Will felt time stop the minute Hannibal's lips touched his own. …What?

His heart began to race and his face heated up. Hannibal is…kissing me… The shock of what was occurring was outweighed by the nice warm feeling enveloping him.

This feels so natural…but…

Just as Will was about to kiss Hannibal back. Or push him away, not having made up his mind, Hannibal pulled away and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead, making Will flush further. His hands migrated from cradling Will's face, down to holding him closer by the waist. Will's expression must have been something to see, as Hannibal looked at him fondly in amusement.

"I apologize Will. Seeing you with that apron on…it was difficult to avoid."

Awkwardness and confusion forgotten for the moment, Will smirked, "I've heard that one before."

Anyone else would have missed it, but Will noticed the slight embarrassment emanating from Hannibal. He cleared his throat a bit before letting go. "Yes, well it is late Will, I suggest we retire for the night."

Realizing he was still rather close to the older man, Will took a step back. "Yeah…Goodnight Hannibal."

Will reached back to untie the apron as he quickly turned and began to leave, hanging the garment back. He heard Hannibal respond in kind quietly before continuing to speed walk away.

Once in the safety of his enclosed room, Will laid down on his bed. Grabbing a pillow, he pressed it over his face as he groaned.

What the fuck was that? He kissed me! And I just stood there like an idiot!

Will felt his face burning in embarrassment, both at the memory of the rather innocent kiss, as well as the fact that he had felt so nice in the moment wanting nothing more than to hold Hannibal closer and push him farther away at the same time. Will was confused. He knew he was attracted to Hannibal. Mentally, emotionally, and if he was honest with himself, with the dreams he'd been having and the way he got flustered around Hannibal, sexually as well. Will had no problem with the idea of being attracted to a man, but that man was Hannibal.

He'd once said he'd never known himself as well as he did when he was around the serial killer and that was true. Yet, could he really bring himself to be in a relationship like that with him? After everything that had occurred between them, both good and bad. He'd already been considering entering a relationship with Hannibal, knowing the other man's feelings for him-being reminded of them daily in the way Hannibal spoke to and acted around him. Despite this, he hadn't felt it was truly real, until the moment Hannibal had kissed him.

Will laughed out loud. Why am I making everything so complicated? We've practically been in a relationship since we met. Definitely since we killed the dragon and have been living here.

Everything seemed to fall into place, as Will realized there was no reason to be wary of engaging in an actual relationship with Hannibal, physical aspects included. He knew it was time to fully embrace the connection between the them. Will wondered if Hannibal ever expected them to kill again together. He was surprised to realize he was okay with the thought of that. Excited even. The thought of feeling the exhilaration again, the blood pumping through their veins. The two of them in an elegant dance, flood flowing out all around them. Eating the meal they'd themselves catch together.

The thought of seeing the monster in Hannibal come out to play again no longer frightened him. Rather, Will was excited to see Hannibal in action by his side once more. Will could see it as if it was already occurring before him. Despite how meticulous Will knew Hannibal could be during the kill, he longed to see him wild, covered in blood, chest heaving as he breathed from the exertion of the kill.

Really?

Will frowned and looked down at his pants, feeling betrayed and slightly ashamed of himself.

How fucked am I, getting a hard-on from thinking of Hannibal killing someone one.

But Hannibal covered in blood and sweat….

Will groaned and bit his lip at the thought. His hand gravitating down towards-

No. This is where I draw the line!

Will shot up to take a cold shower and finally get some rest. He'd accepted that he wanted to be intimate with Hannibal, sexually as well as…hunting together. But Will refused to masturbate to the thought of Hannibal in the aftermath of having killed together.

No matter how hot the idea was.

The next morning, Will looked around the house for something to do. He noticed a small pile of clothes and saw Hannibal's red sweater among them. Will remembered being flattered and pleasantly surprised that Hannibal had bothered to arrange for some of their old things to be waiting for them. It was comforting to be able to wear some of his own clothes, even if the new stuff was nicer.

This sweater was clearly the cannibal's favorite, having seen the man in it various times, before coming here as well as after. The sleeves were frayed and worn. It seemed on its way to being thrown out.

I can't believe he's getting rid of this! Ignoring the sleeves it's in perfectly decent condition!

Will picked up the sweater and marched off to see if he could find some matching yarn and a right-sized needle to fix them up. He decided against taking the dogs today, merely greeting them.

As he walked through the stands, Will breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a woman selling hand-made clothes. He was also happy that he had the foresight to look up how to ask for what he needed.

He walked up to the woman's stand and waved, "Buenos Días." Heavily accented, but it was obviously still understandable as she smiled and greeted him back.

"What can I help you with today?" She replied in a slightly accented English.

Will was amused at the fact that she had deemed it easier to speak with him in his own language, "Yeah, my Spanish isn't great yet."

"It is getting there, but I felt you would be more comfortable speaking in English." She smiled.

Will held up the sweater he had brought along with him and asked, "Do you happen to have any material that matches this sweater? I also need a needle, to fix the sleeves myself."

She took the sweater from him and examined it. "I do happen to have the materials here." She turned and rummaged around looking for the right shade and type. "This wool is the most similar to what this sweater is made from" She handed it over and continued to look for the right needle.

Will looked from the ball of wool to the sweater and smiled. "It's almost identical! Thank you so much."

She handed over the needle as well and replied, "You are very lucky sir. Now that will be 160 pesos." Will handed it over and thanked her once again. He made his way back, awkwardly waving at the few who greeted him. Once he was back inside, he raced to look up how to actually fix the damn sleeves.

The instructions didn't look overly complicated, but from past experience he knew not to trust his own judgement. He set to work, going slowly and stopping often to continue reading over the instructions for the current step. After a few hours, he finally finished. He looked at the newly repaired sleeves and grimaced. They clearly weren't professionally done, but nothing horrible had happened, and despite being a bit uneven, they looked okay.

Will heard the door open. Knowing Hannibal was home, he felt rather nervous to show him what he had done. He raced over feeling a bit excited, not bothering to clean his mess up, hiding the sweater behind him.

"Hello Will"

"Welcome back Hannibal."

"You seem rather flushed, are you feeling all right?"

Will forced himself to calm down and shakily held out the sweater for Hannibal to take. "I noticed it was on the ground and..I know how much you like this sweater, It seemed a shame to throw it away just because it's been worn down a bit in the sleeves. I tried to fix it and…"

Seeing Hannibal holding the sweater and simply staring at it, Will felt his enthusiasm deflate, and he was overtaken by his nerves. "Yeah, I know it's not great, I don't know what I was thinking. Here I'll just throw it away..."

Will reached out to take it back, but Hannibal moved quickly and pulled Will into an embrace.

"Oh Will…this was very thoughtful of you. It is indeed one of my favorites, but I had decided to simply make myself a new one in the future. However, now that it's been renewed by you…I fear I could now never bear to replace it. It's wonderful, my dear boy thank you. "

Will flushed at the kind words and praise, as he wrapped his arms around Hannibal as well. He then paused as he processed what Hannibal had just said. "Wait….You made it?!"

He heard Hannibal chuckle. "Yes, William. I made it."Hannibal smirked before continuing. "Is it so surprising that I am good with my hands? I was a surgeon after all. As I made it myself, it was quite comfortable, which is why I wore it so often."

Of course he can knit. Jerk could have fixed it himself but was just going to throw it away.

Will laughed at Hannibal's little joke but then paused, remembering his decision from the previous night. He pulled away slightly and then leaned up to slowly kiss Hannibal.

"Why don't you show me how good you are with those hands," he breathed out against his lips as he ran his own hands over to rest on Hannibal's chest.

I love that red sweater as much as Hannibal clearly does. I'm sure Will appreciates it on him as well.