This had to be a dream, Dr. Harper was dead. Or Alan was dead and in hell. He'd prefer an eternity of flames compared to dealing with him. He tried to move but he was restrained in what appeared to be an electric chair.
"Let me go at once, do you know what my family will do-" Alan started
"Your family is aware of the situation." Dr. Harper told him. He was lying. His family was twisted, but they would never leave him alone with this man. Somehow, he knew he was alone and helpless. He'd hadn't felt fear for himself since he was a child. He feared for Zione, because of the boy's kindness. What would happen to Zione if Alan was gone? He had to get out of here.
He couldn't turn his head and the room was too dim to see anything. He had no idea what time it was. There were no sounds he could distinguish but reasoned they were no longer in the city. And it smelled damp, maybe he was in a basement.
"When you're returned your father cured, he’ll probably pay me a bonus," He said. Alan could detect movement in his peripheral vision. Was that a needle? Returned? So the doctor wasn't planning on killing him? He still did not want to be a part of whatever he was planning. Alan twisted against his restraints uselessly.
"I don't need to be cured, homosexuality is not a disease," Alan said. That ridiculous program his father enrolled him in had tried to convince him otherwise. He could barely keep a straight face through all the pseudoscience babble. Alan played along and graduated from the program. If Tempestes excelled at anything, it was deception.
Perhaps he shouldn't have gone to meet Phillipe as soon as he left the facility. But he hadn't seen him in three months, and he had plans for them. He had spent so much time trying to deny his attraction to Phillipe, but he was done with that. Even after he'd come to terms with his desires, he kept the man at the distance. He'd wanted to make up for lost time with his boyfriend. His incredibly patient boyfriend who stayed by his side, as he fumbled through his feelings. He didn't remember what happened at the hotel. And now he was here.
"I know that," Harper said.
"Yet you run an institute promising to cure homosexuality."
"We weren't all born into wealth, Mr. Tempeste," Harper replied. "You have everything, money, looks, intelligence. But you don't appreciate it. You're disobedient and disrespectful to the man who gave you everything."
"Edward gave me nothing," Alan said. "He's not-"
"Silence!" Harper was losing his cool. "I won't let you slander him, your father is a great man."
What an idiot, Alan thought. Yet, another victim to his father's charisma. He never understood how that man could charm almost anyone. Then again Edward managed to fool his mother, and Gianna was no fool. To Edward, people were just toys to play with and toss aside, but Harper was still in the honeymoon phase. He would learn soon enough.
"You're not the only one, people are so ungrateful, so I show them true suffering."
Alan gasped as he felt a small pain in his arm. What the hell had he injected him with?
"I had to get creative since I can't damage you physically. Which is a shame, you have such perfect skin." The doctor touched his face gently.
"Phillipe will find me," Alan told him. He was sure of that.
"Not in time." The doctor told him in a sing-song voice. Alan was about to say something else, but he couldn't...
What had that psycho done to him? He gasped as tears poured from his eyes. Everything hurt. Hurt was not the word. He had broken his arm before and that had hurt. This was outside the realm of anything he'd experienced. Anything he could have imagined. He couldn't think. He couldn't even scream. But he still tried.
"Alan! Wake up !" Zione shook Alan.
"You're having a night-" he never got to finish, because Alan had flipped him over and pinned him down.
"What are you doing?" Alan asked him gruffly. Zione tried to move, but Alan still had him pinned down. This was weird, but Alan was weird. And very strong.
"You were having a nightmare," Zione told him.
"I don't have nightmares, you're mistaken," Alan said. Zione huffed wondering again how someone so smart could be so dumb.
"Everyone has nightmares," Zione said.
"I'm not everyone," Alan said. " I don't have nightmares ." Zione closed his eyes, he was too tired to argue with this fool. Finally, Alan got off of him. But as Zione was sitting up, Alan pulled him back down.
"I understand now," Alan said. "You're the one who was having a nightmare."
"Huh?" Zione was trying to figure what the hell Alan was talking about.
"Fine, I'll let spend the night you big baby," Alan told him before rolling back over.
"Gee. Thanks." Zione replied before turning to face away from him. It had been years since Alan had a nightmare. It must have really been bad if Alan wanted him to stay. Alan could have just asked Zione to stay, but that would have been too easy.
Nothing was ever easy with Alan.
"Why are you like this?" Zione wondered out loud. He looked over at Alan, who had already fallen back asleep. Zione almost got under the covers and then remembered Alan liked to sleep naked. He was not ready for that level of awkwardness. He tried to get up to grab a blanket only to feel an iron grip on him.
"Stay," Alan muttered with his eyes closed.
"I'm cold," Zione complained. He then found himself cocooned in blankets and Alan's arms. Alan's chin rested on Zione's shoulder inhaling his scent. Honey and the mix of oils used to maintain his hair. Home, Zione smelled like home.
Zione was just happy to be warm, that's what he told himself at least. He was just snuggling closer to Alan to stay warm. He'd wanted to be closer to Alan for a while now. Due to a head injury at 15, many of Zione's memories were scrambled. But he knew Alan wasn't always like this. There was a time he wasn't so guarded.
Zione saw glimpses of the old Alan behind his asshole defense shield. So he tolerated his behavior as long as he could. But Zione wasn't a saint, and he could only take so much. He lashed out at Alan in the cruelest way possible and left.
Hurting Alan was easy, Zione was familiar with daddy issues. Outwardly Alan and Edward seemed to get along. But it was there in the condescending looks and verbal jabs. It was there in the way he treated his stepson, Trent. Edward doted on Trent to the detriment of Alan. It was clear who the favored son was. Edward ignored Zione until recently. Zione wasn't sure what the head of the Tempeste family wanted with him, but he wanted no part of it. Honestly, Edward gave him the creeps, but he'd never tell Alan that.
What a difference a year made. He slowly stroked Alan's hair. He was just comforting him. Damn, he really loved him. And he knew Alan loved him back. Alan would never say it, he'd just buy him something ridiculous instead. Zione didn't even know what to do with the van Gogh drawing. Alan had the nerve to ask him if he'd preferred a painting instead. Zione would never get used to this crazy fairytale world. There was a short time after his Mom's disappearance and before his adoption, he was on his own.
He'd probably run away from foster care. Zione didn't remember much other than being cold, hungry, and afraid. The adults who offered to help wanted something else, so he remembers hiding.
Then like a miracle Gianna Tempeste was there. While Gianna searched for his Mom, she said he could stay with them. His Mom had episodes where she would get confused and sometimes wander off. She always came back, but this time she didn't. He hated himself, but he tried not to think about her too much anymore. He just ended up imagining awful things that could have happened to her. And then he'd berate himself for not keeping a better watch over her. If he thought about her too much, he would have to accept the truth.
Eventually, Zione was adopted in the Tempeste family. Gianna and Alan loved to spoil him. He couldn't say he minded the gifts, even the impractical ones.
But this right here right now was all he truly wanted. Alan mumbled something lightly in his sleep as if agreeing with him. Zione closed his eyes and sighed.
He was completely fucked.
