In the Beat of a Wing {boyxboy}

Chapter Thirty-Six

~Tuesday 9th April 2013~

Malcolm had tried his best to keep a close eye on the rumours surrounding his relationship with Eden after the situation with Hayden. Killing a reporter was supposed to be a last resort, it wasn't like he could repeat the action without making everything ten times worse. There were consequences to his decisions and he should have thought about that in more detail before planning such a big event as Eden's birthday party.

He had stupidly believed that, since Hayden had been taken care of, he was safe for the time being. He had let his guard drop again, had allowed himself to be less cautious in his meetings with Eden, for the sake of his own feelings. And, of course, that had all come back to bite him in the ass. He could never have anything for too long, not before he fucked it up.

"What am I supposed to do?" Malcolm sighed as he stared down at the magazine resting on his desk. It was a sleazy tabloid, and the quality of the image on the front cover wasn't the best, but it was enough. He was screwed.

It was fairly easy to see Malcolm pressing a kiss to Eden's cheek in his car. Luckily it was only a small peck, Malcolm knew that because it had been taken from Eden's birthday, just as they had stepped out to walk inside Mitchell's house. What made it worse was the blindfold, because apparently that was enough evidence for the article to speculate his interest in BDSM. It couldn't have been further from the truth.

"I don't know, Mal," Reivon placed two more magazines on the desk, turning them so they were facing Malcolm, "I've had six different tabloids contact me asking for payment in exchange for pictures, Slate's had two as well," it wasn't uncommon for Malcolm's friends to receive emails from reporters searching for payment over pathetic articles spreading rumours about him, they were too afraid to confront him directly. Technically, he had no power over them and there were no laws against what they were doing but Malcolm knew their companies were still just too afraid to take the risk.

"Where did they even get these?" Malcolm shook his head, looking between the pictures, "God, that was months ago, for fuck sake, how long have they had these?" Malcolm could feel himself losing his temper as he scowled down at the pictures of him and Eden. More than a few were taken the day Malcolm had helped clean his house, when they had very nearly kissed. They could be more easily explained away, at least, he supposed he should really look on the bright side with that.

"They're like vultures, Mal," Reivon muttered solemnly, "and they aren't gonna stop until this situation has been picked clean," Reivon paused for a moment, clearly hesitating about whether to continue or not, but Malcolm had a feeling he knew what the vampire was going to say, "I think you have to tell Eden, he'll take it better from you. If he finds out from someone else he's gonna be pissed."

"He's gonna be pissed anyway," Malcolm murmured sullenly, dialling Eden's number and putting the call on speaker, running a hand through his hair. He should have told Eden weeks ago, he hated being lied to and he doubted Eden was any different.

"Hey, doll," Eden's voice crackled down the receiver and Malcolm instantly felt a thousand times worse hearing his lover's light-hearted tone. He was going to ruin his day, great.

"Hi, bunny, are you alone?" Malcolm tried not to sound so glum but he wasn't sure he quite achieved his goal.

"Yeah, I'm always alone when I answer your calls," Eden sounded a little sceptical, which was to be expected, "is everything alright, Mal?"

"Yeah," Malcolm immediately caught Reivon's expression and stifled his sigh, before adding, "actually, no, Edee. Um, Rei's here with me, I'm gonna send you a picture of the magazine he brought me," Eden was silent, which Malcolm didn't like, it meant he was likely worried. And the little gasp that followed Malcolm sending him the picture wasn't exactly comforting.