The Open Book

By: KellyCRocker59

Chapter Ten: Realization

Wow; it's been I while since I've updated, and man was this a fun chapter to do. I'll warn you now, though; there is no action whatsoever, so be ready for tons of dialogue and such. Enjoy!

P.S. I'm sorry I didn't get this chapter posted during your break, Forde.

Forde laid back in his bed at the castle slowly, pulling the blanket up to his neck. He had requested that he and Kyle have separate rooms, much to the shock of Ephraim. However, they had been granted so, and he had a room all to himself. He hated it.

His mind was overrun with thoughts of Lute's dead body lying on the ground, and of Kyle's face when he had told him what he had done. Sadness; the expression wouldn't leave him. He heard a knock on the door, and just laid there.

"Forde, open up." Ephraim said.

Forde stood and pulled his shirt from the ground over his head. He opened the door to see Ephraim standing there in a white shirt and brown pants of very nice quality. The young prince walked into the room, and Forde closed the door behind him.

"It isn't like me to get involved in the personal affairs of the army, Forde, but it is for the good of both Kyle and yourself that I find out; what's wrong?"

Forde sighed, sitting on the side of his bed. Ephraim sat beside him, and watched the blonde paladin.

"Milord, I did a horrible thing. During our battle against Orson, a druid berserked me and I…I killed Lute."

Ephraim nodded knowingly.

"Yes, I heard. It is always a tragedy when someone is killed. But Forde, it wasn't your fault."

"Of course it was, milord! I was jealous of Lute, I was afraid that she was going to take Kyle away from me! When I was berserked, I couldn't control my rage, and she was killed. At the very least I should have seen the druid coming."

Ephraim shook his head.

"Forde, you can't be so hard on yourself. If I beat myself up this much each time I was responsible for a casualty in the army, I would have committed suicide by now."

Forde just looked down.

"With all due respect, you don't understand, milord. Kyle isn't just mad; he hates me. Lute was one of his close friends, and I don't know if he will ever forgive me for what I did."

Ephraim placed a hand on Forde's shoulder, and the blonde looked up at the noble.

"Forde, listen to me, because I'll only say this once. You have got to realize that just because Kyle is mad now doesn't mean that he'll be mad forever. You two have something very good going, and you have to believe that you'll both be able to move past this. Give him space, but you also need to make sure that he knows that you won't give him up easily. You need one another, Forde."

The blonde nodded and smiled.

"Thank you, milord."

The next morning, Forde awoke early. He got dressed and headed down to the dining hall, where several members of the army had already arrived. Artur and Knoll sat at a table in deep discussion, Vanessa, Tana, and Tethys speaking at another table. However, Forde spotted Gerik sitting at a table alone, eating cheerfully.

The blonde got his breakfast of eggs and bacon and sat down across from the mercenary.

"Good morning, Gerik." He said.

The muscular man smiled at the blonde and swallowed quickly.

"Morning, Forde. How are you?"

"Shitty." Forde said with a smile.

Gerik choked on his drink of water.

"Why?" He asked, wiping his mouth with his arm.

"Kyle hates me." He replied simply.

"Oh yeah, I heard you two were together. I'm sorry, man."

Forde nodded.

"Thanks. Hopefully he'll get over it soon."

Gerik shrugged.

"Yeah, he seems like a nice enough guy."

There was a short silence before Forde decided to tread into slightly dangerous territory.

"So, how's Saleh?"

The green-haired man shrugged.

"He's pretty good, I guess. He gets ill quite easily, but…I've been keeping a close eye on him. Why? If you want him, he's taken."

Forde chuckled and took a bite of his bacon.

"No, we just talked when the army was on the way here. He seemed pretty shy."

Gerik nodded and took another bite of eggs.

"Yeah, I remember that. He's not really shy; just withdrawn. He's lived in seclusion for so long now that it's kind of hard for him to…associate with people he doesn't know. I'm surprised he liked you so well."

Forde shrugged.

"Hey, what can I say? I'm a likable person. But anyway, who's Saleh taken by? I'm sure there are plenty of ladies that are swarming around him; he's not too bad on the eyes."

Gerik set his fork down beside his cleared plate and gave a snort.
"Saleh wouldn't do well with a woman. They wouldn't understand him."

Forde raised an eyebrow in mock confusion.

"Oh? Well, who would understand him?"

"Me. I understand him, and I can take care of him." Gerik said before the blonde finished his sentence.

Forde sat back a bit.

"Whoa, you don't have to get hostile with me, Gerik. I just want Kyle back."

Gerik smiled, his shoulders loosening from their tense state.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I just…I dunno; this is the first time that I've ever had a boyfriend. It's different."

Forde nodded.

"Yeah, it is."

"But I'm happy, and so is he. That's what counts." Gerik continued.

The blonde nodded once last time and the mercenary stood with his empty plate and goblet.

"If you want some advice on winning Kyle back, Forde, here it is; when you see him, just try to act as much like you used to around him as he'll let you. You're a good catch; he'll see that soon enough."

Forde headed back up to his room and opened the window, sitting on the ledge in thought. He looked down and saw Kyle working alone outside, swinging his lance in reckless, angry motions. The blonde looked up toward the sky and saw the clouds darkening quickly. He sighed and got off of the ledge. He hated storms, but he had to do what he had to do.

Kyle continued to swing his lance viciously even as rain began to pour from the clouds, thunder sounding off in the distance. He thought about Forde and what he had done, and he only swung his lance more viciously. However, he couldn't help but feel guilty for all of this anger. He stopped mid-swing when he heard a voice.

"Kyle, come in! You're going to get sick!" Forde called.

Kyle picked up his swing, trying to ignore the calls of the blonde.

"Kyle, stop this! You know how much I hate storms!"

"Go in, Forde!"

The blonde hurried from the castle to where Kyle stood, stopping a safe distance away.

"Come on, Kyle. I'm…sorry. You know how sorry I am."

Kyle continued to swing his lance, gritting his teeth in anger.

"Forde, go in!"

The blonde stepped closer hesitantly, and then came closer, realizing that he wasn't going to get hit.

"Kyle, I love you. Please." Forde begged, stepping so closely that he was almost beside the taller knight.

"Forde, you idiot! You're going to get sick."

"And I won't get better if you aren't there to take care of me." The blonde retorted.

The green-haired knight stopped swinging his lance and turned to Forde.

"You idiot! Can't you see that…" He continued in a softer voice, "I'm trying to be mad at you?"

Forde took that last step forward and leaned up, pressing his lips to Kyle's. The taller knight dropped his lance and pulled Forde against him roughly by the hip and neck. They kissed in the rain for what seemed like forever, and then Kyle pulled Forde up into his arms, carrying him back into the castle.

The green-haired knight took a quick way up to his room and closed the door behind them, setting Forde down on his bed. Their clothing didn't last long before both of them were naked.

Forde lit a candle quickly, however, just as they were about to begin.

"I need to see you." He explained, and their lips met in another heated kiss.

Their lovemaking was intense and lengthy, Forde's moans echoing along the walls. Finally, they fell against one another in a sweaty mess, tangling in the sheets. Kyle pulled Forde against him and laid back, reclined on the pillows, the back of the blonde's head resting on his chest.

"I'm so sorry." Kyle whispered, wrapping his arms around Forde.

Forde shook his head.

"It's fine. Just…try to be more understanding next time?"

Kyle chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, I will."

Forde jumped suddenly as a bolt of lightening shook the castle. Kyle secured the blonde against him and laid a kiss gently on his hair.

"It's okay; I'm here now."

The next morning, Kyle awoke to hear loud knocking on his door. He turned over, pulling away from Forde who had curled up against him, and squinted at the door.

"Kyle, open up."

Crap; it was Gilliam. He had asked the knight to duel with him today.

"Kyle, open the damn door!" Gilliam snapped. He didn't seem to have gotten much sleep.

"Just a sec!" Kyle called, searching for his clothes.

He pulled his pants off the floor, only to find them still soaked.

"Um, I was out late last night practicing, and my clothes are soaked." He said.

He heard a sigh.

"I'll go get you some clothes. I'll be right back."

Kyle sighed in relief and turned to Forde, gently shaking the blonde awake. The smaller knight opened his eyes slowly then curled back up, trying to go back to sleep.

"Forde, you need to wake up; Gilliam's coming back and I need to go spar with him."

Forde rolled over and pulled the sheets over his head. Kyle sighed and shook his head.

"Fine, just don't move. It's bad enough that Gilliam is going to see me naked."

A slight grumble served as a response, and Kyle turned back around as there was another knock on the door. He forgot Gilliam was next door. The green-haired knight opened the door and saw Gilliam standing there in brown pants and a tight white shirt, a pair of clothes in his arms.

The knight walked in, handing Kyle the clothes without even looking over the nude man, sitting on the edge of the bed. Kyle pulled on the brown pants that were slightly baggy, and then the white shirt that was fairly loose. However, as he pulled it on, he saw a hickey on Gilliam's neck.

The knight blushed and Gilliam looked at him curiously.

"What?"

"You, um…have a, well, on your neck." Kyle stammered.

Gilliam gripped his neck and turned red.

"Well, you see…Garcia kept me up for a…while last night."

There was a thud and both men turned to see Forde scramble to his feet in a daze, clutching the blankets around his waist.

"I see that you stayed up late last night too." Gilliam said.

Kyle blushed and Forde smiled, scratching the back of his head.

'Sorry.' He mouthed to Kyle.

Gilliam stood and walked to the door.

"Well, since neither of us are really willing to spar, let's just do it some other time. See you guys around."

Gilliam left and Kyle turned to Forde.

"Sorry. I just slipped and…"

"It's fine, Forde. I'll go get some breakfast."

Kyle walked down to the dining hall and got two trays of sausage and potatoes. As he was turning to leave, Gerik approached him.

"So I guess you and Forde are back together?" He asked.

Kyle nodded with a slight blush.

"That's good. But dude, you need to tell Forde to turn down the volume. We could hear you guys from across the hall."

Kyle turned really red, and Gerik laughed.

"I'm kidding, man. But I guess it's true. See you around."

Kyle brought back the food and both men ate in relative silence, Forde laying his head down in Kyle's lap when he was done.

"You know, it isn't healthy to lye down after you eat." He said, wiping a piece of potato off of Forde's cheek.

The blonde sighed.

"Whatever."

Kyle set their trays on the bedside table and leaned back, putting his arms behind his head.

"There was a notice down in the dining hall that we would be leaving tomorrow." He said.

Forde nodded, but Kyle knew that he hadn't heard him. The blonde was fast asleep.