AN: Here is the next chapter! I hope everyone had a happy holiday and a great New Year! (: And a special thanks to Kaslo and Mary Lou for leaving me reviews that inspired me to update this.
"You could have at least, I don't know, defended me or something."
The cold shoulder Light had been giving L since the start of their car ride was temporarily broken.
"Light-kun looked like he was defending himself adequately without my assistance and he did say it was not my business to interfere," he responded bluntly, finally turning into the parking lot of the hospital.
"Mello listens to you. And while it wasn't any of your business, you should have made it your business," the young actor quipped, climbing out of the car once they had parked and slamming his door in anger.
"That does not make any sense, Light-kun. Did I not make it my business by stopping the fight?"
That did nothing to improve the terrible mood of the object of his affections, apparently, and followed behind him quickly as the young man stomped into the hospital, only to see him come to an abrupt stop when he threw open the swinging white doors. His angry demeanor and the tension in his body vanished.
"Light-kun?"
A serious case of déjà vu smacked him in right the face when he had thrown open those doors in his little hissy fit. Everything looked so white, so familiar, and he hadn't even considered that going to a hospital would affect him in such a way. He hadn't been to one since the day that Sayu died. On that day, he had thrown the doors open in quite the same manner, except his body was tight with panic and fear, not anger.
"Light-kun!"
The voice in his ear knocked him out of his musing, blinking his eyes rapidly as he moved forward to the receptionist to inform her that they needed medical care. After signing a bunch of paperwork, which gave him ample time with his back to L to dry his eyes, the woman informed them to sit and that a nurse would be with them shortly. When he turned around again, dark onyx orbs looked at him with slight suspicion.
"Is Light-kun alright?"
Light smiled, finding it genuinely adorable that L seemed concerned for his wellbeing, and plopped down on an uncomfortable, lumpy couch in the empty waiting room and gestured for him to sit beside him.
"Of course, I was just momentarily distracted by my thoughts."
Pause.
"Is Light-kun alright enough to play my sexy nurse?"
Sigh.
"L, please just shut up."
And with that, he laced their fingers together, rested his head on his shoulder, and waited to be called. Surprisingly enough, L did shut up, seemingly understanding that Light was in a particular mood right now.
After what seemed like hours, their names were finally called and they were taken into another room to be patched up. His injuries were easily fixed with some bandages and disinfectant, but L was not so lucky. He needed, as Light had suspected earlier, stitches if he wanted the gash to heal properly and promptly.
"I'll be right back with the doctor."
With that, the nurse exited the room and left them alone. The needle and thread the doctor would be using on L were lying out on the counter in plain sight, unfortunately, and Light forced his gaze elsewhere. He really hated needles and wished he could just leave the room while this happened, but he had to stay.
"If Light-kun wants to, he may wait for me out in the hallway."
A tempting offer, but one he was going to have to turn down. He didn't feel as if he owed L or anything, he just wanted to be there for him in his moment of pain.
"I'll be fine," he responded, grabbing his hand and lacing their fingers together, "I just can't look."
The door swung open and the brunette immediately fixed his amber orbs on the white washed wall. They remained there during the entire procedure, unable to witness the horror that was surely happening a few feet beside him. At certain points, L would grasp his hand harder and he would rub his thumb over the top of his hand in an attempt to calm him down. It was the only comfort he could give him at the moment.
Snip. Snip. Snip.
"Alright, you're done. Just take this to the receptionist and remember to keep the stitches dry and clean," the deep baritone of the doctor rang throughout the room. There were a few scuffles of his leaving and the nurse said something he didn't catch before the door closed once more. He still didn't shift his gaze.
"Light-kun can look now."
And so, he did, wincing when he saw the black monstrosities that were now keeping his lower lip together. Light scrambled closer to inspect them, as if to make sure that the doctor had done them right, and let go of his face only when they had met his approval. When his nerves calmed he was suddenly hit with a wave of fatigue and felt the overwhelming desire to curl up into a ball and sleep for a long time.
"Can we go now? I want to go to bed."
"I suppose since Light-kun did promise to put his lips—"
"And by bed, I meant my bed where I will be alone and actually sleeping."
"Light-kun is no fun. Fortunately, he will have to sleep in my room tonight, so perhaps I will be able to change his mind before the night is over."
"I am not sleeping in your room again."
"There is a ninety eight percent chance that Mello will succeed in breaking into your room and a fifty eight percent chance that he will attempt to kill you. Light-kun will sleep with me tonight."
"I'll take my chances."
"I refuse."
"You refuse? How about I refuse."
"No."
"No?"
"No."
"Hell will freeze over before I sleep in your room tonight."
"We shall see, Light-kun."
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like."
"Apparently, Light-kun, hell has freezed over."
Mumble.
"What was that?"
"I said why don't you go check?"
After arriving back at the hotel, Light had been too exhausted to function and had reluctantly allowed L to carry him upstairs. Predictably, the elder man hadn't stopped at his room like he demanded, but continued on to his own room where he had tossed the man in his arms onto his bed none too gently for the second night in a row.
"I'm not staying."
This threat did not hold much weight in the eyes of L because he had yawned at the end of his proclamation, had already made himself comfortable on the pillows, and was currently snuggling into the warm bed.
"Light-kun must stay. I will protect you from Mello, who wants to slaughter you, and Mikami, who wants to see you in a sexy nurse outfit that only I am allowed to see you in."
Mumble.
"Light-kun must attempt to remove his mouth from the pillow whilst speaking."
Huff.
"I said that at least Mikami would have set me down lightly and tucked me in."
It was a childish statement. He was just attempting to get one last jab at L before he passed out. To be frank, he knew that he really wasn't going anywhere anytime soon and that the other was right.
"Mikami would rape Light-kun."
"Not necessarily. He listens to me and—"
His statement was promptly cut off when he was lifted from the bed, only to be gently placed back down. And then his shoes, socks, and other articles of clothing were removed from his body by the spindly fingers of L that seemed to be trembling with suppressed anger. When amber orbs dared glance up, he noticed how his dark eyes seemed to be glaring a hole into whatever passed in front of his vision. Oh, fuck, why did he have to run his mouth like that? Now he had to fix the problem or he wouldn't be able to sleep. His rebuttal was so immature it was embarrassing and he knew that he needed to apologize.
"Goodnight, Light-kun."
Light prevented him from stomping off by grabbing onto his hand and refusing to let go until he turned around. Then, he had to pull out all the shots, pouting and making his eyes look all watery and pathetic.
"I really didn't mean that, I promise."
"I know, Light-kun, now will you please let go?"
"No, not until you come here."
Sigh. Shuffle.
"Yes, Light-kun?"
"I really, really didn't mean that, L. And—"
"I got that the first time around, Light-kun."
"Shut the fuck up and let me finish. And I was just saying it because I knew you were right and that I was going to end up staying the night anyways. I was just joking and I didn't mean to make you angry."
Sigh.
The tension and anger drained from his body as Light stroked his fingers through his hair gently.
"In the future, I wish Light-kun would not joke about such things."
"Will you come lay down with me for a little while?"
And that was how L actually ended up in his bed with a warm body latched onto his own. He couldn't stay mad at Light if his life depended on it, much less actually not give him what he wanted.
"Why does it make you so mad? I mean, I suppose I could understand if Mikami was actual competition, but you are so far out of his league that it is kind of ridiculous for you to get so worked up."
The question was asked in a soft tone, but one laced with curiousness.
"Mikami is competition, Light-kun," L replied, biting down on his thumb, "You see, Mikami and I are both so far out of your league that it really doesn't matter where we are in the spectrum. Thus, it is not ridiculous, as you put it, for me to get angry."
And this is part of why their relationships had fucked up in the past. L had a serious self-confidence issue that had often popped up in their romantic lives. During college, Light had been way out of his league, he supposed. Not only was he a more successful actor back then, but he was popular, well-liked, and could get anything he wanted with a flick of his hand. The student body dubbed him "the prince" of the school.
And if he was the prince, then L was most definitely the pauper. He did the strangest things that freaked people out and didn't participate in any of his classes, content to instead read books or otherwise avoid socialization. When he had first laid eyes on this strange man, it had been in the cafeteria in his freshman year where L had been eating a large portion of cake while holding his spoon in a very odd manner. He sat alone, which in and of itself was strange, and didn't seem to mind the stares people gave him as they walked past. He asked his tablemates who the man was and received exotic tales about his strangeness. Everyone labeled him as a freak and then moved on with their meal. That wasn't enough for Light, who had already been drawn in by him.
Strangely enough, the man actually made a move on him a few weeks later. He attempted to pretend that he wasn't interested, but he was actually fascinated and the smirk that often played on pale lips suggested that L knew it too. However, he had appearances to maintain, even if he was intrigued by this enigma. It took L at least three months to even get a kiss out of him and a month more to seduce him into his bed.
And when they actually started to date and became roommates with each other, the student body had to accept it. They just wrote it off as L having some sort of hidden redeeming quality that only Light could see. However, that didn't stop the whispers and accusations that L really didn't deserve him, which would cause problems because he would always think Light was just waiting for someone better to come along.
Now, however, L was much more successful than him because he actually started to try in his acting pursuits, not to mention that he owned multiple corporations and had become handsomer over the years.
"You're not out of my league, L. Maybe back in college, but not anymore."
"Then why did Light-kun leave if I was supposedly in his league?"
Silence.
"That had nothing to do with you, okay? I've already told you this."
"Light-kun actually has not told me anything. What was so important that you had to leave without even talking to me about it?"
"Don't even fucking start."
"Start what, Light-kun?"
"I tried to talk to you throughout our entire fucking relationship, you bastard, but you wouldn't listen unless it was about sex and wouldn't even let me talk unless we were having sex. And, of course, you never listened to a word that came out of my mouth then. The most important aspect of our relationship was sex and you constantly wanted it from me."
"That is not an accurate statement."
"I tried to fucking tell you why I had to leave, but you wouldn't listen, so I just left."
"When did you attempt to tell me such?"
"Don't you remember? A week before I left I called you and asked if you could come home for an hour or so to talk. You asked whether we could have sex and when I vehemently declined, you said you weren't interested and fucking hung up on me. Not to mention, when I was leaving, all you seemed concerned about was the fact that we weren't going to have violent break up sex."
If the slight wince L made on his face when he mentioned the story, he assumed that he remembered. Then genuine anger overcame his features and Light knew that some serious shit was about to go down.
"Light-kun is attempting to act like the victim in this situation, but he is leaving out some very crucial details in his story. Like, for example, how he would jump on me before I even got in the door from work and demand sex from me, so do not act as if I coerced you into having sex with me every time. And, that I was working on a television miniseries at the time and was only back our apartment once a week, so when I was home I wanted to have sex with you since I would be deprived of you for the rest of the week. I did not want to talk, which was something we could do over the phone while we were separated."
Silence.
"You're right. I was as equally fucked up as you were in our fucked up failure of a relationship," Light started, clambering off the bed with newfound energy, "But that doesn't matter anymore. We should have broke it off months before we actually did because our relationship was so blatantly unhealthy for us both, but I actually ended it because of my own reasons that had nothing to do with you."
"How was our relationship blatantly unhealthy?"
Silence.
"Fuck, I'm not going to answer that question. If you can't figure that one out on your own, then you really aren't ready to be in a relationship with me again. That seems to be what you want or are you just in it for the sexual aspect?"
"I want a relationship with Light-kun and I wish he would enlighten me as to why he believes I am supposedly not ready to be in a relationship with him."
"I'm not going to enter into a relationship primarily based around sex ever again, especially not with you. The next relationship I'm going to be in is going to have some worth and emotionality in it."
"Did our relationship not have worth or emotionality, Light-kun?"
"No, you never trusted me with anything, L. Your past, your present, your feelings, your heart, nothing. I wanted something special with you and I tried so fucking hard to get past the wall you put between us. I overcompensated by telling you everything about me in hopes that you would share something with me or…" Light trailed off, sitting back down on the bed, "Or show me that you actually cared about me."
That was a sensitive subject and he felt tears prickling at his eyes from discussing it. So, to hide this, he simply laid back down on the bed and buried his face into the pillow. He couldn't let L see how upset he was over their failed relationship from two years ago. It really was silly and he shouldn't be crying.
"I regret to have harmed Light-kun," L started, reaching out and running his fingers through brunette tresses, "I was not raised in an atmosphere that condoned the sharing of emotions, so I often keep them to myself. I was unaware that was what Light-kun wanted from me."
"Would you have shared everything with me if I had asked?"
He had raised his head slightly from the pillow to ask the question.
Pause.
"I do not know, Light-kun. I do not believe I could discuss it all at one time."
"I wouldn't ask that of you. I just would want you to trust me with some of your secrets."
"I think that may be plausible then, Light-kun."
Pause.
"Can I ask you something that will require you to trust me with your emotions?"
L gave a brief nod.
"How did you feel when I left?"
Silence.
"Never mind, you don't have to—"
"I felt an emptiness inside of me that no amount of cake could fill up," L started, biting down on his thumb, "And I tried to fill that emptiness, but it did not work because my sweets did not taste as good when Light-kun was not around to chastise me about my unhealthy eating habits as he called them."
That was the closest thing to "you ripped out my fucking heart and stomped all over it" that he was going to get from L. Tears started to flow once more, this time accompanied by an overwhelming sense of guilt.
"L, I'm so sorry," he whispered, grabbing onto the other man tightly.
"So am I, Light-kun, so am I," he responded, returning the hug with full force.
And they held each other until the alarm went off, signaling the start of a new day.
AN: This randomly turned sort of serious and ended up being all about L and Light o_o Whoops, that wasn't intentional, it just sort of happened. The next chapter will have more humor, I promise, and will involve other characters. Oh, and I was thinking about involving Beyond Birthday maybe later in the story. Good idea or no?