Chapter 127: You Scared The Hell Out Of Me.

The moment the door closed behind Agatha, the tension in the room intensified until it seemed to fill every inch of the space between Vincent and Bryce.

Bryce turned away from Vincent and began unzipping his pants, reaching for the ones that had been prepared as part of his outfit.

He pulled them on without saying a word. Vincent remained where he was, watching him in silence, and when Bryce finished dressing, he turned to face him.

"We’re going, why aren’t you dressing?" he asked, speaking as though there were nothing wrong between them. The only indication that something had changed was the formality in his voice, a distance that had not been there before.

"Bryce... Please, just listen to me." Vincent stepped toward him instead of reaching for his own clothes. "It’s not an excuse, but I was gripped with overwhelming jealousy and an inability to control myself. I..."

Bryce cut in, not giving him a chance to finish.

"You were jealous, and so the first thing you thought of was taking the baby away from me and leaving me behind, never allowing me to see either you or him again?!

I don’t want to hear any explanation for what you planned to do, because there is nothing you could possibly say that would make me understand or rationalize the fact that, of all things, that was what came to your mind.

Which means it has been in your mind all along. But tell you what, Vincent, no matter what you do, I can never let you take the baby I carried myself away from me. If you want to leave me, then fine. You can leave me. But when it comes to the baby..."

His voice rose with every word, his anger and fear spilling into the argument without restraint.

The more he spoke, the further his accusations drifted from what Vincent had actually intended or planned, twisting the brief, unwanted thought into something far more sinister than it had ever been in Vincent’s mind.

Vincent couldn’t take it.

Before he fully realized what he was doing, he had crossed the space between them and pinned Bryce against the wall, as though physical restraint could force him to stop and listen.

But Bryce’s powers were already close to the surface, responding to emotions he could no longer keep under control. They reacted before Bryce could give them any command, moving entirely on instinct and emotion.

The force that erupted from him hurled Vincent across the room with far more power than Bryce would ever have consciously dared to use against him.

Vincent struck the wall with a brutal impact before dropping heavily to the floor. He went completely still.

Bryce rushed toward him, panic gripping him at once.

"Vincent? Vincent!" he called frantically, but Vincent gave no response.

Bryce gathered him into his arms, trying desperately to bring him back, but his own thoughts were too scattered to make sense of what to do.

His hands trembled as he searched for Vincent’s pulse, only to realize how frighteningly weak it was.

"Vincent, I’m really not in the mood for this. Wake up, damnit!" he shook him, his hands trembling. "Fine, you’re right. I was angry and couldn’t see through what you felt in that moment, and I didn’t even care. All I cared about was that the two people I wanted were actually there with me. And even now, as I get angry at you, deep down I know that it’s true- You don’t plan to do what was in your thoughts that day, and you didn’t entertain the thought. I can feel it, and I know what you actually fee..."

Bryce abruptly fell silent. Rambling about it would not bring Vincent back, and he could feel the urgency of the situation through the weakening pulse beneath his fingers.

He was about to reach for the same power that had caused the damage, intending to understand what was happening inside Vincent and find a way to bring him back, when Vincent shifted faintly.

"You do?" he murmured, his voice weak but carrying a sudden note of hope.

Bryce went quiet, staring at him in disbelief.

"You’ve been hearing me all along? Have you been pretending just now?" he demanded as he pushed himself to his feet, already intending to storm out, but Vincent’s hand lifted weakly at precisely the right moment, catching hold of him and pulling him back.

Bryce landed on top of him, and Vincent winced at the impact.

"No, I’m not pretending. I think my ribs are broken. I could hear your words drifting away bit by bit, but they pulled me back when you said..." Vincent’s voice faded as his eyes slowly closed.

Bryce’s eyes widened in alarm. He immediately slapped Vincent lightly across the face several times.

"Vincent!" he called, but Vincent continued slipping away.

This time, Bryce did not waste a second. He reached into the deepest part of himself and focused entirely on the body before him.

His power revealed the extent of the damage at once. It was not only Vincent’s ribs that were broken. His spinal cord was cracked as well.

Bryce immediately focused on repairing everything that had been broken and damaged. Through his closed eyes, he could see purple smoke-like energy engulf Vincent’s back for a brief moment before it suddenly disappeared.

Vincent drew a heavy breath and jerked upright.

"Vincent?" Bryce called instantly, returning fully to his consciousness as he saw him sitting up.

"My love..." Vincent murmured.

Still sitting on Vincent’s thighs, Bryce pulled him into a tight embrace before drawing back enough to kiss him.

When he finally tried to pull away, Vincent caught him and pulled him back into the kiss, returning it with deep intensity.

Gradually, the kiss softened, and Vincent murmured against his lips.

"Whatever you saw about my thoughts that moment was not a plan. It was just a fleeting thought that came out of nowhere and didn’t last for even a minute. I don’t plan to take the baby from you, and I’ll never, nor do I plan to leave you. I want to be with you at all cost."

Bryce lowered his head onto Vincent’s shoulder, burying his face against the side of his neck.

"It’s okay, I know you don’t plan to do it. I’m sorry I almost killed you just now. We still have a lot to achieve and a baby to bring up together, so don’t scare me like that ever again."

Vincent pulled Bryce closer into the embrace. "Don’t ever get mad at me like that again, either. It scared the hell out of me. I didn’t know what I could say to you that could convince you that I didn’t want to pursue that thought."

Bryce said nothing. After a moment, he shifted and pulled back, looking directly at Vincent.

"But why think of only that, of all things? Couldn’t you have thought about something else? Something like just stealing me away from Dave?" Bryce asked, clearly still hurt by what Vincent had thought.

"I’m sorry... I really don’t know, but what I know with certainty is that I really do not want to do what was in my thoughts."

"I know," Bryce answered as he finally climbed off him and helped Vincent to his feet. "Is it still painful?"

"Not that overwhelming pain, but just some muscles. I might need a massage for that."

Bryce rolled his eyes at that. "Fine, dress up. Let’s go finish one task, then when we come back, I might give you a massage you’ll wish you hadn’t asked for."

That did not seem to scare Vincent in the slightest. Instead, he seemed fascinated by the fact that Bryce would actually massage him.