A New Day

by corneroffandom

Desperate to change his life, Brad Cooper moves to Port Charles. Brad/Felix. Involves Lucas. (Soon I will be writing Brucas fic, I just needed to get this out of my head first.)

Brad Cooper. He can't help but think that should've been the first sign his life was going to be a bit of a karmic joke. Not that the actor was known yet when he was adopted, or that his parents would have done so maliciously, but still. The first time he'd really started paying attention was when the guy he had crushed on from day one of high school had sneered at him, rolled his eyes, and snapped "You're no Bradley Cooper, you wanna-be," before storming off, laughter and jeers following him for days, weeks, after that.

It's nothing to him, he's used to being overlooked, or constantly lectured for what he's not. His older brother is the golden student, good looking with decent grades, tidy, polite and courteous, the typical go-getter with sports scholarships to any school he'd choose and a gorgeous girlfriend- if that's your kind of thing- while he's just Brad. Average height, average grades, no interest in most physical activities, a tendency towards mischief and smarmy humor, and... well... he's gay. His parents love them both- up to the gay thing, anyway, a factor that makes his father tense and awkward when he comes out- but he can't help feeling like it's a competition between them, one in which he always comes out the loser.

When he graduates high school, he thinks now things will be different, his prospects enough to take him out of his brother's overwhelming shadow. He knows what he wants to be, his grades and SAT scores enough to grant him entry into a New York university. His parents talk to him about it and, once they discover he has it all figured out, they agree to accompany him to opening day and he revels in the opportunity. More so when he sees the building for the first time, gets a good look at the dorms- one of which he'd be calling home in a matter of months. He thinks it's the best day of his life when his parents agree to let him go. Even though he's going to miss them, he knows that this'll be the fresh start he's been hoping for since the day he found out his biological family was the infamous Wu clan, a terrible mobster family who had either died out or been arrested.

But college isn't the change he'd hoped it'd be. He continues to do well enough, advancing steadily in his courses and getting ever closer to completing the phlebotomy courses needed, but he still feels lonely. There are a few people who say polite hellos to him in the dorms, but he can't stand his roommate with his loud music and obnoxious girlfriend, hanging around at all hours, and after awhile, the rumors begin. Mostly about his sexual orientation, the kind that he had gotten good at ignoring back in high school. He'd never hidden his feelings, and although he knows there are others like him around, it's little comfort as they either avoid or have their own comments about him. He's not completely abstinent during college, there are a few brief intervals where he thinks something might come of these, but before long, he grows used to it being once or twice just to be forgotten about or lost interest in.

When he finishes schooling finally, he's desperate to find a nearby hospital that will take him, keep him so he doesn't have to leave New York, return home to his brother's own successes. When a hospital in Port Charles, New York, accepts him, he feels like a giant weight's been lifted off of his chest. It's coincidentally enough the same town where the infamous Asian quarter had once been overwhelmed by his family's evil control, but he immediately likes the hospital when he walks in, vowing to be good for the place, to worm his way in here unlike how he'd been unable to at the college, or high school. He rests a hand on the door for a moment, feeling the coolness of the glass pane under the steady sunshine. "Here's to the beginning of a beautiful friendship," he whispers, quickly glancing around to make sure that no one had caught onto his moment of ridiculousness.

And really, the hospital is good for him- he gets to do a job he'd always been interested in, and the people there seem nice enough, if a bit dramatic. There's still a deep, troubling mob influence in the city, seemingly unconnected to his family, and he takes care not to mention that to his parents, hoping they remain unaware of what's commonplace in his world, try to talk him into leaving or, worse, find another place to work. He's settled here, he likes it here, and he doesn't want to leave. So when his probation period passes and he's been offered a permanent position in the hospital, he feels like he can breathe again, content to remain in the lab and do his work quietly. Until she arrives.

Ellie Trout. She's sweet, and nice, and bubbly, beyond dedicated to her job, and everyone loves her immediately. And despite his having no real reason for it, it prickles at him. She fits in immediately while he's still struggling, friends with the nurses and doctors and patients from the first moment she'd entered those doors, and sometimes in the dark of night, he has to admit to himself that his disquiet around her stems from the fact that she reminds him of his brother, their ease with other people always just evading him, causing him to respond to situations badly.

But he's not entirely alone, there's an OB GYN he interacts with fairly regularly for blood test results who reminds him of himself, with hidden pain behind her eyes, and she tends to keep to herself too, though he thinks she has her eyes on one Dr. Patrick Drake, and he wisely keeps his opinions on that to himself. He feels for her, sensing a fellow wounded spirit, and one day he spots her alone in the cafeteria, walking over to her table with his tray on impulse. "Hey, is this seat taken?"

She blinks, looking up, then around as if checking to see if he could possibly be talking to anyone else. When she realizes that it's not likely, she stares at the empty chair he's leaning against. "Oh, uh, no, go ahead," she finally speaks up, doubt and surprise warring in her voice. "Though I don't know why you'd want to, I'm pretty much persona non-grata around here."

He has to laugh at that, quickly stopping himself however when she glares at him heatedly, thinking he's making fun of her. "Well, you're in good company then. No one likes me either," he says with a shrug as he settles in across from her.

Her gaze loses some of its anger as she examines him, finding no lie in his words. "Huh," she mutters, stabbing a fork into her pasta. "I see."

He smirks a little, gaze skittering away as he takes in a couple of fresh faces inching into the cafeteria, looking lost and uncertain. "Well, well, who do we have here?" he murmurs, unaware he'd even spoken aloud as he traces the tall form of the man who'd just walked in, enthralled at first sight by his dark eyes and smooth skin, the slightly sheepish grin at whatever the girl next to him is saying.

"Student nurses," the woman says bitterly. "Felix DuBois and... Sabrina Santiago..." She scoffs at the second name, picking at her food, looking like she's lost her appetite completely at their arrival.

"What'd they ever do to you?" he asks, almost humored by her quick disdain for the two people who he'd never even heard of before, much less know enough about to build an opinion of. Except for how hot the guy is, his eyes a soft brown as he leans over to discuss something or other with the bushy haired girl. When a strange surge of jealousy followed by Dammit, I wish I were her right now, flows through him, he swallows and quickly looks away, knowing that that is the last thing he needs right now.

"She's ingratiated herself into my relationship," she says simply, staring down at her food with a disgusted grimace. "Is it me or is this food worse than usual?" He watches as she pushes it away, looking pale and more than a little sick, leaning back in her chair. "Ugh..."

Brad looks from the food to her before shrugging. "Seems fine to me." He glances over his shoulder once more, eyeing the tall form of Felix, swallowing. He's hot, he thinks shamelessly, imagining the student nurse staring back at him so fixedly in return about now. Brad isn't much for blushing, but he can't deny he's definitely feeling warm under the collar.

It takes a few minutes for him to realize that Britt is staring incredulously at him. "Are you listening to me?" she demands, eyes flashing as she glares at him.

"Er, yeah, sorry, Doc Westborn," he says, wide-eyed. "What do you need?"

She rolls her eyes at him before returning to picking at her food distastefully. "Never mind," she murmurs, glancing over at the student nurses with an eyeroll.

When he finishes eating, he stands and walks towards the trash bin to get rid of his tray, a thrill coursing through him when he realizes that, as luck would have it, Felix too is getting up to put his away as well. They end up side by side at the trash can and Brad chances a glance at him, almost immediately getting lost in his warm, brown eyes.

"Hey," Felix greets him.

Brad grows flustered and watches as he drops his tray into the partition and walks off, his eyes quickly looking elsewhere. "Hey," he finally mutters, realizing as soon as Felix is out of sight that he'd been frozen in the same place for close to five minutes at least. "Dammit," he breathes, finally leaving his tray behind and walking straight for the cafeteria exit.

When his next chance meeting and the next, and the next, goes about as well, he decides to do things a bit differently. He'd tried many times in the past to be his usual self before he'd realized that most only seemed too interested in him for his body and nothing more. Considering Felix barely took the time to glance at him, too busy with Sabrina and Doc. W's love triangle over Dr. Drake to pay some lowly phlebologist any mind, he figures this unfortunately is going to end in much the same way.

So he reverts to form, trying to ignore his worry that, should this gain Felix's attention, all he would ultimately want him for would be nothing more than sex as well, but any attention is better than none... and it somehow works, though not exactly the way Brad had hoped. Whereas before he was simply ignored except for professional situations, now Felix seems to outright despise him, cringing away every time he approaches. But he takes it because it amuses him, on some level, the annoyance in Felix's eyes and the passion in his voice whenever he sees Brad coming. Even tries convincing himself it's better than any real connection with the student nurse considering how those have ended for him in the past, but there are many nights where that rationalism doesn't work, leaving him staring at the ceiling, frustrated over the desperate need thrumming through his veins.

He's used to being lonely but the more he observes Felix's ease with everyone else, excluding maybe Epiphany and Milo, he envies it. But more so, he's annoyed that that ease isn't there for them. Instead, Brad hides anxiety and fear that they'll never be anything more to each other behind cheap come-ons and sleaze, and Felix seems to only hate him all the more for it. But it's gone on too long now. He can't exactly change, Felix hates him too much for that to change suddenly.

Unfortunately he sees a lot of Felix as they work in the same hospital and, as his fondness for the other man grows at an alarming rate, so does Felix's disgust in him. He also sees a lot of Felix outside of the hospital as well, at Kelly's and other places around town, his heart skipping a beat as his stomach sinks each time. Not to mention the time that he's lurking in the shadows during the Nurse's Ball, his eyes dark and fixed as he watches Felix. Admittedly he glances at the others now and again- can even see, maybe, a little about what Felix sees in unfortunately straight Milo- he is, after all, only human, but his eyes immediately trail back to Felix, captivated by his moves.

When it ends, he's still stuck in the corner, reliving his memories and wondering how long those will last him through the lonely nights. Unfortunately for him, Felix could've stripped down to his socks and it still wouldn't have been enough of a distraction as Britt Westborn chooses then to reveal her secret. He watches on, eyes wide, as she totally ruins the whole event's true meaning without a second of self-recriminations or guilt as Patrick Drake's world comes crashing down around him.

"Crap," Brad mutters, watching her closely. Something tells him his part in all of this is far from complete, the female doctor seemingly far from content with just his little... contribution to her project. She doesn't seem to be the kind to let things go, and his sympathy towards her familiar romance woes will leave him vulnerable to her in the future, he just knows. But there's no turning back now, she has Lulu and Dante Falconeri's baby and he has his new position as lab tech manager- which, damn, had the woman come through! Even better that it annoys Ellie and for awhile, he can't help but feel as though he's finally gotten one up on his brother and those similar to him.

Everything crashes down around him anew, however, when he's caught in a trap by Felix after shamelessly hitting on Michael- which, he admits, is a little low of him, considering the kid's past, but he knows of the Corinthos family's history, Sonny seeming not much better than his own biological family. So it had been almost funny at first, watching Michael and his cousin-girlfriend, Kiki, scramble in response to Brad's attempts at blackmail, and he had been so distracted by all of that, cornering Michael and seeing how far all of it could go, that he hadn't even fully considered the strange 180 the young man had pulled, despite Brit's warnings. The mobster son is struggling to find an excuse, any possible way to distract Brad, get him to talk, but he's not biting, purely out to see how far the kid'll go. He's almost disappointed when Michael gets a phone call and races out of the apartment, Brad shutting the door behind him before turning back to the wine, not seeing why it should go to waste. He's only taken a couple of steps when Felix appears, cornering him and pushing him to tell the truth about this whole Brit situation.

Brad is thrown, if not by the wine, than by being prodded by Felix so unexpectedly, and he gulps down more wine, staring at the object of his affection with wide eyes as he tries to think of a way out of this. But everything in him is screaming to tell the other man the truth and it feels like a release when he finally snaps at him that he likes him, but that he's certain Felix is like all the rest- who only saw him as a sexual object and nothing more. This stops the other man in his track and he grows concerned, almost soft as he pleads with Brad to just tell him the truth. The longer Brad stares into his eyes, the more he wishes he could do just that, downing more wine before he puts the glass down and heads for the door, aware of the tightrope he's currently walking- if he tells the truth, he can only imagine what Brit's mother, as bad as the Wu family and Sonny Corinthos combined easily, would do to him. But he really does want to help Felix so, before closing the door behind him, he turns once more to look at the nurse, taking in his woeful face. "If you want answers, then talk to Brit's mother."

He leaves and leans against the wall, hoping that he hasn't just made a mistake- if she's dangerous to him, who knows what she would do to Felix, who doesn't even have the protection of Brit as an almost friend... He swallows and closes his eyes, painfully pulling away from the apartment and continuing on his way to the outside, where the sunshine contrasts his feelings nearly completely.

Time passes and he hears bits here and there of Felix and his continued attempts to get to the bottom of Brit's baby's paternity. Brad wars continually with his conscience and growing feelings for the nurse against his loyalty to Brit for getting him this job, but the thoughts of Brit's origins stay his hand until there's buzz all over the hospital about Felicia and Mac Scorpio getting married. Brad doesn't think much of it until he's wandering around the halls and sees how excited Felix is for the karaoke that will be happening at their pre-wedding party at the Floating Rib, and he wants to see the other man honestly having fun for once. As soon as he finishes his shift, he wanders down to the docks and peers inside, relieved to find he'd arrived just in time to see at least some of the party, not wanting to enter and risk ruining the night for those inside, as most still don't like him.

He's still standing there when he hears someone walking towards the establishment so he ducks into the shadows, not wanting to be noticed... when he realizes it's Obrecht, the woman's evil visible even under her garish wig. He claps a hand over his mouth, trying not to reveal his position as she walks past where he's lurking, thankfully not noticing him as she enters, a determined gait to her step. "Holy crap," he mutters. "What is she doing here...?" Returning to his position by the window, he can only just see as she scopes the place out, and the damnedest thing of all when she takes one of the karaoke spots, singing something that makes the hair on Brad's neck stand up straight. But he'd have to be blind to miss when she pours something in one of the glasses, frozen as Duke Lavery takes it back to his table with Anna Devane, more pieces of the puzzle coming back together for Brad. Yet again warring with himself, he's just about to enter the building to warn them when Duke comes out to get some air, looking pale and close to collapse.

Brad has just stepped forward to try to help him, hand on his cell phone, when Obrecht herself exits the establishment, sneering at him. "Bradley Cooper," she spits, each word drowning in disdain. "Whatever are you doing here? Spying on the party? Did your invite get lost in the mail?" He freezes and stares at her, uncertain what to do with the dying man at their feet as she stares at him with no lack of disdain. "Fool. You accidentally drank what was intended for Anna DeVane... I suppose it will just have to do." She's about to walk away when she notices Brad's cell phone. "Put that away, you ridiculous man. Who do you intend to call?"

He gapes at her, gaze flickering over to the man struggling for each breath. "For help, obviously. He's dying!"

"Clearly," she spits, hand inching towards her purse. "You honestly expect to do something to stop that? Be the little hero? Not this night, I am afraid." He shakes his head, about to place the call anyway, when she pulls out something from her purse, its metallic surface glinting in the dull lights overhead. "Use your brain, Mr. Cooper. Put the phone away."

He hesitates, eyes locked on the gun, this close to complying when the door slams open behind them, both of them startled. "Brad?" Felix's voice calls out, the lab manager's heart skipping a beat as Obrecht immediately turns, the gun now aimed on him. "Did-?" He spots the weapon trained right on him, voice dying away as the hesitant smile on his face fades away, lips twisting in confusion. "What-"

"Move!" Brad yells at him, feet moving before he can think it all through, not wanting to risk Felix ending up in worse shape than Duke Lavery, lunging forward and tackling the nurse out of the way- just as a gunshot echoes through the night, screams audible in the Floating Rib behind them. He doesn't notice it at first as Felix quickly untangles himself from Brad's body, racing after Obrecht, who disappears into the shadows a moment later just before people begin pouring out of the establishment, Anna at the front with her gun drawn.

Her dark eyes first fall on Brad, then skitters over to Duke. "Duke!" she cries out, racing to her love.

"Yeah, don't worry about me, I'm fine," the Asian mutters, trying to sit up- but as soon as he makes it partially, he knows he's wrong. Sharp pain stabs up his midsection and he falls back to the ground with a groan, reaching down to touch his side. He knows before he looks, something wet and sticky oozing between his fingers. He doesn't have to anyway as Felix drops down heavily next to him and stares into his face, shaking his head. "Fe-"

"It's ok," he mutters. "You're gonna be ok. God..." Anna is already calling for ambulances so he doesn't even bother, focusing all of his attention on Brad as other hospital staff who had been at the party split up between trying to help Brad and seeing what they can do for Duke. Sabrina joins Felix, despite not liking Brad, and works with him to apply pressure to the wound while keeping the lab manager awake. "He was shot trying to keep me safe," Brad overhears Felix mutter to his best friend, eyes fluttering as she nods and presses someone's jacket to his wound, her fingers shaking and slippery.

"I'd do it again, Fe," he thinks he mutters through the haze, unsure if his words even register with anyone, until the nurse shifts and cups his face, staring into his eyes.

"Thank you, Brad, but if you don't hold on until the EMTs get here, I'll never forgive you for scaring me, alright?" There's a teasing lilt to his trembling words, but Brad doesn't want to risk it, not after everything they've been through, nodding grimly. "That's it, just keep your eyes open. I hear the ambulances, do you?"

"Mm hmm," he sighs. "Fe..."

"It's ok," he whispers back, squeezing his hand. "You're gonna be ok. Just hang on."

Brad opens his eyes with some struggle and looks up at Felix. "I'm sorry... for everything. I know I was a jerk to you and a lot of people. I just... I'm used to being bullied or thrown aside once someone gets what they wanted, I never... thought you might be different."

"You were bullied?" he asks softly, eyes shining with compassion as Brad nods, coughing faintly. Worry takes over his gaze and Brad knows with a growing terror that he's bleeding internally, the results of it showing on his lips. "Brad-"

But he fights through the feeling of slow drowning to speak once more, wanting Felix to stop looking so scared. "Fat. Gay. Chinese. Tapdancer. You do the math."

The dark skinned man sucks in a shuddering breath before leaning in closer, Brad's voice growing weaker with each gasping inhale, and he knows he should keep him from talking to conserve his strength, but the thought of his not speaking terrifies Felix even more so he tries to continue the conversation. "You tapdanced?"

"Yeah, had a trophy and everything that the school kids beat my head in with when I brought it to school," he gasps out, barely able to believe he's telling Felix all of these embarrassing things from his schoolyears, that he had thought he'd left behind years ago.

Felix closes his eyes and sighs sadly, overwhelmed by the sympathy he'd been harboring towards the other man since the tailend of their conversation back in Michael Corinthos' apartment. "How about this," he whispers. "When you're healthy again, maybe you can show me some of what you can do."

Brad huffs out a choked little laugh before blinking as the solemn look in Felix's eye. "You're serious? You'd wanna see me do a routine? I... I haven't done one of those in years," he admits. "But I guess I can try, for you, Fe." Felix smiles at him before looking up. "They're here."

"Yep, they are. And you're going to get fixed up, and everything'll be fine in no time." He brushes his fingers through Brad's hair before carefully scrambling away from him to lead the EMTs back to this alley, two of them immediately converging upon Duke and the rest moving towards Brad, examining his gunshot wound before putting him on oxygen to ease some of the strain on his lungs and preparing him for transport. "I'm coming with," Felix tells them, not even waiting for an answer before he climbs into the bus. "I'm a nurse and I was there at the scene, I may be able to help."

Brad barely gets a minute of relief at his not going through this alone before he fades, losing consciousness as soon as Felix sits down next to him and takes his hand. He's not sure how much time has passed, but when he awakens again, his midsection is an unending, burning pain, and he's settled in a hospital room, grimacing while his hand shifts to press against the worst of the agony. Until something warm and gentle stops him, squeezing slightly. "No, Brad, don't do that," Felix's voice breaks through his haze, Brad's eyes fluttering open.

"Felix..."

"Yeah, I'm here," he mutters, pressing Brad's hand back against his chest. "You're going to be ok. It's good to see you awake."

Despite his words, it's obvious something is wrong, the injured man glancing down his body. "What's wrong? I can tell by your voice, something's wrong." He smirks weakly. "What did I do this time?" But Felix's eyes darken, causing Brad to grow somber as well. "Wha- what is it?"

Felix stares at him and swallows, looking away. "The Britch says..." He closes his eyes. "She says you're the father of her son." Brad pales. "Is it true?" He turns back to look at him and shakes his head. "Tell me it's not true. You're not... not his father. You wouldn't just... pass off your child as Patrick's, and-" Before Brad can say or do anything, the door slams open and Patrick storms in, not saying a word as he grips Brad by the collar of his hospital gown, lifting him half off of the bed and rearing his fist back like he's about to punch him right in the face. "WHOA! NO, no, no, Patrick!" Felix yells, shaking off his shock and lunging at the doctor. "Stop! He's just gotten out of surgery, don't-"

Brad wheezes as he's freed abruptly, Felix glancing back at him before pushing the other man out of the room, following him. "Ugh, maniac," he moans, wanting to curl in on himself but unable to move as fresh pain stabs up his ribs to his throat. Despite it all, he can't blame Patrick though. He'd been lied to for months and now, that the baby is almost here, to be told that the baby isn't his...He sighs and shakes his head, certain that this will be it, that Felix will never want to see him again. Not that he really thought they'd ever have much of a chance, after so long of Felix pushing him away, but still. It sucks, and it hurts. Almost more than the post-surgery recovery.

The hours pass slowly and Brad wants to melt into his bed anytime anyone comes in, the vast majority of them liking either Sabrina or Patrick, or both, and thus hating him and Brit in kind for their lies. He tries not to react whenever gossiping interns and spiteful nurses are discussing him in the halls, even Felix and Sabrina whispering about him and Brit when they think he's asleep. He regains strength bit by bit, upholding his responsibilities as best as he can from his hospital bed. He's just watched Diane Miller leave, discreetly storing a bag as she goes, when Prince Nikolas himself storms in, Brad cringing away as he remembers Patrick, not wanting to repeat that performance.

But he stops short at physicality, having a bit more self-control than the head neurosurgeon, still aggressively encouraging Brad to claim his son. Thankfully, the raised voices cause Dante Falconeri to peek in, glancing from man to man. "Is there something going on here?" he asks, brows furrowed. Nikolas says no, but Brad clings to the interruption, the intention to lay his secrets out, just finally tell all, eating at him... until Dante mentions his daughter, Brad suddenly losing his willpower and slumping back against the pillows. Instead, he mentions pressing charges on Patrick for assaulting him in his hospital bed and Dante hands him his card, encouraging him to call when he's made his decision. "Yeah," he mutters, only half-listening as Nikolas once more rambles about him taking responsibility for his son.

He's just left, Brad this close to falling asleep, when he overhears who could only be Damien Spinelli and Maxie Jones talking outside of his hospital room, revealing yet another biological truth- that the Falconeri baby is actually theirs, conceived after Maxie had miscarried. His eyes shoot open once more as they walk carefully away, hissing out a breath. "Oh no," he mutters, shaking his head.

The next time he sees Felix, it's clear he's still far from thrilled with Brad and the entire situation, checking his vitals and wound quietly. He mumbles under his breath, his touch only gentling when he actually peels the old gauze off of the surgical site, examining the area and then applying a new one. "Level of pain?" he asks tensely, staring down at his chart once more.

"7," Brad says after a moment, his eyes locked on Felix when he looks up, startled. Realization dawns and he snorts dismissively. "Fine, more like a 3... but Felix, I didn't mean to disappoint you, or-"

"Then you should do what a real man would do," he snaps, clicking the chart shut with all of the force that he couldn't use on Brad himself, as he's still recovering from the gunshot wound. One, he keeps trying to remind himself, that Brad had taken for him... "Take responsibility for your son."

Brad sighs. "You too, huh? Felix, I was a sperm donor, nothing more, nothing less," he says, smoothly continuing Brit's lie as best as he can while half out of his mind on pain medicine and antibiotics. "She doesn't want me in the kid's life, and I'm not going to force my way into-"

"But don't you want to raise him, see him grow, learn what parts of you he's inherited...?" Felix asks after a moment, his lips downturned.

Brad groans, remembering his childhood before being adopted. "Trust me, that kid will be lucky if he doesn't inherit anything I have to offer. Most of this town would agree." When Felix stares at him, as if trying to search out something in him, Brad squirms, wincing in pain afterwards as his gunshot wound makes itself known all over again. "What is it, Felix?"

"Most, maybe. But not me," he admits lowly, picking at his nails anxiously. "Brad, you saved my life just a few days ago and I will never be able to repay you for it. So to see you sit here and deny yourself a chance at being a part of your son's life, or refusing to believe youself worthy to, it just... I hate it. He deserves to know you, in some way. I know it's not what you expected, but I do believe you'd be a great father, with time."

This is the last thing Brad thought anyone would say to him, and actually mean. His eyes are locked on the taller man as he licks his lips, flushing slightly. "Felix..."

The nurse shakes his head, unable to stand around and listen to more of his excuses or justifications. "Just... think about it, huh? The baby's going to be born soon, and you- you should at least just reconsider doing the right thing. For your son." He scoops up Brad's chart once more before leaving the room, unaware of the turmoil Brad's suffering through all over again as he ponders what he'd overheard from Maxie and Spinelli, how it would affect Brit, and this entire baby situation, not to mention the Falconeris.

"Do the right thing, huh...?"

Not long after that, much too soon for his liking, Brit's baby is born. Brad swallows as he listens to the bustling, Sabrina's voice audible all the way into his room, his eyes widening as he realizes what she and Felix are talking about as they rush the baby into a room, quickly performing life-saving measures on him to assist his breathing, which apparently has been off since birth. The baby might not be his but a lot of things are riding on the little guy's wellbeing, so he finds himself struggling out of bed, ignoring the sharp pain spreading up his core as he shrugs into a robe and pads gingerly down the hall to the room they're working on the baby in, watching anxiously as the nurses get him breathing normally once more.

For whatever reason, Brad breathes a little easier too, although he can't help but notice. The baby is blonde, blue eyed. Looks nothing like he or Brit. Their lie already teetering on the brink, he turns warily as Brit and Nikolas arrive, the woman beside herself until she sees for herself that her little baby is safe and healthy. Nikolas' attention is on a lurking Brad, but he ignores him, standing at the window with Brit until she goes inside, Felix then spotting him and quickly leaving the nurses to take care of things, brushing past Nikolas. "What are you doing out of bed, Brad? Come on, the last thing we need is you tearing your stitches and trying to bleed out right here in the hallway." He's surprisingly gentle with him, gripping his arm and letting him select the speed as they walk side by side back to his room, Felix's eyes soft as he eases Brad back into bed. "Did you see your son?"

"Yeah," Brad mutters, lips very dry as he looks up into the other man's face, wishing that things were different. Easier. More... honest...

"He's beautiful, congratulations." Brad says nothing, watching as Felix picks at the sheets, wrapping them securely around Brad until he's snug and comfortable. "I'll come look in on you in a little bit, keep you up to date on the little guy's condition."

This Brad does respond to, his thoughts still running a mile a minute as he tries to process everything that's happened lately. "Thanks, Fe." Once he's alone, his face crumples and he buries his face in his hands, the lies abruptly becoming too much for him to take. "Oh, God, what are we going to do?"

Time passes impossibly slowly as he recovers, Felix making any excuse of his disinterest in Ben's well-being that he can, including it being a side affect of his weakness. It hurts and reaffirms all at once, Brad unable to tell him the truth and yet not wanting to keep lying to him as he watches the days pass by on the calendar over his head. Valentine's Day is on the horizon and he sighs, wondering what the hell he's going to do when he can barely lift his head for longer than five minutes most days. "Hey," he calls out to a nurse who's tinkering around with the machinery over his head, taking his vitals and doing whatever else it is that nurses do.

"Yes?" she asks warily, moving to the side of the bed so he can see her. "What do you need, Mr. Cooper?"

He finds his wallet in the pile of things Felix had brought in for him, his personal affects, whatever he thought might entertain him while he recovered. "Could you do me a favor?" he asks, struggling to be nice, not run her off with his usual pushy temperment. "Take this and buy some chocolate covered cherries and bring them back to me..." He trails off, knowing that there's no way those would use up the entire amount of money. There's nothing to be done about it though, not if he wants this to go well. "And use whatever's left to treat yourself to something."

Her eyes brighten as she takes the money, nodding vigorously. "Of course, Mr. Cooper. I'll be back soon."

"Uh huh..." He watches her leave, checking the clock. Felix's rounds don't begin for a little over another hour, so she has plenty of time, but he still feels jittery. It's been a long, long time since he had been interested in someone enough to want to do something special for them on Valentine's Day. With so many lies and deceptions hanging over his head, he has no doubt that things will go poorly either way, but he wants to at least try, maybe make Felix smile when he sees his favorite candy.

The nurse, however, holds her promise, returning in less than half an hour, and hands over the promised chocolate covered cherries, smiling at him as he examines the gaudy red headband with hearts adorning it on her head. "The kids'll like it," she tells him before rushing off to do whatever it is she does.

He makes a soft "Hmm" sound while examining the candy. He hopes they're good, that Felix won't be able to deny them, as he hides them under some of the things on his tray and sits back to wait. No matter what Felix thinks about him right now and his continued ignoring of 'his' son, he still checks in on him before his rounds each day. He sighs and closes his eyes, tired of keeping these secrets for Britt, tired of not being able to be with Felix because of it. But he owes her, so he keeps his mouth shut, focusing on the sharp pain stabbing up his side every time he breathes. He can't completely complain about it, prefering to feel it himself instead of Felix being the one laying here greviously injured.

His eyes shoot open when the hospital door opens and Felix himself breezes in, his eyes lighting up a little when he sees Brad awake and sitting up. "Hey, how are you feeling?" he asks, laying Brad's chart down at the end of his bed and checking his vitals. "Any better?"

"A little, yeah. I'm still sore, but it's better than it has been."

Felix finally turns to face Brad and smiles down at him. "Well, good. I still kind of want to see that tapdancing routine." His grin only grows when the lab tech grimaces, fussing with the edges of his blanket. "No, I haven't forgotten. I'm holding you to that."

"You'll probably regret that," he chuckles, staring down at his hands. Waiting for the right moment to give him his gift.

"Maybe, maybe not." Felix sits down next to him, the sudden warmth of his body so close startling Brad. "Have you seen your son since he was born yet?"

He stares blankly for a long moment, thrown by the sudden change of topic. "Oh, uh, no I haven't. Have you heard anything about how he's doing?"

Felix frowns at him. "You're really not interested enough to find out on your own? It's your son, Brad!"

Brad groans. "Felix, Britt doesn't want me to be a part of his life, she's made that blatantly obvious in the past few months. It's not like I can get up and go check on him, and she's not bringing him or any news on him to me, soooo what do you want me to do? I did ask you for news, that's something, isn't it?"

Felix stares at him for a long, hard moment, his expression finally softening. "I guess you have a point. Once you're released from the hospital, then you can be a proper father to the little boy. You've proven to me you can do the right thing in spades," he tells him, glancing down at the bandages just visible under his hospital gown. "Now you just need to prove it to your son."

Brad stares after him, shocked, as he turns away and collects his file, about to go back out into the halls to begin his shift. Wait, wait, no-... "Felix, wait," he gasps, remembering the chocolates. "I have something for you. It, uh, it's not much but I know it's your favorite." He holds the box out to him. "I heard you telling one of the nurses how they're your one weakness, more than worth the extra time in the gym you have to take... Happy Valentine's Day, Felix."

Felix gasps, taking the box. "Are these chocolate covered cherries? Man..." He laughs softly and looks up. "Thanks, Brad. I, um, I didn't get you anything... Sorry."

"Hey, it's fine. I understand, I sprang this on you out of the blue, so I didn't expect to receive anything in return. Your visits every day is enough of a gift, considering all of the crap I've done over the months."

Felix smiles faintly and taps his fingers against the candy box. "Alright, well, when you put it that way," he says teasingly, grinning when Brad laughs a little. "Look, again, thanks so much for these. I'll enjoy them. But for now, I have to start my rounds. I'll see you soon, ok?"

"Alright," he agrees. "Have a good day."

Felix nods. "You too. Bye."

"Bye." Brad watches him go before sinking back into bed, suddenly exhausted. "How long is this lie going to last, Britt?" he mumbles, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep.

He's almost there when nurses pass by his door, talking loudly. "Were you invited to the Falconeri christening?"

"No, I don't know the parents very well. I guess it's in an hour, right? That's where Epiphany's at?"

"Yeah, that's right. At least we get a little bit of peace now, so we can get some work done without her yelling at us every step along the way..."

As they walk further down the hall, talking more about the event, he cringes, knowing that he won't be able to get sleep any time soon now. "Do the right thing, huh? Is that what you need, Felix? Well, if I can't tell the truth regarding this baby, then maybe..." He winces and pulls the sheets away from his body, trying to ignore the deep throb coursing through his body originating from the gunshot wound. "Alright, I can do this," he mutters, fighting through the teeth-gritting, nausea-inducing agony to stand up and get his clothes so he can sneak out of the hospital. It becomes a bit of a mantra as he gets a taxi and drives to the chapel, stands before all of those people and confesses the truth, forcing Maxie and Spinelli to admit their roles in the lie.

His head is spinning and his hands clammy as he stumbles back to the taxi after the aftermath and questions ease a bit, no one seeming interested in what he might have to offer for the situation any longer. "Take me back to General Hospital," he urges the driver weakly, ignoring him when he inquires about his health, not wanting a passenger to die in his backseat. He curses when he sees the bright red stain growing along his shirt, realizing that he's torn his stitches. "Hurry up, I- I'm in a hurry."

"Everyone is, buddy," the man says dismissively, not bothering to look back at him as he fights traffic to get back to the hospital. He pays dreadfully for it when they arrive nearly half an hour later and turns around to tell him about the fare, just to find Brad passed out in the backseat, pale and shaking. It's his turn to curse as he scrambles out of his car, rushing into the hospital. "Hey, hey! I need help here, some guy passed out in my cab. Looks like he's bleeding from the stomach, so can someone-?"

The response is near immediate, nurses rushing past him with a cot to help the injured party, Felix among them. He stops short when he catches a glimpse inside the cab, freezing. "No, no... Brad?" The other nurses pull him out and get him back onto the cot with little trouble, Felix snagging his limp hand as he's pushed into the hospital. "It's ok, you're gonna be ok. I'm here. What the hell were you doing out of the hospital?!"

Brad stirs, his eyes fluttering opened. "I, um... The Falconeri-" He slurs the name and struggles to speak past it. "Christening... I heard the truth, and... I told..."

"Truth? What truth?" Felix whispers, torn. He knows he should urge Brad not to speak, save his strength, but his inner need for gossip and drama overwhelms most everything in his life, so...

"The Falconeri baby is actually... actually... Maxie and Spinelli's... I overhead and... knew that the truth needed to be known..." Brad fights to stay awake, but he quickly loses that war, his eyes slipping closed as Felix stares down at him, startled.

"Come on, we need to examine him and find a doctor to stitch him back up," one of the other nurses says, pushing Felix away from Brad so they can fit into the examination room. "How did no one notice he had snuck out?"

"He's just sneaky that way sometimes," Felix says, subdued as Brad's shirt is once more cut away, revealing the nasty, oozing wound. "Dammit." He's bleeding from a reopened gunshot wound that he took for me and here I am trying to get gossip out of him like some pathetic nag... What's wrong with me?

"Let's get a transfusion running, I don't like how much blood he's lost. Come on, move!" one of the newer doctors that Felix has yet to learn the name of orders, pushing Felix out of the way as they start bustling around, trying to fix him up. It's a haze, all of it, the barked orders, the frenzies of people surrounding the unconscious man putting in another IV, the transfusion, preparing supplies to put fresh stitches in. Eventually Felix realizes just how hard his hands are shaking and he falls back, leaning against a wall with a dazed look on his face as he wonders what Brad's been up to, why it was so important that he had to leave the hospital and risk his health in such a way.

Finally they finish, his bleeding stopped, the stitches re-applied. He's still pale, his heartbeat a little erratic now and again, but the doctor and nurses are calm now, causing Felix's hands to still for the most part. He approaches the bed hesitantly and looks around at his coworkers, sucking in a deep breath. "Is he going to be ok?"

"Yes, as long as he does nothing else to ruin our work," one of the crankier nurses says, pulling her bloodied gloves off before she leaves the room, most of the others following her to get to work on other patients.

Felix grimaces at how they're still treating Brad but moves past it, sitting down next to the bed and watching Brad breathe for a minute. He had been scared enough when he'd first been shot, but this, today, had left him even more scared, Brad's blood still staining his hands, flaking brown. He sighs tiredly and leans closer, taking Brad's hands in his. "Hey. You know, I didn't get a chance to properly thank you for the candy. I snuck one before my shift and it was excellent. Maybe when you wake up, I'll share... maybe." He smiles slightly. He taps his fingers against Brad's knuckles a couple of times before laying his hand back down on the sheets. "I need to get back to my rounds, but I'll check in on you soon. You better be here when I come back." He walks out of the room, glancing backwards with a worried, soft gleam in his eye.

Days pass, Brad is slowly recovering, though it seems to be taking longer for him to regain his strength than he'd expected. Though, he figures, that's not surprising, considering he'd just begun to recover before when he'd undone it all in an attempt to do right by one of the babies in Port Charles and its parents. Felix had listened to his side of the story with wide eyes and a bit of a confused grimace as he checks Brad's stitches once more. He hadn't seemed as thrilled over it all as Brad was, but Brad shrugs it off, thinking that it's due to his re-injuring himself.

When talk begins of releasing him, he considers returning to his dinky apartment and taking care of himself. It doesn't seem very pleasant, but he knows he has little recourse. No one likes him enough to take care of him, Britt has her son to dote on, and his family are too far away to ask to come help. Besides, he's a big boy, he can slack around and recover alone, licking his wounds, without someone watching over him.

At least, that had been the plan, until Felix overhears. And he takes everything and throws it on its ear, dragging Sabrina into Brad's room at the end of the week. "Ok, here's the thing," he tells his best friend. "I know you don't like Brad, with good reason, but he almost died to save my life, and I feel like I owe him. I know with my sister and us at the apartment that things are already crowded, but I really feel responsible for his recovery, and he's already proven incapable of keeping himself from bleeding out-"

"Hey!" Brad protests fruitlessly, unsurprised when Felix ignores him and continues barreling on, Sabrina's dark eyes flickering from Felix to Brad and back.

"I will sleep on the floor, the counter, anything. You keep your bedroom, Taylor will keep mine, Brad will get the couch, and then he'll have two nurses nearby at most times, and won't be alone until he's able to stand up without risking tearing his stitches again. Please, Sabrina? Mi bella," he says, using Spanish to try to sway her, ease the grim displeasure on her face. "Come on, girl. He saved your best friend's life, that has to count for something."

Sabrina glances over his shoulder once more at the downed lab tech, slowly shaking her head. "I don't know, Felix. He's done so many things..."

"He was Britt's accomplice, I know it doesn't make it right, but most of it was done at her direction. They're friends, and he's as loyal to her as I am to you, for whatever reason."

Sabrina again hesitates, her innate goodness warring with her uncertainty of sharing living space with such a man. "Felix," she sighs, unable to refuse her best friend anything for too long, especially when he's looking at her in such desperation. "I don't know how it's going to work out, but I suppose I can give it a try for you..." She's barely gotten the words out when he dives at her, sweeping her up in a hug, Sabrina squealing in surprise.

"Thank you, thank you," he breathes into her hair before putting her down and turning to look at a wide-eyed Brad. "There. Now, you better behave yourself while you live with us," he warns him. "If you do anything to hurt yourself further under my watch, I'll never forgive you."

Brad coughs into his fist, trying not to smile in the face of Felix's stern protectiveness. "Yessir, Nurse DuBrois."

The actual process of the move goes smoother than he'd expected- he signs some forms, he gingerly walks a little bit, and he's then released into Felix's care. Sabrina's working through a shift, and Taylor is off doing... who knows what, so they're alone in the apartment as Felix carefully helps Brad inside, lowering him onto the couch before he runs out to grab his wheelchair and bag. "Home sweet home," he says cheerfully as he drops the bag onto the floor next to the couch and settling in carefully next to him. "I know it's not that big, and it'll seem even smaller with all of us here, but we'll make do with it. I get the feeling you're going to be less cumbersome than Britt was, anyway." He hesitates, remembering something. "Sorry, I know you're friends, but she's put us all through-"

Brad waves it off before he can finish speaking. "Don't worry about it, I understand, Felix. She's... an acquired taste." He chuckles through a pained gasp, shifting in an attempt to get comfortable.

"An acquired taste that you apparently somehow have," Felix says, his hands much gentler than his words as he tries to help Brad move without tearing his stitches. Their eyes meet and he winces. "Look, we just... we have a lot of things to work out, ok? Like what we're going to do if you want to see your son, and..."

"Felix..."

The nurse sighs and scrubs his hands over his skull. "Look, I'm just going about this all wrong- I know you're still recovering and you need to settle in here, the last thing on your mind is Britt or Ben, and I think I understand. You almost died, you need time for yourself before you can even consider another little human who's gonna be so dependent on you." He leans back into the cushions and shakes his head. "Besides, I shouldn't push you so hard, I know you're a good guy. If you weren't, you wouldn't have taken a bullet for me. God, when I think about that night, you covered in blood and so close to just... Just..." He closes his eyes and shakes his head.

Brad releases a soft breath, not wanting to dwell on the disjointed, terrible memories he has of that night either. Reaching out, he squeezes Felix's hands and smiles over at him. "I'm ok, Felix. I'm gonna be great, especially now that I'm living with my own personal nurse." Felix stares at their hands for a moment before looking up at him, his lips slowly twitching up into a smile as well. "Alright?"

Felix nods. "Alright," he breathes out. Needing a minute to get his head on straight, not act on his impulses right now, he trails his fingers along Brad's knuckles. "Let's get you to bed, alright? You can rest and I'll run out and get your prescriptions." He stands up and starts to collect bedding, turning to find Brad staring down at the couch. "Sorry, it's not that comfortable. If it gets too terrible, maybe we can move it and buy an air mattress... that might-"

"No, this is great," Brad interrupts him again. "It's fine, really. I'm just happy to be able to spend more time with you. Maybe not under ideal circumstances, but..." He sighs. "You know, I was scared that night too, when that crazy woman waved a gun at you. I couldn't let anything bad happen to you... So..."

Felix watches him, his eyes warm and sad. "Yeah. I know." He rests the pile of pillows and blankets next to the couch and leans over. "Going to move slowly here, alright?" At Brad's nod, he lifts his legs onto the cushions and looks up. "Comfortable?" Brad nods, biting his lips hard enough to make them bleed, and Felix tsks, poking his mouth until he relaxes, both of them pausing awkwardly as Felix stares at the place his fingers are touching. "Um, ahem," he clears his throat sharply, pulling away. "Alright, um, well, here you go," he says, placing a pillow behind his head and wrapping a couple blankets around him. "If you need anything else, I won't be far, alright? Lay back and get some rest."

"Alright." Brad follows his urging, settling in against the pillow and pulling the blankets up to his throat, closing his eyes with a faint exhale. He listens as Felix pads away, rustling around in the kitchen. He smiles and looks up. "Hey, Felix, thanks. This all means a lot," he says sleepily.

Felix peeks his head out of the kitchen, a fond smile lighting up his face. "You're welcome, man. Go to sleep, I'll make something to eat for us as soon as I get back from the pharmacy." He receives no answer to this and wanders closer to the couch, looking over the back to peer down at Brad, smiling softly when he finds him fast asleep, fingers curling around the topmost blanket. "Goodnight, Brad."

The days pass slowly, though Brad slowly acclimates to living in Felix and Sabrina's apartment. It's usually just him and Taylor, who seems to skip school more than she actually goes, something that Felix complains about often, though his little sister never seems to care. Brad grows more and more fond of his older brother, despite how distant they've always been. He at least was nothing like Taylor, content to stay in his part of America while Brad did the same, not even tempted to torment him to the extent that Taylor does Felix.

His recovery is also going slowly, though he can- carefully- walk through the apartment under Felix or Sabrina's watchful eye whenever he gets restless or needs the bathroom. He's just glad he doesn't require the wheelchair that's still waiting in the corner of the room, not wanting to remind either nurse of Britt in the midst of her pretending to have extreme morning sickness.

He'd been there three days when he wakes up to find himself tangled up in the blankets, the apartment quiet- except for the low thrum of music that can only be Taylor's. He groans, finding that it's well after 7 AM, Felix and Sabrina probably long gone for their shifts at the hospital. For a wild, insane moment, he misses his lab. He winces and licks his lips, hating how dry his mouth feels. "Water," he grunts, deciding he can get up and at least make it to the bathroom, then stand on his own two feet long enough to get a glass and pour himself enough to drench his thirst. "Here we go, Brad," he mutters to himself, gingerly swinging his legs off of the couch so he can stand, fingers digging into the back of the furniture. "See, piece of cake..."

He shuffles carefully towards the hall leading to the bathroom; it's the first door between the living room and the bedrooms and he sighs as he leans against the closet, frowning at the closed door. It's all but vibrating with the sound of music pouring from an iPod's playlist and his heart sinks, the realization of who it could only possibly be, neither Sabrina nor Felix big fans of that kind of beat. "Taylor," he mutters aloud, knowing that as long as she's in there, he's not going to see a drop of water from this particular room for a long time. "Crap, crap- crap..." Hand pressing against his throbbing abdomen, he slowly turns around and inches his way back into the living room, rounding the couch to feel his way into the kitchen. It's about the same distance as the bathroom, but the bathroom had had more sturdy surfaces for him to hold onto to brace himself as he'd walked, so it was the best option. Here, he only has a rickety old table and chairs to cling to, which barely can hold people sitting in them, much less someone putting all of their weight onto it to keep from keeling over.

"Ok, Brad," he tells himself lowly. "You can do this, just a few more steps. Then you'll have all the water you can drink, and we'll go back and catch, say, ten more hours of sleep until Felix gets off his shift... he won't be any the wiser..." But he's breathing heavily, pain already radiating more severely from his midsection, sweat beading down his forehead, and he feels as his grip on reality wavers, leaves him shaking against the cool tile counter. "Damn, damn, damn," he whispers, closing his eyes against the dizziness that follows. He's not sure when exactly he falls, but he feels as his knees hit the tile floor first, then his head thuds against the cabinets behind him as he folds back in an awkward position, keening weakly. He's unconscious within seconds. He doesn't even hear as Taylor rushes past the kitchen, leaving the apartment in a rush to meet up with TJ, or whatever it is she plans on doing to ruin the lives of her fellow teenagers.

At noon, Felix is humming to himself, in the best mood he's been in in awhile. He'd seen a couple of his favorite patients, successfully brightening their days, and Epiphany had been in a surprisingly good mood as well, giving him an extra long lunch break as things were somewhat quiet in the ER this afternoon. He had insisted if that changed and she needed him, just to call and he'd be right over, but she'd waved him off so he left, eager to return to his apartment and share his meal with Brad. Maybe we'll order in from that Mexican place we both like, he thinks with a faint smile, unlocking his door. "Hey, Brad, guess who gets to spend a little extra time at home for lunch before-" His voice dies away as he sees the empty couch before him, frowning. "Brad? Hey, where are you?"

He heads for the hallway, looking into the quiet bathroom before peeking into his bedroom. It's empty, Taylor clearly leaving hours ago. Sabrina's bedroom also is deserted and he frowns, heading then for the kitchen, the only room left. He doubts he would've left, the lab tech still far too weak for that, but... His breath stutters, his thoughts slow to a stop as he spots legs peeking out from behind the kitchen table. "Brad?!" Rushing around it, he skids to a stop and just stares, horrified to find Brad collapsed against the cabinets, the clothes he'd slept in bunched up in the process of the fall, revealing the bandage covering his surgical stitches. "Oh God," he whispers. "Brad?" Dropping to his knees next to him, he cups his face and feels for a pulse, relieved to find that he's not cold- his breathing seems normal, his heartbeat is steady, if a little sluggish. "Brad! Wake up, man, come on."

It takes a minute, it feels like a lifetime, but finally... finally Brad's eyes flutter and his lips part. "Fe," he mutters, tilting his head towards the nurse.

"Yes, yes I'm here," he breathes, hands fluttering in relief against Brad's stomach as he checks his wound. "What happened?! Why did you get up?"

"I was... was thirsty," he struggles to explain. "I was... trying to get a drink from the bathroom but... Taylor was in there, so I came here and I guess... I overestimated my strength at the time."

Felix grimaces and rests his forehead against Brad's shoulder, feeling a surge of frustration towards his sister for knowing that Brad is here and has needs but still remains in her little world of selfishness. "I'm sorry," he sighs. "Dammit, Taylor..." He quickly moves to check Brad's head, hoping that he's not caused himself further injury. "How do you feel? Honestly. What hurts, does anything feel weird, what?" He pulls back to look him in the eye, the guilt and sadness bleeding from his gaze overwhelming Brad. "Please talk to me."

"My pride," he tries to joke away Felix's pain, but it doesn't help, the man still staring at him desperately. "My legs hurt a little," he finally admits. "I don't think I have a concussion or anything serious going on, but I'm just generally sore all over. I'm going to be ok, Felix, I just- I want to get up, can you-?"

It's clear Felix is considering dashing for the phone and calling for an ambulance, but he eventually kneels down and lifts Brad up, careful to support him until he's on his feet. Brad is still shaky and pale so Felix shakes his head, not liking this in the slightest. "Ok, here's what we're gonna do," he mutters, supporting the shorter man under the legs and shoulders and picking him up, carrying him into the living room. "Here." He lays him down on the couch and wraps the sheets around him, trying to keep him snug and comfortable. "How are you feeling now?"

"Better," he sighs, closing his eyes. "I'm tired."

"I bet. But please, keep your eyes open, I want to take you to the hospital-" He stops talking when Brad shakes his head desperately, so tired of being in the hospital that Felix reconsiders his initial idea. "Or get someone here to check on you." He tries to think about who would be willing to check on Brad without biases keeping them from doing a good job on making sure he's ok. Although he's a nurse, he doesn't want to overlook something and cause him more pain or trouble in the long run, he wants to get an actual doctor to look him over. "I think I'm going to call Britt." He hates the thought of her being in his apartment again, but this is for Brad, who's been hurt partially because of his sister's habit of hogging the bathroom.

"Wha- what?" Brad demands, shocked at this very suggestion once it registers with him. "You- you... why though? You can't stand her. And she's an OB GYN. What good-?"

"She's a doctor, though. She can at least give you a general examination, make sure I'm not missing anything. Besides, she's the mother of your child, she should want to make sure you're ok. Right?" Brad grimaces but he seems to have no argument so Felix finds his phone and dials the woman's number, leaving her a message when she doesn't answer. "She didn't answer," he mutters needlessly, returning to Brad's side. "But hopefully she'll check her messages soon." He leans in and runs his hands through Brad's hair once more, relieved to find no bumps or anything else too worrisome there despite the hard fall he'd apparently taken against the cupboards.

"Think I'm gonna live?" Brad asks after a few moments, enjoying Felix's closeness but his worry radiating strongly making the lab tech feeling worse as he examines him carefully, so clearly not wanting to risk something else going wrong. When Felix pulls back and looks at him, his dark eyes wounded, Brad realizes the wording might be a little bit too callous considering what's happened the last few weeks. "Sorry," he says softly, sitting still and trying not to squirm even when Felix's fingers brush against ticklish spots along his sides, concluding his examination with a quick check of Brad's legs to make sure nothing's broken or bruised.

"I think you're ok, I still want Britt to double check," he tells him. "I'm going to call Epiphany and let her know what's going on, that I'm going to need a little more time off this afternoon until I know you're ok."

"But, Felix, I don't want-"

"Don't argue with me," Felix tells him solemnly. "You're a guest in my home and you passed out because my sister is an inconsiderate bathroom hog. So I'm not leaving your side until I know you're going to be ok. And you don't want to go back to the hospital, I understand. Britt is the next best option, it's not like I can call Patrick. And I don't know the other doctors at General Hospital well enough to ask them to come over. So this is how it's going to have to be. You're stuck with me."

"Fine," Brad sighs. "I guess there are worse things." He smiles as Felix again anxiously checks his bandage, making sure for the tenth time that he's not bleeding. "Hey, hey." He catches Felix's hands and squeezes them. "I'm going to be fine. I am fine, Felix. Just relax for a minute, huh?"

The nurse releases a breath and looks up at him, frowning. "I'll try, I guess." Brad nods and leans closer, resting his head on Felix's shoulder as he wraps an arm around his midsection. "This is nice."

"Yes it is," Brad murmurs sleepily, sighing softly as his fingers trail up Felix's wrist. He fights his exhaustion, knowing that if he sleeps now, it'll add to Felix's worry. They're still laying there when there's a knock at the door, Britt's voice calling through the wood barrier. "You should get that," he whispers.

"I don't wanna get up," Felix mumbles back. "But you're right, I am the one who called her after all..." He reluctantly rests Brad back against the couch and gets up, running his hands over his head before wandering to the door. "Hey," he greets Britt tensely, letting her inside. "You received my message."

"Yeah. Where's the patient?" she asks needlessly, already brushing past him to sit next to Brad. "What scrape did you get herself into this time, Brad?" She has her medical bag with her, resting it on the table in front of them, and Brad almost wants to laugh at how seriously both of them are taking his latest klutz moment, but Felix looks so worried as he tells her what'd happened that it dies on his lips. Britt reacts professionally, examining his head and searching his eyes for signs of trauma. She follows the same path Felix had, checking his gunshot wound, his legs, and whatever else she can think of, ultimately finding as much as Felix did. "He seems fine," she says after a few minutes. "Does anything hurt? Or are you just sore?"

"Sore," he nods. "So do I get a clean bill of health, doctor?"

"I believe so, yes. I just want to do a couple of more things to make sure of that..." She rests a hand on Brad's arm. "Let's get you standing, make sure you can stand with no problems." Felix joins them to support Brad in case he needs it, the two of them together getting him up on his feet and waiting as he steadies himself, taking a deep breath. "How do you feel? Any pain, dizziness?"

"No, I feel- feel alright." Even so he looks relieved when they sit him back down on the couch, Britt quickly looking his stitches over once more before closing her bag up. "So, about that clean bill of health, Doc?" he asks her with a small smile.

She pats his knee. "Yeah, Brad, you do. But next time, keep a bottle of water nearby. It may be warm, but it'll keep you from risking cracking your hard head open."

"I'll make sure he has all of the bottles of water he needs," Felix agrees with her- first time for everything- before walking her to the door, not wanting her to hang around and risk running into Sabrina. Brad is one thing, but Britt is an entirely different subject for his best friend. "Thanks for taking the time out to check on him." He watches her as she nods, eyes widening in some surprise at his gratitude. "Hey, once he's a little stronger, maybe seeing his son would help him to feel even better."

She glances over at Brad as he leans back against the couch cushions, exhausted and clearly sore. It's obvious the last thing on his mind is his son, and she grimaces at Felix. "We'll see. But right now, I think he needs you." She raises her voice. "Feel better, Brad."

He lifts a hand up and halfheartedly waves at her. "Thanks for coming, Dr. W." As soon as the door clicks shut behind her, he sighs and tries to gingerly sprawl out against the couch. "I'm so tired." He blinks when Felix rushes over and helps him to get comfortable, even shaking a blanket out over him. "Thanks, Fe."

"You're welcome." As soon as he's sure Brad is warm and settled in, he sits down on the table in front of the couch and stares down at the lab tech. "God, you scared me," he confesses slowly. "Coming in here and first, finding you not where you belong, and then realizing you'd passed out on my kitchen floor... I've never really felt like that before, it was like... I couldn't breathe, and my chest hurt... I didn't know if you were..."

Brad sits up and cups his hand, lightly squeezing his fingers. "Hey, stop thinking about that, Felix. I'm fine. Maybe with a few more bruises than last night, but yeah, I'm going to be ok. Thanks to you finding me when you did. Britt said it herself, I'm ok."

Felix stares down at their interlaced fingers and smiles, glancing back up at him. Their eyes lock and then trail down towards each other's lips as their closeness registers, only a few inches between them. "You know... I'm going to have the longest conversation with my sister when she gets home... but right now, I can't really remember about... about what," he breathes, leaning in closer to him.

"It'll come to you, I'm sure," Brad whispers against his lips, eyes fluttering as Felix frees one of his hands and cups Brad's face, sighing softly when his lips brush against Brad's, each of his senses awakening sharply, his nerve endings following suit a few moments later. He gasps and presses his hand against the back of Felix's head, afraid that he wouldn't feel the same way, that he would try ending it before Brad's ready. But he doesn't, seeming as eager to keep him close as Brad is. "Felix," he groans into his mouth as the kiss deepens, engulfs them both.

"I... I... I haven't felt like this in... in... ever," he breathes, finally pulling away and pressing soft kisses to Brad's forehead and cheeks. "I don't want to stop touching you, or..."

"Me neither," Brad mutters, his arms snaking around his neck and pulling him onto the couch. "So why should we?"

"As long as we take it easy for awhile," Felix reminds him gently. "You're still recovering, after all."

"But we can build on this, right?" His smile turns a little smarmy, his eyes searching Felix's gaze. "We can... consider it a kind of physical therapy?"

Felix laughs at this, trailing his hands through Brad's hair. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? Truth be told, so would I," he sighs, kissing him once more. "But if anything starts to hurt at any time, you let me know and we'll pull back a little bit."

"Sure, yeah, whatever you need to feel comfortable with this." They share grins, Felix stroking his back until he leans against him and dozes off almost immediately, already overwhelmed and exhausted before everything with Felix had moved onto the next stage.

Although they try, there's still an underlying tension as Brad continues to move on with his life, physical therapy and trying to get back to a full work schedule all that's on his mind. He barely talks about Britt or little Ben, and it's clear that it eats at Felix, but Brad's not sure what to do about that. He's in a hard place, between keeping Britt's lie and not completely trashing things with Felix.

They'd had another of these fights on Halloween morning, starting when Brad had admitted he hadn't selected his costume for the Halloween costume party at the hospital. How that had become yet another argument about Brad taking responsibility for Ben, he's not sure, but that it does. It's his first full day back at work since the gunshot, and it rankles at him to start it in such a way, but there's not much he can do about it, stopping at a costume shop on the way and selecting one of the better looking costumes out of the few options left.

He tries to feel cheerful as he changes into it once he arrives at the hospital and he's made sure things at the lab is running smoothly, but this crashes around his feet when he arrives at the party and comes face to face with Felix, who is also dressed as Sam from the game Operation. Brad winces as annoyance crosses Felix's face, the nurse crossing his arms over his chest. "Change, now," he demands. "I went to a lot of trouble picking this costume to amuse the kids, it'd just confuse them if there were two of us wearing the same thing!"

Brad stares down at their costumes and swallows, feeling somewhat hurt that it apparently disgusts Felix so much to be wearing the same thing as him, even if his logic makes sense on some level. "But- I don't-" The thought of having to find another costume when the store was already picked clean leaves him feeling somewhat ill. Unfortunately it's all the encouragement Felix needs to start on him yet again about his son, Brad trying to distract Felix from that by insisting that he can do the right thing and had by telling the Falconeris the truth. Felix does concede this, but it's clearly not enough for him. He continues on about Ben when Brad can't take it anymore. "He's not my son, Felix, God!"

Barely have the words left his mouth when Britt herself enters the room, pushing Ben's stroller in front of her. He pales sharply, hating the thought of Britt hearing him. Not only is his job on the line but his life, considering what her mother had done to him and Duke Lavery, still on the run from that particular crime. He closes his eyes and glances at Felix, whose eyes are locked on Britt and Ben. Felix turns to look at him, confused, and he sighs, knowing that he can't tell the truth now, with Britt right there. "You're not his father?" Felix repeats slowly, glancing from Ben's stroller to Brad. "What are you talking about? You mean-?"

"No, I- I don't mean like that, I mean Britt doesn't want me to be a part of his life, and I'm fine with that. He's probably better off without me. Look, I did what she needed me to, and I don't- I'm fine with things the way they are, she's fine with things the way they are, so... can you just drop it?" He's desperate and the look on Felix's face hurts him. "Why does this matter so much to you?"

Felix's face darkens as he stares at his hands. "Why does it matter? Brad, we're in a... a, like, relationship, kind of, and- and... you have a son, and you don't even want to look at him. What am I supposed to think? I mean, I might want kids someday, and if things get serious enough between us that I think such a thing's a possibility, you... you'll just leave? You won't want anything to do with them or me because... it cramps your style, or?" He closes his eyes. "I don't know. I don't know, Brad. I guess I just want to believe that you're a good enough person to take responsibility for your blood and if you can't do that much, then what chance does any future children have?" He stares at Brad, hoping for some sort of response that would ease his nerves, but Brad is speechless, gaping at him, so he grimly shakes his head, collects a bowl of candy and walks off, fighting back tears.

"Felix," he sighs, gingerly turning to scoop up some punch to drink, try to calm his nerves. He wanders over to Britt after a minute and smiles half-heartedly at her. "Hey."

"Hey, what's happening?" she asks briskly, smoothing down her son's costume. "Felix didn't look happy at all when he flounced off. What'd you do now?"

He groans, staring down at Ben as he coos and shakes his fists around, snagging the collar of Britt's dress and tugging on it. She tsks at him, gently maneuvering him until he releases it, immediately turning his attention to Brad and gripping at his costume. Brad chuckles weakly, eyes widening when Britt hoists the baby off on him with little warning, Brad clinging to him awkwardly. "Hey, little guy," he says once his protests fall on deaf ears, Britt clearly relieved for a short break as she takes his untouched punch and drinks it down greedily, gazing around the room. He's still holding Ben close, examining all of his Falconeri and Spencer features, his discomfort growing with each observation, when Felix returns and stops short, staring across the room at him as he cradles the baby boy in his arms, lips twitching up into a sappy kind of smile before he turns away briskly. Brad swallows, once more thrown by the look on Felix's face, and he turns to Britt. "Hey, take him, I have something to do."

She accepts her son and frowns at him as he rushes off, moving faster than she'd ever seen him. "Hey, what are you going to do?" she calls after him, shrugging and poking Ben's nose when she receives no reaction. "Hi, cutey, did you miss mommy? But Brad's nice, isn't he?" She smiles and kisses his forehead, nuzzling him. "He probably would be an alright dad, some day, I guess." She stares at Felix as he continues to ignore everything else around him, making a big show out of organizing the candy supplies before the next group of children come through.

It's annoying, having to return to the costume store and look, but there's only one option left. He sighs as he attaches cereal boxes to the spandex in the halls outside of the party, trying not to think about how ridiculous he looks. "The kids'll like it, I guess," he sighs. "And won't be confused..." He's just attached the last box when he hears a soft ahem behind him, turning to find Felix staring at him in some shock. "Oh. Felix. Hi." This is the most mortifying moment, Felix's eyes roving along his costume as he coughs and tries to smooth it out. "Wha- what are you doing out here?"

"We were running low on candy, so I needed to make a quick candy run." Brad nods distractedly, now nervously running his hands through his hair. "You changed your costume after all."

"Yeah, um. Well, you know. Wouldn't want to confuse the kids." He moves to take some of the candy from Felix, ease his load, and they both freeze when their fingers brush. Brad sighs, staring down at their hands, when Felix moves aside and drops the bags onto the nurse's station before turning back to him, cupping his face and lifting his chin up until he can look him in the eye. "Fe-"

"I saw you holding Ben. It was... it was adorable. You would make a great father to that kid, no matter what you think. I just wish you'd believe that too." Brad sighs softly, eyes fluttering as Felix leans in closer, staring at him for a moment before softly kissing him, Brad's fingers resting lazily against his chest. "Let's get a drink later, ok? After spending so much time entertaining the kids, I could use some time in an adult setting..." Brad smirks against his lips and Felix shakes his head fondly. "You know what I mean, you pervert. So drinks?"

"Yeah, sure, sounds good. But first, there's gonna be a lot of disappointed kids if you don't bring them their candy first."

"Right," he sighs. "Come on, let's go."

Brad nods and smiles, collecting half of the candy and following him inside, still tingling from that kiss.

More time passes, Brad and Felix's relationship remaining where it was, dates here and there, but nothing more intimate than a few kisses. It's no lie Brad wants more, he's always wanted more, but the truth about Ben still lurks between them and he doesn't want to push Felix while there's still so much keeping them apart physically and emotionally. So when his phone rings and it's Felix, he grabs for it, not caring that he's supposed to be guarding the lab for Nikolas. He doesn't feel completely comfortable with what...ever's going on inside anyway, eager to help Felix. He doesn't know much about dresses but he does have some sense of style so he runs out, all curiosity of what's going on in that room slipping from his mind like water down a stream.

"Hey!" Felix greets him with a wide smile, leaning in for a soft kiss. "I didn't take you away from anything important, did I?"

"No, I needed a break anyway," Brad mutters, fighting his instincts to grab Felix and push him back into one of the nearby dressing rooms. "I'm glad to see you."

"Glad to see you too." They finally pull away and Felix glances around at the dress shop. "So... where do you think we should begin?"

"Well, I'm not sure what exactly Sabrina might want to wear, so why don't you give me some sort of hint?" Brad suggests, feeling more than a little overwhelmed by all of the dresses surrounding them now that he looks around.

"Ok, yeah, here's her dream wedding dress." He pulls out his cell phone and, accessing his pictures, finally finds the perfect one, holding it up so Brad can examine it. "If we can find anything similar to this, it'll make her wedding day so much more special." Brad examines it, taking in the details and trim, everything else, nodding. "Got it?"

"Yeah, let's see if we can find her perfect dress." He smiles as Felix grins at him, kissing him again before they separate to search the dresses. He ignores the suspicious glances thrown their way by workers, only explaining what they're doing when the people actually approach them, clearly trying to shoo them out of the building until they see the picture and join in the search since things are quiet, the fact that it's in the middle of the week, not to mention the economy, adding to the subdued customer base.

"I can't believe it," Felix groans a few hours later, collapsing next to Brad on a bench in front of the dressing rooms. "We've looked at every dress in this general vincinity and there's absolutely nothing... I don't know what Sabrina's gonna do now..."

Brad lifts a rubbery hand and pats Felix clumsily on the chest. "She'll figure it out, either way it'll be a gorgeous wedding, I'm sure." Felix grins over at him, the lab tech's eyes fluttering as his breath is stolen from him by how handsome he looks, even when exhausted after hours of searching through dresses. He leans forward and cups Felix's face, kissing him warmly.

"What's that for?" he mumbles once the kiss is broken, sighing softly when Brad lightly rubs his jaw with the pads of his thumbs.

"You just looked really handsome right then, I couldn't resist." Their eyes lock and Brad is pretty certain, if they weren't in the middle of a dress store, that the heat between them would blaze out of control, finally, but alas... He smiles and pulls away, turning to fold a nearby dress to give it back to the staff so they could restock it properly. He's almost back on his feet when Felix's warm hand grips his, holding him in place. "Felix-" He grunts when Felix kisses him again, his hand tracing up his chest to rest above his heart.

"I don't want this to end," he tells him, resting his forehead against Brad's. "It's been fun, spending the last few hours with you." He smiles as Brad nods in agreement, lightly nipping at Felix's lips. "I have an idea-"

"I have an idea-" They both pause, staring at each other before cracking up. "Hey..." Felix grins against his lips and shakes his head fondly. "Go ahead, what do you have in mind?"

"No, you go first. I'm the one who dragged you around here, and you were ridiculously patient with me. So go ahead, what are you thinking?"

Brad sighs, overwhelmed with the strength of the emotions he feels for Felix. "I'm thinking dinner..." He trails his fingers along Felix's collar, enjoying the warmth of his skin beneath his fingers. "Soft lighting, quiet music, good food... you... It sounds like the perfect evening to me... Unless you have bachelorette duties with Sabrina, of course."

"No, I... there's nothing planned that would keep us from having dinner together..." He rubs Brad's neck. "Dinner sounds great.. but I have a suggestion of my own... I agree to dinner if you agree to doing something with me."

"Like what?" he asks.

"Like... going to the wedding with me tomorrow, as my date."

Brad freezes momentarily, then pulls away. "Uh, I don't know, won't Sabrina and Patrick have problems with that? I really don't want to ruin things for them," he says awkwardly, shaking his head. "I've made a big enough mess of everything."

"You did it on Britt's orders," Felix tells him. "And besides, Sabrina was fine with you staying at our apartment while you recovered. What would the big deal be with having you at her wedding?" Brad still looks unconvinced and Felix shakes his head fondly. "Alright, look, I'll talk to her. If there's a problem- not that I foresee there will be- I'll call you and let you know right away. But we are definitely on for supper, and I want you to have your tux ready and good to go for tomorrow, alright?"

Brad weighs this for a long moment before nodding. "Fine, fine, I'll spend tonight preparing to be on the best person's arm tomorrow-" Before he can say anything else, Felix pulls him back in and kisses him, grinning against his lips. "But for now, I'm still in scrubs and that is no dinner-time attire, so..."

"Yeah," Felix mutters. "Same here, heh."

"I'll pick you up at eight, alright?" Brad kisses him once more before getting to his feet.

"I can't wait," the nurse says with a wide smile. Brad smiles down at him and winks before bustling off to pass off the last of the dresses to the staff, Felix's grin growing as he watches him go.

But the wedding is an utter disaster. Sure, it begins beautifully, but then they get to the I Dos and... Robin arrives, Emma running to her mother and disrupting the entire ceremony. Brad swallows, his suspicions from the day before, with Nikolas sneaking someone through to the lab for some unexplained reason confirmed. He grimaces and watches as Sabrina melts down, Felix trying to comfort her in the bridal suite. But there's little to be done, the woman somehow escaping both of them. Felix is scared, understandably so, so Brad hugs him. "Hey, let's just- let's go look for her, alright? She probably didn't get far, we'll find her and bring her home and you'll... you'll make sure she's just fine."

Felix nods, rubbing his hands over his face before looking Brad in the eye. "Thanks, Brad. I owe you, first you spend all of yesterday helping me look for dresses, then here at this wedding, and now... now you're going to help me look for her... I'm taking up so much of your time with drama that doesn't have anything to do with you."

"Hey, it does matter to me, because it matters to you," he says gently, leaning in to kiss Felix. "Let's go find her, huh?"

Felix nods, looking relieved that Brad seems determined to stay by his side until everything's ok again. "Yeah, let's." He waits until Brad moves aside to grab him by the arm, pulling him back towards him for another kiss, deeper this time, more passionate. "Thanks."

"Stop thanking me, I like being able to do things to help you." He smiles at Felix before they leave, determined to find the missing almost-bride. But no matter where they search, she's nowhere that Felix thinks she would go- the hospital, her favorite park, various restaurants... Brad has seen more of Port Charles in the last day than he has the entire time he's lived here, but he doesn't say anything until daybreak, when Felix looks over at him and something registers with him as he stops short before they go on to the next place, a small breakfast place she goes to sometimes when she just needs time to herself. "Felix, is something wrong?" Brad asks, frowning over at him, blinking slowly as he struggles not to rub his exhausted eyes.

"No, not wrong," he sighs, staring at his maybe-kind of-boyfriend. "Come on, let's just go check the apartment. I know we've been there already, but maybe she came back since." Brad raises his eyebrows at him but agrees, thinking he knows why Felix is stopping the desperate search, the two of them driving back in silence. When they arrive, the apartment is quiet, dark, and Brad looks on sympathetically as Felix pointlessly checks the rooms, already knowing what he'll find- nothing. Brad sighs and sits down on the couch while he waits, cupping his face in his hands. "She's not here," Felix finally admits, coming out of the bedrooms and joining Brad in the living room. "I'm sorry to keep dragging you around, I'm just not sure what to do right now."

"It's ok, don't worry about it. I understand, you want to make sure she's ok." Brad sighs through his fingers, leaning forward. "So where are we off to next?" Felix doesn't say anything for a long moment but, before Brad can turn to look at him and ask again, warm hands rest on his shoulders, kneading his tense muscles gently. "What're you doing?"

"I can't help Sabrina, but I can help you," Felix tells him lowly. "You've spent the better part of the last day trying to help me find her, and you're still getting back on your feet after getting shot to save me. I can tell you're exhausted, I probably shouldn't have dragged you out on this search... it's my responsibility to help Sabrina, not yours."

"I wanted to help though," he mumbles, his voice slurring as he drifts, close to falling asleep under Felix's warm fingers. "If you keep that up, I'm not- gonna be awake much longer..."

"That's the point," Felix whispers, leaning over to kiss his shoulder. "Just relax, Brad. I'll look more for her later if I still haven't heard from her, but I think right now all you need to do is rest."

"Alright," the lab tech breathes, his head lulling as Felix continues to massage his back and neck. "Felix..." He's shushed softly, Felix tugging him back to lay against the couch and cushion his head with a pillow. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Felix kisses him on the forehead before moving over to the desk and tapping a pen against the surface while watching Brad sleep, tiring his fingers out dialing number after number as he asks every person he can think of if Sabrina's been seen, hoping that his best friend will be fine.

In the end, Sabrina returns fine, physically at least, and life carries on. Brad and Felix are still seeing each other, if not taking the time to label themselves yet, and things are going pretty well. Britt and Ben are still somewhat of a presence in their lives, but outside of a comment here and there, Felix doesn't lay into him like he used to, feeling content as long as he sees Brad with the baby sometimes. So Brad's feeling pretty good when he goes to work that morning, humming and looking forward to see Felix. Unfortunately Felix is busy with rounds so Brad sighs and wanders off to check in on the lab. Ellie Trout had recently left so he had pushed through hiring a couple of new interns, needing some extra hands.

They're not that great, he almost misses the do-gooder, but he's making do as best as he can. He's reading through some results, figuring out who needs delivered what and where, when he hears a soft curse behind him, turning sharply. One of the newbies whose names he could never remember- Jane? Jamie? Who cares?- is standing by one of the beakers, staring down at it as it bubbles and foams warningly. "Get out of the way!" he snaps at her, pushing her away from the counter and reaching out for the vial. Heat is coming off of it in waves already and he winces, grabbing for a nearby liquid and sucking some up with a small dropper, dripping it into the vial. He holds his breath until the two counteract each other, the heat finally easing back as the liquid becomes calm once more. He releases a soft breath, remembering what had happened to Dr. Scorpio-Drake here only a couple of years ago, resting it gingerly back in its holder.

Once it's settled, he turns slowly and stares at the cowering girl, trying to hold his breath and stay calm. She's young, she's stupid... she could've gotten us both killed. Stay calm, stay calm... but he's seething. I just get things going decently in my life and I almost lose it because of some intern... "Get out of my lab." She gapes at him, her head shaking in a failure to understand. He repeats himself, slowly and carefully. "Get out of my lab. You almost killed yourself just two minutes ago, get out, learn how to properly handle yourself in a lab, and maybe you'll get a job somewhere else, but if I have anything to say about it, it won't be here!" She immediately scampers off and he digs his fingers into the counter, still trying to catch his breath. "How many times am I going to almost die this year? And this wouldn't have even been a noble thing, or whatever..."

He's frustrated and fed up, quickly leaving to get some fresh air. He's sitting on the roof, staring blankly out at Port Charles, when the door opens and familiar footsteps walk towards him. "Hey, Felix," he mumbles, resting back as his quasi-boyfriend's arm wraps around his midsection gently.

"Hey. Bad day?" Felix asks, smiling against his jaw as Brad grunts. "What happened?"

"Stupid interns," he sighs.

"Aw, is someone regretting scaring off Ellie?" Felix asks, digging his fingers into Brad's side, chuckling as the lab manager huffs and responds by digging his nails into his arm in kind.

"No. I didn't scare her off, she ran off to work somewhere else, it had nothing to do with me. I was a model boss." Felix's chuckles rattle through him and he sighs, closing his eyes. "This stupid girl apparently confused my lab with her EZ Bake Oven and mixed things together without thought. By the time I realized what she was doing, it was about to explode and I had to ease the pressure of the chemicals in, like, ten seconds." He sighs. "She won't be back as long as I'm lab manager."

By the time he's finished ranting, he realizes that Felix is very tense, very quiet. Before he can turn to look at him, Felix pulls away and turns to stare at him. "What- she could've killed you."

"I know," Brad mutters, feeling exhausted as he scrubs at his face. "Stupid kid. Now I have to start searching for a different, better intern... as if the interview process wasn't annoying enough the first time." But that clearly isn't Felix's problem as he stares into Brad's eyes, a weirdly wounded look on his face. "What's wrong, Felix? Did I do something? What did I do?"

Felix doesn't say anything for a long minute, finally leaning in and kissing Brad. "I could've lost you, again," he breathes into him. "Brad..."

"Oh, Fe," Brad mutters, curling his fingers around the collar of his scrubs. "I'm ok, I promise. I caught it in time, I fixed the problem. Everything's fine. I didn't mean to scare you, it was really nothing-"

"It was far from nothing!" Felix almost yelps, his hands brushing under Brad's white coat, resting on the scar from his gunshot wound. "It's too much, it's just... I can't lose you, not now, not like this."

Brad rests his hand on top of Felix's, smoothing his knuckles gently, closing his eyes. "I'm never going to leave you, Felix. I promise. Everything's going to be ok."

Felix nods slowly, leaning in to kiss him. "You better keep that promise, I couldn't... I couldn't take it..." Brad sighs into his mouth and brushes his fingers through his hair, each touch, every kiss containing all of the promises and hopes that neither of them can find the word to properly describe, not yet.

Weeks pass, Christmas surprising all of them with how suddenly it sneaks up. Brad taps the lab's calendar with a pen, his lips twisting as he tries to figure out the whole... gifts thing. "Britt," he mutters, eyebrows crinkling. "Ben... I guess... and Felix..." His shoulders slump. "What do you get your maybe-sort of best friend, her baby, and your maybe-boyfriend?" He ponders how a lot of relationships in his life have question marks by them, sighing grimly. "Maybe if I talk with Felix, I can get an idea." So he bustles out to the main hall to look for the nurse when he goes right by him, Brad's lips parting in surprise. "Hey!"

"Oh, hey!" Felix skids to a stop and returns to him, greeting him with a kiss. "Just the man I was looking for." Brad rests his hand on his chest and blinks up at him uncertainly. "Can you do me a big favor?"

"Sure, anything," Brad says, eyes wide in surprise as his face instinctively turns towards him. "What's up?"

"Well, it's Christmas, and it's a bit of a long story but I'm playing Santa," he explains, waving the Santa hat in an overexaggerated manner. "Sooo I need an elf, and I have to say... you're the man for the job." He holds up the elf hat, examining how Brad looks, his lips twitching up in a smile. "What do you say? You in?"

The old Brad would've laughed, pushed Felix away and walked in the opposite direction, mocking him to the ends of the earth for thinking it even possible, that Brad Cooper, lab tech from Hell, would ever bother donning an elf costume and entertain sick children on Christmas. But this is the new Brad, hanging on the precipice of what feels like love, and he stares into Felix's warm brown eyes, nodding slowly. "Alright, fine," he mutters, still thanking every day that Felix still talks to him, especially considering all of the lies still hanging between them. He wonders sometimes how much of it is just because of the scar on his abdomen that still hurts from time to time as if to remind him of his near fatal sacrifice all of those months ago. "When's the party?"

Felix stares at him for a second. "Um, in five minutes?"

Brad stares back at him. "What?!" he yelps, his voice raising about five octaves. "Felix, why-?"

"I'm sorry, I lost track of time and I didn't realize- it was a last minute thing, just... please, come on, we can change really fast and be there in time, come on-" He grips Brad by the hand and drags him into the locker room, the two of them fumbling with their scrubs, slowing down when they turn, coming face to face with each other. The intimacy of the moment leaves them both speechless, eyes flickering over naked flesh, and Brad swallows, wanting to touch him. The only thing that keeps them on track is the realization that, should they get distracted and do what both have wanted for weeks, if not months, right here, right now, Epiphany Johnson would never let them hear the end of it. But it doesn't keep Brad from memorizing this moment, the flush of his cheeks, how he definitely belongs on the naughty list for all of the things he's thinking right now. He wonders if Felix is as lost in similar feelings, or if he's just not quite there yet... but he's pretty sure by the look in his eyes, that he is, his gaze exploring Brad's body for a moment before he turns and tugs on the holiday garb, releasing a shuddering breath.

He's never been much for the holidays but he still has a great time with Felix, passing out candy canes to the sick children and helping pose them for pictures, Felix's easy-going warmth and happiness helping the kids to have a better time despite how ill they feel. When they leave, he grins at his sorta boyfriend, eyes soft with affection for him. "I actually had a lot of fun," he admits, not needing prompting. "Thanks for thinking of me to do this, Fe."

He's just opened his mouth to respond, grinning down at Brad, when Lulu and Dante divebomb them, demanding information on their embryos. All happiness fades away, replaced by tension as Brad gapes at them. He flinches and swallows, agreeing reluctantly to help, not wanting to appear too cruel in front of Felix. "I'll notify you with whatever I find out as soon as possible," he promises through gritted teeth, nodding grimly at Felix before he turns sharply and marches off towards the lab... just to turn and head back towards gynecology to find Britt.

"I don't care what you tell them," she tells him after hearing his story out. "Just make them go away, I will not lose my son."

He watches as she adjusts her white lab coat and walks away, her high heels clicking warningly against the title floor. He sighs and rubs the green felt of the elf hat between his fingers. "Dammit," he breathes. "If he ever finds out..." Even so, he squares his shoulders and thinks things through, finally finding a good, believable lie. Finds the proper paperwork, fills out what needs filled out. As he enters in the information, his scar throbs painfully and he gasps, digging his palm into it before continuing to type. "I hope you'll forgive me, Felix. Somehow." How he finds the strength to look them in the eye and claim that Ellie Trout had accidentally labeled their embryos to be destroyed, he's not sure, but the look on Britt's face had given him that extra push to do just that, to keep both of their secrets a little longer.

It doesn't stop him from feeling ill every step of the way, though...

Days, weeks pass, and the guilt grows with each breath, each step that Brad takes. He hates himself more than a little, but Felix isn't clear of wrongdoing either, blabbing to Patrick about Sabrina's unexpected pregnancy, which just irks Brad as he's reminded of how Felix never lets anything go. Which means his secret will only be so temporarily... which means their time together will more than likely be brief. His distraction caused by all of this doesn't go unnoticed, Felix cutting himself off mid-sentence and nudging him. "Felix?" he asks, confused.

"What's going on? Normally you're a little more intuned than this... Is something going on?"

Somehow this leads into them arguing about Felix's busybody tendencies and, the next thing Brad realizes, he's calling Felix a major buttinski and storming off. Certain that things are ruined, he finds himself at the Floating Rib, picking half-heartedly at a bowl of peanuts. He'd always assumed that, if Felix and he were ever over, it'd be because of his stupid actions and yes, in a way, his secrets are at the heart of it, but ultimately it had been Felix revealing Sabrina's secret that had been the final straw, leaving Brad unable to face him and his need for the truth in all parts of his life. It won't work, he thinks with a sinking feeling that he'd been fighting to ignore since that night he'd been bleeding all over the pavement and Felix looked down at him with something other than disdain. Dammit. He's just scrubbed his hands over his face when the stool next to him is claimed, Brad tapping his fingers against his glass while he considers having another.

"Whatever you have on tab," the man says, his voice surprising Brad and drawing him out of his woeful thoughts. He glances over at him, dark eyes locking with deep blue ones. They exchange a smile before Brad turns his attention back to the solid wood before him. "Hey, my name's Lucas," his barmate persists, holding his hand out to him. "Lucas Jones."

Brad sighs, seeing his quiet, private night to spend pouting or just figuring things out slip through his fingers even as he automatically curls them around Lucas'. "Brad Cooper," he greets him before swirling another mouthful of beer around in his mouth. Oh, but Lucas is a pretty man- where Felix is all soul with deep brown eyes and soft smiles, Lucas is pretty much sex on wheels with the way he holds himself, his intense gaze, and a faint smirk that hints towards nothing but trouble. He gulps and quickly looks away, desperate not to add more problems onto his plate. But despite his best efforts, they begin to talk- about their being adopted, and Lucas' father, Brad's father... his connection to the old Wu clan and the Asian district that is now overwhelmed by hipsters.

Brad's spinning his now empty beer bottle between his hands when Lucas turns towards him and cups his face, hands warm and gentle against his jaw, pulling him closer... closer... until they're eye to eye, faces only inches away from each other. Brad sighs, closes his eyes and tries to picture that it's Felix looking at him like that, that everything isn't so messed up... and although the kiss is nice, warm and sensual and old Brad would've gladly grabbed Lucas by his collar and dragged him to his apartment, sank down into him and never moved again until he'd gotten his fill, new Brad can tell it's not going to go well. He himself doesn't deserve either of them, but Felix deserves better, Lucas deserves better. So he presses his hand to Lucas' chest, lightly pushing him away. "I can't do this right now. I'm sorry, you're great and sexy as hell, but..."

"There's someone else," Lucas supposes.

Brad nods with little to no reluctance. "Yes, there is. But if you want to sit and talk for awhile longer, we can do that."

"I guess I can live with that," Lucas agrees, nodding faintly.

The night passes by in a blur of booze and laughter, Brad relieved just to have someone to talk to that isn't Britt. He returns to his apartment when the bar closes and collapses into his bed, finding a bottle of water and downing it in one fell swoop, hoping to stave off the worst of his hangover. He has work in the morning, which means seeing Felix again, and he sighs at the mere thought of it. Most would find him to be insane to choose a probable nothing with Felix over a maybe something with Lucas, but he had wanted Felix for so long, the thought of someone else touching him, kissing him, holding him just feels wrong. He sighs and dozes off, his brows furrowed in confusion.

Amazingly enough, his decision works out fine- in fact, Felix is apologetic and sweet when Brad sees him at the hospital the next morning. He even gives him a rose and asks him out on a date. Brad gapes at the flower, smelling it while he agrees. Lucas is lurking around but he merely smiles when he sees Felix, scoping out the man who he'd been passed over for, which makes Brad uncomfortable, but he can't do much. It's a free country, Lucas can hang around wherever he wants. Felix's warm fingers surround his face and kisses him gently, Brad's eyes fluttering closed as he grips Felix's scrubs. "I can't wait for tonight," he mumbles against Felix's lips.

"Me neither," Felix sighs. "I'll come find you as soon as my shift ends."

Brad nods eagerly, watching him walk away before he glances over, finds Lucas still lingering, watching them with a wistful look on his face. He swallows and turns away, trying to find his stack of paperwork to bring with him. He's not sure if he grabs the right papers or not, it doesn't matter, he just needs away from Lucas' searching gaze right now. But he's stopped by the man himself. "That's him, huh?"

Brad turns slowly to look at him, swallowing. "Yes, it is. Lucas, listen..."

"I know, you want him, not me. I get it. I do. I just... can we be friends at least? I mean, we have so much in common and it was... just nice to have someone to talk to about things, right?"

He nods slowly. "Yes... it would..." His shoulders slump. He's not sure it's a great idea, but he really doesn't have that many friends. "Fine, sure, yeah, we can be friends." Lucas beams at him so happily that it twists at Brad's insides, leaves him wanting to make him smile like that all of the time... but then he remembers the look on Felix's face as they'd kissed earlier. "I have to go, I have to check on my lab. See you around, Lucas."

"See you."

It's a relief to walk away, immerse himself in work and not have to think about the two men outside those doors, one that he wants with everything in him, and the other that actually seems to want him, which is a strange prospect. How he shakes these thoughts, these feelings away, he's not sure, but he manages to, grinning at Felix in his nice sweater and dress slacks, a sheepish smile on his face. It's a pleasant evening spent with soft music and simple ambiance, the candle light reflecting in Felix's eyes just so, Brad can't look away from him. They talk about anything and everything, it's easy and not at all as awkward as Brad had feared it would be after everything they'd put themselves through in the last few months. It's different than the night before with Lucas, but he still likes it. Thinks he prefers it this way. Especially when Felix reaches over the table and grips his hand, squeezing lightly. They grin at each other before looking down at their desserts. The kiss that Felix presses to Brad's lips at his door at the end of the date is sweet and soft, promising more, and Brad sighs into his mouth as he fights every instinct to grab Felix and take what he wants, right here, right now. He had waited for so long... but Felix is worth it, he can wait a little longer.

But then Carly Jacks is kidnapped and Lucas is upset, Brad listening to him for a few minutes before finally obliging him in a hug, his skin tingling where Lucas touches. No, he thinks. I can't do this. It's not fair to Felix. He pulls away when Lucas' father interrupts, Brad standing by awkwardly until Lucas agrees that he wants to talk in private with Julian. Brad leaves, heading back towards where he'd seen Felix, and he watches him bustling around, doing his duties with a soft smile on his face. The smile that is reflected on Brad's face as he stares at him fondly. He wants it to work so badly between them, more than almost anything he's ever wanted in his entire life. Unfortunately, it feels like a bunch of things are working against them. He sighs and glances over his shoulder, observes Lucas and Julian talking lowly. "Dammit, why does everything have to be so complicated?"

Things are still going well enough with Felix, Brad relieved that he only sees Lucas sometimes, in high stress situations. Not day to day, not everywhere. It's weird when he does see him, that's more on him than anyone else though. He sighs and listens to the latest of Brit's dilemmas, her guilt growing along with his own. She's sure that Nikolas is going to propose soon, she's considering telling him the truth... or at least part of it... and he watches her, shaking his head. "You have to let me know," he warns her. "I need time to tell Felix. If he finds out from someone else..."

"Right," she mutters. "Of course. Look, I'll tell Nikolas soon, you can tell Felix whenever you want. We'll handle it from there. But not the entire story, alright? No one can know that the Falconeries are my son's true parents. Just that you aren't his father."

Brad sighs, nods. "Right, I know." But he doesn't... it's not right. It, yes, would get him off of the hook for being Ben's father, letting everyone think that he's a deadbeat dad, but in the end, the entire truth still could come out at any time, and then what? Felix finds out and leaves him in the dust, and from there... He can't lose him. Not like this. But he's in such a catch 22. Telling him the truth could cause him to lose him, not telling him could bring the same results, just at a later date. He groans and scrubs his face, waiting until he's far out of Britt's radius to mutter, "What the hell do I do now?"

But he doesn't want to think about this right now, it's Valentine's Day so he sneaks up on Felix at the nurse's desk, wrapping his arms around him and pressing a kiss to the side of his head. "Hey."

"Hey!" He turns and hugs him, kissing him. "I was wondering where you've been." He squeezes his midsection and grins. "So it's a certain holiday..."

"Yeah, I kinda noticed," Brad mutters, glancing over at a bunch of hearts and flowers decorating the nurses' station. He laughs when Felix makes a face at him.

"I was wondering what you're doing tonight." His fingers stroke Brad's sides through the thin scrubs, grinning as the other man shivers. "Have any plans?"

"Hmm, I don't think so, although I guess that could change at any time." Felix chuckles knowingly, kissing him. "Maybe..."

"I could do something about that," he whispers. "Why don't you come over to my place, I'll cook us something to eat. We'll talk and... see where the night takes us." Brad's face lights up and Felix laughs as he kisses him more thoroughly, shaking his head. "I guess that's a yes."

"Yes it is," Brad agrees, smirking slightly before pulling away. "Unfortunately, I have to get some work done so I can get off in time to get ready to look good for you."

"You always look good," Felix mumbles, staring at him through half-lidded eyes. "But I have to get some work done too. So we'll meet up at my place, say, 7? We can talk and just relax while I cook..."

"Sounds great. I'll see you then." He rubs Felix's arm before turning and walking back towards his lab, releasing a soft breath. "I'll tell him in the morning," he mutters. "No point in ruining our night..." He sighs and loses himself in his work, determined not to waste his opportunity at finally spending some alone time with Felix.

Everything starts off ok that night, Brad looks sharp in his suit and Felix reacts appropriately, barely able to keep his hands off of him before pulling away to check on their food, get some wine and hor devours. Brad sits down and looks around the apartment. He had been in here a time or two before, but it's nice to actually be welcome, have the time to look around, take in the ambiance of Felix's home.

"Like what you see?" Felix asks, resting the wine glasses in front of Brad and sitting down next to him.

"Yes," Brad says simply, not meaning the apartment. "I definitely do." He leans in and kisses Felix again, trailing his fingers up his jaw before pulling him closer, deepening the kiss. After a minute, Felix pulls away and rests his forehead against Brad, looking him in the eye, a weird look on his face. "What is it? Am I doing something wrong?" Brad asks, suddenly uncertain. "Am I moving too fast?"

"No, it's... it's not that," Felix sighs, adjusting his collar and getting up. "I just get the feeling," he says, "that you're keeping something from me again. You seemed tense earlier, and you are again right now." And dammit, this is what Brad had been afraid of- that Felix would've gotten to know him so well that he'd just sense, that Brad would have to face the truth and finally confess everything to Felix, no matter how much Britt would hate him for it. But Britt is only part of their problem... he still feels guilty about Lucas, about how close he'd come to throwing this, all of what he's building with Felix, for Lucas Jones... And Felix must see it written all over Brad's face because he returns to the couch, settling in next to Brad, and gripping his face, staring into his eyes so he can't get away, or avoid this moment. "Did you meet someone else?"

"No, of course not!" he stutters but, as he says it, Lucas flashes before his mind- sweet, hot, insanely good kisser Lucas, and his voice falters. Gives him away.

Felix's eyes darken. "Maybe we shouldn't do this tonight," he says coolly. "Maybe you should go."

Brad stares at him, flabberghasted. That he could just so easily turn on a dime, grow so cold... and over what? Someone that Brad had been denying over and over again in hopes that Felix would ever take him seriously? He scoffs, then laughs. "Yeah. Maybe I should." Each step hurts, each step leaves him feeling so broken, so alone, more than anything else in his life ever has.

The next time he sees Lucas, he kisses him and tries to ignore the dark eyes locked in his memory.

-x

It takes longer than Brad had expected, but also happens almost immediately. One minute he's talking with Lucas, laughing and feeling lighter than he has in a long time, and the next they're kissing and Felix is yelling something indescripherable at them both. Brad jumps, jerks away and stares at him in shock, feeling like he's been torn into two because, dammit, the kiss with Lucas was so good, but everything he's been building with Felix is all that he's ever wanted, and... he looks up at Lucas. "I'm sorry, I can't let this go. I have to..."

He runs after Felix. "Brad, leave me alone!" Felix yells back at him, his voice echoing through the halls of the hospital.

Brad doesn't listen, however, chasing him outside onto the hospital roof, and corners him. "Listen, it was just a kiss by two lonely people, ok? He gets me in a way not many have! I'm sorry I kissed him, I shouldn't have done that, but you really hurt me the other day! I want you, Felix, and I've been more patient than I ever have with anyone in my entire life, and I just keep getting shut down and shut down and shut down. I'm starting to think you never cared about me to begin with!"

"Then maybe you should be with Lucas!" Felix yells back.

"Maybe I will!" Brad realizes what's just slipped out of his mouth too little, too late, struggling to breathe as pain flashes across Felix's face. "Oh God, Fe-"

"You don't get to call me that anymore," Felix tells him coldly. "We're done here, Brad. Entirely, one hundred percent done. I don't want to see you ever again."

It feels like a sword going through his chest, hearing those words. But he can't say or do anything about it, just watch Felix walk away without a glance back, or any sign of reluctance. After he's alone once more, he sinks down to the rooftop and stares blankly up at the sky, trying not to cry. "Well, Brad Cooper, you are the pure definition of why people can't have nice things."

He's heartbroken but he could never stand being alone, which was the pure reason of a lot of his hit'em and quit'em relationships over the years, so he quickly finds himself rotating around Lucas once more. It's clear Lucas is interested, maybe more than Felix ever was, so Brad enjoys his company, the hours of conversation they have the easiest he's ever had... but no matter what he does, Felix remains in the back of his mind.

Then the truth about Ben comes out and Britt loses her son. Lucas is mad about it for awhile, but he does somehow get over it after the initial you lied about my cousin's baby argument. What Brad isn't expecting is to be cornered by Felix. "You lying scum," Felix tells him, using his considerable height in comparison to Brad's to keep him in line. "Every conversation I spent trying to convince you to spend time with your son, not understanding why you wouldn't want to, you were hiding the real fact that you didn't care- because he wasn't your son, and he wasn't Brit's either! How could you do this?"

"Because I'm not a nice person, Felix! You knew this about me! You knew it from the first moment we talked! So get out of my face! I'm just doing what I have to do to survive in this damn hospital!" And he tries to push past Felix, he even accomplishes it physically, but the last words from Felix's lips stay with him for the rest of the day.

"Aren't you tired of it? All of it?"

He's more tired than he's ever been in his whole life- but something makes him feel a bit more whole, and that's Lucas' lips on his own, their hands grazing each other's skin, the sound Lucas makes when he whispers his name. They're a couple now, and in some ways, it's great and in others, it makes Brad ache inside because he'd imagined all of this with Felix in one way or another and, as great as Lucas is, it doesn't make him feel as great as Felix had once upon a time. Lucas is a purely physical being whereas Felix was intensely emotional and Brad yearns for something just a little bit deeper sometimes. Although he's sure, with enough time, he could come to love Lucas in different ways, stronger, deeper ways.

He's just gotta shake Felix first.

-x

But then the truth about Sabrina's baby comes out- it had been Patrick's this entire time- and Robin leaves. Although this leaves Sabrina guilty and a bit broken inside over breaking up a loving family, it hits Felix hard. Brad can see it in his eyes every time they cross paths in the hospital and he's not sure if it's because Felix has just gone through too much between first Ben and now Sabrina's baby or if perhaps something deeper is going on, but either way. He hates to see it, and he wants to go to Felix, comfort him, make him see that things will be better eventually.

But he can't do that, they're nothing to each other now, so he tries to forget it until, surprise surprise, Brad and he both take lunch breaks at the same time one day. Both leave the hospital at the same time, Brad to go meet up with Lucas and Felix to go try to help Sabrina with her latest crisis. Brad watches him walk away, overwhelmed by a suidden urge to go after him, and so he does. Or at least he tries to. He's halfway across the street when he hears squeeching tires and looks up to find a car just inches from his body.

"Hey! Asshole, watch where you're going, who the hell taught you-" Whatever else the driver says is muffled by wind and general speed when Brad scrambles back onto the sidewalk and he peels out of there.

Brad gasps for air, slowly looking up to find Felix had heard, Felix had stopped and turned back to look, almost as pale and frantic as Brad feels. As soon as traffic eases off once more, Felix rushes over to him and clutches his arm, easing him onto a bus stop bench. "Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap," he repeats, burying his face in the side of Brad's neck. "Are you ok? Huh?" Pulling away, he grips Brad's face and stares into his eyes. "Please, talk to me, Brad..."

"I, I'm ok," he chokes out. But just the act of speaking, while Felix is staring at him so concerned, breaks him. He starts to cry and digs his fingers into Felix's collar, drawing him closer and kissing him. "I'm so sorry. I'm so damn sorry for everything." It's wet and it's sloppy and he's sure he looks awful, but Felix doesn't seem to mind, holding him close and kissing him back, whispering soothingly to him. "I miss you so damn much."

"I miss you too," Felix admits brokenly. "I love you, Brad."

"Wha- what?" Brad chokes out, spinning from the last few minutes. First he's a breath away from dying on the hood of some speeding asshole's car and now he's sitting here, listening to Felix confess his love to him after weeks of barely being able to look at him. "Since when?"

"Since you nearly died for me," Felix whispers. Then pauses. "The first time."

Brad laughs. Then cries. "I love you too. But how can it work? I'm with Lucas and you still haven't forgiven me..."

"We'll figure it out," Felix promises him. "Just no more running in front of bullets, or cars, for me ever again. Ok?"

Brad smirks through his tears., knowing he'd do all of that and more for this man. "No promises," he whispers, leaning into Felix's warmth and sighing as he kisses him.