Chapter 113: Drenched in You

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘❦✾❦∘∙⊱⋅•-

[Lorenzo Castelli]

Alex heard his voice. "I can hear you, motherfucker!"

Then Alex chuckled and grabbed Lorenzo’s hand. Before Lorenzo could protest, Alex yanked him out from under the umbrella.

The cold rain hit his face instantly, the kind of sudden downpour that normally made people rush for cover...the sort of weather that you usually muttered curses under your breath about, enduring it only because it was unavoidable and you forgot your umbrella at home.

Lorenzo looked at his husband. Alex was laughing so hard he could hardly stand up.

His dark hair clung to his forehead, water streaming down his temples and cheeks. His grey eyes sparkled against the gloomy sky, and his smile was wide and genuine, making Lorenzo momentarily forget about the rain.

There was nothing guarded in Alex’s expression. No sarcastic shield to keep people away. No careful calculations behind it. Just pure happiness.

Lorenzo found himself oddly drawn in. He had seen Alex happy before, but this felt different. This was freedom and a wild, unfiltered joy that you only really caught in those rare moments when the rest of the world slipped away.

"Why are you enjoying this so much?" Lorenzo eventually asked, feeling the rain soak through his coat. Not to put him down for acting like a child, but because he wanted to understand why Alex could find joy in something as insignificant as rainfall.

When Lorenzo, even as a child never found joy in it.

Alex looked at him like the answer was obvious. "Because I can!"

Lorenzo frowned slightly. "That’s it?"

"Yup!"

"That makes no sense."

Alex laughed again, tilting his face up to let the rain hit him directly.

"I don’t have to be inside. I don’t have to worry about ruining anything, I can get drenched, make my hair look awful, get my clothes muddy, and no one’s going to scold me for it!" He spun around, almost slipping, and flashed a grin at Lorenzo like he just discovered the world’s best secret. "Do you realize how rare that is? Being able to look ridiculous on purpose and not worrying about being perfect?!"

Lorenzo’s expression softened as Alex faced the sky, a look of bliss on his face. "It feels so fucking good!"

Lorenzo understood more than he wanted to admit. Maybe that’s why he let Alex pull him further into the rain, even as his own carefully composed demeanor began to fall apart.

The bodyguards scrambled around them with umbrellas, trying to maintain some kind of order while Alex purposefully walked away from every bit of shelter, weaving through the crowd like a man on a mission.

"Sir!" one of them shouted, panic evident in his voice.

Alex waved without glancing back. "I’m fine! Back the hell off!"

Lorenzo saw Timothy sprint after them, umbrella held up like a useless flag. "Stop moving, Donna!"

"You’re supposed to protect us, not control us!" Alex called back, still laughing.

"I’m trying to protect you from pneumonia!"

Alex laughed again, and it was contagious. Lorenzo couldn’t help but laugh too. The sound surprised him and it was low and spontaneous, the kind of laugh you didn’t plan but couldn’t take back once it escaped.

Alex whipped his head over. Water dripped from his lashes. "Did you just laugh?!"

"No."

"You did."

"You’re imagining things."

"No way. I totally heard it." He pointed a finger at Lorenzo, nearly tripping over a curb in the process. "You’re enjoying this too. Just admit it!"

Lorenzo shook his head, but the smile remained. For a while, they wandered through the rain without any clear destination, Alex periodically spinning under streetlights and dragging Lorenzo with him whenever he attempted to slow down.

Water trickled down their necks. Alex’s shirt was nearly transparent, and Lorenzo’s coat felt like lead. Neither of them seemed to mind.

Eventually, though, Lorenzo realized he couldn’t see their guards anymore and he halted. "Amore bello."

"What?"

"The guards."

Alex glanced over his shoulder. The street was packed with umbrellas, pedestrians, and passing cars, but there was no sign of Timothy or the rest of them.

"Oh."

Lorenzo’s protective instincts kicked in. "We need to find shelter, it’s not safe to be out here in the open without security."

Alex nodded this time without protest. They dashed down a narrower street, laughing as they tried to avoid slipping on the wet pavement, ducking into a small alley between two old buildings.

The sudden stillness under the overhang felt almost intimate after the chaotic open of the boulevard.

They paused under the shelter, both panting harder than they should have. Alex pushed his soaked hair off his forehead. His cheeks were flushed, and his white shirt clung to him from the rain. He shivered slightly as the cold finally seeped in.

Lorenzo moved closer. "Are you cold?"

"A little."

"I told you."

Alex rolled his eyes, but it lost its sting when he kept smiling. "Don’t say you told me so."

"I was only going to mention it."

"That counts."

Lorenzo grinned and Alex suddenly seemed to realize how close they were and his gaze shifted away. Lorenzo noticed.

Just moments ago, Alex had been laughing in the middle of a Paris street without a care in the world, scaring half the actual citizens.

Now, he was suddenly engrossed in the wall next to him, the kind of quick change you only saw when someone realized they had let their guard down.

Lorenzo stepped closer. Alex’s back was against the wall. "Is something wrong?"

"N...no."

"You seem shy all of a sudden."

"I’m not shy, Dracula."

"You won’t look at me."

"I am looking at you."

"You’re staring at my shoulder."

Finally, Alex looked up. His face warmed despite the cold rain. "Fucking hell, you’re so annoying."

Lorenzo lifted a hand to brush a wet strand of hair from Alex’s face.

For a moment, they fell silent. Lorenzo could still see the Alex who had been dancing in the rain, laughing without a care, and he wanted to keep that version of him close. Happy. Unburdened. Free.

His thumb gently grazed Alex’s cheek. "You look so beautiful."

Alex blinked. "I look like a drowned rat."

"A beautiful drowned rat."

"That’s somehow worse."

Lorenzo chuckled. Alex tried to mask his own grin but failed miserably. "You really enjoyed watching me embarrass myself, didn’t you?"

"I enjoyed seeing you happy."

The teasing look on Alex’s face softened while Lorenzo gently lifted his chin. Alex’s eyes flickered to his lips. Lorenzo leaned in, expecting Alex to crack another joke. Instead, Alex stood still...the kind of stillness you offered when you decided not to pull away.

So Lorenzo kissed him. The initial brush of their lips was soft, almost hesitant, despite how certain Lorenzo felt inside.

He didn’t expect Alex’s hand to grasp the front of his drenched shirt.

Alex kissed him back and Lorenzo froze for a split second. Then his arm wrapped around Alex’s waist, pulling him closer as the kiss deepened organically, the rain continued to hit the pavement not far away, loud but strangely distant from where they were.

Alex’s fingers tightened on Lorenzo’s shirt, and when Lorenzo tilted his head to kiss him again, Alex responded without hesitation. There was something uniquely different about being kissed by Alex when Alex chose to do it. Not because Lorenzo had asked or forced him into it.

Not because they were married or because of any obligation. Just because he wanted to...wanting in a way that didn’t need justification or permission, merely the quiet space to exist.

Lorenzo’s hand moved slowly along Alex’s waist, both careful and possessive, while Alex leaned into him, his wet hair brushing against Lorenzo’s fingers.

When they finally pulled apart enough to breathe, Alex kept his forehead pressed against Lorenzo’s. His eyes were still closed. Lorenzo could feel his warm breath on his lips.

"W...we should--um, probably go find the guards," Alex murmured, but he didn’t budge.

"Probably."

Neither of them made a move. Alex opened one eye. "You’re not going to make us leave, are you?"

"Not just yet."

A small smile crept onto Alex’s face, then he kissed Lorenzo again. And this time, Lorenzo didn’t bother pretending that the rain, the missing guards, or the bustling city beyond the alley mattered more than the man in his arms.