Chapter 5
Chapter 5

The sun filtering in through the window and shining across his eyes was what woke Gaddes up. He was about to get up and throw a pillow at the damn thing, when he realized that Allen was lying there in bed beside him and both of them were naked.

Gaddes smiled. He hadn't meant or expected it to go as far as it had last night. He wasn't complaining. Allen had just caught him off guard. It had started innocently enough, with a simple kiss from Gaddes to Allen. It had turned in to something far more than either of them had imagined.

"I love you, Allen," Gaddes whispered to the Knight's prone form.

Allen didn't stir, but Gaddes hoped that after last night Allen would return the feelings.

The sun was still bothering Gaddes, but with Allen next to him in his bed, he felt less of an inclination to move. He knew he was gonna get it from the men later on, but that didn't matter at the moment. This wasn't later on; it was now. And he was planning on enjoying now.

Allen stirred next to Gaddes, and sat up. He saw his second in command lying next to him and staring at him.

"Good morning, Allen."

"Gaddes…"

"Don't tell me you're having regrets."

"No, I'm not. It's just you, and me, and…"

"If you think it's hard to believe, then you should try looking at it from my point of view. I've been dreaming of this moment for years."

"Gaddes…"

"I love you, Allen," Gaddes said, leaning in and kissing Allen.

It was a soft kiss, full of passion and Allen returned it, and deepened it, much to Gaddes' delight.

"Is this going to turn into what it did last night?" Gaddes asked, a wry grin dancing across his face.

Allen blushed. "Gaddes, last night…"

"Was fucking incredible, wasn't it?"
Allen blinked. "That's one way of putting it, I suppose."

"You were the one who initiated it if I remember correctly, Allen. So don't make it sounds as if you didn't like it."

"I never said I didn't like it. I don't quite know how to put it."

Gaddes took a breath, about to ask a question, and then fell silent. Give him time, he told himself. He'll tell you he loves you in due time. But Gaddes didn't want to wait. He wanted to hear it from Allen now. But he forced himself to wait. Love was a delicate thing. And forced love wasn't really love at all. So Gaddes would wait, no matter how much he didn't want to.

"You know, we're going to have to get up soon. The men will start talking if we don't," Allen said.

"The men are already gonna talk, but I'm gonna hear it more than you are. Especially from Pyle, Kio, and Teo."

"Are you still going to leave, Gaddes?"

Gaddes closed his eyes for a minute.

"We're back to that, are we?"

"Do you really have a reason to?"

"Maybe. Did last night just happen because you didn't want me to leave?"

"No. Last night happened because we're both consenting adults that have feelings for each other."

Gaddes sighed. He had the feeling that that was the closest that he was going to get to an "I love you" from Allen. At least for a while.

"So answer the question, Gaddes. Are you still going to leave?"
"I think the better question is do I have a reason to? I'm not going to be just another one-night stand, Allen. Last night didn't happen so I could be just another person in a long line of good fucks. And if that's all it's going to be, then I have no reason to stay around."

"That's not all it's going to be."

"How do I know that?"

There was silence as Allen thought about how to answer that. He knew what he felt for Gaddes, but he was scared to put it into words. The last time he had put feelings like this into words, it had resulted in an illegitimate child, and his lover being married off to another, regardless of how he felt. Of course, having children wit Gaddes was next to impossible and he didn't see Gaddes being married off to anyone.

"Allen?" Gaddes prompted.

"It's not going to turn out that way," Allen said.

"Why?"

"Because I love you Gaddes."

There. The words had been said. Allen could only wait for Gaddes' reaction. As for Gaddes, his eyes lit up. Those were the words he'd been longing to hear. He could only hope Allen meant them.

"I love you too, boss."

The kissed then, and it was full of tenderness and meant more than any kiss Allen has ever received before.

It was noon before Allen and Gaddes came out of Gaddes' room. They were dressed and showered and they went up to the bridge. The whistles and catcalls started the moment Gaddes walked in with Allen at his heels.

"Late night, Sarge?" Kio asked with a huge grin on his face.

"Oh do shut up, Kio," Gaddes said. "Listen up you dirtbags! The boss has finally come to his senses. That means no mutiny. It also means that we're probably going to Fanelia as originally planned."

This statement met with loud groans from the crew, who were looking forward to some downtime in Basram. Of course, Pyle was the first one to say something.

"Damn, Gaddes, did you two even fuck, or did you spend the whole night yapping?"
"Unlike you, Pyle, I know what a tongue is for," Gaddes retorted, which met with snickering from the rest of the crew.

"So which one of you is the woman in the relationship, Sarge?" Teo asked.

"That's enough!" Allen exclaimed, answering before Gaddes could say anything. Gaddes noted that Allen had turned quite an interesting shade of red.

"So, what are our orders, boss?" Kio asked Allen.

"We're going to Fanelia. And then we're coming home."

"Aye aye, sir!"

"Will Celena be joining us, Allen?" Gaddes asked.

"Yes," Allen said thoughtfully. "I think it's about time that Celena saw Van."

Their trip to Fanelia passed with relatively little incident. Celena saw Van, and the two of them talked for hours into the night. A few eyebrows were raised regarding Allen and Gaddes' behavior towards one another, but nothing was actually said until Allen was seen kissing Gaddes by Merle. A long explanation followed, which was then followed by some jokes from Van and lewd comments from the rest of the men. But it didn't matter to Allen and Gaddes. They were too happy to care.

—Owari—

Author's notes: Well, that's it. Unless you people want more. Then I'll contemplate writing it. I hope you enjoyed this. Please R&R!!