Beauty and the Beast Ch. 01

"Stay here a moment," Richard said as he walked over to the man playing the piano. He bent and whispered something in his ear and the music stopped suddenly. The man turned his head and said something. Richard shrugged and seemed to reply. David could see the man sigh and rub his temples. Richard whispered something else.

"Sir, young Aiden is back. With his father. They wish to apologize for last night," Richard said. Cormac stopped playing.

"What? I thought you took the kid home and talked to his dad," Cormac growled.

"I did, but I guess he felt the need to apologize in person," Richard shrugged. Cormac sighed and hunched over the piano to rub his forehead in frustration.

"It's not that bad, Sir. You will never see them again, who are they to care?" Richard tried to comfort him.

"Fine, send them in," Cormac said bitterly.

"Try not to be so angry, they're only being nice," Richard replied as he walked off in the direction of the front hall. Once back he smiled at David and Aiden and nodded his head towards the living room. They walked up and David only now noticed how dark the house was kept. Aiden clung to his side and David rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Mr. McCarthy? My name is David, I'm Aiden's father, and I just wanted to apologize for what happened last night," David said, but the man still didn't turn around. After a moment of silence he stood and turned.

"Please, call me Cormac. And it's quite alright." He kept his face slightly down and to the side, like he was looking at something on the floor behind David. Even with his head turned and the darkness of the room David could still see scars on his face. He spoke with a Teutonic accent and David couldn't help but find it attractive.

"Aiden has something he would like to say, also." David nudged Aiden forward.

"I'm sorry for spying on you," he whispered, looking up at Cormac. Cormac looked down at Aiden and his face showed discomfort and nervousness.

"I really hope he didn't cause any property damage or anything, if he did I'll pay for it completely," David offered. At that moment Richard wandered in and began cleaning. It was obvious he was trying to listen in. While dusting he 'accidentally' flipped the light switch.

"Oops," he said innocently. David saw Cormac's face completely and swallowed to hold back a gasp.

"Richard!" Cormac growled.

"What, I'm just cleaning." Richard shrugged innocently.

"You're a bad liar, Richard. And a worse butler, get out of here," Cormac nodded towards the front hall.

"But I was just-"

"Richard!" Cormac shouted. Richard threw his hands into the air and wandered out. Cormac cursed silently, and for the first time met David's eye.

"There was no property damage. You're apology is accepted." He looked down at Aiden who had gone back to clinging to his father's leg.

"What about the broken fountain?" Richard called out from the front hall. Cormac sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Get out of here, Richard!" he screamed at him. Footsteps could be heard walking up the stairs.

"I swear-" Cormac muttered to himself.

"I would be happy to fix anything that's broken, including the fountain. I'm a construction worker," David said. Cormac sighed.

"Really, it's fine. I can pay someone to do it," Cormac said.

"Please, let me fix it. My son caused the damage, and I take full responsibility for that. I'll do it for free of course," David said.

Cormac was about to disagree, when from upstairs he heard Richard. "He is thankful for your help and will gladly accept it!"

Cormac growled and stormed halfway up the stairs. Aiden giggled quietly.

"I swear to god, Richard, I will fire you!" Cormac shouted up the stairs.

"No you won't!" Richard shouted back down.

"No, I won't. But I will cut your pay check in half!" Cormac shouted. There was a moment of silence before Richard was heard again.

"That's still more than a doctor would make in a year," Richard retorted and Cormac couldn't help but chuckle.

"You have me there," he smiled. He walked back into the living room and sighed.

"I will be thankful for your help," he said to David.

"Alright then, do you mind if I get started this afternoon?" David asked, it was still early and he could at least take note of what he needed to buy to fix the fountain.

"Whatever you like," Cormac said. He sat down at the piano and turned the page of sheet music he had been playing. He began playing once more and David assumed it was the end of the conversation. He left the grand house and returned home. After calling a babysitter for David he grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil, along with some other materials and headed back to Cormac's house. He began looking at the old fountain and saw the part that had broken when David had tripped and fell into it.

He had just began repairing it when he found that the fountain had been badly built. Obviously whoever had built it had no clue what they were doing and had thrown together some pipework and cement to create what would serve as a fountain. He stepped inside the spotless house and heard Richard bustling around in the kitchen. Cormac still sat at his piano.

"The whole fountain should come down," he said. Cormac turned, and once again David fought not to react at his face.

"What?" he asked.

"The fountain. It's was built by someone who obviously didn't know what they were doing. I can rebuild the whole thing for you, it would be pointless to just fix that one piece," David shrugged. Cormac thought for a second.

"Alright then. Do what you like to the fountain. If its anything major, consult Richard. I don't care much about it but god knows that man does," Cormac laughed. David smiled and Richard looked at them from the dining room. As David was leaving he heard Cormac call out to him.

"Also, help yourself to anything you would like in the kitchen. If there's nothing in there, then feel free to request something. Richard is an excellent cook," Cormac added, awkwardly. As though starting a conversation was new to him.

"Thank you," David said. Cormac nodded before turning back to his piano. Once David was outside again, writing down what he thought he would need, he noticed he didn't hear piano music. He was wondering what Cormac was doing but knew it would be awkward to just go in and look. As soon as he was done he headed home and thought about Cormac and what had happened to him. It was obvious he was extremely bitter about... well... everything. But he seemed to be the best of friends with Richard. It seemed like Richard was the only one he could trust. David wondered if they slept together.

'What? Where did that come from. He gave you no hint that he was gay,' David thought to himself. He shrugged, 'doesn't mean I can't dream.' He crawled into bed and had sweet dreams of Cormac.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cormac tossed and turned in his sleep.

The thundering music of the night club hurt his ears. He sighed and sipped his drink while looking around the room. Charlie stood in the center of the dance floor, with two young men dancing around him. The blonde haired, thin, men looked like dolls. Cormac sighed. He had dragged him here and didn't even want to dance with him. What was the point? He sat down his barely touched drink and paid before heading out. As he was going, a man stopped him at the door.

"You wanna dance?" he yelled over the music. Cormac hesitated, but he wasn't like Charlie.

"I'm taken, sorry," he replied.

"At least you're honest enough to say 'no'. Most guys just lie, I'll give you points for that," the guy said with a smile before walking off. He exited the club and began walking to the parking lot. He felt a hand on his arm and was spun around roughly.

"Who the fuck was that?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know, some guy," Cormac shrugged. Now he would have two bruises on his arm.

"Why the hell were you talking to him?" Charlie asked.

"I wasn't. He just asked me if I wanted to dance," Cormac answered honestly.

"What the fuck, you cheating on me?"

"What? No, how did you get that out of some stranger just asking me to dance?"

"Don't talk to me like that. We're going home, now." Charlie dragged him by the wrist to his car and drove home in silent anger. Cormac knew when Charlie got mad that he could get out of control. He only hoped Richard was home. When they arrived at his house he saw that the car Richard normally used to run errands was gone. It was only ten and he could be out for quite awhile.

"Fucking cunt, who the hell do you think you are to cheat on me?" Charlie yelled once they were inside.

"I didn't cheat on you Char, and I never have. Please don't call me names," Cormac tried to keep calm. He wasn't surprised when Charlie smacked him across the cheek that already had a bruise on it from earlier. He landed on the floor with a thud and hit his head on the cold tile. His vision blurred and his limbs felt like jell-o.

"Stupid slut, I'll make it so no one will ever touch you again," Charlie said. The last thing Cormac saw was the silvery blade of the knife.

~~~~~~~~~~

David came back the next day and got to work on the fountain early. Which was why he was surprised to see Richard and Cormac already awake and running.

"Good morning, David," Richard greeted him.

"Morning, Richard. How are you?" David replied.

"Alright, and you?" Richard began his work for the day, starting with caring for the plants.

"Good, so Cormac told me to talk to you about the fountain. Is there any specific design you want? Or I could just replicate the old one?" David asked. Richard sighed.

"I swear that man doesn't care about anything unless its on a piece of sheet music," Richard rolled his eyes. "Surprise me, nothing to Greek-God-like thought." Richard smiled. The two went to their separate work. Soon after his conversation with Richard, David saw Cormac walking down the large stairs. He looked tired and pissed off.

"I wouldn't get too close to him this morning, he has his days," Richard whispered while watering the flowers in the front garden. For once Cormac didn't go straight for his piano but instead went into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of scotch and a glass, and sat on the couch in the living room. He sat there facing the fireplace and stared at the pictures above it, while pouring himself glass after glass of scotch.

"Oh, one of these days, is it?" Richard sighed. He put down the hose he was using to water the plants and went inside. He saw them speak for a moment, Cormac obviously angry as usual. Richard turned and picked up a picture off of the mantle and threw it in the trash before turning and saying something to Cormac, who stared silently. A moment passed as the two looked at each other but it was broken when Cormac poured himself another glass. Richard rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in the 'I give up' motion. He stormed back outside and left the door open, before continuing to water the plants. With much more anger this time around.

David began to get back to work on the fountain. After watering the plants Richard puttered around doing small tasks, seeming to try and stay in the warmth of the morning sun. Eventually he had to go inside and make lunch. When Richard came out and told David he had made him lunch David saw Cormac still slouched in the couch in front of the fireplace.

"Isn't he eating?" David asked as they sat down to eat.

"On days like this, it's best if we just leave him alone. Things will be better for him tomorrow," Richard added without looking up. They continued to eat, making small talk, when they heard a large crash and saw Cormac storm upstairs.

"Huh, he usually waits until later to do that." Richard sighed and grabbed the broom from a closet. He came back a few minutes later with the remains of a broken bottle and a towel soaked with wasted scotch.

"At least he didn't drink the whole bottle this time," he muttered as he put away the broom and dumped the glass into the trash.

"He does this often?" David asked. Richard looked up like he had forgot David was there.

"Yes actually. Like I said, he has his days."

"And this is a bad day?" David asked.

"Oh no this is actually about a six on a scale of 1 to 10." Richard nodded his head as he sat back down to finish eating.

"Jesus, what the hell is a 10?" David laughed.

"You hear about the earthquakes in Japan?" Richard joked. They chuckled quietly before the silence got awkward with the obvious question in the air.

"What happened to him?" David asked, laughter gone. Richard stared at him for a moment, as if trying to decide if he should tell him or not.

"That's not my story to tell," he finally answered. David just nodded in understanding. After eating, David thanked Richard for lunch and Richard told him if he needed anything to find him. David headed out to get back to work on the fountain.

He looked up at the beautiful house. The large windows all had their curtains drawn, but were perfectly clean, even though they were never used. Richard kept them clean just in case.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

David returned home that evening and paid the babysitter. Aiden continued to rant about how he was old enough not to need one and David brought up the trespassing thing, which shut him up quickly. After making dinner they watched a movie before Aiden started falling asleep. While carrying him up to bed Aiden woke up.

"Dad?" he said, voice filled with sleep.

"Yes?"

"What is Cormac like?" Aiden asked.

"He's... troubled." David chose his words carefully.

"Is that like being mad?" Aiden asked.

"No, not exactly. Troubled is when... something happens that you can't control. Causing you problems. Making you worried or angry," David tried to explain.

"Why is he troubled?" Aiden began to fall asleep again.

"I don't know." David looked in the direction of the large mansion.

"I wish I knew. Maybe we could help him."

"Some people don't want help," David said, still staring out the window.

"Why not?" Aiden was nearly asleep now.

"Some people aren't ready to be helped yet. It takes time," David said. When his son asked no more questions he looked down to see that he had fallen asleep. David stood and crawled back into his own bed.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Jesus Christ," Cormac heard. He tried to open his eyes but found one of them swollen shut. He hurt everywhere. And his one good eye was blurry and covered in something sticky. He didn't need eyes to know who had spoken though. He would have recognized that Czech accent anywhere. He worked to be able to see and when he did he saw Richard standing before him. His skin was pale and he looked like he was going to be sick.

"Richard," he spoke and was rewarded with a coughing fit.

"Quiet, don't speak. We need to get you to a hospital," he felt Richards arms under him. Picking up his small frame and pushing the door open with a shoulder.

"Can't see," he coughed.

"No shit?" he could hear the panic in his voice. He felt himself being laid down in the back seat. After a drive that seemed like eternity he felt the car stop and Richard pick him up again. He heard the sounds of a hospital and Richard's frantic voice.

"Can we get some help over here?" he shouted. He heard orderlies and doctors speaking.

"What happened?" a woman's voice asked.

"I don't know, I found him like this. If I had to guess, though, it would be his boyfriend. He's an abusive asshole," Richard cursed.

"You know him?" the woman asked.

"Yes."

"What's his name?"

"Cormac McCarthy."

"Okay, we will let you know how he after we assess him, but you have to stay here," he heard the woman say. He no longer felt the familiar presence of Richard.

"Cormac, we're going to take care of you okay?" he heard, but her voice was fading fast. Soon he drifted off into nothingness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cormac sat up in bed.

"Fucking nightmares," he cursed and rubbed his forehead. He stood up and went down to the kitchen. He poured himself another drink even though his throbbing headache told him to do otherwise. He swallowed it quickly before pouring himself another.

"For Christ's sake, Sir. You have to stop drinking like that," Richard said from behind him.

"I'll do what I want. Leave me alone, Richard," Cormac growled.

"Yeah, I did that last time you told me to and that's how you ended up with the scars. Do you really want to replay all of that?" Richard crossed his arms. Cormac stayed silent.

"Cormac, you're my best friend. I know you're pissed and you have every right to be. But it's been five years. It's time to move on. Find someone new, someone who will treat you right. Someone who doesn't just want you for your money or to use you as a punching bag or a lovely tool to sharpen their knives," Richard said.

"Quiet!" Cormac screamed. Richard stayed silent for a moment.

"You know I will always be here for you. Even if one day you just stopped paying me, I would still be here. But there's only so much I can do. Eventually a friend's duties end where a lover's duties begin. I can't cover both bases, Cormac," Richard continued.

"You seem to be doing a good enough job," Cormac whispered.

"Yes, God knows I'm that good in bed," Richard did a stereotypical gay voice which made Cormac spit his drink over the count.

"Now I have to clean that up, see what you put me through," Richard said in his usual voice. He grabbed a rag and began cleaning up the mess. Cormac sighed.

"I hate my life," he said quietly. Richard put down the rag and hugged him tightly.

"I know you do. And I wish that I could fix that. But like I said, my duties end here," he shrugged and headed back upstairs to bed. Cormac stood in the dark kitchen for a moment longer before taking the bottle and going to sit on his couch in front of the fireplace.

~~~~~~~~~~~

David walked up the steps to the house two days later to talk to Richard about ideas for the fountain. The old one had already been removed and now the new one just needed building. Halfway up the steps he heard screaming and things crashing. He saw Richard in the window rubbing his temples. Richard looked up and saw David. He seemed to look into the living room before quickly dashing to the door and stepping out, closing the door behind him.

"I think it would be best if you came back another day," Richard said. The sound of wood splintering came from inside the house. Richard flinched and sighed.

"That was a six hundred dollar coffee table," he whispered.

"What the hell is going on?" David asked.

"Remember how we talked about the scale of 1 to 10 and the earthquakes and what not?" Richard asked. David nodded.

"Today is about a 9.5".. David nodded his head and turned to walk back down the driveway.

"You going to be okay? He isn't going to set you on fire or anything while I'm gone is he?" he turned and asked. Richard nodded his head and waved his hand in the 'go' gesture.

"I'll be fine, nothing to worry about. I handle him and his rampages all the time," Richard smiled. The sound of two glass bottles hitting the front door were heard.

"Take me with you," Richard begged and chased after David.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They sat in David's living room discussing fountain plans when Richard looked at his watch.

"Damn, it's already seven. I need to get back home. Lord knows the man can't cook for himself. He could be in a house full of food and would starve to death," Richard rolled his eyes. He grabbed his vest which he had taken off an hour ago and put it back on, along with his white gloves.

"Well, I'm glad we got something done today," David looked down at the design they had picked out.

"I think it will look fantastic." Richard smiled.

"Call me if you need anything, fountain details, help with anything, shopping...." he looked up at Richard, "...animal control," Richard smiled and laughed.