Chapter 13

Disclaimer- I own nothing!

Eric walked into his kitchen seeing Alan leaning against a counter holding a cup of coffee. It seemed he had been up for a while since he was dressed for the day. He personally had an old pair of pants on just so he could leave his bedroom.
"Morning. How do you feel? Sleep well?" Moving in hoping to kiss him he was stopped as Alan shifted.
"Good morning. I feel fine. I slept well, you're bed is surprisingly soft."
"I've been telling you that."
Rolling his eyes he handed Eric a cup of coffee he made for him once he heard him moving around in the bedroom. Staying where they were for a moment they were focusing in on their thoughts, for some reason this didn't feel like the morning after they slept together for the first time. It felt like they had been living together for years, it actually felt quite nice.
"What's that smell?"
"Oh shit, breakfast." Placing his cup down Alan moved to the stove to lift the lid. Good, it didn't look messed up.
"You made breakfast?"
"I know you have strict guest rules about your kitchen but deal with it." Alan jumped in his spot as felt Eric wrap his hands around his waist and place his head on his shoulder.
"For you I'll allow it. Please tell me it's almost ready."
"Just about. But that won't help." He started to squirm and laugh as Eric kissed the crook of his neck. "Do you do this to all the people you bring home with you?"
"You're actually the first person I've ever allowed in or brought here for the night."
"You're such a liar and a terrible one at that."
"I'm not lying. I've never brought anyone home with me. Ever." Having Alan face him he let him see the truth.
"So you're telling me you've never slept with anyone before, not even the woman from affairs?" No way, not after seeing the confidence Eric had in bed and what he did.
"Now I didn't say that. You weren't my first in that department but we go elsewhere." That was the truth, he had a system, take the woman out to dinner, walk her home, and hopefully get invited in. if not then nothing happened. He could tell he surprised Alan with that piece of information.
"You're terrible you know that." Going to turn back around he was stopped.
"I told you I see you as much more, I meant it in everything Alan. I want you to know that. I may have been with others before you but I won't be with any after."
Alan didn't think Eric knew how happy those words made him and allowed him to say what he had been thinking about since he got out of the shower.
"I don't want you to stop seeing…whoever it is you're seeing." Thinking about it he realized he didn't know her name. He figured he wouldn't lie about her, neither would Ronald but he didn't know who she was. He also wasn't crazy about saying this, he didn't want to that person but it was for the best.
"Alan, what are you saying?" He had to missing something here, he loved him, he wanted to be with him and no one else. Surely Alan wanted that to.
"Think about it, if people found out about our relationship it could end up hurting us. If William found out we were together do you really think he would allow us to work together. I hardly see you as it is now, why make it even less."
He did have a point but still, he didn't want to be with anyone else. He also didn't want to be paired with anyone but Alan.
"Fine I won't dump her, to the public we'll continue to just be friends. But understand I'm not going to give you up nor the feelings I have for you. Remember that I love you."
"I won't, what we do behind closed doors shall remain our business but I just think this way is for the best. And, well, I just have one last request. Maybe I've become a jealous person but I don't want you sleeping with her. I figure you already have but I can't handle the thought of you sleeping with her after we were. I can't handle you with someone else like that."
Smiling he tenderly kissed Alan's lips, let him know not to worry.
"You have my word, from this day on you'll be the only one ever sleep with."
"Thank you."
With that Alan turned back to the stove to get breakfast off the heat so they could eat before they had to head off to work.

Alan sat on Eric's bed watching him finishing getting ready to go, seeing the half pride Eric seemed to have for his appearance at the office made him smile.
"How are your hands by the way?" Trying his tie he looked at Alan from the mirror, he had forgotten about that until he pulled his gloves out of his jacket's pocket.
"Better than they were last night. Though I think they are still healing."
Turning around he gently took Alan's hand in his own to softly kiss the back of it and slowly move to his wrist. Scared he would see the marks on the other side Alan pulled his hand away. He didn't want to make Eric worry over nothing. "Let's not start something we don't have time to finish."
Knowing Alan wouldn't let him even try to change his mind he composed himself and grabbed his jacket from behind the door.
"Fine, well let's go then."
Agreeing he stood up and followed Eric out of his house.

At lunch he decided to detour to the infirmary, see if they couldn't give him any idea as to what it was. He was a little worried that it was something more than nerve damage since the marks had increased but he wasn't planning on freaking out from it. Having Eric get him something from the cafeteria that he could eat at his desk, just in case, they parted ways. The infirmary was pretty quite as it usually was giving him hope that this wouldn't take long. A few nurses were free once they finished on a reaper trainee, he was glad that was rarely him back then. Taking him in the back he sat on the examining table and went over what he believed was wrong.
"And the pain is only when pressure is added or you use your hands for long periods of times?"
"I believe so. That's when I feel it at least."
"Alright let me see your wrists please Mr. Humphries."
"Of course." Taking off his coat he unbuttoned his cuffs to show his wrists to the nurse. Having him wince as she gently placed a finger to the marks before writing something down on his chart.
"And you said it looked like it increased?"
"Yes."
"Well it looks like you have an internal injury for sure. The bruise getting worse is probably from the strain you're putting on them. I can give you a remedy for the pain but you need to take it easy so your wrists can heal. A few days I gather at most."
That was easier said than done, did she have any idea how much paperwork he still had waiting for him?

Joining Eric and Ronald in the cafeteria he was glad to see a sandwich pushed in front of him and it looked like it was made just as he liked it. Eric was the best.
"So why did they say?"
"Not to use my wrists for a few days. Not really possible but I'll try it."
"Well I'll help you out so you can take it easy."
"What happened to your wrists Alan? Did you get hurt on your mission yesterday?"
"No I didn't, it's nothing. Ronald I'm fine."
"You broke him Ronald; your horrible sword skills damaged his wrists. You should be become his slave."
"What? Alan is his serious? Did I really hurt you? I am so sorry!" Ronald went wide eyed and apologized again and again not hearing a word of this before.
"No you didn't, I'm fine really. Don't listen to Eric." While he ate and joked around he decided to stop by the library after work, he didn't believe the nurse. It just didn't make sense, why would the markings on both his wrists be identical? Obviously the nurses were missing something and did they really expect him to not work for three days minimal? William would never approve that and Eric had his own work to do he couldn't worry about helping him do his.
"I can make due on my own, thanks though."
"Are you sure? If you need anything let me know, alright Alan."
"Sure but don't worry about it." He could tell Eric wanted to say something, probably wanted to use work as an excuse for them to get together. It was hard to make sure he didn't slip up about them now being together, or flirt, or say something inappropriate. This secret lovers business was harder then he thought. Lovers, it still sounded so strange to him, so unbelievable. He was actually in a relationship with someone, him, the shy one, the awkward one, that one that had been alone for so many years was dating someone. He may not be able to be public about it but that didn't matter to him. He didn't have to flaunt it to be happy about it.

Eric went to meet Alan and head out for the night. He had been serious at lunch about helping him so he could heal knowing how much his hands bothered him after awhile. And he knew he still had work to do so Alan probably did as well, he wanted to spend as much time as he could with. For months he fell further and further in love with him, now that he wasn't fighting it anymore he wanted to be with him whenever he could.
"Good to go?"
"Actually, I have something to do. William asked me to do some research for him. But he wants it to stay a secret so please don't say anything to him."
"More work? Alan you really need to tell him no."
"It's not that bad. I'll see you tomorrow." Parting ways he headed to the library. Lying to Eric wasn't what he wanted to do but he would probably overact. He probably would say he should just listen to the nurses and take it easy, but he couldn't just believe it was nerve problems, not when the pain came and went throughout the day. But it was the marks, the identical markings that bothered him the most. Stepping into the library he couldn't believe how long it had been since he had last been here.
"Ah Mr. Humphries haven't seen you around here lately. We all started to believe we upset you."
"Hello ma'am good to see you again." Heading to the reference section he stopped and turned back towards her. She could help him find what he was looking for much sooner.
"Ah yes we have those here, come, follow me. But may I ask what for. They aren't books we see used every day."
"I'm doing some research for William but it's supposed to be kept a secret, so please, if you wouldn't mind."
"Of course Mr. Humphries. You have my word. Also for you I'll allow you to take what you need out of here. I trust you with them and I doubt anyone will be looking for it."
"Thank you." Pulling out of the books she mentioned he was glad he could bring this home, one was huge and would take hours to go through. Bringing them to the one table he started with this. He had no idea they would be this many things listed as "illnesses" for them. Getting sick was so rare, perhaps these were all things they could catch based off of injuries?

Realizing he was quite hungry and the library was planning to close soon he gathered his things to leave. He had written a few things down but there were still a few more he wanted to go through. None of the descriptions so far answered his biggest question, what cause those marks. Getting back home he placed the books on his coffee table so they wouldn't get dirty while he made and ate dinner. He debated going back to work on it, work in general, or just relax. Thinking about it he decided to relax and continue his research, he could easily do both. Grabbing his notebook and the book he was working on his curled up in his comfy chair in the living room and got back to work.

Reaching for another book on his table he felt himself getting closer to the answers he was looking for. Flipping through a book he found what he was missing, the picture in the book closely resembled what he had on his wrists and the description of symptoms he narrowed down and properly named were here as well. Bingo. Sliding off the chair he kneeled in front of his coffee table making sure everything matched. Flipping back to the pervious page his eyes jumped to what it was called. Reading what it said his body froze, this had to be wrong; he had to be looking at the wrong thing. Double checking all of his information he pushed everything back before sliding backwards away from the table stopping when his back hit the chair he had been sitting in just before. Holding his knees he sat bunched up on the floor trying to remember to breathe. He wanted to be wrong, he wanted to his data to be wrong, to have read the wrong page, he couldn't be reading this right, he couldn't have contracted the Thorns of Death, anything but that. Shoving his head into his knees he began to cry. How he wished Eric was here with him right now. He was terrified of the future, if he remembered correctly William had once said there was no cure for this. He was going to die. Why? Why now? Why now that he was happy with his life? He had someone to live for, someone to spend forever with. What had he done to deserve a fate like this?

Somehow he made it to his bedroom and laid on top of his covers like a child did when they were upset. He had stopped crying but feared he would start again if his mind took over. He had debated forcing his body to move and take him to Eric's place but the more he thought about it the more he decided to stay put. While he wanted to feel Eric's warm and strong arms around him, holding him close, helping him accept his death he realized he didn't want to tell him. If he was going to die he didn't want to sit around and wait for it. He wanted to continue living as best he could until his body gave out. That was it then, he wouldn't tell anyone. Not William, Ronald, nor Eric; especially not Eric. They could stay the same, happy; Eric could continue to believe they had forever together. He wanted to believe in forever too. If they dwelled on the time he had left, however long that was he would waste so much time. Bunching himself in the covers he tried to sleep for the night. Maybe this whole thing was just a nightmare. Just something his mind concocted out of his worry. Perhaps when he woke up tomorrow he would see everything was fine. Hoping that was it he forced his mind to shut off for the night. He had a lot of work to do tomorrow; he needed to get some rest.

Eric sat on Alan's couch just hanging out with him for the night. Alan had been working on the thing for Will for the past week which stopped them from spending any time with each other. The last time they had gotten together was the night they slept together, so much for having a closer relationship. Putting his empty cup on the coffee table, after placing it on a coaster of course, he noticed a huge book sitting there.
"Doing some light reading Alan?"
"Hmm? Oh that, it's for William."
"You have to carry that? Holy, how big is it?" Picking it up he thumbed through it.
"Over a thousand pages I believe." It covered cures for everything, or rumored cures. It carried something for the Thorns of Death but it was listed as a legend so he hadn't bothered to do more research about it. Plus, he would have to kills innocent people, he could never do that. He was still looking but that was all he found so far. He didn't want to believe there really was nothing out there for him but death.
"Can you tell me what you've been researching for him?"
"Nope. Sorry still a secret."
"Come on. I won't say a word."
"No, William would have a fit." Moving closer to him he took the book from him and placed it back on the table. Taking Eric's arm he wrapped it around himself allowing their bodies to touch and cuddle against each other. This was what Alan had been waiting for since they had last been together. He was glad Eric dropped by tonight, he had missed him. Eric shifted his body just enough to allow their lips to meet. Soon the fire inside of them for each other burned a little brighter, Alan's body gave the okay Eric's had been waiting for to make out on the couch. He allowed Eric to come over him and sink him into the seat cushions. He wanted to feel Eric as close as possible, to make sure he really wasn't alone anymore. Since the other day he had felt so alone, no one he knew understood death and what it felt like to die. Slowly pushing Eric off him they sat up, taking his hand he led them to the back. This was what he wanted for the rest of his life, this love, this passion, this wanting of the other, this feeling of his lover over and around him completely. This was what made him truly happy. And that was all he ever wanted from this life. Happiness.

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Plan to start the next chapter very soon. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for the reviews and love it definitely helps.
~Femalefighter~