Summary: Apollo wakes up to find Kristoph, who should be in prison, in his bedroom asking him to flee the country with him.
–
Apollo awoke with a start, feeling a hand over his mouth. He struggled and tried to yell, when a familiar silhouette belonging to the hand spoke.
“Don’t scream, Justice. It’s me.”
Apollo stared wide eyed in the dark. For a moment, he thought it was Klavier, having broken into his apartment for some reason. But then he saw the glint in the light little light that came through the window.
Kristoph.
Apollo’s eyes widened further.
“Do you promise not to scream?”
Apollo nodded. His heart was beating a mile a minute in his chest. How could Kristoph be here? He had been in jail for months. Was Apollo dreaming? He had had dreams like this before, where his mentor– his lover– was inexplicably cleared of charges and released.
But this didn’t feel like a dream.
Kristoph took his hand off Apollo’s mouth, and reached down to help him up instead.
“How are you here?” Apollo whispered, not daring to raise his voice.
“You won’t like the answer, but I assure you, it wasn’t murder,” Kristoph answered in a grim, but cool tone. “There were bribes involved. Blackmail.”
He was right. Apollo didn’t like the answer. But his happiness at seeing his old boss almost outweighed his anxiety.
Apollo squeezed Kristohph’s hand, and let himself fall onto his chest and into the embrace he’d been longing for since that horrible, confusing day in April. His breath shuddered as he tried not to sob, and Kirstoph put a comforting hand on the top of his head.
“I’m glad to see you,” Apollo murmured, swallowing. “What– what are you going to do now, sir?”
It was reflexive to call him that. Even now.
“I’m leaving the country, Justice. Tonight.”
Apollo looked up at him with teary eyes. “You came to say goodbye?” He felt his voice break.
Kristoph squeezed him. “I came to ask if you’d come with me.”
Apollo felt his heart beating in his chest like it might burst. “Sir?”
Going with Kirstoph– leaving the country with an escaped criminal, presumably– meant throwing away everything. But what did he have, really? His life had been shattered to pieces since that day.
“I won’t ask again, Justice.”
Apollo’s voice caught in his throat as he shook his head profusely. “You don’t have to, sir. I’m coming with you.”
“Good. Come on then, we have to hurry. Klavier is already in the car. We’ll collect your sister as soon as we can.”
That threw Apollo for an even bigger loop than Kristoph’s presence.
“My sister? I don’t–”
“There isn’t time, Justice,” Kristoph shook his head, and kissed his forehead. “Trust me. I’ll explain everything. I was framed, by your sister’s father and his partner.”
“I feel like I’m dreaming,” Apollo murmured before he could stop himself.
Kristoph touched his cheek. “I’ll prove to you I’m real, and then we’ll go.”
He pulled Apollo into a deep kiss, and Apollo swooned against him, grabbing onto the lapels of his jacket as he almost lost his footing. It was the kiss he had been dreaming of. But no dream was like the real thing. The smell of Kristoph’s cosmetics filled Apollo’s nose with their heady, nostalgic aroma and he knew he wasn’t dreaming.
Blushing deeply, and heart still racing, Apollo nodded as the kiss broke. “I trust you, sir. I’m ready to go.”
ALT
