Snow Lodge
Chapter 18
A little while later, Brian had managed to get a raging fire burning in the bedroom fireplace, and found the First Aid kit to patch AJ up. Once he had cleaned away all the blood, he could see that the cut on AJ's face wasn't as bad as he had feared, and all it needed was some antibacterial ointment and a band aid.
He had then gone and warmed some soup for him and AJ to eat. He returned to the bedroom to find AJ laying with his eyes closed, apparently asleep. A sudden fear gripped him; what if he wasn't asleep? He moved quickly to the bed and set the soup down on the bedside table before reaching a hand out to touch AJ's shoulder.
"AJ?...Alex?" He called as he lightly shook AJ, trying not to hurt him. To his relief AJ stirred, grimacing slightly before opening his eyes.
"Something smells good." AJ said, smiling and sniffing the air appreciatively.
"I made some soup. Figured it was quick and easy enough."
"Good idea." AJ told him. He reached out his hand to get Brian to move closer. Brian took his hand and moved to sit at AJ's side. AJ frowned as he realised that Brian was still cold.
"Ready to eat now?" Brian asked, reaching for the soup bowl.
"Not yet." AJ replied, stilling Brian's hand. "First things first." He told him, and ran his hand down Brian's chest before trying to lift Brian's jumper off.
"What are you doing!?" Brian exclaimed, jumping away from AJ, wondering if he had gone completely mad.
"Don't look at me like that Brian." AJ told him. Despite the situation Brian found himself grinning. After all, AJ couldn't actually see his face well enough to know what look he had on it.
"And stop grinning you idiot. I don't need to see you to know what kind of a face you're pulling. I know you too well." AJ continued. "You're still frozen. You need to warm up. The best way to do it is to get under the covers with me."
Brian thought about it and realised that AJ was right. "Hang on a minute- why does that require me to get undressed?" He asked. AJ sighed, before answering him patiently.
"Because the best way to warm up is with skin to skin contact, the clothes will just form a barrier and it won't work as well. For either of us. This way you will be warming me up, and I'll be warming you up, and with any luck, we'll both be okay... Okay?"
"Okay." Brian told him, before beginning to peel off his clothes. What AJ said made sense, and he seemed to remember watching something on T.V. where they had done something like this to keep warm.
When he had stripped down to his boxers, Brian moved back to the bed, wondering how they were going to do this. AJ reached up a hand for Brian to take.
"Help me sit up Rok, then slide in behind me, that way you can keep me warm and help me eat. Plus my back doesn't hurt as much as my chest." Brian nodded and moved in closer, leaning down to wrap his arms around AJ's torso. As a result, their bare chests touched, and both men bit back moans at the long missed sensation. AJ's silent moan turned into a very vocal groan as his chest protested at the movement, and Brian whispered his apologies in AJ's ear.
Thankfully though, it only lasted a few moments, as Brian quickly sat AJ up before sliding in behind him. Brian arranged the pillows so that they were both propped up, before gently urging AJ to lean back against him.
Both men shivered as their bare skin came into contact, and Brian's arms automatically wrapped gently around AJ's stomach, holding him close. This sent a sliver of pain through AJ, but he made sure not to let Brian know, as he did not want Brian to take his arms away. It just felt so good to be wrapped in his embrace again, and he didn't want to have to give that up.
Brian pulled the covers around them both, wrapping them together, before reaching over to the table and picking up the soup.
"Here. You hold, I'll feed." He told AJ as he handed him the bowl. AJ rolled his eyes as he took the bowl, holding it on his lap.
"You make it sound like you're feeding a dog or something." He told Brian, sounding slightly miffed. Brian didn't reply. Instead he picked up the spoon and lifted it up to AJ's lips.
"Open wide." He told AJ.
AJ turned his head to look at Brian over his shoulder, but winced as the movement sent a fresh wave of pain through his chest.
"I can feed myself you know."
"You can't see well enough."
"You could let me try."
"No. Humour me."
"Brian!" AJ whined.
"Do you want me to do the airplane noises?" Brian replied.
AJ simply sighed and opened his mouth to accept the spoon.
"See. That wasn't so hard was it?"
AJ didn't reply, he simply sighed and rolled his eyes again, knowing that Brian couldn't see him do it.
