#one can't ignore all the beautiful angst opportunities with THE doomed yaoi of 2004

[marc--chilton]

(mgv) au where adam is saved by strahm, who takes him home with him after adam's landlord kicks him out for not paying rent (he has the money from stalking lawrence but never got to pay the landlord... or something idk the landlord sucks). lawrence knows adam is alive but his location is kept secret, and adam has to be talked out of going to find lawrence as well. not for any malicious reason, but because strahm believes letting them both heal separately will keep them from developing a codependency. strahm also siphons what little bit of info adam didn't repress of the incident to use for his investigation.

they aren't friends, they're hardly roommates, but it's definitely much more stable than his apartment. there's always decent enough food, adam gets the spare bedroom, it's for sure not the worst situation he's been in.

when adam notices strahm's rut coming up (he's an alpha. why not.) he even offers his body to try and pay strahm back but strahm refuses with a cringe as that is Never what he wanted. so they just kind of. live totally separate lives. adam recovers and starts getting back on his feet with a less shitty job less likely to have him getting kidnapped. he still wants to see lawrence, but knowing that he didn't keep his promise (not on purpose) and never seemed to seek him out left adam with some hurt feelings over the matter.

so they manage. they stay away from each other during rut/heat barring the incredibly unobtrusive way strahm provides adam with basic heat materials -- snack crackers, water, extra blankets -- and does his best to ignore him for until the end of the cycle. for ruts, strahm just leaves the house to stay at a hotel or ingest suppressors so he can keep working.

it's all well and good until suddenly strahm doesn't come back. so adam waits. he waits until food gets low, paranoia building. the house starts feeling cramped. his shoulder hurts. the smell of grime and iron and blood and the comforting scent of an alpha who wants to help far out of reach--

in his panic, he doesn't remember how it happened. the stone steps covered in frost, maybe. but the next thing he knows, he's outside, his foot's going numb, and the crumpled sock at his ankle is staining with blood.

a concerned bystander calls an ambulance for him, adam's hysteria at its peak.

the closes hospital is st. eustace. lawrence, having transferred himself from angel of mercy after his own recovery, insists on giving helping a hand in the ER when possible, foot be damned, so imagine his shock when he's on the first floor and hears those familiar sobs and shrieks.

they have to sedate him or strap him down but no one manages to even get close enough to him, wild and lashing as he is. so lawrence intervenes, gets the nurses and orderlies to give them some space, all the while adam is mentally back in that bathroom getting to touch lawrence for the first time, sobbing, clutching with both hands, "you said you'd be back, i knew you'd keep your promise, you said you wouldn't lie to me, you came back...." lawrence brings them close enough to touch foreheads. adam doesn't even notice the needle prick.

when he wakes up later, his leg's in a cast. lawrence is in the chair next to him, his doctor's scrawl already on his cast.