Nikolai taunts Brandon, who feels repulsed and overwhelmed by the sensation of being touched by Nikolai’s bloody hands. Nikolai is amused by Brandon’s confrontational attitude and posh accent. Brandon strikes Nikolai with a branch and flees, only to be cornered by Nikolai and another Heathen. Nikolai grabs Brandon in a chokehold and drags him away from the game, tackling him to the ground and pinning him.

Brandon fights back until he’s forced to tap out. Nikolai releases the chokehold but remains on top of him, making humiliating comments. Brandon escapes again, but Nikolai stops him by revealing that he was the one who sent the texts, confirming that Landon isn’t in danger. He leads Brandon to a small house on the property, where he pulls him onto his lap just as Brandon’s younger sister, Glyn, enters the room with another Heathen. Mortified, Brandon freezes until they leave.

Nikolai admits that he fabricated the threat against Landon simply to get Brandon onto his lap. Furious, Brandon shoves him away. When Jeremy Volkov, the Heathens’ leader, appears, Nikolai suggests that Brandon should become a member. Seeing his chance, Brandon runs away.

The perspective shifts to Nikolai, who reflects on his adventurous sexuality and his many sexual partners. Following the initiation, he arranged a foursome but was shocked to find himself unable to get an erection for the first time in his life. He realizes that this disinterest began after his encounter with Brandon and that he only becomes aroused now when thinking about Brandon on his lap.

He dismisses this, as he finds Brandon too uptight and arrogant and doesn’t pursue straight men. He reveals that his motive for luring Brandon was to retaliate against him for distracting him during a recent fight with Landon. He was intrigued by Brandon’s unexpected combination of defiance and submission. Later, his friend Jeremy and his cousins Killian and Gareth Carson arrive. Nikolai confesses his sexual frustration and quizzes them on their own sexuality to better understand his chances with Brandon, who identifies as straight. Jeremy is straight, Killian is bisexual, and Gareth reluctantly confesses that while he has always thought of himself as straight, he has begun to feel an attraction toward one unnamed man. Nikolai wonders whether Brandon, like Gareth, might discover desires he didn’t know he had.

A week later, Nikolai goes to Royal Elite early in the morning to spy on Brandon as he begins his morning run. Brandon begins his run at 5:30 every morning, which Nikolai knows because he follows Brandon’s Instagram. He runs behind Brandon, debating what to do, and then catches up to him and whispers, “Miss me?”

The perspective shifts to that of Brandon in the same moment. He reflects on his highly structured life, which he maintains through rigid daily routines to keep his anxiety under control. He’s on his 5:30 am run when Nikolai ambushes him. Shirtless and grinning, Nikolai calls him “Lotus Flower” and relentlessly tries to engage him in conversation.

Brandon attempts to ignore Nikolai with his AirPods and by running faster, but Nikolai easily keeps pace. When Brandon still refuses to acknowledge him, Nikolai tackles him to the ground and pins him down, taunting him about trying to run away. Brandon frees himself and demands to be left alone, repeatedly stating that he’s straight. Undeterred, Nikolai continues to flirt and invade his personal space. Feeling overwhelmed and like his routine has been shattered, Brandon shoves Nikolai and sprints back to his mansion to escape.

Nikolai has made it his new mission to join Brandon on his morning runs to provoke a reaction from the stoic man. In an interior monologue, he admits to being sexually obsessed with Brandon, finding that he can now become aroused only by remembering their physical confrontations. On the third morning, he hides and watches as a woman, Clara, arrives and passionately kisses Brandon.

Nikolai becomes intensely jealous. He notices that Brandon seems robotic and unengaged in the kiss until Brandon spots him watching from the trees. Brandon then deepens the kiss, but his eyes remain wide open and locked on Nikolai. In response, Nikolai pointedly adjusts his own erection to show Brandon the effect he has on him. Brandon gets a visible erection himself and abruptly breaks away from Clara. As Clara professes her love, a furious Nikolai leaves, resolving to get payback.

A day later, Nikolai is still spiraling over the incident with Clara. He has been sending Brandon unanswered messages on Instagram for days. He finally gets a reply, “Stop bugging me or I’ll block you” (73), which he finds intriguing, as he believes that the fact that Brandon hasn’t blocked him suggests mixed feelings. Soon after, he learns that his cousin Killian has been attacked and is upstairs in his room.

Nikolai goes to check on him and is surprised to find Brandon there, along with his sister, Glyn, and cousin Gareth. Brandon had found the injured Killian and brought him to the mansion. Nikolai immediately begins taunting Brandon, who tries to leave. Nikolai follows him into the hall and confronts him about Clara, accusing Brandon of getting an erection while looking at him, not her. The accusation angers Brandon; he shoves Nikolai against a pillar and chokes him. Thrilled by this loss of control, Nikolai overpowers Brandon, pinning him to the opposite wall. Overwhelmed by the intensity, Nikolai licks Brandon’s jaw and bites his throat, causing Brandon to groan. As Nikolai leans in to kiss him, Brandon shoves him away and calls him a “disgusting prick.” Enraged by the insult, Nikolai punches Brandon, knocking him down, and tells him to get out.

Two weeks later, Brandon is still fixated on his confrontation with Nikolai. He has sent unanswered apology texts, trying to explain that his insult wasn’t due to antigay bias but a reaction to being touched without consent. The incident has disrupted his life and his art; instead of his usual controlled landscapes, he has been painting a chaotic abstract of red and yellow.

During a call, his mother, Astrid, expresses concern for him and mentions a career opportunity with her agent, which only adds to Brandon’s stress. He then lies to his girlfriend, Clara, to avoid seeing her. Landon visits his studio and, for the first time in years, praises Brandon’s new, chaotic painting style, telling him that he has finally stopped “shackling” himself. Landon also warns him to break up with the toxic Clara. After Landon leaves, Brandon stares at the painting and realizes with horror that the abstract chaos contains the silhouette of a furious, muscular man—Nikolai.

A week later, Brandon joins his friends at a pub to get out of his own head. He and Glyn drink heavily. Jeremy’s sister Annika, who’s only 17, is also present. Their group is soon joined by Killian and a sullen Nikolai, who pointedly refuses to look at Brandon. The tension is overwhelming for Brandon. Annika is clearly infatuated with Nikolai, and Brandon feels nauseous at the thought that Nikolai may have been intimate with the underage girl.

During a game of “Never Have I Ever,” Killian’s turn is “Never have I ever been in love” (101). Feeling Nikolai’s stare, Brandon drinks, claiming that he has been. Nikolai’s turn is next, and he says, “Never have I ever fucked nor experimented with someone of the same sex” (102), while looking directly at Brandon before taking a shot. Panicked and feeling exposed, Brandon freezes. Annoyed by the lack of reaction, Nikolai calls the group “boring” and leaves.

Later, Brandon stumbles out of the pub, drunk and disoriented. He’s accosted by an aggressive man who grabs him and prepares to punch him. Just as the blow is about to land, Nikolai reappears and brutally attacks the man and his friends. While watching the violent scene, Brandon is overcome with a deep sense of relief that Nikolai came back for him.