#its a constant crisis in washington dc or vienna virginia or whereever they happento be at any given time
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One Day
Notes: Maybe like 9 months in?
CW: vague references to noncon, references to noncon drugging, all the typical CW for this story.
⼠⼠âĽ
Leo is shivering as he pulls off his sweatshirt; he feels another wave of dizziness wash over him and he swallows. It took three days of skull-splitting headaches and increasingly persistent nudging from Luke before he agreed to go visit Rob. They left with a prescription for antibiotics and a word of caution to take it easy for a few days. Leo waited in the car while Luke got the medicine, and, while his desperation for relief was palpable, the bottle of pills that he turns over and over and over has his stomach in knots.
The relief will be worth it, Leo tells himself, closing his eyes. It will be worth it. On the peripheries of his worry is the pain that constantly accompanies being drugged, the disorientation, the nausea. Further back is the feeling of hands on him, of not being able to lift his arms, of people looking down at him whispering that itâs okay while lower, his legs are prised apart. And then, the one where everything is dark, and everything hurts, and he doesnât know whatâs real. That one is even further, so far back that Leo blinks the thoughtâ no, the memoryâ away as quickly as he can, as he swallows and puts the bottle down. Luke wonât hurt you.Â
He wraps his arms around his stomach and sits on the edge of the tub, waiting for it to pass. He hears Lukeâs footsteps down the hall. If he can act okay, he thinks, maybe Luke wonât make him take them. Maybe, if he can make himself feel better, or at minimum, if he can make Luke believe heâs feeling better, then Luke wonât be worried, and he wonât make him take them.
He swallows again, and his shivering fingers moving to grip to the side of the tub; he sucks in a deep breath through his nose and holds it. His vision swims as he blinks against the fluorescent light.
"Leo?" Luke knocks softly on the door before pushing it open.
Leo opens one eye, squinting in his general direction. His grip tightens on the ceramic, trying to keep himself both upright and still. Heâs okay, he tries to say with an easy half smile, but his vision is a little blurry, and heâs distantly aware that unshed tears are the culprit. He canât pinpoint when that happened, but itâs too late to do anything about it. He shakes his head, offering his best approximation of a smile.
Luke drops to a kneel in front of him, his hand brushing against Leoâs forehead.
"I'm really okay," he hears himself saying, his voice warbled in his ears. He knows he isnât convincingâ not to Luke, and not to himselfâ but his words come out ahead of his thoughts. âIâm feeling⌠I think a little better.â He swallows, pinching his eyes shut again. âI think I can⌠I think itâll be okay withoutââÂ
At Lukeâs expression, he trails off.Â
"Right.â Skepticism colors Lukeâs tone, but he smiles warmly in spite of it. âYou still dizzy?"
"Mhmm." Leo presses his head into Luke's palm, a half-hearted bid to ease the tension there, as Luke brushes the hair away from his too-warm flesh. It's Luke's favorite way to show concern, or, if heâs lucky, sometimes affection. It's become one of Leo's favorites, too. He lets his eyes close, even though he knows thereâs danger there. His body, his mind, have been forced to accept this, and to find comfort in it, and to long for it. But heâs never been forced to let his guard down, and heâs never been forced to find safety in this.Â
âYouâre shivering,â Luke whispers, pressing his fingers into Leoâs palm and uncurling his fingers gently. When he withdraws, he places the plastic bottle in the void, then wraps Leoâs fingers around it.
âHow bad is it?â
âBetter than before,â Leo replies carefully. âI probably can just⌠sleep it off.â The bottle in his hand makes the shivering more noticeable.
No response immediately comes from Luke, but he squeezes Leoâs forearm. Thereâs a long silence, where Leo knows that Luke searches for the words to convince him without commanding him.Â
âI donât want to take them,â Leo eventually whispers, so soft that heâs not sure Luke even registered that he was speaking. He shrinks back automatically, his body readying itself for the pain thatâs sure to follow. Slowly, he brings his eyes up to meet Lukeâs.
Luke nods, but heâs not happy.Â
Itâll helpâYouâll feel betterâ Take theseâ It doesnât matter if you want to or notâ You can swallow them or I can force them down your throatâ We gave you something to help calm you downâ We gave you something thatâll make it difficult for you to eat for a few daysâ We gave you something that might make it hard for you to standâ Take them, Leo.Â
Take them.Â
Take them.Â
Take them.
His head is pounding, the lights are too bright, the sounds too loud. His arms are wrapped around a bucket with doctors surrounding him, he hasnât eaten in days. He wakes up restrained. He doesnât know where heâ
âAlright,â Luke says, wrapping his fingers around Leoâs, which are gripped tightly around the bottle. They both stare at it.
It doesnât matter if you want to or not.Â
âIâm sorry,â he chokes out. âIâllâ I shouldnât have said that. Iâll take them, just⌠just give me a minute?â
Luke takes the medicine and sets it on the counter. The absence of the bottle in his hand is an immediate alarm bell, and he reaches out to Luke. âIâm sorry,â he says again. âI want to take them.â He clears his throat, wincing as he does. He has more planned to say, but Luke cuts him off.
âHey.â Luke pushes his fingers into Leoâs hair. Something in Leoâs face, which, Leo suspects, is half a decade of anxiety manifesting itself in unshed tears, must have Luke on edge; he tries to fix his expression. âIf you want to take them, take them. If you donât, itâs fine. Youâll survive either way,â he says, his tone overtly lifting. He moves to sit on the ledge of the tub next to Leo, nudging his shoulder with his own. âProbably,â he amends, and Leo forces a smile.Â
Thereâs a silence as they both stare at the pill bottle, innocent-enough looking but wreaking absolute havoc on Leoâs anxiety.Â
âYou donât have to take them,â Luke says again. âWhy donât you lay down for a little bit, and once youâre in a better headspace we can reassess? Iâll grab dinner?â
Leo nods, and Luke squeezes his arm. And then, at the risk of unraveling every ounce of confidence heâs gained in the last six months, he says, âIt used to be a whole thing.â He stares straight ahead, but he can feel Lukeâs eyes on him. âThey knew, I think. Early on, that it freâ That it scared me. So theyââ He shakes his head. He swallows. His fingers tangle together in his lap. âI donât know. I just⌠I donât like it.â
âYou donât have to explain yourself,â Luke eventually responds, when itâs clear that Leo doesnât plan to go further. âI hope you do, though. That one day, youâll tell me what happened?â
Leo nods, taking a deep breath and blinking back the unshed tears, and stands. He picks up the bottle from the counter and turns to face Luke.
âOne day,â he says, nodding.Â
Luke trails behind him as he walks back toward his bedroom, and at the door, he says, âI mean that, Leo. Iâll help you, in any way that I can. But I need you to know that you can talk to me, and it wonât go anywhere you donât want it to go.â
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#the trifecta i stg#<3#the fighter#no one is stoic there is zero chill among these two#leo's absolutely thirsty but can't quite nail down if it's real or manufactured thirst#and luke is lowkey thirsty too so he has to have a lot of Big Deep Chats with himself in the bathroom mirror#its a constant crisis in washington dc or vienna virginia or whereever they happento be at any given time
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