The Title Will Go Here - 28. Chapter 28

So I didn't realize until I was editing it, but this is the last chapter so far. It was also quite long so I decided to split it in two. Next chapter is going to be the last one for now & I will kick my own behind so I can finally get on it & write some more, so I can shut up all those voices in my head for a while that are getting louder again... 😶

- XXVIII -

“It’s almost midnight,” Max said after he finished his countless coffee refill. “You’d better drive me back... Told you not to pick me up,” he let out a crooked smile. “Would’ve saved yourself a trip...”

Leon hemmed at that and pushed away his cup, gesturing for the waiter.

“Remember how I said that I had an agenda?” he asked in a low voice after he handed the waiter his credit card and the bill.

“I’ll pay for my half...” Max started saying when the waiter walked away, and Leon almost scowled at that.

“No you won’t,” he said. “Pull out your wallet and I will make you eat it!”

Max blinked several times and left his wallet alone. Leon nodded.

“Anyway,” he said without looking away from the pale eyes. “Remember...?”

Max slowly nodded without saying anything, and Leon let out a smile.

“Good,” he murmured. “What I meant was that you would need me to drive you back, and if I refused, then you’d have no choice but to spend the night in my room.”

Max looked at him with a very slight frown, his expression serious and thoughtful, and some seconds later, Leon sighed and briefly closed his eyes.

“You don’t want to,” he said quietly when he opened them. “All right,” he sighed again and took a receipt from the suddenly appearing waiter’s hand. He quickly signed one of the receipts and put his copy and his card into his wallet. “I’ll drive you back to your apartment,” he nodded and stood up. “I am not going to make you do something you don’t want,” he shrugged when he saw a silent question in the pale eyes.

“Did I say I didn’t want to?” Max asked him with the same serious expression without getting up, and Leon blinked.

“No,” he said slowly, his palm pressed into the back of his chair.

“Then don’t put words in my mouth,” Max nodded calmly, and then he smiled. “I can think of much better alternatives,” he said in a low voice, and Leon blinked again.

Max let out a small sigh and got off his chair.

“Let’s go,” he said, and Leon finally smiled.

...They got back to the hotel fifteen minutes later, and Leon walked towards the front desk. Before the man behind it had a chance to utter a single word, Leon put a fifty in front of him, and silently snorted when the money disappeared in a magic-like manner.

“Would you like your breakfast delivered in the morning?” the man asked professionally, and Leon nodded.

“Ten o’clock,” he said. “Make sure it’s for two,” he added before turning around and walking towards Max who looked slightly amused.

“Certainly, master Rolands,” the man said, and this time, Leon didn’t reply.

They started walking upstairs, ignoring the elevators, and when Leon wrapped his fingers around Max’s hand, he liked the smile he received in return. They made it to the third floor, and Leon was digging in his pocket for the room key, when suddenly, he bumped into Stratos nose to nose. He frowned when he saw the musician’s expression – it was a mix of fear, confusion, and panic.

“What...” Leon started saying when Stratos shoved him aside and all but ran towards the stairs.

“Up!” was all he said.

Leon frowned deeper and looked at Max who was wearing the same confused frown. They turned around and followed Stratos upstairs, catching up to him only when they made it all the way up to the door that led to the roof.

Stratos yanked the door open and charged outside.

“In the bloody hell...” Leon muttered when he and Max stepped through the door as well. Then he stopped talking and moving, staring at the scene in front of him.

Gemini was standing dangerously close to the edge of the roof, his back turned towards all three men, and he was standing rigidly still. Leon looked at Stratos who was moving towards the frozen figure very slowly, and suddenly, he understood – he sleepwalked again, he realized in astonishment. Just like several weeks ago – he sleepwalked again!

He warningly raised his finger without making any sounds when Max opened his mouth, clearly about to say something. Startling someone who was sleepwalking was not a good idea, especially if that someone could hurl a ton-weighing fridge all the way across the kitchen without moving a finger.

“Gem...” Stratos called quietly, and slowly stepped closer to the edge of the roof. “Gem, walk towards me... Please...!” He stretched out his arm. “Gemini, please...”

Gemini slowly turned his head, and Leon couldn’t breathe for a couple of seconds – there was nothing in his eyes but pure gold. No whites, no pupils, no expression whatsoever – just pure gold. All of a sudden, his memory threw a similar image at him; an image of Katherine staring into nowhere, her eyes filled with bloody-maroon and nothing else on the night they were drinking together in the Mist Bucket. He blinked and the image disappeared.

“Holy shit...” he said very quietly without looking away from the surreal scene in front of him.

“Gemini, give me your hand,” Stratos took another very slow, careful step forward without lowering his arm. “Come on, give me your hand...”

Suddenly, Gemini’s eyelashes slightly trembled, shifting the gold in his eyes with a strange shadow, and then he said in a monotonous, absolutely lifeless voice:

“Can’t open the door if there is no key...”

Door, Leon thought. Door... Again, just like several weeks ago. What did he say then? “Don’t open that door,” Leon suddenly remembered, and then several things happened at once.

Gemini turned away from Stratos’ face and slightly spread his arms as if he were trying to levitate, his hair shimmering in the night; Stratos took another step, not as slow this time, desperately reaching out for the rigid figure on the edge of the roof; a sudden blast of the wind attacked everyone with startling rage, stealing Leon’s breath for a few seconds, and then Gemini’s arms spread a little wider, and he took a step off the roof.

“No!”

“Fuck!”

Stratos and Leon screamed that out at the same time. Leon watched Stratos lunge towards the falling figure and he knew that the musician would be too late – nobody would be able to get to him in time, he thought, feeling as if he was in one of his weird, surreal dreams. Nobody would be able to get to him in time... Then he was proven wrong.

Leon had absolutely no idea how it was even possible, but the minute Gemini stepped off the edge of the roof, Max was right there, next to him, grabbing the back of his collar and yanking him towards himself with maddening force. Gemini flew backwards and slammed into Max who lost his balance on the impact, tumbled two steps back, and collapsed under Gemini’s weight, hitting the back of his head on the wide pipe that was running along the entire roof, it seemed.

“Shit...!” he yelled and lost his hold on Gemini, who immediately rolled off him, promptly landing on the same pipe, making Leon wince involuntarily at the sound of impact his forehead made with rusty iron.

Gemini let out a short, startled scream, and all of a sudden, his eyes were normal again. He pressed his hand against his forehead and looked around with terrified confusion.

“What...” he said, and then he fell down without saying anything else, missing hitting the same pipe by merely an inch.

That brought Stratos back to life, and he lunged towards the unconscious figure. Leon very slowly stumbled towards Max who was sitting up by now, rubbing the back of his head with a torturous grimace.

“Shit...” he said when Leon was standing next to him. “That’s gonna hurt...”

Leon looked at Stratos, who carefully lifted an unconscious Gemini in his arms and straightened up.

“What the shit...” Leon said quietly and very slowly, and Stratos shot him a quick glance, his face paper-white, his entire body shaking.

“He is asleep...” he muttered with slight stutter. “Same thing happened last time...” He frowned. “First time... Whatever...” he shook his head and looked at Max. “Thank you,” he said in the same stuttering manner, and Max nodded and winced at the same time without taking his hand away from the back of his head.

Stratos didn’t say anything else, turned around, and slowly walked towards the door of the roof without looking back. Leon watched him disappear in the doorway, and then shifted his gaze towards Max.

“How the hell did you do that?” he asked quietly, and Max looked up.

“Do what?” he blinked.

“You were standing right next to me,” Leon said in the same quiet voice. “Stratos was less than two feet away from him, but even he didn’t stand a chance of catching him in time... How in the bloody hell did you do that?”

“Oh...” Max muttered and winced again when he tilted his head too far backwards. “I always had quick reaction... I used to kick ass at tennis when I was a kid,” he slightly nodded and tried getting up.

Leon grabbed his arm and pulled him upwards.

“Tennis,” he said slowly. “Tennis doesn’t give you an ability to move with the speed of light...” He frowned. “Ability,” he said again. “Is that it? You have an ability...? Super-speed?”

“I don’t have super-speed,” Max grimaced, and then he slightly shivered. “Let’s go back,” he said. “I am freezing...”

“Right,” Leon blinked, and they started walking towards the door.

They were going downstairs, and Leon sighed when Max wouldn’t take his hand away from the back of his head.

“Want me to kiss it and make it feel better?” he asked in a low voice, and Max looked at him.

“Would you do it more than once?” he replied in the same low voice, and Leon smiled.

“Do you even have to ask?” he murmured and pulled the room key out of his pocket when they finally made it to their door.

...“Feeling better now?” Leon asked almost two hours later, and he sounded out of breath.

“Oh, hell, yes...” Max panted. “I just hope I didn’t wake up the entire floor...”

“Mmm...” Leon said and planted a quick kiss on the side of Max’s neck. “If you did, then I am pretty sure about what they are doing right now... Your screaming is one hell of a turn-on...”

Max let out a quick, panting laughter and scooted closer to Leon, wrapping his arm around the other man’s waist.

“Good night,” he whispered and pressed his face into Leon’s neck.

“Night,” Leon said quietly, kissed the messed up soft hair, and closed his eyes.

He was deeply asleep ten minutes later, and Max shifted next to him very slowly, making sure he didn’t wake him up. Leon didn’t even stir, and Max moved away from him, to the edge of the bed, and reached out for his pants that were lying on the floor. He took his phone out of the pants’ pocket, flipped it open, and quickly typed one single word into the text message screen.

“Yes,” he typed and hit the ‘send’ button.

After doing that, he dropped the phone on the floor and slid next to Leon once again, wrapping his arm around his waist and pressing his face into his neck just like he did ten minutes ago.