Reversal of Fortune [malexmale]

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"I don't understand. Can they understand the baby or not?"

I smirked as I swallowed another brownie, watching Yiuwa cock his head and scowl at the screen where Family Guy was on. In his hands was a ridiculous double decker Cuban and a bottle of beer between his feet. I lay beside him, propped against the pillows and taking a gulp of water.

"That's the point," I answered, making Yiuwa sigh. He shook his head, but kept watching anyway, clearly engrossed by the silly episode. I glanced at him, smiling. He looked so at ease sitting there getting mustard on his bottom lip, bread crumbs falling to his lap and a few strays landing in his beer, not that he would particularly notice.

He'd coiled his long black hair up beautifully in a loose bun, strands falling loose to frame his long face, his yellow eyes squinted at the screen as his lips curved up into an amused smile. I resisted the urge to lean over and kiss the mustard smear on his bottom lip.

I already felt like a complete neanderthal.

I love you.

I couldn't believe I'd said that. I had to be high as a fucking kite. And yet... where was the lie? Yiuwa and I had gone through so much together. And having him there for me, even when I lay broken and beaten, bedridden, he still spent his days with me, watching shows and movies, reading books with me, listening to music. He'd even let up on the fancy dinners. While the thought was certainly nice, the food, or any food really, was giving me the heebie jeebies. It was still hard to eat, but I'd managed to swallow down a couple brownies and a bag of funyuns. Hades's drugs were keeping me pain free, but the marijuana was bringing my appetite back.

And it was probably the only reason Yiuwa still let me eat the brownies.

He wasn't fond of the smell. He claimed to smell it even in the brownies, but I had never noticed. Then again, he was overly sensitive to things. Such as the fact that he insisted on bathing me the other day, and I'd felt... strangely pampered. My immediate response was to get defensive, telling him I didn't need his help, because I didn't and I could do it myself, he'd broken that down right away by telling me he understood I could do it alone without help... but he wanted to take care of me.

And I melted on the spot.

Because I'd never had this before, never realized how much I craved it.

Was this how the hybrid felt about Akin?

Was this what love was like?

I love you.

I'd never said those words before. At least, not in that way. I'd told my family countless times as a child that I loved them, but this was different. And not since then had I ever uttered those words again. To anyone else, they were just words. Little words with basic meanings. But to anyone who knew the power behind them, quite literally in my case, they knew that it was the most powerful force in the universe.

I swallowed hard as I glanced back at Yiuwa, who was laughing at some crap joke on the show. He licked the last bit of mustard off his mouth and took a swig from his beer. His yellow eyes sparkled whenever he was happy. There was a warm aura radiating from him, as if even the beast within his soul was thoroughly pleased.

He looked at me and I couldn't look away. His smile turned wicked and he leaned in. I let him kiss me, let his tongue explore, and savored the heat he created between us. I moaned low in my throat as he pressed me back against the pillow, but was careful not to bump my arm and leg. Even though it was healing rather well.

Hades, Joxeia, and Xiphrus all took turns dropping in to provide what little healing they could and it was helping a lot more than they expected. While I wasn't good enough to go sprinting anytime soon, I could at least do some things.