Chapter 2.

They stumbled in through the door and made their way to the small bed they shared. Breathing out, Tulio helped Miguel sit down on it, receiving a gasp of pain through gritted teeth while doing so.

"You think you can take off your shirt? I need to clean your wounds," Tulio asked softly and went for some water and a rag, lighting a fire and putting the stew back for reheating at the same time. When he came back to the bed he found Miguel in the exact same spot with his bloodstained shirt still on. He looked like he was sleeping and it was a miracle that he hadn't fallen off the bed. Tulio put the bowl of water down on the floor and snapped his fingers in front of the blonde's face to bring him back to reality.

"Stay with me," he said as Miguel woke up, fighting to keep his eyes open. One of them had started to swell and turn angrily blue.

"I'm trying," Miguel responded with a smile and looked up at Tulio. Realizing the blonde wouldn't be able to remove his own clothes, Tulio took the shirt off, revealing several bruises and cuts on his upper body. Trying to hide how much the sight emotionally pained him, Tulio leaned down to pick up the rag and the water.

"Is it bad?" Miguel asked and stared at Tulio with his healthy eye in an attempt to find any clue of how bad he had been hurt, but the black-haired man didn't answer. He was afraid that Miguel would freak out if he found out about the big, purple and red bruises covering his stomach and chest and the cut marks on his arms. Wetting the rag he simply said:

"I'm gonna clean your wounds now." Miguel nodded and closed his eyes as the cold water met his body. As the dirt and blood were cleaned away Tulio found that none of the cuts were deep and that the worst injuries were the hits Miguel had taken to his upper body. Had they been kicking him in the chest? Tulio felt his blood boil at the thought.

When he was done with Miguel's torso he continued to his face. Except for the eye he seemed to have gotten away with just a split lip and Tulio sighed in relief. Even though he himself would love Miguel no matter what he looked like, he knew the blonde would take it hard if he lost his looks, regarding it was part of his way of helping with earning money.

"Did you plan something while I was gone?"

Tulio was ripped from his thoughts by Miguel's words. Following the blonde's questioning look he saw that he was staring at the candles. The blue-eyed man suddenly felt very embarrassed and hurried off to empty the bowl through a small window, the only one in their little home. When he returned he found Miguel looking at him with an amused smile that was too irresistible to ignore. Avoiding his gaze, Tulio tried to find the right words to sound affectionate but at the same time to not sound like a little girl.

"I thought that maybe...we could just have a good time..." he said, rubbing his neck awkwardly. Miguel just smiled sweetly.

"That sounds lovely," he stated simply. Tulio felt himself grow warm and he was certain that he was blushing. He was still not used to being treated with love and have someone say sweet things to him, even less say or do sweet things himself. Not knowing how he would respond properly, he put the now empty bowl down and went to fetch some stew for Miguel and himself.

/\/\/\

They ate during silence and Tulio felt glad that his lover had no problems with swallowing and keeping his food. It took it as a proof that he wasn't too badly injured. After the food Tulio helped Miguel to lay down and draped a blanket over him.

"How are you feeling?" he asked softly but with a slight irritation in his voice. He hadn't forgotten why they were in this situation in the first place.

"I'm fine now. It doesn't hurt so much anymore," the green-eyed man replied and looked at his lover with a tired eye.

"Then what the hell were you thinking!?" Tulio asked harshly, his words filled with all the worry and anger he had felt and was still feeling. Miguel barely reacted to the sudden outburst. He had seen it coming.

"I just thought that..."

"Thought what? That getting yourself killed would help me? Help us?"

"I wasn't..." Miguel tried again, but again he was cut short by Tulio who couldn't control the steady stream of words that wanted to be spoken.

"You should've asked me about the dice so I could've said no. I was worried sick! I thought you were in jail! Or dead! I didn't know what to do if I had lost you. I... I still don't know..." The last words were nothing more but a weak whisper as Tulio dropped down on the bed and hid his face in his hands. Miguel looked at his back and then reached out to rub his back soothingly.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said softly while painting light circles on Tulio's back with his fingertips. He received a tired sigh in response.

"I did a mistake but I'm alive," Miguel continued. He sat up to wrap his arms around Tulio's neck from behind and he smiled as the other man took his hands from his face and intertwined his fingers with the blonde's.

"I'm sorry, I just...got scared," Tulio explained, once again feeling embarrassed with his own display. When did he got so emotional?

"I know," Miguel whispered into his hair. "You want to know something?" he suddenly continued and the raven-haired man could hear the smile on his lips.

"What?" he asked.

"I love you."

Tulio felt a smile of his own tug at the corner of his mouth and even though the three little words felt so strange in his ears, they made him warm.

"I love you too," he said and pressed one of Miguel's hands to his lips before laying down next to the blonde and wrapping his arms around him.

"In a few days, when your wounds have healed, we will go and try out the new dice for real," he spoke while breathing in the scent of Miguel's hair. The blonde looked at the ceiling and was lost in thoughts for a moment before answering.

"Maybe we could earn enough to get on a ship and just get away from here. To have an adventure of our own, I mean a real one. Like those you read about in books," he said absentmindedly. Tulio rolled his eyes at Miguel's naivety.

"I wouldn't count on it, love."

/\/\/\

There it is. The end of this little short story. Geez, when did I become so fluffy in my writing? Where did the angst go? Well, it might help if I tell you that this is (as it says in the description) before the movie. Before Chel, before "Friends never say goodbye"...

Hope you enjoyed it and feel free to leave a review. It's always nice to see what people think of my writing :)