Chapter 50: Chapter 50
Louis worked quickly and gently, wiping away the congealed blood and then carefully applying an ointment. "There." He said with a small smile. "Does it still itch?"
Dio looked down at his splayed wrists and up and Louis’ kind face. "Is Lou mad?"
Louis sighed, getting up to dispose of the bowl of water. "I’m more confused and hurt," He answered honestly, heading for the bathroom.
He also wanted to ask Dio why he had left without telling him but he realized that Dio was his own person and could do what he wanted whenever he wanted to, it didn’t mean that Louis wouldn’t feel hurt nonetheless.
Louis frowned as he came back out, wondering what he could do to limit Dio from hurting himself further. He didn’t blame his friend for consistently itching even when he started to break skin, knowing that it was something he couldn’t help.
A flash of a long-buried memory clawed its way to the surface and Louis had to slow down, weaving slightly on his feet as nausea climbed up his throat.
- A ridiculous amount of blood, pale, torn wrists hanging off the edge of a small bed -
He shook out of it, resuming his journey. That was years ago now, Dio was fine, he would never have to go through that again.
When he got back to Dio, the dark-haired Alpha reached for his wrists and then forced his bandaged hands away. "Lou looked happy, I wanted to... I wanted Lou to keep being happy." He mumbled, looking down at his hands.
Louis sighed again, sadness tinting his voice, "I’m happier when you’re with me." He said without thinking.
As he watched Dio struggle not to go at his wrists, an idea struck him, making him shoot to his feet so fast that he nearly stumbled off the bed.
’What if Dio just couldn’t get to his wrists?’ freēwebnovel.com
Dio had been struck by Louis’ words, he must have just said that to make Dio feel better, it was much like what Louis would do.
He glanced up when Louis all but flew off the bed and headed for his wardrobe to ransack it, curiosity in his mismatched eyes.
Louis was searching for silk ties; if he could lightly wrap them around Dio’s wrists, even if the Alpha gave into the urge to itch, it would limit the damage done to his skin.
"Dio! I have an idea." He returned with matching black silk ties, slightly breathless with a look of excitement on his face.
Dio perked up, he had no idea what Louis intended to do with the thin strips of cloth but he would let the other Alpha do whatever to him as long as that expression remained on his face. "Hm?"
"Give me your hand." Louis jumped on the bed, bouncing lightly.
Dio held out a hand without question, waiting patiently.
"Tell me if it’s uncomfortable." Louis said, starting to do the wrapping. "I just thought of this, it’ll help protect your wrists."
Dio watched intently, his back slouched as he listened to Louis ramble. He truly didn’t care for an explanation, everything was fine as long as it was Louis.
"There." Louis beamed when he was all done, patting his work. "Is it itchy?" He asked with concerned blue eyes.
Dio didn’t even look at his wrist, keeping his eyes on Louis’ familiar face. "No." freewebnovel.cσ๓
He wasn’t saying that to soothe Louis, the makeshift bandages applied a comfortable pressure that eased his itchiness, it was really comfortable.
Louis’ eyes lit up like a star crashing through a dark night. "Really?" He asked, pleased.
"Hm."
Louis’ smile broadened at this, he couldn’t believe that he had never tried this before. His smile slowly fell off his face as he got off Dio’s bed to take off his waistcoat, he was a bit tired.
Guilt had burned when he realized that he had lost sight of Dio, even worse was when no one else seemed to notice him leaving.
Then the frantic searching; he had been worried that the group of rowdy seniors from the last time had found him again and dragged him off somewhere. It would seem like they did find him again, Louis needed to do something about that...
"Lou? Scones." Dio’s voice made him turn around, he had been planning on taking a short nap before dinner, he deserved it.
"I’ll make more tomorrow, how’s that?" He said gently, flopping on the bed.
"Hm." Dio hummed, a soft thud coming from his direction as he mimicked Louis’ actions.
Louis had actually abandoned his scones to search for Dio. Fortunately, Lyon and Florent were all too happy to finish up for him.
He dozed off to gentle breathing, a foreign thought creeping into his head, one that made his dreams troubled.
-*-
Cecil was extremely pleased with the culmination of his plan that although he was supposed to be napping as a cover, he found that he couldn’t fall asleep.
So much so that he couldn’t help his flinch when the door to the dorm swung open, he couldn’t give himself away now.
He nearly ate his words when he felt Alois’ hand on his face, he was very tempted to open his eyes and scold his roommate but he forced himself to tolerate it. There was a strange tingle in his middle when Alois pushed his hair out of his face.
Finally, the aggravating Alpha was out of his face and from the sound of things was about to take a shower. Cecil was behind himself with excitement, on the verge of laughter.
There was silence for a while, spiking Cecil’s interest. Alois had to be in his bathroom already, right?
Ten more minutes dragged on painfully slow and Cecil was about to choke on anticipation, unable to take it anymore, he risked a peek, his scream getting caught in his throat when he saw that Alois was crouched right beside his bed, bringing them eye to eye.
He jumped backward in fright, nearly losing his balance and falling off the bed. How had he not heard Alois move around? Not to mention, it would seem that he hadn’t taken a shower after all.