Found by sin - Bokuaka

Chapter 24

They woke up tangled in each other, barely realising they'd overslept until passed midday. Luckily, it was sunday, so Bokuto didn't have to work.

Both felt they were finally able to really rest, without waking up several times during the night, as it had been the last year and a half.

"Good morning, Agaashi", Bokuto said, his voice sleepy and raspy.

Akaashi's heart thudded strongly after the nickname.

"Good morning, Bokuto", said before kissing him gently on his lips.

Neither wanted to get up. They cuddled for a while, smiling and giving each other gentle caresses, until their stomachs began to sound from hunger, which made them laugh.

"I'll make us breakfast", Bokuto said.

"Ok, thank you", the black-haired man said before yawning and stretching. "I'm gonna take a shower".

"Ok", Bokuto said before giving Akaashi a small peck on the lips and heading to the kitchen.

Akaashi still felt very sleepy, and felt as if his body hadn't entirely woken up yet.

He got in the bathroom and began removing his clothes, but when he was taking his pants off, a strong pain in his leg made him lose his balance and fall.

"Akaashi?!", Bokuto claimed as soon as he heard the loud noise from the bathroom, and ran towards it.

Akaashi still felt disoriented from having just woken up, until he realised he was half naked and heard Bokuto's footsteps approaching.

"Wait-", Akaashi tried to say, but Bokuto had already opened the bathroom door, and he looked away to avoid his eyes.

He didn't want him to see him like this.

"Akaashi! Are you ok?", Bokuto said worriedly as he kneeled beside him. "Are you hurt? Did you hit your head?".

"No, I'm fine, I just tripped because my leg hurt, that's all".

"Are you sure you're not hurt?", said as he gently caressed Akaashi's face, when he noticed his afflicted expression. "Akaashi, what's wrong?".

The latter felt embarrassed by the thoughts he was having, but since Bokuto already noticed something was off, he couldn't hide it.

"It's just…", he sighed as he braced himself. "I'm really… Self-conscious about how skinny I am… I've put on some weight since I woke up from the coma, because then I was practically just skin and bones, but… I still feel so weak and… Well… I'm so different from what you remember of me that I didn't want you to see me like this…", said while blushing from embarrassment. 

"Why not?", Bokuto asked, genuinely clueless towards Akaashi's concern.

"Because… I'm worried that… You wouldn't like me as you used to if you saw me like this… In this state…", said while blushing even more.

Bokuto finally realised, and gently, grabbed Akaashi's face to make him look at him.

"Akaashi, you were in a two year coma, and battled to walk again for the last year and a half. It's a miracle you're even here, of course you'd look different, but that's ok. Please don't feel bad about it".

"But, Bokuto, I… Well, when we… It's just that, we began being together because of physical attraction and now I just look sick and… Well…", said as he tried to express his insecurity.

Bokuto smiled tenderly, cupping Akaashi's face.

"Akaashi, my love, please don't think that. I love you, in every possible way, and there's no way I wouldn't like you. Yes, you're skinnier, but Akaashi, that means you're alive, that you've been through a lot to get here by my side, and trust me, nothing could ever make me love you less, so really, don't worry about it, ok?".

Akaashi's heart skipped a beat at his lover's sweet words.

"I'm sorry… I'm really insecure sometimes over the silliest things".

Bokuto kissed him softly, and then looked straight into his eyes.

"It's ok, just don't let those thoughts make you feel bad, ok?".

Akaashi smiled and nodded, once again impressed by Bokuto's kind heart.

"Let me help you", said as he gently lifted Akaashi to put him down inside the shower.

Akaashi held onto him as he evaluated the state of his leg.

"I think I can do it".

"Are you sure? I can help you to keep standing if you want, and if you're embarrassed, I can close my eyes or turn around while you shower".

"It's ok, I'll do some stretching and I should be good to go, thank you", said smiling.

"Hmmm", Bokuto answered, reluctant to let Akaashi on his own. "Ok, but if you need anything, let me know and I'll be here in a heartbeat".

"Ok", Akaashi answered, smiling, and Bokuto left to continue cooking.

That entire day, they catched up with each other, Akaashi telling him more details about his days in the hospital and the fact that he was in trial but finally declared innocent, while Bokuto rambled about his days at work, his friends and family.

"You know…", Bokuto said, shyly. "Some friends at work tried to make me go on dates several times… A woman even confessed to me a while ago… But I always rejected them. I just… Couldn't imagine myself ever being with someone else but you".

Akaashi closed his eyes, overwhelmed by emotion, and smiling in relief.

"Akaashi, I don't want to be apart from you from now on. I want to be with you, that's really all I want", he said suddenly as he grabbed Akaashi's hands. Maybe he was moving too fast, but he felt that he had to let Akaashi know that he wanted a life with him. "Would you… Would you live here with me?".

Bokuto's heart was beating incredibly fast, but Akaashi's heart beat increased both in speed and intensity so fast that he almost felt dizzy.

He sighed and grabbed his forehead to stabilize himself.

"God, Bokuto, you know, I'm still weak. Do you want to give me a heart attack with those words?", said smiling, while emotion overwhelmed him.

Then, he looked up to Bokuto's expectant eyes.

"Of course I'd love to be with you", said smiling tenderly, and Bokuto's face lit up with one of those warm smiles Akaashi missed and loved so much.

They kissed tenderly as both thought that what they were living right now seemed like a dream. An absolutely perfect dream.

During the afternoon, Akaashi began to do the exercises the doctor recommended him to do daily to recover. Reluctantly, of course, since all he wanted to do was to cuddle with Bokuto.

"We could work out together! And we could walk around the garden, I'll help you!", the latter said cheerfully.

Bokuto was quite fond of working out, since he always went for morning runs and had a little workout routine, which, to Akaashi's opinion, did wonders to his body.

"Damn it, Akaashi, control yourself", he thought, but he couldn't help feeling attracted to him physically as well.

And then, he thought that Bokuto wouldn't feel that way towards him since how much his body had changed.

But then he remembered Bokuto's words. His eyes were sincere when he said them, so he trusted him. It was just his insecure mind making him feel bad, as usual.

As Bokuto said, they did Akaashi's exercises together, and then, while sunset began, they went for a walk through the garden, Bokuto always on the lookout in case Akaashi got tired or felt pain.

Although it wasn't a very intense routine of exercises, Akaashi got tired easily, so Bokuto carried him to the living room for him to rest while he made food.

Akashi smiled at how loving and caring Bokuto was, and thought he couldn't be more fortunate and grateful to have him by his side.

They ended that day tangled in each other's arms again, gently holding and caressing each other lovingly, feeling a kind of calm and peace neither of them had experienced before.

--- To be continued.