OKAY! SO I LIED:P they're not going to exchange gifts in this chapter. This is just thing I wrote immediately after I wrote chap 2 but didn't publish..well…until now. So yeahhhh..hope you like.
Light flooded into the dim room and pierced Hephaistion's blue eyes. He slowly propped himself up on one elbow, looking into the doorway. A figure was silhouetted there- shaking with barely controlled emotions. Then, peering closer, he realized that it was Alexander. With a look on his face that made everyone quake and flee from his presence.
"Alexander," he started to speak. But the prince just stormed past him and made his way to the balcony, where he looked fiercely the ocean with his back towards Hephaistion. Knowing enough by now to not disturb him, Hephaistion dragged himself off the bed and onto the cold tile floor.
He kept his eyes on Alexander, wondering what had happened so early in the morning that caused his lover to get so angry. And the blood. Alexander's foot was dripping with blood. Hephaistion suddenly realized his lack of clothes and looked around for anything to wear- all his clothes were in his chambers. After settling on a plain white chiton he found flung over a chair, he decided he needed to find some answers to the questions swirling in his mind.
From the very first moment Alexander had walked into the room Hephaistion had known that the problem lay with him. He didn't know why, he had just got the feeling.
Walking quietly over to the balcony, Hephaistion put a hand on Alexander's shoulder. The hand was usually enough, to rouse his lover from whatever waking dream or living rage he was in. But he showed no sign of even knowing anyone was there. So instead Hephaistion, who had come behind Alexander, gently slid his arms around his waist. It expanded and contracted with the vigorous energy that only rage and lust can induce.
Alexander abruptly spun around, his eyes wild. He seemed to see and notice Hephaistion for the first time. Paying no mind to the fact that they were on a very visible balcony, he hauled Hephaistion closer by his hair and kissed him. Their lips crashed brutally together, and both tasted blood in their mouths. But Alexander was unconcerned, exploring Hephaistion's mouth with a primal hunger. Their trysts were always rough, but never like this.
Alexander broke off the kiss only long enough to drag them both onto the bed. Then he fairly attacked Hephaistion, hands seeming to be everywhere at once. He ripped open his chiton, flinging the white fragments to the floor.
"Alexander-" Hephaistion knew he had to talk some sense into the prince before he lost his sense in Alexander's arms. But his call was unheeded, and actions, not words, would have to do.
He gently pushed the groping hands away and turned his head away when Alexander tried to capture his lips again. When the hands came back, he caught them and held them the strongest grip he could manage- under the circumstances. When he spoke his voice shook.
"Alexander. I love you. But you need to tell me what's wrong if I'm going to help you, and not try to ravish me."
"You're helping."
It came out like a growl, and Hephaistion smiled. "No, I'm not. What we were about to do would definitely not have helped. Especially at this hour in the morning, with you as obviously distracted as you are. It wouldn't have helped you. Nor me. Now tell me what happened before I woke up."
Gray eyes turned to him, lust still flaring in their depths fueled by anger. Hephaistion patiently waited until the fire dimmed down and Alexander spoke.
"I went to see my mother this morning."
A wry laugh. "Well, that explains a lot, doesn't it? She says she loves you, 'Xandros. And she does. But she also rips you raw."
"Today, I went to her rooms." Alexander's strong hands clung onto the linen sheets as if they were a lifeline. "And she talked about- she talked about…She had spies, 'Phai. They saw us at the track and they saw us Philotas'party." It certainly had been an evening for the spies, the precious night. Philotas had given a feast in honor of the new Regent, and wine had flowed plenty. Alexander had gotten shamelessly drunk and started kissing Hephaistion in front of their friends.
"And then- and then- she called me a liar because I said I had no time for women. She claimed that I had plenty of time, but I chose to spend it with my little pretty boy. You."
"She's just angry that you didn't notice the women she sent you." Hephaistion lifted his hand up to his lover's head and stroked the golden hair.
"No, she's angry because I love you so much, 'Phai. She wants me to keep away from you and start visiting women- and talking to her. She wants me to have an heir, raise a household."
"And what do you think of that, 'Xandros?"
He uttered a sigh that seemed to come from the very core of his being. "I don't want to bother with all that. I don't want to bother with women. I don't have time for them, because I only have time for the things I truly care about."
"I love you, Alexander." That was all Hephaistion could say at first. Then, "I'm sorry that all this happened, and that I'm involved in it." He caught sight of Alexander's torn foot, which had been staining the sheets red.
"Your foot- it's bleeding. What happened?"
Letting him examine the wound, Alexander replied, " I kicked a chair, and it cut my foot. It's not a huge gash."
Ripping off a piece of linen from the stained bed sheets, Hephaistion cleaned the wound and bound it tightly to stop the flow of blood. He kissed it before propping the foot gently on his own legs. Then he looked at Alexander, blue eyes questioning.
"Are you still angry?"
"Angry?" a pause. "I suppose so. My mother usually sends out spies. But I don't believe any of them have spied on the two of us until yesterday. But she has no right to intrude in my life, and she will see the consequences. And I am angry that she-she so demeaned you, calling you my pretty boy. You are so much more than that, 'Phai. The comparison shouldn't even be made."
Hephaistion leaned against him, their legs tangling together. "If I am not your bed-boy, then what am I?"
"You are Alexander."
Hephaistion was satisfied with that answer, and this time is was him that pulled Alexander into a kiss.