A cool night wind whipped across the Head, rattling the old windows of the Howe house and making the walls creak and groan in protest. It was just barely midnight and the moon shown full and bright, casting awkward shadows into the room of Tom and Barry who lay wide awake, their bodies melting into one as they held tightly to each other. When one was awake, they often both were.
Tom lay splayed out on his back, his arm stretched across Barry's body to hook around his small waist while his other was reaching up to allow his hand to rest lightly in his brother's tussled hair, their legs intertwined loosely under the covers. Barry rested his head beneath Tom's chin and draped his arm haphazardly across his body, a position so common it was now the only way he felt comfortable sleeping. The utter silence filled the dank room, but it was a comfortable silence, a familiar one. The idea of awkwardness was nonexistent between the two. They shared everything, including their liver, split right down the middle through the bond. But they were inseparable, even past the band of skin that linked them chest to chest.
Although, Tom noticed, Barry's tether was much more absolute that his own, the thick cylindrical bridge significantly wider where it connected to Baz than himself. Maybe that was why he needed Tom so much, why Tom was the only one who could bring Barry back. The only one who could help him to drive away the thoughts and controlling feelings of Him. It was the way it had always been because Barry grew on Tom and Tom grew on Barry.
Barry shuddered suddenly, yanking Tom from his own thoughts as Barry drew himself closer, gripping Tom's hip and pulling himself over to close the mere centimeters of space between them. Tom glanced down at his brother from the corner of his eye and saw a vacant look begin to cloud Baz's features. He pulled his hand away from Barry's hair to place it lightly on his turned face, cupping his cheek as he began to worry. Barry flinched at Tom's cool palm on his face before turning his head into it. His weak heart began to race, his skin growing warm under Tom's fingers as his own heartbeat picked up in response.
Barry began to mumble under his breath, incoherent sounds that raised the hair on the back of Tom's neck before he finally spoke aloud.
"Say's He's goin' to get me, Tommy. Don't wanna go with Him." He whimpered into Tom's neck, his warm breath tickling his brother's throat.
Tom stroked his face gently, trying to put out the flame before it grew to a fire.
"Shhh, Baz, I won't let him take you. I'm here and so you'll be too."
"I'm scared Tom, he tells me things, whispers them into my head like a snake." Barry's body began to rock ever so slightly, making Tom's fingers clench harder on his waist. His hand moved back up to Barry's head, stroking it softly and silently begging that He would leave Baz alone, both of them really, once and for all.
Finally, Barry's tense body relaxed against Tom and he let out a sigh of grateful relief. They had escaped Him this time, but He always came back. Baz nuzzled his head further under Tom's chin, his heartbeat settling back into its usual weak flutter, slowing Tom's in turn with it.
"Tommy?" Barry whispered quietly in the moonlit room, "You wouldn't leave him alone with me, right?" He gulped nervously, opening and closing his bony fingers on Tom's hip.
Tom knew what he was asking. Separation was always in the back of his mind, but he knew he wouldn't do it. Couldn't do it. Baz needed him and he knew it. If in some miracle Barry did survive the operation, he would fall apart without Tom, and he could never forgive himself if that happened. He was Barry's security blanket, his protection. He didn't think he could be happy without Baz's familiar touch and feel. Sometimes it was like they were like one person, their hearts beating differently, but together, their breathing off, but rhythmic. There was a completeness about being with Barry. Tom loved him more than anything. Barry was his because he grew on Tom and Tom grew on Barry. There was Barry, and then there was everyone else.
"No Baz, I'll be with you til' the end." As if to add to his point, he took his hand from Barry's waist and traced line gently from his side of the join to Barry's. A reel of sensation traveled from Barry's end of the join back to Tom's.
Baz arched slightly against his touch, and Tom moved his leg, gently rubbing his thigh along Barry's. A warm sensation spread instantly as Tom's body gave way to the emotions stirring within the pit of his abdomen, his member beginning to ache. Tom moved his leg again against his brother, reveling in the feel of Barry's soft skin against his own.
Barry suddenly drew in a sharp breath, feeling his own member perk up in response to skin touching skin. Tom followed his brother's eyes curiously, once again feeling the rush of emotions transfer from Baz to himself. He realized quickly that his brother's own body was reacting as well to his careful movements, and it suddenly seemed as if they could never get close enough.
Barry, now fully aware of his brother's own hard on moved his face from beneath Tom's chin to look up at him and bent up with a sense of urgency to meet Tom's mouth with parted lips. Slow at first, and then growing in heat, Baz's tongue warred with Tom's as they gave into their desires.
Tom's hands reached instinctively to Barry's hair, entangling his fingers as Barry moaned into his mouth and sucked softly at his bottom lip. He ground his hips impatiently into Tom's side, pleading with him silently to put out the fire that only Tom could create in him.
Tom, feeling his brother's bony hips and member pressed to his side, finally reached down to Barry's hardened boxers and he once again sucked in a shaky breath, feeling his brother's cool hands encircle the sensitive length and grip it without a pause. Barry's eyes fluttered closed and he pulled away from Tom's open mouth to moan in ecstasy, lost in Tom's familiar touch as he bucked his hips up into his palm.
"T-Tommy," He murmured as he arched his back hungrily into his brother's willing hand, his hot length wanting more and more of Tom each second, wishing he could stay in this moment forever, away from Him and away from the rest of the Head.
Barry's thrusting increasing grew rough and quick as he neared the edge of his restraint, willing himself to hold on for a few seconds longer, to hold on forever if that's what it took to stay right there in that moment with Tom.
Finally, giving in as he lost control, Barry's warm seed rushed through Tom's fingers and he moaned in absolute pleasure, the indescribable feeling overtaking his body at once as stars clouded his vision and the sheen of sweat covering him felt like the only thing that would save him from the flames underneath his skin. Tom guided Barry, his eyes still closed, to his mouth and kissed him deeply.
Just watching the bliss on Baz's face was enough to make Tom finish himself. He felt his own body give in as Barry's pleasure became his own, finishing just seconds after. Their chests heaving with ragged breaths the two boys sprawled out, their closeness and shared sweat far from their minds as they rode out the last waves of pleasure.
Their breathing finally evening out, Barry drew back into Tom's side, his body molding to his brother's as he tucked his head onto Tom's chest and fisted his palm atop his stomach. Tom wrapped his own arm behind Barry's head and laid the other on his side, feeling Baz's frail body rise and fall.
Tom didn't know. He didn't know sometimes where he ended and Baz began, couldn't explain or understand the connection they shared beyond the join. Barry was his and he was Barry's. Nothing was ever awkward or strange between them, their absolute closeness didn't permit such things. So he carried on loving Barry, a part of himself that he knew he needed just as much as his counterpart did.
The profound nature of their relationship ebbed from Tom's mind as his eyes grew heavy with sleep. He pressed his lips once more to Barry's thick hair, inched himself closer, and they fell asleep clinging together on the rickety bed, time stopping inside their bubble on The Head.