Resolution

Side Effect

A/N: Oof this was actually the first chapter I made, and it was how I came up with the idea for this story

 Sora had been suggesting Mafu see a professional for some time now. He eventually got him comfortable enough to go to a therapist, who then added a psychiatrist. He liked his therapist. She was easy to talk to. The psychiatrist was a little more intimidating, but they got stuff done. Eventually, the psychiatrist recommended starting a medication. The thought scared Mafu on many levels, but with much coaxing, Sora was able to talk him into it.

When Mafu was first shown the bright orange bottle, his hand shook just a little. Soraru, who had agreed to go with him to pick it up, noticed this. Mafu was open enough to confide in the raven about how worried he was to start medication. After a long late-night chat, Mafu made Soraru promise him that he'd let him know if he was changing at all.

Mafu had been freaking himself out for the past few months by reading horror stories of antidepressants causing terrible things, skimming past the success stories. Soraru really became concerned the night before when he came home late to find Mafu passed out at the computer, a notebook right next to his head covered in incoherent scribbles. He managed to carry the albino to the bed without waking him up, glancing nervously back at the notebook. The next day, an exhausted Mafu woke up before his partner, wandering out to the computer to find a clean page, blank except for a few words in the middle.

"No matter what, I'm here to help."

Soraru woke up that morning to find his love nearly in tears over his cup of tea as he poured another for Soraru.

"Soraru? Ready to go?" He was pulled out of his semi-flashback when Mafu's nervous voice connected to his nervous face, which Soraru came to realize was mere inches away from his own.

"Huh-? O-Oh, yeah, yeah. Let's go." Soraru blinked a couple of times and stood up, following Mafu out on the trek back to their apartment.

The rest of the night went on as usual. They joked around dinner, and they ended the day cuddling on the couch as they watched whatever was on TV.

Things began to differ, however, when they were getting ready for bed. Soraru had just finished brushing his teeth, expecting Mafu to follow him out. He stopped at the door as he realized the albino wasn't behind him, instead staring down at the counter blankly.

He walked back over to Mafu and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah...just nervous, I guess..." Mafu croaked. The words echoed in the smaller's mind. Take one tonight.

"Here." The blue-eyed man grabbed at the hand of his partner. "I'll hold your hand."

For the first time, Mafu looked up. "...Alright, I'm just gonna get it over with."

"There you go!" Soraru grinned at the sudden flash of boldness.

Mafu's free hand shot to the bottle and opened it. He shook it until a medium-sized pill fell into his hand. It amazed Mafu how such a small capsule of powder could terrify him to this extent, but he couldn't think too much about it. He smashed his hand to his mouth, swallowing the pill with little difficulty.

"Alright, nice!" Soraru clapped him on the shoulder again, and pulled him into the bed.

Surprisingly, it didn't take long for either of them to fall asleep. Unfortunately, however, it didn't take long for them to wake up again, either.

1:27 AM. That was what the clock read when Soraru was woken up by a distant sound. He didn't stay long enough to read that clock, however, as he was sent running down the hall as he made the sounds out as violent retching coming from the bathroom.

Soraru burst through the door, calling out Mafu's name. The albino didn't even flinch, as he was too consumed by the shock of the sudden flash of nausea.

"M-Mafu, what happened?!" Soraru knelt down, his hands flailing to find the most productive way to help. Finally, after hovering above the shaking man for a few moments, he settled his hands on Mafu's neck and face, brushing the matted platinum hair out of the way and blowing cool air on his neck to cool him down as Mafu emptied his stomach.

"That's right...they said it'd make you nauseous for a few days..." He recalled sympathetically.

After a few minutes of blowing onto Mafu's neck, he reached down to his back to rub comforting circles into it. By that time, Mafu had finished throwing up, and was trembling fiercely as he unconsciously leaned back into Soraru's chest. Soraru wrapped his arms tightly around Mafu, who was breathing through shrill pants, tears smeared all over his face.

"Shh...I got you..." Soraru whispered, flipping Mafu around and stroking his hair protectively. Mafu sobbed incoherently as he slowly fell into Soraru, his quivering hands reaching out slowly to grab at the other man's shirt. Soraru kept one arm wrapped around Mafu's heaving back and used the other to close over Mafu's clammy hands.

They stayed there, on the floor of the bathroom, for a while. The dripping sink was the only sound to mix into the echoing sniffles and hiccups as Mafu gradually calmed down.

"Let's get back to bed. We'll figure everything out there." Soraru rubbed his back a little more again. He positioned Mafu in his arms and stood up, carrying him bridal-style back to the bedroom.

They returned to the dark, comfy bedroom, where Soraru placed Mafu under the large comforter and joined him soon after.

He turned to face the shaken albino, who was still extremely pale and quivering somewhat. He kissed the top of his head and pulled him into his chest, letting his partner clutch at the soft fabric of his sweater.

"It's okay...this will pass..." Soraru whispered around Mafu's pitiful sniffles and whimpers.

Luckily, Mafu was rendered exhausted and fell asleep fairly easily to the sound of Soraru's deep breathing and encouraging whispers.