When Clive left work the next day, he saw a police car parked just in front of his office. Two officers were there, waiting. He knew it would be useless to run, that he would get caught anyway, so he just smiled at the policeman that was approaching to meet him.

"Your name is Clive Dove, right?"

"Yes."

"Here" the policeman handed him a letter. "And sign this form as well."

"What's all this?"

"It's the permission."

"The permission?..."

"A certificate saying that you don't need a tutor anymore. We need your signature in the form, as a confirmation that we gave you the letter in person."

"Oh, of course! I'm sorry, officer; I had a hard day and for a moment there I didn't know what you were talking about."

After that, the policemen got in the car and drove away. Clive opened the letter, amazed, and read it twice, thrice, making sure he understood everything. It was just as the officer had told him: he was allowed to live alone, on the condition that he never left the city. He couldn't believe it... After what had happened the previous night, he was sure that Layton and Luke would do anything to see him back in jail. But it was just the other way around: they set him completely free...

He tried to figure out the reason behind it. It wasn't logical, it made no sense at all... That wasn't something he would have expected from Layton... But finally, he decided that he didn't care. Those two were in the past now: he had had his revenge and was ready to move on with his life. As he walked towards the hotel, he started to think which part of the city would be a nice place to live.

As the weeks passed, almost everything came back to normal in Layton's house. Luke was slowly healing, though Layton suspected that that experience would leave scars in the boy's soul. They shared the same bed again, but Luke only snuggled under the blankets, in his professors' arms, and slept. Luke had always been ready for sex, but not anymore, and Layton wasn't surprised. In the boy's mind, sex now equalled suffering.

Soon, the final exams were come and gone. Despite everything Luke had been through, he did admirably, and Layton was proud of him. The young man hadn't let the pain overcome him; he strode forward with his head held high, and put all the misery behind... but Layton knew that Clive had killed a part of his boy during those months. Luke no longer was the cheerful, quick to laugh kid he had lived so many years with; he had become a quiet, reserved man who enjoyed the silence.

The professor hoped that Luke could get back his joyful self someday, but it was too early to know if that was even possible.

The first night of summer holidays, they were in the bed, naked, tangled in an embrace. The boy felt Layton's hand caressing his back, up and down, as he placed soft kisses in his head. Luke had noticed that his professor was being especially affectionate towards him after his ordeal, and he was really grateful for that. He knew that Layton was somewhat reluctant to show his feelings; that, in fact, he was always hiding behind a wall of courtesy.

"Thank you" Luke whispered, hugging him with strength.

"For what?"

"For... everything."


Notes:

1) I'm not a native English speaker, so any corrections about grammar, spelling or suggestions to improve this story are welcome.

2) I updated my profile with some uninteresting information about my fics.