Being in the hospital makes Delaney extremely agitated. He just wants to go home.

Where it's safe.

Which he whisper-hisses to Tristin when the alpha calls to check on him the next day.

"I gotta admit, I was shocked that I was the first person he called. Maybe—," Delaney cuts across him as he heatedly whispers,

"Don't finish that sentence. I swear to god if you finish that sentence I'm going to—,"

"—he's not that bad, babe," Tristin finishes anyways, despite Delaney's threat.

Delaney pinches the bridge of his nose and exhales slowly. "Two months, Tris."

"Yeah and six of those eight weeks were spent recuperating from a major surgery."

"Which he jeopardized by trying to play hero."

Tristin sing-songs, "Because he loves you." His sigh is wistful as he muses aloud, "I wish someone would break down my door to rescue me."

Delaney stares blankly at the phone in his lap. "I didn't ask to be saved. Nor did I ask for his confession of love. I just want to go home. I want my own bed and a hot shower and to be—," he pauses, unable to finish a contradictory statement, but Tristin fills in the blank.

"Why would you run now? You called him. Remember?"

"I didn't think he was going to answer," Delaney answers truthfully.

"Why wouldn't I answer?" Elias' voice comes from the entrance to his private room.

Delaney's head snaps up. He attempts to lie, "I wasn't—,"

But Tristin interrupts, yelling on the other line "Yes, he was talking about you! Don't let him lie to you. He has a habit of pushing people away when he's sca—," Delaney fumbles as hangs up the phone, but does so, effectively cutting off Tristin.

Elias looks as badly as Delaney feels. In the past almost twenty-four hours, he has not left the hospital. He's only left the room in order to get x-rays on his hand, to have a few fingers reset and an actual cast put on, but leaving to go home?

"You don't have to be here. You're not obligated to stay."

Elias sits in the chair next to Delaney's bed and attempts to reach out to him, however, his right hand is in a cast as is Delaney left arm. "Ahh," Elias chuckles nervously, "maybe I should—,"

Delaney interrupts, his voice soft when he asks, "Why are you still here?"

"Straight to the point, huh?"

"Two months, Eli. I haven't heard from you for two months." He lowers eyes, focusing on his blanket, his vision becoming blurry as he blinks back tears.

"You told me not to call you. You said you'd reach out when you were ready," Elias points out. "I had already fucked up so badly, the least I was capable of doing was giving you the space you needed to heal."

Delaney lifts his head to glance at Elias. "Technically I didn't—,"

"And that's our issue. We exist in this space of technicalities as if they can excuse withholding important information from one another...just because we're afraid of rejection. Or, how did Malik put it?"

Delaney remembers verbatim. "False acceptance."

"Look, I can admit how and where I fucked up and I want to—need to—tell you the truth. But only if you're ready and willing to hear. And on the off chance that you're not, then yes, I need to let you know that I am head over heels in love with the man you are. Not the man you present to everyone else, but the one that snorts when he laughs, the one that leaves his hair in my shower and clogs my drains, the one that doesn't care for spicy foods, but eats it anyway because he knows I love spice. And—," Elias pauses, his eyes slipping to his hands as he softly finishes, "and the one that can't have kids."

To hear his truth from Elias' lips forces a small rush of breath from his lungs. His fingers flex around the sheets as he wills his breathing to return to normal and his body to stop trembling.

"I should have answered your question that night. Or the night after, or the night after that, but I didn't know what to say, because I honestly believe that no matter what I say, you'll do what you always do and convince yourself that I'm not being honest."

"Because you haven't been," Delaney shakily replies.

"You're right. I haven't. But to answer your question," Elias stands and sits on the edge of the bed. He reaches out, placing a finger underneath Delaney's chin to lift it. "I would be honored and elated if the rest of my days consisted of the two of us. And no, I won't say 'just' because there's an implication of incompletion. My life became so much more the day I met you. So, yeah." He smiles softly as he stands again. "Me being here causes you discomfort and I need to go and shower and tell Jason and the guys that I'll be useless in the kitchen for another month." He holds up his hand to illustrate his point. "I'm only a phone call away, okay?"

Delaney watches Elias leave without saying another word.

The following day, as he's being discharged, his OB/GYN comes in holding a few pamphlets. "I wanted to discuss your options moving forward, Delaney."

Delaney tears his attention away from the nurse going over discharge instructions to give his attention to his doctor. "I'm not going on anymore hormone boosters. I'm not trying birth control and no, I'm not interested in surrogacy."

"Well thank goodness because I didn't bring any of those pamphlets," he chuckles. He places the leaflets of papers in Delaney's lap. "With the extent of your condition, you do have options that can give you peace of mind. We can do a partial surgery, where we remove just your uterus, which would not send you into early menopause. I recommend that one. Or we can do a full surgery, which would send you into early menopause and then the alternative to that is artificial hormones that you would need to take for a number of years. Or, we can put you in a clinical trial for a pill that is not birth control, but does stop heats for as long as you consistently take it."

His head swims with the information. He flips through the pamphlets as he asks, "So my options are major surgeries or a pill that might not work?"

"Or continue on as you have been. I just want you to be aware of your options, son."

Delaney bites back his snarky response to thank the doctor in a clipped tone. "Thank you. I'll discuss these with...I'll give it more thought and reach out to you as soon as I've come to a decision."

"You're still going to experience side effects of the hormone boosters leaving your system. So please wait until you're emotionally stable before making this big decision, okay?" Delaney nods and the doctor squeezes his shoulder. "Oh! This might be against HIPAA compliances, but tell your friend he is very lucky. Had the orthopedic surgeon not owed me a favor, the nerve damage in his hand would be beyond repair. What a foolish young man, breaking down a door after being told that if he sustains any more injuries his use of that hand would decrease drastically." The doctor tuts softly and shakes his head as he leaves the room. "Kids these days..."

Delaney's head tilts to the side, his eyes narrowing and brows coming together as he digests the doctor's words. The longer he thinks on it...

Tristin finally comes up, smiling widely as he sees Delaney. "Look at you! Hospital chic is an absolute look for you, if I say so myself."

"Must you?"

"If I don't, who will?"

"Hopefully no one."

What a foolish young man, breaking down a door after being told that if he sustains any more injuries to that hand that his use of it would decrease drastically.

The words echo in his mind, causing anger to settle heavily in his chest. "Can we stop somewhere before you take me home?"

"Of course! But where?" Tristin helps Delaney up and grabs the small overnight bag.

"I'll give you directions. But," Delaney pauses to turn to look over at Tristin, a stern look in his eyes, "you're staying in the car."

"I'm so glad I didn't stay in the car," Tristin whispers to Jason as Delaney pushes past him, the hostess, and the waiters that are trying to keep him out of the kitchen as he searches for Elias.

"Is he always like this?" Jason whispers back.

"This is honestly a three out of ten on his scale of 'ripping a new asshole' which means..."

"Which means what?!" Delaney snaps as he makes his way back to the pair. He turns to Jason and bites out, "Where is he?"

Jason points a shaking finger towards the back. "His office is the last door on the left.

"Thanks." Delaney favors the redhead with a smile but glares over at Tristin, emitting a low growl.

Tristin waves his hands dismissively as he rolls his eyes. "Please. Go do that with someone who is actually either afraid of or aroused by your attempted display of dominance."

Delaney huffs an exasperated breath before turning on his heels and stomping down the hallway. When he reaches the last door on the left, he knocks once before throwing it open. Elias sits at his desk, arms folded on top as if he'd been waiting. Delaney, not losing any of his righteous indignation, kicks the door closed behind him and stares at Elias before growling, "You're an insufferable idiot."

Elias shrugs a shoulder and replies, "I've heard that all of my life. But why?"

"Your hand."

"Is fine."

"But the doctor said—,"

"I know, Dee," Elias sighs sadly. "I know."

"Then why?"

"Because I—,"

Delaney rushes forward and claps his hand over Elias' mouth. "Your hospital confession isn't necessary in this setting. You don't. You think you do, but you can't." Elias doesn't attempt to pull Delaney's hand from his mouth. He instead does something worse—Elias looks at Delaney with love so deep, so sincere and pure that it causes tears to well up in his eyes. "You don't. Okay? Just—you don't. I can't. Because what happens when you leave?" His voice is small, his fear overpowering and all consuming when he asks, "What happens when I'm not enough?"

Elias waits a few seconds before reaching out to remove Delaney's hand. "You'll always be enough for me. But, what if I'm too much for you?"

Delaney squints down at him. "What do you mean?"

Elias scratches at the back of his neck as he exhales. "There's a lot I need to tell you, but you need to get home and rest. I assume Tristin brought you here?" Delaney nods. "And seeing as how he and Malik are courting, I assume he knows Malik comes here for lunch daily and" —Elias checks his watch— "and should be here soon?" Delaney nods again. "Then may I take you home? If you're up to it, we can talk once you're all settled in and comfortable."

Delaney inhales deeply, mouth poised to bite out an acidic remark, but his heart twinges in his chest, reminding him how much he's missed the alpha and if having him play taxi means a few more seconds together then, "Fine."

Elias' smile is bright, yet his eyes are wary as he circles around the desk to guide Delaney out of the office by the small of his back.

The ride to his apartment is silent. The ride up in the elevator is silent. But the minute Delaney and Elias cross the threshold into his apartment, he tries to fill the silence with mundane conversation. However, after a few minutes of rambling, Elias reminds him,

"We don't have to talk tonight if you're not ready. You need to rest and heal. I can go and—you can call me whenever you're ready to, okay?"

Delaney's heart slams against his rib cage, his pulse skyrocketing as the thought of Elias leaving is no longer a mere thought, but a looming reality. He schools his expression, his face remaining stony as he nonchalantly mumbles, "Fine. Leave like you did the last time." Internally, he winces as Elias does. Externally, he remains calm.

"That's not fair Delaney," Elias softly defends. "I didn't leave that night. You did. You didn't give me a chance to explain anything."

Delaney snaps, "Why? So you could lie to me about your fi—," he stumbles over the word, finding it rather difficult to say something so simple, yet he pushes himself to continue, "your fiancé?"

"I don't—," Elias stops himself, shaking his head. "I don't want to argue with you, Dee. I want to talk. Honestly. And if you're not there yet, because of my actions, or inaction, I understand." Elias takes a few steps forward, causing Delaney to freeze. He dips his head to lightly press his lips against Delaney's forehead. "Call me when you're ready." His eyes are sad, despite the small smile on his face.

He leaves, and Delaney lets him, fighting the stupid urge to chase after him. His stomach aches and his chest tightens, but he tries to ignore it, despite calculating how much time he would have if he decides to chase after Elias, and before he knows it, his feet are carrying him forward. He bypasses the elevator, opting to take the stairs, two at a time. His face feels warm, wet, and now he's angry because he's crying, and he doesn't know why. But he is and the only explanation is,

"Eli!" He yells at the alpha's back. "I was fine that day at the hospital. I didn't need your stupid lighter."

Elias turns to face Delaney, his eyebrows pinched together. "Dee?"

"I was fine. I was just going to have amazing sex with you and enjoy dates, but you...you didn't let me and I'm so angry with you." His vision swims, tears blurring Elias as they cling to his eyelashes before free falling to the concrete. Elias takes a step forward and Delaney takes one back. "Why?"

"I'm not sure how to answer..." Elias trails off.

Delaney rages on, "Why did you have to show me that you cared? Why did you have to go out of your way from day one? Why does it hurt so badly to miss you and to have you around?!"

"I—," Elias starts but Delaney cuts him off,

"I'm scared and I'm angry. I want to punch you square in your stupidly beautiful face and I want to kiss you. I want to be vulnerable with you but the thought of sharing all of me with you makes me more guarded and I don't understand why?!" His fists ball at his side as he cries. "I've never felt like this and the only explanation is—,"

Elias crosses the parking structure quickly, wrapping an arm around Delaney's waist and pulling him up to the tips of his toes as he brings their mouths together. Delaney is so confused; he wants to push Elias away and hold him close. He wants to cry and scream and ask for Elias to hold him when he's done having his melt down, but in the moment, he gives himself over to the feel of warm, soft lips against his, ones that are slightly salty. And he realizes,

My alpha is crying too.