When Thomas woke up again (hopefully he woke up again), he was in bed again, this time with the covers over him. Alaric was sitting at the end of the bed, his back facing him. His face was in his hands and he looked like he had been either thinking alot about bad things or had the worst migraine of his life.

Thomas' eyes fluttered open and he shifted a bit in the bed. His eyes snapped open as he suddenly realized that he had fainted. Sitting up quickly, an apology was about to form, but he then was aware of his surroundings... And who he was.

He wasn't going to say sorry for fainting... Looking over to Alaric, he was silent.

Alaric knew he was awake from the movements of the sheets. Alaric raised his head from his hands, but didn't turn look at him.

"I'm sorry." his voice was soft, like it used to be.

Thomas stared at him, wondering why, when what happened hit him. He shivered violently and closed his eyes.

I want this to stop.... He whimpered in his head, holding his stomach tightly.

Slowly, Alaric got up and walked over to his side, where he go on his knees and places his arms on the matress next to Thomas.

"I didn't mean to hurt you." He stared at his arms, not really sure if he deserved Thomas' forgiveness after that.

Thomas slowly looked over to him, and felt like crying. He kept remembering what had happened, it... It was so hard and it hurt, a lot. It wasn't Alaric, it was them...

Biting his lip, he looked back at his lap and replied brokenly, "It's okay."

Alaric looked up him, his eyes soft and friendly like they used to be.

"Please just slap me whenever I act like again." he said with a smile, trying to joke.

Heh, uhm, nope. Thomas wasn't in a joking mood, no where near it... He just stared at the sheets and shook his head silently.

Alaric's smile faded and looked back at his hands. After a moment's of silence, "Does it help for me to say...just try remembering something good....a fond memory." His voice was very low at this point.

Thomas was silent as he remembered living with Alaric. Like how the man had said before, he could remember the tickle fest...

"The time... You tickled me..." He said.

Alaric smiled again, "There's a good one...Who won that anyways?"

"I don't remember..." A little smile was on his face, "But it was fun..."

"Yeah." Alaric got up and sat on the edge of the bed, "And I remembered you'd like to read books all the time."

Thomas' smile widened, "Yes, and you got me those crappy books to read... They were romance novels, right?"

Alaric looked at him, then laughed. "Yeah, um...you could call them that. The only kind of book I could read, i remember."

"There's a lot better ones though..."

"Yeah, but they're no fun in them"

"Yes there is... They were... Informational..." He screwed his face up in thought. He read... But... He could barely remember what he read, exactly, "And... More than just sex scenes..."

"But the sex scenes were everything," Alricx said grinning. "My mind will explode with anything else."

"Yeah, but the sex will rot your mind..." The soft smile returned.

"Thats what you think now," He leaned in closer. "Just give it a few years, you'll turn around."

Thomas frowned and didn't really notice Alaric lingering close to him. Sex... He had read about it, even witnessed it once...

"No.... No, I don't think so. It's... Disgusting..." What he had seen was his parents, and he didn't like what he saw. It was gross, the smell and the noises...

Alaric blinked, he smiled again in amusement "Disgusting? Trust me, sex is not disgusting. There's a reason why people do it, why I do it even."

"Yes, to breed." He said simply. The fear and anxiety were somewhat gone now, just leaving analytical Thomas, "And for some pleasure, but... It's still disgusting. There's noises and smells..." He made a face.

Alaric laughed, "Thats only if you've seen it from the outside. If you've experienced it..." he paused for a second, noticing how close he was to the boy. "...then..then it would probably be a totally different matter."

"No.... I think I wouldn't like it. I don't like close contact, and you have to be close for sex...." He continued to stare at the sheets, his rational mind now in full blown usage.

Alaric thought for a second, "Yes, but..." he moved carefully as though threading on thin ice on the bed closer to him. "...I'm in close contact of you."

Thomas blinked and looked over at Alaric, "But you're not touching me..." He stated, frowning slightly. Why did Alaric move closer?

"That's true..." Alaric's mind was having a tug of war, but his curiosity suddenly got the besy of him. "But...then, what if I did touch you?" He then gently placed a hand on his cheek.

Thomas flinched briefly, not used to the feel of someone else's hand so gently on his cheek. It felt fuzzy, it felt as though every nerve in his cheek was on fire.

"But this isn't sex...."

"True..." Alaric said, stroking his cheek with the back of his hand, wondering if he'd be that bold as to... "But what if I did...this."

Very softly, Alaric kissed him.

Thomas couldn't help shivering, the petting felt so... Weird.... Opening his mouth to reply, he suddenly snapped his lips shut as Alaric came closer and...

Inhaling sharply, he shivered violently, eyes wide. Th-They were kissing...

Alaric kissed him longer than he should have, and maybe liked it more than he should have, but he was so damn curious.

Pulling back he look at him with a grin, "Well?"

Thomas' cheeks were bright red and he looked very, very shocked and surprised.

"....Well?" He stuttered back.

Alaric chuckled at his reaction, "Well, did you hate it? It was close contact afterall."

How the hell was he supposed to react after something like that?! Thomas was torn- between his old self, which still lingered, and his new self, which was trying to emerge.

Opening and closing his mouth, only a few inaudiable words escaped.

Alaric smirked, "Well if you're not going to saying about that, then how about this..."

Alaric leaned foward and kissed his neck, one of his hands on his chest. Now, he just wanted a reaction from the boy, and maybe even get him to feel good for a moment...if it worked anyways.

Inhaling sharply, he twitched violently and shrugged his shoulder to move Alaric's face from his neck, all subconscious movements. Eyes still wide, he tensed as the hand rested upon his chest. Staring forward, his stomach was filled with fluttering butterflies, his skin tingling with fire.

Alaric kept kissing and even sucking a little on his soft skin. His hand moved to Thomas side, petting him there. He wasn't going to stop, till Thomas actually says it. Despite the twitching, Alaric began to think the boy liked it.

Thomas' breathing was erratic as a stuttering moan escaped his lips. Lifting an arm, he put it against Alaric's face, trying to push it from his neck as he tensed further. As the hand petted his side, he jerked from the unusual soft carresses.

Th-This feels... Feels weird... I can't... Ugh, my body... Being fifteen, he was easy to react to such sensations and soon was blushing due to his erection. Panting, his eyes closed halfway.

Alaric heard the moan and grinned against his warm skin.

He moved up to his ear, "Just try to relax." he murmured softly, kissing and nibling his ear as his hand travelled downwards

"Ha-Hahn...." Thomas violently flinched from the caress the lips had on his ear. He liked it but hated the feelings at the same time. They felt weird, like a softer pain, but he wanted more at the same time...

His eyes widened as Alaric's hand began to lower itself and his stomach twisted sharply as a memory wrote itself clearly across his mind.

"St-Stop..." It was a weak plea as he gripped the sheets, pulling them over to press down on the source of his furious blush.

Alaric did, but was seriously thinking to just go on anyways. He knew the boy was aroused.

"Do you really want me to stop? With you like this?" he asked calmly.

Thomas nodded, closing his eyes tightly. He wanted more, actually, but no, he didn't want more.... The teenager was torn between wanting to taste more of the touches he'd never recieved before and wanting to keep to himself and not be touched.

"Mo...... Ma......" He whimpered. The whimper soon turned into a loud cry as his erection was taken into his mother's hand. She began to stroke it and Thomas found himself trembling violently, panting as the heat sharpened and spread faster. Pressing himself to the wall, his hands balled into fists as he closed his eyes, gritting his teeth together. He heard her chuckle deeply as she continued to stroke his member, obviously enjoyingh is discomfort.

Shivering at the memory that was taken directly from "Moma", Thomas nodded again.

"All right," Alaric said, but couldnt help kissing him on the cheek.

He then pulled back to sitting on the bed again. "So, what are you going to do?"

Thomas stared at the sheets, pushing a lot of them onto his croch. His face was beat red, and he could feel his cheeks burning with the blood being pumped to them.

He also felt the burning of Alaric's touches... They were weird, but in an intriguing nice please continue way.... He didn't hear Alaric's question as he stared at the sheets, lost in thought with a bit of a vulnerable look on his face.

Alaric moved closer to his ear, "I can help with that."

Thomas shivered and leaned a bit away, the memory of his mother taking care of that problem back a few years bright and clear in his mind. Shivering, he shook his head.

"N-No..." He sounded like he was pleading Alaric not to rape him.

Alaric backed off, "I'm not going to hurt you, or touch you unless you want me to. Just thought you'd like it."

Thomas nodded mutely as he stared at the sheets, thankfully beginning to lose his little Thomas.

((LOL))

Alaric smiled then, just glad he got him to think of other things, "Well, your clothes are over there. I promise I wont look."

He pointed to the end of the bed and then turned around.

Thomas slid out of the sheets and picked up his clothes. Putting them on, he quietly walked over to the bathroom, to put away the towel.

Alaric thought for a moment of the actions he just made, but they didn't seem wrong to him at all. He was just trying to help the boy relax.

"Thomas...I have a question." Alaric said, thinking for a moment. "What do you want to do now?"

Thomas didn't look directly at Alaric, he just stared at the ground, "...I want to eventually live on my own..." Though his voice didn't sound as sure as he once was.

“Do you want me to help you?" Alaric said, choosing his words carefully. "Teach you how to defend yourself?"

Thomas nodded.

Alaric grinned. "Then we'll start whenever you're ready."

He nodded again and just stayed where he was, staring at the ground. What the hell just happened? He was still a bit numbminded....

Alaric looked at him, curiously. "It's all right, you know. I'm not going to hurt you and im definitely not going to let anyone else hurt you either."

It was then he remembered. The ticket! He mentally sighed and decided to deal with that later.

"I know..." He murmured.

Alaric smiled as he got up, walked over to him, and messed up the boy's head.

"Good. Now...I have one more favor I need to ask of you."

Thomas stiffened a little, but looked at Alaric's feet, "Yes?"

Alaric kneeled down in front of him, "Could you stay here, while I go out and take care of something? You can say no if you're not comfortable being alone yet." He added quickly, not wanting the boy to pass out again or do anything similar.

Thomas flinched. No... He didn't tell Alaric anything, so hopefully Alaric wouldn't do anything foolish... .... It was Alaric though.

"Where are you going?" He asked, looking a bit scared for the man's well being, forgetting that the 'new' Thomas didn't care about anyone else but himself.

Alaric blinked, then smiled, "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything vengeful."

"Though it wouldn't hurt to ask around..."

"I just have some stuff I need to take care off. I've been busy the last couple of days and I have to finish some things." Alaric explained.

( I dun want Alaric to get in too deep. Kelzig and his school is a force to be reckon with, so is Kilroy when he's pissed....)

Thomas nodded a little and kept his eyes towards the ground. He was still so afraid and bashful, so.... He didn't know what to think now. They were just kissing, what was that about? Did he really like it? Did he want more?

And the past, what had happened there... Even just thinking about it forced his body to twitch violently. Swallowing heavily, he closed his eyes, lost in his confusion and mounting thoughts.

((twats Alaric You see that! You've confused the boy and now you made Mai Lynn worry! twats again Alaric: Ow! gesh.. ))

Alaric grinned and messed up the boy's hair again before standing, "You'll be alright."

"I'll be back soon," He said as he went into the living room, grabbed his coat from the couch, and opened the door to leave as he put his coat on. "See ya."

Closing the door behind him, Alaric didn't move for a leaned against he wood and started to think.

"He'll be all right...But...can I really teach him how to be cold without hurting him? Can he take it? I keep making the mistake that he's like me...but he isn't."

Alaric blinked, "I really hope he didn't think that kissing meant anything..."

Alaric shrugged and left quickly, he didn't want to leave the boy alone for too long.

Thomas stood here for a bit before going back into the kitchen. Staring at it, he forced himself not to clean up the mess, just get another bowl of soup and eat... Which he did.

A few blocks away, Alaric enters a small and very disgusting bar. He ignores the very few drinkers and walked to the back, making sure he caught the eye of the bald bartender.

In the backroom, was a very small and illkept office. Alaric sat down on a small chair facing a desk and waited for the owner of the bar to come.

"I didn't think I would see you again." the bartender said as he came in and sat down behing the desk. "Not happy with the sale?"

"I need the date pushed back. Something came up and now I can't leave so soon," Alaric explained, folding his arms. "Can you do something about it?"

"Ah, Al! You know I can't. The ship's leaving two weeks, whether you like it or not." The bald bartender replied, wiping the sweat from his head.

Alaric cursed to himself and thought seriously for a moment. "Then get me another ticket."

The bartender looked at him in surprise.

"You heard me! I got the money, and you know it, get me another ticket." Alaric said, his eyes growing cold.

A grin appeared on the bald man's lips, "Very well. Bring the money tomorrow and you'll have your ticket."

"Good."

"But I do wonder what that ticket could be for? A young lady perhaps?" the man asked curiously.

Alaric stood, ending all conversation and left without a look back. He was glad to be back outside to the fresh air. He hated that place, but it was the only place where he could get what he wanted.

As he was walking back, he suddenly felt like someone was following him. Cursing under his breath, he turned down a deserted alley...

Thomas just sat in silence in the kitchen... He began to feel a bit creeped out. With only himself, his memories began to take hold. His mother especially. Despite what happened was as traumitizing as anything else in the world, his mother meant the most...

Swallowing heavily, he didn't notice that he was sliding underneat the table. Hugging his knees tightly to his chest, he began to rock back and forth, murmuring 'Moma, Moma, Moma....'

After a while, Alaric sighed as he went up the stairs to the apartment. There were a few cuts here and there but he didn't pay them any mind, though something was troubling him.

"I can't believe I'm going to do this so soon..." he muttered to himself as he reached the door.

Unlocking it, Alaric walked into the dark living room.

"Thomas?" He was then strongly reminded of the time he came back to find the boy in a state of shock at seeing his mother's death.

Alaric hated that feeling and walked into the kitchen, "Thomas?"

Is just staring off into space. He was slowly rocking back and forth, but he stopped muttering her name over and over. He was just lost in the memories, a bit of drool down his chin.

Alaric stared at him for a moment, a half sad, half emotionaless expression on his face.

He then walked over and sat down crosslegged on the floor in front of him.

"I'm back, Thomas...are you okay?"

His gaze was vacant, clearly showing that he wasn't there....

Alaric sighed sadly before crawling under the table and sat next to him. Wrapping his arms around the boy, he hugged him there for a while. "I'm sorry you have to go through this..."

He didn't flinch or reply, just kept seeing images and feeling sensations and hearing noises over and over... he could even taste the blood, and feel the weightlessness of having no teeth all over agian.

Alaric didn't know what to do to get him out of it, so he did nothing. He did however, run his fingers though his hair again.

The drool began to dry on his chin. He looked a bit like a medical patient that had just escaped from the psyche ward

Alaric finally sighed, "Come on, Thomas. I promised that I would teach you how to deal with this and I am." He then started to pull him from out of the table and if he didnt cooperate, he'd just lift him out.

Thomas is lifted out, but his body is completley stiff. Hehehe, so, like, it doesn't move in the slightest. ISN'T THAT FUNNY?!

Alaric was planing on bringing him back to the bed...but then decided on something else. He went into the bathroom and put him in the tub. Alaric then turned the shower on, the water was all the way set to cold.

Thomas just sat there, kind of in a stupor. Even the water did nothing to break him from his memories. Don't worry, he'll be fine... It's a phase

Alaric sat on the toilet and watched him for a while, before sighing "Well at least he's clean now..."

He then turned off the water and took him out of the tub where he started to remove his wet clothes.

Whoa boy, if you wanted Thomas naked, you had your chance. AHAHAHAH I'm hyper. cough Thomas' body is stiff, so it takes a bit for the muscles to move.

Lol you're funny. Alaric uses enough muscle and removes the boy's clothes. Drying him and wrapping him up in a towel, he brought him back to the bed.

Thomas' eyes remained open as he was moved around and undressed 'n at.... A good nigbht of sleep will see him back to his old self! So no worries Alaric-chan!

Alaric placed the covers on him and looked at him for a moment before going into the bathroom himself to take a shower.

Stares up at the ceiling. When Alaric returned, Thomas' face wouldn't have changed.

Seeing that Thomas was the same, he went into the kitchen and made himself a drink.

"Maybe I shouldn't have left..."

After a while, he eventually closed his eyes and continued to sleep, only now with his eyes closed.... His body also relaxed slightly, growing limp.

Alaric worried and drunk himself to sleep, his head resting in his arms on the table where he sat.

Thomas wakes up early in the morning, his eyes just snapping open and he'll spend a bit of time staring at the ceiling.

Alaric, who had been awake for a while, walked into the room to see if Thomas was awake yet.

'Thomas, you okay?" He said, seeing he was awake.

Thomas slowly turned his head to see Alaric. He was mute, but nodded a little and slowly began to sit up.

By the way he was moving, it was as though he had recieved a heavy injury in his side. But he didn't, he was just moving carefully.

Alaric walked over to him, "You don't look okay."

Sitting up fully, he just stared at the sheets in silence... He didn't feel like talking right now.... His hands lay lax in his lap, ALLITERATION BABY!

Alaric sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed without saying anything else.

Thomas also didn't speak, mainly because he's a lazy mofo....

(Lol)

Alaric sighed heavily after a long silence. "Are you going to talk to me anymore?"

He looked up at Alaric, rather confused.... Of course he'll still talk with Alaric, why wouldn't he?

"Yes." His voice was a bit dry and soft.

"Good" Alaric looks at him, smiling ruefully. "I was getting worried for a second there."