I woke up the next morning to a stiff neck and a large weight across my chest.  Bright light streamed in through the windows.  I blinked, and finally my vision cleared enough for me to see Dennis still sleeping on top of me.  Kane sat in a chair, grinning like a damn fool.  "Don’t you have something better to do?  Like sleep?"  I murmured.

Kane just smiled wider.  "It’s four in the afternoon, smartass.  That's what you get for staying up until, what, five a.m. was it?"

"Just shut up.  And what's so funny anyway?"  I asked.

"You are."  He pointed at Dennis.  "He's got you domesticated."

"Does not..."  I protested.

Kane raised an eyebrow.  "He got to you, Mark.  That's not a claim most people can make."

I could feel the blood rush from my face.  "Were you eavesdropping on us last night?"

He sighed.  "Would I do something like that?  Wait, don’t answer that.  I can tell, Mark.  I don't think you'd both be sleeping here if something hadn't happened last night."

Christ, is it that obvious?  Can the whole world see that I broke last night, that I'm not the person they thought I was, that I'm.."

"You're hurt."  The tired voice came out of nowhere.

My denial was automatic.  "No I'm not..."

Dennis laughed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.  "Mark, you've got a black eyes and there's a big nasty cut on your head.  You're hurt."

I had to smile a little myself.  Damn, I was getting a little bit melodramatic for a second.  "I'm fine.  I've had a lot worse than this."

Kane shook his head.  "Don’t worry about this idiot, Dennis.  I'll get him cleaned up."  Dennis slid off of me and went into our bedroom to find some clothes.  Meanwhile, Kane dragged me by my arm into the bathroom.

He pushed me into sitting on the edge of the bathtub while he starting digging through my medicine cabinet.  "You feeling a bit violent this morning?"  I asked.

He sat down across from me, messing with a bottle and some cotton balls.  "We need to talk."

I blinked in confusion.  "Well damn, you coulda said so.  You didn’t need to go slamming shit around like you've got PMS or something."

Kane touched one of the cottonballs to the gash on my head, and I suddenly felt like I’d caught on fire.  Fuck, I hate rubbing alcohol.  "You and Dennis seemed ok this morning," he said, like it was some kind of new thing.

I rolled my eyes.  "Yeah, well unlike you and Bradshaw, we don't get off on bitch-fighting."

Our argument was interrupted by a cheerful voice from outside the door.  "Mark?  I've got some stuff I need to do, then I'm gonna stop by Ron's.  I'll be back in a few hours, ok?"

Kane started to unwrap a Band-Aide after we heard the front door close.  "Dennis has been really upset lately."

"I'm old, not stupid.  Try telling me something I don’t know."

Kane put the Band-Aide on my head, using more force then I think was necessary.  "He thinks you don’t love him."

I rubbed my eyes.  It's too fucking early to play this game.  "And how would you know this?  Are you the new great psychic Kanini?"

Kane just glared at me.  "No.  I know because I listen."  He smiled, but it was bitter.  It crossed my mind that he wasn't wearing his mask, that now that I thought about it, he hadn’t worn it in months outside the ring, and I just hadn’t really noticed.  "Mark, you push people away really badly.  I just want you to know that."  His smile got a little more genuine.  "But I guess that's what makes you Mark, isn't it?"   He patted my shoulder.  Fuck, when did he start to act like the older brother.  "You wanna go see a movie or something?  We can probably get John and Dennis from Ron.  It would be good for you guys to get out."

I shrugged.  Why the hell not?

***

"DUDE!!!!  That was the coolest movie EVER!!!"  If I had ever really really wished I actually had dark powers, it would be now, so I could shut Bradshaw up.

Kane and Dennis were laughing along with him.  "Now that's what I call brain food, man!"  Dennis shouted out.

What a bunch of idiots.  I don't know if I can put up with them much longer.  They ruined "Hannibal"!  Me, the Lord of Darkness, couldn’t watch the one movie I’d been waiting forever to see.  The nerve of some people....

And now Kane and Bradshaw are making out in the backseat and Dennis...Dennis is smiling like a goofball at them.  Hell, who am I kidding?  Dennis has been waiting his whole life for a relationship with someone who can be open like that, and he ended up with me.

Wonderful.  They're play-fighting now.  "If you don't stop, I'm gonna cook you in the oven and eat your brain."  Bradshaw threatens.

"I don’t think you could fit Kane in the oven..."  Dennis says.

Bradshaw sighed in mock frustration.  "Oh, fuck him and his big head.."

Kane laughed.  "That's not what you were saying last night.  It sounded more like 'Oh, fuck ME with your big head'..."

I need to get out of here.  Finally, we end up at Bradshaw and Kane's apartment and they get out of the car.  Me and Dennis drive home.  Once we get in the door, Dennis disappears into the kitchen, I think to make coffee.  I stood there for a moment, and then, as if on instinct, I went outside again, sitting down on the swing on our porch.  It was pretty out, all dark, and warm too.  That's what's nice about Texas, you can be comfortable outside even in the winter.  I just sat there, staring at the moon off in the distance.

All I ever wanted was a simple life.  God, did I ever not get it.