Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 7

feeling?" Chase asked and massaged Ty's palm between his hands. "Any dizziness? Pain anywhere?"
    "No." Ty watched as Chase investigated through each part of Ty's hand. His palm, his fingers, even the tips. "I didn't pass out, did I?"
    Chase shook his head and moved back to Ty's wrist. "No, you didn't. But you were a bit…out of it at one point."
    Ty nodded. He could buy into that because he still felt a little out of it. Like his head was full of cotton.
    "Are you feeling okay?"
    "Yeah…just a little weird." Ty tucked his hand under the blanket as soon as Chase let go, not because he wouldn't have wanted the man to touch him but because he was cold. And he felt like leaving his hand out in the open was a sign of his need to feel that touch a lot more.
    Chase remained on the floor and didn't pry when Ty avoided his eyes. "Do you remember what happened?"
    Did he? Ty frowned and pulled the blanket tighter around him while moving deeper into the dark, soft cushions. "I…do. I think. I remember you said something but I don't know what that was. And I don't know if I responded. And then…you…put something in my hand?"
    "I asked you if you wanted to tell me your color, and no, you didn't respond." Chase's body tensed, his hand twitching upright, as if he was about to move but he held it in place instead. "So I put my hand into yours and asked you to squeeze it if you heard me."
    "Did I?"
    "Yes."
    "And that's a good thing, right?" Ty asked, suddenly feeling stupid though he knew these things. He'd read about them and talked with people about them. Precautions, safewords without sound. But he couldn't think straight and everything he heard made sense only twenty seconds after he'd heard it. Chase nodded and again he appeared to want to move. "Yeah, it's a good thing. And you were okay but I ended it soon after anyways, 'cos I'm not sure how much you can take."
    Ty nodded again, eyes held on the fabric and his hands were squeezing the blanket against his body. His naked body. He was still without clothing while Chase had his. Why didn't that feel any stranger?
    "I remember I felt like I never wanted to move again. Just…" The softness of his brain tissue was slowly disappearing and he could feel every part of himself again. Even the sore parts. And he felt the burn in his eyes and that burn refused to evade though Ty wanted it gone. "Just…good. And happy."
    If he didn't know he had cried already he would've been shocked and embarrassed. But he wasn't. Small droplets blurred his vision and though none of them left his lids, he still knew they were there and so did the man sitting in front of him. And maybe it wasn't about weakness or about fear or about feeling a little lost and alone and empty, but Ty couldn't sit in place for one more second without feeling something touching him. That was all he needed. Just a touch. Just once, so that he could be sure he could still feel again and everything would be okay and not remain as tangled and unresolved as it all felt now.
    "Can you please hold me?" Barely a whisper but Chase heard it, and he stood up on his knees and moved closer until he was able to touch. And Ty couldn't understand how someone capable of destroying him so completely could touch so gently. Like he was the most fragile thing ever, made out of thinnest glass and meant to be handled with gloves made of silk.
    Chase didn't move to take off the blanket or to push his hands under it. He simply wrapped his arms around Ty's body and gathered him closer until he was as held as he could ever be. Arms around him, like his were soon around Chase, disliking the cool air but loving the feel of that body, and his face found the crook of Chase's neck and made a home out of the warmth and scent of that skin.
    "You were beautiful," Chase said quietly, his other hand moving a bit higher against Ty's back and brushing the skin on his neck. "Just perfect."
    The amount of blissfulness washing over Ty was ridiculous but he took it all in and soaked in the tranquility. And he could still feel and things that had seemed twisted and confused and so messed up before were starting to look clear again. Slow caresses by those hands and Ty felt he slowly regained all of his missing pieces.
    "I'm really glad it was you," he said when he felt Chase move. Not away from him though, but a little closer. And the man found enough leverage to brush a small kiss against Ty's cheek before he pulled back. Eyes that were just as dark but not