Looong overdue, long overdue... eh... I'm sorry. Wonder if I'll ever manage to get back to my Humpday update rhythm :(((
However, things happened in the last chapter and things happen in this one. Well, duh ;)
Not gonna keep you from reading here, not much to say anyway except ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ THANKS FOR YOUR FEEDBACK TO THE LAST CHAPTER! ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤
(As always, I've tried to proof-read this one but I always end up being screenblind after finishing a chapter, so I'll have to re-read it tomorrow and make the corrections. So please kindly ignore mistakes if you trip over them :)
He felt a chill wash through him and for a moment he could only stare at Roman and listen to words he didn't want to be true.
"Did you fuck him?" he asked eventually, his voice sounding miles away to his own ears and strangely void of any emotion.
He watched Roman pale as the question obviously struck a chord in him and while a part of Dean just wanted to get out of the room before Roman could comfirm it, the rest of him kept him glued to the spot because he needed to hear the truth. And because that part hoped that nothing had happened.
And then... he listened as Roman told him that he'd stopped it before more could happen. Listened to him saying that he was sorry.
There was relief... followed by an odd numbess and the overwhelming urge to get away as Roman took a step towards him, making him flinch and back away because he had no idea what to do now, what to say and... and how to feel.
Without a word or another glance he turned away and left the room, his thoughts reeling, his mind crying to go to Seth and tell him to keep his hands off of Roman but his feet carried him to the bathroom instead. He heard Roman call his name, pleading him to stop and listen to him but he couldn't. Right now he couldn't. Quickly shutting the bathroom door, he locked it and with his hands still on the handle and the key, he screwed his eyes shut, breathing a harsh sigh as he rested his forehead against the door.
"Fuck..." he hissed. "Fuck. Fuck...!"
Fuck this because it wasn't fair. Fuck his own inability to go out there and listen to what Roman had to say.
Fuck because Roman had been right when he'd said that he wasn't ready for this...
"Dean?" His eyes flew open. The way Roman's voice sounded so close told him that the other man was standing only a few centimeters away from him, the thin wood of the door barely dimming the sound as he spoke. And the usually full voice sounded so small. "Please come out and let's talk about it. Please..." Begging. Roman begged. And Dean lifted his hands, planting his palms flat on the plain surface of the door while his eyes closed again. Ridiculously enough he could feel Roman through that door. "Dean... please, I'm sorry. Let me explain..."
"Leave me alone," Dean gritted out because he needed some time for himself and room now, but at the same time his fingers splayed on their own accord because he wanted to feel more.
There was a soft sound, like hands brushing over the surface of the door and a quiet thud and maybe Roman was standing on the other side of the door just like Dean was standing here now and maybe he was feeling Dean through the thin wood, just like Dean felt him.
"Dean..."
Just above a whisper. Defeated. The next thing he heard was another soft sound and then the sound of steps, moving away from the door and Dean did the same, pushing away from the door, taking a few steps backwards until he was standing in the middle of the room while his gaze rested on the door for another moment, before he turned away, finding his own reflection in the mirror. The numbness dropped off of him as he took in the image the mirror showed him, giving way to a piercing, tearing ache.
The left side of his face still looked like a failed painting, sporting a varied range of blue and black, topped by the white band-aid that graced his forehead and with all the cuts and the scars he was looking like a shaggy mutt compared to Seth.
And who wanted a shaggy mutt when they could have a purebred beauty?
What the fuck am I thinking?
Stepping up to the sink, he kept staring at himself, wrapping an arm around his middle as if it could shield him from the ache with it. It didn't stop though, got worse instead.
He swallowed hard. Roman and Seth had almost...
Fucking shit...
Nothing had happend, right? Yeah, nothing. Rewind, play, listen. Over and over again. Nothing had happened. Roman had said that he stopped it before it got serious... but that also meant that they had already been past the point of just kissing or touching or... or...
With a quiet groan he screwed his eyes shut and hung his head, bracing on the rim of the sink. Why did it hurt so much? Why the hell did it fucking hurt at all? It had never been supposed to come this far, goddammit! He'd known that letting Roman get past his defenses would be dangerous, would make him weak, but this... Best friend, yeah. Bro, yeah.
But... the plan had never been to fall for Roman...
He should never have allowed it to get this far.
"Fucking shit..." he whispered, taking a few deep draws of air to breathe the ache in his chest away.
Calm down...
Last night Roman had told him that he didn't want Seth but... him... Roman's words, the message in them had been meant for him, not for Seth. He couldn't be this wrong, could he? Fucking misinterpreted it all? Yet... maybe that was the reason Roman had pulled back as he'd tried to steal a tiny kiss from his lips...?
No. He needed get a grip now and stop being a bloody crybaby. He wasn't wrong.
But neither did it lessen the pain nor the disappointment. Both was still there because if Roman wanted him, then why couldn't he keep his hands off of Seth? Maybe... as bitter and sickening as the thought was... maybe Roman should get it over with and fuck Seth to find out what he was feeling. Really feeling...
Gazing back up, his eyes wandered the room through the mirror. To the shower where Roman had found him frozen by the sight of own reflection and memories and over to the rim of the tub where he'd been sitting while Roman had changed the band-aid... to the spot where he had been standing wrapped up in those big arms. And his heart ached even more...
Roman wouldn't have needed to tell him at all, could have kept it to himself and avoid this now but he had told him the truth and that was telling its own tale, wasn't it?
I'm not gonna lie to you, it said.
Actually... Roman had never lied to him. Not once. He owed him to listen, didn't he? Fucking owed him not to hide away in here like a coward, not giving him a real chance to explain or... whatever. A good ground to make the trust he had in Roman grow, even when it had a crack after this.
Back and forth. His thoughts, his life. Everything going back and forth. The fuck. Not giving him a fucking break. The day his life would be back in order and everything was sorted out, he would have reached the point of being bipolar. Much.
Pushing away from the sink, he walked over to the door but hesitated as his fingers touched the key. He didn't want to lose this life...
... and he didn't want to lose Roman... not as his friend or his brother... or...
Was it possible to be afraid to lose something you've never really had in the first place?
There was a quiet clicking sound as he turned the key, inlocking the door and when he opened it and spied out, he found the corridor empty. So Roman had done what Dean had asked for. He had left him alone, not waiting in front of the bathroom for him to come out and Dean could almost see him walk away like a beaten puppy. Trying to shrug the image off, he slowly made his way along the corridor to Roman's room.
The door wasn't closed and the crack it was standing open was just enough to give free sight on Roman who was sitting on his bed, propped up against the headboard, his head resting against the wall while his eyes were closed. Gnawing at his bottom lip, Dean watched him for moment. Roman pushed a hand through the black mane and a sigh was breathed into the quietness of the room. Weary. Roman looked weary. Sad. Guilty and tense and the shadow that was lingering over him seemed almost graspable in the middle of the otherwise summer sun flooded air around him.
Rolling his head against the wall, the big man puffed a mirthless and weak laughter... before he jumped up from his place and hauled a pillow somewhere into the room with a growl. The unexpected outburst made Dean flinch and then wince as Roman spun around, punching the wall with a hissed fuck and even from where he was standing, Dean could see the decent sized dent the punch had left in the wall.
Seconds of indecisive just standing there followed in which the other man opened and closed his hand absentmindedly, probably because the punch had not only caused a damage to the wall but to the hand, too. Grey eyes gazed into nothing as Roman's mind seemed to be somewhere else but here. But then he sat back down on his bed heavily, resuming the place he'd been sitting before.
Not even one month since the first time they met... and not only had this short span of time turned Dean's life upside down... most of all those three days he'd been here now... but Roman's, too. Over all that was happening it was a fact that Dean admittedly tended to forget about, that he wasn't the only one who had to fight with the situation. Roman suffered, too. There was this big gentle teddy bear who had done all those things for Dean without batting an eye, who worried constantly and cared and who seemed to be willed to do anything for him. And maybe it was no wonder that Roman was reacting to a chance for distraction like Seth was. Who could blame him? Seth was a pretty boy and he was there, like a tempting offering.
Pressing his lips to a thin line, Dean breathed deeply and slowly pushed the door open, immediately drawing Roman's attention. Briefly the grey eyes widened, lighting up, before a shadow cast over them again.
"Hey," Roman said quietly, carefully almost as if he was afraid that saying anything at all would drive Dean away again.
"Hey," Dean replied as quietly as he walked up to the bed, perching on the mattress.
Roman broke the eye contact, his gaze dropping to his own hands which were resting in his lap.
"I'm sorry," he all but whispered.
Nodding lightly, Dean murmured: "I know." He'd never doubted that. Not one single second. "What... How...?" he continued but just couldn't bring the question over his lips.
What happened? How could it happen at all? And he could see that it made Roman feel as uncomfortable as it made himself feel.
"We were out for a run and shared the shower afterwards and... I don't know... it just happened..." Roman began and Dean couldn't stop his mind from forming images he didn't want to see. "We... I... fuck... we didn't kiss and we didn't, you know, fuck or even give each other a handjob. We didn't even really touch each other."
Giving a weak nod, Dean tried hard to push the image of Roman and Seth standing plastered along each other in the shower aside. A futile attempt.
"It's your good right to have fun with whoever you want," Dean forced out but his voice gave away how much he hated the idea. "You're not in a relationship, so I guess it's alright if you, you know... do that..." Roman's eyes snapped up to Dean at the words, his hands clenching to fists and he was just opening his mouth to say something, as Dean shook his head no and added: "Pretty obvious that there's something between you and Seth and, you know, maybe the two of you should just get it over with. Either you'll find out that it wasn't more than just sex or maybe you'll even get a happily ever after with your pretty boy."
The words were like acid on his tongue, sharp and sour and burning it and his lips as he willed them out and they were barely spoken as every fiber in him cried to take them back and haul them out of the window. Blinking in open disbelief, Roman tilted his head to the side, his brows furrowing. The air around them suddenly seemed to thicken, growing uncomfortably tight.
"We... what?! The hell, what are you talking about? And what the fuck is that supposed to be? A complimentary ticket to fuck Seth? I don't want him!"
"Huh, yeah, sure, you don't want him. And because you don't want him you almost did fuck him today! You...!"
"Wait a minute! I stopped it although we both had a raging hard-on and fuck, he would have let me...!" Roman cut him off harshly, not really angry but helpless, snapping his mouth shut though suddenly. But the sudden outburst had done its job, silencing Dean for a moment while Roman took a deep breath that he exhaled in a sharph sigh. "I stopped it because it's not Seth I want but y...!"
Something happened in those grey orbs. Shifting, giving view on a battle Roman was obviously fighting with himself and Dean could do nothing but gaze at him, waiting while his hear tripped and stumbled and obviously wanted to cross the distance between them by running like crazy.
"Ro..."
The name left his mouth in what couldn't even be called a whisper, not even a mere breath. It was a stirring of air that seemed oddly loud in the quietness that had settled down on them. And Roman had heard it. It was written there in the handsome features which smoothed suddenly and in the grey eyes broke their gaze away and for an achingly long second Roman looked so torn and defeated that it caused a sharp sting in Dean's chest.
Then, oh so very quietly, Roman spoke again and the tiny smile that lay on his lips like a shadow was a sad one and at the same time not as it seemed to grow out of warmth and affection.
"It's you, okay? All the time it's been you, Dean..."
With that Roman pulled his knees up and braced his elbows against them, hiding his face in his hands. The breath he exhaled sounded strained and bitter and neither did he notice that for long second Dean didn't breathe at all because he simply couldn't or how Dean's fingers dug into the duvet hard. And he also didn't see blue eyes widen as the words sunk in, making the truth that had been said yet not last night now real.
"I'm so sorry, Dean. I've ruined it. I... huh... I wanted to tell you this when the right moment has come, you know? When you're back on your feet and maybe had the chance to sort out your thoughts and... dunno, you said that you're not sure yourself what you're feeling and it's just not..." he heard him press out through gritted teeth. "You've got enough shit to deal with and I never wanted to cause you even more problems. I fucked up. I fucking ruined it..."
Quietness settled over them. And Dean was sure that if Roman only listened hard enough, that he would hear the beating of his heart that pounded hard enough to make his body quiver.
A word crossed his mind like a warm breeze.
Mine.
This was probably the moment where he should just grab Roman and put the hell of a lip-lock on him despite what had happened, should just do that and claim him before Seth would slip between them again, but for some reason he couldn't.
Maybe because... if he gave in to this now and simply tried to forget about the rest, push it aside and act like it wasn't there, that he maybe would end up being hurt to a point that would ruin the relationship between them.
And so he sat there, staring at Roman who remained unmoving, probably waiting for Dean to say something while Dean was torn between dropping into the happy feeling Roman's words had caused in him and shying away from maybe ending up even more aching and disappointment.
"If uh... if it's me you want, then why Seth? Why did you, you know, do that?"
The question somehow sounded too sober and he couldn't stop the guarded note seeping into his voice again. The broad shoulders tensed up visibly at the question but Roman emerged from his hiding place nevertheless and his eyes looked suspiciously glassy.
"I don't know. Suddenly this attraction was there. I have no idea why this happened now but I know that it's never going to happen again."
Dean could read in his friend's eyes that he meant it and he really wanted to believe it but...
"How can you promise that? How can you know that it won't happen again? Yesterday you said that this almost kiss was a slip and today you..." He fell silent, averting his gaze as he felt a slight burning in his eyes. "How can you know that?"
The mattress dipped a little as Roman carefully inched a bit closer, just enough that he could reach out and touch him... what he didn't do though.
"All I can say is that it's not gonna happen again. I know that it's never been easy for you to trust and believe and I know I fucked up today. But I'm trying to make it good again, okay?"
While what Roman said smoothed over the troubled waters in him, even calming them a bit, there was a grim smile tugging hard at his lips because if he was honest, then this incident wasn't something to shrug off, but it also wasn't a reason dor a drama.
Yeah, Roman had been right. He was not ready...
"I'm trying, you know?" he murmured, hating that he had to admit it to himself and how his right shoulder twitched again because he couldn't cope with this situation or how he started to pluck at the sheets, not able not to do it. "It's just... it's not easy..."
He hated how his heart was beating sadly when it should jump happily. And he hated how he wished Roman would just wrap his arms around him, hoping though he wouldn't do it because he couldn't stand such a closeness right now.
"I know," Roman replied hushed, a tiny smile playing on his lips despite the situation as Dean laid a hand on his.
"I meant it, you know? What I said last night," Dean murmured as he took how rich the tan of Roman's skin looked compared to his own. "I just need some more time. Uhm... small steps, you know. Guess I'm pretty emotionally stunted after all those years."
"Hey, don't say that," Roman chided him softly, turning his hand under Dean's. Funny how the big palm under his own already felt so familiar to Dean. Those hands could provide so many good feelings... "You're far from being emotionally stunted. You're just not used to having people who actually care around you."
Gingerly Roman curled his fingers, the soft touch leaving a tingle in its wake as fingertips brushed over Dean's palm and automatically Dean curled his fingers, too, hooking them behind Roman's in a light hold and it was how they remained for a moment, sitting there in silence while just looking at each other and like so often before already Dean thought that those grey eyes were as beautifult as they were expressive, like doors to Roman's soul if you only knew how to read them.
It was a knock at the door that caused Dean to pull his hand back from fingers which only let go of him reluctantly before only a blink later mommy Reigns stepped into the room, unknowingly crashing the fragile moment.
"Dean, may I have a word with you?" she asked and he could hear the smile in her voice dim as if she had noticed the mood that was lingering in here.
"I'm coming," he replied and shot Roman a crooked smile before leaving the room.
Mommy Reigns was waiting for him on the corridor as he stepped out, her eyes roaming his eyes scrutinizingly. Frowning at her in question, he closed the door and waited for her to speak.
"You okay, baby?" she asked hushed, reaching out to smooth a hand over his hair.
Funny, only three days and she was already calling him baby, just like she used to call Roman. Warmth spread in his chest at that motherly way of being there for him although she barely knew anything about him. The perfect mom.
"Yeah, I'm okay," he assured, even though it wasn't quite the truth, was it?
But this was a white lie. No need to get her involved and cause her worries for nothing.
"You sure?"
He nodded and gave her a smile. It seemed to do the job because she nodded, too, her hand dropping to her side.
"Okay then... I wanted to talk to you about tomorrow," she continued. "The police called a few minutes ago and asked if you feel up to come to the department and give evidence tomorrow?"
For some reason the question twisted his insides, maybe because it brought him closer again to what he tried to leave behind. Not that he hadn't known that he would have to give evidence sooner or later but still...
"Uhm, sure. I think that's okay," he said still smiling even when he didn't feel like smiling at all this very moment and he could see on her face that she didn't buy it.
Patricia didn't lose a word about it though but it was pretty clear from whom Roman had his antennae when it came to noticing things like this.
"Good. Now if that's okay for you we could go there right after your appointment at the hospital tomorrow? Unless you prefer to take Sika with you to the police?"
He shook his head no. Nodding slightly, she brushed a strand of hair out of his face before cupping his cheek tenderly, again intently eyeing his face.
"Great. And if you'll still feel fit enough we could go shopping afterwards. I think you could use some new clothes, young man."
"Sounds great," he replied very quietly, not sure what else to say.
The amount of family that happened in to him ever since Roman had brought him here was still overwhelming for him. Good, but... overwhelming.
Tilting her head to the side, she sighed.
"Dean... if you want to talk, no matter what it is... I'm there, okay?"
"Yeah, okay," he whispered.
"You should go back in. Maybe I'm wrong but it seemed as if I was interrupting the two of you at something."
With that she patted his good cheek gently and left, leaving him standing there alone and not sure whether he should go back in or if it would be better to go back to his own room. Some time and room to let the whole thing sink in wouldn't be that bad, would it? Yup. And that was why he did exactly not that although knowing it better, going back to Roman instead who sat at his desk, glancing up at him as he stepped into the room.
"Homework," Roman informed him, still looking at him as if he waited for Dean to tell him that the conversation from earlier wasn't over yet.
Nodding, Dean pointed over to the bed, murmuring: "Uhm, if that's okay for you, then I'll keep you company? You won't notice me."
An odd mixture of relief and slight disappointment crossed the handsome features but Roman gave him a nod and after watching Dean getting comfortable on the bed, he focused back on his homework, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. Ridiculous how a tiny gesture like this could cause a sting like the one Dean felt because his mind immediately hauled the image of Seth doing that back at the car repair shop at him.
Maybe it would really have been better to just go back to his own room.
Yeah, as if he could do that...
His eyes rested on the man who had managed to pull him out of the dark hole he'd been stuck in for so long and give him a safe and good new life while at the same time turning his world upside down. Nothing of this new life he had been granted was bad, not even the problems they had if he compared them to his past. There was no one who threatened him, no one who beat him up and he could go to bed tonight and all the nights which would follow, knowing that nothing bad would happen to him and that his future was safe. But hey, this was life after all and life had just shown him that even problems that weren't bad could hurt. Too fucking much...
X
With a low groan Dean turned around, coming to lie on his back while extending a hand to search the place beside him, finding nothing but... the edge of the mattress. With a displeased hum he reached out with his other hand... that connected with... a wall? He frowned. Roman's bed was standing with the headboard to the wall, not with the side... and why was the bed so... so narrow? And where was Roman?
Still not really back in the world of being awake, he wondered at which point he had dozed off at all. Or why he was feeling as if an invisible weight was wearing down on him. A bad feeling. Maybe the last traces of the bad feelings that almost thing between Roman and Seth had kicked loose in him.
He frowned, slowly opening his eyes while again feeling around... and then he froze as his gaze fell on the shabby ceiling of a dim room. His room. His old room.
With a gasp he scrambled out of the bed and moved away from it, blindly walking backwards because his eyes stayed fixed on the bed as if hands could shoot out of the mattress any second to grab him and pull him back. It was the opposite wall that stopped him, his back connecting with it with a dull thud.
Fuck, he thought panicked while he kept staring at the bed. Fuck, this can't be real!
He couldn't be here. This couldn't be real! He'd been in Roman's room, was living at Roman's place now. Roman had brought him away from here...
The wall felt cool against hsi palms as he reached back, the texture of the old hangings rough to his touch while the familiar stale stench of old beer and cigarettes crept into his nose. Wrenching his eyes away from the shabby bed, his gaze swept through the room while the panic in him grew.
This couldn't be...
A dimmed sound from outside the room tore a sharp gasp from him as his eyes snapped over to the door and for long seconds he couldn't move, couldn't breathe while a chill crawled up his spine and his heart hammered in his chest. His ears were buzzing as it pumped his blood through his veins like a bulletrain while he waited... but the doorway stayed empty. Again his eyes roamed the room, finding everything in place, just like it had been all those years.
His gaze caught a little metallic thing on the table. His key... And he moved before he knew that he did, grabbing the key and running to the front door, with that chill still lingering along his spine and a dull and haunted feeling sitting in the back of his neck, feeding the panic in him as he passed the distance. He knew every single centimeter of the way and never before had it seemed so endlessly long.
He needed to get out! Out!
The second his hand landed on the handle of the front door he heard it through the buzzing in his ears. A growl.
His name.
Then.. heavy steps which were coming closer while he tried feverishly to get the fucking key into the fucking lock to open the goddamn fucking door and get out...!
The key slipped from his fingers and fell, landing on the ground with a high-pitched, clattering sound that was oddly loud. A breathless no passed his lips as he bent down to pick it up... but his fingers never reached it.
A hand closed around his shoulder painfully tight, spinning him around. The blow that landed on his jaw sent him hard against the door... but it was the face of his stepfather right there in front of him with that all too familiar in rage contorted expression and the blank eyes that caused his heart to stop beating, made him go numb inside. Hands grabbed him and hauled him away from the door and with a desperate cry he threw a fist right in the hated face, hearing the other man grunt but the hands never let go, pushing and pulling him away from the front door instead. Too strong... this bastard had always been too strong...
There was another growl as he tried once more to deliver a punch but it was blocked. A second later pain exploded in his middle, causing him to bend double. A knee collided with his face, bringin bright blazing agony. An elbow landed in the back of his neck... Moaning he slumped to the ground, a breathless shout ripping from his throat at the kick that landed in his stomach causing the pain to flare up...
Another one... and again. A kick to his shoulder, sending him over to his back and a blink later a heavy weight pinned him and fighting for air he tried to block the punches which rained down on him, fought desperately to make it stop somehow... until his vision started to blur, slowly blackening around the edges. His body was ablaze with pain and only faintly he felt hands closing around his neck tightly. He couldn't breathe... couldn't...
With a choked sound he tried to draw a breath, again and again, his nails digging weakly into the other man's arms as he clawed at them to get the hands away from his neck. Blank eyes, hovering above him and that voice full of hatred telling him that no one would come to help him, that no one cared for a worthless piece of shit like him...
No... no, that's not true!
... that Roman would not come to help him...
And Dean reared up against the weight that pinned him down, against those hands which were locked around his neck like a vice grip... and Roman's name left his lips in barely a breath... and he fought... fought... and with the last bit of strength he had left in his burning body he lashed out, his fist connecting with something hard...
... and suddenly he was free, drawing deep breaths as he crawled away...
Dean...
... away from those hands and the pain...
Dean!
... until he was stopped by a wall and...
"Dean! Dean, calm down! It is okay, you're safe! He's not here!"
Panicked he gazed around, still trying to scramble backwards while the voice that was talking to him only slowly sunk through the fog of his dazed mind. His heart was racing and there was a cold grip around his chest, making the breathing difficult.
"Dean, sssh, calm down," that voice soothed, now being closer than before and he knew that voice and... that face... "Everything is okay, baby. It's okay. No one's gonna hurt you. Calm down..."
With wide eyes he stared at... at Roman's mother... who was perching on the mattress with a shocked and deeply worried expression, carefully reaching out to him. This was Roman's mom. And there was Roman... sitting on the floor, his face a mask of utter shock and horror and confusion and... blood... blood was running from his nose. And there was a nasty scratch on his cheek... A touch on his face made Dean flinch hard, the bit of breath he had been able to catch getting stuck in his throat. Patricia's hand on his face...
"Dean?" Roman asked as he slowly stood up, his voice unsteady as he spoke.
No word came over Dean's lips as his gaze jumped from Roman to Patricia while he still fought to understand...
"Breathe, baby. You need to breathe and calm down. You're safe," Patricia urged softly. "Roman, leave us alone for a moment. Go take care of your nose," she added, never looking away from Dean while her thumb brushed over his cheek softly, her other hand coming up, too, to frame his face.
A dream. It had been... it had been a fucking nightmare...
"But mom..." Roman objected weakly, his voice tense and unsteady.
"I said leave us alone," she cut him of in a voice that left no room for discussion.
Scooting closer, she wrapped her arms around Dean and pulled him into a gentle embrace, whispering soothingly to him. The stifled sob that escaped his throat got lost as he buried his face in the hollow of her neck.
He was safe. It had been nothing but a nightmare.
Faintly he heard Roman leave. The door was being closed.
One breath. A second. His throat burned and his eyes, too, as hot tears rose. A third breath. His arms came up around her, holding on to her desperately. Another breath. And another... A heavy shiver ran through him, leaving him trembling hard enough to tear the last dam in him down. The tears that fell mingled with his sobs as he broke down for the first time after long years...
- tbc -
Tell me your thoughts, guys!
(Things will get brighter soon. Promise ;)