Love

Love
After not introducing himself but rather informing Rex of the reason why he had taken him, the man in the suit walked away. A few minutes later or what felt like hours, those five guys that had taken Rex, returned to the room.

Rex watched with inquisition. He saw them walk behind him and then return with a box that they took out of the room. The five guys did this repeatedly, one after the other which made Rex wonder just how many boxes were behind him. 

More than that, why were they suddenly moving boxes?

What did those boxes contain?

An eerie feeling crawled up his spine like ice water.

Then all of a sudden, one of the guys walked towards him, his hands that were initially tied to the armrest of the chair was loosened, still, he knew better than to try to fight his way out of this place. 

So instead, he sat down still, with a racing heart as they took his hands to the back of the chair.

Why were they changing how he was being tied?

However, he was yet to understand their reasoning, before he felt something being attached to his hand. He froze. 

“What is this?” Rex demanded. His voice was getting higher with panic. “What did you put on me?”

The men in the room didn’t answer him directly. They just chuckled among themselves. They shared looks and inside jokes about him.

This made Rex even angrier. “I asked what you put on me?” He yelled again.

“What the fuck is going on?!”

“Let me go!”

“Let me fucking go!”

“Relax,” the man in the suit returned to the room. His voice was smooth. “Your little boyfriend is on his way here.”

Rex’s heart stopped completely. His chest seized up. “Dante?”

Dante was coming. 

The man nodded slowly. “That’s right. And when he gets here, you’ll both die in this room. Together. Payment for what he did to my family.”

Rex’s whole body jerked against the chair. He pulled and twisted and fought against the ropes with everything he had. L

“No!” he shouted. “You can’t do this! This is between you and him!”

The men still in the room started laughing. 

The man leaned down until his face was close to Rex’s. “The place is wired to blow with both of you inside. He’ll die right next to you. Fair payment for taking my brother away from me.”

Then they were all gone. 

The door slammed shut with a sound like a coffin closing.

Rex was alone.

That’s when he heard it.

Beep.

The sound was faint but unmistakable. Electronic. Rhythmic. Coming from somewhere behind him where he couldn’t see.

His blood turned to ice water in his veins.

Beep. Beep.

The slow, steady heartbeat of death itself.

“No, no, no,” Rex whispered. His voice was breaking apart. “This can’t be happening.”

Panic clawed through him like a wild animal trying to escape from a cage. He pulled harder against the ropes. Twisted and fought until his wrists were bleeding. But the ropes held firm.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Rex’s heart was hammering so hard he thought it might explode.

He didn’t want to die like this. Alone and afraid and tied to a chair like some sacrificial offering.

And he definitely didn’t want Dante to die with him.

That’s when the door burst open.

Rex’s head snapped up. His eyes went wide. Relief flooded through him so fast he felt dizzy.

“Dante!” he shouted.

Dante stepped inside and the second his eyes landed on Rex, a grin spread on his face. But this was immediately replaced by wonder. 

Where were the guys?

What was beeping?

But that didn’t matter now. What mattered was that Rex was safe and he was right in front of him. 

His shoulders relaxed slightly. Like seeing Rex alive was enough to calm whatever storm had been raging inside him.

“There you are,” Dante said. His voice was calm. 

But Rex was too far gone for calm. Too consumed by terror to appreciate Dante’s composure.

“Don’t come any closer!” Rex screamed. His whole body jerked forward against the restraints. “There’s a bomb attached to me! You have to get out of here right now!”

Dante didn’t even flinch. He kept walking toward Rex like he hadn’t heard a word.

“Did you hear what I said?” Rex’s voice cracked with desperation. “It’s a bomb! You’ll die if you stay here! Just leave me and run!”

But Dante ignored the wild edge in Rex’s voice completely. He walked around behind the chair where Rex couldn’t see him. Started working on the knots with dexterous fingers.

Rex couldn’t see what Dante was doing back there. Could only hear the beeping getting louder and faster.

“Why aren’t you listening to me?” Rex sobbed. “Do you want to die with me? Is that what this is?”

Tears were stinging his eyes now. Hot and salty and full of desperation.

“You can’t stay here! Please, I don’t care what happens to me but you have to live. You have to survive this.”

The beeping was getting so fast.

Rex’s heart was trying to tear itself apart inside his chest. His throat burned as tears finally spilled down his cheeks.

“It’s almost time,” he whispered. “The timer is almost done. Just go, please. I don’t want you to die because of me.”

That’s when Dante’s voice cut through his panic. Low and steady and strangely gentle.

“Wouldn’t it feel good if we died together?”

Rex froze. 

His body shuddered. His chest kept heaving but for some reason, he felt completely still.

Slowly, his eyes slipped shut. His lips trembled as the truth came out of him. Broken but completely honest.

“Yes,” he whispered. “Selfishly, yes. At least I wouldn’t be alone when it happened. At least I’d be with you.”

His voice got even quieter. He had accepted his fate.

“To die with you wouldn’t be punishment.” A lonely tear slid down his eyes. “That would be bliss.”

Behind him, Dante chuckled. The sound was soft and warm and genuinely amused.

And then the beeping changed.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Then silence.

Complete, absolute silence.

Rex held his breath and waited for the explosion that would tear them both apart. Waited for the fire and the pain and the end of everything.

But nothing happened.

The seconds stretched into minutes. Still nothing.

Cautiously, Rex opened his eyes. His vision was blurry from tears but it cleared slowly.

Dante was standing in front of him now. Tall and calm and completely unharmed. His lips were curved in the faintest smile. 

“What happened?” Rex asked. “Why didn’t it explode?”

“I disabled it,” Dante said simply. 

The words took a moment to sink in. When they did, Rex felt a calm wash over him. The tears that had been threatening to fall now came pouring out. But they were different tears now. Relief instead of terror.

He started laughing through the crying. 

Dante pulled a knife from his belt which he used to cut the ropes that tied Rex down.

The moment Rex was free, he didn’t think twice, no room for hesitation, he lunged himself at Dante.

The first thing he did was hug him tightly, like his life depended on it.

Dante reciprocated by holding him even tighter. 

They stayed like that, Rex sobbing, holding on to Dante like a lifeline for a few minutes. He soaked in the life he thought he was about to lose. He wanted to wholly appreciate it.

At his dying moment, Dante was the one on his mind. Shouldn’t he hold him tight?

They pulled away from the hug a while later, but they didn’t stop there.

Like iron to magnet, their lips found each other’s. 

The kiss was raw and desperate and shaking.

It was love. Pure and simple and terrifying.

Rex poured everything into that kiss. All his relief. All his gratitude. All the feelings he had been too afraid to admit even to himself.

Dante kissed him back. Steady and grounding and real.

For the first time in weeks, Rex felt like he could breathe again. Like the world made sense. Like he was exactly where he belonged.

He didn’t care about the danger anymore. Didn’t care about the trials or the enemies or the bombs or any of it.

All he cared about was this moment. This feeling. This man who had risked his life to save him.

When they finally broke apart, Rex looked into Dante’s dark eyes and in those eyes, he saw a reflection of himself.

Staring back at him was raw passion. 

Dare I say, love.