Short Stories and Oneshots

It's Just Tonight

been feeling weirdly manic lately so i decided that naturally i have to shove that onto another character because i'm me

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Aiden woke up to an empty bed.

The apartment was dark and dead silent, aside from the faint whirring of the upright fan in the corner. He sighed, rolling onto his side and tapping the digital alarm clock until it lit up.

3:14 AM

Another sigh, this one coming out more of an exhausted groan. He didn't like the look of this. It was beyond late, and his boyfriend was gone, after acting decidedly strange all day.

Aiden sat begrudgingly up and got out of bed, his bare feet scuffing quietly on the thinly carpeted floor. A quick glance out of the room proved his suspicions correct- there was a light on downstairs.

"Lukas, not again." he muttered, already heading down the steps. A faint clicking noise echoed from the small room they called the 'office', which in reality held no more than a small desk, suspect swivel chair, and a filing cabinet for Lukas's various notebooks.

Sure enough, Lukas was at the desk, frowning at the too-bright screen of his laptop. He didn't even look up as Aiden leaned in the doorway.

Aiden studied his boyfriend carefully. He didn't look that bad, but appearances could be deceiving, especially when it came to Lukas's mental health. His blue eyes were tired behind his glasses, and his fingers moved on the keyboard with a steady, almost hypnotizing rhythm. A coffee mug sat near the laptop, though he guessed it hadn't been touched in hours.

He rapped gently on the doorframe, and Lukas glanced up for half a second before returning his attention to whatever he was typing. It was worse than it looked.

Aiden knelt next to the desk, resting a hand on Lukas's knee. "Lukas, it's three AM. You gotta sleep."

"M'lmost done." was all he got in reply.

"No, you're not. You're gonna be typing on whatever this is for another four hours if I don't stop you."

"Don't stop me." Lukas mumbled.

"Okay, then when are you gonna stop on your own?" Aiden asked.

"When m'done. I swearta god, Aiden, you worry too fucking much. I'm not going crazy, it's not gonna..." he trailed off, making a flippant motion with his hand. "It's just tonight. Nothin's happening, it's just tonight."

But it wouldn't just be tonight. It would be tonight, and the next morning, and the night after and after and after and after. It was never just anything.

"You know that's not true, babe." Aiden murmured. Lukas shot him another halfhearted glare as he stubbornly tapped Backspace three loud times in a row.

"Don't stop me."

"Lukas..." At this point, Aiden carefully reached up and grabbed Lukas's left wrist. "I have to. This isn't okay."

Lukas yanked his hand away, glaring. "Don't fucking stop me. I'm fine. Go'way."

Aiden was quiet for a moment, watching despondently as his boyfriend returned to tapping at the keyboard. He'd already had a feeling that Lukas was falling into another pit of mania, but this confirmed it.

"You need to sleep. You need to take care of yourself, Lukas, I'm not letting this happen again." he said firmly. He snatched both of Lukas's wrists in one hand, hit Ctrl-S to save whatever he was working on, and closed the laptop before Lukas freed his hands again.

"Geddout, Aiden, you're not helping." He snapped.

Lukas stood up and shoved the swivel chair back, but when he tried to take a step, his knees gave out and he collapsed, weak from sitting still for so long and devoting all his energy to typing.

Aiden, who was still sitting on the floor, gently reached up and took Lukas's glasses off, watching the other man's handsome face crumple in defeat. "Godammit." Lukas muttered. "God. Dammit. I thought...I was so sure..."

He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes, letting out a long, shuddering breath. "God...damn...it."

Aiden wrapped his arms around his boyfriend as the exhale turned into a sob. Lukas gratefully returned the embrace, hiding his face in Aiden's neck.

"I thought...I thought I was okay tonight. I didn't know it was so late, I didn't realize how long I'd been working...I thought I was figuring it out." he muttered in angry despair.

Aiden stayed silent, gently rubbing Lukas's back. Things had been pretty good for both of them the last few months, and he was sad to know that may be coming to an end.

Lukas's miserable voice was slightly muffled by Aiden's shoulder. "I can't believe this is happening again. I just...god, why are you still with me?"

Aiden leaned away, just far enough to look at him. The bright, summer-sky blue of Lukas's eyes seemed faded and glassy, dulled by the tiredness that his fits of mania brought on. Despite this, Aiden managed a small smile. "I'm still with you because I love you, alright? I have my issues too, and you haven't left me yet. And you're okay. Like you said, it's just tonight."

Lukas nodded mutely, and Aiden leaned in to softly kiss his forehead. "I love you. Now, let's go to bed. You need rest."

Aiden unfolded from his place on the floor, helping his boyfriend up as well.

Neither of them said a word as they ascended the stairs and returned to the bedroom. On another night, a better night, they might've spent more time kissing and cuddling before one of them fell asleep, but not tonight. Not when it was already so late and heavy and melancholy.

Lukas was unconscious as soon as he settled beneath the blankets, not even hearing Aiden's whispered 'goodnight'.

Aiden was awake for only a few minutes more, watching the tension slowly leave Lukas's sleeping form and hoping things weren't about to get bad again.

Though they were happy, life was never consistent. You never knew when Lukas would again be sporting tired eyes and too much energy, or when Aiden would again be bearing scars and heavy silences. They could both be such impossibly fragile creatures.

But maybe there was nothing deeply wrong at all.

Maybe it was just tonight.

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man I'm just on a roll with the soft angst huh

honestly this is part of the reason i love Aidkas so much. because they can both be the gentle comforting one, and they can both be the damaged one who needs help. they're just. they're too good for each other. i love them. help.