You Are the Moon That Breaks the Night |Virgato|

Chapter 32: Goner (Part 2)

After Chris had led Zabdiel to the main bathroom upstairs, he waited in his room. Over time, a good portion of his belongings had ended up in the room Joel had given him. Most of it was clothes, then books and the occasional knick knack. Chris let his fingers glide over the loose papers on his desk, an unfinished essay for his English class, before he sat down on the table top. Chris occupied himself by playing with the handheld gaming device he had stolen from Richard's extensive collection until a knock on the door made him look up.

"Do you mind?"

Instead of an answer, Chris threw the device onto his bed and opened his arms. A small smile appeared on Joel's face as he shuffled over and let himself fall into Christopher's arms. Put at ease by the feeling of Joel's body pressed against his, the other boy's arms slung tightly around his neck, Chris let his eyes flutter closed before he buried his face in the crook of Joel's neck. He could smell the exhaustion on Joel, even more so than Chris had been able to tell from the look in Joel's eyes as he had taken the few steps towards him. Now that they had saved Richard and the adrenaline was fading, Chris felt dead-beat. And he knew Joel wasn't any better.

"I want to sleep for a hundred years," Chris murmured and Joel hummed. "How's Richard?"

"We carried him to his room," Chris could feel Joel's lips move against his shoulder. "Idiot insisted on walking himself, but Erick looked like he was about to commit murder, so he let us, eventually. Manu said that the antidote has diminished the poison and with his healing powers kicking back in, he should be fine in a couple of hours. Erick's still with him, just in case."

"Just in case," Chris grinned.

"Obviously," Joel added, the smile prominent in his voice, and continued to whisper. "I can't believe we did it. I was... I was really convinced we were gonna lose him, I-"

Joel's body shuddered in Christopher's grip and Chris remembered Richard's farewell words. He hugged Joel tighter, so tight that he felt like he might crush the other boy, but Joel reciprocated the hug just as tightly and that alone was enough to make Chris feel happy about the lack of oxygen his lungs received.

"None of this was your fault, Joel," Chris said seriously as soon as he pulled away, just enough to look the other boy in the eye. "None of what happened tonight was your fault. You did everything right. And we saved him. So don't you dare beat yourself up over something you had no control over."

Joel's jaw clenched, almost defiantly, but then his body deflated and he nodded, let his head drop back onto Christopher's shoulder. "I love you."

"I love you," Chris echoed.

They hugged again, for so long that Chris almost hoped he would never have to let go. Eventually, he could hear Zabdiel emerge from the bathroom, though, his voice calling out for him.

"I have to drive Zabdiel home," Chris sighed and let go of Joel.

The other boy sighed wistfully and took a step back, not before he had pressed his lips to Christopher's, however. "Will you come back after?"

Chris felt his heart clench at the prospect of disappointing the hopeful expression in Joel's eyes. It was against every fiber in Christopher's body to leave his pack now, but he had promised Hector. "I can't. I promised my little brother I'd be there when he wakes up."

As Chris had expected, Joel's face fell, but he quickly masked it, nodded with a solemn expression on his face, "That is fine."

"I'll be back by noon at the latest," Chris promised. "Also," Chris smiled, "I think you have some catching up to do with your mother."

In an instant, Joel's face lit up. "Yeah," he smiled widely. "Yeah, you're right."

"I love you," Chris said as he made his way to the door, uncaring that that was cheesy.