When they reached the house, Rex discreetly headed to the kitchen as the two boys went upstairs. He wasn’t willing to leave them completely alone, but he would give them as much privacy as possible. AJ didn’t even think about Rex, or anyone else for that matter. His mind was totally focused on his lover and getting him upstairs and in the master bath.
Calmly and efficiently he got Brian to the bathroom and started to strip him out of his clothes. Neither of them said a word. Brian was in a little bit of shock while AJ was too choked with emotion to speak. Each new mark he uncovered on Brian’s body was like a blow to his heart. Dammit, if only he’d been a little faster! If he hadn’t been so stupid as to let Brian alone so he could be taken!
Once he had Brian stripped down to his boxers he seated him on the edge of the tub. AJ forced every thought as far out of his head as he could and simply set himself to the task at hand. First, he stripped out of his own dirty clothes, taking his harnesses off as well. Once he was in just his boxers he grabbed a pair of sweats and a shirt and pulled them on. Then he soaked a hand towel at the sink and brought it over to start to wipe the blood off of Brian’s head. He wanted to find head wound underneath so he could see how bad it was.
When he touched it to the side of Brian’s head, his lover hissed slightly and AJ felt his stomach jump. “I’m sorry, I know it hurts.” He whispered. His words throbbed with emotion; pain, at the thought of how Brian had been hurt. Holding the towel in place, AJ dropped his forehead down so that it rested against his own hands. “Oh God, Bri, I’ve never been so scared in all my life.”
Brian reached his hands out, snagging AJ around the waist and moving him until he was sitting on Brian’s lap. “I wasn’t scared, Age. Not too much, anyways.”
A small lick of AJ’s earlier temper flared up. “I saw that.” He said angrily. Looking down into Brian’s eyes, he glared. “What the hell were you doing, baiting him like that? Dammit, Bri, I was right there! We were waiting for things to get into the right position for a good shot and the next thing I know the group of goons is beating the hell out of you!”
“I wasn’t going to just sit there and let them keep doing what they wanted with me.” Brian defended himself. Raising his voice made him grimace, though, and AJ instantly tried to lock his temper away. Now was not the time to fight with Brian. Not while he was so hurt.
AJ tried to get up, to move and get back to cleaning up his lover, but Brian held him close and buried his head against AJ’s shoulder. “Just hold on for a few, Alex, please?” He whispered against his chest. God, how could he resist that? He dropped the towel he held and wrapped Brian tightly in his arms. “You scared me, love.” He whispered.
“I knew you’d come for me.” Brian didn’t lift his head and his words were soft but AJ still heard him. “I kept calm and strong because I knew the whole time that you would come for me. I just had to hold out until you got there.”
The utter faith in that humbled AJ in ways he’d never felt before. “I was terrified I wouldn’t get there in time. I don’t know why I would have done if I hadn’t made it.” That thought made AJ shudder. While rushing here and there, trying to get things together as quickly as possible, he’d been more frantic and more terrified than he ever had been before. The thought of not making it in time to save Brian had put a panic in him that had almost pushed out his common sense. “Logically, I knew I needed to get all the stuff and the people I did if I wanted us to ever be safe again. But I counted every minute that you were in their hands.”
“I’m here now. That’s what matters, Alex. I’m alive, you’re alive, and we’re together. You got us out of this.”
Unable to resist, AJ kissed the top of Brian’s head. “You mean so much to me, love. I don’t know how it happened, but you’re so deep in my heart now I don’t think I could survive without you there. I started out hating you. For years I hated you over something so stupid. Hell, even when I was attracted to you at first I still hated you.”
“You always made me angrier than anyone else I’ve ever known.” Brian murmured. One of his hands was stroking up and down the small of AJ’s back. “You’d give me that stupid sneer and I’d find myself thinking violent thoughts. No one else ever sparked that reaction in me. Then you kissed me. Everything changed then.”
AJ held Brian a little tighter. “It did. It changed so much for me, love. We’ve come so far together. I look at you now and all I feel is love. You still make me angry. Sometimes you drive me up the wall. But more than anything else, I love you. I would do anything to make sure you’re ok and happy.”
Tipping his head back, Brian locked eyes with AJ. The look in Brian’s eyes had AJ holding perfectly still. “You’re what makes me happy, Alex. Just you.”
“Even after all this, you can still say that?”
“Yes.” The one word was answer enough.
For a few moments the two men just held on to one another. Brian snuggled his head back in, sighing softly. They needed this more than anything else. But it was Brian who finally broke the silence. “So, once a Python, always a Python, eh?” he teased.
That had been something AJ had been afraid would upset Brian. “They don’t expect me to actively participate in things. Not really. Maybe, if something important happens to someone, they might call me. Money to get someone’s family legally here. Stuff like that. But I told them that I couldn’t do the illegal shit. That was crossing a line for me now. I don’t care if I know, but I won’t participate.”
AJ could feel Brian smiling against his chest. “My little mobster.” He teased him.
“Oh, shut up.”
“Make me.”
Grinning, AJ tipped Brian’s head up. “For once, I won’t take you up on that challenge. Right now we need to get you cleaned up. But once you’re healed, I promise, I’ll make you eat those words, Littrell.”
“I’m counting on it.” Brian said with a wink.
The two men couldn’t stop smiling at one another. When AJ got up and walked to grab his towel again, he felt Brian’s eyes on him and his body almost instantly tried to respond. “Dammit, Bri, keep your eyes to yourself for a bit.” He cursed as he turned back around. “We need to get you cleaned up. Hell, you should probably just hop in the tub.”
Brian shrugged and reached behind him, fiddling with the tub until he got the water started and at the right temperature. While it filled, he offered AJ another smile. “Things are going to start going up from here for us.” He told AJ confidently. “I love you, Alex. I plan on spending the next fifty years telling you that, so I suggest you get used to it.”
“I supposed.” AJ teased him lightly, stepping up between his legs. “If I have to.”
A sparkle entered Brian’s eyes. Seeing it, AJ braced himself for whatever Brian was going to do. He wasn’t fast enough. Moving quickly for one so covered in bruises, Brian grabbed AJ’s waist and pulled, sending them both backwards into the tub of water.
AJ came up spluttering, water dripping in his face. “Goddamn it, Littrell!” he cursed, looking down at himself. “I just put on clean clothes and now they’re soaked!”
Winking, Brian rested against the side of the tub. “Let me fix that.” He suggested.
As the sparkle in Brian’s eyes grew, AJ couldn’t help but smile. It may have been the shittiest day he’d ever gone through, and the both of them may have been tired and sore, Brian more so, but he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. They had come so far in their lives, the two of them, to get to where they were now. But there was no one that AJ loved more, and no one he would have rather been with. From war to love, they’d ran the whole spectrum of emotions. Maybe now, he thought, they’d finally found the perfect place to be.
With a sparkle of his own, AJ let their bodies slide together. “Maybe I will.” He mumbled back. Brian’s hands came up over his hips and had AJ sighing. He was exactly where he needed to be. Life was perfect.