Hyde shook his head, when he helped Jekyll out of his morning coat and night gown.

"Jekyll, when was the last time you ate?"

The blond blinked. "Uhm … I'm not sure, actually. I've lost track of time."

"Well, you will eat regularly from now on, Fairest. I can't have you become ugly from starvation."

"Sure thing, my wild child", the Doctor retorted drily and allowed the other to help him into the tub.

He sighed happily, as his body submerged in the hot herbal bath.

Hyde fetched a rug and some soap and began to carefully wash the older man (yes, he knew that Jekyll was perfectly capable of doing that himself, but screw you!). The blond looked at him in confusion, but laid back and allowed it all.

This would have been incredibly sensual (sexual even), but neither was in the mood.

"You're so thin", he remarked, as he washed the other's chest and could feel the ribs under the remaining muscle mass.

"That's coming from you?", Jekyll countered, "You obviously haven't gained any weight either. When I was hugging you, I could feel your shoulder blades through your clothing."

"That would be a good point, except that I did eat regularly. I just was sick a lot lately."

"I know", the old man told him, much to his surprise.

How the hell does he know?

His surprise intensified, when Jekyll shifted in the tub and asked, if he would join him.

Hyde lifted an eyebrow. "Don't you think that's a bit too much? The bathtub isn't big enough for us both."

That statement prompted Jekyll to raise a brow in return. "It's big enough for three, Hyde. You wouldn't normally have a problem with my request."

Hyde hesitated. He didn't want Jekyll to see all the bruises and scratches all over his emaciated body.

"Edward", the blond spoke up tentatively, "I'm aware of what I'm going to see under your clothes."

Hyde didn't comply, but took a chair and sat beside the tub. "How do you know?", he asked quietly.

Something sparked in Jekyll's eyes.

"It seemed that we didn't separate that completely", the older man explained. "We still share certain sensations. Primarily it's pain. Every time you got hurt, I could feel it too. I know about your bruises and scratches, because I could feel the pain they caused. And your grief and disgust. The rest wasn't hard to guess", he added sadly.

Hyde felt like he was going to cry.

"Come here."

It was only now that the brunette complied – without undressing first.

Jekyll laughed heartily (it sounded odd, like he hadn't laughed in quite a while): "Entering a bath with your clothes on?"

"Shut up", Hyde muttered.

He blushed a little, when the taller man wrapped his arms around him and pressed their bodies together.

...

It was a bit surreal that he was the clothed one, while Jekyll was naked (obviously, they were bathing, but still!).

The hot water was seeping through his entire set of clothes, but being drenched had never been so pleasant.

The temperature didn't bother him, but he could tell that Jekyll was starting to feel drowsy. Apparently that was normal for people, if the bath was just hotter than it should be, but Hyde had never had that problem. Although … there was no denying that this was pretty damn relaxing. Resting on Jekyll's shoulder and feeling the other's big hands stroke his back and hair.

"Edward?"

Jekyll's gentle voice pulled him back to reality.

When he looked up, his own glowing green eyes met nervous chocolate brown ones.

Jekyll seemed to be struggling for words.

But then he finally found the ones he'd been looking for: "I … I missed you. God, you have no idea how much I missed you. I missed your voice, your creepy giggle, your ivory white face, the softness of your black brown hair, the wicked twinkle in your bright green eyes, the mischief you always got up to, your liveliness and the fire in your eyes. I missed holding you, kissing you, how we teased each other, how you purred, wheedled or nagged into my ear to get what you want, I missed arguing with you, because one of us was angry at the other … everything. I never realised just how much I need you, until you suddenly weren't there."

Hyde didn't know what to say. He wouldn't have talked anyway, because he was struggling to keep down that huge lump in his throat. He didn't want to cry, but it was so hard.

Jekyll seemed to notice, as he tightened his embrace and rubbed soothing circles on his back.

A few deep breaths later the brunette had regained his composure enough to talk.

"I missed you too", he rasped. "I thought I would be freer and happier without you. I thought that I didn't really need you anymore, now that I'm separated from you. I was wrong. I was insecure and full of doubts about my existence and our relationship and needed to get away. To get a clear head, you know."

The blond frowned a little and paused his movements. "That's not all, is it?"

Hyde shook his head and lowered his gaze. "No. Remember how I said I owe you nothing? That was never true and we both know it. I owe you everything and … and I hated it. You're the one who created me, from yourself no less. Even though I'm separated now, I will always be a part of you. Everything I have ultimately belongs to you. My papers, my money, my home, my books, the very clothes I'm wearing right now … myself."

"Edward, don't-"

"Please, let me finish!", the young man pleaded. "Jekyll, there is nothing that I could possibly offer you that you don't already have. There is nothing I can give you. When we were one, I could give you a chance to forget about your cares for a while and to live out your desires and such. I was your mask and you were mine. I was your darker side, the incarnation of everything that you loathed about yourself – don't interrupt me – it was that simple. But everything is different now and I don't know what and who I am or where I'm at with you. I don't even know, whether I'm a true human like you and the others or whether I will always be an inhuman, artificial being like Frankenstein's Creature."

Jekyll's eyes widened. He looked so saddened and upset that Hyde couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into tears.

"I … I don't know anything anymore, Henry!", he sobbed. "Who and what am I … if not a part of you? You're always so sentimental on me, but what do you really want from me? What could you possibly want from me, if not … if not …"

"If not your body?", the blond guessed. "So this (and your insecurity about the entire situation) was the problem all along?"

Hyde nodded and cried harder. Damn, when had he last cried so much?

Jekyll's embrace tightened and the brunette felt one large hand (the left one, he could tell) stroke his hair again.

"Oh Edward, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel inferior or used. I noticed that you were unhappy after we met Lady Summers' friends, but after you didn't answer my question immediately, I just dropped it and assumed that you were having the morbs – that's no novelty for either of us."

"No, it's not."

"But I – as your other half and creator – should have realised that it was much worse than that. I should have known better. But instead I just shrugged it off, like the complete and utter idiot that I am. Then you suddenly snapped and yelled reproaches at me and I … I made the same mistake I once made with Lanyon. Instead of having a proper talk with you like a reasonable person, I threw a tantrum and called you the nastiest things. And I'm so sorry. For this and so much more."

"H-huh?"

Looking up, the brunette saw that the blond was crying too. The tears were running freely down his cheeks.

Jekyll closed his eyes, took a deep, shaky breath and continued: "I'm sorry for all the times I called you 'little demon', 'hell child', 'insult to God', 'ungrateful brat' and other hurtful things I can't recall right now. I'm sorry for all the times I told you that I hated you. I'm sorry for hating you at all. I'm sorry for blaming everything on you, even when you had done nothing wrong. I'm sorry for all the times I didn't care three straws about your opinion. I'm sorry for all the times I treated you like a lesser being, like the entitled bastard that I am."

"Henry …"

The older man let go of his waist and began to caress his cheeks and wipe the tears away with his thumbs.

"Edward Hyde, my dear other half, my soul. Not so long ago, I was unable to love you without hating you too. That's over now. I love you, I love you so much. If you can find it in your heart to forgive me …"

Hyde held a finger to Jekyll's mouth. He didn't need to hear more.

"I do", he whispered. "And I'm sorry too. For all the shit I said and did just to spite and hurt you. I'm sorry for not telling you what the problem was. And … and … I'm sorry that I broke the promise."

Jekyll blinked in confusion. "What promise?"

Now Hyde blinked. "You don't remember?"

"No."

At first the young man was as confounded as the older was. But then he remembered, that the other had been asleep, when he had made that promise.

So he enlightened him: "Some time before you separated me, we had a small argument, because you were stressed and frustrated. I made you sleep on the couch and did the rest of your work for you."

"… Oh yes. I remember that. When I woke up and looked at the finished work it looked just like I would have done it. But what does that have to do with the promise you mentioned?"

"You fell asleep on the couch. But when I was done with your work, I checked on you and noticed that you were sleep-talking."

Jekyll cringed. "What did I say?"

"That you love me. And you begged me not to go. It really disturbed me – because you'd never told me that before – so I looked into your dream. You …" Hyde hesitated a little. "You were dreaming about my leave. You literally foresaw it in your dream."

"… That's creepy."

"Yeah. The nightmare was hurting you. So … so I promised that I would never leave you. That I would always be with you for better and for worse. And then …" Hyde almost choked on his next words. "Then I broke the promise and left you!"

...

Jekyll was stunned.

Hyde was a man of his word, he didn't make promises, if he didn't intend to keep them.

The scientist could only imagine how much it hurt his other half that he had broken his word.

But it hadn't been his fault really. Everything just had changed so drastically since then.

Besides …

"Edward. Don't make yourself miserable over it. It doesn't matter anymore. You're back. That's all that matters to me now. You … you will stay for good now, right?", he asked hesitantly.

The brunette smiled, cupped his face and kissed him on the lips.

"Yes, my soulmate", he cooed. "I'm back and I will never leave you again – not really, that is. I do insist on keeping my flat for the times I need a break from this nonsense!"

The older man laughed: "Fair enough. And can I make a promise too?"

"Sure."

The blond was completely earnest, when he looked into those remarkable acid green eyes and declared: "I promise that from now on I will listen to you, when you have something to say. And that I won't act like a spoiled, bratty child, if I don't like it. From now on let's talk about our issues like two reasonable adults."

Hyde snorted. "Reasonable?!"

"Don't ruin the mood, Edward."

"Alright, alright, sorry."

Suddenly Jekyll remembered something. "And I ought to apologise to Gabriel too."

The other lifted an eyebrow. "Let me guess – he spent the last three weeks trying to help you and instead had to listen to you pining for me and wallowing in your misery, as if he was just your friend and not your love interest, which must have made him feel like a third wheel?"

"Exactly."

"Some things never change, huh?"

"No, I guess not."

Hyde chuckled: "We'll do that tomorrow, okay? It's late. And there is still one more thing we need to do."

The Doctor tilted his head. "And what is that?"

"We need to get out of the bath. The water is cold."