Forever His (Connor x Hank)

Chapter Twenty

Lucian was scared of Sumo at first. The old dog had been particularly excited that day and ran up to Hank as soon as they opened the front door. Lucian shrieked and ran behind Connor and clutched at his light blue shirt. Hank's expression filled with confusion at the sound, and moved quickly to fill Sumo's dog bowl to keep him occupied.

"I'm.. I'm sorry." Lucian stammered as Connor helped him sit down on the couch. Hank joined them after making sure Sumo had calmed down.

"You didn't tell us you were scared of dogs." Hank said gently as he sat on the other side of Lucian. He looked so anxious as Hank sat down beside him. The young man took in deep breaths in an attempt to calm down, and after awhile it had worked.  He ran his fingers through his hair and his expression shifted to an embarrassed one.

"Jack had a dog that he used to keep the kids from getting away.." Lucian sucked in air at the memory, shaking his head as he chose to continue, "one time he had used it on me.. to put me back in my place.. I thought I was over it-I'm sorry." The couple shook their heads at him and told him there was no reason to apologize.

They decided to wait to unpack, seeing as Lucian didn't have that many things yet anyway, and tried to watch a movie. They let Lucian scroll through all of what Cyberflix had to offer. He was even kind enough to listen through Hank's rant about how it used to be called Netflix before it got bought out by Cyberlife in 2021.

The kid had picked out a comedy, a new movie staring Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson. Hank laughed once he saw them on the screen and said that he was surprised that they were still making movies at their age. The movie itself was funny and Hank had thought Lucian made a good movie choice. Lucian didn't really get the jokes, but they could tell he was happy. Or something close to it, anyway.

Connor was elated with how comfortable it already was. Hank exhaled a breath of relief as things seemed to be getting along fine so far. That was until Sumo slumped his way other to them, curiously placing his big head on Lucian's lap. He tensed immediately but tried his best to remain calm as it was obvious he didn't want to ruin the moment.

"It's okay. See?" Connor reached forward and patted Sumo's head. Hank did the same for the big dog's side. Sumo wagged his tail and looked up at Lucian with expectant eyes. A small smile formed against the young man's lips. He raised his hand, timid and careful, and let Sumo sniff it. Lucian let out a nervous laugh when the dog licked him, and that soon turned into a fit of giggles as Sumo put more of his upper body on Lucian's lap and began to lick his face.

The couple's eyes met and they both smiled, enjoying the pure sound of his laugh. Hank intertwined his fingers with his husband's and mouthed the words I love you, and finished the movie. After that they ate supper and unpacked Lucian's things, which was only a toothbrush and some night clothes that the couple had just bought him.

"I apologize for it being so bare." Connor said as they all walked into the spare bedroom. Lucian just shook his head as he walked over to the full size bed. He ran his fingers over the duvet like he never felt anything so soft in his entire life.

The room was medium sized with a good size closet, the floor a nice hard wood like the rest of the house. The main thing Lucian was worried about was the bed as he sat down on it and grabbed a pillow and squeezed it against his chest. He looked so adorable, but the couple figured an eighteen year old wouldn't like to hear that, much less from someone they were just getting to know. Still didn't make it any less true though.

"We can take you to the mall in the morning so you can get what you want to decorate the room." Hank said as he leaned against the wall by the door frame. Connor was close beside him and his hand wrapped around his husband's.

"And then we can get you a new wardrobe. And maybe later on we can get you your own cell phone. How does that sound?" Connor asked as he nervously tightened his grip around Hank's hand. Lucian hugged the pillow tightly and smiled up at the couple, his dark brown eyes shining in pure amazement.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to pay you guys back for all of this." He sighed as he absentmindedly trailed his fingers over the pillow case.

"Don't you worry about that. Just focus on you, okay?" Hank reminded him with a half smile. Lucian nodded in understanding and after they all said goodnight and let Lucian sleep.

As Connor shut the door to their bedroom he wrapped his arms around Hank and leaned against his chest. The human let out a relieved chuckle as he returned the embrace around Connor's waist.

"I have such a good feeling about this, Hank." Connor's words were muffled against his husband's shirt. Me too, Hank whispered as he kissed the top of his love's head.

Hank was still petrified of becoming attached and then losing it all for a second time, but he was willing to let those fears go for the sake of Lucian's life. 

~*~

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know they seem to be getting shorter and shorter but it feels easier to write this way. I'm still trying to find my own writing style and it's a mess.

And the next chapter will have more of Lucian's point of view finally. :)