Work Text:
“Can you come home?”
Once the words were out there, Adam grimaced at how weak his voice sounded, the way that the words hung there in the empty air. He almost wished that Lawrence hadn’t heard them- but he had, Adam knew it just from the way his breathing changed.
“Are you alright?”
Adam swallowed harshly, hummed noncommittally. He didn’t trust himself to speak, really. He heard Lawrence move his phone from one ear to the other, pressed against his face with his shoulder as he started to type, no doubt. Adam could picture it, and the image settled his stomach a little.
“I can be home within the hour?” Lawrence’s voice was soft, slightly strained. Adam felt a flash of guilt- he was clearly rescheduling things, shuffling his responsibilities around to be at home. Since the trap, he had taken a step back from a more active role, taken on more consultancy hours. Adam was glad for it- those first few weeks back at the hospital had been rough, with Lawrence coming home sore and stubborn, unwilling to let it get the better of him. It was better now.
“You don’t have to. I’m fine , I just.” A brief silence. He could hear Lawrence’s soft hum of acknowledgement through the phone, gently prompting him to finish his sentence. “I miss you. Bad day.”
“Within the hour, okay? I love you.”
Adam heard the line go dead, and kept the phone pressed to his ear for just a little too long.
When Lawrence did get home- 47 minutes later, within the hour like he promised- Adam had given up on the day for the most part, stealing one of his sweatshirts and hiding under the duvet on their shared bed. He could hear the key in the door, the sound sounding foreign to his ears despite the fact that he had been waiting for it. He could imagine it- Lawrence did practically exactly the same thing every time he got home, and Adam had watched him so many times that it was imprinted into his brain. First, he would take his coat off, hang it on the rack and smooth out any wrinkles in it. Then he would loosen his tie and take a breath, which would usually be the point where Adam would have reached him, pulling him down into a kiss. Adam’s fingers twitched with the memory of it, wishing he was out there for a moment- the first moment he had wished to be anywhere other than in bed all day.
“Adam?” He heard the solid thump of the cane on the carpeted floor, picking at a fluff that was stuck to the inside of the duvet. “Love, are you in bed?”
He swallowed, the dryness of his throat sticking a little. His voice came out rough and quiet. “Yeah.”
Footsteps came closer, and Adam forced himself to pull the duvet away, exposing the sight of the door creaking open, his partner’s face tightening as he stepped inside. Adam knew he looked like shit- his hair was greasy and he probably smelled like a gym bag, since he hadn’t been able to bring himself to shower, he had dark circles under his eyes, he had gotten a stain on his pants earlier when he had been feeding the cats, but it didn’t seem to matter. Lawrence’s face softened into a smile when he saw him regardless, the warmth in his eyes undeniable.
“Hey.” He smiled, feigning nonchalance, but the crack in his voice gave him away.
“Oh, love.”
He felt the weight dip on the mattress, pushing himself up to sitting. His eyes dragged over the flat expanse of the man’s back, the strong line of his shoulders, the way his work trousers dug into the flesh of his hips a little. Biting his lip, he pushed through the feeling of not wanting to be touched, resting his hand on his shoulder for a moment. His skin was warm, even through the fabric of his shirt, and Adam watched as he carefully removed his prosthetic, hands sure and deliberate as he did it.
He felt the man shift, and then Lawrence was turning his head, pressing a kiss to the back of Adam’s hand on his shoulder. It was just a brush of lips, sweet and light, but it warmed Adam’s chest anyway.
Once the prosthetic was off, Lawrence undressed- work pants tossed carelessly to the floor, shirt removed to expose a plain undershirt. Adam’s fingers smoothed over the skin of his upper arm.
Then, Lawrence was turning, his hands firm as he guided Adam back to the little nest he had made for himself, avoiding his chest to rest on his hips instead, his shoulder. Adam loved him desperately, a kind of devotion that he hadn’t known that he was capable of before this. Oh, he had wanted it- had dreamed of finding someone to feel like that about, when he was a kid. Life had beaten it out of him for the most part. It was amazing the kind of things you could find in hell.
He sniffled, letting Lawrence pull him closer and resting his head against his chest. “You didn’t have to leave work.”
“What happened?” Lawrence’s hand brushed through his hair, and Adam sighed.
“I had a nightmare, when I fell asleep again.”
The hand paused. “You’ve felt like this all day?”
“... You had all of those appointments, I didn’t want to-”
He felt lips press against his head, arms pulling him closer. Letting his eyes close, he pressed his face into the soft fabric of his shirt.
“You’re more important than work, Adam.”
Adam sniffled, aimed for a joke that didn’t quiet land. “You just don’t want to wake up in another bathroom.”
It wasn’t funny, and his voice broke halfway through it, but Lawrence chuckled anyway, kissing his head again. “What do you need?”
“Just this.”
Lawrence hummed softly, sliding a hand up the back of his sweatshirt to rub at the space between his shoulder blades. He groaned softly, cuddling closer- it was an area that always got tight, from his binder and general bad posture, and the fact that Lawrence had noticed that and thought about how best to help it made him feel a little bit crazy, knocked breathless from how much he loved him.
“Have you been wearing it all day?”
Adam hesitated, nodded. He didn’t lie to Lawrence.
He could feel the worry in the way that Lawrence’s hands tightened on him for a moment. “Sorry, I just… I can’t.”
Lawrence’s lips brushed against his forehead, his fingers kneading into the knot in his back. “It’s alright, love.”
Adam bit down on the impulse to defend himself- he didn’t need to. Lawrence already knew.
“Can we go for a bath, later?”
Another kiss, on the shell of his ear this time. “Do you want me in there with you, or just in the room?”
Adam slid his hand up over Lawrence’s heart and then rested his head against it. “With me, please.”
Lawrence nodded, smoothing the back of Adam’s binder down again with a hand. He felt relaxed, a little boneless, humming softly as he felt the man’s hands in his hair again. It was amazing, how easily the man could put him at ease. There was a security to Lawrence that Adam didn’t think he had ever had with anyone before- he would help the things he could, and accept the things he couldn’t. He wouldn’t push Adam any more than he could handle. Adam had never felt so safe, with anyone.
Lawrence’s voice was soft, even. “You should try and sleep more, love. I’ll be right here.”
Adam used the man’s arm as leverage, moving himself back to finally press their mouths together. It was brief, chaste, but his heart skipped all the same.
“I love you.”
Lawrence’s smile was enough to make Adam’s chest ache- the simple happiness, just from Adam feeling a little better. It was dizzying.
“I love you too. We can eat after?”
The man knew him too well- Adam’s stomach rumbled sympathetically as he remembered that he hadn’t eaten all day. “That… yeah. That sounds nice.”
“I could make those stuffed peppers you like.”
Adam hummed- he did like them. “You should wear your apron.”
Lawrence laughed, then. “If you’d like.”
“I like everything about you.”
It was hopelessly earnest, but he practically felt Lawrence’s heartbeat stutter against his hand. “The feeling is mutual, love.”
He pushed aside the last remnants of the nightmare, curling up closer. The panic of the morning felt far away now, like it had happened to someone else. “Don’t let me sleep too long.”
“I’ll wake you in an hour or two.”
Adam nodded, closing his eyes. “Love you.”
“Go to sleep, Adam.”
He felt Lawrence’s quiet laugh, the quick rises and falls of his chest, and smiled against him.