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Senku was tired.
He wasn’t always tired, but lately, he could hardly stay awake.
His older sister, Ruri (though, not by blood) was in the hospital. Kohaku told him to go home and get some rest, that she would wait for the results, but he refused to leave.
How could he just leave her like that? He trusted Kohaku to tell him if something changed, but he just couldn’t bring himself to leave.
He was so tired. It had been days and he barely ate, he barely slept, he barely did anything.
“Senku, you need to go home,” Kohaku demanded.
Senku looked up at her, his eyes heavy.
“No,” he said.
She sighed and sat next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“Senku, you can hardly move. Let me take you home, please? It’s not good for you to stay like this,” she gently said.
“No, because if you leave no one will be here for Ruri,” he mumbled.
She said something to him after, but he didn’t hear her. He didn’t try ignoring her, but he just… couldn’t. He was so tired.
He must have zoned out for a long time because when he snapped out of it, Chrome was knelt down in front of him, resting his arms on Senku’s lap.
Chrome lived over 15 minutes away and hadn’t been staying with them.
“Hey,” he said, moving Senku’s hair out of his face.
“...Hey,” Senku quietly responded.
Chrome grabbed his hands and kissed them.
“Can you please stay with me tonight?” Chrome softly asked.
“You trying to get me to leave like Kohaku wants me to?”
Chrome frowned and it pulled at Senku’s heart. He hated seeing his boyfriend’s face like that.
“Yes,” he bluntly said.
That’s one of the many reasons why he loved Chrome, he never tried sugar-coating anything.
“I’m worried about you. Your sister is worried about you too. You’re not taking care of yourself, how are you supposed to be on your feet and be ready for if something happens? That seems rather illogical if you ask me,” Chrome said.
He leaned forward and kissed Senku’s head.
“Plus, you stink. You need a shower or something,” he lovingly said.
Senku bit his lip, trying to think but he couldn’t. His head was so foggy he hardly knew what was going on.
How long had he been in the hospital, to begin with? How many days?
Maybe Chrome was right, he needed to take care of himself. Ruri would never forgive him if she saw him in that state.
He was too tired to verbally speak, so he nodded his head.
“Can you walk?”
Senku once again nodded.
Chrome wrapped his arm around him and the two made their way to Chrome’s car.
“She’s going to be okay, you know that right?”
“...I dunno,” Senku mumbled.
“Hey. She’s going to be okay,” Chrome said, a little more firmly.
Senku hummed and rested his head on the car window, watching the world pass him by.
The snow was heavily falling and he found himself relaxing at the sight of it.
Before he realized it, he was back at Chrome’s house.
“Come on, we’re taking a bath,” Chrome said.
“Together?”
“Unless you have a problem with it.”
Senku shook his head.
“I don’t mind.”
And so it was. Chrome got a bubble bath ready for them and Senku found himself having fun, just relaxing against Chrome’s back and talking about something that wasn’t his sister.
Chrome helped wash Senku’s hair and he almost fell asleep right then and there.
Chrome splashed water on his face to stop him from snoozing in the tub, which somehow resulted in a splash fight between the two of them.
Senku was already feeling so much better just being with Chrome.
When they were done, Chrome made them something to eat. Just a sandwich but Senku was a lot hungrier than he thought, so he ended up eating Chrome’s sandwich too.
“How are you feeling now?” Chrome asked.
Senku stretched and breathed deeply.
“A lot better. Tired, but… not as shitty,” he admitted.
Chrome walked over to him and took both of his hands, helping him to his feet, planting a quick kiss on his head.
“Come on, let’s go to bed then,” he whispered.
Senku nodded his head and let Chrome practically tuck him into bed.
“This is ridiculous,” Senku pointed out.
Chrome slipped in next to him and caressed his face.
Normally, they weren’t as touchy-feely with each other, but for some reason, it felt… right. Comforting. Maybe that was what Chrome was going for. Under better circumstances, he may have even teased him.
“No, it’s not,” Chrome said.
Senku cuddled close to his boyfriend and relaxed in his arms while Chrome rubbed circles in his back.
“...She’s going to be okay, right?” He mumbled.
“I told you she would be.”
“I know. I know you said that but it’s been days and they still don’t know what’s wrong,” Senku tightened his grip on Chrome’s shirt.
“Senku-”
“I can’t go through it again. I just… I can’t,” Senku choked out.
It felt like his throat was closing in on him and it hurt. Tears threatened to fall down his face and he gripped Chrome’s shirt even tighter.
He couldn’t cry. That would be so embarrassing, but it physically hurt him to keep it in.
“Sen-”
“I already lost my dad, I don’t know what I would do if I lost Ruri too,” he despised how much his voice was trembling. He absolutely hated it and he hated how much he was crying even more.
“Senku!” Chrome loudly said.
Senku looked up at him and Chrome wiped away the tears on his face.
“Nothing bad is going to happen. They’re going to find out what’s wrong and they’re going to heal her. You’re not going to lose anyone else, do you understand? You and Kohaku would never let that happen,” Chrome firmly said.
“I’m sorry.”
“About what?”
“I feel like I’m being a bother-”
Chrome roughly grabbed Senku’s cheeks, squishing his face together.
“Never apologize for having a bad day. For crying, for being worried, it doesn’t matter. You’re my boyfriend, and I love you, I’m going to take care of you on the days where you can’t, just like I know you’d do the same for me. You’re not alone, Senku so stop acting like you’re a burden or whatever. You’re not. Your sister is in the hospital, you have every right to be this fucked up,” Chrome said, tears forming in his eyes.
Senku couldn’t help what happened next.
He completely broke down, no longer caring if he was being a bother. He couldn’t fucking take it, he just wanted everything to be okay, he didn’t want it to hurt anymore.
Chrome held him tightly, gently kissing his face.
He just wanted to sleep, he couldn’t handle being awake right now. He needed to just… shut off for a while.
In practically no time at all, he was fast asleep in Chrome’s arms.
Maybe everything would be okay after all.