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What once was darkness soon became a crescent of sharp pointed teeth and a wicked grin and within what felt like a fraction of a second a wide maw snapped shut right in front of Aiden's face.

Startled beyond all reason the dark navy blue haired young man drew in gasping breath of air as his eyes snapped open in surprise. Immediately his body yelled at him in protest from the abuse he took the previous night, at least he assumed it was only a few hours ago given the room seemed kind of bright as light filtered in through the blinds and around the curtains.

Aiden's heart beat almost painfully in his chest; too real, that dream was way too real. It had been quite a while since a nightmare had the capacity of eliciting such a reaction out of him but what had happened was hardly a dream, that creature was real. The ache he felt all over as he worked on calming his nerves by taking slow deep breaths was no where near the familiar soreness he got from too much parkour this was something else.

Carefully lifting one arm up he noted the ace bandages wrapped snuggly around his wrist; definitely not his own doing, rarely did they ever look that good when he got done putting them on.

Alexandre had things to do, none of which included work as he’d called out sick today, so he’d posted Katya in his room to watch over Aiden, make sure the other was ok, and alert him to Aiden awaking. It was only thanks to Katya hurrying into the living room to tell him Aiden was rousing that Alexandre knew the other was up, since he wouldn’t have heard a thing from down in the living room where he had a movie playing.

He hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, and all of it had been found on the living room couch, as he’d been too worried about Aiden and wondering just what had attacked him.

“Stay here.” He whispered to the russian blue, watching as she nodded her head before curling up on the living room couch on the vacated cushion. Destiny City was dangerous and it could have been anything, he’d ask the other about it later, but right now he was headed up to his room and make sure the other was alright.

Making his way up the stairs, slowly, he headed down the hallway wondering just how Aiden would be feeling right now. Biting his bottom lip he knew he didn’t have any pain killers, not any more considering no one had lived with him in a while, and so he continued on the way to his bedroom where he paused in the doorway, slate eyes focused on the other. “You got beaten up pretty bad last night.” He spoke up after some moments of silent observation.

Pushing off the door frame he stepped into his room on socked feet. His hands in his pockets up till the point where he reached his queen size bed and sat himself down on the edge. Fingers gently reached out to touch the others wrapped wrist. “You should be ok, you’ll need to rest a bit.”

Aiden remained quiet for several seconds, watching as Alex seemed to be taking a mental not of his injuries condition by turning his wrist over. “Thank you,” he finally said with a bit of a raspy voice. After clearing his throat he repeated the two simple words one more time.

“How did you get me up here?” He asked out of curiosity. There was undoubtedly more to the ashen blond than met the eye, that much he knew, but was also aware of the amount of effort it would have taken to carry him up the twenty, give or take a few, steps to get him in bed in lieu of dropping him the couch.

Wetting his bottom lip he shook his head. “It’s not a problem. I couldn’t leave you out on my doorstep as you were.” He wouldn’t leave anyone on his doorstep bleeding and injured, but especially not Aiden. He’d felt it last night, that knotting feel in his stomach and worry, and he knew he was in deep and he was doomed. He’d vowed, months ago, not to fall for anyone else and yet here he was - damn it. Letting the others wrist go he smiled gently, glad that he seemed ok. “I’d offer pain killers if I had any.” But he didn’t.

Taken from his thoughts by the others question he ducked his head. “A lot of effort.” He answered after a moment. There had been that internal conflict, brief as it was, over powering up in his home so he could carry the other up the stairs. Did that count as effort? Yes, for right now and for Alexandre it did. “Do you want something to drink? Eat?”

Aiden watched in silence taking note of Alex’s body language and the way he sat just close enough to him yet still maintained a bit of distance as if there were some sort of barrier between them. It was odd especially since they had been hanging out off an on since January and simple thing such as riding on his motorcycle didn’t seem to bother the shorter male.

“Some water would be great.” He finally replied after clearing his throat. With all the running he had done the night before, and the hour long lap swim, he felt rather dehydrated.

Nodding his head Alexandre got up despite how much he really wanted to curl up on his bed beside Aiden and try and gain some sleep. Slate eyes had fallen closed for a moment and when they opened they locked on the other. “I’m not letting you leave for a while, you were hurt pretty bad.” Adding the last part after some moments, he hadn’t planned to add those words but thinking over what he said had brought a flush to his face and thus the added words were spouted out. He had every intention of keeping the other at least till tomorrow morning, so he knew the other was ok, it wasn’t anything beyond that - right?

Turning he hurried out of his room and down the stairs to the kitchen to get a glass of water for the other. Two ice cubes, a straw, and he was headed back up the stairs with the drink in hand.

When Alex returned, Aiden eyed him with a raised eyebrow finding amusement in the last thing he said before leaving the room. “So does that make me a modern day Rapunzel?” he asked with mirth in his voice yet a grimace on his face when he rolled onto his side in an attempt to sit up. The movement which pulled against the slash on his lower back which had been tightly bandaged just as his wrist had been.

“Huh?” Ok, not the most well worded of questions but he didn’t understand why the question, having never read the story and only familiar with it’s basics. After a few moments he finally seemed to have something dawn upon him. “Oh...me keeping you here...in my room?” He questioned then while seating himself again on the edge of his bed, this time closer to the other.

Offering the drink, straw in the glass, for Aiden to sip from. “No, you’re far from a princess. No way to mistake you for one.” He offered with a smile to the other as he watched Aiden moving onto his side. “Take it slow, I don’t need you bleeding anew, you did enough bleeding last night.”

Feeling slightly chastised Aiden made quick work of the refreshing glass of water then settled back against the pillows and relaxed a bit. “About that…” slate blue eyes with grey rims around them bore holes in the ceiling above him, “I’m sorry.”

“To be honest I’m not even entirely sure how I got here. I just…” He let out a sigh of slight frustration. The previous night was such a blur and so much of it made no sense he wasn’t entirely sure what to believe. “I don’t know…” He offered Alex a rueful smile as his gaze drifted downward. “Thank you.”

Setting the drink down once the other appeared done, for the moment, the achen blond shifted closer to the other and reached out to gently run his fingers through the others darker hair. “I’m glad you’re alright...whatever happened.” He answered honestly, his words softly spoken though relief in them was evident. He was glad the other was alright, hadn’t been hurt worse or killed. This city was not safe, he knew that more than most people.

“I don’t know how you got here either...but I’m glad.” Flashing a smile, even as he felt his cheeks warm, knowing they were taking on a pink hue. “Just...just don’t get hurt like that again.”

For once his injuries weren’t by his own doing which made it difficult to tell Alex ‘Okay, I’ll be careful.’

“I’m not sure it is something that is entirely avoidable.” He admitted, “Not unless I start carrying around a concealed weapons permit and something to defend myself with.”

At the mention of a weapon Aiden’s brows furrowed in remembrance of that strange icicle he had picked up. No, that was just a dream. Alexandre would have mentioned it by now if it were actually real. A thought process that made him realize one important yet missing detail. “Hey… Alex? Where are my clothes?” It was a curious question, but the answer could potentially validate the part of last night he so willingly denied happened at all.

“I had to remove your clothing, you were bleeding and needed attention.” The pants had been navigable, they had gone into the wash along with everything else Aiden had been wearing from the waist down save for his shoes. “Your shirt was a lost cause...blood is a hard stain to remove.” And there had been a good deal of it seeping into the material of the shirt. He’d have to lend the other what little clothing he had which might fit a little snug and likely wouldn’t be very comfortable.

It hadn’t been the easiest of things to do, changing the other. Stripping Aiden had been far easier, as he’d been concerned with the others health and handling the injuries he had, Alex had been as red as a strawberry and he might just wind up that way all over again if his mind decided to wander, or Aiden helped it down the path it was so close to. “I washed everything else….” Alexandre bit down on his bottom lip to silence himself, unsure what else to say right now. This was..somewhat new territory for the blond.

“I appreciate it, I do.” Though it would have been nice if his underwear had been left on; oh well it is what it is.

Chalk it up to the events that had happened prior to him waking up, and the number of things going on in his mind, Aiden remained unaware of the inner turmoil Alex was presently dealing with. “Thank you.” Alex didn’t need to go through all that trouble, yet he did it anyway. It would have been far easier to call an ambulance or Aiden’s family to come get him.

“Do you think you could do me a favor and call Jenna? I dropped my bag somewhere between Andover and Dravus. It has my keys, my phone, and my I-Pod in it.” Having to replace all those would be a b***h and not something he could do any time soon.

“I don’t know Jenna’s number but if you give me her number I can call her.” Saying this as he reached for his phone on the bedside table, next to the glass of water. He hadn’t brought his cell phone downstairs with him when he’d slept last night, or attempted to sleep. He’d left it in it’s usual place by habit more than anything else. Unlocking the screen he pressed in the four digit code before deciding to just offer his phone to the other.

“If you’re stuff can’t be found I’ll handle it.” He offered. It was obvious the other had a bad night and Alex really wanted to help the other. “Ummm...you could ask her for a change of clothing...I mean yours is being washed but if you want something new to wear…” He hadn’t thought to do the others clothing till early in the morning and he’d crashed on the couch before the wash cycle was done so it was still in the dryer. “I doubt my umm...clothing is comfortable.” His cheeks turning red as he thought of what little clothing he’d been able to lend the other. “Maybe something to lay around in, rather than regular clothing…” Like bed clothing or something more relaxed than jeans would be. Then again he wasn’t planning on letting the other out of his bed unless it was to the bathroom.

Aiden may have missed the signs before, but the way Alexandre seemed to be stumbling over his words were not lost upon the raven haired young man. “That would be a good idea.” He agreed with a nod of his head.

“Though I got to ask, does seeing me like this,” Despite being covered by the comforter, Aiden made a slight gesture with his left hand, “bother you?”

“Seeing you like this?” He questioned, almost parroting the words back, as he stared at the other for a moment. “N-no, why would it?” He asked after a moment's hesitation. Why was the other asking if something bothered him? He wasn’t staring, he made sure of that. Then again he was acting odd, and he knew it, and he wasn’t speaking as he normally would either. It would be hard to tell Aiden that certain topics were just...awkward and a bit odd for him to discuss, especially without mentioning the attraction and feelings he had for the other. He was ******** and he knew it...lovely.

“Hmm…”

“I don’t know. You just seem… different I guess.” Aiden smirked at Alex, usually so confident with his words it was strange seeing him act so flustered. Though if he were honest with himself, Aiden would have to admit it made the other a bit more attractive than usual. Words not meant for times such at this but still a rogue thought that crossed his mind.

“Must just be sleep deprivation then. You should lay down.” He patted the bed next to him. Not like there wasn’t room for both and this was Alex’s bed after all. “I’ll call my sister and let her know what’s going on.” It’s not like the ashen blond needed to worry about Aiden rolling around too much in his sleep, not with his back as it was; movement would be minimal at best.

“Yeah...this isn’t exactly something I’d dealt with before.” He had but he also hadn’t. He’d never had to strip someone down and get them into his bed after tending to injuries. He’d never faced someone in the morning who was mostly nude and wearing a bit of his own clothing. Nope, some of this was certainly new to him and it had him in a very odd position. He knew how he felt but wanting to actually act on those feelings? Nope, not really.

Nodding his head he stood slowly to strip his clothing down, so he could actually lay down comfortably. It meant his shirt came off, up and over his head to land on his floor. The ink on him standing out dark against his fair skin. The pants were next along with the socks and once he was stripped so far down he got onto his bed and slipped under the thin covering, a single sheet since they were suffering a lot of heat this year so far. “Your sister will be glad to know you’re doing ok and you’re safe.” He responded around a yawn as he shifted and moved to lay on his side, pressed against the others side. “I want you to rest after you call her though...tell her I have a key under the doormat.” That way she could bring his clothing into the house, rather than ring the doorbell or knock on the door, and Aiden could rest and Alex...well he could get some sleep also.

Rest? Ha that was a joke especially after what Alex had just done. Not that he was complaining but it definitely wasn’t expected either. Wow… okay…

Aiden's throat became as dry as it had been as he laid there thanking whatever gods happened to be listening that there was a comforter currently draped over himself otherwise things were about to get really aukward. “I-I’ll definitely try.”

Okay so maybe it wasn’t exhaustion messing with his friends head, perhaps it was something else… something explicitly more. For the next few minutes Aiden did what he could to put those thoughts out of his mind as he dialed his sister's number and explained the situation. Though she had plans with friends she at least agreed to search for his things, hopefully clothes would arrive later but he didn’t hold his breath on that actually happening.

By the time he hung up, ashen blond hair fanned over his good shoulder. Without even realizing it Alex had fallen asleep pressed up against his side. Even breathing met his ears and within several moments he too joined the other in blissful slumber not really caring if anyone were to walk in on them.