Karl gestured to him to get out of the car, did the same. "Let him know you're here. Tell him to come outside." Orlando stood beside Karl, glanced at the castle. //Harry?// //Orli?// No need to be nervous, no need to be nervous...fuck that. There was every need to be nervous. //Yeah, I...I'm outside. Um, would you come out here...please?// //Alright.// Harry sounded puzzled. //Give me a minute, I'm upstairs. Why are you here?// Orlando darted a quick glance at Karl, who nodded encouragingly. //To see you.// //Thought we said goodnight already.// Orlando looked up, saw Harry standing on the front steps. He looked shocked for a second, eyes resting hungrily on Karl before shooting a murderous glance to Orlando. "Didn't we just have this fucking conversation?" Oh yeah. He wasn't thrilled. Orlando straightened, shoved his hands in his pockets, tried for a smile. "Well, kinda, yes, but he wanted me to come be with you tonight, and I –" "I don't have anything to say to him." Harry turned to go back into the house. "Harry Robert Sinclair, you will turn the fuck around and face me." Karl's voice held a note of command that Orlando thought God himself wouldn't disobey. "I'm not here for me, I'm here for him." Karl gestured to Orlando, but his eyes never left Harry's. "I'm releasing you from our pact." Orlando's jaw dropped. "Karl..." "Orlando." The warning in Karl's voice was unmistakable. "I won't have you suffering, Harry, for something we should never have done. He's yours. And I'm still yours, whenever you're ready for me again." Harry inclined his head the slightest bit, but didn't look directly at Karl. "I accept your offer." Karl nodded, stood in front of Orlando. "You'll be fine. I trust him to take care of you." "This is un-fucking-believable." Orlando frowned. "We are going to talk about this." "There is nothing to talk about. This is between him and me. It no longer involves you. It should never have involved you. Do I make myself clear?" "Crystal." Orlando gave Karl a mutinous look, then turned and stalked across the grass. Away from the castle. Towards the street. Fuckers. Harry leaned his head back and laughed, the sound pure and unaffected. "God, I love this kid." Karl shook his head, fighting not to smile himself. Jesus, he'd missed the sound of Harry's laughter. "Good, because he's your problem tonight. I'm going home." He continued to fight the smile as he got in the car and drove off. "Fucker always has to have the last word," Harry muttered before jogging after Orlando in his bare feet. He caught up with him a few yards away, heard him muttering to himself. Harry was sure he didn't want to know what Orlando was saying. Ah well, good to give him another reason to be pissed. He scooped Orlando up in a fireman's carry, the motion smooth, and started jogging back towards the castle, his arm firmly across Orlando's kicking legs. "Goddammit! Put me down!" Orlando wiggled and kicked, shoving against Harry's back in his effort to get loose. Harry didn't slow down, or acknowledge, Orlando's efforts, just continued back up the street and up the steps into the house, not pausing until he reached his bedchamber. He put Orlando down and stood in front of the door, arms crossed. "Move," Orlando stated, trying to push past Harry. It was like trying to move a mountain – and was just as effective. "We can do this until you get tired," Harry remarked, looking down at him. "Or we can act like adults and talk." "Like we talked earlier? When you neglected to tell me about this little vow the two of you'd made concerning pets?" Harry had the grace to look embarrassed by that. "Fuck." "Yeah, Karl gets brownie points for that one." Orlando stalked across the floor, stood in the middle of the room. "And then loses a whole shitload of them for deliberately misleading me." "Well, I'm sorry, if it's any consolation, for not saying anything." Harry started to push himself away from the door, stopped. "Am I going to have to chase after you again, or are you staying put?" "Like I'd get very far if I tried to leave. I'll stay put. Fucking bastards, the both of you." "You're the idiot who bound yourself to both of us, so I wouldn't be feeling too smug right about now." Harry dropped into a chair. "How did Karl mislead you?" "I'm well aware that I bound myself to both of you. I'm also well aware that certain people left out very important details when they bit me earlier tonight." He glared at Harry again. "And that fucking idiot led me to believe he was coming with me so he could talk to you and try to work things out." "And certain people in this room also promised to keep their very cute noses the fuck out of things, now, didn't they?" Harry raised an eyebrow, his smile without warmth. "Me? What the hell did I do?" Orlando stared at Harry, eyes wide, trying to portray the perfect picture of innocence. "All I did was tell him what happened tonight." Harry didn't move, but the very air in the room seemed to freeze. "Little one, don't fucking try to play me. Ever." "Alright, fine." Stupid, bloody, all-knowing vampire. "I also asked him to come with me and try to talk to you. Can you fucking blame me? I want you both, together. And I wasn't trying to fix things...I was just trying to give the two of you the chance to fix things." "You interfered." Harry shook his head. "You couldn't even wait a whole day." "Yes, I interfered. But damn it, Harry...this has gone on long enough. It's been weeks and neither one of you is happy." "How the fuck do you know?" Harry stood, loomed over Orlando. "Hell, I've got you now. Why the hell would I need him?" Orlando watched as Harry started pacing, body coiled, tense. "How do I know? Because you're both in my fucking head," Orlando snapped, glaring. "And I'm not him. So you tell me why you would need him." "I don't need him." Harry turned, started prowling the room again. "He's an cocksucking, clueless asshole." Each word was a growl ground out through clenched teeth. "I gave up everything I was for him, and he's never appreciated that sacrifice. Fuck him." "Never? Not one single time in over 800 years?" Orlando watched Harry move around the room. Bullshit. Try another one. He'd been with Karl long enough to know better. "Yes, he's clueless and a cocksucker, but he loves you. And he fucking trusts you." "Oh yeah, he trusts me. Whatever." Fuck, but all this pacing was making Orlando dizzy. "Piss poor way of showing it." When Harry moved past again, Orlando reached out, grabbed his arm, and held on when Harry tried to pull away. "He does. He said so out there." One hand waved wildly in the direction of the front yard. "He said he trusts you to take care of me. You think he'd have just left me here if he didn't trust you?" Orlando watched as Harry blinked, going completely still. "He said that?" "You want his exact words?" He continued to watch, almost holding his breath as he waited for Harry to reply. Haunted eyes locked with his. "Yeah, I think I do." "He said 'I trust him to take care of you.' His exact words." Harry's throat moved, muscled body shivering as he sank back into his chair. "Fuck..." Orlando took a deep breath, moved forward to stand in front of Harry. He wanted to touch him, but wasn't sure this was the right time. "He made a mistake. He knows that. But he loves you, and he's going nuts." "Oh, I know he loves me." Harry smiled sadly. "It's not about love. It's about respect." "Oh, ferfucksake!" Orlando glared at Harry again. Stubborn, motherfucking... "Must you be so goddamn pigheaded about this? He made a mistake. He was scared, and he wasn't thinking clearly." "He's got really bad fucking habit of doing that," Harry replied, slumping back down in his chair. "In case you never noticed." "Hello, I live with him. I'm the one who ripped him a new one for not thinking, remember?" Orlando dragged a hand through his hair, still glaring. He wasn't stupid. Of course he'd noticed that. "Try putting up with it as long as I have." "No, thank you." Orlando made a disgusted sound, turning to stalk across the room. "You know what the problem is? You're too fucking proud to give him another chance." "I have devoted my entire life to him, every single thing I am." Harry's voice was soft, rumbly, tinged with tangled emotions. "Do you even have the ability to understand what that means?" Orlando slowly turned around, silent, watching Harry from across the room. "I turned my back on my family, my upbringing, my God, my friends, everything," Harry continued. "Just to be with him. And I didn't regret a single fucking moment of it until I heard him in my head, asking if I'd hurt you." The rawness in Harry's voice was almost enough to stop Orlando's anger in its tracks. Almost. But he couldn't back down. Not this time. This was too important. "He regrets that so much I can't even begin to tell you. He's suffering because of this. Would it be so bad to just give him a chance to fix what he fucked up?" Harry squeezed his eyes shut, rubbed the bridge of his nose. And his soft sigh tore at Orlando's soul. "I don't know how." "Just talk to him," Orlando said, voice subdued, as he moved to kneel in front of Harry. There had to be some way to fix this. He wouldn't accept that there wasn't. You didn't just throw away 800 years without trying. "Talk to him...he misses you so much." Tawny eyes blinked open, rested on him. "Does he?" "Yes, he does." Orlando's voice was just above a whisper, fingers gentle as they brushed back a strand of hair. "If you weren't blocking him, you'd feel it." Harry's eyes drifted shut again, leaning into the soft touch. "I miss him, too." Orlando wrapped his arms around Harry, pressing his lips to a warm cheek. "Then talk to him." So much could be solved if Harry would just talk to Karl, if he was willing to meet Karl halfway. And Orlando wasn't giving up until he had that promise. "Please." Harry nodded, the motion swift. "Let's go, then." "Go? Where?" "To see the infernal moron." Harry stood, dragging Orlando up with him. "Ready for another ride?" "I...ah...sure." Orlando blinked, wary of Harry's sudden change of mind. Not that he was going to argue about it. "Fine." Harry tugged on Orlando's hand as they left the room. Onto Part Twenty-Four
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