
Even meeting Dimitri on Tuesday for lunch hadn't assuaged any of his fears. It had gone uneventfully but Ethan could still feel the monster inside him, making his skin crawl. It had been quiet though but Ethan had the feeling that Venom was biding his time. It frightened him because, as stubborn as Ethan could be and as much as he disliked some people, he never wanted to hurt anyone, least of all those he did like. He still felt that Dimitri should stay away from him, no matter how much he didn't want him to. Guilt also continued to plague him and that gnawing sensation made him reckless. So reckless in fact, that as he'd sat hunkered down in his car at the campus Theo worked at, he'd been caught (and run off) by campus security. The guy was probably half his age and he'd given Ethan the dirtiest look while doing his best to look down on him. He'd felt Venom stir at that and the monster finally spoke. Can I eat him? Ethan's response had been an emphatic no.
That had been Wednesday. Ethan knew he'd have to stay away from the campus for a while or risk the cops being called. That was frustrating to say the least; he wasn't hurting anyone and in fact, had no intention to. That was beside the point though, apparently. He needed to quit watching Theo but that was easier said than done. It had become something of an addiction and it had Ethan wondering if that's how it was for true stalkers. Were they addicted to going after whoever they were stalking? Not that Ethan was going after Theo or anything of the sort. He was still in denial, still certain that what he was doing was harmless and in fact that he was just making sure that Theo was good, happy. Which he very clearly was and without Ethan in his life. That's perhaps what stung the most; Theo was happy, with no thought whatsoever of Ethan. But then that wasn't surprising considering how things had ended between them. Ethan regretted that as much as he regretted anything.
It was Thursday now, and Ethan was parked a few houses down from Theo's, waiting for him to get home. There was a niggling in the back of his mind, telling him he shouldn't be doing that, that he shouldn't be there. He ignored it, of course, ignored it and continued watching the empty street. Theo would come from the opposite direction and Ethan would see when he did. Sure enough, light glinted off the bike Theo was on as he pedaled down the street toward his house. Ethan had sat in his car a few houses down before, so he didn't think anything of lowering in his seat, at least he didn't until Theo's bike continued past his house. A bit of panic spiked when Ethan realized that Theo would roll right past him and he quickly sunk as low in the driver's seat as he could and prayed that Theo wouldn't see him. It was hopeless really, there was no way Theo could miss him, and yet, Ethan hoped he would.

Returning to San Francisco was a whirlwind of his birthday and returning to full time work, and it was always busy starting a new semester, and Theo always ended up a little stressed — and now he was sad, too, missing Kit desperately throughout the day. He'd gotten so used to spending so much of his waking hours with him that it was strange, now, and frustrating, but not something he couldn't deal with. And in the end, the weirdness he felt wasn't due to that — it was just an impossible and uneasy feeling of being watched, just like he'd had for weeks and weeks, only dissipating when they were in Japan. And for a while, Theo hadn't been sure why.
Until, of course, he'd stepped out of his classroom to see Ethan fucking Beck getting yelled at by campus security. Theo wasn't an idiot. He attempted to make an excuse for it — maybe Ethan was working a case. But it was all too convenient, all fit too strangely well, and he'd gone home from school feeling sick, and strange, and furious. It couldn't be — could it? It couldn't. It didn't make any sense. They barely talked, not since Theo had made it very clear he was uncomfortable, but this?
He didn't want to panic, or fear too greatly, but he couldn't shake the sense of something deeply wrong as he returned home from work the next day. He sailed beyond the entrance to his apartment, convincing himself that it was just anxiety, that he was just still scarred and scared from his experience with the symbiote. Theo scanned the area, the back of his neck prickling urgently: danger, danger, danger. And then — just as he was about to turn, to tell himself that it was ridiculous, that he was just looking for reasons to be upset, that was when he saw Ethan struggling to lower himself into his driver's seat.
Theo's blood went cold and he screeched his bike to a halt in the middle of the quiet street, leaned his foot on the ground and stared at Ethan's car like he'd been punched. He clenched his jaw, dismounted from his bike and took a tentative step closer.
"I can see you in there."

Part of it was that he was punishing himself but another part genuinely still cared about Theo and wanted to make sure he was okay. Of course, the whole watching him was a selfish way to go about it. He could just talk to Theo. Not that he expected Theo would actually talk to him, tell him if something was wrong. Even watching him, Ethan likely wouldn’t glean anything was wrong unless he got close to him and that wasn’t going to happen. Ethan was a fool but he wasn’t an idiot. And yet, the frustrations of his own life had him being less cautious and, had ultimately led him here, to being caught. That was what was happening: Ethan was caught red-handed and there was no way to plausibly deny that.
It was much too hot to sit in the car with the windows up. Closed in, it would be like a sauna, so Ethan had all four windows down which only made it that much more likely that Theo would see him. There also was no way he could fully lower himself in the driver’s seat lest he lay it down and lay back on it but it was too late for that even. And then Theo was there, speaking to him and Ethan winced. Still, he waited for a beat before he rose back up just a little, still hunkered down some as though he were scolded, or, you know, caught doing something he shouldn’t have been. He offered Theo a weak smile.
“Hey… Theo.” He didn’t know what to say, what to do. He silently cursed himself. He should have driven off as soon as Theo continued past his house but then it was too late anyway. By the time Ethan would have gotten the car started, Theo would have already been there at his door.

"What are you doing here?" He asked finally, his voice strung tight with tension, adrenaline racing through him and his heart beating hard. Just being near Ethan was setting his spider-senses off again. Warning, warning, danger. Not — imperative, immediate danger, not like something was about to lunge out and attack him, but it was there. He hadn't felt that about Ethan specifically before. Discomfort, yes — the desire to just put their past awful relationship behind them, to see Ethan grown and matured and happy, away from him, yes. But Theo felt sick standing near him now, his knuckles white on the handlebar of his bike.
"Don't lie, either." Theo snapped in shortly after he'd spoken the first time, with every intention of getting in before Ethan could attempt to make some kind of an excuse for why he was hiding in his car a few houses down from Theo's block of apartments. "What the fuck are you doing here, Ethan?"

Once again, Ethan winced. He should have known that if Theo didn’t demand the truth, that he’d see past any lie that Ethan could think of. But at the… venom in Theo’s voice the second time he voiced the question, the symbiote inside Ethan stirred to life almost as though it were sensing a threat or something. It didn’t speak to Ethan but he could feel it just under the surface. That feeling made his skin crawl and Ethan was suddenly restless. Instead of answering Theo’s question right away, Ethan pushed open the door to his car as much as he could with Theo standing there, and then once Theo had moved, Ethan was pushing out of the car and standing to his feet.
Ethan had felt safer in the car like it was a cocoon of sorts, but it also felt claustrophobic at the same time and that feeling in the pit of his stomach made him want to get out and move. He left the door open though -perhaps so he could make a quick getaway- and then turned to Theo, the height difference allowing him to look down on Theo just slightly. Ethan swallowed again and shrugged. “I was just… checking to make sure you’re okay.” Not entirely a lie but not the whole truth either. How could he tell Theo that he’d been following him around for months and rarely went a week without watching him at least once? He’d sound crazy, nut house crazy, or worse.

And, and the end of the day, he was worried for himself. His relationship with Ethan had been rocky at best and soul-crushing at worst, and no matter how kind he'd been to Ethan, how often he'd offered an olive branch to him — it had always come from a place of believing that they were both on the same page. That it was altogether over, that they wouldn't even maintain much of a friendship, that it had been a mistake to begin with, and that Ethan would be happier with someone else. Someone not Theo. He wasn't to know that Ethan had no intention of 'winning him back' or whatever it was that had him hiding in his car outside his apartment, but Theo's blood had run cold and hot at once.
"That's —" Theo sputtered. Ethan's answer was a shock, ridiculous and senseless at the same time. "What do you even mean? I'm fine. I've been fine. How long have you been out here?" He meant that night in particular, but now — Theo's stomach tightened and his expression shifted, realization dawning along it. "How long have you been checking on me, Ethan?"

Indeed, Ethan didn’t watch Theo in hopes of winning him back. He wasn’t that much of a fool. If anything, part of watching Theo, seeing him happy without Ethan, was a punishment of sorts, kind of rubbing salt in the wound of what he’d lost and would likely never have again. For whatever reason, Ethan believed that Theo had been his last chance at a real relationship with someone. Oh, there’d been a handful of flings or one-night stands afterward but no one that made him think anything would come of them. Even as hopeful as he was about Dimitri, Ethan was convinced that something would inevitably fuck it all up, something of his doing. If only he knew that this very thing, clinging to the past, watching -stalking- Theo would be the demise of that too. Ethan didn’t know if he would have even been able to stop even knowing it though. There was something that continued pulling him toward Theo, more so in the past few weeks that he couldn’t quite understand.
Ethan was starting to panic. Theo wasn’t calming down and it was making him anxious. A hand darted out to rest on the door of his car, ready to dive in at a moment’s notice like the coward he was. He swore he could sense disdain from the creature inside him but he pushed it aside and focused on Theo, trying to form an answer to his question. “I-” What did he even say though? He was sure Theo would see through a lie and he wasn’t even sure what to say for a lie. Anything he said would sound bad, perhaps every bit as bad as the truth was: that he’d been watching Theo for months now. “For a little while,” he managed, adding a slight shrug as though to make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal. “I just want to make sure you’re okay,” he repeated, sounding very much like a broken record. “Things are… kind of crazy right now.” As if that was explanation enough.

The excuse meant nothing to Theo and only served to frustrate him further. The entire thing was horrifying — too much to properly process in that moment, and Theo's fingers curled into fists, nails digging into the meat of his palms. "I'm not your responsibility." He hissed through gritted teeth. "I haven't been for a long time. Don't you understand that? I don't need you looking out for me. This is — Ethan, this is wrong. This is a violation of safety, my privacy. My life doesn't involve you anymore. It hasn't for a long time."
Anger and horror had mixed in together now and Theo blinked away some infuriated tears and a muscle in his jaw tightened. "How dare you. I've felt like someone's been watching me for months. And it's been you this whole time? After everything you put me through when we dated? This isn't fair, Ethan. Jesus, what's wrong with you?"

Ethan’s feelings for Theo weren’t romantic and thus he didn’t entirely think he was crossing any lines. Oh, he knew he was doing so watching him but he wasn’t endangering Theo or anything and he was quick to insist as much. “I’m not putting you in danger, Theo. The opposite in fact. I’m making sure you’re not in danger.” That was what he told himself anyway. “I just… I needed to do this,” he said softly, not knowing how else to explain himself, to explain the urge to continuously watch Theo from afar.
Seeing the tears in Theo’s eyes had Ethan letting go of the car door and taking a step closer to him. Almost just as quickly though, he was blanching and taking that step back. “I didn’t mean any of it. I’ve told you sorry I was. I still am. Not a day goes by that I don’t regret my behavior.” He didn’t even flinch when Theo implied that something was wrong with him. Instead, he reached for Theo, hand landing on his forearm. “I’m sorry.” He didn’t promise not to watch Theo again. Somehow he couldn’t.

"You're sorry?" Theo snapped, voice pitching a little higher in near delirium. He was vibrating with barely withheld tension, trying valiantly to keep his temper in check. It was so rarely lost that when it began to bubble incoherently it was sometimes too difficult to rein in again.
"You can't do this." He shook his head, taking half a step back into his heel, ready to turn and grab his bike and sprint away. "You absolutely cannot do this anymore. Do you understand? Do not contact me. Do not watch me, don't come anywhere near me. You were at my work, Ethan. Have you been watching Kit, too? Gigi?" There was fear mixed in with the heat in his gaze as he asked him.

Ethan bristled when Theo repeated his apology, the incredulity clear in his voice. Did Theo really think that Ethan wasn’t sorry? Well… maybe he wasn’t entirely wrong. Ethan was sorry he’d upset Theo, maybe even sorry he’d been caught, but he wasn’t really sorry for what he’d done. Grinding his teeth together in frustration, Ethan gave a sharp shake of his head. He could still feel Venom swarming just below the surface eager and waiting to be let loose. Ethan needed to get a grip on his own anger, he knew he did, or he really could endanger Theo.
“I wasn’t doing anything wrong,” he snapped back without thought at the mention of Ethan at Theo’s place of employment. “You know I’d never get you fired or in any kind of trouble.” He hoped Theo knew that. When Theo asked if he’d been watching his boyfriend and cousin, Ethan just scoffed and maybe Venom was creeping into his consciousness because he practically snarled his reply to that. “I don’t give a shit about them.” And that was the truth, wasn’t it? He didn’t care what happened to Kit or Gigi or any of Theo’s other friends. Not that he wished them harm but he wasn’t going to go out of his way to watch them. So maybe Ethan hadn’t moved on as much as he thought; he could say that he wanted Theo to be happy until he was blue in the face but was that true if he was happy with another man? Ethan wasn’t so sure anymore. He thought he was but Theo was making him doubt everything now.

Ethan snapping was the last straw. Theo's shoulders tightened up, his knuckles whitened, and it was all he needed to hear to do what he did next. He felt like a cornered animal, trapped and followed and stalked, and while violence was never something Theo went towards easily — this time he couldn't stop himself. I don't give a shit about them was the only precursor to Theo snapping a fist so hard and fast for Ethan's face that it might not have even been all that visible to anyone watching — of which there was nobody, thankfully — but he felt the satisfying, terrible crunch of Ethan's nose underneath his fist and didn't even flinch.
A long time ago now, that punch would've hurt his hand. Now he only vibrated with more strength, swinging around and taking a sharp step back to only prevent himself from doing more damage. In a ragged, fury-filled breath, Theo snarled right back at Ethan, "Stay the fuck away from me and my family."

That shock, the surprise of it all must have somehow made him vulnerable like he presumed was what happened when he’d been with Dimitri because, for the second time (thus far, and that he knew of), Venom overtook him. The black clambered in from every direction and Ethan felt like he was drowning in it until it was the symbiote that stood tall and imposing before Theo. He took the steps that Ethan had lost to stumble forward as he bared his teeth. “Can I eat him?” he asked, long, serpentine tongue licking over the rows of sharp teeth.
No! Ethan practically shouted in his head at the symbiote. Terror seized him just as it had the last time this had happened. No. There was something different about Ethan’s voice in the creature’s head, something that gave Venom pause as he faced off with Theo. And then, much to the symbiote’s surprise and disappointment, Ethan was clawing his way back to the surface. He didn’t know how he did it, didn’t know what had been different this time versus the first time, all Ethan knew as he surfaced and the black disappeared, was that he had done it. He drew in a ragged breath as though he’d just surfaced after nearly drowning. And it felt that way. “No,” he hissed, teeth ground together as blood leaked steadily from his nose. He was staring at an invisible point over Theo’s shoulder, not addressing Theo himself, but the symbiote still.

He'd always known that it was possible. Ethan was Eddie Brock, Venom. And then Venom had found him, first, and now Ethan, and — fuck. Of course. It was playing out like it had for Peter. Theo wanted to be sick. He clutched his bike, stared at Ethan, trying to decide between fight or flight. The former made sense — he needed to kick Ethan's ass, for one thing, and he needed to trap the symbiote, to get it off of him, away from him — but he remembered promises he'd made to Kit, promises Kit had made Peter make, and in that moment he wasn't sure if he could do it alone.
And then — well, then Ethan was taking control of the symbiote in a way that relieved and unnerved Theo at once.
"Jesus." Theo exhaled. He took a few steps back, still staring at Ethan in mixed horror, frustration, hurt and anger. He regretted the broken nose he'd left on Ethan's face, but only a little. "Jesus, Ethan. What happened to you?"

But then, somehow, by some miracle, Ethan was crawling his way out through the black, and then it was him once again, facing Theo. Breathless, he stumbled a step back, away from Theo. He hadn’t told anyone other than Morgan about Venom, and well, Dimitri. Ethan didn’t want Theo to know, didn’t want him to think him more of a monster. His behavior, he supposed was pretty hard to top but then Venom was pretty terrifying all on his own. Pale-faced, Ethan just stared at Theo, almost trembling from exertion as his nose throbbed and blood dripped down his face.
And then Theo was talking to him, actually communicating with him and not yelling at him to leave and never see him again and Ethan felt a little spark of… something. He’d no way of knowing what Theo was thinking or feeling in that moment but he hoped that maybe he’d be given a break, even if just a slight one. “I don’t- I don’t know. I think it’s… the shift thing,” he finally stuttered. Lifting a shaking hand, Ethan raked it through his hair. Reaching out, he steadied himself by holding onto his car door. “I should… I should go…” And yet, he only took another step back but made no move to get into his car, eyes still watching Theo closely.

"Yes," Theo hissed. "You need to go." He couldn't – wouldn't — help, this time. Ethan needed to figure it out on his own. It was too dangerous for Theo, and he was too hurt — and it was dangerous for his loved ones, too. He wouldn't put them at risk. "You have to get the fuck out of here and do not come back. If I see you where you're not supposed to be I'm getting a restraining order."
With tears stinging at his eyes again — distressed and angry and heartbroken from all of it — Theo whirled away, grabbed his bike, and bolted back towards his apartment. His bike ended up left abandoned on the pavement so he could websling his way up to his fire escape, too quickly and abruptly for anyone to follow — and so he could twist around and make sure that Ethan — and Venom — hadn't. With another sharp glare, Theo disappeared into his window, and didn't look back.