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Chris’s POV:“He ghosted me again!” I groaned as I slammed my beer down, “This is the 3rd time this week! Am I doing something wrong?”“No,” Leota started, “You know it’s his new boyfriend. He has a tight leash on him. Unfortunately, until either he realizes that it’s wrong or something bad happens, Adrian isn’t going to change anything.”“You’re right,” I sighed, “I just wish I could talk some sense into him.”“We all do,” she sighed, “The best thing you can do right now is just wait until he’s ready. You don’t want to do anything that would cause him to cut off ties with you.”“True,” I said, “God I’m so dumb. I just wish I would’ve talked to him before he met Tom.”“Talked to him about what?” she asked.“Look, don’t tell anyone about this but I may or may not have feelings for Adrian,” I confessed.“Well duh!” she yelled.“Wait? You knew!” I exclaimed.“Yes! Everyone knew but you!” she started, “Adrian’s clearly head over heels in love with you! You never reciprocated anything back so he went looking elsewhere.”“Oh shit, so this is all my fault,” I sighed, “He’s wasting time with some low life because I didn’t open my mouth?”“I guess, yeah,” she said as someone knocked on my door, “But when Adrian’s realized how screwed up Tom is he will run in the other direction.”“Hang on, someone’s at my door,” I told her.“At this hour?” she asked, wondering why someone is knocking in the middle of the night.“Yeah, look, I’ll call you back,” I told her before I hung up and went to open the door.I opened the door and was met with an unexpected visitor. Wasn’t an enemy. Wasn’t someone itching to pick a fight. It was Adrian. He was standing there with a black eye, busted lip, red eyes, and who knows what else.“Adrian?” I asked before I pulled him inside, “Get in here! What happened?”“Tom,” he said softly as he hugged his arms around his middle.“Where is he?” I immediately asked ready to kick his face in.“I don’t know,” he mumbled, “He’ll probably come looking for me.”“Then he’ll have me to answer to,” I told him, “Are you okay?”“No,” he muttered as he dropped his head to look at his feet.“Do you want a hug?” I asked.His breath hitched as a sob broke out. He stepped forward and hid his face in the crook of my neck while he gripped the back of my shirt.“Shh, it’s okay,” I soothed as I gently but firmly hugged him back, “Am I tight enough?”“No,” he said.“Am I tight enough?” I asked again as I tightened my hug and told him what to do once he said yes, “Tell me when you’re done.”I continued to hold him as tight as he said while he cried. I knew I had to keep myself together, I couldn’t break while he was like this. He needed me right now.After a few minutes of holding him he moved his head away enough to tell me he was done.“Now, can you tell me what happened?” I asked as I guided him to sit on my couch while I grabbed the first aid kit that I’m glad I keep stocked.“This past week I’ve was getting a gut feeling that something wasn’t right,” he started before he took the pain pills I gave him with some water, “Did some snooping but couldn’t find anything. Something still didn’t sit right.”“Shirt,” I said as I helped him out of it and had to keep my composure as I saw the bruises that littered his body.“After dinner I was going to break it off,” he told me before he flinched at the pressure I was applying to his side, “He didn’t like that.”“No reason to beat you senseless,” I said as I had him hold an ice pack to his eye, “Did he catch you off guard?”“Yes,” he sighed as I wrapped his torso, “I couldn’t fight back like I normally would or he’d know I was Vigilante.”“You don’t know that,” I told him.“Didn’t want to take that chance,” he explained, “Besides, I did break his arm so he ran off.”“Good,” I sighed, “I’m sorry this happened to you Adrian. I wish I could have a time machine to go back and stop this from happening.”“How would you stop it?” he asked, not getting the connection.“I only came to this realization after you started dating Tom,” I started as I lowered his hand from his eye so I could look at his face clearly, “I love you and I’m sorry it took me so long to figure it out.”“You love me?” he asked, “Like love me as a friend or love love me?”“Love love you,” I answered before I leaned forward and kissed his lips gently, avoiding the cut on them, “I love you Adrian.”“I love you too Chris!” he beamed before hugging me, “I thought you’d never say those words.”“Sorry it took me so long,” I told him as I brought him in my lap and held him close.“Worth the wait,” he said as he snuggled into me.“We can talk more about this tomorrow, you need some rest,” I told him as I picked him up and made my way over to my bed, “Here. You can sleep here.”“Where are you going?” he asked, not missing the look of panic on his face.“I’m going to sleep on the couch,” I answered.“No,” he exclaimed as he grabbed for my hand, “Sleep here with me. Please?”“Okay,” I said, “Let me go grab the extra blankets off the couch.”“Okay,” he sighed, relieved I was going to join him.“What took you so long?” Leota asked, “Are you okay?”“Yes, why?” I asked, confused as to why she was calling me.“You said you’d call me back after you answered the creepy person at the door in the middle of the night!” she exclaimed, “Who was it?”“It was Adrian,” I said in a hushed voice, “He was breaking it off with Tom and he beat the crap out of him.”“Oh hell no,” she started, “Where is he?”“Who knows. Adrian said he broke his arm though,” I said.“Good, he deserves much more than that,” she told me, “How is Adrian?”“A little shook up, some bruises and cuts, but he will be alright,” I explained, “I actually told him I loved him and now he wants me to sleep next to him.”“Finally! Took your sweet time!” Leota yelled, “Go be with him but I expect a detailed report tomorrow morning!”“Bye Leota,” I laughed before hanging up.I grabbed the blankets and made my way back to my bedroom. Adrian was fast asleep, all curled up and under the blankets. I climbed into bed and got under the blankets too, getting all warm inside when Adrian automatically snuggled up to me. I smiled as I wrapped my arms around him and held him close.