Care (Slashers X Male Reader)

THIRTY-SEVEN

With the way the others have been acting you have gained slight hope that nobody else will act the way Norma did. So far she's the only one who had gotten rough with you, going as far as to openly threaten to kill anyone should you get hurt again.

You must admit that you've been losing sleep due to your fear of running into the dream demon again, not for your own safety but for the safety of others. If he hurts you again, you have no doubt Norma will make good on her promise.

It's been roughly a week since you returned to work and it's finally Brahm's turn for activity time with you. He's been expressing his excitement to spend time with you every time you see him during meals. His enthusiasm has greatly decreased your worry of him acting negatively like Norma did.

The minutes tick by as you wait for Brahms in the activity room. You almost think you've gotten the days mixed up when he doesn't show up on time but thankfully those thoughts are put to ease when he finally comes through the door. Surprisingly enough, the guards don't come in after him. It's becoming a regular thing for you to be left alone with your patients. Whether or not that's something you should worry about is yet to be determined.

"Hello, Mr. (Y/N)." Brahms greets, his eyes crinkled beneath his mask as he smiles.

"Hello Brahms." You smile as well, feeling at ease in his presence. "Would you like to play piano today?"

Brahms shuffles nervously, his eyes darting away from you as his fingers twiddle together. "Can we do something different today?"

"Of course, Brahms. What do you have in mind?" You're a bit surprised at his request since Brahms is someone who sticks to a rather strict schedule, not often deviating from it unless forced to.

He steps forward, gently taking your hands in his as he leads you towards the couch. You sit down, a bit confused about what he's doing. It isn't until he sits to the left of your legs and rests his head on your thigh that you realize he simply wants to be with you.

Smiling softly, you lift your hand and begin to run your fingers through his curly hair, carefully pulling out any small knots. You can feel him practically melt into you as he leans more against you, his arms wrapping around your leg. The two of you sit like this for quite some time until you begin to hear soft sniffling.

"Are you alright, Brahms?" Your voice is quiet and filled with worry as you pause brushing your fingers through his hair.

"Please don't leave me." His childish voice cracks and wavers as he cries into your lap, the sudden change and statement confusing you.

You frown. "I would never willingly leave you, Brahms."

"Promise?"

"I promise." You do something you've never done before in attempts to comfort him. Bending down, you press a gentle kiss to the side of his head. He perks up as you pull away, sitting up straight before leaning forward to press his ceramic lips against your own. Your eyes widen in shock at the bold move despite not actually kissing him.

Brahms keeps his lips pressed to yours for a few more moments before pulling away, returning to laying on your lap. You sit there in stunned silence, your brain struggling to comprehend what happened. He's only ever done something like this once before but it was just a simple forehead kiss. You eventually snap out of it when you feel him pick up your hand and place it atop his head, silently asking for more head rubs. You comply, though the action feels slightly more intimate now.

It wasn't until this moment that you realized just how your patients feel for you. You knew they cared but apparently they care more than you previously thought and for different reasons. You thought they cared in the friendly almost family type of way. It never really occurred to you that they could like you in a more romantic sense.

Granted, Danny flirts a lot but you figured that was just his personality. Now you're questioning if it was never a joke to him and he actually meant everything.

None of the others have given any hints or signs of liking you in such a way. The only ones who have are Danny and now Brahms. Though, Brahms expressed his feelings in a much more direct way that would be hard to brush off as something innocent or joking. A kiss on the lips- even through a mask- can only really be taken one way.

You care deeply for all of your boys, but thinking of them liking you romantically makes you feel slightly uncomfortable. Not because the idea disgusts you or anything, of course. Simply because it's unprofessional and makes you feel as if you've taken advantage of them in some way. Like you manipulated them into feeling such a way towards you even if you didn't mean to.

Romantic relationships between employees and patients is forbidden and wrong. Patients are viewed as mentally unstable, incapable of having proper thoughts about serious situations. It's viewed as grooming and abuse for a nurse or employee to have such relations with a patient.

If you were to view any of them in such a way, you'd lose your job and reputation. People would call you disgusting, claiming that you forced them to feel that way towards you. That's not something you want people to think because it's not true.

You care for them and would never purposely manipulate them or anything of the sort. Their feelings are their own, right? How they feel about you is entirely up to them just as your feelings towards them is up to you.

Yes, you do love them. But is it in the same sense of the word? Is it not just a friendly love? Or the love for those considered family?

No.

You love them, plain and simple.