How many hours later that AJ woke up, he had no idea. But something was pulling him up from sleep. A hand, touching his arm; a soft voice murmuring in his ear. “Come on, Age. Come on, kid. This is no place to sleep. Come on now.”
It was the ‘kid’ that told him who was talking to him even before his brain cleared the last bit of fog from his mind. No one else but Howie would dare to call him ‘kid’.
“I-.” AJ’s words were cut off by a yawn. He let it run its course before he tried again, never even bothering to open his eyes. “I’m staying here.”
“Honey, come on. They’re going to take Brian in for a few more tests now and he’s going to be sedated while they do so he won’t panic.” Howie kept on talking. His hands were holding AJ’s. “That could take a few hours. Plus, we’ve got Micheal out there and he says he has to talk to you. Come on.”
When AJ finally made his eyes open, he automatically looked over to Brian. His love’s bed was laid down flat and two nurses were pushing the bed away from the wall. “He’s sedated?” AJ asked slowly. It was the most important thing right now.
“Yes. He won’t wake up until they let him.”
Ok. If that was the case, then AJ knew he was free to go and speak to Micheal. The thought of being apart from Brian was terrifying, but it was bearable if he knew that Brian wasn’t going to wake up while he was gone. That was the only thing that gave AJ the ability to stand up and stay there as Brian was wheeled from the room. “Why more tests?” he asked.
Howie put a hand on the small of his back, a comforting gesture. “Now that the fever has broken and he’s had a day or so to relax, they want to make sure no swelling has cropped up. They’re pretty sure he’s fine but they wanted to run the tests one more time to be positive nothing cropped up late.”
Slowly Howie was leading him forward, bringing him out of the room and down the hall. AJ moved like a machine. He didn’t care where they were going for the moment so long as he could come back to Brian when his testing was done.
Now that the initial trauma was done, now that Brian’s fever was gone and he was on the mend, AJ’s own mind was starting to turn on him. All the injuries that Brian had sustained, all these problems that were happening now, brought the biggest sense of guilt to AJ. Logically he knew that Brian had made a choice to go after Zach. But logic doesn’t factor into the heart.
If only he had done what he was supposed to; If only he had taken care of Brian the way that he’d promised he would. None of this would be happening. Brian would be safe and healthy. He wouldn’t be in yet another hospital, a place that he absolutely hated. He wouldn’t be hurt and sick. He wouldn’t have had to live through hell.
Blinking, AJ realized that they were in a private waiting room now. Everyone was in front of him, sprawled out in chairs or standing by the wall. When had they come into this room? AJ barely remembered moving down the hall. He put his hands in his pockets, not noticing the way that they trembled. Who cared how he felt? Brian was important. The aches in AJ’s face, in his body, even in his feet—those he pushed down. They weren’t important. Nothing else was important.
“Alexander?”
Micheal’s voice broke into AJ’s fog. It brought his attention once again back to the room. This time he noticed that everyone was now staring at him. Micheal had moved forward, standing about a foot in front of him. All eyes were locked onto AJ. Who cared? He couldn’t drum up the emotion to feel anything about it. His guilt was burning away everything else. Aside from that, he simply felt dead inside. “Yes?”
“Would you like to talk here or would you like to step somewhere private? I have a few things to ask you about what happened at that house.”
Who cared where they talked about it? Who cared who heard? AJ stared at Micheal. He could feel how expressionless his face was but he didn’t care. His voice sounded flat, almost monotone. “Ask away.”
He saw Micheal take a deep breath and make that shift from man to cop. “We found Zach there. He’s locked away right at the moment in a hospital that isn’t this one, awaiting psychiatric evaluation. The man is obviously insane.” Micheal’s eyes turned just slightly sharper. “We found him injured, though, which is why he’s in a hospital. A small cut on his throat, nothing big. A few bruises which we assume are from fighting with Brian. But he was injured more than that.”
Why was he beating around the bush with this? AJ saw where it was going and was impatient for it to get done.
“When you arrived on the scene, Alexander, in what condition was Zach in?”
Oh, this was getting stupid. AJ looked straight at Micheal’s eyes, not noticing the way that the man almost flinched back from his half dead gaze. “If you’re trying to ask if I’m the one that stabbed his leg, Micheal, then the answer is yes.” AJ said in that same monotone. He ignored the shocked gasps that echoed around the little room. “I also put the scratch on his throat. I almost slit it, but I didn’t think Brian would like that. I almost cut his balls off too, so if there’s a cut down there, that’s why.” That part was delivered in the same calm voice as the rest of it. AJ saw the surprise that everyone wore but he didn’t care. This was stupid. “I went to leave and he ran his mouth a little more and said something that infuriated me. So, I spun and drove the knife in his thigh, straight through and down into the mattress. Does that answer your question?”
Everyone was staring now. Kevin and Nick were gaping at him. Jackie had a hand up, covering her mouth. Harold, if anything, wore a look of deep satisfaction. He gave AJ a firm nod of approval. None of that was important to AJ. He stayed looking at Micheal. Already his mind had thought of the implications. “Am I under arrest for this?”
There was obvious reluctance on Micheal’s face. “You stabbed a man that was chained to a bed, defenseless, Alexander.” He said softly. “Despite how much I want to applaud you for it, the law frowns upon us taking justice into our own hands. I have to take you down to the station for a bit to answer some questions.”
That was the only thing guaranteed to bring some small amount of life back to AJ. He was going to have to leave Brian? Were they kidding him? “How long will it take?” He rasped.
“If a lawyer gets there quickly, shouldn’t take any more than two hours. Max.”
It was Howie who put a hand on AJ’s arm. “I’ll get a lawyer there. I know the one Bri uses here. He’ll meet you two over there, I promise, even if I have to get him myself.”
Kevin and Harold were both moving forward, protests already falling from their lips. Nick looked frozen in shock. Jackie stepped toward AJ, one hand outstretched as if she would protect him.
For his part, AJ stood still and stared at Micheal. He’d been around enough police as a kid to know how things worked. Turning his back to Micheal, he put his hands together behind him and waited patiently. He knew he had to be cuffed; it was standard operating procedure with a case that involved violence. Despite Micheal knowing him, he couldn’t jeopardize his job over this.
The commotion around them grew louder as the cuffs were snapped onto AJ’s wrists. He heard the click of the metal and felt the coldness against his skin. None of it mattered. Further and further he drew inside. This was no more than he deserved. He should be punished for putting Brian into this kind of situation. If this was the price he had to pay for taking a little out of Zach, for letting Brian even get in this position, than he would gladly pay it. Hell, he knew he’d stab Zach again if he had the chance.
Chin tilted up, AJ looked back to Micheal. “Let’s go.”
There was sorrow in Micheal’s eyes as he stepped up and took hold of AJ’s arm. “I’m sorry about this, Alexander. I really am.” He told him as he led him from the room. The others were still making noise behind them, but Micheal shut the door on it, completely ignoring them.
“Don’t apologize for doing your job.” AJ told him honestly, a small trace of emotion in his voice for the first time since he’d walked into the room. “I did what I did, Micheal. You’re just doing what’s right.”
“Doesn’t feel quite right when I’d really like to cheer for you doing that to him.”
A corner of AJ’s mouth quirked. “Hell, if I’m getting punished for this, I wish I’d at least taken his balls off like I threatened to him. Did it at least damage his leg any?”
“They’re not sure if he’ll get all the feeling back to his foot and he’ll walk with a limp for the rest of his life.”
A little life came back into AJ as a grin spread over his face, wide and menacing as a shark. “Good.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was just over two hours later that AJ came walking back into the hospital. He bypassed the waiting room, not really wanting to talk to anyone. He just headed straight for Brian’s room. That was the one place that he wanted to be right then more than anything else. None of what had happened at the station had been important to him. What had been important had been getting back to Brian.
When he walked into Brian’s room, though, he saw that Brian was there but he wasn’t alone. Kevin was standing beside his bed. Kevin’s cheeks were damp and his eyes were red, showing the obvious signs that he’d been crying. AJ didn’t say a word. He stepped forward, moving to stand at the end of the bed. His and Brian’s eyes locked for a minute. In that instant, AJ saw all the fear and pain and trauma living inside of Brian’s eyes. But there was something else. Was that…guilt? Why on earth would Brian be feeling guilty? He didn’t get a chance to ask.
“Kev, would you…could you give us a minute?” Brian asked softly.
Something about his tone had Kevin looking at him curiously for a minute before nodding. He laid a hand on AJ’s shoulder in silent support as he passed. AJ reached up, patting the older man’s hand. Though he hadn’t spoken directly to Kevin since he’d yelled at him, AJ held no animosity anymore. How could he? Kevin had helped with this, yes, but AJ knew that if he’d been paying attention to his love the way he should have been, Brian and Kevin’s plan never would have worked. He was more to blame then Kevin was!
Once Kevin was gone, the door shutting softly behind him, AJ turned his full attention to Brian. “Something up, Bri?” He asked in a voice more casual than he felt. Something was up with Brian.
“I need to talk to you.” Brian admitted to him.
AJ watched as Brian looked down at his hands, picking at his fingernails. There was so much tension there that AJ wanted nothing more to reach out and hold Brian, but he had a feeling that right now, his touch wouldn’t be welcome. Not because of Brian’s fears, but because of something else. Something he couldn’t quite place his finger on.
“I uh, I wanted to talk to you.” Brian said again. He chewed on his lip a little as his obvious nerves grew some more. “Without anyone here, you know?”
Well, hell, this doesn’t sound good. AJ thought to himself. He took a seat in the chair by the bed and folded his legs, tucking his feet underneath him. “What do you want to talk about?” Everything that AJ had been feeling earlier, everything that had happened since Brian’s fever had started, all of that disappeared underneath this new worry. What was going on?
It took a long moment before Brian found his voice again. Still, he refused to look up, his eyes locked on his hands as he picked his nails. “I…I know you’ve uh, you’ve probably figured out, well, a lot of what happened. With…with him. When I was there.” Brian’s words stumbled as they came out, the pain in them so obvious and strong that it made AJ’s own heart ache. He stayed silent, though, letting Brian get this out at his own pace.
Taking a deep breath, Brian went on. “I know you’re mad at me for going with him. For lying to you. I…I can’t blame you for that. And, well, I know you’re probably u-upset about what I, you know, what I did with him. What I…” Brian paused, swallowing before continuing. “…what I let him do. I just, I needed to tell you, without everyone here, that I understand. That it’s ok. I won’t be mad, I promise.”
Confusion had AJ furrowing his brows. He wouldn’t be mad? What on earth did he mean? “What’re you talking about, Bri? What do you mean, you won’t be mad? About what?” Pausing, AJ felt his stomach drop a little. “Are you…do you mean about how long I, uh, how long it took me to find you?”
That had Brian’s eyes flying up to his face. “No!” he exclaimed, eyes wide. “No, Alex. No. I know you came as fast as you could. I know that.”
“Well what do you mean then?”
“I meant, well, I won’t be mad if you, you know, if you don’t want…” His voice trailed off into a mumble that AJ couldn’t understand. But he had a sinking feeling that he knew where this was going.
Dropping his feet to the ground, AJ ignored the ache in them and leaned forward. “If I don’t want what? To be with you? Is that what you’re trying to say to me?” He asked hoarsely. All Brian could do was nod. But that nod was enough to have AJ rocking back in his chair. Holy shit. Was Brian kidding him? Did he really think that he’d condemn him for doing what he had to do to survive?
Before he could even think about his words, AJ said “God, you’re an idiot.”
When he looked up again he saw that Brian was staring at him in surprise, his hands frozen on the bed. Seeing it, AJ crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the love of his life. “Do you really think that I’d walk away from you, Bri? That just because you’d done something to keep yourself alive and to save those that you care about that I’d suddenly not want to touch you? Not want to be around you? Are you that stupid?”
His attitude seemed to be breaking through Brian’s shock and pain better than any of the kind words anyone had used on him so far. He was gaping at AJ.
Furious, AJ rose to his feet, unable to stay sitting still. “Damn, Bri, what kind of guy do you think I am?” He asked. Spinning, he dropped his hands down to his side and faced Brian. All the fear and pain of the past few days was catching up with him. In the face of Brian’s stupid question, he lost his control for a short moment. The dead feeling was gone, leaving room for everything else to flood in.
“How could you think I’d judge you for that, Brian? Seriously. If I hate anyone, if I despise anyone at all for this whole thing, it’s myself, not you!”
“What?”
“You did what you did to keep me and the fellas safe. Do you think we don’t realize the strength of that sacrifice? That we don’t understand the hell you put yourself through just to keep us ok? I hate that I couldn’t keep you safe. I hate that, because I failed time and time again, you had to live in something like this.” AJ spat out. All his pain, all the anger and fear he’d been holding inside, now came spilling out. “If I’d protected you the way I was supposed to, you never would have lived through this. Instead, I fucked up. I was an idiot. My own stupidity and my stupid fucking addiction got in the way and messed things up.”
The look on Brian’s face would have melted AJ’s temper at any other time. Now, he didn’t care how kind Brian looked. He didn’t care how soft his eyes had gone. The venom was pouring from him and there was no stopping it.
“I can see every stupid fucking thing I did. Every fucking moment where I messed up over and over again. I knew something was up that night, Bri. I knew you were keeping something from me. But I told myself that morning was time enough to get it out of you. Then I lay there and watched you leave the room. I should have stopped you before you ever went out that bedroom door!”
AJ brought his hands up, brushing back his hair as he let out a brittle laugh. “After all that, you think I’d be mad at you? That I wouldn’t want to be with you? I’ve been waiting and wondering if you were going to wake up and look at me and decide that you didn’t want to be with me!”
Much to AJ’s surprise, a small little smile was curving Brian’s lips as he lifted a hand, wobbly as it was, and held it out to AJ. How could he do anything but step forward and take it? He allowed Brian to bring him to the edge of the bed. Automatically AJ hitched his hip up, half sitting on Brian’s bedside. With complete surprise he watched as Brian moved their joined hands, shifting them and bringing them up so that AJ’s hand was suddenly cupping Brian’s cheeks.
Soft and sweet, Brian nuzzled against AJ’s palm, his eyes sliding closed. “You sweet, silly man.” Brian whispered.
AJ could only stare at him, stunned. His eyes never left Brian’s face. All at once it seemed that some of the stress lines melted away. Despite the marks on his body, Brian looked more at peace than he had in longer than AJ could remember. “I love you.” Brian’s soft words were an arrow straight to AJ’s heart. “Don’t feel guilty, please. Don’t let this taint our lives any more than it already has.”
Again AJ had the thought that there was no way he could resist Brian. Not when he was like this. All his guilt, all his fears, they seemed so silly now that he was here, touching Brian, seeing that smile on his love’s face. “I love you too, Brian.”
“I don’t want to see you hating yourself over this, Alex. You don’t deserve to feel that way. There was nothing you could have done to stop me. There’s nothing you could have done to get there faster. You saved my life.”
“I didn’t.” AJ automatically protested. “You saved your own life, Bri. You were already gone when I got there.”
“But it was thoughts of you that kept me alive.”
That sentence warmed AJ’s heart. But, at the same time, other thoughts clouded in, things he knew he had to say to Brian. Here, now. Before anything between them went any further. He knew there was a chance that Brian might not feel the same way about him once he was done. It might upset him. Yet, AJ couldn’t regret it. Not for a moment. “I need to tell you something, Bri. Something I did when I was at that house.”
Still snuggled in AJ’s hand, Brian opened his eyes and locked gazes with AJ. There was love there, as well as trust, so much so that it was staggering. That fear that had become so common lately was still there, but there was more strength too. It was beautiful and amazing and humbling. “Tell me.” His voice was sweet and gentle.
How on earth was Brian so peaceful and sweet after living through what he had lived through? AJ hadn’t expected this quiet strength. But then again, he had learned not to expect the normal when dealing with Brian. Somehow Brian always found a way to surprise him.
“When I…when I got to the house, I heard you leave, but I didn’t know it was you.” AJ began. Slowly, carefully, he told Brian the whole story, from the moment he’d come until the moment that he’d left that house. He told him everything. Every move, every word. All of it. When he was done, he closed his eyes and sighed. “I wasn’t in your room after your tests because D came and got me. He took me down to the waiting room cause Micheal said he had to talk to me.”
Here he paused, suddenly embarrassed. “There uh, there’s going to be some bad press, Bri.” AJ couldn’t bring himself to look up at Brian’s face. He kept his eyes closed as he spoke, feeling how still Brian had gone against his hand. “Micheal had to talk to me because of me stabbing Zach. Since he was hooked to the bed, he was considered defenseless. This makes what I did assault with a deadly weapon. He, well, he had to handcuff me and take me downtown. That’s where I’ve been.”
“What?”
Brian’s loud exclamation had AJ’s eyes flying open. When he felt Brian drop his hand, he instinctively curled it to himself, sure that Brian was furious with him. What he saw on Brian’s face surprised him. Anger, yes, but more than he had thought there would be. Was Brian furious with him?
What Brian said next stunned him. “Those little sons of bitches! Who the hell do they think they are, arresting you? After everything he did to you, to Nick, to me, they’re going to charge you with assault? Are you serious?”
“They have to, Bri. It’s the law.” AJ said softly.
“Fuck the law!”
This time AJ felt his mouth drop open. It took him a whole minute just to regain his composure. But by then, Brian was already on a roll. “Do you have a lawyer? There’s no way they can make these charges stick. If they think they’re putting you in jail for this then they’ve got another damn thing coming!”
“D got me a lawyer. A friend of the guy you use here for your legal shit.” AJ said quickly. He wanted to calm Brian down. The monitor beside him was beeping like crazy to indicate that Brian’s heart rate had gone up. “He said he can’t get me off, not when evidence is stacked against me. My fingerprints are on the knife, Bri. I saw no point in denying it and making things hard for Micheal. I told him the truth, which my lawyer says is good. He told me that it’ll go to court in a few days and he’s positive he can get me off with a fine and maybe some probation. He swears I won’t do jail time. Not with the circumstances around this.”
“But this’ll be on your record, Alex!”
“So?” Looking right into Brian’s eyes, he told him “I’d take this and a thousand things more. I wouldn’t change what I did, Bri. He deserved it. If I have to pay for it, fine. I consider it worth the cost. Let them fine me. Let them say I have to see a PO. You know I had a small juvie record. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to deal with parole officers. It’s not that bad.”
Brian sat back, his eyebrows furrowed, but AJ sighed when he saw Brian’s heart rate go back down. Oh thank God.
That didn’t mean that Brian was done, though. “We’ll just see about this. When I get out of here, we’ll just see if they think they can prosecute you for this.”
“Bri…”
“Don’t you ‘Bri’ me in that sweet little tone, Alexander James Mclean.” Brian snapped. “I’ll do what I want, thank you very much. I’m not having this be on your record if I can help it.”
For a moment longer AJ debated arguing this with Brian. Not to stop him, but just for the sake of bickering. He was enjoying watching the life in Brian’s face. It was more than he’d seen in so long. But there were other things he’d rather do with his time. “I’ll let it go for now.” He promised. “But I reserve the right to argue later.”
“Argue all you want. Doesn’t mean I’m changing my mind.”
As if to put an end to the argument, Brian suddenly yawned. His eyes looked slightly heavy. AJ couldn’t resist leaning in and tucking the blankets better around Brian’s body. “Go back to sleep, honey.” He said soothingly. “We’ll talk about this later all you want, ok?”
Another yawn, then “You’ll stay?” That little boy tone was back in Brian’s voice. The fear. It tore at AJ’s heart. From strong to weak in the blink of an eye. Brian may have found his strength for a moment but he was nowhere near healed. “I’ll stay.”
That was all it took for Brian to relax. Hesitantly he reached out, taking AJ’s hand in his. After a few minutes he was sound asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a few hours later that AJ got up from Brian’s bedside and moved to the bathroom. He stood at the sink, splashing water on his face. He ignored the stinging in the cuts there, not caring about them. For a single moment he gripped the sink and bowed his head. Air dragged raggedly in and out of his lungs despite his best efforts to keep it quiet. He didn’t want to wake Brian. The bathroom door was open a crack so that he could hear if his love did wake up.
That little bit of strength that Brian had displayed earlier had been beautiful. To see Brian get fired up about something, to see the fierce and protective love in his eyes, it had healed over some of the wounds in AJ’s heart and given him hope that maybe, just maybe, they might both come out the other side of this doing ok.
Trembles ran down his arms, shaking his hands. He firmed his grip on the sink and squeezed his eyes shut tighter. If their talk earlier had shown Brian’s strength, than the past few hours while Brian had slept had shown his weakness. Nightmares had plagued Brian, making him call out in his sleep, making him tremble. Each time AJ had been there, soothing him back to sleep, whispering words of comfort and reassurance.
Now it seemed that Brian had finally hit a deep, healing sleep and AJ was taking advantage of it to try and wake up his mind and get a grip on his pain.
The sound of someone clearing their throat startled AJ so badly that he almost jumped out of his skin. As it was, he spun sideways, his back going against the walls, his eyes wide. It took him a second to realize that it was just Kevin there. “God!” He whispered furiously. “You scared at least ten years off my life, Kev!” Quickly he wiped at his cheeks, trying to make sure that no tears had escaped. He didn’t need Kevin to know he’d been that close to breaking.
But Kevin’s eyes weren’t looking him over the way they usually did. In fact, as AJ looked at Kevin’s face, he realized that he’d never seen Kevin look like this before. So…broken down. “Kev?” Hesitantly he stepped forward. “Hey, man, you ok?”
“I didn’t mean to scare you, Age.” Kevin said hoarsely. “I just, I wanted to talk to you.”
Looking at him, AJ made a split second decision. He took hold of Kevin’s arm and pulled him into the bathroom before shutting the door, but not latching it. Now he could still hear Brian if he needed but he and Kevin could have a semblance of privacy. What on earth was going on with his friend? The look Kevin wore had AJ worried. “Talk to me, Kev. What’s going on?”
“I just…I talked to Brian and, somehow, he’s not mad at how this turned out. But I had to talk to you to make sure too. That you’re not, you know, mad.”
It was so unlike Kevin to stumble over his words like this. Kevin had never been anything but strong and sure. He was like a pillar of strength to all of them. To see him look like this was unsettling. “Mad?” He finally asked. “What do you mean?”
Kevin took a deep breath, his eyes becoming even more painful to look at. “About this with Brian. About helping him.” His voice cracked at the end. “I never meant for it to be like this, Age. I don’t know what I was thinking. I wasn’t thinking, that was it. I wasn’t. I never should have let him-”
His words were abruptly cut off when AJ put a hand over Kevin’s mouth. “Stop right there.” He told him. This had been something he’d had a while to think about already. What he hadn’t realized, though, was how badly it would all be weighing on Kevin. I should have. Idiot. “Listen to me and listen good, Kev, you got that?”
When Kevin nodded, AJ dropped his hand. “Brian is an adult who makes his own choices. I was furious with you before, I’ll admit that. But my temper fizzled. It always does. When it did, I thought about it. Brian is not only an adult, but a smart man. If you hadn’t helped him, he would have found a way to do what he wanted anyways and potentially ended up more hurt in the long run.”
“But if I’d told you guys…”
“Uh, uh!” AJ cut in. “I said listen. Even if you’d told us, we couldn’t watch Brian every second of every day. He would have climbed out a bathroom window, or snuck out somewhere. He would have done it no matter what. You know him. He’s stubborn and he’s resourceful. Don’t carry around guilt about this, Kevin. You understand me? Do not feel guilty about this.”
Tears stood in Kevin’s dark eyes. “I just…I mean, he looks…I can’t…”
Those broken words were too much for AJ. He didn’t hesitate to step right up to Kevin and wrap the older man in his arms, pulling Kevin as close as he could. He wasn’t tall enough to cradle Kevin’s head on his shoulder so he settled for snuggling in against Kevin’s shoulder. It seemed to do the trick. Kevin let out a rough sob before bringing his arms around AJ and burying his face against AJ’s hair.
As the silent sobs shook Kevin’s body, the two friends stood in that bathroom together, neither moving. It was healing for AJ as well, to be able to offer this kind of strength to someone who was like a brother to him. The hug didn’t just heal one, but the both of them.
Finally, when Kevin pulled back, AJ smiled up at him and handed him some tissues. Kevin gave a watery chuckle before drying off his face. “Thanks, AJ.”
“No problem. We all need it, once in a while.” He said with a shrug. Then, once Kevin’s face was dry, AJ hooked their arms together and took Kevin back out into the hospital room. He walked him over to the door, opening it wide. “Go home for a while, Kev. Go get some sleep. Get everyone else to go sleep too. Everything’s ok now. We’re all going to be fine. Just shut that massive brain of yours off for a while and relax.”
“What about you?”
“I plan on crawling into Brian’s bed with him in about thirty seconds and sawing some serious logs.” AJ teased.
Kevin leaned in, giving him one last, brief hug. “You’ve grown into one hell of a guy, Alexander.” He said kindly before turning and leaving the room.
The compliment warmed AJ, but he couldn’t help but shake his head. Lord, it was spreading. Now even Kevin was calling him Alexander. As he crawled into bed with Brian, snuggling up against him, he thought to himself that he was going to have to figure out some way to make people understand that his name was AJ, not Alexander. Not unless he was in trouble. He fell asleep against Brian’s side, a smile on his face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Two Days Later*
“What on earth are you doing, Alex?” Brian said, chuckling. He walked carefully, blind to the world around him. Behind him AJ walked, reaching around so that his hands covered Brian’s eyes. Though the two were both walking gingerly, neither let it get them down.
AJ had driven Brian home from the hospital, unable to keep the smile off his face. He knew what was waiting for them at the house and he couldn’t wait to surprise Brian with it. To his immense surprise, Brian seemed to know that something was going to happen and hadn’t seemed to mind. If anything, he’d been joking with AJ the entire way home, trying to pry it out of him!
Once they’d got out of the car, though, AJ had gone behind Brian and reached out to cover Brian’s eyes. “I can’t have you peeking.” He explained.
“Or walking well.” Brian said with a soft laugh. “If I fall, I’m fully prepared to blame it all on you.”
“Oh, hush. Just walk, sweetheart.”
Snickering, Brian started forward. AJ helped guide him up the walk and then to the front door. There he paused, trying to figure out how to do things. “Ok, reach out and open the door. It’s right in front of you.”
“Do I get to look?”
“Nope, Bri. Just feel your way.” AJ couldn’t resist adding that last part on.
He was rewarded with another of Brian’s soft chuckles. The man was nowhere near healed, but he had showed more humor and life in the past two days than he’d had since the whole thing started. Brian had told AJ the other night that part of it was easier to deal with, at least in the anytime, because he knew now that Zach was locked away somewhere. There wasn’t the ever present fear that he was going to come after him. It was only at night that those fears, the fear that Zach had escaped or would escape, came out and haunted him.
AJ pushed those thoughts aside. Now wasn’t the moment for them. He laughed as Brian finally found the doorknob and twisted it, pushing the door open. Then AJ was guiding him inside, down the hall of his parent’s house.
When he reached the living room, AJ looked at everyone standing there and gave a big smile before mouthing “One, two, three.” On three, he moved his hands from Brian’s eyes and everyone shouted “Welcome home!”
Surprise had Brian startling for a minute. Then a huge smile split his face. There were streamers all over the places and a huge sign that said ‘Welcome Home!’ on it. Everyone was there. Micheal, Kevin, Howie, Nick, Jackie, Harold Sr and Harold Jr. All of them had come to welcome Brian home.
Laughter echoed through the room as everyone made way for Brian and AJ to come in. Music turned on in the background, a nice sound behind the sudden babble of conversation. People were talking all at the same time, giving Brian brief hugs and kissing his cheeks. AJ stood off to the side, watching as his love stood in a crowd of people with only a small trace of his old fear.
It took almost fifteen minutes before Brian finally made his way back to AJ. By then food was being passed around as well as drinks and the house seemed to be exploding with noise. There was a soft smile on Brian’s lips when he stopped right before AJ. “A surprise party, hm?”
“Yep.” AJ said cheekily. “Thought we’d make you smile a little. Mostly your Mom’s idea, but the rest of us took off with it.”
That little smile Brian wore grew bigger. “You guys were right.”
Though there was still some of that old hesitation there, Brian stepped forward, sliding an arm around AJ’s waist and letting AJ slide one around his shoulders. He leaned into AJ’s side, dropping his head onto AJ’s shoulder to snuggle in.
There against the wall, as family and friends partied around them, AJ sighed. He tipped his head, kissing the curls that he loved so much, and gave the love of his life a brief squeeze. “Welcome home, Brian.” He whispered.
Brian’s return squeeze was full of love. “Home is right here.” He whispered, so softly that AJ barely heard.
Those words sounded perfect to him.