I couldn't help myself! ^.~ Ah...the angst...the never ending angst. But a wittle sap in there too.
Disclaimer: Weiss...no mine. Schwarz....no mine. ......Yet.
WARNINGS: ANGST! A little SAP.
Archive? : Ask me.
The Morning After
By Ray-Chan
"Shit, Crawford. ....Are you *drunk*?!"
The older man practically leered down on Schuldich, somehow managing to stumble through the redhead's darkened room and collapse beside the younger man onto the mattress. Schuldich barely had time to scramble out of his way. Emerald eyes widened.
"You *are* drunk!" Bracing himself, Schuldich attempted to shove the larger man out of his bed and onto the floor. Hey, maybe the impact would shake Crawford out of his drunken stupor. "Get out, Brad. Go sleep in your own ro-HEY!"
He was suddenly rolled beneath the American, his body held firmly in place by insistent hands. It took a few moments of confusion before he noticed that his button-down nightshirt was quickly being unfastened.
"Yo, Crawford...B-Brad, STOP! I..... I d-don't want this! Get o-AH!"
Brad silenced him with a greedy kiss to the redhead's collarbone. Suckling the soft skin with more than obvious intent, he occupied Schuldich just long enough to discard the German's shirt and palm the smooth flesh hidden underneath.
"Mmm....So good, Schuldich." He licked the other's cheek. "You trying to tell me that you haven't wanted this? I've seen the way you look at me. You want me bad."
In spite of his reserves, Schuldich still flushed at the comment.
"Iie. Cr-... Brad, not like this. You're drunk. You're just using me."
Once again he tried to shove the older man off and once again he was pinned beneath Crawford's larger body.
"I'm just giving you what you want, Schuldich. .....You just want a good screw. You want me to fuck you good, ne?"
Schuldich sputtered.
"I'm *not* a whore!"
"Oh, but I'll make you feel so good...."
Schuldich stopped struggling now, and simply stared up into coffee brown eyes. It just hurt so much. ....He loved Brad. It was true. How many nights had he lain awake thinking about touching him, or making love while his hand stroked his erected length below the covers all alone? And now....here was Brad in his bed. They were tumbled together and Brad seemed more than willing. Wasn't this what he had always wanted?
"Stop it, Brad. I don't want to. Not when you're drunk."
"Mm... Your body says otherwise." Crawford's hand dipped into Schuldich's boxers to clasp the redhead's length none-too gently even as he whispered in Schu's ear. "Do you want me inside you?"
Schuldich snapped. Springing from the bed at lightning speed, he actually managed to catch Crawford off guard this time and shove him away before stumbling out of the bed and towards the bedroom door.
".....Schuldich, I love you..."
That froze him in his tracks. Slightly out of breath from his running escape, Schuldich turned disbelieving jade eyes back to the man currently occupying his bed. Crawford just sat there, all ridged and poise, waiting for Schuldich. Slowly, the redhead took a few small steps back to his bed.
"You...You what?"
"I love you, Schuldich. I just never found a way to tell you. It's...it's not easy." His gaze began to wobble, drawing Schuldich down to sit beside him in sheer pity. "I wanted to be able to tell you tonight and I just thought that a few drinks would help. I....I didn't mean for *this* to happen."
Schuldich barely registered when his arm went to wind about his older teammate's shoulders and draw Crawford into a soft embrace. This time, he initiated their kiss. He could feel their bodies gently twist and was only all too aware when he was lowered back to the mattress, Brad laying on top of him and kissing him softly.
"Brad, I love you too. But I..." he pushed the American back from kissing his neck just long enough to gaze into the other's eyes, "I don't want this to be a fling. Brad, I want to be with you....like...a relationship."
Holding his breath in wait, Schuldich silently prayed. ....Then Brad smiled.
"Even better. I get to make love to you every night then."
Schuldich grinned.
"You promise?"
"I promise."
Thrilled arms wound about his neck and the redhead pulled him down for a long, steamy kiss. Shifting slightly, their bodies began an erotic dance to last long into the night.
~ * ~ * ~
Crawford opened his eyes and immediately regretted it when the world began to spin about him. Clutching his head in shaky hands and swearing silently, he was just about to rise and prepare for work....but something (or someone) was stopping him. He glanced down at his naked chest and went pale.
There, beautifully asleep, was Schuldich using Brad's own chest as a pillow with one arm draped languidly about the older man's body. His red hair was without the headband and splayed like silk down his naked back, bare to Brad's eyes. Wait a second.....NAKED?!
Schuldich came awake at the shouted thought, moving ever so slightly just to try and rub the sleep from his eyes with the heel of his hand before he too noticed that he was not in bed alone. He looked up and, upon seeing Brad awake and staring at him, he smiled gently.
// So it wasn't just a dream. //
"Good morning, Bradley," he practically purred, nuzzling into the crook of the older man's shoulder and neck. "Did you sleep well? I just wasn't sure how you'd feel this morning after d-"
"-WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!?!"
Schuldich was taken aback by the tone in the American's voice. Swallowing down the lump quickly forming in his throat, he watched as Crawford's color continued to drain away leaving his lover as pale as a ghost. ...Well, that and confused.
"You...You were a little drunk last night Brad. Remember? You came into my room and we talked......among other things..." Here he flushed just barely.
Brad looked about ready to die.
"You mean we.....? No. No we didn't......"
Schuldich just lay there chewing on his thumbnail before giving a little nod.
"You.....don't remember?"
"There is no way in *Hell* that we had sex!"
"Um.... I was there too, Brad. ...And my ass is mighty sore today so I'd say we did. Well, that and you're pretty well hu-"
"-No!" Crawford shoved the redhead off his chest and rolled out of bed, almost tripping when the tangled sheets wound themselves about his legs attempting to pull him back into the warmth he had just abandoned to search out his clothes. Only when attempting to pull on his pants did he notice the dried semen plastered to his thighs. "Shit, shit shit....."
"Brad, where are you going?"
Crawford turned to see Schuldich sitting upright in the bed, a stained, white sheet clasped firmly in his hand and against his chest, managing to cover all but the left side. Perfectly long legs, his left hip exposed to Brad's gaze.... Small bruises there...a hand print? Brad gulped. *His* hand print most likely.
Giving his pants a final zip, he grabbed his shirt from where it lay at the foot of the bed in a crumpled heap before turning to the redhead.
"Schuldich, whatever happened last night.... It was a mistake. I don't want to hear about it, and I don't want you telling anyone of this either." He paused to gauge the German's reaction. Schuldich was frozen; emotionless. ".... I'm not gay."
Then he stalked from the room without another word, leaving Schuldich alone to sit painfully in stained sheets. Jade gaze traveled out after the other man and a single tear escaped.
"Brad.....you promised."
But it never mattered to anyone much anyway.
~ * ~ * ~
Farfarello didn't even look up from that morning's paper.
"Crawford's back."
"Really?!"
Nagi jumped up from his breakfast and fairly ran to pull the front door open to reveal Brad poised with key in hand. A dark eyebrow arched.
"Happy to see me, Nagi?"
"Iie, it's Schuldich. Ever since you left for that business trip .....Schuldich...he.... He locked himself in his room three days ago."
"N-NANI?!"
The Japanese teen wrung his hands. It looked like he hadn't gotten much sleep to say the least.
"You have to talk to him! He hasn't eaten in three days. He's probably starving up there. Not that I care really, but Esset will have our asses if they find out he died from starvation."
Crawford stared past Nagi and at Farfarello who finally put down that morning's obituaries with a smirk. No words were needed. The Irishman's gaze alone held the truth.
// It was *your* fault, Crawford so get your fucking ass up there and apologize. //
"I already unlocked the door," Nagi spoke up again. "I tried bringing him food, but he never ate it. Maybe you should bring him something? Or -"
Crawford pushed past him with a low growl and headed straight to the stairs. Upon reaching the top, he further stalked down the hall until coming upon the telepath's room and opening the door.
The sight inside was not what he expected at all. Sheets still soiled with their single night's passion and now wrapped tightly about the redhead's lean form in a tangled mass like cotton cords to bind. Schuldich was still naked. Maybe he hadn't moved since that morning after, and Brad knew that was most likely considering his disheveled state.
Yet strangely, he appeared preserved almost. A reminder of the pain he had first seen when his rejection had dulled those jade eyes. Skinny as always, but...something about the internal pain combined with the last three day's starvation made him seem almost deathingly thin. He had lost weight. Crawford could tell.
....But Schuldich still lay, eyes shut in his meanderings or closed off to the world. He never even flinched until Crawford had approached and lain a firm hand on his shoulder to wake him. Instantly Schuldich's gaze soured.
"What the hell do you want?"
The words were like acid and might have hurt Crawford to the slightest degree if the American was anyone other than "Crawford" or if redhead hadn't all but whispered them.
He frowned down at his teammate.
"Get up. Get dressed and go eat. You've slept long enough."
"Oh, have I?" The telepath's voice bit out after Crawford's retreating back. "Maybe. But you don't seem to care much if my body's recovered either way."
Crawford froze, doorknob in had and turned to pointedly glare at the younger man, still coiled in his own cotton exile. Leaving the door, he returned to stand in authority over the other man and crossed his arms.
"If there's something you'd like to discuss about 'that night', Schuldich... I suggest you say it now before I manually haul you out of bed."
Schuldich swallowed hard. This was the moment. He had planned it over and over again in his mind during the last three days. What he would say and how he would laugh and gracefully flick Crawford off.
Instead his voice lowered to soft tones just following his falling gaze.
"...How could you Brad? How....How *could* you?"
Crawford didn't even flinch.
"What happened that night was a mistake, Schuldich. Nothing more. I was drunk and you were obviously stupid enough to invite me into your bed."
"....That's not how it happened, Brad." Schuldich's eyes finally leveled. "I was asleep. *You* came into my room drunk and....and seduced me."
He couldn't read through the mental barrier in Crawford's thoughts to try and understand just what the older man was feeling right now. Sometimes he wished he knew.
"You allowed yourself to be seduced then. Half the blame should be on yourself."
"Well, dammit, I've been lying here for three fucking *days* blaming myself! Now it's *your* turn!" Wild green eyes hooked onto Crawford's finally and he said it. "You promised, Brad! Bastard, you *promised* me and now you don't give two shits about breaking your fucking promises!"
Crawford blinked. He had...promised? Promised what? What the hell was Schuldich talking about?
"...Was it money you wanted? Is that how it-"
"-Fuck you, Brad! I'm NOT a whore!"
"Then what did I-"
"-You promised it wouldn't just be a fling! You promised you'd never leave me! You promised you'd hold me, and have me, and..." he choked on the words, "...You promised you loved me."
...So that was it then. Schuldich stared up at him. Brad stared down on him. Together they just stared. Watching...waiting....
Brad could almost feel his icy interior melting to just look into those pained jade eyes. Schuldich..he had trusted him. That whole night wasn't just about sex to him. It...It was more, and Brad.... Dammit, did that mean that Brad was the whore? Just searching out a cheep lay and lying to get it? His brain smirked. How ironic.
"Schuldich," he paused, drowning in emerald eyes, "...I'm sorry."
"For?"
"Huh?"
"For lying to me? For using me? For breaking a cheep promise? For not telling me what I hot lay I was after you fucked me? What?" Brad remained silent. Biting his lip to keep in the tears, Schuldich went on "For telling me you loved me when you don't?"
"...No."
Schuldich wanted to die. He physically hoped a massive ball of fire to shoot from the sun and burn him to ash. Well, obviously Brad didn't give two shits about any of the things he had done. Crawford....he was just a bastard. An all-around bastard, capital 'B'.
"I'm not sorry for any of those things....because they're not true, Schuldich."
Schuldich snapped out of his thoughts.
"N-Nani?"
Crawford actually moved in closer then, choosing to sit beside the redhead on the bed rather than stand before him.
Schuldich could only watch in utter surprise when the older man took his hands to hold. Crawford..he was....warm.
"All those things, Schuldich. Everything. I didn't lie. They're....true."
// Whoa! Whoa! Tiiimme out! //
"T-True?"
Crawford nodded slightly and then....he smiled.
"I'm sorry that it took me getting hopelessly drunk to finally tell you." Schuldich eyed him with disbelief and Crawford sighed before continuing. "That morning after, I didn't know what to think. I was afraid that I might have let something slip and that you were just waiting for a chance to laugh at me." He eyed the telepath. "You were quite obvious that you wanted to sleep with me, but I never knew if it was just for the fun of it, or...something more."
"Baka, I've always been in love with you. Did you know that? I wanted *you*, not a one night stand. I.. I would have been just as happy if you had just stayed with me that night and held me. Even without the sex."
Brad leaned back into the pillows, pulling Schuldich flush against his chest.
"I guess I just can't figure out why you slept with me if I was drunk."
"You can be very convincing when you want to be."
"Hn."
And they left it at that, both just enjoying the warmth of his companion's body. Schuldich was first to stir, tilting his head up to catch chocolate brown eyes in his gaze before flushing ever so slightly in the cheeks.
"I never told you something that night, Brad." The older man arched a slender eyebrow, silently urging the redhead to continue. Schuldich swallowed. "Well, you're the first man I've ever been with. ...My first and only I guess."
"What?"
Schuldich smiled and snuggled up closer to the other man's warmth.
"That's why I asked you to promise that it wouldn't just be a fling." He frowned. "I can't even remember my first time with a woman. Nothing ever lasted really. That's why when I first fell in love with you, I promised myself that there would be no man before you. It's just....the way I wanted it to be."
Crawford's arms tightened possessively about the younger man's body and Schuldich allowed himself to be held into the firm embrace.
"I'm sorry, Schuldich. I didn't know."
"Of course not. I never told you." Smiling he kissed the older man's nose. "So there's my secret. Tell me one of yours."
"Ah," Brad flushed slightly, "I can't remember what you look like naked. ..or...the sex."
Schuldich actually laughed at that, and to his lover it was the most beautiful sound in the world. Even Crawford smiled then. ...especially when the redhead began to suckle his collarbone.
"Would you like me to tell you how it was?" Schuldich bit his lip to keep the grin from flooding his face when he moved off the American to lay back on the mattress beside him. His fingers toyed with the top of the sheet currently bunched under his arms and about his chest. "Or would you like me to show you instead?"
Crawford's growing smile instantly gave his intentions away when he pushed himself up to lean above the smaller man. One hand fell to a sheet-clad thigh and he gently stroked the tender flesh through the material. His eyes spoke wonders.
"May I?"
Nodding, Schuldich felt his pulse quicken as soft hands wound about the sheets and carefully peeled them from his trembling body. God, it was like his first time all over again! He was shaking like a virgin! It's not like Brad hadn't already *seen* him naked....not to mention a few "other things".....
"God, Schu... You're beautiful."
He looked up at the words to see just how hungrily his lover's eyes were grazing his naked form. Sure, he knew he looked good, but...wow. Brad was almost drooling! Schuldich grinned and shifted his hips just so.
Cautiously, as if afraid that the elfin figure laying below just might disappear, Crawford leaned forward and placed his palm down on Schuldich's exposed chest. A soft mewl of want escaped the young redhead and jade eyes darkened to an impassioned green. Brad watched the younger man arch up into each touch, allowing his hand to slowly graze the warm flesh lower and lower until he reached Schuldich's exposed thighs.
"Braaad," Schuldich gave his lover a sultry gaze and slowly opened his legs wide. "Brad....take me."
Crawford's breath caught in his throat just watching the sexy display. Schuldich was naked and laid out before him in complete offering, and the sight alone set Brad's blood to boil. Easing himself to lean over the other's slender body, he gently ran a hand from Schu's hip up and over his chest to finger the pouty lips.
"No, Schuldich. Later." He grabbed the forgotten bed sheet and began to wrap it tenderly about the redhead's silken body before cradling him to his chest and lifting Schuldich off the mattress and into strong arms. "You haven't even eaten in three days, baby." He kissed Schu's forehead. "Let's get something to eat. Then......bed."
Schuldich smiled up at him as he was carried to the bedroom door.
"Mine or yours?"
"Mine." Crawford almost grinned. "And I plan on keeping you in my bed for a long, long time."
"How long?"
Brad paused in his step for just a second before smiling and leaning down to capture Schu's lips.
"......Forever."
~ * OWARI * ~