these past few months had been rough to say the least, one disaster after another, all culminating in him waking up in a hospital bed, alone. as painful as the broken bones and bruises covering his body were, however, nothing could compare to the ache in his chest when he heard the voicemail patrick had left behind for him. he was gone. patrick… the one bright light in all of this mess… was gone.
things hadn’t been perfect between them, far from it, and he knew he had equal - if not more, really - blame in that, but for him to just disappear? out of his life, maybe forever? that he hadn’t been expecting. even if… maybe he deserved it. there was no excuse for how he’d been treating patrick lately, regardless of what he’d been going through, and - before he’d wound up with his face in the pavement - he’d been on his way to make amends for just that. but, perhaps… maybe that was a sign from the universe, stopping him from hurting patrick any more than he already had. maybe he should just let him be. let him find peace, with a boyfriend that could treat him the way he deserved. and, well, for the meantime… that was his only choice. a blocked phone number and zero idea of the other’s current location left him with nothing to do but wait, for that one, fateful day patrick had mentioned in the message, where they could reunite and things would be perfect. was the fantasy an unrealistic one? maybe. but it was all he had left.
– or, it was, until one afternoon, in the middle of studying for an upcoming biology exam, he received a phone call from an unknown number. typically, he probably would have just ignored it, but something in his gut - along with, well, a needed break from the boredom that was his homework - told him to answer. the voice on the other line? mencía. their conversation had been far more brief than he would have liked, considering the number of questions he had for her, but fortunately, the most important one was answered; the blanco family’s location.
week after week had gone by since he’d seen patrick, heard his voice, felt his lips on his skin… all of it, and he wasn’t about to let another second go by without seeing him. he was on the next flight out, carefully following the directions mencía had given him to get to the club, and before he knew it… there he was. reclining back on the couch, handsome as ever. it wasn’t until iván was standing before him, hobbling on his crutches, that the realization that this might not be the best idea hit him. what if patrick didn’t want to see him? what if he’d moved on, and him being here was only fucking things up for him again? the last few hours had been spent trying to think of the perfect words to say, but what if patrick didn’t even want to hear them?
still… selfish or not, he hadn’t come all this way to not even give things a shot. he finally had the chance he’d been waiting for, when he ran out to find patrick all that time ago, and he wasn’t going to leave without at least giving the apology that his best friend deserved – that the man he loved deserved.
“…hey.” iván’s voice was soft as he finally worked up the nerve to approach patrick, seating himself down in the chair across from him. all this time, all the words planned out… all of them disappearing the second he was face-to-face with him. nothing seemed good enough anymore. “if you want me to just fuck off, or… whatever, you can tell me that. i’ll shuffle on outta here as fast as these things will move me.” he tapped the crutches leaning beside his chair then, giving patrick a small, tentative smile. “but… you said that, one day, you wanted us to meet again. just figured i’d… i dunno, check and see if today is that day.”
In the time they had spent apart, Patrick hadn’t been able to get Iván out of his mind, and frankly he didn’t want to. The memories were wrought with challenges and harsh realities, but the good parts were so good that it was all worth it. Because deep down, he knew he’d found what he’d been looking for when he found Iván. Ander and Omar were great in their own way, but as the man’s eye-opener to a new world he’d been nothing more than the second of many pegs on Ander’s belt and Omar only had eyes for Ander. Patrick was just a distraction with him. Every time he turned around, someone was leaving. But he’d always found a way back to Iván.
Sure, it was hard sometimes when he thought about the last things Iván had said to him. Patrick didn’t know that Ari had been proactive and sneakily blocked Iván’s number. He’d called the hospital every day for updates until he was told that the other man had finally recovered enough to leave. His heart felt light knowing that his love was alive, even with the weight on his shoulders from the loss of him and the emptiness he felt now that he’d had what he wanted and lost it. Iván really loved him the way that Patrick loved him. They were intense and sometimes toxic, but they were young and trying to work through their own issues. When he thought back in moments like this, and he always thought back when he sat idle, it was the good that stick out. He’d promised the void that his inner voice spoke to that he’d change, he’d be better, he’d learn how, he’d make up for everything he’d ever done wrong.
Tonight seemed like every other night since he’d left his love in a hospital bed, but among the things that he didn’t know were the comings and goings of his other sister. While Ari held steadfast to their plan and made moves to keep them away from everything to do with Las Encinas, Mencia was wrecked by guilt and made moves to make up for what she felt she’d caused Patrick to lose. When the voice hit his hears, he knew immediately who it belonged to, even in a crowded club. His eyes opened after that simple hey and the expression on his face said that he was as surprised as a person could be. So surprised that he couldn’t manage to interrupt Iván to save time by immediately telling him how he felt. Or kissing him. Taking in the sight of those crutches and the bruises still left healing from whatever shithead had hit him with their car and the run off without calling for help kept Patrick too shocked to move. All he could do was take in the way the other man looked and the sound of his voice. Until that voice was gone and he realized the conversation was waiting on him.
So he stood up and maneuvered himself so that he was able to take Iván by the face and press their foreheads together, his head dizzy with how hard the elation hit him when their skin touched. “You’re really here. How?” This was real. “Are you okay?” Was it possible? Could they start over? “It’s possible.” He answered his own question out loud, and Iván’s too. but this wasn’t close enough, he had to pull the other man into a hug, cradling him close. From here, he could smell his cologne and shampoo. Again, it hit him that this was real and he felt emotion well up inside of him. “I thought I had lost you. Forever. I missed you, my love. I love you. I’ll always be here for you, whenever you want me. I’ve been looking for you for a long time, I don’t plan on letting you go.”
