The Boy Next Door

A conversation to remember

!TW! Scars, mentions of homophobia

Alastor sat on his porch, he had managed to get a few more hours of sleep. But otherwise still ended up being awake before the sun. He simply sat, enjoying the cool but pleasant morning. Hearing the front door open behind him, he turned his head to look behind him. "Oh, good morning mama!" Alastor called, smile crossing his face. Elisabeth stepped out onto the porch, sitting next to him. "Yes, good morning to you too." She said softly. "Sorry if I haven't been spending very much time with you this week." Alastor said, giving her a nervous sort of look. Elisabeth shook her head. "Alastor my dear, I don't care. I'm very happy you're spending this time with your friend." She said. She really was content so long as he was happy. And from what she could tell Anthony was adjusting more, just by how much time they were spending together. "I have work in an hour, but I'll need to leave early. I'm just inside getting ready if you need me." She said softly. Alastor nodded silently. Pressing a quick kiss to his forehead, she stood up to walk inside. Leaving Alastor to be alone again. Not that it bothered him, he always enjoyed this time to himself. company was welcome, but he liked this kind of thing.

After Elisabeth had left for work, Alastor had eventually gone inside. His morning was very pleasant. Quiet, just him. He might even call a day like this perfect. It was around noon when there was a knock on the door. "Hey uh..." Anthony said awkwardly. "This is for you." He said, avoiding all eye contact as he held out small bag. Alastor cocked a brow, smile growing at seeing the blonde again. "May I ask what this is?" He asked, taking it from him. "It's a pen set, and ink. I just...remembered you liked writing. I wanted maybe a way to thank you for letting me stay...if you don't want it I'll take it back!" He said nervously. Alastor shook his head. "Not at all my dear! That's very nice of you." He said cheerfully. "Yeah...yeah, okay. You're welcome then!" He said, nerves seemingly calming a bit at the reassurance.

After a moment or two of silence, Alastor invited the blonde inside for a coffee. Anthony excepted, to his own surprise. Not exactly planning on being social that day. Upon sitting down in the lounge, Alastor joined him. "How are things with you're father?" The brunette asked, handing the Italian the cup. "Things are fine I guess, I got a brief apology at least. Now we're just acting like it didn't happen. Probably for the best." He said simply. Alastor nodded, giving the boy a once over. "And you're siblings, how are they?" He asked, leaning closer to him. "They're fine." Anthony said, just subtly moving away. "They were scared, which is both worrying and nice I guess." He mumbled. "Yes, well family will tend to worry." Alastor said quietly. Anthony nodded, giving a small laugh. "Yeah, wish they wouldn't though. Having people caring about you just makes things more stressful. I would have run away as a kid. But I didn't cause if it did they would never stop looking for me." He said, trailing off as he spoke. Alastor watched him intently. Eyes wandering from his eyes to his freckles to his shoulders to the collar of his shirt, moving up again to his eyes. "Alastor." Anthony said seriously. Snapping his fingers in front of his nose. "If you want me to stop talking just tell me." He said simply, setting his cup on the coffee table and facing Alastor fully. The brunette felt himself panic internally. "No! Sorry, you don't need to be quiet." He said quickly. "Yeah, but you aren't listening." He pointed out, cocking a brow. "I'm sorry! I got...distracted." Anthony narrowed his eyes at him, pulling the collar of his shirt up a little higher. "By what? What was distracting you?" He asked harshly. Alastor stood up, shaking his head. "Nothing my friend. Just some idea I had." He said, trying to stay vague on purpose. Anthony sighed, resting his hands in his lap as Alastor moved to close the windows. "Al, I would rather you tell me if I'm boring you. Okay?" He asked, looking over at him. Alastor shook his head again. "You're never boring me Anthony. This was my own fault. I didn't mean to offend you." He said, sitting himself next to him again. "You didn't offend me. I just didn't want to feel like I was bothering you. If you had an idea, we can maybe talk about that. Seriously al, if there is something you want to talk about I want to talk about-" Alastor raised a hand and cupped Anthony's cheek. "...talk about..." he repeated quietly, almost nervous. Not prepared for this kind of contact, even if it had happened before.
"Stop talking."
Alastor leaned in quickly and kissed him again. Anthony was stiff in the first few moments, before relaxing into it. And eventually kissing back. It only lasted a few seconds. But to Alastor it felt like an eternity.

Alastor slowly pulled away, eyes opening to look at Anthony. Who stared back at him with wide eyes, cheeks tinted pink as he stared back. "I..." the blonde started, but words caught in his throat. "Well, that was the idea. Would you like to talk about it?" He asked, he knew he sounded crazy and stupid. But he had to do it, at least in his mind. Anthony looked him up and down, raising a hand to cover his mouth. The shock just sort of setting in. "Do you...? Why did...? What?" Was all he could manage. Alastor shook his head, smile tugging at his lips. "Do you not like it? Tell me that first." He said simply. Anthony only seemed to become more surprised. "Alastor what the hell?" He finally got out. "That was the idea I had. I wanted to do it again." He replied, watching the blondes reactions carefully. Deep down, Alastor was very nervous. He needed to appear cocky so he could have this conversation. But on the inside his nerves were very high. "Okay...well. Yes, I did like it. But Alastor, I don't think you get what this is." He said, a nervous look on his face. Alastor cocked a brow. "Whatever do you mean?" He asked. "It was a kiss. I understand what a kiss is Anthony." Anthony sighed, dragging his hand down his face. "No...Alastor it's not just a kiss. Cause we are both guys. It's different." He tried to explain as plainly as possible. "Anthony I understand it's illegal. Frankly I don't care." He said simply. Anthony grabbed Alastor's shoulders. "Well you should! You don't know what they do to people like me. You don't know, you haven't seen it." He said, almost sounding scared. Alastor felt the risen feeling of nerves again, not for himself. For Anthony. "Anthony...have you seen it?" He asked nervously. Anthony slowly let go of him. Hanging his head. "No matter what my answer is, you won't over react. Right?" He asked, keeping his eyes down. Alastor nodded, giving a quiet 'of course.'

With the 'okay' from Alastor. Anthony took the top of his shirt, undoing the buttons. Slowly making his way down. As he reached the final one, he looked up at Alastor with a look that said. 'Is this okay? Are you okay with this?' Alastor gave him another nod. And Anthony slowly slid his shirt off his shoulders to hang on his lower arms.

As Alastor had seen before. Anthony's chest was covered in reddened or pale patches, some almost grey-ish, some skin slightly risen. But it wasn't any comfort or reassurance that he had seen some of it before, because he hadn't realized that these marks covered his entire torso, lower region, and arms. Anthony took a deep breath, mustering the courage to look up. Seeing Alastor's expression wasn't helping him at all to feel better. The fear and confusion on his face said everything. Anthony quickly pulled the fabric over his shoulders again. Folding the two ends of the shirt over each other to hide his chest. "This happened...maybe once every year. At least something similar, sometimes the prescription changed. Because it was my fourth year coming back it was more harsh. And for longer. Normally it's not as bad. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a lot to deal with. And-"
"I'm sorry." Anthony looked up at him again. "What?" He asked, cocking a brow. "I'm sorry Anthony. That you went through this. I thought it was some kind of, maybe a rash. I didn't think it was from...how could anyone do this?" Alastor was more asking himself that question. But Anthony answered for him. "Cause I'm sick. I don't want to drag you down with me, and I sure as hell don't want you to go through the same thing." Alastor took Anthony's hand, gently squeezing it. "Again, I am sorry this has happened. And I promise, they won't catch me. I've done worse believe me. I only don't want you to feel unsafe." He said simply. Anthony shook his head. "I couldn't care less if it happened again. I'm numb to it by now. I want you to be safe." He repeated.

Alastor shook his head. "Anthony, realize we are just going to keep going back and forth on who is concerned for who." He said with a slight chuckle. Anthony rolled his eyes. "Okay, yeah. But you mean a lot to me, I'm gonna worry about ya." He shot back. Alastor sighed, smile pulling at his lips. "And I want you to be safe as well." He said simply. Anthony gave a brief nod, buttoning up his shirt again. Alastor sighed, taking Anthony's hand again just as he was halfway done with the buttons. "Then we'll be careful." The brunette whispered, leaning in once again. Anthony wasn't sure if this was a good idea at all. From his experiences, this was a terrible idea. But did he ever want this. So, he was going to let it happen. This was the closest he'd ever get to the real thing, so he would take what he could get.