He thought River must have fallen or slipped into the water. He wouldn’t have shouted otherwise. The word he’d called hadn’t beenhelp,but in a dangerous situation, maybe getting the right word out had been beyond him. Though he needed to consider the possibility that maybe Riverhadgone in deliberately, but changed his mind. Which led to Newt’s deepest concern, that the kiss had pushed River over some edge.Shhhhit.
Once Newt had managed to get River dressed and they’d both rested, he’d have to find out whether he’d fallen or not and decide what to do if it wasor not. There’d be no choice about calling Max then. But for the next few minutes, they were fine just curled up in the shower, getting warm. River opened his eyes a couple of times, then closed them again.
“Everything will be all right.” Newt was trying to reassure himself as well as River.
Eventually, he switched off the water and went to get towels. River barely stirred as Newt dried him. He managed to get him out of the shower, but wasn’t sure he could carry him all the way to the main room. Upstairs would be impossible. In the end, Newt dragged him through the house on a large towel. He mustered one final burst of energy to hoist him onto the couch, then he was exhausted.
Once he thought he could move without falling over, he went over to the basket of blankets and draped two over River. Taking a deep breath, he reached underneath to peel the wet boxers down River’s legs.Please don’t wake up now.If thekiss had freaked him out, this would really make him panic.But River slept on. Newt took the wet things to the utility room, removed his own boxers and wrapped a dry towel around his waist.
More washing to do. Everything that was wet went into the machine, including their footwear. He just remembered to take River’s post out of his pocket before he put his jacket in the machine too. Should he call Max? He didn’t want to, but… Newt returned to River and put the back of his hand on his forehead. He was warm, but not too warm. Newt decided he’d be all right, that there was no need to contact River’s agent. Then immediately felt wracked by guilt to be relieved River couldn’t tell Max what had happened.
He went upstairs to get dressed. It was a good thing he’d kept his prison discharge clothing. Hopefully the stuff he’d ordered would arrive soon. When he got back to River, he’d not moved. Not the moment to feel a surge of lust, but Newt’s cock wasn’t listening. He clenched his teeth. Newt was torn between wanting him to wake up so he knew he was okay, and wanting him to stay sleeping to give him chance to think.
Though he wasn’t sure thinking was going to be much help.
Youkissedme.And yes, Newt had kissed him back but why had River freaked out? Was the kiss so bad?Maybe it was. It was the first kiss of Newt’s life. It hadn’t felt bad. It had been great, right up to when it wasn’t. But River hadn’t panicked until he was on his lap and Newt had put his hand on his back. Maybe the kiss was…acceptable, but not the touching? Yet River’s cock had been hard. Newt’s too. Had River just come to his senses and realised Newt wasn’t a woman? How was he going to be able to tell him what was wrong?
If River had died, Newt wasn’t sure he could have lived with himself. Guilt would have eaten him up. It was currently nibbling at his stomach in a determined way. He really should call Max, maybe take River to a doctor…
“Oh,” River suddenly gasped. He opened his eyes, seemed as if he was going to panic until he saw Newt, then he smiled and closed his eyes again.
A smile.
Newt wasn’t going to leave his side.
Newt woke with a start, shocked he’d fallen asleep, but more shocked not to find River on the couch.Nowwhere had he gone? When he didn’t find him downstairs, he was worried. Nor was he in his bedroom. Even more worrying.But when Newt reached the door of the media room, he heard talking and sighed with relief. River was speaking over his part in a film, stopping and rewinding, then trying again.
He went back downstairs, glad that River was trying to help himself get better. He moved the clothes to the drier and started another wash. Once he had potatoes in the oven, on a timer to start baking in forty minutes, he made himself a cup of coffee and read a book.Triedto read a book. It was hard to concentrate when he kept wondering how River would react when he came down. With such limited language skills, it wasn’t as if they could discuss things.
Though Newt guessed River would pretend nothing had happened.
He looked for something they could do tomorrow. If they were out of the house, it might be easier.
An hour later, River came into the room.
“Than…k yooou,” he said haltingly.
Not for the kiss. Though for a moment, Newtdesperately wished it was.
“Please don’t go out again into the evil forest without telling me. You’d be helpless against ogres and orcs. I’m not sure I could handle them either, or Niagara Falls downstream.”
River snorted, but he had a small smile on his face. Newt hadn’t planned to make light of what had happened but maybe it was the right direction to take.
“Did an ogre push you in or an orc?”
River took a moment to get a word out. “F…f…”
“A faerie? How am I supposed to explain that to Max? I’d lose my bonus. Though no one mentioned faeries lived locally.”Oh fuck, shut up!
“Fe…fell. F…fok…fox. Fell.”
“You saw a fox, missed your footing and fell?”
River nodded.
“Do you feel okay?”
“Yesss.” He pointed to Newt.
