A/n: At first I was really worried that not only was the last chapter bad and late, but it wasn't going to get many reviews n.n; hee, thank you for managing to get me some in, even if they were at the last moment D they really helped get this bit out, and even though I still think the other chapter was horrible, it was so nice to see that everyone else thought differently. Now I'm so close to the ending, I might just cry. I'm going to miss writing this story so much...sniffle Here, I'll put up the review responses now before I get too emotional...
Sirhcnotilih: I thought we were sending e-mails for a while n.n;; and then I got a bit too busy. But thank you for your kind comments.
Queenoftheskies: Aww x well, no more sad chapters in this story! This one is actually very sweet, I think. Being the sissy that I am, I nearly cried just writing it. XD of course you might feel differently, but enjoy anyway!
Orange Neko Sapphire: Your review was very helpful 3 I like it when people tell me which parts they liked the most and such. Also, I'm glad you liked that bit, as I was scared people were going to hate it. this chapter is very romantic, so hopefully it'll be a good follow up for the last one.
Sunny-san: As long as they're close enough to the real characters that you don't hate me for ever writing this story because it's so OoC, then I know I'm doing an okay job. XD; and I really do hope you'll be able to read my next fanfic, if I ever manage to get to one. It'll be another AU, since I only really write those, and will actually be more sad. Hopefully longer, too. Anyway, you're doing a great job with the heads up about how I'm doing D can't wait until your next review!
Noriko Sakuma: Creepy? XD I expected hard to follow and stupid and such. But as long as it entertained you enough to want to keep reading, then I'm good 3 the chapter after this is going to be the lemon wasn't supposed to let that slip until the bottom A/n so enjoy this chapter, and tell me if it's emotional enough!
Derrangedseal: Sudden in a good way, or sudden in a bad way? I'm glad you could understand it, though. n.n; and it was mainly to get them closer together. D I'm also very glad you're noticing how the characters are changing. One of my main focuses in this story has been to show the changes the characters go through. Hee, and forgetting is okay, as long as you don't do it again XD; just kidding. Enjoy this chappie!
Hikaru Irving: Believe it or not, I haven't seen much of him yet because... I'm still on the first disk of the game. waiting for a certain friend to visit again so they can continue the game n.n; otherwise I probably would have known that XD but we can skip that little tidbit and say that in my story he's fat. Just because we want to be even more nasty to poor little Lloyd. Hee, I'm glad my attempts to make him really creepy and stalker-like worked! Here's the next chapter! 3
Shooting star: I hope I can please you with my ending. It's going to be sweet, I can assure you. Also, thanks for the compliment about Zelos. I haven't seen too much of him in the game (see Hikaru Irving's reply thing XD) so I'm really not all that sure how in character he is. Anyway, lemme shut up and let you get to the chapter now. n.n;
Disclaimer: I don't own them x I just make them do the fun stuff we all love to read about.
Chapter six, Fixing the Broken Pieces
It was hot rays of sunlight upon his eyelids that caused them to flicker open. Well, that and the soft sound of his name being uttered in a hushed manner from familiar lips. Hissing softly in pain as he attempted to sit up in the strange confines of a high-up bed covered in thin white sheets. A slightly lumpy pillow supported his head, the front of the bed higher up than the areas his body rested upon. Looking over, he was almost shocked out of the bed by a plastic tube leading from his arm to a bag of liquid, held upright by a strange metal rack-type thing.
"Calm down, Lloyd, you're only in the hospital!" the voice immedietally got him to calm down, and he was taken into a light embrace by the red-head he had known spoke earlier.
"Zelos, why do I hurt so much?" he coughed a bit, pressing a hand to his throat as it was much too scratchy and dry for his liking. A glass of water was held to his lips, and he drank deeply with much gratitude in his large brown eyes.
"Don't you remember? Rodyle kidnapped you, and sliced you up a bit." Zelos offered a sad half-smile in attempts to comfort Lloyd, or at least to lighten the mood. Mayhap it was to comfort himself. Pushing the water away, Lloyd coughed again, and Zelos tensed up, ready to press the button to call the nurse at any moment.
"I'm fine..." the brunette managed, smiling about as weakly as Zelos was. "Thank you...for saving me. He...was going to rape me, and then kill you, and I don't think that...I would have been able to stand that." his voice was still soft and fairly weak, but the genuine gratitude did not faulter. The red-head took a seat on the edge of Lloyd's bed.
"You had me really worried. I was starting to think that you were going to go insane from the trauma, and then you didn't wake up for three days after I brought you here..."
"It's been three days!" Lloyd exclaimed, gaping. Had Zelos stayed here by his side the entire time...?
"Yeah. They told me to leave, but...I was too scared that you might have a fit or something, and I wouldn't be here to help you through it...or I would miss getting to see you wake-up." Touched by Zelos' words, Lloyd blushed a bit and looked around his room. There were flowers and toys, even candies for him. For some reason he got the feeling they were all from Zelos.
"Aren't you tired?" Lloyd asked after a moment of thinking, finally allowing his gaze to return to the older male. Something had changed between them, he noted. Maybe it was that gentle way Zelos looked at him, blue eyes so understanding and caring that it caused shivers of excitement to run down his back everytime he made contact with them. However, there also seemed to be a deeper bond between them...now he felt he rested so much trust upon those strong shoulders.
"Only a little." before Lloyd could answer, the doctor came in after a sharp knock to the door, startling them both visibly.
"Wonderful, he's awake." the doctor smiled and walked over to the bed, beginning to inspect the wounds. Some of them were in places that made Zelos twitch when the doctor looked at them, and Lloyd blush a bit uncomfortably, but he stopped after fairly quickly. "Looks like you're healing just fine. In fact, I bet you can go home now. Would you like that?" ruffling Lloyd's hair, the brunette grinned and nodded.
"Yes, I would!" he answered, making the doctor laugh a bit.
"I thought so I'll sign everything to let you go, and you can get on home. Remember to drink lots of fluids, get lots of rest, and take it easy. Don't push yourself. Also, try to eat easy to digest foods, in case you were thrown around a bit too much to handle anything too solid. By the way, we'll let you keep the gown for now, since your clothing was fairly destroyed from the incident." winking a bit, the doctor left to go take care of anything, while Zelos immedietally picked up Lloyd and proceeded to carry him out.
The car ride back to the house was spent in a fairly comfortable silence, Lloyd watching Zelos with a bit of an idly smile, and Zelos shooting him a comforting look every now and then. When they stopped the red-head picked him up again, and brough him straight to his room to place him in the bed. Soon after doing so he joined the brunette under the covers, one hand draped lightly over his waist.
"I was scared I wasn't going to see you again." Lloyd murmured after a while, feeling close to sleep, even if he had just woken up a while ago. His body was still fairly weak from the whole incident, though he did manage to worm around a bit to get that silly hospital gown off.
"I would never let anything happen to you...though I'm sorry that what did happen...happened." Zelos sounded truly depressed that he couldn't stop Rodyle from inflicting pain upon the teen in his arms, but Lloyd turned around to face him, nude now, and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek.
"Don't worry, it isn't your fault. I don't blame you for anything. I shouldn't have been wandering around all on my own. Even then it was something that would be fairly hard to avoid." Lloyd smiled, and Zelos managed to see it despite the fairly dim light in the room.
"You're too kind." Zelos replied, but it fell upon deaf ears, as the brunette had already fallen asleep, cuddled against the male's chest. Slowly a smile of his own worked its way upon his face, and he allowed his own eyes to close. Oh how he had missed this. But everything had been cancelled for a while, so he had some time to spend with the boy he loved in his arms.
Many of the following days were fairly monotone in their events, as Zelos stayed at Lloyd's bedside (well, it was actually his bed, but oh well) nearly 24/7, having the cook bring soups up for Lloyd when ever he was hungry, and get him pain relievers if something hurt most unbearably, helping him to the bathroom if he needed to go, and even giving him spongebaths. Of course this was both of their favorite part of the day, and Zelos commented once that he was sorry Lloyd only needed one bath a day. Aside from that, Lloyd slept most of the time, and Zelos caught up on his reading. Or well...he kind of did. Most of that time was spent checking on the brunette in case anything had happened in the past second or so.
Finally it came to the day when Lloyd grew so sick of being in bed that he ignored the scars on his feet and got out of bed, flailing a bit. Zelos paniced and began to bring him back to the bed when Lloyd cried for him to stop.
"It doesn't hurt anymore! And besides...my muscles will turn to jelly if I don't get some excersize. Sitting in bed all the time is bad for them, and it's actually been proven that moving around helps you heal faster." Silence followed for a few minutes after the statement...or more like, plea, to be allowed his freedom.
"I'm just worried about you." Zelos murmured in Lloyd's ear as he brought him into a hug, but no longer protested against him being up. In reality he wanted him to be able to move and such again, as there were places he wanted to take him to, and things he wanted to reveal to him at those places.
"I know you are, but I'm really okay." Lloyd had smiled at him, and gently pulled him into a kiss. This time it was upon the lips, and brunette blushed soon afterwards. Without waiting for any more comments out of the pleased red-head, he took his hand, entwining their fingers as they made their way down to the first floor. The pace was very slow, and Lloyd had to stop many a time on the way there to lean against either Zelos or the wall, but finally they made it, and instead of eating soup in an awkward position on the bed, Lloyd brought Zelos to the dining room, and the cook made them both simple sandwhiches. Of which the brunette enjoyed quite vocally, as soup really gets old if one eats it regularly, no matter what kinds of soup you have to choose from.
After their bit of lunch they took tea in the gardens and talked about their lives before they had met, laughing together, and fighting tears together. But both had smiles the entire time, even when they sat in silence for an hour or two, watching birds flutter through the trees, bent double with blossoms and fruit. Lloyd even had the energy to get up and play tag with Zelos for a little. They laughed together and frolicked at a casual pace despite the game they played, hiding behind bushes and trees before allowing themselves to be spotted and chased down, sweat breaking out in a sheen of miniature diamonds across their pale forheads in the warm weather of the spring day. Then both collapsed together in the shade of an apple tree, one hand from each of the males connecting the seperate bodies. But any passerby with a trained eye could see that there was not two people lying in the emerald locks of Mother Earth, but only one, or at least, two beginning to merge into one. Lovers. They acted like it, and yet would not call themselves such. Visibly could someone tell that that was what they wanted.
"I want an apple." Lloyd stated quite randomly, one hand reaching up towards the branches of the tree as if to call forth such a fruit to his palm.
"That's nice." Zelos grinned, his tone playful.
"That's nice? What about, 'your wish is my command, Lloyd, and I shall retrieve an apple for you'?" The brunette rolled a bit so that he lay on top of the red-head, large brown eyes sparkling in the patches of sunlight that burst through the rooftop of green and brown above. It was funny how such intense heat could meld the colors together, making it more like an abstract painting than a real spring day. It was during times like these that one wished the summer to be prolonged for quite a while.
"You didn't ask nicely." The older male replied, feigning a pout as he spun their positions around so that he was the one on top.
"Fine. Please may I have an apple, Zelos?" It was Lloyd's turn to pout, dark pink lip thrust outwards as his arms managed to cross on his chest despite the added weight the red-head provided.
"As you wish," This time it was a wink that Zelos offered as he climbed off of Lloyd and walked closer to the trunk of the tree, raising one fist as his eyes narrowed. With one loud call he had punched the tree, managing to leave a dent. For a moment it only shook, and then finally a few apples fell from the branches, coming loose from the intense blow. Lloyd clapped his hands enthusiastically, and had even gotten on his knees, eyes wider than normal with amazement.
"Wow, Zelos! You're so cool, and really strong! You didn't even have to climb the tree!" No reply was given immedietally as said red-head scooped up one of the fallen apples and rubbed it with his sleeve before bowing in front of Lloyd and offering the fruit to him. Lloyd laughed a bit and pounced on Zelos, hugging him around the neck. "I can't eat all of it. So let's share!" Thus they both took turns nibbling off the red apple, Lloyd blushing every now and then.
Once again he was bed ridden for a few days until the frustration broke out like before, and he forced Zelos to take him somewhere. Of course there were no protests, and Zelos dressed him up in something nice, placing an equally nice outfit on himself. It led Lloyd to wonder where they were going to go, but he didn't ask any questions, even when he was led to a limo and sat beside Zelos. Only when they stopped at the obviously expensive and very popular restaurant did he gape openly, and almost fall over himself as Zelos brought him to the entrance.
A table was reserved for them, almost as if the red-head knew that Lloyd was going to want to go somewhere, and it was right by a window overlooking the sea. It was fairly late in the afternoon, and the sun was riding just above the waves, turn them a lovely shade of orange and pink, as well as the surrounding clouds.
"Pick whatever you'd like from the menu," Zelos told him before they were both seated, and said menus were placed in front of them. Lloyd nearly choked at the prices, but said nothing, startled out of his studying of the dishes by an arm around his shoulders. After realizing it was Zelos, he nuzzled closer to the red-head. Both were silent for most of the first portion of dinner, listening to the live classical music being played in the center of the restaurant, the players upon a raised portion with a fountain in the very center, as well as real live plants. As they slowed down with their eating and cuddled a bit more, Zelos surprised Lloyd with what appeared to be normal conversation at first, that is.
"Have you been feeling better, Lloyd?" he started out, blue eyes locking upon brown ones in a most intence fashion.
"Y-yes, I have...thank you for taking such good care of me." Lloyd managed a smile, but it wasn't returned. Why was Zelos so...serious looking right now?
"I'm glad. You seem to have healed quickly, too. Is there a lot of pain?"
"No, not anymore..." Studying the eyes that searched deeply within his own, Lloyd realized that it was not fear that he felt, but merely an overwhelming mixture of love, and that weird feeling you get when you feel your soul is being searched by that person you feel so much love for. He swallowed, and didn't notice lips coming closer to his own until they were touching. Eyes widdening, he looked about with fear. They were in a public place, weren't they? No one seemed to notice or care, so he allowed himself to relax and kiss back, though the lips were soon taken away from his, and he felt slightly empty and disappointed.
"There is something I've been waiting to tell you...but I wanted you to feel better, so that you could really think this over." So that had been the reason they had come here. Butterflies hatched in his stomach, and he wormed around a bit on the seat.
"Shoot..." he murmured, slightly unsure.
"Lloyd, at first I was just toying around with you to be mean, because it was fun to watch your reactions...but...then...I didn't want to be mean. I found that despite how much I had tried to hide my feelings for guys under tons of girls, I had fallen deeply in love with you. If...if it were legal for guys to marry one another here, then I would get on my knee and propose to you. Everything...the money, the mansion, the countless girls...all of that seems to worthless now, where as I was so proud of the life I had built up. All of it seems like a puzzle I've put together, but the most important piece is the one I've lost. But...Lloyd...you're that missing piece. You just...fit into my life so perfectly...no, that sounds stupid. You're the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. And...it doesn't matter if you're a guy or a girl, or anything else, because I love you, and I'm not going to let stupid things like that get in the way." All through the little speech were their eyes locked together in an intense gaze, tears pooling underneath Lloyd's at the words he had been wanting to spill for so long. The entire thing was much too emotional for the teenager, and after blinking the tears began to flow, his lips seeking out Zelos' in a passionate kiss. They were tears of happiness, and the kiss had been his response. Arms were wrapped around waists and necks, half-eaten meals forgotten, as well as the environment around them. Only a few minutes at most could they spend like this as Lloyd broke it off, panting to regain his breath.
"Zelos," he whispered breathlessly, tears still running down his cheeks. "I love you, too."
A/n: Nice way to end it, huh? XD If you read all of my responses, then you already know that next chapter is the lemon. Wh00t! The thing we've all been waiting for! 3 it'll be on and you all need to check my profile for the link. I will try and get an author's note up in case you forget, or for some reason, can't see my profile, and hopefully won't chew me out because it's not a real chapter. XD; I know this is a little bit late, too, and such, but Easter and a surprise visit from my aunt and uncle slowed me down a lot ; also, I didn't get to send it to my proofreader TT again. SO SORRY. Bear with the typos for now, please X3; until next Monday!
