Carjacked
Title: Carjacked
Author: cunningdeb
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Adam/Kris
Summary: The guys try to be good Samaritans and it turns bad quickly
Disclaimer: I do not own anyone involved.
Warning: darkfic, angst, injuries
Haven’t written a darkfic in a while, thought it was about time.
~~ ~~
After a busy weekend of interviews and photos, Kris and Adam were happy to be heading home. They could have taken the interstate but since the last few days had been such a rush, the men decided to take a leisurely drive instead. They weren’t expected back until that evening so they didn’t have to hurry.
They hadn’t passed any other traffic in an hour and started to feel like they were the only two on the road when they rounded a corner and saw a car off to the side, its distressed driver frantically waving them down.
There was no question about it; they had to stop. Adam pulled over and they got out.
“Oh thank God, I thought I was going to die out here!” the woman babbled, relief washing over her.
“Did the engine die?” Kris asked. “I know a little something about cars. Maybe I can help.”
“I would really appreciate it. There’s no cell service out here.”
Kris took off his jacket, handed it to Adam, and lifted the hood. He looked around, checked the oil, the connections of various plugs and whatnot. Nothing looked amiss to him.
“Maybe you’re just out … of … gas.”
He’d turned as he spoke, his sentence breaking up as his eyes fell on the terrifying scene playing out before him. The once frantic woman now appeared colder than steel as she pressed the metal barrel of a handgun against Adam’s temple, her other hand gripping the back of his neck.
They’d driven into a trap.
Footsteps on gravel made Kris turn around as two more women came out of the nearby woods, guns in their hands as well.
“Looks like we caught ourselves some pretty boys,” the oldest of the three declared.
“And a really pretty car,” the other added, checking out Adam’s BMW. “We can get a lot for this one.”
“The keys still in the ignition?”
“Uh … yeah.”
“Good.” The oldest, the ringleader Kris guessed, grabbed his arm and jabbed the gun into his side. “Let’s stash these two out of site and get out of here before someone else drives by.”
Kris and Adam were forced at gunpoint deep into the woods until they were surrounded by nothing but trees. They stopped in a small clearing.
“Okay boys, take off your clothes.”
“Wh-what?” Adam asked, his pale skin turning red.
“You heard her. Talk off your clothes … unless you want me to do it for you.”
Adam shook his head and started with his jacket. Kris did likewise until they stood there barefoot in their briefs. Just as Kris hooked his fingers in the waistband, they were stopped.
“Not that we wouldn’t like to see the complete package, but you can stop there. We’re not total monsters.”
After that, everything happened quickly. Each man was lead to a tree, about ten feet apart, and told to sit against the trunk. Once down, the carjackers tied them to the trees using their pants and then took their shirts to tie their feet together. Kris watched the woman tying up Adam and his stomach churned as she whispered something in his ear that made Adam’s face twist in disgust. She rubbed her gun over his crotch.
Kris struggled and the woman tying him up laughed.
“Easy tiger. You jealous?”
“What?! No!”
“Sure you aren’t.” She leaned in and licked his neck. “If you want it that bad, I can oblige.”
“Leave them be. We gotta go.”
Reluctantly she got up, telling Kris it was his loss.
The three women came together and started to walk away, the mens’ jackets, complete with cell phones and wallets, draped over the slim shoulders.
“Hey! You can’t leave us here!” Kris yelled at their backs.
They ignored him and kept walking until they disappeared. The woods were quiet, the only sounds the birds in the trees and the rustling of dry leaves as the men struggled to get free.
“This is a joke right? I mean, stuff like this happens on TV or the movies, not real life. It has to be a joke,” Kris stated, looking around for Ashton Kutcher and his Punked crew. “I mean women carjackers, it … it doesn’t happen. Does it?”
The sound of two car engines cut the air and squealing tires made them freeze.
“Apparently it does,” Adam sighed, banging his head against the trunk.
~~ ~~
For the next few hours, they stayed hopeful, confident the carjackers would be caught and the police would come looking for them. When it became obvious they wouldn’t be able to break free, they tried to keep their spirits up, talking and telling jokes.
“Ow!” Adam yelled, moving his legs around. “Ow! What the f…, get off!”
The clearing was dappled in pockets of sunlight and Kris was able to see a line of bugs crawling over Adam’s shin and moving up towards his waist. His friend whipped his legs around, trying unsuccessfully to fling them off. If anything, it made the creatures angrier and Adam’s cries grew louder and more frequent. Kris fought against his bonds, scraping the skin off his arms and back, trying desperately to free himself and get to Adam.
~~ ~~
When the sun set, the young men were blanketed in darkness. If they’d had their clothes on, it would have been chilly but nearly naked, it was freezing.
“H-how are your legs?” Kris stammered through chattering teeth.
“It … it burns and itches. At … at least they left w-when the s-sun set,” was the soft reply.
“Y-you fallin’ asleep? Don’t … don’t f-fall a-asleep.”
“S-So t-tired K-Kris … so, so cold.”
“I k-know, m-me too but we, we have to stay a-awake.”
“O-okay.”
~~ ~~
When they ran out of things to say, sleep took over. Kris yelled at Adam to stay awake but it was no use. His eyes felt heavy too and he fought the desire to slip into the painless abyss, to forget the numbing on his skin and the fear assaulting his mind.
A rustling noise snapped his eyes open. Kris looked into the blackness, seeing nothing.
“A-Adam … was, was that y-you?”
There was no answer.
The rustling moved closer. It was behind him.
Something snorted.
“Oh Lord,” Kris whispered in panic.
Paws moved around the tree and stopped beside him. Staying statue still, he held his breath as a whisker brushed over his arm and a cold wet nose poked at his stomach. The snorting continued and when a rough tongue licked his skin, Kris briefly felt his eyes roll back before he passed out.
~~ ~~
They lost track of time. The moon fell away … the sun sailed over the tree tops from one side to the other, teasing them with brightness. At night, the moon took over again, elongating shadows and playing games with their heads.
The bugs had returned to feast on both of them. Adam looked like he was covered in chicken pox from all the bites. Kris looked down at his own body and its similar appearance. They stopped trying to knock the bugs off; it just aggravated them and made them bite more. The dampness of the ground had seeped into their bones and they were constantly cold. Without food and water, they were getting weaker, the fight in them slowly seeping away.
The two friends didn’t talk much, lost in their own thoughts. Kris thought back to seeing Adam being molested and the rage that had built up in him. He and Adam had become instant friends on Idol and that friendship had endured all these years. Kris loved Adam like a brother … a best friend … but this nightmare had stirred other feelings, bringing about a realization that thrilled, scared and saddened him.
He didn’t just love Adam … he was IN love with him … and they’d never have the chance to be together.
~~ ~~
Their mouths were so dry, speaking was nearly impossible. They could only look at each other and if they’d had any fluid in their body for tears, the droplets would have rained down their faces.
Kris watched Adam slipping away. He was deathly pale and slumped over.
He couldn’t let him go without telling him what he felt.
“Hey,” he croaked out.
“Yeah,” came the reply as Adam struggled to raise his head and open his eyes.
“I … I love you,” Kris whispered, his words carried across the clearing on a breeze.
“Me … too,” Adam replied just before he lost consciousness.
“I … mean it … I … really … love you.”
~~ ~~
Kris felt himself rising in the air.
He must have died.
He wondered if Adam was waiting for him.
Warmth covered him and then he felt restraints tighten.
“N-No,” he chattered, “d-don’t l-leave us h-here.”
“Shhh, it’s okay,” a reassuring voice told him, “you’re safe.”
He tried to smile but his face wouldn’t work. Instead he drifted back to the darkness.
~~ ~~
“Kristopher?”
He slowly opened his eyes, the light hurting them. His lips were cracked and he winced when he tried to talk. A gentle hand cupped the back of his head and lifted him up so he could sip some water. He tried his eyes again and this time they stayed open.
His Mama’s face warmed him like nothing ever had.
“That’s my boy. Oh Kristopher, we thought we lost you.”
He looked past his Mama and saw his Daddy and brother Daniel behind her.
“A-Adam?” he croaked.
“He’s safe too. His family is with him in another room. You two were extremely lucky they found you in time.”
“I … n-need to s-see him.”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a while sweetheart. You were both in bad shape when the paramedics brought you in. Get stronger and then you can visit.”
So that feeling of being lifted and wrapped in warmth must have been the paramedics putting him on a stretcher and settling him in.
“B-but Adam … he’s okay … n-not lying to me?”
“Sweetheart, have I ever lied to you?”
“S-sorry Mama … just … just worried. I … I ….”
“I know son, you two are best friends,” his Daddy finished for him, although that wasn’t exactly what Kris was going to say. “I have an idea.” His Daddy took out his cell. “Smile and wave.”
Kris was still confused yet did as he was asked. The picture was taken then his Daddy left, promising to be right back.
“How … how am I?”
Daniel came to his bedside and sat down.
“You guys were missing for three days. You’re both suffering from hypothermia, dehydration and malnutrition. And apparently chicken pox?”
“Bug bites,” Kris clarified.
“Gross!”
“No kidding. How did the police find us?”
“It wasn’t easy sweetheart. When you two didn’t come home that night, and we couldn’t reach you on your phones, we got worried and called the police. They told us we’d have to wait 24 hours to issue a missing persons report …”
“And then Eber jumped in telling them you guys were famous and what if you’d been kidnapped and that kicked them into gear.”
“We waited for ransom demands and when none came, we all started thinking there’d been accident. Of course, we’d checked all the hospitals that first night so if you had been hurt, we knew you were still out there somewhere.”
“The police set up search teams and when the papers wrote about it, hundreds of fans showed up to help.”
Kris’ heart swelled as Daniel told him this. He and Adam really did have the best family, friends and fans in the world.
“So, that’s how they found us.”
“No.”
“But …”
“You can actually thank Leila for that.”
Thoughts swirled through his head as Kris tried to make sense of everything. He closed his eyes a little too long and heard his Mama say they should let him rest.
“N-no, not yet. You can’t leave me hangin’.”
Daniel patted his shoulder and continued.
“This morning, Leila was at the station, seeing how the search was going, when the police brought in some garage owner for questioning. They’d been investigating him for selling stolen car parts and she noticed the leather jacket he was wearing. It was a custom piece she’d had made for Adam’s birthday last year and there was no way Adam would have given it away willingly. She told the police, they changed their line of questioning, and he caved, leading them to the carjackers and you.”
Daddy came back and held the screen of his cell up so Kris could see. Smiling back at him was the tired but very much alive face of his dear friend, stretched out in his own hospital bed.
Kris sighed and closed his eyes.
“I’d like to sleep now.”
“I thought this would help,” his Daddy replied, kissing his forehead.
~~ ~~
“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Kris announced the next day as his brother rolled his wheelchair into Adam’s room.
“And for scratchy heads,” Adam joked, digging his fingers into his hair and going at it. “Did those bugs get into your hair too?”
“Nope, that honor’s all yours.”
“Damn,” Adam muttered, putting his other hand to work, “I can feel all these little scabs and it’s driving me nuts!”
“On that note,” Daniel declared, moving Kris to Adam’s bedside, “I’ll leave you two to this riveting conversation. I’ll come back in an hour okay?”
“Thanks Danny.”
“You’re welcome bro. Take it easy Adam.”
“Thanks Danny.”
The younger Allen smiled and left, closing the door behind him.
“How are you … really,” Kris asked.
“Glad to be alive. Thanks for sending your dad in with that picture of you. My folks told me you were alive and okay but I didn’t believe them.”
“I didn’t believe mine either. The photo thing was Daddy’s idea.”
They talked briefly about what happened, deciding not to dwell on it more than they had too.
“Kris, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Well, something happened out there. I may have been hallucinating … and I really hope I wasn’t … but did you say … you loved me?”
“Yeah, I did.”
Adam chewed his lip and his blue eyes warmed.
“I know we say it all the time to each other … like brotherly love ….”
“There was nothing brotherly in my heart when I said it this time.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. Why have you never said anything before?”
“I guess I wasn’t sure … didn’t know how I really felt … until faced with losing you. It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way; I just needed to get it out there. Does this change things between us?”
“Hell yeah it does….”
Kris’ eyes fell and his heart stopped.
“… for the better.”
“Really?”
“Kris, have you forgotten I told the entire world I had a crush on you during Idol?”
“No, I haven’t forgotten but you didn’t do anything about it. I thought it was just for fun.”
“I thought you were straight!” Adam laughed.
“That’s makes two of us!”
Kris moved the blanket off his lap and gingerly stood. The room spun and he plopped down hard on the side of Adam’s bed. Adam shifted over and Kris lay down beside him. It took some work, having to maneuver around their IV tubes, but when they were done, Kris had his head on Adam’s shoulder and an arm around his stomach.
“When we get our energy back, let’s make a date and explore this further,” Kris yawned.
“Deal … and in the meantime ….”
“Yeah?”
“Can you scratch my hip for me? Itches like a bitch.”
Author: cunningdeb
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Adam/Kris
Summary: The guys try to be good Samaritans and it turns bad quickly
Disclaimer: I do not own anyone involved.
Warning: darkfic, angst, injuries
Haven’t written a darkfic in a while, thought it was about time.
~~ ~~
After a busy weekend of interviews and photos, Kris and Adam were happy to be heading home. They could have taken the interstate but since the last few days had been such a rush, the men decided to take a leisurely drive instead. They weren’t expected back until that evening so they didn’t have to hurry.
They hadn’t passed any other traffic in an hour and started to feel like they were the only two on the road when they rounded a corner and saw a car off to the side, its distressed driver frantically waving them down.
There was no question about it; they had to stop. Adam pulled over and they got out.
“Oh thank God, I thought I was going to die out here!” the woman babbled, relief washing over her.
“Did the engine die?” Kris asked. “I know a little something about cars. Maybe I can help.”
“I would really appreciate it. There’s no cell service out here.”
Kris took off his jacket, handed it to Adam, and lifted the hood. He looked around, checked the oil, the connections of various plugs and whatnot. Nothing looked amiss to him.
“Maybe you’re just out … of … gas.”
He’d turned as he spoke, his sentence breaking up as his eyes fell on the terrifying scene playing out before him. The once frantic woman now appeared colder than steel as she pressed the metal barrel of a handgun against Adam’s temple, her other hand gripping the back of his neck.
They’d driven into a trap.
Footsteps on gravel made Kris turn around as two more women came out of the nearby woods, guns in their hands as well.
“Looks like we caught ourselves some pretty boys,” the oldest of the three declared.
“And a really pretty car,” the other added, checking out Adam’s BMW. “We can get a lot for this one.”
“The keys still in the ignition?”
“Uh … yeah.”
“Good.” The oldest, the ringleader Kris guessed, grabbed his arm and jabbed the gun into his side. “Let’s stash these two out of site and get out of here before someone else drives by.”
Kris and Adam were forced at gunpoint deep into the woods until they were surrounded by nothing but trees. They stopped in a small clearing.
“Okay boys, take off your clothes.”
“Wh-what?” Adam asked, his pale skin turning red.
“You heard her. Talk off your clothes … unless you want me to do it for you.”
Adam shook his head and started with his jacket. Kris did likewise until they stood there barefoot in their briefs. Just as Kris hooked his fingers in the waistband, they were stopped.
“Not that we wouldn’t like to see the complete package, but you can stop there. We’re not total monsters.”
After that, everything happened quickly. Each man was lead to a tree, about ten feet apart, and told to sit against the trunk. Once down, the carjackers tied them to the trees using their pants and then took their shirts to tie their feet together. Kris watched the woman tying up Adam and his stomach churned as she whispered something in his ear that made Adam’s face twist in disgust. She rubbed her gun over his crotch.
Kris struggled and the woman tying him up laughed.
“Easy tiger. You jealous?”
“What?! No!”
“Sure you aren’t.” She leaned in and licked his neck. “If you want it that bad, I can oblige.”
“Leave them be. We gotta go.”
Reluctantly she got up, telling Kris it was his loss.
The three women came together and started to walk away, the mens’ jackets, complete with cell phones and wallets, draped over the slim shoulders.
“Hey! You can’t leave us here!” Kris yelled at their backs.
They ignored him and kept walking until they disappeared. The woods were quiet, the only sounds the birds in the trees and the rustling of dry leaves as the men struggled to get free.
“This is a joke right? I mean, stuff like this happens on TV or the movies, not real life. It has to be a joke,” Kris stated, looking around for Ashton Kutcher and his Punked crew. “I mean women carjackers, it … it doesn’t happen. Does it?”
The sound of two car engines cut the air and squealing tires made them freeze.
“Apparently it does,” Adam sighed, banging his head against the trunk.
~~ ~~
For the next few hours, they stayed hopeful, confident the carjackers would be caught and the police would come looking for them. When it became obvious they wouldn’t be able to break free, they tried to keep their spirits up, talking and telling jokes.
“Ow!” Adam yelled, moving his legs around. “Ow! What the f…, get off!”
The clearing was dappled in pockets of sunlight and Kris was able to see a line of bugs crawling over Adam’s shin and moving up towards his waist. His friend whipped his legs around, trying unsuccessfully to fling them off. If anything, it made the creatures angrier and Adam’s cries grew louder and more frequent. Kris fought against his bonds, scraping the skin off his arms and back, trying desperately to free himself and get to Adam.
~~ ~~
When the sun set, the young men were blanketed in darkness. If they’d had their clothes on, it would have been chilly but nearly naked, it was freezing.
“H-how are your legs?” Kris stammered through chattering teeth.
“It … it burns and itches. At … at least they left w-when the s-sun set,” was the soft reply.
“Y-you fallin’ asleep? Don’t … don’t f-fall a-asleep.”
“S-So t-tired K-Kris … so, so cold.”
“I k-know, m-me too but we, we have to stay a-awake.”
“O-okay.”
~~ ~~
When they ran out of things to say, sleep took over. Kris yelled at Adam to stay awake but it was no use. His eyes felt heavy too and he fought the desire to slip into the painless abyss, to forget the numbing on his skin and the fear assaulting his mind.
A rustling noise snapped his eyes open. Kris looked into the blackness, seeing nothing.
“A-Adam … was, was that y-you?”
There was no answer.
The rustling moved closer. It was behind him.
Something snorted.
“Oh Lord,” Kris whispered in panic.
Paws moved around the tree and stopped beside him. Staying statue still, he held his breath as a whisker brushed over his arm and a cold wet nose poked at his stomach. The snorting continued and when a rough tongue licked his skin, Kris briefly felt his eyes roll back before he passed out.
~~ ~~
They lost track of time. The moon fell away … the sun sailed over the tree tops from one side to the other, teasing them with brightness. At night, the moon took over again, elongating shadows and playing games with their heads.
The bugs had returned to feast on both of them. Adam looked like he was covered in chicken pox from all the bites. Kris looked down at his own body and its similar appearance. They stopped trying to knock the bugs off; it just aggravated them and made them bite more. The dampness of the ground had seeped into their bones and they were constantly cold. Without food and water, they were getting weaker, the fight in them slowly seeping away.
The two friends didn’t talk much, lost in their own thoughts. Kris thought back to seeing Adam being molested and the rage that had built up in him. He and Adam had become instant friends on Idol and that friendship had endured all these years. Kris loved Adam like a brother … a best friend … but this nightmare had stirred other feelings, bringing about a realization that thrilled, scared and saddened him.
He didn’t just love Adam … he was IN love with him … and they’d never have the chance to be together.
~~ ~~
Their mouths were so dry, speaking was nearly impossible. They could only look at each other and if they’d had any fluid in their body for tears, the droplets would have rained down their faces.
Kris watched Adam slipping away. He was deathly pale and slumped over.
He couldn’t let him go without telling him what he felt.
“Hey,” he croaked out.
“Yeah,” came the reply as Adam struggled to raise his head and open his eyes.
“I … I love you,” Kris whispered, his words carried across the clearing on a breeze.
“Me … too,” Adam replied just before he lost consciousness.
“I … mean it … I … really … love you.”
~~ ~~
Kris felt himself rising in the air.
He must have died.
He wondered if Adam was waiting for him.
Warmth covered him and then he felt restraints tighten.
“N-No,” he chattered, “d-don’t l-leave us h-here.”
“Shhh, it’s okay,” a reassuring voice told him, “you’re safe.”
He tried to smile but his face wouldn’t work. Instead he drifted back to the darkness.
~~ ~~
“Kristopher?”
He slowly opened his eyes, the light hurting them. His lips were cracked and he winced when he tried to talk. A gentle hand cupped the back of his head and lifted him up so he could sip some water. He tried his eyes again and this time they stayed open.
His Mama’s face warmed him like nothing ever had.
“That’s my boy. Oh Kristopher, we thought we lost you.”
He looked past his Mama and saw his Daddy and brother Daniel behind her.
“A-Adam?” he croaked.
“He’s safe too. His family is with him in another room. You two were extremely lucky they found you in time.”
“I … n-need to s-see him.”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a while sweetheart. You were both in bad shape when the paramedics brought you in. Get stronger and then you can visit.”
So that feeling of being lifted and wrapped in warmth must have been the paramedics putting him on a stretcher and settling him in.
“B-but Adam … he’s okay … n-not lying to me?”
“Sweetheart, have I ever lied to you?”
“S-sorry Mama … just … just worried. I … I ….”
“I know son, you two are best friends,” his Daddy finished for him, although that wasn’t exactly what Kris was going to say. “I have an idea.” His Daddy took out his cell. “Smile and wave.”
Kris was still confused yet did as he was asked. The picture was taken then his Daddy left, promising to be right back.
“How … how am I?”
Daniel came to his bedside and sat down.
“You guys were missing for three days. You’re both suffering from hypothermia, dehydration and malnutrition. And apparently chicken pox?”
“Bug bites,” Kris clarified.
“Gross!”
“No kidding. How did the police find us?”
“It wasn’t easy sweetheart. When you two didn’t come home that night, and we couldn’t reach you on your phones, we got worried and called the police. They told us we’d have to wait 24 hours to issue a missing persons report …”
“And then Eber jumped in telling them you guys were famous and what if you’d been kidnapped and that kicked them into gear.”
“We waited for ransom demands and when none came, we all started thinking there’d been accident. Of course, we’d checked all the hospitals that first night so if you had been hurt, we knew you were still out there somewhere.”
“The police set up search teams and when the papers wrote about it, hundreds of fans showed up to help.”
Kris’ heart swelled as Daniel told him this. He and Adam really did have the best family, friends and fans in the world.
“So, that’s how they found us.”
“No.”
“But …”
“You can actually thank Leila for that.”
Thoughts swirled through his head as Kris tried to make sense of everything. He closed his eyes a little too long and heard his Mama say they should let him rest.
“N-no, not yet. You can’t leave me hangin’.”
Daniel patted his shoulder and continued.
“This morning, Leila was at the station, seeing how the search was going, when the police brought in some garage owner for questioning. They’d been investigating him for selling stolen car parts and she noticed the leather jacket he was wearing. It was a custom piece she’d had made for Adam’s birthday last year and there was no way Adam would have given it away willingly. She told the police, they changed their line of questioning, and he caved, leading them to the carjackers and you.”
Daddy came back and held the screen of his cell up so Kris could see. Smiling back at him was the tired but very much alive face of his dear friend, stretched out in his own hospital bed.
Kris sighed and closed his eyes.
“I’d like to sleep now.”
“I thought this would help,” his Daddy replied, kissing his forehead.
~~ ~~
“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Kris announced the next day as his brother rolled his wheelchair into Adam’s room.
“And for scratchy heads,” Adam joked, digging his fingers into his hair and going at it. “Did those bugs get into your hair too?”
“Nope, that honor’s all yours.”
“Damn,” Adam muttered, putting his other hand to work, “I can feel all these little scabs and it’s driving me nuts!”
“On that note,” Daniel declared, moving Kris to Adam’s bedside, “I’ll leave you two to this riveting conversation. I’ll come back in an hour okay?”
“Thanks Danny.”
“You’re welcome bro. Take it easy Adam.”
“Thanks Danny.”
The younger Allen smiled and left, closing the door behind him.
“How are you … really,” Kris asked.
“Glad to be alive. Thanks for sending your dad in with that picture of you. My folks told me you were alive and okay but I didn’t believe them.”
“I didn’t believe mine either. The photo thing was Daddy’s idea.”
They talked briefly about what happened, deciding not to dwell on it more than they had too.
“Kris, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Well, something happened out there. I may have been hallucinating … and I really hope I wasn’t … but did you say … you loved me?”
“Yeah, I did.”
Adam chewed his lip and his blue eyes warmed.
“I know we say it all the time to each other … like brotherly love ….”
“There was nothing brotherly in my heart when I said it this time.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. Why have you never said anything before?”
“I guess I wasn’t sure … didn’t know how I really felt … until faced with losing you. It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way; I just needed to get it out there. Does this change things between us?”
“Hell yeah it does….”
Kris’ eyes fell and his heart stopped.
“… for the better.”
“Really?”
“Kris, have you forgotten I told the entire world I had a crush on you during Idol?”
“No, I haven’t forgotten but you didn’t do anything about it. I thought it was just for fun.”
“I thought you were straight!” Adam laughed.
“That’s makes two of us!”
Kris moved the blanket off his lap and gingerly stood. The room spun and he plopped down hard on the side of Adam’s bed. Adam shifted over and Kris lay down beside him. It took some work, having to maneuver around their IV tubes, but when they were done, Kris had his head on Adam’s shoulder and an arm around his stomach.
“When we get our energy back, let’s make a date and explore this further,” Kris yawned.
“Deal … and in the meantime ….”
“Yeah?”
“Can you scratch my hip for me? Itches like a bitch.”