The Black Figure (completed)

Come here!

Come here!

The smiths watched as Ian appeared right at the corner of the hallway ready to go upstairs to his room, unaware of the stare his family was passing his way in utter confusion and bewilderment. Ethan stared at him, mind boiling with anger that resurfaced after Ian came into view, he couldn’t help himself but call the younger.

“Ian...” he called almost to himself but the quietness around the apartment made his call prominent making Ian halt in his steps. The older watched him stop in his track before he turned to look at his husband.

The younger looked nonchalant, too tired to even register their presence in front of him. Both of his parents-in-law exchanged expressions but no one of them wanted to talk first.

Ian seemed dead to their eyes, his eyes showed no emotions, no expression or any regret which was the only pursuit of Ethan had at the moment. After waiting for them to speak for a few minutes, which they didn’t, Ian started to climb up the stairs after he turned around.

“go after him…” Cameron was the one breaking the ice while patting her son’s shoulder. Her advice was to comply with the matter until it becomes necessary to take any action but her son had a different idea in mind.

Ethan didn’t reply but simply marched towards his room at a fast but defeated pace. Once he reached the bedroom door, the older contemplated again whether to go inside and face the younger without asking or saying anything or stay where he was to avoid any arguments.

Deciding that the best way to react would be if he just go to bed straight away, Ethan entered the room. Ian was peacefully lying on the bed, covered up to his chin with the blanket.

The first thought Ethan had was that Ian was trying to cover the visible marks that he had as an aftermath of his wild, painful night but little did he know that Ian was trembling with fever under those covers.

Silently, the older went to the bathroom and washed up, washing his anger along with the beads of sweat that clung to his body like a second skin. The night was almost over, but the events of the said night were still fresh in their actuality.

Ethan closed his eyes trying to calm his mind down and sighed heavily, the skin of his fingers pruning yet he didn’t want to leave and face the reality of his husband, who was right outside in the room, who has spent a night inside the guestroom moaning doing god knows what.

Shutting the shower, he dried himself before dressing in some sweatpants and a tank top. Right now the idea of a shirt made him suffocated.

Ian was still under the covers when Ethan entered the bedroom. without saying anything, the older got under the blanket as well and observed how Ian shifted a little away from him.

Was he avoiding his touch now?

Ethan hated this thought, he has loved Ian all his life but now that his love was slipping through his finger like grains of sand, he would never stand and watch it happen silently.

That’s it! It was enough for Ethan, he was tired of seeing his tiny husband suffering through things which he himself or his family couldn’t get, or see. Determination seeped inside his brain, forming a plan of action that he would need mostly including the involvement of others such as his friends as a starter.

Things were so out of hand that the Smith family wasn’t enough to deal with the problem anymore, they needed some medical help.

Both Elliot and Neal were dealing with mental health and were experts in their fields so that was fit for Ian’s condition if he had any mental problems to start with.

Thinking of Ian, Ethan thought about the behaviour Ian showed before, scooting away and ignoring him like a plague and it made him a little upset.

Why was Ian doing that?