Fic: Choices 4/?

[wicciangirl]

 Title: Choices

Rating: NC-17

Summary: The first time they met Kris knew Adam was different to everyone else, he just never realised how different.

Genre: AU

Disclaimer: I know none of these people, nor do I own them, they own themselves. This never happened.

Previous Parts

Part 4

Walking into Adam’s hospital room, Kris was struck by how his friend looked better than he had for the last thirteen days. It was worrying that Adam actually looked better in hospital after a car crash, obviously, something was seriously wrong with his friend.

Seeing Adam’s eyes opening Kris quickly moved forward and gently clasped Adam’s hand in his. He didn’t want Adam to get upset about being in a hospital since a concussion could easily cause temporary memory loss.

“Adam, it’s okay. You’re safe in hospital. Do you need anything?” Kris said gently.

Adam gave a small smile at Kris’ soft, caring, honeyed voice asking about him. He adored the way Kris relaxed with him and didn’t care about his sexuality. The other contestants were not homophobic, they were just not used to his in your face attitude.

During his long life, Adam had encountered a lot of homophobia and had been forced into hiding his sexuality and refused to hide. He had waited a long time for society to evolve into being a place when homosexuality was acknowledged and accepted, he refused to hide anymore. In 1903, Adam had been attacked and left for dead in an alley by his brother after the man found out about Adam’s sexuality. Even now Adam could not clearly recall what he had said to Paul when the vampire had found him bleeding and broken but whatever it was had compelled Paul to turn him.

“Hi Kris. I'm amazing as always,” Adam said casually.

Kris said delicately, “Sure you are. Do you remember what happened?”

Having thought up a suitable story Adam said, “Not really, we were driving towards the restaurant and we hit something, I don’t know what. The next thing I can remember is waking up in the car and smelling gasoline. Matt was unconscious so I got him out and put him flat on the floor. I remember going to help the driver, I must have blacked out because the next thing I know I'm in here and Adrian walks in.”

Kris nodded in understanding and gently squeezed Adam’s hand, unable to believe how close he had been to losing his friend. It was amazing that Adam hadn’t been hurt further. Given Adam's sickly appearance, Kris was unsure if the man could have could have coped with more serious injuries. Kris had put Adam’s pale, weary appearance down to the death of Adam’s friend two weeks ago but now he was sure that Adam was seriously ill and apparently determined to deal with it alone. Now was not the time to ask Adam about everything, but once Adam was out of the hospital, he would find out what had been going on.

Kris looked up as the door opened, recognising the man as one of Adam’s friends who had accosted him just hours earlier. Kris couldn’t help the sharp shard of jealousy that hit him, remembering how tightly the man had held Adam. He was dismayed to see Adam looking at the stranger with a mix of love, joy, and hope on his face. Unbidden Kris couldn’t silence the thought that Adam had never looked at him like that.

Simon said seriously, “Adam, I’ve been worried about you. How are you doing?”

“I'm okay,” Adam assured his brother.

Knowing his brother had a tendency to play down his injuries Simon admonished, “This is me you’re talking to.”

Confused at the angry look Kris was giving Simon and realising it must be confusing for Kris to have someone just barge in, Adam smiled reassuringly. As Kris smiled warmly back at him, Adam resolutely ignored the amused and victorious smile on Simon’s face.

“Kris this is Simon, he’s a friend from college.” Adam said, pointing at each of them in turn.

Kris smiled politely, wondering if the pair had slept together because he was sure that Simon was more than just a friend of Adam’s. The pair were too familiar with each other, there was too much of an undercurrent for them to just be friends.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” Kris said politely, his parents had taught him to be civil to everyone, even those he disliked immediately.

“Ditto,” Simon returned flippantly, waiting for the man to disappear so that he could speak freely.

Simon said quickly, “Oh, Adam, I spoke to your parents and told them you’ll be okay so they’ll probably be here tomorrow.”

Kris glared at Simon, angry that the man should presume to interfere and stop Adam’s parents from coming to see him. Kris knew Adam was close to his family and as a friend, Simon should have realised Adam would want his family around since he was hurt.

“Kris, are the rest of the house out there?” Adam asked softly, knowing that it would make his life easier if he could use them as an excuse to send his friend away for a while.

Realising he had left the group with the promise to come back ASAP with any information Kris said regretfully, “Yeah, I better go and let them know you’re awake and coherent.”

Feeling as though he was abandoning his friend Kris stood to leave, gently squeezing Adam’s pale hand, to let the man know he would be back soon. Kris hoped Simon would be gone when he got back to Adam, he didn’t like the way Adam had ignored him when Simon appeared.

Once Kris was gone, Simon smirked at his brother and quickly moved closer, he hated to see Adam suffering. He laughed at Adam’s annoyed look, even at his age Adam still hated how everyone worried about him and tended to go into mothering mode.

Simon quickly reported, “I looked into the background of the driver, Melanie Kelly. She does not have any criminal convictions and no links with any homophobic groups nor has she ever displayed any signs of homophobia. I asked around and rumour is that she has some sort of connection to one of us. No one knows what kind of a connection though.”

“Fabulous,” Adam said dryly.

“You look a little better,” Simon commented noticing Adam’s eyes had lost their slightly glassy look and that Adam had a healthier colour.

“The blood Adrian gave me wasn’t a match but at this point I'll take anything I can get. It should give me a few more hours at least.”

“Hopefully. Adam, I love you but you are worryingly calm about dying.”

“Pretending it’s not happening won’t help,” Adam replied honestly.

Over the last week, Adam had made peace with the fact that his true death was near. His only sorrow was that his death would hurt those he cared about but he knew that over time the pain would ease. Adam’s only fear was that he would fade into obscurity, as self-centred as it was, he wanted to be remembered because he knew this would keep him alive in a way.

Simon said sharply, “That doesn’t mean you can give up, Adam.”

Dryly Adam explained, “I'm not, I'm just being realistic. The chances of me finding a donor are tiny and I don’t want to sit around feeling sorry for myself. I'm going to spend however long I’ve got fulfilling my dreams. Simon, it’s okay.”

Simon shook his head, “It is not okay. I don’t know how we will go on if you die, you are the glue that holds us together.”

Squeezing Simon’s pale hand Adam said comfortingly, “You’ll find someone else to be your glue, someone better than me who won’t be constantly second guessing themselves.”

“There isn’t anyone better than you. Now I'm going call the others and let them know how you are doing.”

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Adam said seriously, knowing his brother wouldn’t leave the hospital unless he asked.

Outside the room, Kris fell back against the wall, unable to believe what he had just heard. Adam was dying. For a second Kris wanted to scream and shout that it wasn’t fair. Kris didn’t since he didn’t want to upset or worry Adam, ruining whatever time they had left. He wasn’t sure if he should go in and tell Adam that he knew or keep quiet. Kris knew he couldn’t go on pretending that it wasn’t happening, behaving as if Adam would always be beside him when his heart was breaking because it could never be.

Kris acknowledged that logically he should leave the hospital to get changed so that he could at least look decent and give Adam a chance to rest but he didn’t want to leave. He was afraid that he would come back to find Adam had died without him having the chance to say everything that was bubbled up inside him. He wanted Adam to know how he felt, how much he loved the man.

Kris knew that were circumstances different, he would be with Adam in every sense of the word but he was married. He might not be in the position to have Adam has his partner but his heart would always beat for Adam, he loved Katy but he saw now it was more of a safe intense love, not the fiery, explosive, all encompassing love he had for Adam. Although it would tear him to pieces to watch the man he loved fade away and closer to death’s embrace with every hour that passed. Kris swiftly decided that he would have to tell Adam that he knew the man was dying and that didn’t change anything, he still going to be there.

*******

Matt woke up with a groan, his head aching, and throat feeling scratchy and sore, he frowned at the white, sanitised hospital room. He hated being in hospital, being forced to stay still. Matt was surprised that he was still in one piece knowing from his brief moment of clarity during the crash that it had been more brutal than planned. He could vaguely remember Adam placing him on the ground and whispering that everything would be okay and not to move. It made him feel like a heel to have the person he was trying to kill be so considerate and helpful to him.

The door of the hospital room opened to reveal Kris with a shaky smile, apparently lost in thought. Matt knew that should anyone discover he was responsible for the crash, he would be bruised and bloodied courtesy of Kris, the normally calm man seemed to lose his temper easily when it came to Adam.

Back when the top ten lived in the mansion Matt had watched agog as Kris, incensed by Danny’s snide comments at Adam, had jumped out of his chair and punched the older man. Adam had quickly restrained Kris, whispering in Kris’s ear in soft, soothing tones; as he calmed Kris practically melted into Adam’s embrace. It had been then that Matt had realised how deep the relationship between Adam and Kris was, he had noticed how Adam’s eyes changed to amber as Danny had approached them. Matt knew he had to make sure Kris wasn’t bewitched by Adam and somehow coerced into being Adam’s donor.

Matt had watched how one of his friends had become a donor for Elliot Hanson and had her life completely controlled by them, she was no longer Kim Flint, she was Elliot’s donor. It took months but he finally managed to convince her to leave the clan and they made plans to meet up at a small rundown motel. He had arrived at their room to find her body, her face frozen in a picture of fear, still clutching her phone, on the screen was his number. She was shot in the stomach, a trail of blood showing she had tried to get to the first aid kit lying on the bed.

Matt vowed that day to get revenge on the clan who had stolen her life away, reducing her to little more than a plaything before killing her. For her he was willing to become the very thing he hated, a vampire. It was the only way to get the strength and backup he would need to exact justice for her killing.

It took a lot of work but he had found a clan that agreed to turn him into a vampire providing he fulfilled two missions for them, the only problem being at the time he had no idea what the missions were. He had been given the right to turn down one mission if he chose to without any consequences. The first mission was relatively easy, some evidence a rival clan had on one of them sleeping with the queen, the second was to kill Adam. A mission he had failed to fulfil as of yet, but he would do it, he had to for Kim. He hadn’t even considered refusing the mission, knowing it would keep Kris safe from the Adam’s machinations.

“How you doing, Matt?” Kris asked gently, pleased to see the man awake.

“Pretty good, how’s Adam?” Matt asked, part of him hoping that Adam had fallen into a coma so that it would be easier to finish him off.

Vampires were easily killed by head trauma, fire, sunlight, and having their heart pierce by silver, contrary to popular belief vampires were not killed by wooden stakes to the heart, garlic, holy water, or crosses. Vampires had encouraged the disinformation since it kept them safe, some vampires were even teachers in mythology.

“He’s got a concussion, he’ll probably be out soon. So what do you remember?”

Matt shrugged then winced at the move saying, “Only the car spinning and Adam getting me out.”

“Adam doesn’t remember much either. The driver died.”

“Oh. Do you know where the doctor is?”

“Nope but he’ll probably be here soon. Matt, I'm glad you are alright.”

“Thank you and I'm glad Adam’s okay. Now go and get some sleep, Allen. You’ve got panda eyes and that is not a good thing.”

“I will now, I just wanted to make sure you were both okay,” Kris said with a smile before leaving the room.

Kris walked back to Adam’s room, and peaked inside the window, pleased to see that Adam was asleep. Kris had managed to convince the other contestants to go earlier saying that he would let them know if anything happened.

“Sir, you’ll have to leave.”

Kris looked at the nurse who just spoke to him before saying resolutely, “I'm not leaving.”

“You’ll have to, it’s hospital policy. Sir, your friend seems to be doing well and the doctor said that he’ll be out soon.”

Kris said seriously, “What time can I get in to see him?”

“Visiting hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m,” The nurse answered quickly.

“I'll be back at ten sharp,” Kris said quickly, wishing he could stay but not wanting to force the point in case he was stopped from seeing Adam.

Kris walked out of the hospital, his mind focused on how he was going to tell Adam that he knew everything and that no matter what happened, he would always love Adam. He was so caught up in his thoughts, that he didn’t notice the man watching him with a calculating smile.

End Part 4