illicit | five hargreeves - EDITING

thirty seven

thirty seven: help me hold onto you

Anthony woke up first the following morning, letting out a soft groan as he opened his eyes; his head was pounding slightly and the bruises that were on his stomach from the day before were really starting to take their effect. The light from the morning sun outside shone through the closed blinds and he could hear the soft noises of movement coming from outside the bedroom, of which he assumed was either Elliott or Lila.

The room was actually rather cold, but the warmth that was radiating from the body next to him made up for that, as Five's arms were wrapped around him with their legs tangled up together under the light covers. He had desperately longed for Five's touch for so long, so he was now savoring the feeling of having him so close in such a vulnerable state, because sleeping together was always intimate for them especially.

Number Five always looked so peaceful in his sleeping state, especially right now, with the top buttons of his shirt opened which showed his collarbones, and his tie loosely untied. His eyes were still closed, his lips parted and his eyebrows were just slightly furrowed. Anthony got a sudden urge to touch his face, but he resisted it because the last thing he wanted to do was wake up the sleeping boy. It was a rare occurrence that Five actually slept, and he didn't want to ruin it, he thought it was fair to let him sleep as long as he needed to.

He kept his gaze on his husband for a couple more seconds, before he glanced around the room. He assumed that it was Elliott's bedroom, when he realized then that he wasn't exactly sure. Anthony moved his body slightly, letting out a low groan of pain at his lingering injuries from his encounter with the Swedes that only happened yesterday but already felt like it was days ago.

The fact that the Swedes had come after him was still confusing him, out of all the people who worked at the Commission, they were the last people he expected to show up. Anthony also wondered why they had waited so long to attack him, it had been a an entire three months before they had even approached him for the first time.

He supposed he was grateful that it had only been the Swedes instead of the Handler, because he wasn't sure he would've even had the strength to get away if it had been here. Anthony knew that it was almost inevitable until she showed up, and even just the thought of it was already making him feel sick.

Sighing, he glanced back towards his husband and was met with the pair of green eyes that he loved so much looking back at him. Neither of them said anything, they just continued staring at each other for a few moments, probably for a little too long.

Still staring.

Still staring.

Still staring.

"Hi" Anthony broke the silence.

Five's lips curled into a smile "Hi"

"You sleep well?" he asked, moving his hand up and fulfilling his urge to touch his partner's face, lightly moving his fingers along his jawline. He looked so perfect like this, and Anthony felt so doped out even by just looking at him.

"Mm" Number Five hummed softly, leaning into his touch and the warmth of his hand "I always sleep a lot better when you're here"

Anthony smiled "Me too" he agreed, his hand stopping at the boy's cheek and his thumb moving back and forth lightly "I get a lot less nightmares when you're holding me"