"I Will Always Be With You" (Haitus)

Pt. 4

For the past weeks, Ballister and Ambrosius started to get to know each other. It had been almost 4 months.
But the more time that passed, the more Ballister became focused on what Ambrosius would think of him.
A feeling he can't seem to process yet.
A feeling that constantly haunted his mind.
A feeling refusing him sleep.
A feeling that made him want to tell Ambrosius everything.
Everything.
About how he felt.
About his secrets.
But, it didn't feel right to say anything now.

"Ballister?"
"Where are you heading?"
Ballister turned his head over to the sound of the voice.
"Ballister, how much sleep do you get?" Valerin noticed the weary expression Ballister wore. She caught him right as he was putting on his cloak.
"Plenty." Ballister batted the approaching hand away.
"Where are you going? It's night." Valerin asked with much concern.
"On a walk I guess."
Valerin gave him a look of concern.
"Please be back soon."
Ballister only nodded as he flipped his hood over his head.

Ballister walked around the Outer City. As always.
He scanned the area, and everything in there was just as crappy and sad as when Ballister lived there.
He didn't know if he wanted to remain there, but he continued to circle around.

He was just about to leave the quiet dark place. He was heading back to the palace. This was a place he couldn't tell if he wanted to forget about or not. A place Valerin wanted to help and fix, but it proved to be virtually impossible.
Either way, Ballister didn't want to stay at the moment so he found himself walking back.

He had already left the Outer-City area a long while ago, he was walking past a dark alley when he felt a sharp jab in his leg. He turned to look at the pain. A single syringe stabbed into his leg. Almost completely flushed into his system too. He took it out before all of it could get inside him. Leaving some of the liquid still inside the syringe. He looks into the alley.
A small Outer-City boy.
He looked horrified.
"I'm sorry..." the boy whispered as he ran far away.
Ballister saw many incidents like this. A child without money. The people in the Outer City will hire anyone they can to get a job done. They needed money, what was a child supposed to do?
But what did they have against Ballister?
Ballister stumbled forward. He threw himself onto the wall to prevent himself from falling.
He knew he wasn't going to make it back to the palace.
A drug's effect with an already drained feeling didn't mix well.
His eyes searched anywhere he could focus on.
He saw Ambrosius's house.
Thank Gloreth.
Ballister pulled himself as quickly as he could over to his door.
By the time he got there he started frantically knocking. He leaned against the door frame as he drugs effect started intensifying.
Ambrosius was shockingly quick to answer the frantic assortment of knocks.
"Am..-Ambrosius.." Ballister fell forward into Ambrosius's arms.
"Ballister!"
"What's wrong!?" Ambrosius asked with a voice full of panic.
Ballister held up the syringe with the remaining drug.
Ambrosius quickly took it out of his hands with widened eyes.
Ballister tried to stand up again. But that was the last bit of consciousness he would have before he completely limped into Ambrosius's arms.
"Ballister!?"
Ambrosius took him inside his house and placed him on the couch.
Ambrosius immediately knew what kind of drug it was. It was used quite often on attacks on the royal family. But he couldn't understand, why Ballister?
Ambrosius didn't need to think about theories at the moment. Ambrosius paid attention to the lesson, or at least some. He knew the antidote and treatments. For Ambrosius's sake, he was quite thankful that all of the solution didn't make it in. That would make the time period to help him a bit shorter.

Ambrosius injected a solution through Ballister's arm. The antidote. A decently simple recipe if you have the right supplies.
Ambrosius could never quite understand why people used such an easy drug to attack royals. They almost never work unless they're isolated. And quite often they're not.
'Royals.' Ambrosius immediately thought back to beforehand. He couldn't understand why Ballister was drugged.
Who would go after him?
With what reason?
"Mm.." Ballister shuffled around quite a lot.
Ambrosius sat right next to Ballister.
Ballister sat upright, honestly looking a bit drunk. But Ambrosius learned that can happen.
Ballister rubbed his eyes although he wasn't properly awake anyway.
"Ballister?" Ambrosius tapped Ballister's shoulder.
Ballister looked over at Ambrosius.
"Hey, Ambrosius..." Ballister smiled. Still drunk looking.
Ambrosius knew Ballister probably wouldn't remember this or comprehend what was going on. But no harm in checking in.
"Ballister." Ambrosius grabbed onto his arms keeping him steady.
"Are you okay?"
Ballister stared with clueless puppy eyes.
"Hey, lovely..." Ballister's slurred.
Blush spread across Ambrosius's face.
"Ambrosius?" Ballister scooted himself onto Ambrosius's lap wrapping his arms around Ambrosius's neck.
Ambrosius had no desire to push him off, instead he gripped onto Ballister's hips. Mainly for supper and keeping Ballister steady.
"Did you know that I actually hated you before I even met you?" Ballister laughed.
"What why?" Ambrosius whined sadly.
"I used to hate celebrities like you, they terrorize the kids of the Outer City when I was a child," Ballister said with hidden anger.
"I thought you'd be the same."
"Turns out I was wrong." Ballister smiled sweetly and softly at Ambrosius which made his heart flutter and melt.
"...hey Ambrosius?" Ballister's mood switched in an instant. His face was sad and mellow and he kept fiddling with Ambrosius's hair.
"Hm?" Ambrosius replied back.
"We are friends right?" Ballister asked.
"Yeah, of course." Ambrosius was quick and obvious with the answer.
"Ambrosius?"
"Yeah?"
"What if I was keeping a massive secret from you?"
Ambrosius shrugged.
"So? It's your secret, your business. No need for me to know." He smiled at Ballister.
Ballister smiled back.
He lied against Ambrosius and almost instantly fell asleep.
Ambrosius couldn't move, nor did he want to.