Lost in London [Completed]

Vingt Quatre

Kay had been home barely three hours – he'd been discharged with the instruction to take care of his stitches and come back if he began to feel ill. He was glad that it had only been one night away from home, though. He felt safer in his apartment than he did in a hospital. Kay was able to shake the feeling that he was being watched while he was at home, despite texts from Halden every twenty minutes to check on him.

That was sweet. Even after all of this, Halden was still checking up on him and had come by his apartment twice; the first time with breakfast this morning and the second just fifteen minutes ago just to check on him.

Fido had barked and growled at Halden both times when he'd shown up, which put Kay more on edge than he would like to admit. The barking wasn't new. Fido barked at everything that moved until he decided that it wasn't a threat. For London, that moment had come early, and the same with Ferris – and everyone else that Fido had met. Halden was still disliked. Kay didn't want to think about what that could mean.

The next two weeks were no different. Halden was constant either at or in and out of the apartment and Fido didn't seem to warm up to him at all. No amount of treats and affection seemed to buy him this time around. It got to the point that Kay was drenched in sheer relief when Halden was out of the apartment.

He'd seen London just twice in the time he'd taken off of work. Twice. Interactions that had once been daily seemed to have altogether stopped. Was that Kay's fault? He tried to think of what he could have said – could have done – to push London away, but there was nothing. Had Halden said something? Even if he had, what was there to say? Kay couldn't imagine anything that would have pushed London away like this.

After staring at his phone for longer than normal, Kay finally picked it up from the coffee table and dialled London's number. Straight to voicemail. He tried again a few minutes later. This time, it went through.

"London? Hey... Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, why?" was the quick response from the other end of the line.

"You've just – I haven't heard from you, that's all. I just kind of expected to," Kay admitted. It almost felt embarrassing.

"Sorry, I've been really busy," London responded. "I'm taking the bar in July and I'm behind on studying, that's all. Is Halden not with you?"

"No – uh – I mean, I don't mind. You're doing a great thing, don't let me get in the way of that," Kay blurted out. "I just – it's not like you to give me radio silence, that's all. I'll leave you alone, though, you shouldn't stop studying for me."

"Kay..." London paused, "You're right, it's not like me. I'm sorry. How about we do something this afternoon? Yeah? Do you need any groceries or anything? I can bring them over."

"Actually, no, I've got enough. I need to take Fido out, though. For something longer than just around the block. I – well, I don't trust Halden to do it. Fido hasn't warmed up to him and I don't want Halden to get himself bitten. He doesn't know anything about dogs and that's not Fido's fault."

"I'll come over in a minute, then," London readily agreed. "I'm all for taking Fido out if that's what you need."

And London kept his word. Not long later, he'd turned up at Kay's apartment to help him take Fido on a longer walk. It was nice. It felt like they'd been walking for hours when London finally glanced across at Kay and gently took the leash from him. He'd noticed that Kay was struggling to keep Fido close.

They made the turning into the park, still in a comfortable silence as they walked. London glanced to Kay for permission before unclipping Fido's leash and allowing him more freedom. At the beginning, he stayed close. As they walked further, Fido strayed away, leaving London and Kay walking alone together.