Chapter Text
Sitting on the bed flicking through the photo albums that held all the happy memories, Lucius wondered where it had all gone wrong and how they'd ended up in the situation they were in. They'd be overwhelmingly happy together. As he sat reminiscing, four memories came to his mind; The day they'd become an item, the day they’d moved in together, the day he'd proposed and their wedding day. There was seemingly nothing Lucius could do now. It was all over. In twenty minutes his husband would walk through the front door of the house they'd shared for the past eight years; but it wasn't so he could wrap his arms around him, whispering how much he loved him and how lucky he was all while pushing him gently against the wall or whatever counter top he could.
Not this time.
Today when Izzy walked through the door it was so he could pack a suitcase to fill with some of his belongings. Today was the day that Lucius Hands removed his wedding and engagement ring. Today, was the start of the road to reverting back to being Lucius Spriggs.
Sliding the rings off his finger while tears ran down his face, he placed them in the envelope along with the letter he'd written to Izzy. It wasn't a letter begging him to forgive him or to take him back; he didn't expect that. What it did say was that he was sorry for how everything they'd worked so hard on had come to this, how he hoped in time that they could form some kind of friendship again and more importantly, that he loved him with all his heart. He always had and he always would. Lucius had also added some of their early memories together and how he knew Izzy was the one, even then. It hadn't initially seemed like a lot to say, but it was two entire A4 sheets of paper long.
Sealing the envelope he then placed it on the pillow Izzy once use to lay on. It had been six weeks since he'd laid on it and Lucius still found it a struggle, just like he did being in any other part of their house. Every room he went in, every object he looked at was a reminder of the life they shared and an even sharper reminder that it was coming to an end. The silence was thing that had really been the thing to adjust to. Just having someone else in the house, knowing they’re there. Lucius guessed it was true what they said; you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone.
Tears were flowing thick and fast as he sobbed uncontrollably, glancing at the wedding picture on the dresser by the window. He should have probably removed it, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. The clocked ticked over another minute, showing Lucius that he had 10 minutes until Izzy was expected to arrive and pack some of his belongings. Lucius had offered to leave the house while he did it but Izzy had asked if he would remain as he wanted to talk to him while he was over. It would be only the second time they’d have done so in six weeks and although Lucius was hesitant at first, eventually he’d decided that he didn’t really have anything to lose. Lucius stood from the bed and headed towards the bathroom to get himself as together as he could before Izzy arrived – he felt a little short of breath but didn’t think too much of it as he occasionally did whenever he got deeply upset. As he opened the bathroom door and entered, he lost consciousness and hit the floor, falling back against the door as he did so, shutting it firmly behind him with a thud, just as the front door clicked shut.
xoxo
Standing in the hallway, he listened for a moment in case he’d been hearing things, however, Izzy got the distinct feeling that something was very wrong. The silence in the house was different to what it might have been, had Lucius not been here, but Izzy knew he was. Something pushed him to go upstairs and as he did so, he felt more and more uneasy about what he might find. Coming to a stop on the landing, he scanned around and stopped short upon realising the bathroom door was shut and a shadow was across the floor. Without a thought he was in front of it bashing as hard as he could while shouting Lucius’s name and then shouldering the door but to no avail. The phone call to 999 was a bit of a blur, as was his vision by this point, but something was on their side as an ambulance and a fire engine were literally two minutes away and within seconds of the operator saying so, he could hear the sirens getting closer and closer.
Izzy answered the door to what felt like a swarm of emergency response crew, but in reality, were 2 firefighters and 3 ambulance crew, and directed them upstairs with a wave of his hand. Shutting the front door, he leant back on it for a moment and took a few deep breaths before heading back upstairs with the intention of being as close to Lucius as he could, however, he found he couldn’t get anywhere near the bathroom on account of it being an absolute circus in there.
The firefighters had managed to remove the door and were just leaning it out of harms way when Izzy got to the top of the stairs. He peered through the legs, catching a fleeting glimpse of Lucius as they manoeuvred him on to a stretcher. One of the paramedics saw him and made their way over, smiling in acknowledgement and understanding. The badge he wore told Izzy his name was Michael.
“As you can tell, Mr Hands, that bathroom is not quite built for this many of us. Could you and I go to the bedroom while we wait, and I can take a few more details about your husband?”
Izzy nodded numbly, entering their room and taking it in. His eyes immediately fell on the envelope that would be on his side of the bed; Lucius’s handwriting immediately recognisable even from where he was stood. A hand gently squeezing his upper arm bought him back and he found Michael looking at him.
“Hey, let me take those details from you and then I’ll leave you to read the letter.”
Michael took what he needed and then he retreated to the bathroom, saying that he would be back when they were ready to take Lucius to the ambulance. Tearing open the envelope, he gently pulled out the letter within, a gasp escaping him as two cold rings landed in his hand, which was enough of a catalyst for the tears to start falling. Holding the rings in his hand, Izzy read the letter that Lucius had written just hours before, the noise of the paramedics next door making him pray to a deity he wasn’t sure he believed in, that his husband would be alright because for the first time in forever, he was fucking terrified.
Michael’s voice cut in to his thoughts.
“Mr Hands, we’ve got Lucius downstairs, they’re just preparing to load him into the ambulance. If you’re in the right mindset, I trust you’ll be following us?”
Nodding rapidly, Izzy gathered the rings and letter and made his way downstairs, grabbing his car and house keys, where Lucius was on a gurney in the hall. Leaning forward, he pressed a kiss to his forehead, jumping slightly when Lucius let out a little noise.
“Lucius...” he breathed. Another little noise. “I’m here bubba, you’re ok. You’re going to be ok.”
When he drew back fully, his breath left his body upon seeing Lucius’s eyes having opened slightly. It looked like he was trying to get them to focus.
The paramedics soon reappeared to take him and in a bold act, Izzy lifted Lucius’s left hand and slid both rings back on, pressing a kiss to his knuckles then stood back and let them do what they needed to.
As he started the car up, watching them slam the doors of the ambulance shut, sirens and lights whirring into life, Izzy felt different. He felt that, despite the events of the afternoon, perhaps there was hope for the pair of them.