Julian Larson

Sebastian was dressed well, out buying flowers for his surprise-date with Julian to come as soon as Julian awoke and saw the note he had left for him. Sebastian was more than happy to be up and walking again, since he had needed to rest so much when he had been healing from his injuries. His hair was starting to grow back, too, after having shaved it upon returning home from the hospital. It was incredibly short, still, but honestly didn’t look that bad- Sebastian kind of liked it, but he lamented over the fact that there was nothing for Julian to really hold onto. A lovely bouquet in hand, Sebastian walked back to the apartment, hoping Julian had already awoken as he put his key in the lock and entered, excited at the prospect of getting to spoil his husband for the night.

Sebastian

"Sorry, I’m- I’m sorry," Sebastian said shakily, trying to stop the tears from falling. His fingers raked through Julian’s hair again and again, movements weak but perhaps trying to ground himself in the familiarity of it all. He sniffed, letting Julian wipe his tears away as he tried to control himself. He pressed into the last kiss, wanting to draw it out, but gave up attempting to make more of it when Julian broke away. "Yeah. Sleep. I’m sorry, you must be so exhausted too," he whispered, hand moving to stroke his thumb along Julian’s cheek. Sebastian was within minutes of passing out, drowsy still from his medications and growing lulled by his husband’s comfort.

"No, don't you dare apologize," Julian breathed.  "You didn't do anything wrong," he whispered, smiling softly as he felt his husband's fingers in his hair.  He knew that Sebastian wanted more from the kiss, but he wasn't willing to put him in any more pain than he was already in.  "It's okay baby.  I'm just glad that you're safe, alright?  Please don't apologize anymore," he said softly, turning and kissing the thumb that was stroking along his cheek.  Sebastian didn't look like he was going to be awake for much longer, and Julian decided to wait until his husband fell asleep first before he would follow suit.

Sebastian blinked at him, hot tears sliding down his cheeks. He hadn’t wanted to cry, he really hadn’t, but right now he honestly couldn’t help himself. His good hand threaded into Julian’s hair for something to grip, letting out a slight whimper of pain as he kissed back. He stayed quiet, otherwise, knowing that if he let it known how much kissing hurt, Julian would stop immediately, and Sebastian didn’t want that right now. He was needy, desperate for affection and love from his husband, and he couldn’t allow a few stupid injuries to stop him from doing as he pleased. “I love you so much,” he whispered as he pulled back just barely, tears still running down his face against his will. 

"Baby," Julian whispered again.  He hated seeing Sebastian like this.  It was so few and far between that he broke down like this that Julian was always hit way harder than he would have otherwise been.  Seeing Sebastian cry was one of his least favorite sights.  He continued to kiss Sebastian back, even though he wasn't stupid and he knew that it was probably hurting him.  When his husband pulled away, Julian gently wiped away his tears.  "I love you too Sebastian.  Always," Julian promised, pressing one last kiss to his lips.  "Sleep?" he asked.

"Baby," Julian breathed back, feeling horrible as he saw Sebastian's eyes watering again.  He was torn between wanting to give Sebastian what he wanted and not wanting to hurt him, but he'd never been able to say no to the other man, so he cupped his cheek as lightly as he could, pressing their lips back together.  Wanting to minimize hurting his husband as best as he could, he kept the kiss gentle.

Julian was right, Sebastian was making too much of a fuss, and he tried to calm himself down. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” His voice broke, and Sebastian looked like he was seconds from crying. He was so tired, upset, and angry, and he couldn’t believe something like this had actually happened to him. “You’re sure?” he whispered, feeling rather unattractive at the moment, especially dressed in a stupid hospital gown and hooked up to a ton of tubes and wires. As Julian brushed his lips against his, Sebastian couldn’t stand it any longer, taking the initiative to press his lips more firmly to Julian’s. He needed this, needed the kiss, and even though it hurt to the point his brows knotted together from the pain, his hand moved to Julian’s hair to hold him there as Sebastian kissed him.

"Yes, I'm sure," Julian whispered back, really not wanting for Sebastian to start crying again.  "You'll always be beautiful to me, and that's not why I married you anyway," he murmured, trying his best to soothe his panicking husband.  "I love you so much Seb.  You're so strong, and I know you're going to get through this, okay?"  He was surprised when Sebastian pressed harder against his lips, assuming that it probably had to be hurting him pretty badly.  He continued to kiss the other boy for another moment before pulling back, whispering, "I don't want to hurt you baby."

When it came to his hair, Sebastian really prided himself on it. It may just be hair, but Sebastian spent a lot of time and effort looking good, and that included dealing with his hair. “My face that’s broken and bruised!” he wailed, “I’ll look stupid and ugly!” Sebastian could cry if he could muster up the energy to, but all he could do for now was complain, sulk, and accept the inevitable. His hand clasped to Julian’s as it was taken, just after he felt the edge of the shaven spot. “My hair,” he whimpered, “I can’t believe they fucked me up so bad and even managed to ruin my hair.”

"Sebastian," Julian breathed, eyes widening in alarm at how loud his husband was being.  "You're making a scene baby.  Your hair does not look as bad as you think it does.  It's not going to look bad.  You can be completely bruised up and shave your head, and I'm still going to think you're beautiful.  Promise," he whispered, pressing forward as gently as he could and barely brushing his lips against his husband's.  

Sebastian listened to Julian’s explanation, eyes going wide and looking rather like a wounded puppy when he was done talking. “My hair?” he asked in a horrified voice, “all of it? I haven’t- I haven’t had my hair short like that since… since… ever!” Sebastian was getting worked up fast, possibly from the pain medications coursing through his veins. Oh god, his hair, his perfect hair, it was ruined and soon enough he wouldn’t have any of it. “No,” he whimpered, hand moving from Julian’s face to his own head, searching for the spot Julian had spoken of, “no no no, not my hair, please no.”

This had been exactly why Julian hadn't wanted to tell him.  He looked devastated, and he was quickly working himself up.  "Seb...Sebastian," Julian said calmly, eyes searching his husbands face.  "It'll grow back.  In the meantime, have you ever realized how gorgeous of a face you've got?  You'll still be drop dead gorgeous with shorter hair."  He brought a hand up to take Sebastian's hand that was wildly trying to find his bald spot.  "You've got to calm down baby.  Your body is trying to heal, and panicking like this is just going to hinder that."

Sebastian certainly wasn’t buying it, and it was obvious now that something was wrong, especially by the way Julian sighed. “No,” he demanded weakly, “not until you tell me what’s wrong.” It was actually kind of scaring him a bit, that something was bad enough that Julian wouldn’t tell him what was wrong. Something about his hair, but he was so tired right now he couldn’t really piece everything together. 

Sighing again, Julian bit his lip.  "It's really not a big deal," he said hesitantly.  He knew that he needed to just tell him quickly, like pulling off a bandaid, but he was having trouble forming the words.  "They had to shave a little patch of your hair to stitch up your head," he finally said.  "You're probably going to have to shave the rest of it to make it look better.  But it'll grow back.  Your hair really goes quickly.  You know I'm always telling you it's time for a haircut because it's getting out of hand," Julian said quickly, already trying to remedy the damage.

Sebastian mumbled goodbyes to his parents, eyes on Julian the whole while. He saw the way Julian’s eyes widened, and he felt uneasy. Something was definitely wrong, then. As Julian climbed into bed, his good hand weakly fisted in Julian’s shirt to show Julian he wanted him closer. “I know,” he murmured, but he wasn’t going to get distracted. “But. Julian. Why would she say that? What’s wrong with my hair?” he asked, still completely oblivious to the shaved spot at the back of his head.

He sighed softly as Sebastian wouldn't let the hair topic go.  It shouldn't surprise him that Sebastian wasn't so easy to distract, but it still sucked.  "Nothing baby, let's go to sleep," Julian said, trying to distract so that they could get some much needed rest.  If he upset Sebastian, it would be that much harder for the other man to get some sleep.  "I know you've got to be exhausted," he pointed out, still trying his best to distract.

Mrs. Smythe gave Julian a tight squeeze. “Yes, it’s late, you need your rest, sweetie,” she said as she finally released her son-in-law, returning to the side of the bed to brush a hand through Sebastian’s hair. She tsked sadly, noting the spot in the back. “We’re going to have to shave this,” she said, petting his hair back once more before leaning down to kiss his forehead. Sebastian’s looked concerned, maybe not understanding why, looking to Julian with confusion and maybe a bit of alarm. “Well, thank you for letting us know, Julian… Sebastian, darling, I hope you feel better. We’ll see you tomorrow, most likely.” She motioned for her husband to stand, Sebastian just giving a small hum in response.

His eyes widened in alarm as his mother in law pointed out that Sebastian was going to have to shave his head.  Why did she have to say something?  Obviously they were going to have to shave it, but Sebastian was upset enough, and when he figured out that they were going to have to shave his head, he was going to be even more upset.  Sebastian loved his hair, and Julian didn't want to upset him tonight any more than necessary.  He waited until the two had left before gently climbing in the bed beside Sebastian.  "Hey sweetie," he whispered, turning slightly to look at his husband.  "You need to sleep."

Mrs. Smythe was quiet as Julian spoke, save sniffling every few seconds and looking rather guilty. “Oh, I know you didn’t, dear. You two have had your rough patches but I know in my heart that you belong with one another. As a mother I just wish I had been there to see it.” She wiped at her eyes once more, then made a sound as if about to proclaim loud lamentations, but instead was smiling as she said, “Oh! Oh, I have a son-in-law now, Frederick, we have another addition to the family!” And suddenly she broke away from her husband and was hugging Julian tightly, looking like she was about to cry again, though this time with tears of happiness. 

He let out a little sigh of relief at Mrs. Smythe's words, nodding along with her.  She made a sound, and Julian thought that she was about to start bitching again.  He was about to get protective over his husband and tell her off himself, but suddenly he was being pulled away from Sebastian and enveloped in a hug.  He laughed softly, hugging his mother-in-law back.  This was the best reaction he could have ever hoped for after how much she had disliked him a few months back. 

His rant worked, though, and Mrs. Smythe quieted immediately. “You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry, I just.. to me you’re still my little boy. I just can’t believe it.” She sniffed, disentangling herself from her husband. “Of course I’m happy for you two. It’s been a rather emotional night.” Mr. Smythe procured a handkerchief from somewhere, offering it out to his wife, who dabbed at her eyes. 

When Sebastian spoke, Julian's eyes stayed fixed on him.  He was almost surprised that his husband had had that much energy to be able to get all that out, and he squeezed his hand gently before looking back at the Smythes.  Thankfully, Mrs. Smythe had finally started to calm down, and Julian breathed a silent sigh of relief.  He'd thought that she might be upset by the way Sebastian's voice had turned a bit sharp at the end of his rant, but then she was apologizing as she dabbed at her eyes, and Julian finally dared to speak.  "We didn't mean to hurt you," he said softly, "and we certainly didn't mean for you to find out like this.  We were going to tell you.  There was just never really a good time."  Running his free hand through his hair, he met his mother-in-laws eyes.  "I love Sebastian more than anything, and I'm so glad that he's got such great parents who love him enough to drop everything and come wait with me in the hospital so late at night.  I'm sorry we hurt you by not telling you about the marriage, and I hope you can forgive us."  He still wanted to have a good relationship with his in-laws, and he didn't want this to ruin things again.

Sebastian frowned as his mother began to cry. “Mama… I’m sorry. We eloped, no one else got to see it. There was hardly even a ceremony. We’re still going to have a celebration after I graduate… a wedding for show. Mama, please.” Mrs. Smythe continued to sob, either ignoring Sebastian’s words or thinking even worse of them. Mr. Smythe just patted her back, murmuring something in French to try and soothe her. Sebastian felt guilty, yes, but he wouldn’t take back their wedding even if he could. He was proud of what they had done and being married was wonderful.

As Mrs. Smythe continued to sob, Julian felt even guiltier.  She may have upset him last month, but he'd never wanted to hurt her like this.  Since the two of them had gotten married, Julian had been happier than ever, and there was absolutely no way that he would take back the eloping, but he still felt bad about how upset Mrs. Smythe was.  He knew that he'd hurt other people by doing this too, but that wasn't his fault.  If there was one thing he got to be selfish about, it was this.