Falling | Mxm (Completed) Chapter 28

edited

Aiden couldn’t stop thinking about Edwin’s behavior for the past 2 days. He had left early when they woke up the next morning, leaving him a message to take Vincent back himself when he woke up.

And Aiden did. He took Vin to the hospital after asking him whether he had thought about going back to the business or not, but Vin said he hadn’t made a decision yet. He then asked for Edwin, but they said neither Edwin nor Lili were at the hospital.

The first thing he did was to call the doctor. Dialing his number, he was met with ‘the number you’re dialing is out of reach.’

So he called Lili, but her phone was turned off. Being desperate, he dialed Kurt’s number. A few rings and the older picked up.

“Thank god you answered. Is Lili with you?”

“Aiden?! Hmm… She was, but Eddie picked her up this morning.”

“Oh… So they’re okay.”

There was silence for a few seconds where the older didn’t make a sound, not even his breath.

“They’re okay, right?”

“I don’t know what to answer. Have they ever truly been okay?” Kurt’s voice sounded dull, exhausted.

While he was searching for a reply in his head, the older talked again.

“Aiden, do you— uh, do you have feelings for Edwin?”

“What?! No! Of course not! Where did that even come from?!”

“Well, you spent most of your time in Lili’s room and the rest with Edwin. Lili can’t be it since you’re gay, but Edwin—” There was a pause. “Even if it’s not romantic, you do like him platonically. That much is for sure. I need you to take care of him. He’s going to need someone.”

Aiden was quiet for a couple of seconds. What did the guy even mean? “I adore the siblings, just like I adore Vincent. I just show my feelings without filter so I’m sorry if that has led to misunderstanding. And you don’t need to ask me that. I will always help Edwin in however way I can.”

“Thank you, Aiden. Call me if something was up.”

DeleteCreated with Sketch.

Another 4 days passed with no sign of Edwin answering his calls or texting back. Deciding enough is enough, he called Lucas and asked when Edwin’s shift would be over. Grabbing a jacket and calling a cab, cos he gave his car to Joe for the day, he left his house. He arrived just in time as the doctor walked out of the hospital and to his car.

“Edwin.” He shouted loud enough to be heard.

Edwin’s eyes widened upon seeing him, but that was the only reaction as the other just continued putting his stuff on the backseat.

“Why are you ignoring me?”

“I’m not ignoring you.” Edwin closed the door and started walking to the other side of the car when Aiden grabbed his arm.

“Yes, you are. Even now you’re running away.”

Edwin sighed. “I’m not running away, Aiden. I’m having a terrible headache, so I can barely stand. I just wanna get home as fast as possible and crash on my bed.”

“Okay then, give me the keys.”

Edwin lifted an eyebrow at him. Aiden wasted no time in stealing the keys out of his hand, opening the passenger seat door, and forcing the doctor inside. He got in the car himself and fastened his belt.

“The address.”

Edwin had his head on the window and just looked at him in question. He really looked out of it.

“Give me the address to your home, Edwin. Or do you wanna come to mine? Whatever you choose.”

Edwin simply pushed a button on the navigator before leaning back and closing his eyes. When they arrived, he parked at a free spot, not sure if it was Edwin’s, and got out. Turning around the car, he opened the passenger seat’s door.

“We’re here, Edwin. Let’s go.”

The boy didn’t flinch. His eyes were closed, so Aiden assumed he was asleep. Only when he bent down to wake him up did he notice the sweat and the shivering of the other’s body. He unfastened his belt fast and put a hand on his forehead. He was having a fever. A terrible one. He was burning!

He slapped Edwin’s cheeks gently a couple of times, calling his name, until the other whined and turned his head the other way.

“Edwin, Edwin, can you hear me? Where does it hurt?” Upon getting no response, he installed the belt again and got in the car, driving to the nearest hospital. Hugging him bridal style and taking him inside, he was met with curious stares. That was when he realized he didn’t even have a mask on, but he really couldn’t care less at that moment.

The nurses told him to put Edwin down on a bed while a doctor examined him.

They gave him a pill, injected him with an IV, and told Aiden he could be discharged when the IV was finished. So he just sat there by his bed and held his hand, occasionally brushing the hair that kept falling on his face away.

After half an hour, Edwin opened his eyes. Looking around and at Aiden in confusion, he asked, “Why am I here?” He sat up and moved the hand that had the IV in, which made it misplace a little, and so he hissed because of the pain.

“BE careful! What are you doing?!” Aiden looked at the needle to see if there was any blood, but it looked okay. He sighed in relief. “You were having a terrible fever.” He placed his hand on Edwin’s forehead. “You still do, but it’s way better now. You were completely unconscious.”

Edwin looked at him for a couple of seconds before he suddenly looked down with his head hanging as low as possible. Aiden didn’t think much of it until he saw tears dropping on the younger’s hand. Panicking, he stood up, cupped Edwin’s face, and made the younger look at him.

“What is it? Are you hurt? Why are you crying?” His heart was beating so fast, he couldn’t take the beauty looking like that.

“Lili…” was all Edwin could say before fully bursting into tears and staring desperately at the guy in front of him. Aiden sat on the edge of the bed as close to Edwin as possible and pulled him into a hug. Pressing the guy’s head to his chest and stroking his hair, he tried to ask carefully, “What about Lili? Talk to me.”

Edwin was sobbing loudly. “She… she left, Aiden. I can’t— I can’t find her.”

Aiden froze. what did he mean she left? She left where?

“What… do you mean, Edwin?” He didn’t want to worsen the sobs of the boy in his arms, but he had to know where Lili was.

“She texted me to pick her up after you left the room that night, and I did. She told me to bring her to a shack we used to go to when we were kids and the next morning when I woke up, she was just gone. All she left was a note saying I shouldn’t look for her anymore and that I should start living for myself at last. I checked everywhere. Every station, every airport, and hotel, but she’s just— she’s just gone.” His whole body was shaking, and the tears were like a waterfall. Aiden felt completely helpless. He didn’t have anything to say to help calm down the crying boy, and he didn’t know what to assume Lili meant by not looking for her. So he just continued letting the boy cry his heart out while all he could do was caress his hair and rub his back smoothly. After around another half an hour, a nurse came in and was surprised by the scene in front of her, as Edwin still hadn’t stopped crying. She didn’t comment on it and just checked on the IV. It was finished, so she kindly announced she was going to remove the needle. She took Edwin’s hand, which the other didn’t react to, and kept his head buried in Aiden’s chest, probably refusing to show his tears to the nurse and getting embarrassed because of it.

“You can go home now, but make sure he gets enough rest and eats well. His body is really weak.” She said, smiling, and left them soon after.

Aiden made the boy look at him by lifting his face using a little force cos he didn’t want to look up as it seemed.

“You heard her. I’m taking you home. You’re gonna eat, shower, and sleep. Then we’re gonna look for Lili together from tomorrow. Okay?”

Edwin sobbed again but nodded anyway. Aiden wiped the tears, but it was no use as they kept falling one after the other. It hurt him physically to see the younger like that.

When Edwin noticed they were going to Aiden’s apartment, not his, he opposed it, saying he wanted to go to his.

“Knowing you, you probably have no decent food apart from tons of snacks in your home and I can’t leave you in the car to get some groceries. Besides, I’m waiting for a few calls and emails and I’m not gonna leave you alone like this, so we’re going to mine. Now please stop crying. You’re gonna be seriously dehydrated at this point.” He said while wiping the tears away yet again.

Edwin rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand like little kids do. “Sorry, I can’t help it. I just held them back until I cracked after seeing you.”

Aiden grabbed his hand, squeezed it, and just kept it there for the rest of the ride.

When they arrived, he made Edwin a bubble bath and told him to get in there and relax a bit while he made him some food. After cooking, he went to check on Edwin.

Calling his name a few times and getting no reply, he panicked and walked in to see Edwin in the bathtub with closed eyes. The panic didn’t go away. He knelt down beside the tub and checked his forehead. The fever was going high again, and Edwin appeared to be asleep. Now Aiden knew the boy was a heavy sleeper and with the addition of the sleeping pills he was given on their way out of the hospital, there was no way he could wake this person up. He couldn’t leave him in the tub either. He would have tons of water under his skin by the time he’d wake up, so he had no choice but to get him out. Fortunately, Edwin had washed up before sitting in the tub, so all he had to do was to rinse his skin from the bubble products. He looked at Edwin, not knowing how the other would feel when he’d realize he had seen him naked, but decided to just let go of that thought for now. Still, he called Edwin 5-6 times, slapping his cheeks softly, but as he predicted, the other didn’t even flinch.

Putting a hand around his shoulder and another one under his knees, Aiden picked Edwin up and out of the bathtub. The action made a big amount of water pour all over him, but he just didn’t care about that at the moment.

Turning the shower on and sitting on the edge of the tub with Edwin in his arms, he tried rinsing his skin while moving the showerhead along his body. He knew this wasn’t the appropriate situation and he shouldn’t be feeling like this at that moment — and especially with having an unconscious Edwin in his arms, looking innocent and pure and all of that — but he couldn’t help feeling fascinated by how gorgeous he was. His skin tone was just heavenly. It was like gold, the kind of light-tan people would kill themselves for. In addition to that, he had lean limbs. So beautiful that Aiden found himself staring at him and not moving the shower head as he was supposed to. And to his surprise, it was the face he was staring at, not the parts Edwin would be deadly embarrassed when he’d find out about this.

After hours of crying and biting his lips, he had swollen everything. Eyes, face, lips. Ah, those lips. Aiden had been craving to kiss him ever since that night Edwin put their lips together, barely touching. He wanted to kiss him, really and passionately. For a long time.

He shook his head to snap out of it, not taking advantage of the sleeping beauty in his embrace. So he turned off the shower with Edwin in his arms and took a huge fluffy towel out of the shelf, wrapping him with it.

Coming out of the bathroom and putting Edwin on the bed, he covered him with a blanket and left him like that to go change his wet clothes. Only when he turned around did he see Joe at the doorframe with an unreadable expression on his face.

“So, half a year was enough for you to fall in love with someone else?”