Here's the last chapter. Since mostly this story had been an excuse for smut, so now it just needed a cute little conclusion. The end! Thanks for reading and please review!
Even after many fantasies that were very much like what he'd just experienced, Hermann had never honestly been under the impression any of it might actually happen. He and Newton? It just made no sense. The two of them could hardly mesh as friends, let alone as… well, something more.
But as Newton snored beside him—something Hermann had heard a million times, but this time it was so very different—it all seemed so simple. Of course the two of them were meant to be this way. Maybe they always had been.
He shook his head just barely. Sure, Newton had said that he hadn't wanted this to only be sex, but had he really meant it?
I might actually fall in love with you if I'm not careful.
He didn't mean that, did he?
And even beyond that, Hermann didn't want him to mean it… right?
He had trouble thinking too hard on it, because he felt completely content at the moment. After sexual escapades was pretty much the only time Hermann's mind slowed down, stopped trying to solve problems. He just reveled in the time he spent with another person—the only way he knew how to get close to anyone, because somehow sex was so much easier than a true emotional bond—and he relaxed.
Newton had been asleep for a long time. Hermann had slept too, for a few hours, and then he'd woken up and gotten too preoccupied listening to Newton breathe. It wasn't different from usual, not really, but he somehow felt like it was. Like even the slow inhale and exhale were his. He'd never felt so possessive before—and that was saying something, because his Dominant nature often made him possessive of his pets. But Newton was so much more than a pet. And it scared him a little to think it. But in his own mind, it was stupid to deny it.
"You're thinkin' hard," Newton said, nearly slurring.
"You're awake," said Hermann.
"Yeah, probably I heard the cogs in your head."
He ignored the comment, in a much better mood than usual and thus willing to deal with Newton's silly sense of humour without disdain.
"That was… Holy shit, Hermann. You… just wow."
"Should I be flattered that I managed to cause a genius-level scientist to be unable to form a coherent sentence?"
"Aw, am I a genius?"
"Oh, shut up."
Newton cuddled into his side, and Hermann didn't even notice himself wrapping his arms around the other man until he'd already done it. He let his fingers tickle up and down Newton's spine.
"Herms… thank you."
"Are you thanking me for the intercourse? Because I was told once not to do that."
It had been quite embarrassing, actually, the first time he thanked Vanessa for sex and she said that it was odd to do so. Newton seemed more aware of social constructs like that, however, so he figured he had meant something else.
He was right. "No, not that. Though that too, I guess… No, thanks for… I dunno, everything. Keeping me from having nightmares. Showing me the real world of BDSM," he added with a misty, mocking voice.
Hermann smirked, but said seriously, "If you are going to mock me, maybe that'll be the only glimpse you'll see."
"Oh, don't be like that, Herms. You liked it just as much as I did. You'll never be able to give me up. I'm like a drug."
"You're quite full of yourself, you know."
"Nah, it's just fun to pretend to be."
It was quiet for a long moment.
"Hermann, is it okay if I honestly think I'm in love with you?"
It was so sudden, Hermann didn't know what to do with the words at first. But he felt his own body stiffen in surprise as he froze in place.
He'd never been told that before.
He'd never wanted to hear it.
And he didn't understand why hearing it now was like the most beautiful set of words he'd ever heard strung together.
Newton took the silence as a bad thing. "Sorry, I should think before I talk," he muttered, and Hermann registered the disappointment in his voice with a deep frown before pulling back and taking Newton's chin, forcing him to look him in the eye.
"I didn't say anything. Give me a moment to think, will you?"
"About what?"
Hermann rolled his eyes. "Whether you're too much of an idiot for me to love back."
Newton's eyes widened a little before a smile threatened the corners of his lips.
Hermann had no idea when he'd fallen for Newton Geiszler.
They used to bother one another every hour of the day.
They used to only be able to bond by eating the same meal together.
Then they shared a bed to keep Newton sleeping.
And then they slept together (in the more biblical sense, that is).
And here they were, and Hermann was starting to honestly wonder if he'd loved Newton from the very start.
But probably he'd never have even figured it out had he never stopped Newton from having nightmares.
So maybe triggering his terrible memories had actually been an act of fate, in the end.
How odd the world was sometimes.
