Through the haze of sleep, Joaquin was dimly aware there was motion next to him, that the figure in the beside him in bed was moving.
Kevin, his barely conscious mind hazily supplied from somewhere in the back recesses of his brain. But he didn't think much of it before he dropped off to sleep again.
Later on, something woke him, jolting him into full awareness, though he couldn't name what it was. But once he was awake, he realized that he was alone, with just an empty spot left where Kevin had been lying when they went to bed that night.
Fumbling for his phone, Joaquin picked it up from the bedside table and checked the time, squinting at the bright screen. Just past two in the morning—it wouldn't make sense for Kevin to be up and about at this hour.
A vague feeling of unease crept over Joaquin, but he pushed it away, lying back down and trying to make himself comfortable. But it was useless; with his worry rising, leaving him tossing and turning and preventing him from returning to sleep, he decided to see if he could find Kevin.
The winter chill that had crept into the drafty apartment hit him the moment he threw back the covers, and Joaquin paused to tug on a sweatshirt before going out into the hall to get to the next room. He didn't have far to go; he shared the apartment with his older brother Sebastian, and they didn't need a whole lot of space. There was a bedroom for each of them, a bathroom in the hallway, and then a small kitchen that only had a tile floor to divide in from the living room, which featured maroon industrial carpeting that always managed to look horrible with whatever secondhand furniture they managed to scrounge up.
But their coffee table and lamps were sturdy if worn, and even if their orange and yellow plaid couch and beige floral armchairs, neither matching, were astonishingly ugly, they were comfortable. It was a relief to collapse into any one of them after a hard day or a long night. Plus, the couch had a fold-out bed, so Toni could crash at their place any time she needed a place to stay.
The couch was where Kevin was sitting now, slumped forward with his elbows on his knees his hands covering his face. It was a position Joaquin had recently seen several times before, when Kevin was trying to shake of the remnants of a nightmare about Nick attacking him.
His heart twisted as he recognized the familiar posture, and without wasting a moment, Joaquin rushed over to him, taking a seat next to him on the couch and pulling him into tight hug.
"Hey," he whispered, rubbing Kevin's back soothingly. "I'm here. It's all right."
Kevin didn't respond, only returned the hug, gripping with all of his might and pressing his face into Joaquin's neck. When he did, Joaquin could feel the warm tears sliding off Kevin's cheeks to drip down onto his own collarbone, and the accompanying of anger and protectiveness that surged through him at the sensation brought him to tighten his embrace even further.
For several minutes they just sat, holding one another, until Kevin pulled away, wiping at his eyes.
"And here I was, feeling so proud of myself for not waking you up," he said, trying to offer Joaquin a watery smile.
Joaquin lifted a hand to cup Kevin's jaw, gently caressing his cheek with a thumb. "I wish you would, preppie," he said softly. "I don't like the thought of you going through all of this alone. I want to help you."
"I know." Kevin nodded, tears still trickling out of his eyes. "And it's not that I don't believe you or don't trust you. It's just that . . ." he looked down at his hands. "It seems silly to get worked up about something that didn't actually happen."
"Hey, don't be like that." Joaquin leaned in close again, pressing his forehead against Kevin's. "You're all right, you know that? You're all right. And I'm here for you no matter what. I just . . ." he sighed. "I wish I had been here for you before, Kev. So that I could have protected you."
It was a would-have-should-have-could-have thought that haunted his mind at odd hours, rushing back to him just as he realized he'd finally forgotten it. But the guilt remained, just like the anger and frustration. He hated that he'd been off in San Junipero, spending time at the beaches and enjoying the coast with his aunts and uncles and cousins while Kevin had been thousands of miles away from him, fending off a rapist. And then when he'd heard the news, he hadn't even been able to go back to Riverdale right away, instead having no choice but to stay where he was until FP was released from prison and there was no chance of being indicted in the Jason Blossom investigation.
Joaquin's fists automatically clenched at the memory of being back in San Junipero and practically climbed the walls as he awaited FP's release. He hated rapists regardless, thought they were scum of the earth, but he especially loathed the idea that not only Kevin had been attacked, but that he hadn't been able to do a thing about it.
Kevin was his. His to hold, his to love, and his to protect. And Joaquin had failed him.
"I'm sorry," Joaquin whispered, drawing back from Kevin. "I just—I should have been able to stop Nick."
"Maybe you did." Reaching out and giving Joaquin's hand a squeeze with one hand, Kevin used the other to grasp onto the St. Dominic medal Joaquin had given to him before he'd left. "After all, if you hadn't introduced me to Sweet Pea and Toni, I never would have met them or become friends with them. And then they never would have known to rescue me from Nick. So, maybe," he concluded, still fiddling with the medal, "you helped save me after all."
"I . . ." Joaquin's mind whirled as he processed Kevin's words and realized the point that he had, and, slowly, a rivulet of relief trickled through him. While his guilt didn't completely fade, some of the tension uncoiled from his shoulders at long last. "I'd never thought of it that way," he replied, blinking, almost speechless at this new perspective. "But you're right." And even though he knew he would never be truly free of the exasperation with his own inability to help or prevent Nick's attack, it heartened him slightly at the reminder that Kevin didn't blame him.
Kevin nodded, moving forward to lean against Joaquin. "It's not your fault for not being here."
Joaquin folded his arms around him and gave him a kiss on top of the head, holding him close, wanting Kevin to feel the warmth and strength of his body and take comfort from it. "And it's not your fault for having nightmares."
Kevin gave him another smile, and this one looked a little bit strong than his previous attempt. "Thank you, Joaquin. For everything."
"No need to thank me," Joaquin told him firmly, tenderly stroking Kevin's hair. "I'll always want to protect you, Kevin."
He hugged Kevin tighter, trying to remind himself that even after all they'd been through, they were together now. He'd been forced to leave Riverdale to save himself, and by doing that, he hadn't been able to help Kevin when he'd needed it. But Sweet Pea and Toni, loyal through and through, had stepped up and intervened where he couldn't, and for that he would always be tremendously grateful.
As he held Kevin, the St. Dominic medal left swung forward from where it hung at Kevin's throat, softly thumping against Joaquin's chest and reminding him of its presence. He'd received it as a gift from his grandparents on his Confirmation, as St. Dominic was his Confirmation saint. Joaquin prayed to him as his personal patron, his protector.
Back when he'd first looped the chain around Kevin's neck, he had hoped Kevin could share his patron, could have that protection as well. When he'd heard the news about Nick—Joaquin's jaw clenched at the thought—he'd thought the gift had proved useless, a token more than an actual safeguard.
But perhaps St. Dominic had been looking out for Kevin all along, way back when Joaquin had introduced his boyfriend to his fellow Serpents, bringing the Serpents to save Kevin when he couldn't.
After a few minutes, Joaquin carefully disentangled himself from Kevin to look at him. "You think you can go back to bed with me?"
"As long as you don't mind me waking you up because of my dreams," Kevin said ruefully.
"Absolutely not," Joaquin said with conviction, tugging Kevin to stand up with him and then putting an arm around his shoulder to guide him back to the bedroom. "Nightmares or not, I'm gonna stick by you."
And he would, Joaquin vowed, determination rushing through him. He would remain at Kevin's side no matter what.
As they climbed back into bed, Joaquin gave Kevin one last kiss, whispering a goodnight to him, before curling around Kevin and locking his arms around his waist, his chest pressing against Kevin's back. He gave a satisfied smile when Kevin snuggled back up against him.
Never again would Joaquin stand to see them separated. Not if he had anything to say about it.
A/N: Several readers requested a followup fic with Joaquin, so here you are! I hope you enjoyed it, and please let me know if you'd like another sequel to a different story I wrote, or if you have another story idea you'd like to see brought to life.
St. Dominic is actually the patron saint of falsely accused, and given the circumstances under which Joaquin left Riverdale, I thought it would be fitting for St. Dominic to be his patron saint.
If you ever want to chat, I'm also Maeve-of-Winter on Tumblr. I love discussion and hearing people's thoughts, so feel free to submit story ideas or just talk Riverdale!