" last night "

Chapter 14

     With a bit of coaxing, Windham managed to pry Darion from his body and guide him to the hall bathroom. He turned the faucet on and as he waited for the water to warm up, he searched the cabinets for a rag.
     "...I'm sorry I did that. That you had to see that. That I...said that to you."
     Windham looked over at Darion with sympathy in his eyes. "Please don't apologize. Please. You didn't do anything wrong."
     He put the rag under the running water and then wrung it out. As gently as he could, he began to wipe some of the paint away from Darion's face. His eyes met the officer's. "Do you want to talk about—"
     "N-No. Not right now. Please. Just leave it alone right now."
     Windham nodded and moved onto scraping some of the paint away from Darion's arms. "Alright."
     Several minutes passed before most of the paint had been cleaned off. Silence filled the room.
     "Hey," Windham said, "It's late. We should sleep."
     Darion sighed. "Right." His eyes were still bloodshot from crying. He turned away and tiredly walked back to his bedroom, Windham not far behind.
     He placed his hand on Darion's shoulder. "Is there anything I can do to help?" he inquired, quietly closing the door behind them.
     Clumsily unbuttoning his shirt, he shrugged. "Just..." He ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. It took him a moment, but he built up the confidence to reach out and embrace Windham again. He tentatively tucked his head under the overseer's chin, pressing his face against his neck. "You're...You're a good man, Windham. The best."
     A melancholy smile came to Windham's face. "Thanks. You are too, y'know."
     A small chuckle. "Thank you. I'm going to sleep. 'Night." He flopped down onto the mattress and curled up.
     Sighing, Windham slid into bed. Kept his distance. His back facing Darion. It hurt a little bit, he just wanted to reach out to him—
     He rolled over and slung his arm around Windham's waist. Pressed his face against Windham's shoulder blade.
     "Ты мое все." His voice was tired and slurred, and the overseer didn't understand a word he said. Only at that moment did he wish he understood Tyvian.
     Slowly, hesitantly, he placed his hand on top of Darion's. "Go to sleep, friend. You need it." He mumbled something again, but it was more muffled this time since he was pressing himself more tightly against Windham's back. Either he was really clingy when he was tired or really clingy when he was sad.
     The overseer closed his eyes and muttered, "I love you," before settling himself to fall asleep.

*

     Unsurprisingly, Windham woke before Darion did. Sometime in his sleep he'd turned over and now Darion was curled up against his chest, their legs tangled together.
     At this point, Windham knew he was beyond suspecting he'd fallen in love with Darion. He knew. Darion probably did too. Their actions had long gone past the boundary of friendly, but both were too nervous to say anything. He was stuck between wanting to just scream at the top of his lungs how he felt and bottle it up for the rest of his life. Either way he was screwed.
     Windham glanced out the window on the opposite side of the room. Late morning, from the position of the sun.
     He yawned and carefully nudged Darion. "It's morning, c'mon. You need to get up."
     A few tries later and the officer was slowly opening his eyes. "Mm...Can't I sleep awhile longer?" Darion used his left arm to prop himself up a bit. Apparently he had no shame in being so close in proximity to another man. "You overseers always have to wake up early, don't you?"
     Windham rolled his eyes. "No, just me. Is that a problem?"
     A lazy smirk spread across Darion's face. "If this is what I have to wake up every morning to, then not at all, pretty boy."
     Windham smiled. He actually smiled. An honest, grateful smile.
     Darion thought it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
     He returned the smile and said, "You know, happiness looks good on you. Other things would too, though, I'm sure."
     Windham yawned and elbowed Darion. "You sure do like talking people up, don't you?" "Oh, not 'people', hasn't been for a while. Just you."
     The overseer raised an eyebrow. "You implying something there?" I sure hope so, he mentally finished.
     Darion only responded with a wink and another smile. God damn.
     "...Get up, you flirty bastard. I'm starved."
     Darion groaned and pushed himself off the bed, holding his hand out to Windham. "Fine, then."
     With narrowed eyes, Windham accepted his hand, but when he went to pull himself up, he pulled Darion's dead weight down on top of him. From Darion's laugh, it was intentional.
     "Oh, so you think you're funny?" he said sarcastically, but he really didn't mind. Well, despite the fact that he was unimaginably embarrassed, he didn't mind at all. "All right, if you're just going to try to seduce me, then I'm getting something to eat."
     With one move of his arm, he pushed Darion off of his chest and made his way into the kitchen and dining area. As soon as Windham grabbed a slightly overripe apple, Darion slid into the room, Phantom at his heel.
     "Toss me something, will ya?"
     "This is your apartment, get it yourself." Darion responded by snatching the apple from Windham's hand and running off.
     "Come on, really?" the overseer questioned with a shake of his head.
     Darion laughed. "Uh huh," he responded before digging around in his pantry for a moment. He turned around and tossed Windham a slightly larger pear. "Think fast!"
     The overseer snatched it out of the air before Darion even finished his statement. "...How the fuck did you do that?"
     "I have the reflexes of a feline. Ask any other overseer if you don't believe me." A small grin spread across his face.
     Darion just raised an eyebrow. "Catlike reflexes, huh? Then how would you react if I—" He cut off swiftly before lunging at Windham and tackling him to the floor.
     He hit the floor with a painful thud, wheezing for air. With Darion landing on his torso like that, it knocked the breath out of his lungs. Windham tried pulling himself up using the edge of the couch, but Darion just held his arm to the floor.
     All in all, it was a rather awkward position: the officer was sitting directly on Windham's abdomen with his legs on either side, looming over him with one of his hands pinned down.
     "Fast reflexes, my ass."
     "Whatever, will you let me up?"
     Darion grinned. "This view is rather nice, but fine. I've seen all the knives you keep in your coat and I'd rather not have one of those in my stomach."
     Windham huffed and quickly pushed the other man off of him. "Like I'd ever actually do that to you," he said, pulling himself onto the counter and sitting in front of Darion. "Your hair is such a mess right now, you still have paint stuck in it."
     The officer's cheeky smile faltered a bit when he remembered the night before. "Eh, whatever. I'll get it out later," he said, brushing it off with a wave of his hand.
     Windham frowned slightly. Something was off. There was a bit of a fluctuation in Darion's voice that he knew wasn't normally there. The edges of his smile looked forced. "Hey, what's wrong?"
     The question itself wasn't what surprised him, but the way Windham's dark eyes locked with his and the way he reached out and rested his hand on his shoulder was what got him.
     "I..." Darion sighed. "C'mon, it'll be easier to explain if you follow me."
     Whatever was going to happen, the only thing Windham prepared himself for was another mental breakdown on Darion's behalf. Judging by how distraught he was the night before, reliving the situation might break him down a bit more.
     If nothing else, Windham wanted to be there to catch him when he fell.