by Celia Styles
Duncan clenched his jaw. “Damn it, Fin! If you want to throw away something great because other people would think differently of you, then go ahead. Maybe it’s about time for us to part ways anyway.” He turned and stalked from the room, slamming the door behind him.
Fin crumbled, covering his face with his hands and squeezing his eyes closed. A small sob escaped his mouth, and he sucked in a deep breath to make sure he had control of himself before he straightened and turned for the door.
Damn other people. Damn what his family may think. The pain in his chest when Duncan talked about leaving was enough to jar him back into reality. The reality that the way he felt was not wrong. Something so natural could never be wrong.
“Duncan!” he called, rushing to the door and stumbling into the hallway. Duncan did not answer, and Fin panicked as he raced for the front door. He couldn’t leave. Please don’t leave me.
When he reached the living room, he found Duncan, standing beside the front door with a hopeful gleam in his eyes that was illuminated by the accumulating tears that had not yet fallen.
“Don’t play with me, Fin. If you are in, you are in. If you aren’t sure… let me go.” He tried to stay strong, but couldn’t keep the slight waver from his voice.
Fin took a deep breath and steeled himself before he spoke. He would need all the strength he could get to embark on this journey.
“Duncan, I love you. I want you.”
“But are you willing to fight for me? No matter what happens?” Duncan asked, voice raising with emotion, daring him to deny him a truthful answer.
They watched each other for a moment before Fin spoke. They searched each other, looking for the truth in the others’ eyes. Looking for the strength they needed in each other.
“I will burn this world to the ground if it tries to keep us apart.”
Joanna sniffled, wiping her eyes after concluding the last chapter. With a quick skim for serious grammatical errors, she smiled and submitted it. Her readers were going to love this new installment. She could only imagine the feedback she would be getting soon. With a breathy laugh, she pushed herself from her desk and went to the bathroom to clean her face of the tears she shed as she wrote.
Her fans expected emotion, and she was more than capable of providing it for them. As the author of the most popular Fin and Duncan fanfiction on the internet, Joanna had a responsibility to keep her reputation intact by making her fans happy. It just so happened that she knew this particular chapter would stir quite the positive reaction.
Happily, she cleansed her dark skin of the tears of love that Fin and Duncan’s story created before looking at her meager collection of makeup and considering her options. She could attempt to apply it—after all it was a special occasion—or she could just go natural, like every other day of her life.
“No,” she told herself firmly in the mirror, “this is the most important day of your life. You will look your best.” She picked up her eyeliner with determination and placed it above her eyelashes on her eyelid.
Nearly eight failed attempts later, she decided to stick with eye shadow. How hard could eye shadow possibly be?
Half a bottle of makeup remover later, she decided that makeup was for sorcerers, and laypeople like her were not worthy of their powers. So she decided to just wear a nice dress instead. Makeup wouldn’t make or break the day for her.
So instead of doing up her face, she slipped into a yellow sundress that hugged her body in all the right places. And those places happened to be her boobs. She had very large breasts, size G to be exact. The yellow dress was ordered special for her, designed to fit her like a glove and still look classy. The yellow made her milk chocolate skin glow, and brought out the lighter tones on her eyes. The skirt flared out around her hips and fell to her knees, made especially to avoid being too tight in the butt and thigh area.
Finding clothes to fit her was not easy, considering the fact that her waist was a size ten, her hips and ass were a size eighteen, and her breasts were a size back-pain. Sure, Nicki Minaj made it look easy, but even she didn’t have this kind of a body. And Joanna’s was natural! No butt implants here! The poor girl had to order everything tailored, and that was not cheap. Suffice to say, she wore a lot of baggy shirts and XXXL leggings.
But not today.
It was big to all the local Fin and Duncan fans, the first annual Paranormal Convention. Garrett Lowry and Brandon Cavalla (the actors who played Fin and Duncan in the TV show Hunters) were scheduled[Author1] to be there for a Q&A session, and Joanna was not about to miss it. This was a dream come true for her.
Since the first airing of Hunters, Joanna had been on the edge of her seat in anticipation of the next episode. Now, two seasons in and half way through the third, she was one of the four major fan club founders in the world. She was known as “Huntress” in the forums, and every true fan knew who she was. She started to write fanfiction after the first season and the wait for season two began to wear on her. It started off innocent enough, but it didn’t take long for the stories to become more adult in nature. Eventually, she copped the courage to post one of the more raunchy stories online, and that was when it all started.
Huntress was no longer just a superfan. She was a storyteller as well. Almost two years later, and she had more followers than Chloe Kardashian. She was just as expected to be at this convention as Garrett and Brandon were. What kind of a superfan would she be if she didn’t go?
A bad one, that’s what.
Realizing she still had three hours before she needed to leave, Joanna lay back on her bed and closed her eyes. Like every other time she finished a particularly sexy chapter in her book, she was worked up. Without meaning to, she began to think about the scene leading up to the end of the chapter: the hot, wild sex between two men starved for each other.
He arched his back and hissed as Duncan’s fingers dug into his hips, pulling his ass against the bulge in his jeans.
“I am going to do to you what I have always wanted to, Fin. I’m not holding back this time.”
Fin shivered and nodded, letting Duncan know that he was willing. He wanted it.
Duncan shoved Fin forward, making him fall to the bed on his stomach, and pressed forward to straddle him under his ass. Fin moaned when Duncan raked his fingernails down his back the way he knew he liked it.
“Duncan,” Fin gasped when he felt Duncan pulling his cock out of his jeans. Duncan didn’t say a word. He just pressed forward and slowly sunk himself deep into Fin.
Joanna woke with a jerk. She looked around, confused for a moment, before wildly checking the clock. She must have fallen asleep and stayed asleep for four hours because she was an hour late for the convention. Eyes bugged out of her head, she scrambled out of bed and ran down to where her car was parked in the parking garage of her complex.
“How could I let this happen?” she exclaimed, “Stupid, stupid, stupid!”
At red lights on her way to the convention, Joanna checked her messages and cringed when all of the inquiring fans’ questions of, “Where are you?” and, “I can’t wait to see you,” began to pile up like porn stars in Charlie Sheen’s living room. She sent a quick message to all of her followers at the next red light and sped the rest of the way to the convention center.
*
Despite being late, the day was going very well. Joanna met some of her fans and basked in the attention they gave her. None of them mentioned her tardiness, which Joanna was grateful for. She was embarrassed that she let time get away from her on such an important day.
It was after lunch that it happened.
Garrett and Brandon showed up. They were surrounded by fans, but Joanna saw their beautiful faces anyway, and she knew it was almost time for their Q&A with the fans. In order to get a good seat, Joanna made her way into the conference room early. She took her seat and waited. It was an hour before the conference was set to begin, but the seats were filled within twenty minutes of Joanna sitting down.
/> “Are you going to ask questions?” the girl next to Joanna asked, eyes bright with excitement.
“Of course! I have a few ready, but I may ask something completely different when the time comes.” She shrugged, barely able to contain her excitement.
She could not put into words what it meant to her to be able to meet these men. Without them and the characters they played, Joanna would still have nothing. It was when she began to get attention for her writing that she started to come out of her shell. She finally realized that she was good at something, that there was not something wrong with her that made everything she touched decay. Because of the inspiration these two characters struck in her, she was finally happy with who she was.
The conference began, and Garrett and Brandon walked out onto the stage with big smiles on their faces. Once they were settled in their chairs behind their microphones, the cheering from the fans in the crowd calmed down.
“Hey, I’m Garrett--”
“--And I’m Brandon--”
“--And we would love to answer some of your questions. But first, let me thank you all for being so supportive of our careers.”
Brandon leaned forward. “We wouldn’t be who we are today if it weren’t for every one of you.”
Garrett invited the first questioner to stand and speak into the microphone that the staff rushed to give her. They answered each question in stride, making jokes when appropriate and smiling at every one of the people that stood to ask questions.
How beautiful they were.
Joanna found herself truly mesmerized by their charm. Garrett’s full lips, soulful grey eyes, and stalky build made for quite the combination. His dark hair, held away from his face by a leather band, looked soft enough that Helen of Troy would envy him. One strand of his hair fell into his face halfway through the interview, and Joanna watched with drooling fascination as he swiped it out of his eyes each time it shifted from behind his ears.
She always liked Garrett more than Brandon. His character called to her, as did Garret himself. His personality was genuine, and in a fake world, that is quite rare.
Though, of course, Brandon was not bad looking himself. He was taller, blonde hair cut close to his head, piercing green eyes roaming the room with interest, polar opposite of Garrett though he was just as built. Much to Joanna’s gratitude.
More times than she liked to admit to herself, she found herself fantasizing about them. Both of them. With her. She dreamed of being stretched into complex positions while they used her body until she could no longer move or scream.
She found herself stuck in such fantasies as the interview went on, only to be brought out of them when an uncharacteristically dry laugh escaped from Garrett’s lips. She tuned in on the situation, noting that a girl was standing with the microphone clutched between her hands and a shy smile on her face. Garrett looked at Brandon before shaking his head and looking down at the table.
“No, and we don’t care for them. Why would we want to read about someone’s sick fantasies? Especially when they are regarding us. Honestly, contemplating and obsessing over the sex life of two fictional characters is a disgusting and pointless way to spend one’s time.”
Joanna took a moment to process what she just heard. She was frozen in place. She felt the eyes boring into her from all over the conference room, and the extra pressure she felt because of it was not helping her brain process the situation very well. She vaguely recognized that the interview was still going on, but to her it was over.
Everything was over.
In one fell swoop, Garrett had taken everything she built for herself and crushed it. She felt tears well in her eyes. She was so humiliated, so shocked, so hurt. She felt her heart constrict, her face flush with embarrassment, her lips begin to quiver.
She had to get out of there. She stood to leave, turning towards the end of the row and attempting to make her way out of the room that was quickly closing in on her. But an infuriatingly melodic voice stopped her.
“Yes, in the yellow dress. What is your question?” Garrett was speaking to her.
She looked around at all the expectant eyes, some knowing who she was, some not. An attendant pressed a microphone in her hand and scurried back to wait in the isle. She held the microphone in her hands, wishing she was anywhere but where she was. She did not want to speak in fear of crying. She did not want to look up at her two former idols for fear of exploding in anger.
She looked at them anyway. The patient smile on Garrett’s face was so unassuming. He had no idea what he just said. He had no idea that he just crushed Joanna’s world. He was just going on with the interview like nothing happened.
But she would make sure he knew exactly what he did.
She straightened and glared at him, making his smile falter slightly. He looked at Brandon, whose smile was gone completely as he evaluated her from his perch on his high horse. Joanna fumed.
“When I discovered your show, I thought I discovered something wonderful. When I started to do more research about the two of you, I thought it was too good to be true, and apparently I was right. I wish I hadn’t wasted so much precious time on such privileged bigots when I could have done something much more substantial with my life. Like lick battery acid.” Ignoring the surprised looks on the faces she once worshiped, Joanna turned and marched down the row of deadly silent fans. No one spoke or moved as she handed the microphone to the attendant and made her way out of the conference room.
She was not going to stay a moment longer. She was finished with Hunters. She wanted nothing to do with Garrett or Brandon ever again. She felt empty. For so long she relied on this show to keep her sane. When she lost everything, the show was all she had to latch onto. And she did. Now, to be told that it was a waste of time by the two men who were the faces of the show… She just didn’t want to be there anymore.
She was just reaching the exit when she was stopped by security. Her first reaction was that they were going to detain her for speaking out to Garrett and Brandon, so she lashed out at them.
“Get the fuck out of my way! I can say whatever I want, I am a grown woman and have the freedom to do so! Now let me leave and I won’t bother anyone here ever again!”
The security guard caught her by the arm as she tried to walk by and spun her around to face him. “Ma’am, please come with us. Garrett and Brandon have requested to meet you.”
Joanna paused for a moment before telling them to go fuck themselves. This was a chance for her to meet Garrett and Brandon in person. No matter how angry with them she may be, she was still a fan, and the opportunity was too good to pass up. Though, of course, she would be telling them off most of the time. Suddenly, she felt she needed to do this. She needed them to see the error of their ways. She needed them to understand.
“Fine,” she huffed, and allowed security to lead her through the convention center and down a stairway that lead to the basement, where the stars were given individual dressing rooms. Once in front of a door labeled “Hunters”, the security guard knocked.
Joanna made the attempt to calm herself. She was meant to be angry at these people! Fangirling is not acceptable before tearing someone a new asshole. She had to be strong! She had to be a powerful woman.
When the door opened, the stone expression on Joanna’s face crumbled away, and suddenly she looked like a deer in headlights. There stood Garrett. He smiled at security before looking at Joanna with a guarded expression.
“Come in,” he said, stepping aside to give her room to enter.
She clenched her jaw and forced herself to step forward. She had to be strong. These men needed to see that they couldn’t say things like what Garret said just ten minutes ago.
The room was bare except for a couch and a few chairs. Brandon sat on the couch, arm extended over the back of it, ankle propped on his knee. He did not look at her as she made her way to a chair and settled into it. Garrett sat next to Brandon on the couch and then both sets of eyes were on her.
>
Joanna had to fight to not fidget.
“What did we do to make you so angry?” Garrett asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees.
Joanna suddenly forgot her uneasiness as the memory of Garrett’s words washed over her. And with that she knew exactly what to say to them.
“Why you would be uncomfortable with erotica written about the characters you play is beyond me, especially when the homoerotic subtext in the show is clearly your doing. Act it differently, and people like me would have had no leg to stand on. But instead, you alienate a huge portion of your fan base without blinking an eye.” She scoffed and shook her head as she looked away. “I’ve always been fanciful, I know that. But my imagination was the only good thing in my life.”
She stood and began to pace as she spoke, lost in her memories. “My parents hated each other, and then they died. And my aunt and uncle hated each other, and then they died. I didn’t grow up in a very hospitable environment when it came to learning about love and relationships, you know? I couldn’t even make friends! And then this show was in my life and I was doing something that drowned out the shit from my past that shaped who I was! And when I started to be more open with it, I actually made some friends! And all because I wrote some gay erotica about the two hottest actors of our generation!” She turned and looked at them with wide eyes.
They both looked astounded and lost. They didn’t follow what she was saying because she was speaking so fast, so they were just hearing her jabbering away about unrelated topics and pacing like a wild woman. Truthfully, they both became quite dubious of her mental state.
Garrett tried to speak, but Joanna cut him off again with another equally as inarticulate rant. A few moments, later she was slumped back in her chair and glaring at the floor with her arms crossed over her chest, having just finished a very impassioned speech. Garrett succeeded in speaking this time.
“What is your name?” he asked slowly.
Joanna sighed and shook her head. “I’m sorry… Sometimes when I am very passionate about something, I lose sight of everything around me. I am not unstable.”