Till Death Do Us Part

Chapter 3

"Ahhhhhhhhh ！！！！！！"

Alex opened his eyes abruptly as water splashed around him, droplets of water slid off his lightly trembling eyelashes and dripped onto the hot, dense water, sending ripples in a circle, his frightened dark eyes looked around and he found himself still soaking in the tub, the horror of what had just happened turned out to be just a nightmare he had been having.

The walls were snow-white, the tiles were white, the glass doors were covered in a white mist, the incense emitted a mild woody fragrance, and no matter how he looked he could not see the bloody handprints. His heart was beating hard, thumping, thumping, thumping, the nightmare was so real that Alex was so scared that he was sore and weak, his slender legs trying to stand up, unable even to muster the strength for a moment. He struggled to get up from the tub, a thin mist hanging over his body and damp locks of dark hair plastered to his face as he pulled on his robe and grabbed his phone to leave.

The moment he opened the door, his slipper-clad foot seemed to touch something, cold and soft to the touch, and his bud-like toes curled slightly. Alex lowered his head and a rag doll with a missing leg rolled down to his feet, its eyes made of black buttons facing him. The thin layer of red that had steamed up Alex's face from the bath faded cleanly in that instant, his whole face bloodless as a sheet of paper -

Here it comes.

Eyes made of black buttons stared straight at him as if they had turned into a pitch-black abyss that would swallow him up by the skin and bones. That fragment of the attack in the bathroom kept flashing in his mind, and Alex's thoughts seemed to turn into a whirlpool, everything around him becoming a blur, except for the nightmarish fear that became clearer and clearer.

"Al!"

"Al! Are you ok?" Liam's shout jolted him out of his rigid state and he looked up dumbly to see Liam, also wrapped in a bathrobe, standing in front of him.

There was a dense mist steaming off his body, droplets of water dangling from his damp hair as Liam looked at him with concern, "I was just in the shower and I heard your shouts, did you fall?"

Warm hands wrapped around his shoulders, pouring a steady stream of life-giving heat into his body, Liam tensed, "Is everything okay?"

Alex's vocal cords, which seemed frozen to the point of coldness, were finally able to speak, "Ghost."

"What?" Liam gazed at him intently, as if to soothe the unease in Alex's eyes by doing so.

Alex lowered his head and tried to point out the ragdoll that had appeared on the floor to Liam, but when he looked to where he had just been, the spot was empty, as if it was just his hallucination.

No, how could this be a hallucination?

He could even now sense the cold yet soft disgusting touch on his foot, left by the ragdoll he had just accidentally kicked. That thing must be hiding, it must be hiding somewhere again, not knowing when it was going to pop up again

Alex tried to clench his teeth, his lips pursed in a straight line to hold back his sobs, but the tears still poured out of his wet black eyes, the large teardrops rolling down his face, Alex's eyelashes stained with teardrops as he cried, a sickly red flush rising to his nose, his whole body rustling and shaking as he cried.

"Why are you crying?" Liam hugged Tangning heartily, "It's okay it's okay, don't cry, Al."

Alex grabbed the corner of Liam's shirt and buried his face into his arms, like a scared little animal that hated to shrink into a ball and nestled pitifully in his master's arms.

"Liam, don't leave me, okay?"

He called out Liam's name one after another, his voice soaked in heavy sobs, so soft that it seemed like a pool of water. Liam's heart seemed to turn into water as he patted Alex's back tenderly and said to him slowly, in a low voice, "I will never leave you."

He said it so slowly and solemnly as if he was swearing an oath.

Alex cried in Liam's arms for a long time, he hadn't cried so humiliatingly in a long, long time, and only after he had finished letting out his frightening emotions through tears did he blush as an afterthought.

It was so humiliating.

He had actually wet Liam's entire shoulder.

Alex looked up in embarrassment, his ears red, his eyelashes brimming with tears, not daring to meet Liam's eyes.

"Why is your face so red? Is it a fever?" Liam tested the temperature on the front of Alex's forehead with the back of his hand and then pressed it against his own forehead.

"I'm fine," Alex whispered.

"No fever, but you look a bit tired today, I'll go and warm up a glass of milk for you." Liam said softly, "That way you can sleep well at night."

Alex's mouth did get a little dry and he nodded.

Liam turned and prepared to leave, Alex took one look at him and immediately panicked, he hurriedly took Liam's hand, "I'm coming with you!"

"You go back to your room and rest first, I'll bring the milk to the bedroom later, it's fine." Liam coaxed.

Alex refused to let go, he no longer wanted to be left alone, "No, we can go together. Please?"

His eyes were still red from crying, and he looked so helpless as if he would cry again if he was refused. Liam had no choice but to nod his head in agreement. The moment he said yes, Alex's eyes lit up at once, bright black eyes like a dark night washed by rainwater, adorned with bright stars, such simple and clear emotions, unreservedly transmitting a master-like message to the person in front of him.

Liam couldn't help but give Alex's hair a soft ruffle, "You always makes me feel special."

He and Alex warmed up the milk together, or rather Alex watched Liam warm up the milk before they returned to the bedroom together. The bed in the bedroom was large and Alex sat on the edge of the bed taking small sips of the milk, halfway through drinking it he saw Liam undoing his bathrobe. Liam's body was beautiful, broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted, with muscles that looked like rolling snow-capped mountains, and high, inviolable beauty.

If he had seen such a perfect body through a screen, Alex's eyes would have lingered for a moment, and if he had seen it through a magazine, he would have chosen to buy it and treasure it. However, what was happening now was that a young man, whose identity was that of his boyfriend, was standing in their shared bedroom, undoing his bathrobe.

"What are you thinking about?" Liam walked up to Alex, looking down at him against the light, his facial contours extraordinarily deep in this light, his long lashes casting a small, heavy shadow.

Alex couldn't help but have the illusion of being licked by the sight cast by those dark eyes, and his toes curled a little, he had no idea what to say, at all.

Alex said awkwardly, "I'm so tired today, I think I'll just go to sleep."

With that he lifted the covers, intending to burrow underneath and hide from reality. The distance between them was so close that Alex tried to turn his head, but his long, strong hand pressed against the right side of his face, pressing firmly against the head of the bed when the back of the bed gave a dull 'thud'.

In the artificially small space, Liam's deep eyebrows and high nose were particularly oppressive. In hindsight, Alex realised that Liam was not a gentle-looking man, but rather an overly handsome and aggressive one, only that Liam had been so gentle with him, so submissive, that he had overlooked his aggression.

Alex dared not meet Liam's eyes, he swallowed nervously and said in a weak voice, "What are you doing"

Liam moved closer, gently rubbing the tip of his nose against Alex's, the best expression of the word ear to ear, the mellow, low voice so gentle it sounded like a cello being played, "Is Al forgetting something?"

Alex blinked nervously.

"Where's my goodnight kiss?" The pure black as ink pupils contained a little twinkle brought up by his smile.