Mini fic 300 word challenge
@lonelier-version-of-you Johnrik: One finds the other crying over something This was actually a proper proper challenge! I hope you like the result. :D
“What’s wrong?” It seemed as if John had asked that question too many times in the last few days, but Henrik always replied with the same word.
“Nothing.”
At first, John tried to let him be. They were both busy and John’s theatre list seemed a mile long. It was easy to let the matter slide.
But then Henrik had snapped at him that morning and the atmosphere between them was icy all day, which didn’t bode well after only a few weeks of living together.
After he had received a curt text say he was working late, John decided he had had enough. Still in his theatre scrubs, he walked into Henrik’s office, not bothering to knock.
“This has got to stop.” As he said it, he realised Henrik wasn’t at his desk.
He was sitting on the couch, his head in his hands. His glasses were on the table. At John’s entry, he began wiping furiously at his tear-stained eyes.
Concern overcame anger in a heartbeat. John sat next to him and put his arms around Henrik’s thin frame. Without his jacket and in shirtsleeves, he felt almost frail in John’s arms.
“Please tell me.” John gently rocked him, his face pressed close to Henrik’s. He felt the dampness of his tears against his cheek and he tenderly wiped them away.
Henrik took a shuddering breath. “It’s Fredrik’s birthday. He would have been thirty-six.”
John held him tighter, understanding Henrik’s pain. Fredrik was a cold-blooded killer, but he had also been Henrik’s son. Guilt and regret made for a heavy cross Henrik was destined to bear for life.
John cupped his face in his hands and wiped the tears away, gently kissing the salt from his eyes.
“Let’s go home.”
Henrik nodded, leaning into John’s embrace. “Thank you.”
