Cavan was still sound asleep as he tiptoed into his flat. That was a strange thing in itself; he'd never had to watch himself and what he did in his own house. He toed his running shoes off at the door and went into the bathroom, peeling his sweaty clothes off his body and hopping into the bath for a quick shower to feel a little better and calm his thrumming body down. Once washed, towelled off and dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a black t-shirt. His hair was still damp after he'd ran a towel over it and brushed his teeth again.
The clock flashed 9:13AM as he walked into the kitchen and went about his automatic routine of making a mug of black coffee. It was only as the kettle boiled that he remembered that Cavan was still asleep in bed. Taking a deep sip of his coffee, he popped some bread into the toaster, grimacing as the crumbs collected on the counter and metal rim, before making a cup of tea and grabbing the butter and jam from the fridge.
Cavan didn't stir when he nudged the bedroom door open.
Lucas suppressed the urge to roll his eyes in an adoring manner as he settled the tray of food on the bedside table. Settling on the edge of his bed, he placed a hand on Cavan's shoulder and gently shook him. Cavan grumbled and batted the offending hand away.
Lucas smirked, "Oi brat, it's time to wake up."
"No … Tired …"
That time, Lucas did roll his eyes. "If you don't wake-up, you won't get to eat."
Like a switch, Cavan's eyes flew open. "Food?" he asked, turning his head to the side to look up at the older man.
"Yes," Lucas cocked an eyebrow. "It's nothing fancy," he stated as he dragged the tray onto Cavan's lap once he'd sat up. "I just thought you wouldn't be fully functional as soon as you'd wake up."
Cavan gave a lopsided smile as he accepted the mug of tea. "You're sweet." He took a sip and hummed in appreciation. "When did you get up?"
"About six-ish."
"Oof, that's early!"
"For you."
Cavan pulled a face, earning him a playful pat on the thigh. He ate the toast and in between bites, sipped at the piping hot tea. Once he was finished, he settled the tray down on the floor beside the bed before running a hand over Lucas's abdomen as he reclined on the plush pillows. "How're you feeling?" he asked, his fingers skimming the sliver of pearly skin peeking out from the hem of the shirt.
"Okay," Lucas shrugged. "Nothing much I can do right now."
"What if something … happens?"
Lucas watched the uncertainty flash over the younger man's face. "I have nothing to hide, Cavan," he stated solemnly.
"I believe you," he said. "It's more that … what if they make something out of nothing? Then what will you do?"
Lucas looked away in that moment, his chest tightening. It was a fear, but he'd pushed it to the back of his mind. "I don't know."
A heavy silence settled over them and Cavan mentally kicked himself for, yet again, ruining a light-hearted moment. Shifting up on the pillows, he turned Lucas to face him and pressed their lips together in a chaste kiss. It was soft and lingering, making Lucas's eyelids flutter at the warmth that bloomed inside his chest.
"Sorry," he murmured, leaning his forehead against Lucas's.
"Don't be."
Pecking a kiss to Cavan's cheek, Lucas stood up and brushed a few stray crumbs from his jeans. He walked over to the chest-of-drawers and pulled out some fresh socks. "Do you plan on getting up any time soon?" he asked.
"What're we going to do?"
Lucas paused for a moment before turning bright grey eyes to Cavan. "How about we finally have that Dexter marathon?"
Cavan sat up in bed, "Really? Did you finish the last book at last?"
"I may have."
"And you didn't tell me!?"
Lucas smirked and shook his head at the excitable brat in his bed. Truthfully, he didn’t have the energy to ‘enjoy’ anything right now, but he needed the distraction desperately. "Get dressed and we can go and rent the movies."
Cavan wrinkled his nose. "Why rent them? Trust me, you may as well buy the box set otherwise, you'll miss out."
Lucas leaned back against the bedroom door, arms folded against his chest as he watched Cavan clamber out of bed and scurry around for his messenger bag. At this time, he’d thought ahead enough to bring some clothes with him. He clawed them on awkwardly, nearly tripping and falling flat on his face. His antics always brought a smile to Lucas's lips. Once he was ready, he ruffled his hair down into a better style before hurrying into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Whilst he did that, Lucas grabbed a jumper and made his way towards the door to drag on his coat and his shoes.
Cavan joined him in a cloud of mint toothpaste and fresh deodorant. It was such a juvenile aroma, but it had Lucas's insides twisting. He waited patiently for Cavan to get his coat and put his shoes on before ushering the brat outside. He'd rather get in and out as fast as possible; if he wasn't going to be at the school all week then he didn't want to have to deal with snotty children making a nuisance of themselves up and down the high street.
Tuesday PM
Cavan rolled the lollipop around his mouth as he idly eyed the numerous DVD's stretching up past even his own head. Lucas had said he'd had a few errands to run and handed Cavan some money for food for later on –actual food, he'd stated, not just snacks and sweets –and had left Cavan to his own devices. Not that he minded. He'd already grabbed the Dexter box-set from a discount shop and was now eyeing up the rest of the options. Did he get ‘One Shot’ too? Or did he go for something completely different?
It was too open-ended and exciting to open someone else's mind to what they'd been missing. He felt as though he had too many options. Cracking the sweet in his mouth, he sucked on the sugar shards as he grabbed a few more DVD's off the shelf and went over to pay for them.
Once everything was bagged up and handed to him, Cavan left the shop and casually strolled down the high street back in the direction of Lucas's flat. It wasn't a very long walk and he wasn't in any rush. It was the first proper warm day of the month and he felt like enjoying the vague warmth a little more. Walking around the corner of the block of flats, Cavan caught a glimpse of the motorbike parked in the building's car-park around the back. It was covered by a black tarp, but he recognised the bulky shape of it.
He hovered for a moment, before taking the stairs two at a time to the second level.
Stopping outside of Lucas's door, he dug around in his back pocket for the spare key he'd been given. Slotting it into the door he jiggled the knob until it swung open. The flat was bright and airy, just as it always had been. The quiet was the same, too. Lucas came out of the front room and stopped dead when he saw Cavan.
"Did you get the food?" he asked nonchalantly.
Cavan raised the bag up in confirmation. "And nibbles, too."
"And the movies?"
"Dexter box-set and two mystery DVD's."
Lucas furrowed his brows, "Why is it that I don't like the sound of that?"
Cavan smirked as he leaned down to press a chaste kiss to Lucas's cheek. "You'll love them I promise."
Lucas pulled a face at the unexpected kiss and forced himself not to wipe his cheek as he watched Cavan unload the cacophony of sugar onto his kitchen counter. He quirked an eyebrow up at the younger man. "I thought you said you bought proper food?"
"I did!"
"What?"
Cavan dug into the back and pulled out a frozen pizza with the biggest grin on his face. "Dinner, of course."
The look on Lucas's face would have been enough to put Georg in his place. Cavan sucked his lips in and feigned an innocent expression. Lucas walked across the kitchen and plucked the frozen pizza from Cavan's hand and turned it around in his hands, examining the frosted surface. He then raised it and smacked Cavan across the head with it, earning him a cry of pain.
"Ow! Lucas what was that for?"
"You're such a brat."
Cavan rubbed at the sore spot on his head. Lucas watched him and fought to keep a straight fa
ce as he slotted the pizza into the freezer. He busied himself putting the rest of the things away whilst Cavan scowled down at him. It took all of Lucas's strength not to burst out laughing.
"You're a git, you know that?" Cavan pouted.
Lucas rolled his eyes. "So, you've mentioned. Numerous times." He quirked an eyebrow at the taller man. "Now grab some drinks and come into the living room."
Cavan scoffed at Lucas's bossiness but did as he was told, grabbing some tall glasses from the cupboard and pouring some Pepsi into them. He grabbed the baggie of popcorn and poured it into a large plastic bowl, wincing as a few rolled off onto the counter. He popped them in his mouth and crunched them as he juggled everything on a tray and edged his way out of the kitchen and into the living room.
He nearly dropped the tray.
Cavan jolted out of his shock and manoeuvred into the fort whilst clutching the tray in his hands.
Inside the blanket fort was somehow better than the outside; all the padding made out of pillows and cushions and sofa seats was all covered with a thick, black throw blanket. It was so soft against him as he stretched out inside, turning around so that he could see the fairy lights strung up across the top. Lucas positioned the tray to one side so that the drinks didn't spill. Cavan reclined on his back and folded his hands under his head.
"This is just … This is incredible!" he gushed, a grin spreading across his face. "I can't believe you did this!"
Lucas smirked at the brat's appreciation and cast a look around at his accomplishment. "Well I remember you saying something about building forts with your sister and Arthur whilst watching movies," he shrugged. "I figured I was missing out."
"Oh, so this is a total gift for you?" Cavan grinned.
"Maybe."
"Still awesome," Cavan conceded. “I’ll let you off your selfish activities, since you’re having a bad week of it right now.”
"Glad you approve."
"So, what are we going to watch first?"
"Dexter of course," Lucas stated with a frown. "Like there was any other plan in mind!"
Cavan beamed and rummaged around for the DVD's. "I am so buzzed right now!" he gushed as he popped the DVD out and inserted it into the DVD player. Lucas grabbed the remote and together they reclined back on the plush cushions before the MENU screen came up.
As the introductory music started up, Lucas looked down at Cavan as he sprawled out the length of their fort, his toes poking out of the end with the bowl of popcorn resting on his stomach. He looked so care-free and almost childlike in his innocent expression. It made Lucas feel as though the heavy weight was lifting from his chest as he reclined and tore his eyes away from his lover, to look at the opening credits of ‘DEXTER’. He tried to put the rest of his worries out of his mind; feeling the weight of Cavan stretched out next to him was enough to reassure him, for now, that he was safe.
Wednesday AM
In the early hours of the morning Lucas jolted awake, covered in sweat. The dying screams of Patricia echoed in his ears. Hunched over, he pressed his hands around his head, squeezing until he was sure he’d crack his own skull. The milky glow of the DVD menu illuminated a sliver of the blanket fort, and he started to tremor. The world was quiet and grey outside, everything was hushed and felt like the planet was muffled with cotton wool.
It should have been peaceful.
His chest was rising and falling rapidly, his heart hammering through him and making his body vibrate. He tried to open his eyes but the after-image of her blood-stained face, her glassy eyes …
He bolted for the bathroom, tripping as the blankets tangled around his feet. He collided with the wall in a vain effort to stop himself, before dragging his body into the bathroom. His knees hit the tiled floor, hard, and he vomited into the toilet. The cold sweat coating him made him feel disgusting as he pressed his arm into his belly, willing everything else to come up.
Popcorn, cola, pizza and toast all came up.
He needed to purge the evil from his mind and body. When he was sure there was nothing else left, he pulled the chain, barely shifting away from the toilet enough so that he didn’t get assaulted with the splash-back. Leaning against the bath, the cold making his bones ache, Lucas curled in on himself, arms cushioning his head as he bent over his knees.
That had been a bad one.
He’d almost forgotten how easily those terrors could be triggered. It was why he had such a strict routine and order in his life. He grimaced at the sour taste in his mouth. Everything hurt from where he’d bumped and bruised himself. He knew he needed to get up and wash himself down, rinse his mouth out and try to get a few more hours of sleep, but he was terrified of seeing Patricia’s face again.
The bathroom light turned on.
The hairs all over his body stood on end as he felt Cavan’s warm hands gently reach out and stroke through his hair. A sob broke out. Fresh tears welled up in his eyes.
“Do you want to tell me about it?” Cavan asked, his voice soft and sleep-slurred.
Lucas shook his head, not trusting himself to speak. If he did, the tears would come, and once they came there would be no stopping them.
“Was it a nightmare?”
He hesitated for a moment, saliva pooling under his tongue. He nodded shakily.
“Are you ready to go back to bed?”
“N-no …”
“Okay,” Cavan murmured. “Do you mind if I stay here with you?”
Lucas’ head shot up. His eyes stung from the light. He tried not to wince as he stared up at Cavan. “W-why would you do that?”
“You shouldn’t be alone right now,” Cavan said as he lowered himself onto the floor, crossing his legs and pressing his back against the bathtub. He left a little breathing room between them so that Lucas didn’t feel stifled or claustrophobic.
They sat that way for what felt like hours.
"Cavan?" he eventually whispered; his voice hoarse. "Cavan, we need to go to bed."
Cavan turned to face him, his green eyes luminescent in the light. “Would you like me to make you some tea?”
“Tea … would actually be lovely.”
Smiling tiredly, Cavan eased himself onto his feet with a groan. He paused in the doorway, concern and worry written all over his face. He had so many questions, that much was clear, but now was not the time to pry. Instead he said, “Try and brush your teeth, okay? I’ll be in soon.”
Lucas watched as the younger man vanished from view. Mustering what little remnants of energy he had left, he braced himself over the bathroom sink and clumsily applied too much toothpaste to his brush. He scrubbed his mouth out too hard, the copper tang of blood tickling the back of his throat before he spat it all out.
The sight of blood on the white porcelain made him want to heave, but there was nothing left inside him. Quickly rinsing it away, he splashed cold water on his face and left.
Padding into his bedroom, he listlessly tugged the blankets down and slid into the cold sheets, shuddering violently as he collapsed back onto the pillows. There’d be no more sleep for him tonight. Cavan came in a few moments later with a mug of tea. He set it on the bedside table.
“It’s well sugared,” he said. At Lucas’ frown, he looked sheepish. “I-I read somewhere that sugary tea can be good for shock.”
“That’s an old wives’ tale.”
Cavan shrugged, “I figured it couldn’t hurt …”
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