earn. August reminded himself, taking warmth from the fact that Palm was so affected by the rumors that it'd put him in a foul mood too.
"So, without further ado, I release you guys into the world to go have fun, but not too much, we still have the music video shoot on Monday, so you better not show up on set looking half dead. Shoots are not like live shows, they take hours to film, and are ing expensive, so come prepared to rock out."
August was certain Korn's words had fallen on deaf ears as the whole time he'd been speaking the band members had been busy gathering their things from across the room, and as soon soon as he'd finished, they'd all but flown out of the hall, hollering and skipping in joy like they had been confined to the room for years.  Again, all except one.
"Palm, you good?" Korn asked, concerned.
"Y-yeah. I think... I need to talk to you." His words were in reply to Korn's question, but it was clear who he was addressing. His eyes left the floor for the first time since August and Korn had walked in, and they settled on August. "Gust, I need to talk to you--alone."
There was a finality in the way that he spoke that Korn didn't even bother interjecting himself. 
"I'll wait outside in the car." Korn said, patting August's shoulder. August's nod was his only reply.
The resonating heavy click of the door as Korn closed it behind him was the only sound in the room for over thirty seconds until August decided to take the initiative.
"So..." August started, walking towards the stage were Palm still sat, "I take it you've seen the reports."
He was in no mood for casual chit-chat, and figured he would just cut through the chase. His friendship with Palm had flourished more than ever before now that the were on equal footing as bandmates. Well, almost. Even though they were all employed to work under August, and he was clearly to main attraction, on an artistic platform, they were all on the same level. And now that money flow was great, August realized Palm had taken up some rather childish qualities. He laughed, and joked and played a lot more, and his temperament had stabilized. In the month since his audition, he'd not had one single outburst as he usually did before, and August wasn't sure if it was because of Earn's absence or because the great weight of the responsibilities that plagued him before had been taken off his shoulders. 
He hoped it was the latter.
"Gust..."
"God, this is so awkward," August giggled uncomfortably. "Listen, I know how this looks, but nothing says any of it is true, right? I mean, well, yeah, they have that video of Earn's living room, but so what?! I mean, his room is pretty bare, where could they have hidden the camera? All it has is a tv,  a bed and bed side cabinets, and I sleep in it everyday. I would have noticed if someone snuck in and out a camera there, you know. I mean, this whole damn thing doesn't even make any ing sense." August unraveled, pouring out his sorrows to the man who'd come to become one of his closest friends in the such a short span of time. One of the handful of people who knew him in all truth. Who'd seen him at his worst and at his best, and had cheered him on, regardless. "How could anyone even bypass all those ing security measures? You know? And what kind of monster even thinks of doing something like this? I mean, I get it, dude is a superstar, but even superstars are entitled to a little privacy, yeah?! It's just so ing unbelievable how far some people will go just to ruin someone else' life."
"What if that wasn't the intention?" Palm asked, voice raspy as if he'd been crying. His head back to facing the floor. "What if he didn't think of ruining someone else' life? What if he just wanted a few bucks to feed his family? To pay for his mothers health care and put his sister through a good school?"
Then he turned his head sideways, so that August could see the tears rolling down his cheeks, and the anguish in his face. And it all made sense. 
August had his answer. Not all, but enough to feel his heart stop beating in his chest.
"I'm so sorry, Gust. She approached me, and she was offering me so much money, and it seemed so simple. God, it seemed so simple, but then it wasn't, because I realized I was in love with you, and you loved him and if I hurt him I was hurting you, and I couldn't hurt you, and... Oh my God, Gust. I tried to stop it. I really tried to stop it. I--I..."
And in that moment, August Valentino did the one thing he'd never done before in his life. He balled up his fist, stood up, turned to face Palm and swung. 
Hard.
He wasn't sure if the crack he heard was the sound of bone breaking, or his heart ripping in two halves, but he didn't care. How could he make Palm feel as much pain as he was? That was the only thought coursing through his mind as he swung again, and again, and again.
Why wasn't Palm fighting back? Why weren't his hands up in self defense? Why was he just laying there patiently waiting for the next blow? Had he lost it?
Have I? The question echoed in August's head as he raised his fist for another blow. No, this wasn't him. This wasn't how he was raised. He wasn't a violent person. He took no pleasure in making others suffer. But why then was beating Palm to a pulp all he wanted to do? Where was all this anger coming from?
August stepped back, all will power training from him, as his raised fist fell to his side. Why was this happening to him? Why was any of this happening? 
"How much?" August asked through his sobs. "How much was my friendship, my loyalty, my privacy, my life--how much was it worth to you?"
It took Palm more than a few tries to sit up, and when he finally did, he first spat out a thick goo of blood, before composing himself enough to answer.
"She paid my fifty thousand baht. But I paid it all back, Gust. I swear, I paid it all back, and the camera, I destroyed it. Smashed it with a rock with my own hands in my backyard. I swear--I swear... I don't know how they got the tape. I--I..."
"She who?"
"She's some sort of gossip girl. She said approached me through an old friend..." August could barely make out Palm's words. They sound muffled, as if he was struggling to talk. He looked down and gasped in horror at the other boy's face, red and battered, and bloody and swollen. He looked like a corpse. But it wasn't Palm's heart that almost gave out in the seconds that followed, it was August's, at the mention of a name. That damned name. "All I know is that her name is Aim."

When had he left the rehearsal hall? When had he gotten into the car? What had he told Korn to convince him to let him take it for a spin? Korn loved his car. It was the first thing of great value he'd bought for himself after saving for years, and made sure the first lesson he thought the boys after they came under his care was how not to mess up his car. It was neither a luxury brand, nor was it the latest model, but it was his, and he loved it, and cared for it. Just as Earn was August's and he had to do all he could to love and care and protect him. Why would Aim even do such a thing? Was it not enough to that she's hurt him so much, must she also deny him this new chance at happiness? What kind of sick, vindictive, manipulative person was she to do such a thing?
No, it couldn't be his Aim. It just couldn't be. But then, what about the picture? That bedroom? Yes, it was his bedroom wasn't it? He'd decorated that damn thing. He'd put in work helping aim find the furnishings, and swiped his cards willingly to pay for them. August knew he was at the cusp of understand everything. He was so close to un boxing the truth in all this. So, close to proving Earn's innocence. So, so close.

***

The call had come in a little over twenty minutes prior, and despite Kim's insistence that he not get involved, Earn knew he had no choice in the matter. He was already involved. Neck deep. And he reasoned that if he was to be destroyed, atleast he should go down after having looked his executioner directly in his eyes. He wasn't sure what exactly he was hoping to accomplish by it, but he knew he had to be there. He had to be.
The smooth leather seats of the town car the chief deputy had sent to pick them up provided neither of them much comfort as it zipped them through one neighborhood after the other to where that sick person was. Earn had never felt more nervous in his life. What would he say? What would he do? He wanted to talk to August. He needed to. But Kim had forbade him from doing so. 
"Don't involve him in anyway, until we get this all settled." She'd warned, and Earn had sighed in relief and gladly obliged. Relief because what would he say to August even if got the chance? Another apology for another screw up? Earn felt like that was all he did lately. Screw up and say sorry. Shed a fear tears to show his sincerity. But this time he'd messed up too big for that. This time he'd need a lot more than a a 'sorry' to fix things, and even then, it might not be enough.

"Looks like we're here." Kim said, looking beyond her car window. It was a clean enough neighborhood. With planted shrubby and tight winding roads. Almost immediately, Earn was hit in the chest by a pang of nostalgia. He'd been here before. 

"I've been here before." Kim said, voicing Earn's thoughts.
"Y-You have?" Earn gulped, thinking back as far as he could in an tempt to remember if it was with Kim that he'd come to this neighborhood. It wasn't uncommon that they attended events together, but the only types of events he could have attended in a place such as this would have to had been a charity function of some sort. 
But this neighborhood doesn't look bad.
"Yeah... I remember it well. It was a finding parking. I had to pull over on a red curb." Okay, so they definitely didn't come together. They never attended any events without a chauffeured car, be it on a red carpet night or charity photo op morning. Fan had a tendency of gathering around celebrities' cars and Kim had a temperament fit for a mass murderer. For the safety of the invasive fans, she never took the wheel when with one of her celebrity clients.
"W-who--I mean, why did you come here?" Earn pushed, hoping that something she'd say will ignite a memory of how and why he knew the neighborhood, as the only other option was that amongst the many, many girls he'd slept with, one of them had brought him here, and that's why it looked so familiar. And if that was the case, then yes, he was there was an unarguable probability that that ing tape did exist, and he was at the end of this phase of his life. 
"I came to see..." Kim started, then stopped with an audible gasp. Her hand flying to as if she'd just experienced an breakthrough of colossal proportion. "I-I came to..."
She turned sideways to look at Earn, and his heart sank. Her eyes were wild, glaze with tears, and something else.
Sadness?
Remorse?
Pity.
"Oh, Earn, my poor boy." She said, as her fingers grazed his cheeks softly. "My poor boy."
"K-Kim, what is it? What is the matter? Talk to me, please. Who did you come to see here?"
The car stopped, and the door was opened. Lift filtered into the car as a man in militant uniforms peeked through. 
"I'm lieutenant Ohm. I hope you don't mind but we've set camp away from the actual property so as not to be seen. My team is ready to move in at your word, madam."
Kim cleared in an effort to gather herself, before stepping out of the town car. 
"You're absolutely sure this is the right residence?" Kim said, still clearly shaken by what ever she'd thought about in the car.
"Yes madam, we hacked the TMD website and tracked the IP Address from the original emails. Whoever sent those mails out was clearly no pro, it took less effort tracing them down as it would tying my laces this morning." The lieutenant boasted, proudly. "So how do you prefer we proceed?"
"You don't. I think I can take it from here boys." Kim said, running her fingers through her hair before pulling a glass case from her handbag and fixing the shades on bridge of her nose.
"But madam..." the lieutenant started, but Kim quickly shut him down.
 "Earn, you stay with these gentlemen" she said, as if not aware she'd just interrupted the other man. "If I need your services, I'll alert you, isn't there some sort of distress button you guys give out in situations like these?"
"Yes, madam." The uniformed officer dug into his left trouser pocket and pulled out a small round clicker no bigger than a thumb nail, and handed it to Kim.
"Just press down on the head to call for assistance, we already have  three officers positioned by the stairwell of the building, ready to engage whenever needed."
Kim nodded in understanding, and turned to Earn. "I know you have a lot of questions, when I come out, hopefully I'll have all the answers, until then. Stay put. Earn, I mean it."
Earn furrowed his brows in agitation, but nodded all the same.
Kim went on her way.
It was only after she ducked into one of the buildings that Earn realized something alarming, they were standing in a neighborhood with row after row of multi-storied apartments side by side to each other. The lieutenant hadn't told Kim so much as mentioned which building their target was in, not to talk of an apartment number, so how had Kim known where to go?
"Would you like to sit in the van?" The officer offered Earn, nodding towards two white vans parked by the curb.
August had only ever seen such a set up in action movies, and if not for the hell he was going through internally, he would have at least appreciated having a front row seat to a take down. 
Earn allowed himself to be led towards the white vans, and no sooner had he stepped off the main road to the curb did a speeding car tear past them, shooting dust and debris from its tires into the hot afternoon air.
Instinctively August stepped back to protect himself from the onslaught of dirt as he was still dressed in the suit he'd worn the night before for his meetings, and then to wait in the hotel suite August.  It was the suit he had worn the night he'd made love to the man he love for the first and probably last time. 
August.
It deserved to be protect.  It was part of a history he knew he would never forget.
"Gust?!" Earns mouth registered what his eyes were seeing before his mind did. Yes, it was him. It was without a doubt t August. He would recognize that slim frame anywhere, at any time and place. It was his August. It was his...
What is he doing here? That was Earn's brain finally catching up with his heart. Why was August there? Why was he climbing out of the drivers side of that speeding vehicle? 
But most of all, why, oh why had he come to a squealing stop right in front of the apartment building Kim had just walked into less than two minutes ago?
"My poor boy..." Kim's pitiful words came flooding back. "I came to see... oh, Earn--my poor boy."
"No." August had no control over his head as it swiveled left to right in disbelief. "No, no, no, no." 
No, it couldn't be.  It just wasn't possible. August wouldn't--he couldn't! 
No!
Earn's feet took one step before the next on their own accord. Was he running? When had he started running?  Why was August? 
Don't go in there, Gust. Please, don't go in there. Pick any other building. Any other ing building, just not that one. Not that one you ing idiot!
But that was the one August went into. That was the one August race through, and all Earn could see were his feet taking the steps two at a time as he ran up the stairwell.

August:

He paid no mind to the two cleaners sweeping the steps as he ran past them to the fourth floor. He paid no attention to the young man with his cellphone pressed against his ear leaning against the wall. To August, they might as well have not been there at all. The only face his brain was willing to acknowledge at that point was that of the one person that had managed to stop his heart twice within the span of a month. 
Aim.
"Aim!" He hollered as he all but kicked down the door of the apartment in his blind rage. His eyes were red from the tears and stinging from the sweat running into them. His mouth tasted of salted fury, and scorn, and his nails dug into the skin of his palm so deeply that they drew blood. "What have you done? What have you done?!"
The Aim August was looking at seemed so small. Her hair a tangled mess from fitful sleep, and dressed in her favorite flimsy pajamas. August had always found that look so y, now, she might as well have had snakes for hair in his eyes. And why was it that she was standing in the living room as if waiting for him? It was only then that August realized he wasn't the only one in the room with Aim.
"P--P'Kim?" August couldn't believe his eyes. What was she doing there? "Whah--whah..."
"What am I doing here?" Kim asked with a vicious smirk, folding her arms. "Oh, dear boy, I was just about to ask you the same damn thing."
"And so was I." 
August didn't have to turn around to know who those words belonged to. But he did anyways. He had to confirm it for himself. "Earn..."
"Answer the damn question, August." Earn managed, his right hand clenching his chest as if it ached, as his breaths came out in short spurts. "Please, please answer the question. Please."
He was dressed in the same getup as the night before, but nothing about him looked the same. His eyes were dark and hollow. His lips dry and chapped, and his nostrils red and flaring, as if struggling to take in more air to keep his from falling over. 
"This whole time, Gust. How could you do this to me. I let you into my home. I trusted you. Love you. Cared for--Oh my--I-- why?! Gust why?!" And those were the last words of Earn Anova before his body hit the ground with a sickening thud, face flat against the cold cemented floor.
And August knew, he knew with all his heart that he'd just lost the love of his life for good.