Dillon rubbed Rory's back, fighting the urge to cling to the fabric there as he guided him through the now familiar halls of the hospital. "Are you sure you'll be alright?"
Rory nodded. "Yes, you can go on. I'll meet you in Rin's room after. I doubt they'll be removing them today anyway. The doctor said last time that they typically leave stitches in your hands for ten days or more. It's only been five."
"Ha… Has it been that long already?" Dillon ran his free hand through his hair as he thought back over the past several days. "Well… I guess it has… Hum…"
"Yeah…" Rory's voice trailed off, hesitation weighing heavily in it.
Dillon pulled Rory to a stop and quickly gripped his shoulders. "Are you sure you're alright going alone? I don't mind going with you at all. It would be no inconvenience. We can go to Rin's room after… together…"
Rory shook his head. "No, I'm fine… Really."
Dillon frowned. "If you're sure…" He let his hands slide down Rory's arms and settled for taking his hand instead. "How about I walk you to the waiting area at least?"
"You don't have to, I'm really ok now… but I'll not say no if you want to." Rory's gaze fell to their hands as Dillon laced his fingers into Rory's. His eyes lifted back to Dillon. "You really don't mind this? PDA I mean… With a man?"
Dillon shrugged. "I've been with Rin most of my life. Do you think people look at us together and see anything besides two dudes? It has never bothered me. Hell Sabastian is all over me in public all the time. You know that. I'm just not a switch… that's the only area me and Rin have never seen eye to eye on."
"You know Rin has… gotten me to switch… right?" Rory kept his focus trained straight ahead, and his voice lowered as they made their way through the busy hallways.
"Yeah…" Dillon nodded as he involuntarily tightened his hold on Rory's hand.
Rory swallowed against the lump forming in his throat. "What if I told you I liked it… the feel?"
Dillon shrugged before risking a glance down. Rory's gaze was still locked on the maze ahead. He pulled Rory to a stop and brought his face up to meet his. He took a step closer and leaned in. His voice was barely a whisper against Rory's lips as Dillon held Rory's turbulent gaze. "Do you want to fuck me?"
Rory didn't answer.
Dillon tightened his hold on Rory's face as he released Rory's hand and wrapped his arm around his waist. He slowly backed Rory against a wall away from prying eyes. It wasn't a no… He usually shuts me down straight away with a no… "Rory, do you want to top me?"
Rory shook his head no. He pressed his palms against Dillon's upper abdominals but didn't push him away this time.
A smirk curved Dillon's lips as he lowered his forehead to rest against Rory's. "Then we're fine… more than fine. You didn't say no to fucking me, and you don't want to top. I see no problem with that." Dillon pressed Rory's lips apart with his thumb, but didn't take the opportunity to kiss him like he wanted to; instead, he forced himself away. He tugged Rory away from the wall and straightened the baggy clothes Rory wore. "We'll discuss this later. For now, let's get you to your appointment… and perhaps you're right… You should go alone… I'll meet you in Rin's room. What do you say?"
Rory's mind was all over the place, but he forced himself to nod.
Dillon laced his fingers into Rory's once again. "I'll walk you there still."
**
Dillon slammed his hands down on the bedside table in angry frustration. "You have to stop this shit today!"
Rin blew out an equally frustrated sigh. "It has been too long now. I don't know what to say to him… 'Yeah, sorry, I've been faking this whole time. I wanted to make sure you didn't run away again.' I don't know… man, I know I'm fucked, ok…"
"You can't keep doing this shit!" Dillon barked out. A light knock on the door had Rin going into sleep mode, and Dillon's anger flaring once again. "Fucking dick bag." He muttered before turning his attention to the door. "Come in."
Sabastian poked his head in. "I… was going to wait until Rin was released before doing this… but it's been nearly a week already…" His eyes moved to the bed.
Dillon kicked the bed. "He's fucking awake, so say what you need to. The bastard is faking to keep Rory from bouncing again."
Sabastian shot a glance back toward the door. "Is that so… Well, then this… Well, I'm not sure how this news will be taken." He drew in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "Rin… Dillon… I'm moving back to France. I can't stay here. I can't be near you anymore. You are both toxic to me… to each other… to everyone around you… I'm finished. Termine, plus rien. Don't come looking for me."
Rin pushed up from the bed in time to see Sabastian spin on his heels and storm from the room. He exchanged shocked glances with Dillon, but neither was prepared for Sabastian's parting words… or the fact they were not addressed to either of them.
As Sabastian stepped from the room, he called over his shoulder to someone waiting right outside the door on the opposite side. "They're all yours now. Good luck with them… if you decide to stick around."
Dillon and Rin both could feel unease settle into the pit of their stomachs. They didn't need to hear the quiet voice that responded to know who would be walking into the room next. Dillon's eyes shot over to Rin, daring him to go back to his fake slumber.
Rin swallowed hard. For the first time in a long time, he had no idea what he was going to do or say. He hadn't been this nervous to face someone since all those years ago when he was first discovered as a girl in an all-boys' school. His eyes wouldn't… couldn't move away from the doorway.
Silken, blonde curls glistened under the fluorescent lights as Rory stepped into the room. His eyes moved from Rin to Dillon. Rin stared back with a deer-in-the-headlights look… the look of a person who'd obviously just gotten caught doing something they shouldn't… and Dillon. Rory could read several emotions play across Dillon's face at once; guilt, worry, irritation, fear… worry and fear seemed to be winning out, though.
Dillon met Rory halfway across the room and pulled him into his arms. He tucked Rory's head under his chin. "I'm sorry… I didn't want you to find out like this…"
"It's ok…" Rory whispered as he pressed gently against Dillon's chest. His eyes lifted to Dillon's troubled, confused gaze before shifting to Rin. "I've known the whole time… The reports, the nurses," Rory glanced up at Dillon, his hands still pressed against Dillon's chest. "You dropped more than a fair share of hints." He slowly turned his head back to Rin. "I just wanted to see how long you'd keep up this farce. I wanted to understand why… if you even had a reason." Rory blew out a labored sigh. "Rin, I don't know how to say this…" He finally released his hold on Dillon and walked over to the chair he had pulled over by the bed the first day there and sat down. His eyes studied Rin for the longest time. "You endangered your life for me, and for that, I'm forever grateful. There will never be a doubt in my mind that you truly love me… but I don't know if your type of love is what I want…"
Rin choked past the emotions that were threatening to suffocate him. "Rory… you… What are you saying right now?"
Rory frowned. "I think you know what I'm saying." He shook his head. "I can't do this, Rin. What you did... This isn't right, and you know it."
Rin leaned forward and cupped his hands over Rory's. "I just didn't want you to leave again. Not until I'm well enough to go after you. I really am stuck here. I'm not released. That's not a lie."
Rory nodded. "Yeah, I know… I spoke to one of the nurses the second day, as they were doing shift change, before you were able to warn them about your little games… She's been keeping me updated on your actual condition this entire time."
Rin paled. "Rory… I'm sorry…"
Rory shook his head again. "No, Rin… You're not sorry you did this. You're sorry you got caught… And I'm sorry that I keep letting you play games with my emotions."
Rin squeezed Rory's hands tighter. "You… you're not leaving, too, are you? You can't leave."
Rory shrugged. "I don't know." He pulled his hands away as he leaned back in the chair. He shifted his gaze up to Dillon. "Am I leaving? Am I moving back in with my mom… maybe move to France with Sabastian for a while… I'll ask you the same question I asked Rin… Can you be happy in a relationship with just me? I'm not ready to be in a throuple, or whatever it is you guys have done in the past… but… I have reconsidered a few things…" His steely gaze moved to Rin. "Looks like you're continuously pushing me at Dillon has had the results you wanted. I have fallen for him…"
Rin's mouth dropped. "That wasn't my intention… Not that you leave me for him…"
Rory shrugged. "When I've continuously told you that I wanted a monogamous relationship, yet you kept forcing me into another man's arms, how did you think it would go?"
Rin began to protest, but alarms in the room began to go off, and nurses rushed in. "Your vitals are rising rapidly! What is going on? Is everything alright?!" One of the nurses called out as she ran through the door.
Rin growled as he ripped the blood pressure monitor from his arm. "I'm fine! We're not, but I am!"
"You must calm down!" The nurse called out.
"I agree," Dillon interjected as he gently jerked Rory up from the seat and led him toward the door as more nurses rushed into the room. "We're not making any decisions today, so just calm the fuck down, Rin. Rory and I are going home and… talking… We'll be back tomorrow, and the three of us will have a proper conversation…"
"You motherfucker, what have you been doing?!" Rin barked out as the nurses gathered around the bed, but Rin's anger was short-lived. One of the nurses injected a sedative into the IV line, and Rin became drowsy almost immediately.
Dillon blew out a disheartened sigh. "Fuck… dude…" He ran his free hand through his hair as his troubled eyes shifted to Rory. "What was all that? Mind explaining?"
Rory sent Rin's crumpled, unconscious body an irritated glare. "At least he's actually asleep this time…"
Dillon gave Rory's arm a slight shake. "Rory… come on, this isn't like you."
Rory's anger melted away, and sadness quickly replaced it. "I wanted to hurt him as bad as he's always hurting me…"
"And the things you said? Were they true? When did you really find things out?"
Rory blew out a sigh. "The first day, I overheard the medical staff say he'd woken up and then stumbled awkwardly around as they tried to backtrack it. Then, when you started making remarks and talking to Rin as if he could hear what you were saying, I knew but couldn't prove it… I finally found a new nurse and asked her questions as if I were already in the know, and she told me everything."
Dillon blew out an exasperated sigh. "So, you have known this entire time."
Rory nodded.
Dillon studied him. "Then why not say anything to me?"
Rory shrugged. "All the times I would leave… I'd wait in the halls and listen to the two of you argue… And the way you treated me at home. No matter what, you never tried to take advantage of the situation… of me…" Rory took one of Dillon's large hands in both of his. He traced Dillon's long, skinny fingers with his, his eyes focused on the action. "I figured you were having a hard enough time, and I appreciated…" His eyes lifted to Dillon's. "Appreciate what you have done for me too much to blame you."
"What about Rin?"
Rory's eyes moved to the bed, and pressure began to build as tears filled them. "I will always love a part of Rin… but there is an equal part that I have grown to distrust… and I can't love what I distrust… or at least can't be with what a person I both love and distrust at the same time…"
Dillon nodded. "I understand that… but does that mean you trust me?"
Rory drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I don't know yet… You've always been painfully honest with me… but you've also always gone out of your way to side with Rin…" Rory searched the depths of Dillon's eyes. "What will you do now? Will you choose what's best for Rin or… something else? Will you choose me?"