Hey everyone! As promised here's chapter 17! Leave feedback, I love hearing from you all and I will do my best to keep going for you!

Chapter 17 - When Galactic Tides Meet

Beep… Beep… Beep…

A repeated rhythm. Steady and constant. Pain. Pain ranging from my head to the rest of my body escalated. I tried to focus on the constant sound of the beeps in order to ignore the pain. Where was I? What happened to me?

With great effort, I forced my eyes to open. The room I was in was not my own. The walls were white and while the window blinds appeared to be open, no light shone through. I looked down where my hand felt heavy and saw a large figure in the darkness. After a moment of fear, I saw the shock of red hair. The soft sound of music was playing to my left and I saw his phone.

"K-Kevin?" My voice was weak and the figure only shifted his position. Am I in a hospital? What happened?

A shot of pain escalated through my body as it all flooded back to me. The attack.. The… The pain was so great I could not help but start calling out.

"Ah! Kevin, make it stop! Make the pain stop!" The broad figure holding my hand shot up out of the chair faster than a man his size should have been able to, causing the chair to fly back and fall to the ground. He quickly moved up to me and put a hand on my face.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's okay, you're safe now. Don't worry, Edd, you're safe. I got you." He wrapped his arms around me as best he could considering the arrangements. My breathing and heart rate settled and it was as if his body was feeding mind his strength. The pain eased but a flood of tears was let loose in its wake. He did not budge from how he held me. Within a few moments, I was in control of myself once more, but I noticed that Kevin wasn't. Warm tears soaked through the shoulder of my gown. He pushed himself back into his chair and I watched him closely. HIs forest clearing eyes were ringed red and his hair was tousled, probably from sleeping in the awkward position he was in at my side.

"I imagine I look like a mess, but Kevin, you look so tired. You should have stayed home and rested properly." He shook his head and signed.

"I'm so sorry, Edd. I should have walked you home. This wouldn't have happened if I had gone with you." He went silent for a moment, bowing his head. "Do you remember what happened?"

A dark gaze passed between us and I gave a small, timid nod. "I was cornered at my own house by…" My voice trailed off and Kevin shook his head.

"No, don't worry about telling me now, Edd. I'm just glad you're safe and in one piece." His voice choked, which I found rather peculiar since I Had never seen this side of him before.

"And who are you, boy?" The door to my room had been opened and a tall thin man with jet black hair and a full suit to match walked in. Behind him walked a thin woman with long hair the color of ravens feathers. Kevin shot up defensively, a look of utter confusion washed on his face. I took his hand reflexively as he got closer to me.

"F-Father? Mother? What are you two doing here?" Kevin's look of confusion shifted to shock but I could notice something else in the green depths of his eyes. Anger.

"Of course we would come when we were notified that you were in the hospital, dear. The head surgeon here is a friend of ours and we recognized your name on your chart." My mother's eyes went from me, to Kevin, then back to me. She moved forward and pulled my chart out and started flipping through it. My father stood with his arms crossed just inside the room.

"You did not answer my question, boy. Who are you and how are you in this room?" His voice was low, intimidating, but I did not believe Kevin was one to be easily intimidated. I squeezed his hand then let go as I saw my father's eyes shift down to them.

Kevin crossed his arms and, I believe, puffed out his chest. Clearly a show of masculinity but I could not help but to stare. Even in my current state, my eyes still only held a gaze for him. Kevin's rough voice broke me from my moment of admiration.

"My name is Kevin Barr, a classmate of Edd's." My father made a scoff in disbelief and rolled his eyes. Mother's eyes remained fixated on my chart but I knew she was paying full attention to the conversation happening around her. Something in my father's manner sparked something in Kevin. I could feel it more than see it. A certain heat radiated like solar waves in space. The worst part was that I could not intervene much in my present condition.

"I'm also the one who found him in the backyard of the home you two abandoned." Three sets of Vincent eyes turned to him. My mother set down my chart and rubbed her arms in what had appeared to be embarrassment. Father simply looked angry.

"That is none of your concern… Kevin, was it? But you have our thanks for saving our son. You may leave now." While he gave his last statement politely, it was clearly made to be an order. Kevin only laughed and sat down in the chair next to me.

"I'm not going anywhere. It's my right to sit here and make sure he is alright." I shook my head but my mother spoke before I, or my father, could say anything.

"Forgive me Kevin, but what gives you that right? We are his parents and we are requesting the space to speak to our son. While we are grateful you helped him, his friends do not need to be here when we have a family discussion." While my father's voice was tinged with anger or irritation, mother's voice was piercing cold.

Kevin did not flinch and he continued to hold his ground. "His parents? You abandoned him to live in an empty, lonely house just because you dislike his orientation. You two have caused him unbearable pain." Both of my parents started to speak but Kevin did not give them the opportunity to get a word in.

"It's that idiocy on your part that gives me the right. It gives me all the rights to be here seeing as I'm his boyfriend and I love the dork." If I was not hospitalized, I would have ran out of the room right in that moment. I could not stop the blush that flooded over my features. He had never said those things to me, and it made me forget everything to hear it said out loud. However, my parents were not as pleased as I.

"Get out." My father's voice was low and heated. "Get out now. I will not have the likes of you around my son!" His voice rose as he spoke and he took a step toward Kevin who still sat in the chair at my side. "Did you not hear me? Are you deaf, brute? Get. Out."

Kevin turned and looked up into father's furious features. "I already told you, dude. I. Am. Not. Leaving."

"Why you…!" Father raised his fist as if to strike down on Kevin.

"Hey, what's going on here?" My nerves could not handle anymore people but a broad man with vibrant red hair and facial hair walked in and stood staring at the occupant of the room. "Junior, what is going on in here? We can hear you all from down the hall."

Kevin shook his head but did not respond. Mother turned to Kevin's father. "You are this young man's father, then? Would you be so kind as to remove him from this room, please?"

Mr. Barr crossed his arms over his broad chest. "Nah, I don't think I will, lady." The look of repugnance that crossed over mother's pointed features was dramatic, if not comical. He stunned her into silence. "You two don't know what those boys have been through in just these past twenty four hours alone. So, no, I will not force my son to leave the side of the one he loves. Maybe that's the deaf brute in me, but I don't see the harm of letting him watch over the son you two have neglected." Father's face turned a deep shade of red, but Mr. Barr did not stop speaking. "Why don't you two go get a coffee or something? We'll leave these two alone for a while before Junior says more you two will regret."

Father stormed out, shoulder checking Mr. Barr in passing. Mother made a disgusted sound and walked past him as well. As he walked out he winked at us and closed the door behind him.

I turned and looked at Kevin. Vibrant green met tired blue. "That was quite the whirlwind, was it not?" Kevin laughed in response.

"You could have said something, too, you know." I shook my head.

"I could not get a word in edgewise between you three, Kevin. That and I was distracted by what you said." The dreaded blush appeared once more, I could feel it. Yet, this time, Kevin, too, turned red.

"Well, it's true, dork. I don't know what you did, but I love you and I'll protect you, my boyfriend, from anything. Understand?" I gave a small nod and he stood up and kissed me full on the lips, but gently. "Get some rest, Edd. I'm not going anywhere." I nodded and let my eyes close as he sat back down in the chair at my side, reveling in the warmth I could still feel on my lips.

So the Sun can burn,

but it can also heal,

it can also soothe.