Page 94 of Bloom: Part 1

“I should go.” Even as he said it, he clutched my shirt. “You’ll never be able to sleep with me here, and now the bed’s all wet.”

“We can use the guest room. See? Nothing to worry about. Now let’s get you out of the shower before you catch hypothermia.”

I placed one of my robes into the towel warmer while I dried him off. I had him sit on the toilet so I could scrub his hair.

“You gave me a scare, you know that?” I kissed his forehead.

“I thought you’d be disgusted. I wanted to shower so you wouldn’t notice, but then I realized I couldn’t hide the wetness on the bed.”

“The next time something like this happens, wake me up.”

“But…work. You need sleep.”

“I’ll take the day off. I’ve never taken a personal day since I started working at that hospital. It shouldn’t be a problem.”

Bloom sighed and leaned into me. “A part of me feels pathetic for letting you see me like this so often—weak and helpless—and another part likes that I can be this way around you.”

“I never want you to be anything but yourself around me. No matter what, I’ll never judge you for it.”

I kissed his forehead and retrieved the robe from the towel warmer. As I draped the robe on him and belted the waist, he made a sound of contentment. I led him out of the bathroom, his hand clenching mine tightly when we were in my room.

I walked him to the guest bedroom and settled him under the covers. I whispered sweet nothings, placing gentle kisses on his shoulder and neck until his breathing evened out. Only then did I quietly get out of bed. Working quickly, I stripped off the sheets from my bed and threw them into the washing machine. After setting the wash cycle, I returned to my room to take care of the mattress, blotting up as much urine as possible with a towel, then spraying a solution over the area. When I was finished, I washed my hands and returned to Bloom’s side. I might not have anticipated the cleaning at this hour of the morning, but seeing him there, a vulnerable little figure cocooned in sheets and bathed in the soft light from the hallway, I knew it was worth it.

When I slipped in next to him, he stirred. “Logan?”

“Shh, go back to sleep.”

He lay half on top of me, curling his legs around mine, tracing soothing circles on my chest with his fingers. “Why are you still awake?”

“Because someone is keeping me up,” I said in a teasing voice.

“You can fuck me if that helps.”

“Shh. All I need is you here just like this, and I’m fine.”

“Just rest. Tomorrow we can go out and do something fun, but only if you go to sleep now.”

He fell asleep a few minutes later with a small smile on his lips. My body relaxed gradually, his quiet breathing soothing my hurried mind.

#

When I woke up, the bed next to me was empty for the second time. Devoid of urine too, and I sighed in relief. He would have been devastated if he peed on the bed twice.

I got out of bed, used the bathroom, and went in search of him. I found him in the kitchen, eating pancakes—the kind he could warm up in the toaster—and drinking what looked like grape soda, which he’d pressured me to buy for him, even though I’d told him that carbonated beverages weren’t good for him.

But I didn’t scold him for drinking the acidic poison so early in the morning. He looked at peace as he ate while using my iPad. I cleared my throat, but he was so absorbed in what he was watching he didn’t hear me. Smiling, I snuck up behind him but froze. Bloom was watching porn. The man on his knees was going to town, sucking the other man’s dick. Bloom cocked his head. “It doesn’t look so hard,” he muttered.

Wait…what? Was he studying how to give a blow job? Damn. We’d had sex several times, but I was the one who always went down on him. Shit, I should’ve thought of that sooner.

Shaking off my surprise, I steeled myself and wrapped my arms around him. “Good morning, Bloom.”

He didn’t startle like I expected him to. In fact, he barely blinked. “Morning, Logan,” he said absently, eyes fixed on the video.

“What are you doing?”

“Watching men give blow jobs. It’s—” He jerked. “Oh!”

I smiled. Thank god he looked to be over what had happened last night, but I was beginning to realize he barely registered what happened when he was suffering through an episode. Butwhat about what had happened before? Had he blocked that out too? Shouldn't we talk about it, or would he shut down again?

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