Red String of Fate

Safe and Sound

He let go of Henry's hand and turned around, stiffly and slowly pulling up the back of his shirt. "This is what happened..."
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"Oh my gosh," Henry whispered, raising a hand to his mouth. "Pierre..." Pierre said nothing but kept his head bowed as if in shame. Spread across the Frenchman's back was an angry mess of scars and old burn tissue that looked like it would rip apart if Pierre bent over too far. There was one of the extra-large Band-Aids on his left shoulder, which he guessed was to cover where the skin really had split open. He slowly reached out a hand to touch his mangled skin, but he quickly drew back when he realized what he'd been about to do. "D-does it hurt?" he murmured, his voice trembling slightly.

Pierre shrugged a shoulder and hummed vaguely in reply. "Some days are worse than others," he muttered. "I was sore today after moving all our boxes. But it's usually not that bad." He pulled his shirt back down and turned to face Henry again. His eyes were downcast and his cheeks were red with embarrassment. "Pretty ugly mess though, no?" he said, a sad smile on his handsome face. "But I have to say, it definitely looks better than it did when I was little."

Henry reached up and hugged Pierre tightly, burying his face in the crook of his neck. He couldn't really think of anything to say, so he just nuzzled him lightly and held on to him. Pierre gratefully returned the hug, sliding his arms around his waist and burying his face in his hair. "Can we just sit like this for a little while?" Pierre murmured. "We can cuddle, like you suggested. I just need to hold you." His voice shook slightly and his grip on Henry tightened a little. The fire and his accident were not pleasant memories for him, and he didn't like dwelling on them. Especially the memories of afterwards, when he was all by himself until his adoptive family took him in. He had missed Henry so much, and the memory of how lonely he was had slowly settled on his shoulders like a heavy mantle. He just wanted to reassure himself that this wasn't a dream, and that neither of them were going anywhere.

"Of course we can," Henry replied, kissing Pierre's cheek gently before straightening up. "Get comfy, and I'll get the blanket that's on the loveseat." He thought he saw a glimmer of panic in Pierre's blue eyes, but the look vanished so quickly that Henry was sure he'd imagined it. But he knew that the tension in Pierre's arms as he reluctantly let go of Henry's waist was definitely not a hallucination. He kissed him lightly on the nose as he got up off the couch and darted over to the loveseat to pick up the blanket he'd mentioned. He made a show of wrapping himself up in it, which made the Frenchman laugh lightly as he laid himself down on the couch cushions. Henry beamed and jogged back over to the couch, pouncing lightly on Pierre and snuggling close to his chest. When Pierre tried to unwrap the blanket Henry just pulled it closer to himself.

"Hey, share it," Pierre teased, tugging a little more on the blanket. Henry grinned mischievously at him before relinquishing his hold and letting Pierre cover them both with it. Henry snuggled right underneath Pierre's chin, just like he did when they were little, and closed his eyes with a happy sigh. He felt Pierre kiss his forehead as he wrapped his arms around him again, and he couldn't resist smiling or blushing at his gesture of affection. Pierre's fingers drew slow, soothing circles on his back, keeping a steady pace and rhythm. Occasionally he would press kisses to the top of Henry's head, as if to reassure himself that Henry was still there. Sometimes Henry would kiss the underside of his chin to reinforce the fact that he truly wasn't going to disappear.

As they lay together, Henry found himself taking deeper breaths so he could breath in the scent of Pierre's cologne. He couldn't quite put his finger on exactly what it smelled like, but he loved how earthy and rich it was. Pierre ran his fingers through Henry's hair, once again admiring just how soft it was. At one point, both of them moved at the same time to give each other the simple kisses, but found themselves face to face. Henry blushed to the tips of his ears and looked down quickly, but Pierre simply chuckled and tilted his chin back up. He rested their foreheads together, smiling tenderly at the blushing young man in his arms. Henry gave him a shy smile in return, looking up at him through his lashes. Man, why did he have to be so cute?