Chapter Text
Robb stared at his bare chest in the mirror and sighed. He pulled on his shirt and walked out of the bathroom to find Theon sitting on the bed watching the bathroom door.
“You got dressed in the bathroom again” He said with a blank expression.
“I showered so I figured I’d just put my clothes on when I got out” Robb shrugged, heading to leave the bedroom.
“I still think you’re gorgeous” Theon said and Robb froze in the doorway.
“What?” He asked quietly.
“I still think you’re gorgeous” Robb couldn’t look at his husband
“I have to get to work” He said and stepped out of the bedroom but didn’t get further before there was a hand on his arm.
“I called you in sick” Theon said and Robb turned on his husband.
“Why would you do that? It’s my job!” Theon didn’t even flinch at Robb’s raised tone.
“Because I need to talk to you and you’ve been avoiding me, throwing yourself into work way too much, way too soon, and you’re running yourself ragged. It’s not fucking healthy Robb and I’m not gonna let you end up back in the fucking hospital, I’m not gonna let that happen! I’m not gonna let either of us go through that again so you’re going to sit your ass on the couch and we are going to talk like the mature adults some of us aren’t being right now” Theon dragged Robb through the apartment to the couch and Robb couldn’t argue. He knew Theon was genuinely upset and scared and he didn't want to put his husband through that again. He sat Robb on the couch and sat across from him on the coffee table.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Theon” Robb let the tears fall from his eyes and then Theon was kneeling in front of him, wrapping his arms around Robb.
“No darling, don’t apologize, you don’t have to apologize to me. I just want to help you. I don’t like seeing you in pain and not being able to do anything” Theon ran a comforting hand across Robb’s back.
“I hate the fucking scar. I fucking hate it. I look at my chest and it’s all I can see, reminding me of it all. Making me think about how I have another person’s heart in my chest and how it doesn’t feel right. I don’t feel like myself, I feel like there’s something off, like I’m missing a part of me and someone tried to replace it with something else. Like someone stuck a square peg in a round hole” Robb sobbed into Theon’s shoulder.
“Oh Robb, why didn’t you tell me you felt like this?”
“I was worried it would change things”
“Nothing could ever change things between us. Certainly not something like this. I will always be here for you. I read that a lot of people that get heart transplants go through this. We got through your illness together, we can get through the aftermath. Neither of us expected to go back to exactly the same as before, at least not right away. You went through so much, you can’t expect yourself to just be fine. It’ll take time. You wanna know what I think when I see the scar?” Theon asked and Robb nodded. He flinched slightly but didn’t push Theon’s hand away when he rested it over where he knows the scar is, “Yes it reminds me of the past year. Reminds me that I almost lost you. But it also reminds me that I still have you. That there’s a healthy heart beating in your chest. It reminds me how fucking strong you are. Because you are so strong darling. You’re Robb fucking Stark”
“I love you Theon”
“I love you too Robb. Now and always”
“Now and always”