Before You -DVD commentary... Part 2

[darkangel_0410]

Chris didn't even bother stopping for shoes before he went out the back door. He headed for the shadows towards the side of the house, by the bedroom. He glanced in the window as he went past but Petey had already left the room.

“'Lex, where the hell are you?” Chris called out, careful to keep his voice down. “I know you're out here, asshole.”

“That's not very nice,” Alex told him, a slight growl still in his voice. He was a few feet in front of Chris.

“What was that all about?” Chris asked him, walking over to him and closing the last few feet separating them. He wanted to reach over and touch him, but he was very aware of the fact that Petey was in the house; if he happened to come out here and see the two of them... Someone was bound to get hurt that way and Chris wanted to avoid that scenario if it was at all possible.

Example number four -you're lucky you're cute, Sabin.

“I didn't like seeing him put his hands on you,” Alex admitted quietly after a minute. “It made me see red and I could have cheerfully ripped out his throat in that second.

“That's never happened before,” he added, looking confused for a second before his expression smoothed out. “I never get that possessive of anyone; even people I've already slept with.”

Chris tried to keep his face blank, but his hands curled into fists at the thought of anyone else going near Alex.

“Well, you've got nothing to worry about, 'Lex; the idea of anyone else touching me makes my skin crawl.” Chris said, his voice bland.

Alex looked at him sharply, his mind racing; there was no way that was true -it didn't happen to vampires.

Aha, somebody finally got hit over the head with an obvious stick. In fairness to Shelley, he is the first vampire anyone's ever heard of having a mate. There's a couple reasons why he even knows what a mate is: one, he hears a lot of different things about different people. People talk to him and tell him things because of his connection to Shanne; anything they want to get back to him, they tell to Alex because it's generally known that Alex is Shanne's, but that's not entirely true. The other reason, well, you see it later on...

“What's wrong?” Chris asked, automatically shifting closer to him, trying to make sure he could protect him if he had to.

“Nothing,” Alex answered, smiling slightly when he saw the look of disbelief on Chris's face. “Nothing I want to talk about right now, anyway; let me think about it for a while and then I'll tell you.”

Chris nodded, glancing over his shoulder when Petey called his name.

“You better get back,” Alex said, his eyes black. “Before he comes out here.”

“Yeah,” Chris agreed, sighing and running his hand through his hair. “You'll come back tomorrow?”

Alex tried to tell himself that he'd be staying as far away from Chris as he could, but he knew it was a lie. “At some point,” he said, turning to leave.

“Don't let him touch you,” Alex warned, his voice tight. He didn't turn around; he was afraid if he watched Chris walk back into the house, he would lose the little control he had left and kill Chris's boyfriend before dragging Chris back to his place.

“My control is fucked around you for some reason and if I found out he put his hands on you..” He let it trail off and continued walking even though everything inside of him was telling him to go back and claim what was supposed to be his.

I almost didn't put this here; I kind of wanted it to seem -to Chris, at least- that Alex wasn't as effected by what was going on as Chris was. Shelley's control had been honed for decades, after all, so it makes sense that he would be able to hide his feelings for Chris. But it also made sense that Alex wasn't used to feeling anything, so it would throw him off kilter, unbalance him, to be feeling this possessive need for anyone, never mind for a human. Plus, I really liked the image of Alex telling Chris he would fuck Petey if he touched Chris, can't lie.

Chris watched him leave and had to fight every instinct that was screaming at him to go after him. Petey called again and Chris forced himself to turn around and go back inside.

You have some pretty good timing there, Petey -your boyfriend almost displayed another example of his disregard for his own safety.

Once Alex was back at his Maker's, he headed straight for where he knew Shanne would be at this time of night -the basement.

“Ah, Alexander, you've finished your job,” Shanne said, turning away from the human kneeling on the floor in front of him.

Alex glanced at the human, noticing the multiple bite wounds and the glazed look in his eyes; Shanne had found his toy for the night; at least he had been decent enough to glamour him.

“Not yet, Maker,” Alex murmured respectfully, keeping his eyes off of the human. “I wanted to ask you if you would indulge me and let me hunt the new human for a little while -maybe lure him away from his friend before I kill him.”

“You want a game, Alexander? I admit, I'm surprised by this,” Shanne told him, absently patting the human on the head before he gave his full attention to the other vampire. “It's been decades since you've enjoyed the thrill of the chase.

“But how could I deny you this? You've never asked me for a boon before and since it's something so inconsequential, I won't even ask for something in return.”

“Thank you, Maker,” Alex said, bowing his head and slowly starting to back away. “I'll leave you to your entertainment.”

It never occurred to Shanne that Alex might be lying; what Alex is suggesting is something that he himself would do, so he automatically assumed Alex would do it, too. If I ever write the third part of this -which, honestly, isn't very likely- Shanne's in for a nasty surprise when it comes to his Progeny.

He felt some pity for the human; Alex knew how the night was going to end for him and he only hoped it would end quick -and that Shanne left the glamour in place until the end.

Once he was out the door, Alex left as fast he could without looking suspicious. When he was outside, he paused for a minute before he headed towards the south side of the city; it was the only place he knew of to get some answers about what was going on with Chris.

I wonder where he's headed....

Chris closed the door behind him and leaned against it while he tried to get his mind back on track.

“Hey, is everything OK?” Petey asked, concern lacing the question.

“Yeah, I'm fine,” Chris answered wearily. “I need to talk to you, though.”

An hour later, Chris was sitting on the couch with most of his shit piled into the corner. He had a headache, Petey was beyond pissed at him and he was going to be homeless in a few days. But for some reason, he couldn't help smiling at the thought that now there was nothing to stop him from getting Alex.

Alex walked into the bar, his eyes scanning the crowd, noting the handful of humans sitting in the corner.

As he sat down, the bartender wandered over and gave him a friendly smile; Alex could see his eyes were shot with yellow, though, and there was an underlying snarl to his words when he asked Alex if he wanted a drink.

Looking back on this, I didn't explain anything about werewolves in this 'verse -I just assumed anyone who read this would have read Mine first and known what was what. Just rectify that oversight: hey, anyone who doesn't know, werewolves eyes change color when they're feeling any extreme emotion. Based on the fact that 1)Werewolves hate vampires and 2)Alex has a bad ass reputation, we can assume this particular wolf is feeling a mix of fear and anger that Alex is in his pack's territory.

“Can I talk to Joe?” Alex asked, polite enough but he kept his gaze level on the werewolf's in case he started thinking that he was dominant to Alex.

“Why would our Alpha want to talk to you, vampire?” The bartender rumbled out, his power flickering over Alex.

Before Alex could do more then raise an eyebrow, a door behind the bar opened and a large werewolf came towards them, a smile on his face.

He clapped the bartender on the back and Alex saw him wince before he moved away from them.

“Alex, what the fuck are you doing in my side of town?” Joe asked cheerfully. He grinned but Alex could see the wariness under the smile.

The only time I ever wrote Samoa Joe and I have to say, he was a lot of fun to play around with.

Alex didn't fault him for it; under any other circumstances if he showed up here it would be on his Maker's orders and that wouldn't have been good for either one of them. Joe and Shanne had a very shaky truce; the most powerful vampire and the most powerful wolf pack in the state had enough sense to not destroy said territory with their fighting. But there wasn't a lot of trust between them and it wouldn't take much to start a fight.

“I wanted to ask you something,” Alex told him truthfully. He met Joe's eyes long enough to let him know he wasn't afraid of him and then lowered his eyes respectfully.

“Is it for you?” Joe asked, his voice bland.

“Yeah, Shanne doesn't even know I'm here,” Alex answered, glancing around the bar before looking at Joe again. “It's personal.”

Joe raised an eyebrow at that, but walked from behind the bar.

That part is important; if Alex showed up on Shanne's behalf, that meant someone was probably going to end up dead. Joe knows that and so does Alex which is why he made sure to tell Joe it was personal. Joe's surprise at that is understandable, too; until now, Alex had no life separate from Shanne's.

“I'll be outside,” he called out, as he motioned Alex to go in front of him.

“Alpha, I don't think -” One of his pack started to say before Joe turned to him, his eyes turning yellow and his power flaring through the room. All the wolves present flinched and hurried to show their necks; even Alex had to admit Joe was one of the most powerful people he'd ever met.

“The day I want you to think for me, kefe, I'll be dead and in the ground. Understand?” Joe said, his voice deadly.

The other wolf nodded, dropping to his knees and showing his neck in a matter of seconds. Joe stared at him for another minute before turning and walking out the door.

Like I made a point of saying in Mine -an alpha's power over his pack his absolute. His word is law and to question what he tells you is like waving a gun in the face of a cop. You're going to get your ass busted for it but how badly depends entirely on the cop in question. Also, anyone who's read my stories knows I like to mess around with languages whenever possible (Afrikaans in Mine, Gaelic in the Bandom/Merry Gentry fusion I'm writing now, Spanish and Latin here and there) and I wanted to have Joe say something in Samoan. Kefe means bitch and while it is appropriate here, it's also the only curse word I could find in Samoan. Apparently, Samoan is a pain in the ass to find and/or learn/speak.

“Sorry, man; most wolves don't like vampires,” Joe told him, leaning against the building. “What can I do for you, Alex?”

Master of understatement is Joe. You're also probably asking yourself why Joe's even bothering to talk to Alex. Truth is Joe owes Alex a favor and figured this would be the easiest way to pay him back.

Alex hesitated for a minute; his natural instincts to keep things to himself warred with his desire to know what the hell was going on.

After telling himself that he had come to Joe for a reason, Alex explained everything that happened in a few short, terse sentences.

Joe was silent for a long minute and then he started laughing.

“What's so funny?” Alex scowled, frowning at the obvious amusement.

“You got caught, Alex,” Joe said, calming down enough to talk to the vampire. “You found your mate and that's all that matters to you now.”

“Vampires don't mate,” Alex said, forcing himself to stay calm. “And he's human.”

“Wolves can mate with humans,” Joe informed him, still smiling. “It happens more often then you'd think; there are more humans then wolves, after all.

“I'll admit that I've never heard of a vampire having a mate before,” Joe went on, looking at Alex with curiosity. “But obviously it's possible. What you're describing to me is the mating heat, right down to the fact that you want to fuck him into next week.”

“Something like that,” Alex muttered, his mind racing as he tried to process what had happened to him; what was happening.

“You want to submit to him?” Joe asked shrewdly, interest on his face.

“That's definitely proof that he's your mate,” Joe assured him, ignoring the glare Alex sent him. “You're dominant -and dominant enough that if you were a wolf you'd be alphic- and there's no other way you'd submit to someone like that without knowing them and having them prove their dominance to you.

“Also, Alex, I hate to be the one to point this out, but you've shown more emotion in the past ten minutes then you have the whole time I've known you. If that doesn't tell you something, you're dumber then I thought.”

I was snickering the whole time I wrote this, can't lie. I just kept picturing Joe with this gleeful smirk on his face and Shelley pouting. Aside from that, it does explain both Alex and Chris's behavior, not that there was any doubt.

“But I can't, Joe,” Alex told him, his voice firm; but Joe could hear a fine edge of desperation to his words. “No one should be with me; I'm not good. There's a mistake -there has to be.”

“Mating's not like marriage or anything else,” Joe said quietly, understanding in his voice. “Mate's are tied to our souls, to our very beings. There's no mistake; he's your other half. There's no one else for you now.”

“Vampires don't have souls, Joe,” Alex said, his fists clenched. Suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to go to Chris; just to see him, be around him. The thought scared the shit out of him and made his next words harsh.

“Especially me. Do you know the things I've done? The people I've killed? Being tied to me is the worst thing that could happen to him. For his own sake, I have to stay away from him.”

Once again, Alex is convinced he's a monster. He knows the things he's done and he's convinced there's no way to balance the slate. There's no salvation for him and at this point in the 'verse, he completely believes there never will be.

“You might think it's the best thing but are you willing to risk his well being for it?” Joe asked, raising an eyebrow at the growl that rumbled in Alex's chest before he could stop it. “Because if you continue to fight the mating, it'll get worse; the aggression, the hostility. In a few months, you'll kill anyone who looks at him.

“And it'll be just as bad for him. Trust me, Alex, and go to him. This is your fate -and the price you pay for fighting what was meant to be is never worth it.”

If I ever write Joe's backstory out, it's going to be epic length and explain exactly why Joe is so familiar with that knowledge. Right now, I only have a hazy outline that includes him not wanting to be Alpha and a few of his friends dying because he refused to accept the responsibility that was his.

Joe turned to go in and paused at the door to look at him.

“I don't know what you've done, Alex, but I know someone who took the time to bring a terrified wolf pup home isn't all bad; especially when he knew going into wolf territory meant there was a chance he'd get killed before he could say anything.”

With those last words, Joe went into the bar and left Alex alone with his thoughts.

There it is, the reason Joe owes Alex a favor. I could never make it fit into the story, but it went like this:

Alex was on an errand for Shanne -recon, tracking these guys that had killed one of Shanne's other vampires- and he had run into some people who had mentioned to him that there was a wolf pup that had gotten lost. They told Alex figuring Alex would tell Shanne because Shanne was always looking for a way to get the upperhand on Joe's pack.

Alex decided to go find the pup and bring it back to his pack because there was no way in hell he would ever just hand over a kid to Shanne's insanity.

While he's looking for the pup, he finds out that the pup's parents had been mated and that they were on their way out of town when there was an accident and the parents ended up dead. The pup had shifted and ran away from the accident all disoriented and really scared which is why Joe couldn't get a lock on where the kid was. Alex, of course, didn't know about the pack connection or the fact that Joe would be able to find him eventually, he just wanted to get the pup out of Shanne's part of town and back to the pack's territory.

So, he eventually found the pup -next to the wolves, Alex is the best tracker in that area- and convinced him to let him pick it up without trying to kill him (fyi, that took a lot of candy as bribery and three days of Alex just sitting outside of the tree trunk he was hiding in, not moving or breathing at all).

Alex finally gets the pup to trust him and he carries him back toward wolf territory; he just crossed over when he ran into Joe and a couple others who were searching for the pup. The other wolves wanted to kill Alex on the spot, but Joe held them off. He pointed out that Alex had never done anything to the pack personally (which was true; the few wolves Alex had killed had been rogues) and that the pup obviously wasn't afraid of him or been mistreated. In fact, the pup was licking Alex's face at that point in time.

Alex gave the pup back to Joe and asked Joe not to say anything to anyone in case word got back to Shanne and Joe never did. But when Alex came to talk to him, Joe felt like he still owed Alex a favor, so he went and talked to him.

Chris paced around the backyard; he felt like he had been waiting for something all day and it was driving him crazy. He knew what he was waiting for and he didn't know what pissed him off more: the fact that he was mooning over a guy like a teenage girl or that it was slowly becoming apparent to him that whatever the fuck was going on, Alex didn't feel it the way he did.

Even as he told himself to calm down, he saw Alex at the edge of his vision. Taking a deep breath, he felt everything inside of him settle down; he felt like himself for the first time in a day and half, and he felt happier seeing Alex now then he could ever remember being to see anyone else in his life.

As he watched Alex get closer, Chris tried to resent him for making him feel this way, but he couldn't. The only thing he wanted was toss Alex onto the ground and fuck him into next week.

Alex stopped in front of him and they stared at each other for what seemed like hours before Alex spoke.

“Hey, we need to talk.”

“What if I don't want to talk?” Chris asked, his voice husky. “What if that's the last thing I want to fucken do?”

I feel your pain, dude -I wouldn't want to talk if I had Shelley in front of me, either...

He turned around and walked back inside Petey's apartment. He knew Alex followed him inside, despite the fact that he didn't make any noise; Chris could feel Alex looking him over hungrily and he smirked to himself -maybe getting what he wanted wouldn't be as hard as he had assumed it would be.

“What's going on?” Alex asked when he saw a bunch of clothes and other things littered on one side of the living room floor.

“Petey kicked me out,” Chris answered quietly, his eyes never leaving Alex's. “I'm going to stay at my friend's until I can get my own place.”

Alex felt a surge of desire at the words and even as he tried to control himself, he could feel his dick get hard and his fangs extend. Although, he reflected briefly, he had been half hard since he had left Chris, so it wouldn't have taken much to get him the rest of the way there.

Chris inhaled sharply and made a mental note to make Alex show his fangs whenever he got a chance because, hell, it was the hottest thing he'd ever seen.

Even as Chris started towards him, Alex held up a hand to stop him. “We need to talk,” he repeated; his eyes narrowed when Chris grabbed his waist and started backing him up until he felt his back hit the wall.

“We can talk later,” Chris growled, bending his head to take Alex's mouth in a rough kiss. Pulling back, he bit Alex's neck hard enough to make Alex moan and shudder.

“I'm fucken serious,” Alex managed to gasp out, even as he ripped off Chris's shirt and tossed the shreds of fabric onto the floor.

Chris didn't bother saying anything, just kissed him again; running his tongue over Alex's fangs before he moved away enough to pull Alex's shirt over his head.

Alex moaned and tried to remember what had seemed important enough to stop this earlier, but his mind was blank.. He let his hands roam over Chris's exposed skin.

“Have to tell you later,” he muttered, tugging on Chris's hair to pull him closer for another kiss.

“Uh-huh,” Chris said absently, kissing his jaw. “Whatever you want.”

Alex gave in at that point; he didn't want to fight this thing with Chris any more. He decided to just follow what he wanted for once and trust that Chris was right when he said he wouldn't hurt him.

Moving fast, Chris managed to get Alex onto the floor before he realized what happened.

While Alex tried to figure out how the fuck a human got the drop on him like that, Chris snaked his hand daring at own the front of Alex's pants and bit down on his neck at the same time.

Even as he moaned and arched up into Chris's touch, Alex's hands started tearing at Chris's jeans, desperate to feel the rest of his skin against him.

“Fuck, 'Lex,” Chris panted, moving to his knees and getting Alex's jeans off as fast as he could before he stood up long enough to get out of the pieces of material that had once been his pants and boxers.

Chris dropped back down to his knees, looking at Alex for minute before he stared pressing biting kisses all over Alex's neck and shoulders.

“Hurry up,” Alex hissed when Chris knelt in between in Alex's legs and ran his hands up Alex's thighs. “I don't want to wait any more.”

Smirking, Chris briefly sucked on the first two fingers of his right hand to wet them and then he roughly kissed Alex as his first finger pressed against Alex's entrance. Despite himself, Alex tensed up, instinctively reacting the way he always had in the past.

Sensing there was something wrong besides normal nerves, Chris pulled back and after looking at Alex for a second, he pressed a gentle kiss to Alex's cheek.

“We can switch if you want,” Chris murmured soothingly, kissing along Alex's jawline. “It doesn't matter to me; I just want to be with you.”

Alex closed his eyes for a minute before he turned his head and caught Chris's lips in a hungry kiss. “I want it this way, Chris; I need it like this.”

After a second, Chris nodded, accepting Alex's words. It wasn't hard; for some reason, Chris's own instincts were screaming at him to top their first time together and his body was eager to follow them.

Deciding that distracting Alex would be the best plan, Chris captured his lips in another kiss while he worked his finger inside of Alex's body.

Once it was all the way in, he started biting the side of Alex's neck, he started thrusting his finger in and out of Alex's slowly relaxing body.

Alex moaned as Chris bit his shoulder at the same time Chris's fingers brushed against his prostate. He started rolling his hips, trying to get more of Chris's fingers. He fisted his hands in Chris's hair, pulling him close enough so that Alex could kiss him hard enough for Chris to get the idea that it was OK to start getting rougher.

Chris got the message; he quickly worked another finger in and without waiting for Alex to adjust, he started finger fucking him, fast and rough. Alex groaned, his hands tightening in Chris's hair briefly before he dropped them onto the carpet, momentarily remembering that he was stronger then Chris was.

“Chris,” he moaned, suddenly remembering something else. “I might bite you.”

“Go ahead,” Chris told him, pulling his fingers free. “I've been biting you almost non stop.”

“Motherfucker,” Chris managed to ground out as he carefully pushed inside of him. “Holy fuck. Fuck.”

When he was finally all the way in, Chris barely waited a minute before he was pulling out and slamming back into Alex as hard as he could. When Alex moaned loudly and started meeting his thrusts, Chris redoubled his efforts, wanting to hear Alex make as much noise as possible.

Chris shifted his weight onto his left hand and slipped his right in between their bodies to wrap around Alex's leaking cock. Alex groaned, his hands clenching in the carpet and ripping out pieces of it.

“I won't last long,” Alex rasped, his voice husky. “I'm already close.”

When he moaned again, Chris remembered what he had said earlier. He shifted closer to Alex, making sure his shoulder was by Alex's mouth. Feeling Alex start to tighten around his ass, Chris braced himself; he was sure it was going to hurt at least a little bit.

But when Alex buried his teeth in the curve of Chris's shoulder, all Chris felt was pleasure. Complete and mind numbing pleasure that was shaded with a quiet certainty that he belonged here with Alex.

Confession time: sex scenes are the hardest thing for me to write, I usually write them last no matter where they appear in the story. It's hard -haha, hard, get it? Sorry, I'll stop now..- for me to keep it interesting; no matter what I wrote, it always reads weird to me and seems just completely clinical and whatnot. It's something I've tried to work on for almost as long as I've been writing.

When Chris finally blinked his eyes open, he realized he was laying on top of Alex. “Sorry,” he mumbled, brushing a lazy kiss across Alex's mouth before he pulled out of him and rolled onto his left side.

“It's alright,” Alex assured him, smiling when Chris raised an eyebrow at him. “It doesn't matter if you're a fatass or not, I don't really need to breathe.”

“Ha ha,” Chris said sarcastically, flicking Alex's nose. “So, you wanted to talk about something?”

“Oh, now you want to talk?” Alex mocked him, shifting so he was laying on his side, facing the other man.

“Well, yeah,” Chris scoffed, gently shoving Alex. His shoulder twinged a little but he ignored it; finally being this close to Alex and being able to touch and talk to him however he wanted felt like a dream come true. “Now that we've both gotten off, we can move onto to the less important things.”

A man after my own hear, Sabin is.

Alex couldn't help but chuckle before he explained to Chris what Joe had told him the night before.

As Chris listened to Alex explain about werewolves and mates, he started frowning. It wasn't that he was unhappy or pissed about it; what Alex was saying just confirmed what he already knew -he loved Alex and it was going to stay that way for the rest of his life. The reason why he felt this way wasn't nearly as important to him as the end result was.

As the endorphins faded from Chris's body, his shoulder was starting to bother him more; the sharp stabbing pain was distracting him from what Alex was saying.

He tried to sit up, unable to stop the groan that left when the movement jarred his shoulder and made it throb even more.

“Chris, are you alright?” Alex asked, concerned. He sat up and moved closer so he could help Chris stay upright.

“I'm fine,” Chris told him, trying to reassure his mate. “Must have pulled a muscle or something, that's all.”

Alex's eyes narrowed and he gently ran his fingers over Chris's right shoulder, trying to access the damage. After a second, a look of self-loathing crossed his face and he tried to pull away from Chris. Chris latched his left hand onto Alex's thigh and squeezed as hard as he could.

“Let me go,” Alex said, his voice empty. “I broke your collar bone; in the middle of sex, I bit you hard enough to break your bones. I hurt you. Let me go!”

The last word was snarled at Chris, Alex's anger at himself, making his fangs show and his eyes darken. Despite the fact that his shoulder was screaming with pain, Chris just looked unconcerned at the enraged vampire next to him.

“No,” Chris said simply, raising an eyebrow when Alex growled at him. “Shut up. The only thing you're accomplishing by growling like that is getting me hard.

“I'm not letting you go and you're not running away the minute I'm sleeping. You're going to stay here, we're going to talk about this and that's the end. Understand me? I don't have the energy right now to be chasing you all around fucken town, you huge fucken pain in my ass.”

Alex gaped at him, taken by surprise when he realized Chris really wasn't scared of him. “But I hurt you,” he repeated quietly, unable to get past that simple fact.

“Yeah, but it was an accident,” Chris reminded him, his hand starting to massage Alex's thigh comfortingly. “And it happened during sex, so it gives me bragging rights from now until forever about how fucken great I am in bed.”

Poor Alex, he finally gets some and he still manages to make himself feel like shit. It also establishes the pattern that we see in Mine: Alex feels like a monster, believes it about himself -even decades later, when Mine takes place, he still has flashes of it- and it takes Chris unwavering faith in him to pull him out of that mind space. I'm actually really proud of the dialogue here, too; it always sounded to me like something that Chris would actually say if the situation ever arose.

Alex smiled weakly and then sighed. Regardless of whether Chris was mad at him, it was still his fault but at least he could help heal him.

He bit his wrist and when Chris looked at him in confusion, he held it to Chris's mouth and explained, “It'll help heal you; vampire blood has special healing properties. Where it would take you weeks for the bone to heal, it'll only take a few hours with my blood speeding up the process.”

“That's handy,” Chris murmured before he sealed his mouth against the self inflicted bite on Alex's wrist.

Alex hissed in pleasure at the feel of Chris drinking from him. After a minute, Alex pulled him away gently, smirking when he saw the dazed look in Chris's eyes.

“Damn, 'Lex,” Chris said, his words slightly slurring. “That shit's better then drugs.”

Alex shook his head in amusement but before he could say anything, Chris let out a huge yawn.

“You should sleep,” Alex told him, trying to get him to lay back down on the floor. “You're body's using up a ton of energy right now.”

“Only if you do, too,” Chris said stubbornly. “And don't leave. Promise me.”

Alex raised an eyebrow; apparently Chris turned into a petulant child when he was tired and hurt.

“I won't leave,” Alex promised easily; despite his earlier words, he had no desire to leave Chris -even if it might have been the best thing for him.

Finally conceding to Alex's urging, Chris laid down on his side, sighing in contentment when Alex curled up behind him and put his arm around his waist, careful to avoid hitting his arm.

“You ripped my clothes,” Chris pointed out randomly, his eyes already closed. “And the carpet. Petey's gonna be pissed.”

“Fuck, Petey,” Alex said easily, trying to keep the possessive growl out of his voice at the mention of Chris's ex boyfriend. “And I didn't hear you complaining.”

“Not complaining,” Chris mumbled right before he started snoring.

Alex smiled; for the first time in his life, he felt happy. They might have a lot to deal with still, but Alex knew they were going to do it the way they should do everything from now on: together.

Kind of sappy, yeah, but I wanted this to have a happy ending and for Alex to at least start to believe that he and Chris belonged together.