#and another chapter

[i-am-a-fan]

“It’s like asking to see god at a denny’s diner. Like, it’s possible, but why is THAT the price i have to pay?”

[wordsofwhisper]

fic: Dirty Paws (6/?)

So... yeah. PLOTTWIST! Sorry. Not really, but I think someone is going to hate me... I won't say names.

Summary: Something happened to Arthur before he went back to Canterbury. This something, or someone, could destroy the relationship of Arthur and Adrian. Will it?

Chapter: 6/?

Words: 3.600+

Chapter 5 – Your bones

Present day

When Adrian woke up the next morning, Arthur was already gone. His side of the bed was still a little bit warm so he hoped that Arthur would be near. Maybe he was only in the bathroom taking a shower. Adrian listened, but he didn’t hear the shower or any other sound for that matter. It was completely still in the house. It was still dark outside as well so it couldn’t be too late in the morning.

The bed felt big and cold without Arthur there next to him. Adrian whined but there was no one to hear it but himself. He decided to get up to see if Arthur was downstairs when he heard his phone buzz.

It was just after seven in the morning when Adrian opened the message and saw it was from Arthur.

Arthur [7:12am]: Good morning, Love. I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up. Something came up that I have to take care off. I’ll see you later tonight? I love you.

Adrian smiled a little bit. He wondered what the emergency was but he could ask about it later tonight.

Adrian [7:17am]: :( This early? I wish you would’ve been here when I opened my eyes.

Adrian realised how whiny he sounded in that message, though he didn’t like it that Arthur was out before Adrian had woken up. It was so early as well! What kind of ‘something’ could be so important to have Arthur be out of the door at this hour?

Adrian [7:20am]: Yeah, tonight is great. Will you have dinner with us? I love you too.

Adrian found himself staring at his phone while he sat up against the headboard. He reread Arthur’s message and hoping Arthur would send him one back soon. Maybe he could get an answer from Arthur before tonight. The conversation Adrian had with Arthur last night, Adrian felt like it had brought them closer. Somehow he felt farther away from Arthur right now. He knew he had to be patience and Arthur didn’t know everything from Adrian either, although he didn’t really have anything to hide. Adrian had waited for Arthur for so long until he finally let Jared in, which was the biggest mistake he ever made. The only good decision he had made was deciding to become a parent. Natalie definitely was his top of the world.

Still nothing from Arthur and the minutes were ticking by slowly.

Adrian was starting to get that anxious feeling inside him again. It definitely was the part that Arthur hadn’t told him last night that worried him. He wondered if something bad happened between Arthur and David that Arthur didn’t want him to know. Maybe Arthur was protecting Adrian, though he didn’t need protection. He never had, so he definitely didn’t need protection now either. He can take care of himself, even if everybody thought he couldn’t.

Was that why people were wary to tell him things? Adrian knew Stephen didn’t keep things from him and he was happy about that. Honesty was the best policy, his brother often told him. Obviously that wasn’t the same for Logan and Zachary. From Zachary he could understand, because he and Zachary had only become friends since the past few years because they filled a hole where Arthur had left them both. Logan, however, was his best friend for years. He had lied to him how he thought about Jared, even if he sort of had been right in the end. But he never told Adrian what he really thought of his ex.

Adrian felt his phone buzz in his hands and immediately looked down at it. He saw Arthur’s name on the screen.

Arthur [7:48am]: Yes, that sounds wonderful. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I’ll make it up to you tonight, I promise. ;)

Adrian grinned like a mad man when he saw the words on the screen. Maybe this day didn’t start out bad after all, even if Arthur wasn’t there when he had woken up.

Adrian [7:49am]: I can’t wait. ;)

There was still this big grin on his face. He had to remind himself that he trusted Arthur and if he wasn’t telling Adrian something, he was taking his time. Baby steps. Things really seem to move fast between them. Adrian definitely didn’t want to pressure Arthur into anything, which was why he had been confused and taken back by the proposal that night after he had come to Arthur’s house two months ago. They weren’t even together yet, even though that was what Adrian hoped they would be after that night. Arthur had taken him in like a stray cat that night and he felt back at home in Arthur’s arm. Had he made the right decision by accepting his proposal so soon? Maybe Arthur was having second thoughts about it.

As usual, Adrian was overthinking everything again. He looked down at his phone to see another ten minutes had passed and no message from Arthur. Not that he expected one back, but he had hoped for his fiancé’s name to pop up on the screen.

Adrian sighed. He threw the blankets off of him and went to the bathroom to get a shower. Now that he was awake and it was almost eight in the morning, it was better to start the day. He was surprised Natalie wasn’t awake yet, though she probably must’ve been tired from the past couple of days. The couch hadn’t been too comfortable for her. Adrian definitely could tell by how little her eyes were by the end of the trip. It was better not to wake her up either if she was still asleep.

Maybe Adrian would call up Logan later to ask if he wanted to go to the park with him and Natalie and the twins. He could use some time with his best friend again after spending a long weekend with Arthur.

*

While the children were playing on the playground and with the snow, trying to make snow angels on the ground, Adrian and Logan sat down on a bench and watched them closely. Natalie wanted to bring the sleigh with them so she and the twins could play with that while being in the park.

“How was the weekend?” Logan asked.

“It was okay.” Adrian’s voice sounded like it came from far away and Logan immediately noticed the change of demeanour in Adrian.

“What happened?”

Of all people, Logan definitely was the only person Adrian had told everything to. Arthur was coming close to knowing a lot about Adrian, but there were still some bits his fiancé didn’t know but Logan did. Some went way back when they were younger and some even recent. Not that he didn’t trust Arthur, but his relationship with Logan was so much different than the one he had with Arthur. Whenever Adrian was going through hell, Logan was there right beside him; supporting him and making sure he finds his way out of it.

“I found a DVD at his pace. I know it was wrong to watch it, but I couldn’t help it. I got curious. It was something David, the guy who infected Arthur, made and it was all about Arthur. Small clips of him alone, or with the guy as well.” Adrian sighed. He wished he hadn’t let his curiosity win over because then he wouldn’t be feeling like this. Then the weekend would’ve been better and Adrian wouldn’t be worried about where Arthur would be if he wasn’t with him. “I told Arthur about it and he’s been acting a bit weird since then. Yesterday he told what happened between the two, but he isn’t telling me everything.” Adrian sighed.

Logan didn’t say anything for the longest time and Adrian wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. He started to get worried what Logan would be saying the longer the pause was.

“Arthur loves you, Adrian,” was all that Logan said.

Adrian watched as his best friend looked at him and giving him a reassuring smile. He wished he could tell Logan about the engagement, but he and Arthur had agreed to keep it quiet. It hadn´t even been two months since they got together. They would definitely get told by their friends that they were moving too fast.

This was the first time Adrian was keeping something from Logan, but he also had to remind himself that Logan had kept something from him as well about his ex. Guess they didn´t tell each other everything after all.

Adrian changed the subject after that and didn´t bring it up again. Neither did Logan as they watched the children play before deciding to go back to Logan´s house to get some hot chocolate with whipped cream and mini-marshmallows. They weren’t only for the children, because Adrian and Logan wanted a cup themselves.

*

Two years earlier (September 19, 2021)

After their little awkward conversation at the café where they had grabbed lunch, the rest of their Saturday had gone by without a huff. They had spent the entire day together and walked around Beaumont. After that they went to have dinner and walked a little bit more until they finished the night at a bar. Arthur didn’t want to drink, but David insisted on one drink. If he got more, he could just crash in his hotel room.

One drink led to two and when Arthur woke up the next morning, he was lying on his stomach with only his boxer briefs on. His head was hurting and the sun was shining through the window on his face, which made it all even worse.

Arthur groaned loudly, moving his head to the other side and closed his eyes again.

“Good morning, sunshine,” David chuckled as he walked out of the bathroom and had heard Arthur groaning.

Arthur didn’t understand how David could be so cheerful while he felt like death right now. His entire body was sore and he couldn’t even move. He just wanted to sleep more, but David seems to have other plans.

“Get up, lazy.” David tugged the blankets away and Arthur felt the cold breeze over his body, making him groan another time. “You’ll feel better once you have some food and coffee inside of you.” David slapped his calf and Arthur kicked the hand away but he was too slow. “Arthur, come on.”

Finally, thirty minutes later and with a lot of protests, Arthur and David were sitting downstairs in the hotel having breakfast. Arthur’s head was still hurting him, but at least he had coffee. That was making this all a little bit better. He didn’t know why he had let David talk him into drinking the night before especially since he knew his history with alcohol wasn’t a fairy-tale. He definitely wasn’t going back to his old life before where it centred around that bottle of vodka. Even if last night had been fun, Arthur couldn’t remember what he had David had talked about or how he ended up in that hotel room in the same bed as David.

Arthur had a sudden realisation.

“Did we have sex?” he said in a hushed voice, moving in closer to David as his eyes grew up. He saw the way David was staring back before he started laughing.

“You don’t remember anything about last night?”

Arthur could feel his face start to flush when David wasn’t agreeing nor denying his question. So they did. Why else would David not answer his question immediately?

“We had sex. Oh, shit,” Arthur cursed. “Shit… Fuck.”

“Arthur, no. That’s not what I meant. We didn’t have sex. Actually, you kept talking about this guy you left… Adrian?” David shrugged, not sure if he got the right name because he had been drinking himself, but he thought that was the name. Especially when Arthur quickly turned his head with the name and his eyes grew big with shock again.

“What did I tell you exactly?”

David shrugged, picking up his cup of tea and drinking a few sips from it before putting it back down. “You told me all about him. How amazing his eyes are, his smile, his dark curly hair. Then you started on and on about his cheeks… I’m pretty sure you weren’t talking about his face anymore, because you told me how much you liked to grab them. Oh, I also now have a clear picture about how perfect his penis is.”

Arthur was somewhat relieved they didn’t have sex or done something stupid, but he had been talking about Adrian. After seven years he still couldn’t get the guy out of his head. No matter how far away he was, Adrian was still there. Arthur could feel the pain in his chest by thinking about him again.

“Are you okay?” David asked. “You look like you’re going to be sick.”

“I think I am…” Arthur quickly stood up and walked out, his hand in front of his mouth. He really did feel sick, but he didn’t think it was because of the thought of Adrian. It definitely was an after effect of the amount of alcohol he had drank the night before.

Arthur spent an hour above the toilet, hauling the insides of his stomach up until he calmed down enough to step away from it. David had come after him not too long after Arthur had left in a hurry. At first he rubbed Arthur’s back and then he had gone to get a bottle of water for him.

This was David’s last day. He was leaving again in a couple of hours and he wished they could spend some more time together before he had to go. With Arthur feeling crap like this, there wasn’t much they could do. Hopefully he would feel better later in the day because he still needed to drive back home after dropping David off at the airport.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For being sick.”

David huffed. “We both are, remember?”

It was a bad joke. If Arthur hadn’t felt this miserable, he sure wouldn’t have liked it. It was probably the bad timing and the fact he wasn’t feeling himself that made him laugh. And he couldn’t stop either. It was the stupidest joke he heard and he didn’t even think it was meant to be a joke. David had quickly joined in on the laughter and both men laughed for quite some time, the sound filling the bathroom.

Arthur was finally feeling a little bit better and they had a little bit of time left before they needed to go to the airport. They choose to stroll at the little park close to the hotel after dropping David’s stuff in Arthur’s car. It was a nice walk out in the open air and they got some more talking. It still wasn’t weird to have David around; it felt like he had always been there. They got along so easily. Arthur started to feel a little bit guilty that he had pushed David away in the first place when he realised what a great friend he could be.

Their conversation had ended in a serious one when they talked about their HIV. Arthur didn’t like talking about it, so he basically only nodded while David was talking about his situation.

Eventually they had to go back to the car to bring David to the airport. It definitely was a great weekend. Arthur didn’t regret sending that email to David and asking him to meet up.

“So… guess this is where I take off,” David said as they stood in front of the check-in now. He was faced away until he turned around and smiled at Arthur.

Arthur had both hands in his pockets. He was hangover, but he already felt a lot better than this morning. It was a good sign, at least he could get home tonight to his own bed and didn't have to spend money on a hotel room.

“It was great seeing you,” Arthur said, not sure what to say else. He never had been good with goodbye. He only had done a few of them, and they really sucked. Add this one to it.

David did a step forward, crossing the space between them. He put a hand on Arthur’s cheek and smiled at him. His green eyes were on Arthur’s and stayed there. Then he leaned in closely, carefully, watching Arthur’s reaction. When Arthur didn’t move away, he closed the gap between them, pressing his lips on Arthur’s and kissed him.

It wasn’t much. No tongue, only lips. David was the one who pulled away and opened his eyes to see Arthur looking at him a little bit shocked and not sure what to say after that.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you since I first saw you again yesterday,” David confessed.

“David…” Arthur started, but he forgot instantly what he wanted to say again. What was there to say after your ex just kissed you again after almost nine years of not seeing each other?

“It’s okay, Arthur. I know you still love Adrian.”

Arthur did, but that was the point. This time it was Arthur who closed the gap and kissed David. More fiercely this time as he pulled him closer to him by David’s hips. It was more tongue and teeth this time and probably inappropriate for a goodbye at the airport, but neither seemed to care this time. Arthur normally wasn’t one for PDA but it had been a long time since he had kissed someone. When David had kissed him, it had woken him up. It made him relive that hunger he had forgotten about; a hunger for affection.

He finally pulled away, breathless and panting a little but he stayed close. “Adrian is history. Maybe we should try this and see where it goes,” he said. A smile was on Arthur’s face now.

David nodded with the same smile.

*

Present day

Arthur had come late that night and missed dinner. Adrian hadn’t been too happy about it when he came and even ignored Adrian’s question about where he had gone, why he couldn’t let him know he wasn’t coming so he and Natalie didn’t wait an hour for him to come to the house before deciding to just eat. They broke into a fight and Arthur left. Adrian didn’t even care at that moment as he had to take care of a crying Natalie.

Adrian didn’t see or spoke to Arthur for an entire week. There were times where he had picked up his phone to call Arthur or send him a text message. He didn’t like fighting with him, especially since he felt guilty about yelling at him after that. But when he looked at Arthur’s name on his phone, he remembered how stubborn Arthur was and was probably waiting for Adrian to come crawling back to him as usual.

Not this time. This time he wasn’t going to let his emotions, his need for Arthur and someone to cuddle with at night, get a hold of him. This time, Adrian was going to wait out and let Arthur come to him. He had to stand ground and just focus on what mattered and that was his job.

School started again a few days ago and he was back to being away for an entire day. It was nice to see all of his students again and see all of them still had all of their limbs. No harm done during New Year’s Eve, apart from losing their first kisses to strangers and midnight or their virginities. Nothing new there, honestly. When Adrian got home tired, he still had to make dinner for him and Natalie and then he got to spend some quality time with her, hear her talk about what they had done in school that day – which was probably Adrian’s favourite part of the day – before he brought her upstairs to go to bed.

When he finally had some alone time, that’s when the loneliness kicked him. The longer Arthur took to get to him, the heavier those feelings got. He really missed Arthur and Adrian was almost forgetting what they had been fighting about.

Tonight those feelings took over. He had pulled out his phone and was ready to call Arthur to apologise and beg him to come over to cuddle and just sleep in the same bed as him, when his phone went off. Logan’s name popped up on the screen. Was his someone telling him that he shouldn’t be calling Arthur?

“Hi, Logan,” Adrian picked up the phone, trying to sound like he hadn’t been crying just before.

“I need to tell you something,” Logan started immediately. His voice didn’t sound the same as it normally did.

Adrian sat up straight immediately. His heart almost stopped when he thought about what it could be. Was Zachary in the hospital? Did he have a relapse? Did something happen to the twins?

“I saw Arthur a couple hours ago downtown,” Logan started. “He wasn’t alone. I know it wasn’t you, because the other guy was blond. I don’t know who he was, but it didn’t look like it was casual. They were holding hands while they were sitting at a table.”

Adrian could feel his world crumble underneath him; Arthur was seeing someone else.

“Please tell me you’re joking. Please tell me it wasn’t Arthur you saw….” His voice was barely a whisper.

“I’m sorry, Adrian,” was the only response Logan was giving him.

Adrian’s vision started to blur as tears were coming to his eyes before falling down his cheeks. Arthur was cheating on him. The only person he ever trusted, the only person he was trying to trust again, the only person who had promised him a long time ago that he would never cheat on Adrian, was doing exactly that.

Adrian felt like dying inside.

[notnow-letsdance]