3. ‘Fine’

Foxx sat there leaning against Harlow, doing all he could to empty his mind. What he should have been doing was focusing on whatever was going on in the murder mystery they were watching…but it was taking everything in him to not think of the shit he shouldn't think of.

Thinking, in general, led to bad things for him nowadays. He didn't want to think back or forward, or about anything at all. Because his head was too crowded with things that shouldn't be there—fear…worry…traumatizing memories…

Foxx had only been out of the hospital a day, and it was looking like he was, maybe…possibly, not okay. Jumping at every little fucking thing—like sudden and loud noises—generally wasn't classified as being okay. Not to mention, him randomly getting jump scared by Harlow because the human somehow managed to move around without him noticing…or rather, when he, for some reason, decided to ignore everything around him. Which seemed to be a frequent thing now.

None of it really made sense… Well, him jumping when Harlow just appeared in a spot near him made sense—sort of. Those fucking priests had just ‘appeared'. But what the hell was his problem with loud noises?

"Relax," Harlow rumbled before pulling him more firmly against his side. "Whatever you are thinking about, stop."

Great…even thinking about not wanting to think was stressing him out—ugh. Well, he hadn't been thinking about nothing now, had he?

Stupid brain, stupid trauma response. He just wanted to forget it all…which was pretty hard with the fucking burn scars on his face and body still hanging around. Maybe…once they were gone, he'd manage.

Yes…he'd manage. He'd done it before and he'd do it again. It wasn't a big deal. None of it was. But, hey, on a positive note, Foxx had beaten his fear of priests, hadn't he? That was progress. He'd fought back, he argued, he killed… It would be fine—hopefully…

It felt like…like… Not that he was still there…but that he was waiting for something more to happen. Like it wasn't over. And it wasn't really, was it? Those people were still out there. No matter how many they caught this time…they were still out there, and their demented ideals and beliefs would spread again. They always did. There would always be more…

And really…who knew if anything would actually happen to the ones who were caught. Humans…didn't care about his kind. At least, not over the lives of other humans. Even if they did get prosecuted…the ones out there would come…

"Foxx!" Harlow growled. "Enough."

Foxx blinked. He realized his whole body was tense again, and he had a death grip on Harlow's arm. Taking a deep shuddered breath, he forced himself to pull away from his spiraling thoughts. Glancing up, he found Harlow frowning down at him.

"I'm fine," Foxx assured him.

The human snorted. "Yeah, totally ‘fine'."

"Shut up."

Harlow gasped. "Foxx? Telling me to shut up?"

Foxx huffed. "Yet, I'm the brat?"

"Always," the human drawled.

He would have responded with something sassy, but at that moment, someone appeared in between them and the TV. Before his brain had time to realize who it was, Foxx screamed.

"What the fuck?!" Harlow yelped.

His scream cut off, ending in a squeak the minute his brain caught up. "Alastair!" he rasped breathlessly.

Swallowing hard, he tried to calm down while his pulse beat away rapidly in his throat. The other vampire looked much as he had the last time he'd seen him; model good looks, with his runner's build, high cheekbones, pointed nose, and pouty lips. His dark brown, asymmetrically cut curls, however, did look a bit out of sorts, and the vampire was looking pale. But that was likely due to the rematerializing. Alastair shook his head and stumbled a bit forward, seeming slightly dazed.

Yeah, the man was definitely out of sorts due to the rematerializing.

"No, really, what the fuck just happened?" Harlow growled.

Alastair blinked a few times. When his eyes cleared, the vampire turned to Harlow, hissing, "You!" before attacking.

Foxx leaped off the couch and slammed directly into Alastair. Wrapping his arms around the vampire's waist, he stopped the man in his tracks. Foxx may have been weakened…but Alastair was… Not to call him a weakling, but…his friend, even at his advanced age, could likely be taken down by an average human.

"I'm going to feed you and that boss of yours, piece by piece to a fucking werewolf, you human piece of shit!" Alastair screamed.

"Enough," Foxx snapped.

When the other vampire continued to hiss and struggle and throw threats at Harlow, he angrily roared, "ENOUGH!" The power he pushed into his words felt like a drain on his very soul. But it was worth it, as Alastair stilled in his hold. "Do you have a death wish?! You couldn't win a fight against a paper bag, let alone an experienced hunter!?!"

Alastair sniffled, and turning in his hold, the vampire wrapped his arms around him, crying, "My baby!"

Foxx grimaced at the sound of what was definitely the safety on a gun clicking back into place.

"Baby?" Harlow snorted in disbelief behind him, before asking, "How did he poof in here?"

"Daydric," Foxx said without explaining further. There was no point, he couldn't fully explain how it worked, only that it did. Materializing from one location to another…was a skill only the original vampires possessed.

He pulled back out of the hug, and found Alastair staring down at him, pouting. He brushed one of the man's tears away and grabbed his hand, dragging him to the stairway. "Come on, let's talk."

"Not going to explain more than that?" Harlow complained loudly as they ascended the stairs. Alastair let himself be tugged along wordlessly.

"Nope!" he chimed, never looking back.

Foxx pulled his friend into his bedroom, closing the door once they were both inside.

Alastair immediately wrapped his arms around him again. He didn't hesitate to hug him back.

At another sniff, Foxx sighed and…lied. "I'm fine… I promise."

"I don't believe you."

"Well, I am. I'm just…healing."

"Healing again, you mean," Alastair said stiffly as he pulled back to look down at him. The man lightly cupped his face, thumb brushing over the bandage there. "Quit this job."

"No."

"Foxx, you've already been seriously hurt twice… Isn't that enough?!"

He pulled away and moved over to the bed before he sat down. "I won't quit. I've been hurt, but so what? I'll heal. The marks will go away. Like I said, I'll be fine."

He hoped he'd be fine…

"Meaning you aren't fine right now."

Foxx sagged a bit, arms wrapping around himself as he looked away. "I'll get there…like I always do."

"That's what I'm afraid of." The bed dipped as Alastair took a seat next to him, and once again wrapped an arm around him.

Foxx leaned in, and arms dropping, he said nothing as he wrung his hands in his lap.

"You and I both know that you ‘getting there' is really just you burying things deep inside, and then ignoring that they ever happened."

"And what's wrong with that?!" he snapped defensively.

Alastair sighed. "Everything. Because no matter how deep you shove something down, it will always find a way to come back up and bite you in the ass."

"My method has worked pretty well so far, why stop now?"

"Has it?" the other vampire drawled. "How did you get captured in the first place?"

Foxx flinched.

Alastair let out a huff. "That's what I thought."

"It wasn't…" He gulped, cutting off the lie as his emotions swelled.

Alastair was right… He'd been weak… He was weak. He'd let his past affect him. The memories had burst free at the worst possible moment…taking him to his knees before men who were coming to kill him… Well, kill, as in, capture and then torture to death.

Swallowing hard, he tried again to defend himself. "Just… You don't understand—" He cut off, wincing at how shaky his voice had sounded. Hands clenching, even as tears started to well in his eyes, he tried again. "I can't… I won't… I…"

"Oh, Foxx," Alastair said softly. He didn't resist when the man pulled him onto his lap.

He just fell into his embrace and held on tight, just as fiercely as the man was holding on to him. One tear slipped free, followed by another, and another, all the while he just sat there trying not to think as he clung to his best friend.

The man rubbed his back soothingly. "I won't ask what happened. I know you don't want to talk about any of it. But don't lie to me that you are okay. We have known each other too long for that, haven't we?"

Sniffling, Foxx nodded and buried his face into Alastair's neck.

"I will ask how you are healing, though… Do you need help with anything? I'm here for you, Foxx."

"I'm healing…I am. My wounds are… Well, they don't really hurt anymore. One or two of the burns are tender, but otherwise, they are fine… The scars are…still there…but should be gone in a week or two." Foxx hesitated, before admitting, "The biggest issue is that my threads were damaged."

Alastair inhaled harshly. "Damaged?! How?! Did you see a doctor? What's being done about it?!"

"Calm down. I saw one. Tony…introduced me to a local vampire doctor when I was first injured. And then he came to the hospital after Harlow rescued me the second time. Doc helped me along, it's just going to take like a month to get back to normal, that's all."

"A month?!" Alastair screeched. "Foxx, what did you do?!"

Foxx winced, and even more hesitantly explained, "I…connected one of my threads to a child that was being held captive with me."

"Foxx, that could've killed you!"

"I know…and…it would have, if Harlow and them hadn't shown up when they had."

"Foxx…" his friend rasped, voice wavering.

"Alastair…she was dying. So many around us had already died. I…couldn't do nothing. I couldn't let her die," Foxx said softly.

His friend's hand threaded through his hair, the man pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "What were you thinking? You hate children… I'd much rather you be selfish and live."

He pulled back. "So people keep reminding me," he said with an irritated sigh. "Look, I made a choice, and I don't regret it."

He didn't… Because he was positive that…Melody wouldn't have survived if he hadn't done what he did.

"Come stay with me while you are healing. I'll take care of you."

Despite how shitty Foxx was feeling all around, he found himself laughing at, really, just the absurdity of the suggestion. "You can't be serious."

"I am!" the vampire cried. "I'm your friend, so let me take care of you!"

"I'd prefer not to live on sweets, or potentially be poisoned by whatever you attempt to feed me."

"I'm…not…that…" Alastair trailed off, before finally conceding to the fact that he couldn't fucking cook. "Well, we can just order in. No big deal."

"Mmm, let me think about that…takeout versus homemade meals…" Foxx paused for but a moment before saying, "No, I think I'll stay here."

"‘It' cooks?"

It? He eyed the man, nose wrinkling. "Are you trying to get Harlow to shoot you? Because, let me assure you now, he will."

"Fine!" Alastair huffed, before rephrasing his previous question. "The human cooks?"

Foxx rolled his eyes. "Yes. The human cooks. He is…taking care of me. Really, Alastair, he is. I'm okay here."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Well, believe it, because Harlow has been. Just as he did when I was injured the time before this. Harlow's been surprisingly…great through…everything… I don't know what I'd have done without him…" Foxx trailed off, thinking about everything.

Harlow really had been great, before and now…which…

Foxx frowned, nibbling his bottom lip as he really thought over all Harlow had done. Despite being an asshole…Harlow…was a pretty good guy…

Eyes widening at the thought, his heart started to pick up pace, as heat spread across his cheeks.

Harlow…a good guy?! Had he really just thought that?!

* * *

When Foxx grew quiet,Alastair's eyes narrowed. The smaller vampire was frowning, completely zoned out.

Alastair glared at the stark white bandage on Foxx's cheek… Ugh, why couldn't Foxx just quit this horrible job?

"He's been great, huh?"

Foxx blinked. And quickly said, "Yes."

The man glanced up, before his gaze flicked away quickly, eyes avoiding his. But it hadn't been quick enough. Alastair had seen the confusion…the uncertainty…

What the fuck was going on? How had him mentioning that human brought on this reaction? Wait…was that a… His eyes narrowed further as he stared at Foxx's cheeks.

Oh shit…Foxx was blushing. No, no, no, absolutely not! Alastair refused to let some grubby psycho human get his hands on his baby—a middle aged human at that!

He winced when Foxx's expression twisted slightly. Fuck, Foxx had that stupid, confused doe look on his face. His friend hadn't even realized his feelings yet.

How in the bloody hell had this happened?! He hadn't even been gone that long!

Wait…no. Foxx not knowing meant there was still time to divert this disaster!

Not that any attempts to divert Foxx had worked in the past. Maybe he could just get Daydric to kill the human?