AJ, Nick, Nick's girlfriend Beth, and Beth's friend Dawn were all sitting around AJ's living room three days later watching a movie. AJ had no clue what movie it was because he was finding it impossible to concentrate on it. His mind was on Marshall…again.

AJ sighed and glanced over at Nick sitting on a chair with Beth on his lap cuddling with him. Nick had brought the movie with when he'd shown up on his doorstep, the two women in tow, to surprise him. AJ hadn't even known Nick was on the west coast. Last time he'd heard from him was a week and a half ago when he was headed off Europe to do some more recording for his solo project. Nick had been a pleasant surprise, but AJ could have done without the female entertainment. He'd put on his best happy face though, knowing Nick was just trying to be a good friend and help him move on from Kevin.

The problem was, he had moved on from Kevin. He just didn't want to get into any other relationships anytime soon. Correction, there was one relationship he wouldn't mind getting into, but he was pretty sure hell would freeze over and planet earth would suddenly start circling the sun in the other direction before Marshall even considered kissing him let alone getting involved with him.

After the answering machine incident days earlier, he and Marshall had eaten their lunch and headed back to Marshall's house. Once there, AJ had badgered him to let him listen to the rest of his CD. Marshall had finally given in and a little over an hour later, it was finished and he and Marshall were sitting on the couch talking about it.

Marshall had asked him what he thought, and AJ had told him honestly that he thought it was his best work yet. Marshall had smiled, saying he thought so too and they'd ended up in a discussion about what kinds of music they listened to and who they had idolized growing up.

That had led to them debating whether or not Boys To Men were a black boy band or an R&B group, and discussions of whether the songs released after Tu Pac's death would have been as popular as they were if he'd lived. Before they'd known it, it was evening and they were both starving.

AJ had dug through Marshall's kitchen, not able to find anything to make dinner with. Finally he'd given up and told Marshall to order pizza. Oddly enough, it turned out they liked their pizza the same way.

The next morning, AJ had unwrapped Marshall's hands for him so he could take a shower. His hands looked a lot better by that point, and he could move his fingers relatively well again, with only a little stiffness and pain.

Before Marshall had jumped in the shower, AJ decided it was time to leave and said goodbye. He's seen a strange look pass over Marshall's face and couldn't quite decipher it, but gave up trying almost instantly as he'd stepped outside Marshall's door to meet the cab down the block that he'd called and realized that he was going to miss being around him.

It was ridiculous really. He'd only spent a couple days with him, but he'd found he liked being around him a lot. And then there were the feelings he was discovering he had for him. He really didn't need that, considering it would go nowhere, but there it was. He had feelings for Marshall Mathers. Eminem. Slim Shady. The straightest man on the planet, or any other for that matter. He was screwed…and not in a good way.

AJ was pulled free of his thoughts as he felt a hand on his chest. Looking down, he discovered Dawn's hand there, softly caressing him through his shirt. Dawn had wasted no time getting close to him when they'd shown up. She'd made sure they were sitting next to each other and when AJ hadn't immediately put his arm around her when the movie started, she'd taken it upon herself to lift his arm up and drop it over her shoulders.

AJ hadn't wanted to embarrass her by pulling it back, but he didn't want to be all snuggly with someone he barely knew either. Still, there he was, Dawn cuddled into the side of him, her hand on his chest, slowly creeping downward. He sucked in a sharp breath and looked over into her face. She was staring up at him with blue eyes and a smile, mistaking his reaction as him being turned on.

AJ opened his mouth to say something, but Dawn zeroed in on it and leaned in, pressing her mouth to his and shoving her tongue inside. AJ froze as he tasted her tongue in his mouth and felt her hand suddenly on his crotch, rubbing lightly. Out of habit he instinctively closed his eyes, and realized he could almost imagine it was Marshall that way.

Ignoring the fact that Nick and Beth were right there in the room with them, AJ found himself starting to react to what she was doing to him in spite of himself. He decided it didn't bother him that they weren't alone if it didn't bother Dawn, and he started to kiss her back.

AJ reached his arms around her and pulled her to him, situating her on his lap so she was straddling him. She rubbed herself against his quickly forming erection and he moaned lightly into the kiss. In his mind, it was Marshall he was making out with, and suddenly he was horny and wanting more. By that point Dawn didn't even exist in his mind as he grabbed her hips and thrust up against her. She pulled her mouth from his and leaned down to lick at the side of his neck. AJ dropped his head back to the couch and ground himself up into her again.

Just then the doorbell rang, and AJ all but jumped out of his skin as he was brought back to reality with a jolt. Opening his eyes, his stomach sank as he realized he'd been ready to fuck Dawn wishing she was Marshall. He looked over and saw Nick and Beth caught up in a heated kiss and sighed. The doorbell rang again, and AJ lifted Dawn off his lap and moved to get up.

Dawn reached out and grabbed his arm, saying, "Hurry back, baby."

AJ nodded numbly, wondering how he was going to get out of fucking her now. She thought he was into her, but he and his quickly deflating erection wanted nothing to do with her.

Marshall rang the doorbell for a third time, getting impatient. He knew AJ was there because he could see lights on. It didn't even once occur to him that AJ might be in the middle of something. He just needed someone to talk to, and he hadn't even questioned it when AJ was the first person to pop into his mind. He'd just gotten in his car and headed over.

Finally the door opened, and Marshall found himself face to face with the man that had been occupying his thoughts way too much the past few days since they'd seen each other last.

"Marshall?" AJ said in surprise.

"Hey, Alex. Can I come in?"

From the other room Nick yelled, "Bone, bring some sodas back with you when you're through, k?"

Without taking his eyes off Marshall, AJ called over his shoulder, "Get them yourself, Kaos, I'm not your fucking servant!"

Marshall shifted nervously. "Shit. I should have realized you wouldn't just be sitting around here all alone. I'll just…go."

AJ watched as Marshall turned to leave, making his decision in that split second. Not like it was a hard one anyway. He'd been wanting to see or call Marshall ever since he'd left his house days ago.

Reaching out a hand, he grabbed Marshall's arm to stop him, both of them ignoring the little jolt of electricity the contact shot through the both of them. "No, wait. Come in."

Marshall hesitated. "You're busy."

"Just get in here already. It's not a problem." AJ said impatiently.

Marshall relented and followed AJ inside, just as Nick appeared in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Damn, Bone, rude much? It's not like it would have been out of your way…" Nick's voice trailed off as Marshall stepped out from behind AJ and Nick got a good look at him.

For a second, all three men stood there staring at each other. Finally Nick asked, "What the hell is he doing here?"

"Damn, Kaos, rude much?" AJ threw back in his face, not sure why he was so angry at Nick's reaction.

Nick stared hard at AJ. "Rude? Me? Eminem, the king of rude is standing in your kitchen, and you're calling me rude?"

"Yeah, I am. I didn't hear him make any rude remarks to you." AJ retorted dryly.

"No, he saves that for his songs." Nick shot back sarcastically.

"He doesn't diss us in his songs." AJ threw back, effectively shutting Nick up. Turning to Marshall, he asked, "Can you give us a sec?"

Marshall nodded, not liking being dismissed, but not wanting to get into a pissing match with Nick right then either. He was in no mood for it. His mind was on other things.

"Sure, where should I go."

AJ pointed to a sitting room off the entryway, and Marshall turned in that direction, wondering if he'd made a mistake coming over. He should have just stayed home and packed, or went to see Pete.

The problem was, as good of a friend as Pete was, sometimes he could be a bit self-centered, and Marshall never knew until he started spilling his guts which version of the man he'd get. Peter Bizarre, rapper and hustler, or the man underneath, Rufus Johnson, friend from way back.

AJ waited until Marshall was gone from sight before turning back to Nick. "That was really rude."

Nick ignored the chastisement and asked, "What is he doing here?"

"We're friends." AJ stated simply.

"You're friends with Eminem." Nick repeated, his voice filled with disbelief.

"Yeah, you have a problem with that?" AJ asked defensively.

Nick studied him for a moment, realizing he was dead serious. "I just…well damn. It just a shock. I never would have expected him to give anyone like us the time of day."

"Well, he's not everything the public makes him out to be. Just like you and I aren't."

"I guess I can buy that." Nick said grudgingly.

"Good, because I need a favor." AJ said, relief in his voice.

"What?"

"I need you to get Beth and Dawn and leave."

"You're kicking me out." Nick said, his voice back to disbelief.

"Nick, don't say it like that. I'm not kicking you out. It's just…he wouldn't have come over unless there was something wrong. I can see it in his face. I'm figuring he isn't going to want to talk about it with you guys around. He's leaving for Detroit tomorrow. If you want, we could do this double date thing tomorrow night."

Nick studied him for a long minute. "Nah."

"No?" AJ's brows knit together, not having expected that response.

"You're not really into Dawn anyway. I mean, despite how the two of you were making out a minute ago." Nick said.

AJ smiled, glad Nick had picked up on that. He hadn't really wanted to go through tonight again tomorrow anyway. "Not really."

"I'm sorry for shoving her off on you."

"I know you meant well."

"Still. I'll ask first next time."

"Thanks." AJ said with a smile.

Five minutes later, Nick, Beth and Dawn were headed out the door. AJ started to shut it when suddenly Dawn turned around and headed back up the steps. AJ quirked a brow in question.

Dawn giggled and said, "Sorry, forgot something in the living room."

AJ stepped aside and let her through. When she disappeared through the kitchen, AJ turned to look toward the sitting room Marshall was in and found him standing in the doorway watching him. AJ shot him an apologetic smile, then Marshall disappeared again as Dawn reappeared.

"Got it."

"Okay." AJ said, waiting for her to leave.

As Dawn walked past him, she suddenly grabbed him and pulled him against her, kissing his mouth hard. He was too surprised to react at first and then she grabbed his ass, squeezing tight. Before he could do anything, she pulled her mouth away and shoved her hand into his back pocket.

"There's my number. Call me."

AJ stood there speechless as she smacked his ass for good measure then took off out the door without a backward glance.

Marshall watched from the doorway, trying to figure out why that girl grabbing AJ's ass bothered him so much. What the fuck did he care if some girl groped him on her way out the door? What was a better question was why the hell had AJ kicked out a sure lay to talk to him?

Before he could stop himself, Marshall blurted. "You know I'm not here to fuck you, right?"

AJ jumped a mile in the air as he shut the door and turned to the other man. "What?"

"I'm just making sure you know I'm not here for any sexual shit."

AJ stared at him for a moment, resisting the urge to say, 'Don't I know it.' Instead he said carefully, "I didn't think you were."

"Then why the fuck did you just kick a sure thing out the door?" Marshall asked, confused.

"What, Dawn? Nick set me up with her. He thinks I'm not over Kevin and he was just trying to help out."

"Oh." After a short pause, Marshall added, "Doesn't answer my question."

AJ shrugged, not really wanting to talk about it. "I just wasn't interested, ok? She's not my type. Blonde's don't generally do it for me." To himself he added, 'With the exception of the bleached blond standing in my house right now.'

Marshall wasn't quite sure why his stomach sank at that little tidbit, or why he suddenly had an insane urge to go dye his hair brown. "Oh."

"Wanna move this discussion to the living room?" AJ asked, a small smile on his face.

Marshall smiled back. "I wanna move this discussion to the fucking trash and move on to other things."

AJ laughed. "Sounds good to me."

Minutes later they were sitting on the couch and Marshall was spilling his guts about what was bothering him, ending with, "I just don't know how I'm going to handle seeing her tomorrow. I still wanna fucking kill her for what she tried to do."

"Resist that urge." AJ deadpanned.

Marshall snorted. "Yeah, seeing Hailie on visiting days through a fucking glass wall is not in my plans."

"What are you going to do? Pretend you don't know what she did, or confront her?"

Marshall shook his head. "I don't know man. I'm so fucking angry still that I'm afraid I'll snap if I confront her ass."

"Then just pretend you have no idea what she tried on you."

"Shit. I am not that good of an actor."

AJ fought the twitch of his lips as he said, "Guess I won't be going to see eight mile then when it comes out, wouldn't want to waste my money on bad acting."

Marshall smirked too. "Fuck you."

AJ couldn't stop the smirk that time. "You said you didn't come here for that. Change your mind?"

Marshall feigned mock horror. "Do not even say that shit. Goddamn, you'll give me nightmares." 'Hot, erotic nightmares that'll leave me hard as hell,' he added to himself.

AJ laughed. He wondered if Marshall even realized they were at that moment flirting. He wasn't going to clue him in though if Marshall didn't realize it. He was enjoying it too much. He may not ever have him, but he'd take what he could get. Even if it was just a little harmless flirting.

While AJ laughed, Marshall reached up to scratch an itch on the side of his neck as he smiled to himself. He liked the way AJ laughed. Hell he liked the way AJ talked. He liked the way AJ walked with that hip-hop swagger of his. When AJ grabbed his hand suddenly and pulled it to him, Marshall decided he really liked the way AJ did that…a little too much.

AJ held tight as Marshall tried to pull back. "Hold on a sec. I just want to see how your cuts are looking."

"Oh, uh, better. My fingers aren't stiff anymore either."

"That's cool." AJ said, lifting his eyes to Marshall's.

They sat there staring at each other for a second, AJ still holding Marshall's hand, and Marshall no longer trying to get it back. An unexpected voice broke the spell they'd found themselves cloaked in.

"Well, isn't this nice."

AJ dropped Marshall's hand with a start, and turned toward the owner of the voice. Kevin stood in the entryway to the living room looking good and pissed.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Kevin?" AJ asked irritably.

"Came by to have that little talk we were supposed to have the other night. You've been avoiding me." Kevin replied.

"Too bad you couldn't take the hint, huh?" AJ retorted dryly.

"Fuck you." Kevin spat, taking a step into the room.

AJ stood up and said, "No Kevin, fuck you. Get the hell out. I didn't give you a spare key to my house so you could use it to spy on me."

"No, you gave it to me so I could come in late at night and fuck you." Kevin said, enraged.

Marshall stiffened, deciding that was way too much information. He stood, turning to Kevin too.

AJ was nearly vibrating with anger by that point, his fists clenched at his sides. Kevin was getting more out of control by the day. It was starting to scare him a little, but even more than that it was just plain pissing him off.

"I know what you're trying to do, and it's not going to work."

Kevin stopped advancing and quirked a brow. "Oh?"

AJ nodded, knowing Kevin had been hoping Marshall would flip out about finding out they'd been lovers and leave. "Marshall knows you and I were together. He doesn't give a rat's ass that I'm bi."

"So, it's Marshall now?" Kevin turned to Marshall and asked, "Does he let you call him Alex? Because you should know he only lets me call him Alex, and that was only after I started fucking him."

Marshall kept his mouth shut, knowing that if he said anything at that point it would lead to an all out fist fight and he had to remember he was on probation. He couldn't be risking that shit.

"Kevin, leave now." AJ demanded.

"Yeah, I can see you want to be alone with your new lover." Kevin sneered.

"He's not my…you know what? Just shut the fuck up. It's none of your business what he and I are."

"I can't believe you've sank so low, Alex. He's white trash. He's only got money because he's got a gimmick. You should be with me. Not this lowlife little piece of shit." Kevin said derisively.

Marshall lost it then, starting forward with his fists balled up at his sides as he opened his mouth to lay into him.

AJ saw what was happening and shot out a hand to hold Marshall back. "Don't. He's trying to goad you. He knows you're on probation. Don't give him the satisfaction."

Marshall glared at Kevin but stopped like AJ asked and took several deep breaths trying to calm himself.

When AJ was sure Marshall had himself somewhat under control, he turned back to Kevin and said, "We're over. It's none of your business who I'm with. Now leave."

Kevin glared at him, holding his ground. "No. Not until you tell me whether or not the two of you are screwing."

AJ snapped. "Fine. You want to know so bad? Here's your answer."

Without stopping to consider the ramifications of what he was doing, AJ turned to Marshall and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him to him. When Marshall didn't resist, AJ looked in his eyes for a second, then leaned in and pressed his lips against his.

Marshall stood there in shock for a full second, then did something he'd never dreamed he'd do. He kissed AJ back.

Kevin stood there watching as Marshall opened his mouth to AJ's and lifted his hands to his arms to hold onto him. Turning, Kevin walked out of the room and slammed out of the house, seeing red.

When AJ heard Kevin slam out of the house, he started to pull away, intent on apologizing for that and thanking him for going along with it, but to his shock, Marshall held onto him and continued to kiss him. AJ decided not to question it, and slipped his tongue inside his mouth tentatively, wondering how far Marshall would let him take it.

Marshall felt AJ's tongue invade his mouth and his cock jumped to attention. He wasn't even thinking about what he was doing at that point, just feeling, and what he felt was pretty damn good. He darted his own tongue out to meet AJ's, suddenly wanting to taste him desperately. He slid his hands down from AJ's arms to his hips and pulled him closer.

AJ let go of Marshall's shirt and slid his hands around his shoulders, gripping the back of his head as the kiss intensified. Before either of them knew it, they were all out tongue fucking each other's mouths and pressing their bodies against each other's.

Finally they broke the kiss, both needing air. AJ leaned his forehead against Marshall's and asked, "I've gotta know right now if you want this to go any farther. If you do, great. If not…fuck…we need to stop right now."

Marshall didn't answer for a minute, still reeling from the kiss, but slowly reality started to creep in as what had just happened and what AJ obviously wanted to happen suddenly hit him. Letting go of the younger man, he took a step back and took a deep breath, trying not to flip out over the fact that he'd just kissed a guy…and liked it.

"I…"

AJ hid the disappointment from his face and shook his head to silence him. "It's all right. You don't need to say it. I can see your answer on your face."

Marshall didn't know what else to say. He suddenly wanted to be far away from that spot in AJ's living room, as in…across the country, or hell, even on another continent. He had a feeling though that nowhere he went would be safe from thoughts of that kiss and the feeling of AJ's body, AJ's hard body, pressed against him.

He tried his best to hide his sudden urge to bolt though as he said awkwardly, "I guess I'd better go."

AJ watched as he walked away. When Marshall was about to turn the corner toward the entryway, AJ called out, "Wait."

Marshall stopped and turned. "What?"

"We didn't finish talking about Kim. I…I don't want what just happened to stop you from talking to me about it if you still need to."

Marshall offered him a small smile. "Don't worry. It's not an issue anymore. I've got way more intense shit on my mind now. I'll probably barely even notice her when I pick my baby girl up. Goodbye…Alex."

AJ watched him go, trying to decide if what he'd just said was a positive thing or not. Would he be thinking how much he liked the kiss? Or how disgusted with himself he was because of it? Then something hit him. He'd called him Alex. He'd heard what Kevin had said about calling him Alex, and he'd called him it anyway. Intentionally. AJ got a grin a mile wide on his face. Maybe hell was freezing over and the earth had switched rotations after all...he could only hope so.


Chapter Seven
COMPLICATE ME Contents