Chapter 13

One week after...

It was very rare, almost unheard of, for Aomine to wake up before him. Kagami looked up in surprise as he felt his solid weight lift from the mattress, and watched him throw a shirt over his head; wincing at how his ribs pressed starkly against his frame, a reminder of the neglect and abuse his body had taken. Once he'd been an athlete, but now Kagami didn't think he could be even if he wanted to.

"What's the hurry?" he asked, sitting up, the blankets falling into his lap. He was relieved to see Aomine was at least able to stand on his own, and though his eyes were still dull as they glanced at him, some of the exhaustion and tension carved into the lines of his face seemed to have lifted in the night. It had been a slow, almost imperceptible process, watching him heal over the last week or so, but it seemed like he was finally getting better.

"Last visit to the clinic," Aomine muttered over his shoulder, "You coming?"

Kagami blinked; had they reached the final visit already? Moving his bangs out of his eyes, he yawned and nodded, "Yeah, I'll drive."

Aomine huffed a breath, as he fished in the drawers for some jeans, "You never let me do anything."

That's 'cause you weren't able to do anything for over a week back there… He just smiled and got to his feet, stretching thoroughly, "Fine, you can drive on the way back then."

It felt like a miracle, to hear him voicing a desire to do something, trusting that he would be able to pull it off. The last few days hadn't exactly been pleasant, and Aomine had just slept through most of them, eating very little, and saying less. He had still been in terrible pain, Kagami knew, even with the new drug in his system fighting it, and even as it helped, the methadone had also taken its own toll on him. The disturbing amount of sweat persisted; he seemed to experience spells of dizziness when he stood up or sat down, and for awhile his appetite had remained dismal or nonexistent. Kagami supposed the first real step of progress had been the night before, when the bluenette had actually finished what was on his plate.

What he had as yet been unaware of was the return of a different kind of appetite, but as he finished liberally bending his legs to loosen them up, he saw Aomine's eyes glued on him, a tiny smirk edging the side of his mouth. His boyfriend tsked dismissively when he caught him looking, "Fucking tease...if I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to delay me from finishing this damn treatment and putting it behind me. Seducing the handicapped...such a bad tiger."

Hitting him over the head with the shirt he had balled up in his hand, Kagami ducked his own head away to hide the flush exploding across his cheeks, "Shut up, pervert. And you're not handicapped; don't be so melodramatic."

Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he glimpsed a flash of relief, tinged with a little bit of awe, in Aomine's gaze, "Hmm, I guess I'm not anymore." It seemed to have just hit him for the first time, and without warning, a grin burst across his face, effectively knocking the breath out of Kagami, "I'm clean...for real this time."

Forcing his voice to sound at least remotely unfazed, though his heart was squeezing irregularly in his chest with fierce, almost painful love, Kagami returned the smile, showing lots of teeth, "How do you feel?"

Aomine shrugged, "Eh...still pretty crappy, honestly, but I think it's going to get better soon."

"Yeah?" Kagami asked hopefully.

Aomine seemed to consider it, and then nodded, with a certainty and determination Kagami felt like he hadn't seen in ages, "Yeah."

.

.

The visit to the clinic went relatively well; Aomine was given his final dose of methadone, an encouraging smile from Doctor Sugawara, and a button with "to your future" printed on it above the name of the clinic. Kagami supposed that counted as a congratulations, and he'd smiled even as Aomine scoffed that it was cheesy. In any case, he knew both of them were very glad to leave the rigid white hallways and deceptively comfortable rooms of the clinic behind, hopefully for good.

The drive home was silent at first, but it was a contented kind of quiet; the motivational button from the clinic rattling on the center console as Aomine calmly navigated the roads. It had been forever since Kagami had let him take the wheel - in a figurative or literal sense - but he'd adjusted quickly enough, though in the past he'd played the radio whenever he was in the driver's seat. Kagami supposed he had a lot on his mind.

He was in the same boat, honestly. First and foremost, it was an enormous relief to see Aomine looking so much better, now that he was officially free from the influence of his treacherous "girl", and he couldn't wait to tell Kuroko and Momoi - who had both been anxiously standing by for the past week - the good news. Second...something had occurred to him, sometime this morning, when his heart had nearly stopped at the genuine smile Aomine had given him. He'd been with him through the best and the worst of times, these past three years; through heaven and hell on Earth...and though he already knew he was dangerously, hopelessly in love with him, he was starting to really understand that it was permanent. He couldn't imagine his life without Aomine in it; a future without him seemed like an unbearable, bleak void he didn't want to face.

He had been mulling that over the past few hours, at the clinic and on the road, and now he was gradually coming to terms with the idea of forever, beside his arrogant, reckless, beautiful idiot of a boyfriend. Absently picking at the corner of the nicotine patch on his collarbone, he looked over at Aomine, lowering his hand when blue eyes briefly flitted to him before returning to the road.

"Hey, Aho...will you marry me?" Just like when he'd accidentally asked the bluenette out, a lifetime ago, the quiet question simply spilled out, unplanned and unbidden; but this time he didn't immediately take it back.

The car swerved sharply, and Aomine swore under his breath before guiding it back to its lane, "Jesus, Kagami, do you want to give me a fucking heart attack?" Letting out a deep, slow breath, he fell silent for a long moment, and upon glancing at them Kagami saw his fingers were clenched tightly, trembling against the steering wheel, "What kind of proposal is that, anyway? You know you're supposed to get down on one knee and -"

"I know," Kagami interrupted hastily, bracing his hands against his knees, "I didn't really mean it like an official proposal, just...what if?"

"What if what?"

"You know what, dumbass; what if we got married?"

Aomine shrugged, "We already live together and stuff…I guess it wouldn't be that different."

Kagami sighed, "It'd be different." He hesitated, gathering his nerve, and then returned his gaze to the man beside him, "..If I had gotten on one knee with a ring and all that crap, what...would you have said?"

Aomine thought about it, biting his lip adorably, but then his expression morphed into a teasing smirk, "Well first I would have swooned at the romantic gesture from my little Baka -"

"Asshole, I'm serious!" Kagami scowled indignantly, lightly shoving his shoulder.

"Calm your tits, I was only joking," Aomine snickered. But when Kagami's hard glare didn't waver, he sobered, turning into the apartment parking lot without another word. He didn't say anything until he'd parked the car and removed the key from the ignition, and Kagami waited for him to exit the vehicle, trying to meet the gaze he had focused on his lap.

When Aomine did speak, it was in little but a gravelly whisper, "...You saved my life, you know. I don't...think I'd be here if it weren't for you; I definitely wouldn't be able to say that I'm clean, like I can now." He took a shaky breath and closed his eyes, seeming to revel in that fact once again, "I don't have much to give you in return for all of that, but…" he looked up to meet Kagami's eyes, and Kagami was surprised to see them bright and sincere, and full of love, "If you wanted it, I'd gladly give my life for you. So I guess...wh-what I'm trying to say is...I'd love to be married to you, if you'll have me."

Kagami's hand lifted sharply, as if to hit him, but in the end it just lightly, affectionately bumped against his head, "Idiot, of course I will. You didn't need the sappy speech…" Though he had been pretty sure he was going to pass out from lack of oxygen to his brain as he'd listened to Aomine speak like that, hanging on every word with bated breath.

Aomine grinned, and opened the car door beside him quickly, starting to get out of his seat, "Great, then let's have celebratory sex."

Taken aback, Kagami almost choked himself with his seatbelt as he tried to take it off, "I beg your pardon?"

Holding up the button he'd been given - "to your future" flashing in front of Kagami's eyes - Aomine got out of the car, but not before his grin slid into a wolfish smirk, "I'm feeling pretty good today, and I still need to pay you back for this morning."

"For what?"
"For accidentally seducing me," Aomine replied matter-of-factly, and shut the door before Kagami could think of a response. His head kind of felt like it was spinning, trying to figure the last few seconds out, but eventually he just shrugged to himself and followed his boyfriend inside.

.

.

Aomine's mouth latched onto Kagami's as soon as they were through the apartment door, and his hands were already wrestling with his shirt, trying to take if off.

"Dumbass, we're still in the entryway!" Kagami protested, once he managed to escape those ravenous lips to draw breath.

"So what?" Aomine panted, reaching for him again.

Kagami slapped his hands away, a flush creeping across the bridge of his nose, "So, it's indecent; can't you wait until we get to the bedroom at least?"

Aomine thought about it for a second, and then shook his head, "Nope, it's been too long…" His eyes turned heated as they bored into Kagami's own, the fire and hunger in them making Kagami's knees feel weak, "I need you now."

And that was how Kagami ended up pinned against the wall right next to the door, devouring Aomine's mouth as he determinedly divested them of clothing, grinding their hips and growing erections together, making both of them moan. Then those hot, swollen lips moved away, freeing up his own to gasp for breath, and traveled down the side of his neck, sucking long and hard at the skin intermittently, no doubt leaving vivid purple marks in his wake. He lingered at the square of plastic stuck with adhesive to Kagami's collarbone, the symbol that he was recovering right alongside him; placing a light kiss directly over it before moving on.

Kagami gave as good as he got, snaring his fingers in Aomine's hair and rolling his hips against the ones pressed against him, gritting his teeth around a groan at the delicious friction. Aomine's hand lowered between them, wrapping around both of their cocks and stroking them, grunting out a sound of pleasure against Kagami's shoulder, before lifting his head to crash their lips together again. His tongue dipped into Kagami's mouth, his own meeting it like an old lover, and they breathed into each other, lips melding, noses bumping and rubbing together lightly.

Then Aomine broke away, surveying Kagami with smug, lusty eyes, and his thumb rubbed against the heads of their arousals pressed together, smearing the sticky pre-cum welling up.

"Aomine…" Kagami hissed, head falling back against the wall as he pushed his hips into his lover's hand. Shifting, Aomine made a low sound just this side of desperation and covered Kagami's mouth with his own, licking at his lips and prying between them, his free hand coming up to stroke through Kagami's hair.

And yet...strangely, Kagami could feel the erection jutting against his own starting to flag, and Aomine abruptly stopped jerking and lavishing them both and moved back a step, breaking the kiss with a ragged whisper of "Shit."

Nonplussed, Kagami looked at him in confusion, his breath still coming in short, breathless bursts, his own cock still aching for the warm touch it was now bereft of.

"What's wrong?" he asked, searching the familiar blue eyes that seemed determined not to look at him.

Aomine raked a hand through his own hair, looking flustered, "Shit, Kagami, I'm sorry…" he looked pointedly down at his own groin, where he had grown completely flaccid and lifeless, and made a helpless gesture with his hands, "That...happens sometimes."

Kagami raised an eyebrow, "Since when."

Hiding his eyes behind his hands, Aomine sighed angrily, "I dunno...a month or two ago?"

"Why?"

"I don't know that either," Aomine snapped in frustration, "I think either using heroin or being cut off from it made my own body start randomly blue-balling me. I've been horny as fuck and I can't do a damn thing about it."

Can that happen? Kagami hesitated, then reached out and gently cupped his cheek, turning his face so he could look in his eyes, concern evident in his own. Aomine's cheeks were very red, embarrassment evident in the way he fidgeted and was reluctant to meet Kagami's gaze. Kagami also noticed he'd referred to the drug by name, which he'd only heard him do twice; when he'd admitted to using it in the first place, and when he'd tried to explain why.

"It's okay," he said steadily, caressing the burning, beet-red cheek in his hand.

Aomine looked at him for a few seconds, seeming conflicted between gratitude, denial, and thwarted desire...and then hung his head, "No it's not. I know it looks like...y-you must think I don't want you enough to…" Floundering, he trailed off, lowering his hands to hide the evidence of his body's betrayal; a strangely vulnerable, self-conscious action that made Kagami feel a flash of sympathy, but also melt for him all over again.

"I know you do," he murmured, tilting his chin up, "Just a moment ago you were trying to eat me whole, and you were so eager to have me you couldn't even wait until we got all the way inside...or even took off our shoes." Voice lightening with amusement, he glanced down at Aomine's feet, which were still covered by his shoes and socks, "You can't help it if your body isn't letting you...s-stay hard…" Clearing his throat, he tried to remain composed, but he thought he saw a tiny flicker of mirth cross Aomine's face at the flustered stammer, and he was sure he was blushing too by now.

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, and Kagami was dismayed to find his own erection hadn't died down even a little over the course of the conversation, as he remained in close proximity to Aomine; still throbbing and hard as a rock.

"...What now?" Aomine asked tentatively, looking like he was dreading the answer.

"You mean in general, or right this second?"

He shrugged, "Both, I guess…"

"Well, in general...this doesn't really change anything. Right this second, though…" he returned the shrug, his own more dismissive, "There are always other things we could do."

Aomine obviously tried to conceal his relief, but Kagami still saw it, and was struck yet again by how adorable his boyfriend was capable of being.

"For example, I'd really like to kiss you, if that's allowed," he smirked, his hand circling the back of Aomine's neck to bring him closer.

Aomine beat him to it; lunging and pressing a fervent, grateful kiss to his lips, hands stroking down his body cherishingly, as if in apology for the lapse. Kagami kissed him back just as hard, just as passionately, tangling his fingers in the short hair at the nape of his neck. The setback didn't matter, the awkward interruption didn't matter, even the past addiction - past addiction; he still couldn't believe it - that had caused both of those things didn't matter. Because there was still the enormous, overlying fact that Aomine was alright now; he was clean, and he was trying his best to show Kagami how much he loved him, even if his own body turned against him.

Nothing - not time or conflict, not drugs or erectile dysfunction - would ever keep Kagami from showing Aomine how loved he was in return, even if that love was sometimes strained, or only came from one source...it would never ever stop.

TBC

((Much shorter chapter than usual, considering it's this story, but it is kind of the last one, so…

Yes, the next chapter will be the epilogue, and then this tale will at last come to an end. This story has been an adventure, and a challenge at every turn, and it was both frustrating and damn fun to write. I've had some truly amazing readers, and I hope you've enjoyed this story as much as I have.

Reviews are always appreciated; it takes a second and means a lot.

-Shinsun))