Pills

Anthony was on a red-eye home. He was due to be home over a week before that flight but things came up during filming and he had been delayed. He was shaking and his chest was aching. He was about three days into missing his medications. He usually planned better than this but he had ended up short for three of the drugs that kept his body going.

By the time the plane landed and he was in the car home, he had a pounding headache between his eyes. It was a good thing that he had scheduled a ride home instead of attempting to pick his car up from the long term parking lot. The driver kept giving him worried looks in the rearview mirror.

“You sure you don’t want me to take you to the hospital, Mr. Harwick?” The driver asked with an edge of concern.

“I’ll be okay, Henry. I just need to make it home,” Anthony tried to smile at the driver. He just needed to make it home, take some of his emergency medication.

“Okay, sir.” The driver replied though it was clear he wasn’t sure taking the director back to his building was a wise choice.

Anthony got out of the car at the doors. The doorman stepped over to help him, his eyebrows were drawn together with a similar concern that the driver had. Anthony smiled and asked for help to the elevator and reassured the men that he will be fine.

He leaned heavily on the wall of the elevator as he slipped his card into the reader for the 12th floor. On the ride up he sent out a few text messages. One to his sister, letting her know that he was home and the other one to Titan with the same sort of tone.

When he got off the elevator, his head was swimming. He sent an additional text to his sister with the code for him possibly needing her to check on him. He was sure he could get into the room he kept his medications in and get them taken, but with how badly he was diving, he didn’t know if he was going to wake up on the floor or not.

Anthony made it into his apartment and stumbled his way down the hall to the single door he kept locked. He shakily put the code into the door and pushed it open as he half fell into the room, catching himself on a stainless steel table just inside the room.

This room had multiple purposes. It was a dark room that he developed film and photographs in, a safe room for the things that he wanted to be locked away, and it was where he kept his medications. He was on a whole battery of drugs due to the stabbing inflicted upon him by his mother and due to his self-destructive spiral.

Anthony managed to pull himself up to his feet and opened up a cabinet, grabbing a bottle of pills. He shook two out and popped them into his mouth, pressing them against the roof of his mouth to quicken them dissolving. The medication had an instant effect of taking the edge of red from his vision and he was able to make it out of the room again.

His ears were ringing. He needed to sit down but his head was swimming. He stumbled and put both hands out to hold himself up on the walls of the hallway.

A sound pierced the ringing and Anthony looked up to see Titan. Titan’s face was a look of shock and fear. He dropped his keys and ran over to the director just as his legs gave out completely.

“Anthony? Anthony, are you okay!?” Titan’s voice rang in a haze as he helped Anthony to the floor. “Anthony??”

Anthony reached up and patted Titan’s face as he managed a tired smile. And then he blacked out.

--

“Anthony?” Titan felt fear welling in his chest. He cradled the director in his lap, trying to wake him up. “What the fuck. What the fuck?? What do I do?”

The front door opened again and Titan’s ears perked and he shifted his body to protect Anthony from whoever was coming into the apartment. In all the time he had been seeing the director, he had never seen anyone else on the floor and had never seen someone else even come into the apartment. He was fairly certain that Anthony owned the whole floor since he was able to get the elevator changed to need a key card for his floor.

A woman came around the corner from the front hall. The instant Titan laid eyes on her, he knew that this was Anthony’s twin sister. They looked far too alike to not be related.

“Who are you?” The woman said, stepping back toward the front door, fear on her face.

“H.. Hi, I’m Titan. I’m Anthony’s…” Anthony’s what? They weren’t dating. This was just fun and sex. “I’m… sleeping with your brother.”

“Oh,” The woman replied softly.

There was a beat of silence before the woman’s eyes went from titan to Anthony. Panic flashed upon her face and she rushed over to the two on the floor.

“What happened?” She asked as she crouched next to them. “How long has he been out? Did he hit his head? Did you already call an ambulance?”

Titan just sort of stared at her for a moment, his ears ringing at the multitude of questions. “I… no. I caught him. He’s been out for like three minutes? And… I have never called an ambulance in my life.”

“He was gone longer than he was supposed to be,” She replied and looked down the hall to see if the door was unlocked. “He must have run out of medication while he was gone.”

Titan’s ears twitched. Medication? Anthony had told him that he had been drugged before and had mentioned rehab, but he didn’t say anything about medication. He couldn’t recall seeing the older man take anything more than some weak pain killers. He had seen him drink and smoke, but nothing past that.

“He’s… Medication?” Titan asked, looking to the director’s sister. “I’m sorry, what is your name?”

The woman narrowed her eyes at him with suspicion. “Why do you want to know that?”

“Just so I don’t call you lady the whole time we’re trying to figure out how to help Anthony?” Titan offered a weak smile.

The blond was out of his depth. He looked from her to Anthony. He cupped the older mans’ face and brushed his hair out of his face some. His chest was aching because he didn’t know that Anthony was sick enough for medication. Was it the drugs he used to take or…

“He’s just on medications,” She replied coolly and crossed her arms. “I’m Addilyn.”

Titan looked up at her again. “What do we do, Addilyn?”

“We call an ambulance, you--”

“No, M’okay,” Anthony mutter softly, his eyes fluttering open. “They’ll just make me take more medication when I’ve already taken something. I just… I need a minute.”

Addilyn took a sharp breath through her nose and moved closer to the two men, picking her brother’s hand up and clasping it in both hands. “Ants, you should go the hospital.”

Anthony smiled tiredly. “I’m okay. I’ll be okay.”

Titan wanted to curl around the director and cry. Watching him drop had sent him into a panic that seized his whole chest. Titan looked up from Anthony’s face to Addilyn’s. She was narrowing her eyes at him in a cold, distrustful manner.

‘Ah, fuck,’ Titan thought as he looked for anywhere else he could rest his eyes without making his lover’s sister angry.

Anthony managed to sit up after a long, quiet pause and rubbed at his chest. “I’m good. Addi, can you--”

Addilyn was already getting up to go down the hall. “I’ll get you your meds, yes. I still think you should go to the hospital, though.” She said as she disappeared into the only room Titan had never seen opened.

Titan helped Anthony to his feet, slipping an arm around him. The two clung to one another as the dancer helped the director to the couch. Titan then scrambled into the kitchen to get Anthony a glass of water.

Addilyn made it back to Anthony before he did. She put several pills into his hand as she sat down next to him. There were about five pills in his hand of different sizes, colors, and shapes. Titan frowned some as he passed the director the glass of water.

Anthony popped the whole set of pills into his mouth and drank the water thirstily. Titan sat on the coffee table, his tail flicking in agitation. Had he not shown up when he did, Anthony might have been concussed and probably way worse than he was now.

“So…” Addilyn said as she ran her fingers through her brother’s hair before leveling her garnet and gold gaze at Titan. “Why do you have a key card if you’re just fucking my brother.”

Anthony choked on his water, his face darkening with a flush. Titan was also blushing pretty hard, his ears ringing again.

‘Fuck,’ Titan thought as he tried to come up with an explanation for why he had access to Anthony’s apartment.

“I gave him a key, Addi,” Anthony said around coughs.

“Why, though?” She made a face and looked to her twin. “You put that card in to keep me safe and then gave it to a stranger? Ants, what the fuck? How long have you been sneaking up here to see my brother?” Addilyn leveled a glare at Titan.

“Three months,” Titan replied truthfully.

“Is he paying you?” She asked with an edge to his voice.

“No? I want to be here?” Titan did not like how angry she was at him.

“Addi, please,” Anthony leaned against his sister. “You don’t have to worry about Titan. He’s not going to hurt you or me.”

Titan put his hands up to placate the angry sister. “I swear I have no nefarious intentions with your brother.”

“I would say that sleeping with him is nefarious,” Addilyn huffed and cuddled her brother. “Bubba, are you sure you want him here?”

Titan bristled at the idea of having to leave. He had to stop himself from growling at Anthony’s sister and snapping. How dare she imply that he wasn’t wanted there. Anthony had invited him himself.

“I’m sure I want him here, Adds,” Anthony replied.

Anthony looked exhausted. Titan wanted to take him to bed and curl up to him. He wanted to kiss his face and brush his hands through his hair. He wanted to soothe his pain.

He reached out to touch the director but stopped when he felt Addilyn glaring at him again. His eyes darted to meet her gaze. He swallowed another growl and managed to turn the snarl that was coming to his face into a weak smile.

‘I don’t care that you’re his sister,’ He thought as he felt his tail starting to puff up. ‘You aren’t going to scare me off with the evil eye.’

Anthony let out a sigh and sat up, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You two are both very pretty and I love you both, now stop.”

Titan’s ears shot up. He stared at the other man in confusion. He said that he loved him? How did that work? Titan’s heart was racing. No one had ever said that they loved him other than family.

Addilyn sighed and kissed her brother’s hair. “We should get you to bed so you can rest, Bubs.”

“Mmm. Yeah, I need… I need to lay down.” Anthony said, standing on weak legs.

Titan was at his side in an instant, his arm around him as he lifted Anthony’s other arm over his shoulders. “Easy there, lover.”

Anthony leaned his weight on Titan. “Thank you, Titan.”

Titan nodded some and helped him from the couch to the bedroom. Addilyn followed and he could feel her glaring at his back. He almost felt like she was trying to kill him just with a look.

‘This is going to be bad,’ he thought to himself as he got Anthony into his bed.

He sat down on the side of the bed and ran his fingers through Anthony’s hair. “Do you want me to stay?”

“He should rest,” Addilyn said like she was trying to reply for Anthony.

“I want you to stay,” Anthony replied, and took Titan’s hand to kiss his palm. “Addi, I promise you, he’s safe. He won’t hurt either of us.”

“I don’t like it when you keep secrets from me, Ants,” Addilyn said softly, her arms crossed.

“M’sorry,” Anthony replied tiredly. “I met him at a club and I knew you would disapprove of that. I didn’t want to upset you.”

“And you’re not paying him?” Addilyn replied with a little growl to her voice.

Titan rolled his eyes and stayed where he was, his hand against Anthony’s face. “I am here because I want to be. I’m not an escort, I dance.”

He looked to her, already tired of the judgment coming from her. He was coming down from the panic before and just wanted to curl up with Anthony. He needed to press his face into his neck and just listen to him breathe.

“Clearly we’re both a little on edge. This was a shitty situation for us to meet under, but right now I just… Can’t deal with this.” Titan made a motion between himself and Addilyn. “Maybe later the two of us can sit down and have a conversation, but I want to take care of Anthony right now. I know that’s what you want, too. We’re not enemies here.”

Addilyn crossed her arms and considered him for a long moment before nodding curtly. “Fine. I’ll come back in the morning, but if he gets any worse, you had better come to get me. My apartment is the third door. And you, Ants, better go to the hospital if you get any worse.”

Anthony smiled at his sister tiredly. “I will. I love you, Addy.”

“I love you, too, Bubbs,” Addilyn replied, her face softening.

Titan watched her leave the room and looked back at Anthony. He leaned down and kissed the director lightly, his hand cupping his face lightly.

“That terrified me,” Titan murmured softly, his eyes locked with Anthony’s.

“I’m sorry, Titan,” Anthony murmured back and brushed the backs of his fingers against the blond’s face. “Let’s sleep?”

“Let’s sleep,” Titan nodded and joined him on the bed.

He curled against his side, his face pressing into his neck. Titan relaxed some as soon as he was settled. Anthony took his hand and kissed his palm before resting their hands on his chest over his heart.

Titan stared at their hands for a long time, even after Anthony dozed off. His mind kept going back to those three little words: “I love you.” He bit his lip and let himself wander with that. Did Anthony mean that? Or was the exhaustion of the moment making him say things he didn’t mean?

If he did mean it, what could Titan do about it? Did he say it back? Was he even sure he could? He had never been in love. He didn’t even think he really believed in it with how dysfunctional his family had been.

They weren’t dating. That’s not what was going on here. Right?

He dozed off at some point, his face pressed into Anthony’s neck still. He clung to the director desperately as the incident played over and over in his dreams.

--

Anthony was awake before Addilyn or Titan. He took his medication and was sat on the balcony when Addilyn came into the apartment. His ears twitched as she came out onto the balcony with him.

“You still smoke?” She asked as she watched him put out a cigarette.

“These are special made,” He replied and looked to her. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

Addilyn had her arms crossed and was watching him. He turned in his seat some to face her more. He could always tell when she had something on her mind, even after years of them not being in contact.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the…” She made a motion with her hand and made a face. “Dancer.”

Anthony sighed a bit and tilted his head some. “Adds, I go to a BDSM club on the regular. I know it makes you uncomfortable when I talk about that part of my life, so I don’t.”

“You could just stop going,” She replied.

“It’s not something I am willing to give up,” He shook his head. “I am not good at relationships and I enjoy sex. At least when I go to that club, I know that I won’t be drugged and that the owners are good about who they hire.”

“And you met him there?”

“I did.”

Addilyn was quiet for a long time before she spoke again. “Did you mean that last night?”

Anthony blinked and perked his ears. “Did I mean what?”

“That you love him?” Addilyn asked, watching him intently.

He had said that he loved Titan? He stared at her for a long moment. Did he?

He sat back in his seat, his mind racing over the events that he could remember through the haze. His mind honed in on the moment she was talking about finally.

“I…” He started but paused to choose his words carefully. If he denied it, then that could lead to problems between his sister and the dancer. Affirming it? Was that something he could just layout there?

“Bubba?” She stepped over and put her hand on his shoulder.

“Yes,” He blurted and looked up at her. “I… Yes, Addy.”

Addilyn blinked at him. “Yes?”

“I love him,” Anthony said, looking up at her. “I do love him.”

Addilyn looked shocked for a moment before she smiled brightly at him. “That’s wonderful, Anthony. I know it’s hard for you to get there.”

“It is,” Anthony nodded. “Please give him a chance?”

“For you, Bubbs, I will.” Addilyn nodded.

--

Titan was eavesdropping. He didn’t intend on it, but he saw Addilyn on the balcony and could hear them due to her leaving the door open.

He stood with his back against the wall out of sight of the twins and listened. His hand clenched against his chest. When he heard those words again, his heart started pounding in his ears.

Anthony was in love with him. What was Titan going to do about that?