Catch the Thunder

Wash Away the Sins

Freed wanted to hide his face as Laxus carried him bridal-style into the apartment building, through a lobby where people stopped to stare, up an elevator ride alone where he was showered in kisses, through a hall, and finally to a door. Freed pulled his key out, Laxus unlocked it, and he kicked the door open with a bang, carrying Freed over like a newlywed.

"We're home," Laxus declared.

Finally! They were out of view of others. That had been humiliating! Carried like that, in public, in the new apartment where he was just starting to get to know his neighbors!

"Freed, look at me."

He turned his eyes up. Lips were instantly on him. Laxus gave him a powerful kiss, then pulled back smiling with a sort of joy Freed had never seen in him before.

"We're home," he repeated, but this time his voice trembled.

Freed stared in awe and saw Laxus getting emotionally overwhelmed as the truth sank in. From this day forward, they would be living together. They were now officially domestic partners. Although Freed had been living in this apartment for four months, the sheer weight of it finally dropped onto him, and his eyes began to water as well.

They were home!

Their home!

Together!

Laxus clutched his lover into his arms and rested their foreheads together. "I love you," he whispered with all of his heart.

A tear dripped from Freed's eye as their noses rubbed together. "I love you too."

Their home! Laxus realized, Freed loved him so much he got a place big enough for both of them. He had picked it out before Laxus left. He had wanted this place to be a surprise. Laxus ruined his plans by taking off.

A normal person would be furious at someone who suddenly up and left them, hardly giving a warning, and abandoned them for four months. A normal person would feel slighted and might not want that person back. Not Freed! Despite Laxus taking off and abandoning him the day after Valentine's Day, before college finals, graduation, and moving into a new home, he still got this place. A spacious apartment, big enough for two ... hell, big enough to be a small house!

"Do you know what I want first?" asked Laxus.

Freed looked up in confusion. "Um ... a drink?"

He shook his head and kissed Freed's cheek. "A shower. With you."

Still holding him, Laxus turned into the bathroom. Once inside, he finally set Freed down.

"Toilet," he ordered, and he turned away, stripping off his jacket and shoes while facing the wall to give Freed privacy.

Freed thought that bit of courtesy was sweet. They would be living together, things like toilets would become commonplace—it had eventually been that way with him and Loke in the dorm—but for now, Laxus had never lived with someone else who was not immediate family, and he was showing a bit of tenderness, giving Freed some privacy.

Freed yanked off his disheveled pants and sat to finally relieve the pressure in his ass. With it came a hiss of pain.

"Is it bad?"

"Hold on." He peed as well while still seated—he lost track of how many drinks he had—and then Freed wiped his ass, only to see bloody red streaks. "It's bleeding a little."

Laxus cringed. "Shit. I'm so sorry."

"Really, stop saying sorry. It's making me feel like we did something horrible."