Chapter Text
it’s raining rain from the skies
it’s raining tears from my eyes over you
raining, ooh, tears from my eyes over you
raining, ooh, raining on prom night
— “It’s Raining On Prom Night” from Grease the musical
***
The rain follows Alhaitham all the way back to the dorms.
It soaks through his well-ironed suit, dampens his hair, runs cold down the back of his neck but Alhaitham barely notices. Right now, his thoughts are narrowed down to one thing. One person.
The hallway is eerily quiet, as everyone is still at the country club.
Everyone but Kaveh.
So Alhaitham is going to swallow his uncertainty and fucking do something about that.
He smells the alcohol the moment he opens the door.
Kaveh is half-slumped over the couch, one arm hanging off the side. He’s still wearing that ivory suit he spent so much money on; it’s wrinkled now, and his jacket lays discarded somewhere on the floor. Messy curls frame his perfect face and dear God, is that smudged mascara?
Oh, Kaveh, dear, what did you do?
A half-empty bottle dangles from his hand and Alhaitham exhales, shoulders loosening and tightening all at once.
He extracts the bottle from Kaveh’s hand and sets it aside before hauling Kaveh into his arms to take him to the bedroom. He looks a mess, pale and tear-stricken, but to Alhaitham he’s all the more beautiful.
He presses a featherlight kiss to Kaveh’s forehead. I love you, and I’m sorry for leaving you all alone.
“Mm…” Kaveh hums, lashes fluttering disorientedly. “‘haitham…?
“I’m here,” Alhaitham says, words coming out easier than expected. He sets Kaveh down onto the bed as if he’s a porcelain doll. Kaveh blinks up at him, vision unfocused and disoriented, as if he’s trying to decide if this is real.
Then his expression twists, and his eyes fill with tears. “You came back.”
Something in Alhaitham breaks for Kaveh says it so full of both love and heartache. How could he still love Alhaitham after all this time? After how he’s treated him?
“...You’re drunk,” is all Alhaitham ends up saying.
“No, ‘m not,” Kaveh mumbles, then hiccups, then giggles at his own hiccup. “Heh. Maybe.”
Stop making cute faces, you imbecile, Alhaitham thinks to himself. Instead, he reaches for Kaveh, helping him sit up. Kaveh lets himself be guided, though he sways dangerous the moment he’s upright, bumping into Alhaitham’s chest.
“Mmf, you’re wet,” Kaveh mutters, though he makes no effort to move. “Did you– did you walk in the rain?”
“Yes.”
“...Idiot.” A small smile touches Kaveh’s lips, and something electric in Alhaitham’s heart swells.
His hand settles at the back of Kaveh’s neck, rubbing circles into the flushed skin. “You need water,” he finally says.
He quickly goes to the kitchen to fetch some water, but when Alhaitham presses the glass into his hands, Kaveh makes a small, dissatisfied sound. “No… I’on wanna…”
“Drink, Kaveh. Don’t be stubborn.”
“Nooo… I’m fineee...”
Alhaitham sighs. Who knew drunk Kaveh would be so difficult?
After multiple tries, Alhaitham finally gives up and takes matters into his own hands. He downs the glass himself and presses his lips to Kaveh’s, coaxing the water into his mouth. Kaveh’s eyes go wide before he melts into the kiss, some of the water spilling down his chin. It’s a successful transfer until Kaveh starts to deepen the kiss, his tongue sweeping over the seam of Alhaitham’s lips. Alhaitham makes a small, surprised sound before pulling away – though he really, really does not want to.
Kaveh chases Alhaitham’s lips, letting out a whine of protest. Damnit, he looks so fucking irresistable, all shiny lips and pink cheeks, that Alhaitham can’t help but regret pulling away. But he fears– no, knows he might do some very, very bad things to Kaveh if he doesn’t stop now.
“No…” Kaveh whimpers. “Why did you stop?”
“Hah… Kaveh, you fool,” Alhaitham groans, running a hand through this hair. God, what kind of sick torture is this? “You’re drunk. You don’t know what you’re asking for.”
Kaveh pouts, fingers curling into Alhaitham’s shirt. “I know what I want,” he slurs, leaning in again. “Want you…”
Alhaitham has to summon all the willpower in his body to push him away.
“‘haitham… you’re so cruel…” Kaveh mumbles, looking wounded.
Alhaitham stills.
“Why do you have to break my heart like this?” The words are slurred and fragile in a way Kaveh would never allow himself to be sober. Tears run down his cheeks, and Alhaitham’s chest tightens. He knows Kaveh’s not just despairing about the lack of contact. He kisses his tears away without thinking.
“I know, darling,” he says quietly. “I’m sorry.”
Kaveh huffs weakly, like he doesn’t believe him, and Alhaitham’s heart is sinking all over again.
I have to fix this.
“Tired…” Kaveh’s head lolls, eyes fluttering shut.
Alhaitham sets the glass aside and helps him to a laying position. Kaveh leans into his touch without hesitation, his full unfiltered trust in Alhaitham’s hands. He mumbles something incoherent before fully collapsing onto the mattress.
Alhaitham sits at the edge of the bed, starting to under Kaveh’s buttons, looking down at the man he loves. Kaveh is perfect, even now, in his crumpled ivory suit and mascara stains running down his nose.
He helps remove his jacket, then his shoes, then looses his undershirt. Alhaitham doesn’t know where Kaveh keeps his sleepclothes, so he changes Kaveh into a set of his own. The pants and shirt are ridiculously big on him, swallowing his smaller frame in a way that’s unfairly cute.
He should probably take Kaveh’s makeup off too, something he’s seen Kaveh do on a nightly basis. Kaveh stirs when Alhaitham starts to walk to the bathroom. “Don’t–” he mumbles faintly, grabbing at Alhaitham’s wrist.
“I’m not leaving,” Alhaitham says, before he can stop himself. It was somehow easier to be direct with Kaveh when he was drunk.
“...okay,” Kaveh says, relaxing immediately.
A few seconds later, Alhaitham comes back with Micellar Water and the cotton pads Kaveh always uses. He wets one of the pads with the Micellar Water and gingerly starts to remove Kaveh’s makeup with it. Trying to be as gentle as possible, he attempts to mimic the way he’s seen Kaveh do it as he has no experience in this area.
When he’s sure all of Kaveh’s makeup is off, he tosses the cotton pad and lifts the covers over Kaveh. Kaveh shifts under them, eyes still closed,
Kaveh shifts under the covers, eyes slitting open. “Don’t… leave me, you asshole,” he mumbles, though there’s no heat to it.
“I won’t,” Alhaitham whispers, carefully slipping into the bed beside Kaveh. “I promise I won’t leave you again.”
Kaveh’s arms find him immediately, like instinct. He presses close, head tucking underneath Alhaitham’s chin. “Did you have fun with… Tighnari?” he whispers, snaking a hand up Alhaitham’s back.
“No,” Alhaitham says honestly.
“Did he look… prettier than me?”
“He doesn’t hold a fucking candle to you, Kaveh.”
That makes Kaveh smile, eyes slitting open to glitter beautifully at Alhaitham in the moonlight. “I love when you pretend to care… but it’s okay if you had fun with ‘nari, he’s got real sexy shoulders… oh, but Cyno might beat your ass if you say that…” Kaveh giggles sleepily. “Actually, he’d definitely beat your ass…”
He mumbles more incoherent nonsense, and Alhaitham’s pulsing heart sinks — but really, what did he expect? Of course Kaveh feels that way after how Alhaitham’s treated him all this time. Of course Kaveh thinks he doesn’t care.
“I do care,” he finds himself saying, voice barely above a whisper. “Significantly more than I’ve allowed you to see.”
Kaveh doesn’t stir, save for his eyelids fluttering closed.
“I didn’t think…” Alhaitham exhales. “I didn’t think I would be enough for you. That if we started something serious, you would eventually realize how incompetent I am in this area.”
The rain softens outside. Alhaitham’s fingers gingerly brush Kaveh’s cheek.
“But I was wrong,” he continues. “Doing nothing was wrong.”
He waits a moment. Kaveh still doesn’t stir.
“I love you.”
The words settle unfamiliarly on Alhaitham’s tongue. Then everything starts pouring out of him.
“Kaveh, darling, I– I love you, and I don’t ever want to make you doubt it again,” he whispers into the dark. “I love you so much it makes me crazy. I’ve been useless for the past three years, trying to hide how much I feel for you, because I was certain you were going to leave me. I was certain I was terrible for you and… you’d eventually realize that and leave me.”
Alhaitham runs his fingers through Kaveh’s soft golden hair. Quiet tears were flowing down his cheeks now. “I’m sorry, Kaveh. I never meant to hurt you. I know I am incompetent and cowardly and so unbearably horrible at this, but… as cowardly as I am, I want to make it right. Tell me what to do, Kaveh, tell me what you need, and it’s yours, love, I promise.”
An unanswered moment passes – several moments actually – until Alhaitham realizes Kaveh is actually asleep.
Alhaitham sighs deeply before properly settling in the bed beside Kaveh, letting himself stay for once. Maybe another time.