The Waltz of Love and Fear

.:Chapter Five:.

Zacky took in a deep breath as he slowly opened his eyes, a bit confused by his surroundings until he realized that he must have fallen asleep at Brian's house last night. He felt a warm, solid body pressed to his back and an arm tightly wrapped around his waist, keeping him where he was. Something about that position felt awfully protective..

Zacky didn't mind though; he was comfortable, and he was warm. No, scratch that. He was burning up. Why was he so hot? He turned over in the arms, quickly realizing that it was Brian that was cuddled so closely to him. He furrowed his brow tiredly, trying to squirm backwards against the couch a bit, but Brian simply reacted by tightening his grip on Zacky and pulling him flush against his chest.

Zacky blinked a few times, pushing Brian backwards a bit; he simply scooted forward even closer, though, and now there were small droplets of sweat beginning to form on Zacky's skin. "Brian.." He murmured sleepily, the other man's body heat absolutely smothering him.

"Huh." Brian groaned, half asleep.

"..I'm really warm.." He whispered. Brian's cheek slid down to rest on Zacky's sweaty forehead, a content smile playing onto his lips.

"..Mhm.." He mumbled. Zacky gave an irritated sigh before he firmly planted both hands on Brian's chest and gave a hard shove backwards, forcing Brian off the couch and into the floor. "Hey! What the hell was that for?!"

"I-I'm sorry! I just," Zacky sat up, wiping the sweat from his brow. "You were making me really warm, and you wouldn't stop cuddling me, so.. I-I didn't mean to completely push you off of the couch." Zacky giggled nervously, his eyes focused on a hole in the couch where Brian had previously dropped a cigarette.

"I made you that hot?" Brian asked, eyes wide with shock. Zacky nodded sheepishly, his eyes still focused on the hole in the couch, only now he began to poke at it with a slender index finger. "Ah, man, all's forgiven about pushing me. I deserved it. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable." Brian gave a deep, melodic chuckle, his eyes sparkling playfully. There wasn't a drop of sweat anywhere on his body.

"It's fine.." Zacky murmured, the sweat now drying due to the rush of cool air he felt now that Brian wasn't right up against him. If he hadn't gotten so warm, he would've let him stay there.. "I'll be right back, I'm gonna splash some cool water on my face." Zacky giggled and then hopped up from the couch, trailing into the bathroom. Brian sat on the couch as he watched him go the entire way there, not even trying to hide the wistful look in his eyes. He wished that he could cuddle Zacky without making him overheat; he was jerked out of his thoughts by the sound of Zacky's pounding footsteps coming back into the living room.

"Well, Zee, what do you want to do today?" Brian asked softly, his brown eyes swirling with an emotion that was unidentifiable to Zacky. The shorter man shrugged and plopped down next to Brian, resting his head on his shoulder and closing his eyes. "You okay?" Brian murmured in Zacky's ear.

"Yeah.. Just thinking."

"About what?" Brian smiled innocently.

"I just had this weird dream last night." Zacky shrugged, signaling that he didn't want to talk about it. Brian nodded understandingly, and although he was a bit hurt at the fact that Zacky didn't want to talk about it, he didn't press the issue any further than Zacky wanted it to go. That was one of the nice things about Brian. He didn't push anyone to talk, he waited for them to be comfortable enough to tell him what was wrong.

"You wanna watch some TV?" Brian asked, his finger hovering over the power button on the TV remote. Zacky nodded lazily, and then Brian switched the TV on, turning it to one of the crime investigation channels that Zacky loved so much.