When Alfred woke up, it was still dark. It took him a moment to remember where he was (or much of anything, really), and when he realized, he turned his face into Ivan's pillow and sighed. The bed was that kind of warm where he could feel his heart beating all over, but it was a tempting kind of rhythm that caused heavy sleep. He enjoyed it, let it wash over him while he lay there, but after a few minutes he decided he'd slept enough and should try to find Ivan.

It was a struggle to leave the cocoon of blankets, but he managed it, padding with bare feet out of the room and down the hallway to where Ivan was sitting on the couch and staring at his laptop pensively. When he noticed Alfred come into the room, he smiled and set the laptop down, "You're awake."

Alfred shrugged a shoulder and sat himself down in Ivan's lap, "Barely, but yeah." He curled up around Ivan and kissed his cheek, "Thanks for letting me stay here."

Ivan's hand felt warm on his back, "It's nothing, Alfred." He kissed him softly, still smiling, and brushed his thumb along Alfred's cheek, "How are you feeling?"

"A bit groggy," he admitted, letting his eyes close as he leaned into Ivan's touch, "But okay, I guess. What time is it?"

"A little after 10:30." Alfred felt Ivan's exhale, "I wondered about waking you, but figured you could use the sleep."

With a little nod, Alfred leaned to tuck his head against Ivan's neck, "Yeah, thanks. I'll probably head back to bed whenever you do, I don't think I'll have a problem getting to sleep, actually."

Humming a little, Ivan curled his hand into Alfred's hair, "Hospital stays will do that, so I hear. Are you hungry? There's pizza in the kitchen."

Alfred shrugged a shoulder, "Not really."

"Well then, can I get you something to drink?"

"Maybe a little later…"

Though he felt significantly better than he had at the hospital, Alfred was in a mood now. It wasn't a bad thing that he was feeling, he just needed physical affection; he craved that connection to Ivan, and sighed his gratitude into the skin of Ivan's shoulder while he touched his fill. He got like this sometimes, but because he hadn't dated anyone in a while, he hadn't had someone to curl up with. Yet another reason why being with Ivan was great.

He pressed a kiss to Ivan's jaw softly and murmured, "Do you mind if we just sit here a little while?"
There was a gentleness to Ivan's expression as he tightened his hold on Alfred a little, "Of course not. Would you like to watch a movie or something in the meantime?"

Alfred couldn't hold a back a pleased grin at the thought, and he leaned his forehead against Ivan's, "Sure. Yeah, that sounds good."

He could feel Ivan's exhale against his lips, so he kissed it back to him. It made Ivan relax back against the couch, and when Alfred pulled away from him, he noticed a tension him, a tired strain from having been working on something- he knew the signs.

Ivan had his eyes closed a moment, so Alfred kissed his cheek softly and shifted so that he was straddling him. When Ivan opened his eyes, Alfred put his hands on his shoulders and worked the groups of muscles there. Immediately Ivan sighed and let Alfred work, which prompted Alfred to ask, "Stressed recently?"

With a weak shake of his head, Ivan hummed and ran his hand along Alfred's thigh, "Other than the hospital stay, no, not really."

Alfred ignored the little shot of guilt that caused him, "Work okay?"

"Mhm," Ivan traced his finger along the edge of Alfred's boxers, "I'm looking for a new job."

Alfred blinked once, nearly stopping his hands in surprise, "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Carefully, Alfred brought a hand up to card it gently through Ivan's hair, "What are you thinking about?"

There was a sigh, and Ivan opened his eyes a little, "I think I could do fairly well as a teacher."

"For Economics?" Alfred hummed and ran his hands over Ivan's shoulders again, "What grade level are you thinking of?"

Ivan made a face like he was embarrassed, letting out a breath through his teeth that sounded close to a wince, "…High School, actually." He lifted his head to look at Alfred, who only looked surprised.

"Really?" He tilted his head at him and pushed Ivan's hair away from his forehead, "Hm. Why there?"

Ivan's hands drifted from Alfred's thighs to his waist as he thought about it, "I think in most cases the economics classes taught in high schools either go far above students' heads or are just generally unhelpful to them in everyday life." He sighed, "I think if I can get a position teaching economics or microeconomics, I can actually help some of these kids understand what they'll need to do when they're on their own."

Alfred smiled and kissed Ivan's nose, "That's a good thought, babe. I think you'll be good at that." He ran his thumbs along Ivan's cheeks, "What will you need to get that job?"

"An education degree, most likely," Ivan pondered, closing his eyes again to enjoy Alfred's touch, "I'm going to do some asking around, and if I need the education experience, I'll apply somewhere and start working on it as soon as possible."

Nodding now, Alfred smiled brightly and leaned to kiss him, "I'm proud of you, Ivan. That's a good plan."

Ivan relaxed after hearing that and took Alfred's wrists in his hands, "Thank you, Alfred." He kissed him and smiled, "It's something I've been thinking of ever since that conversation we had where you showed me I didn't like my job."

"That long?"

When Ivan nodded, Alfred kissed him again, only to pull away a little and nuzzle their noses together, "Good. Very good. Seems like you won't have to work at that company much longer then, huh?"

Ivan hummed, "Seems that way." He kissed Alfred again, "And I've got you to thank for it."

"Oh, No," Alfred protested, pressing a kiss to Ivan's hairline, "This is all you, buddy. I'm just your cheerleading squad." He smiled, "I could even find the outfit for you, if you're into that."

It made Ivan chuckle and lean forward to kiss Alfred's neck, "Hm, that's something I could get behind."

"I hope that's supposed to be an innuendo." Alfred pulled back a little to grin at him and found Ivan grinning back, so he kissed him again just because he could.

After a few minutes of kissing, Alfred hummed and murmured, "Let's just forget that movie, huh?"

"Some other time," Ivan agreed, and Alfred got off of Ivan's lap to take his hand and lead him back to the bedroom. It was still dark, and more than once they nearly tripped over each other, but once they made it back to the bed, they curled around each other again under the covers. They kissed for a little while longer, fingers laced between them, before Ivan tucked his head under Alfred's chin and promptly fell asleep there.

It brought a silly smile to Alfred's face, and he kissed the top of Ivan's head and murmured, "Goodnight, love."

The next time they went to dance class was filled with questions, everyone wanted to know how Alfred was doing and what the plans for the company were. Alfred gave Ivan a little exasperated look before sitting down on one of the benches and putting on his instructor voice.

"Everyone just needs to calm down." Elizaveta sat next to Alfred and he turned to her, "I'm under some orders not to push myself, so I'll need you to lead for the next couple of classes if that's okay with you."

She put her hands on his and gave him a tight nod, "Absolutely. Whatever I can do to help."

Alfred gave her a tight smile, "I appreciate that." He looked at the rest of the group, "Listen guys, everything's cool. I need to be careful for the next little while, so Lizzy's gonna lead you through everything, but I'm still gonna be here to nit-pick and bitch at you- and we're still on schedule to perform in a month, regardless. So no one panic, just business as usual, okay?"

There were some worried looks exchanged, and Ludwig spoke up a moment, "Will it really be alright for you to be away from the routine for so long?"

Now Alfred grinned, "Please, dude, you act like I didn't spend hours of my life creating the routine in the first place." He tapped his temple, "It's all up here, and even if it wasn't, I get to spend some time watching you guys do parts of it anyway. If there's one thing you don't need to worry about, it's me not remembering or performing the routine right. I mean, come on." He crossed his arms over his chest, "Just who the hell do you think I am?"

Ludwig looked surprised a moment, but then he smiled slowly and nodded at him, "Right. I've underestimated you, it seems."

Elizaveta took that opportunity to stand up, "Now that we've settled that, it's time to get to work, everyone, we'll start from the top."

The group, feeling better about the whole situation now, followed Elizaveta's orders, and soon they fell into the regular rhythm of the class. Alfred did help Ivan learn the moves for certain parts, and when he thought Ivan had picked up enough, he encouraged him to join the rest of the class for those parts. And he did well- even better than Alfred had thought he'd do.

It was encouraging. The group looked good, and though he did have to call out a few sloppy moves, Alfred was proud of the work everyone had put in to learning to moves and executing them. Ivan fit in with them nearly seamlessly, and by the end of the class, he was getting clapped on the back by other members of the crew.

When they'd said their goodbyes to everyone and flipped the lights off, Alfred made Ivan wait a moment. He put took Ivan's hands and put them on his own waist, then wrapped his arms around Ivan's neck, smiling.

"Let's dance together for a minute. Then we can go, hm?"

Ivan tilted his head at him, but smiled, gently starting to sway though there wasn't any music, "I suppose we can."

Alfred smiled and lifted his head to kiss him, stepping with him as they moved, "You did really good work today, Vanski. I'm proud of you."

The praise made Ivan duck his head, resting his forehead against Alfred's shoulder and smiling widely, "Thank you, Alfred. It's thanks to you that I'm any good at all."

"Pfft," Alfred rolled his eyes and pressed his cheek to Ivan's head, "Nonsense. You've got the groove, man, you'd have figured it out without me."

Ivan turned his head to press a kiss to Alfred's neck, "Now that's nonsense. I had no rhythm at all before I came here."

Alfred huffed ran his fingers along the back of Ivan's neck, "Well, let's agree to disagree."

When Ivan hummed at him, Alfred brought his hands down to cup Ivan's face and kiss him again. He felt Ivan's arms wrap tighter around him as he sucked his lower lip into his mouth, toying at it gently with his teeth before soothing it with a brush of his tongue. It made Ivan's mouth open for him, so he tilted his head and leaned to capture Ivan's tongue with his own. The groan Ivan released went straight to his groin.

They'd stopped swaying, now, and Alfred was suddenly aware of just how closely they were pressed together. He curled his hand in Ivan's hair as they kissed, and let out a soft noise of surprise when Ivan's hands found his ass.

"Getting handsy, are we?" He breathed between them, grinning as he ran his hands along Ivan's sides and rocked forward against him.

Ivan bit his lip and pressed back, looking at Alfred through lowered lashes, "You're one to talk."

Alfred licked his lips and looked from Ivan's eyes to his lips, "Yeah, I'm the biggest hypocrite I know." Before he could say anything else, Ivan dove back in for another kiss, and Alfred was more than happy to oblige him. When Ivan started moving his hips back against him, Alfred groaned against Ivan's lips and followed that rhythm.

As he started to really get hard, Alfred pulled back a little and exhaled shakily, "Maybe we should… save this for later?"

Ivan was occupying his mouth with kissing at Alfred's neck, which made the other man shiver, but not as much as the words breathed against his ear, "If we shut the door," he reached between them to cup at the bulge in Alfred's pants, "I'd be happy to take care of this for you now." He pressed another kiss to Alfred's cheek, "If you want to, of course."

The mere idea had Alfred's legs going a little weak, but he wanted, he wanted a lot. So he nodded and turned to kiss Ivan again, "Hell yes."

Ivan's grin was encouraging, and he rocked against Alfred again one more time, "I'll get the door, you take a seat for me, okay?"

With a little smile, Alfred sauntered back a little bit and started rucking up his shirt to expose the trail of hair leading down to his crotch, "Don't be long, I might start without you…" He winked and delighted in the way Ivan's pupils dilated that much more.

It was a few more steps backwards before Alfred found the bench and took a seat, and by the time he'd made it there, Ivan had closed and locked the door. When Ivan approached again, Alfred spread his legs in invitation and tugged him down by his shirt to kiss him hotly again.

He curled his hands around Ivan's shoulders and whispered, "How do you want me?"
"In every way imaginable," Ivan murmured back, capturing Alfred's mouth again before falling to his knees in front of him, "But this will do for now."

Alfred's face flashed hot, and there was a second where he lost his breath, but when he got it back Ivan took it with another round of kissing. While Alfred tried to lean forward into it, Ivan gently moved him back, enough to lift his hands into Alfred's shirt and expose his chest. When it started to bunch up around his shoulders, Alfred lifted his arms so that they could pull it off of him. It was annoying to break the kiss for that, but when Alfred wanted Ivan's mouth again, the other man put his lips elsewhere, starting from Alfred's pulse and leading down.

There was a beautiful gasp and moan that escaped Alfred when Ivan made it down to his nipples, and Alfred's hand ran through Ivan's hair while he teased at one bud. In the dim light from the hallway, Ivan could see the pink flush leading from Alfred's ears and going down his chest, and he could only wonder what his cock might look like in this light- how flushed and full it might be.

When Alfred arched up against Ivan's mouth with a breathy groan, Ivan decided to continue his trek, but made a note that Alfred seemed to have sensitive nipples (he'd be sure to remember that later). He led kisses down Alfred's stomach and traced his tongue through the trail of hair that lead to his waistband, pleased to feel the other man shuddering a little beneath him.

With a pause, he glanced up at Alfred's face to see desperation and lust. Alfred carded his hand through Ivan's hair again and panted softly, "Okay?"

"Mhm," Ivan hummed, tugging Alfred's sweatpants down to make the sound against his skin.

It took a little shifting for Ivan to get the pants where he wanted them, but soon he held the gently curved weight of Alfred's cock in his hand and was pressing soft kisses to the tip. Alfred made a little keening noise at the teasing, but when Ivan stroked his tongue along the length of it, the way Alfred said his name had him pressing a hand to himself to hold himself back.

Ivan lapped at the tip as his mouth started to water, eager and ready to go along with this plan. It was then that he started to take Alfred into his mouth, inch by inch until he felt a light pressure at the back of his throat. He sucked at all that he could take and worked at the rest of it with his hand, groaning a little at the sounds Alfred was making. When Alfred started clutching at his hair, though, that's when Ivan slipped his free hand into the front of his pants and started working himself off in time to the bob of his head.

"Ivan, oh god," Alfred moaned, tipping his head back against the wall, "So good, so fucking good…"

Alfred's thighs tensed on either side of Ivan, so he could tell Alfred was close before he had the chance to warn him. Just before Alfred came, Ivan brought his mouth off of him and worked him to completion with his hand. It made a mess of the floor, and Ivan caught a little of it on his face, but it was so hot that he couldn't think of anything but keeping up the pace with his other hand.

Alfred was panting and coming down from his afterglow when he cracked his eyes open just in time to see Ivan lean his head against his thigh and come into his own hand. It made Alfred groan, "God, Ivan, that's so hot…"
He felt Ivan's smile against his thigh as he leaned over enough to find his bag. It was a little digging around before he found a paper towel, which he used to wipe off the spunk that had gotten on Ivan's face, "Got you, a little."

He held the towel out to Ivan, who smiled lazily as he cleaned up the rest of it. When he handed the dirty towel back, Alfred tucked it into his bag again then leaned to take Ivan's face in his hands and kiss him softly. "You are awesome. The most awesome."

Ivan kissed him back and pat his cheek, "Well, I won't argue with that."

Alfred grinned and helped Ivan up, "Come on, let's get out of here before someone realizes what we were up to."

"What the class doesn't know won't hurt them." Ivan smiled as he tucked himself back into his pants.

"And may cause me awkward boners for the next month," Alfred agreed, fixing himself back up and putting his shirt back on. He grabbed their things and led Ivan out of the room, pleased as punch and ready to get back home.

It was a few days later when they both realized that they would have to go by Alfred's apartment to get some of his things. He'd done fine in Ivan's clothes for the time being, which he liked wearing (plus it seemed to turn Ivan on, so there were a few nice make out sessions caused by it), but he was going to try and go back to work and needed his own clothes for that.

So they spent that day relaxing around the apartment with each other, curled on the couch with popcorn while they watched a feel-good movie, lounging in sweatpants and too-big t-shirts and exchanging lazy kisses.

When they'd finished the movie, Ivan nuzzled his nose against Alfred's neck, "…You think you're ready?"

Alfred just leaned back into Ivan's embrace, "…Maybe. Just, uh…" He sighed and wrapped his hand around Ivan's, "So long as you're there I think I'll be okay."

Ivan smiled a little and laced their fingers together, "I'll be there are as long as you want me to be. Shall we go?"

When Alfred nodded, they stood up and headed out, making the short drive with their hands laced between them. They walked carefully up to Alfred's apartment, making quick work of the door and opening it up to the outside air.

Ivan felt Alfred's hand tighten around his, and he gripped him back, "It's alright, Alfred."

Alfred blew out a breath and nodded, trying not to let himself get caught up in memories and bad feelings. Ivan was with him, he hadn't been when he'd gone through those bad times, but he was there now, and those bad things wouldn't happen again. He breathed carefully as they walked through, trying to keep as positive a headspace as he could, and was comforted by Ivan's fingers brushing against his.
The bedroom was really where the struggle came, but Alfred bit his lip and determinedly did not look at the bathroom, instead going over to the dresser and starting to take out some clothes. They'd brought Alfred's dance bag with them, so they loaded it up with as many clothes as they thought he'd need, and Ivan was great and move between Alfred and the bathroom so that he didn't have to see it.

When they were done in there, Ivan asked quietly, "Is there anything else you need?"

And as Alfred thought about it, he realized with a swallow that there were things he needed in the bathroom, "Uh. Toiletries."

Ivan immediately nodded and stood up, "I'll get them for you." He ruffled Alfred's hair and smiled, "You stay here."

For a moment Alfred wanted to protest, but Ivan was already in the bathroom and collecting things by the time any sound got out of him. He could hear the clatter of things against tile as Ivan got what he thought Alfred would need, and instead of focusing on that, he focused on Ivan, and on his own breathing.

Ivan was being very kind to him, trying to make him as comfortable as possible, and letting him live with him for a while- that was more than Alfred had ever wanted or thought to ask for. When Ivan came back and tucked Alfred's things into the bag, Alfred took Ivan's hand (he hadn't realized his own were shaking a little), and settled close to hug him.

"Thank you."

He felt Ivan's smile against his hair, "Of course. It's no problem." When Ivan pulled back a little, he asked, "Are you ready to go?"

Alfred nodded against his chest and they stood up, turning away from the unsavory memories that room held and heading back to the safety of Ivan's apartment.

"So we're sure this is gonna work?"

"Well we're never entirely sure," Francis frowned, "But this seems to be the best option- it ensures that you'll have the anti-psychotics to keep the hallucinations at bay, and anti-depressants to help on that front, so unless there is anything else you feel you might need treatment for, we seem to have our bases covered here."

Alfred shook his head, "I hope so. I think I can really start to get better, Francis."

Humming a little, Francis leaned back in his chair, "I've always thought that, but why the confidence all of a sudden?"

"My environment's changed," Alfred closed his eyes, "It's healthier, I think. More loving. I've got more support now. And I've been working less recently, and Ivan's been helping me with my diet. It's not an insta-fix, but…" He shrugged, "I don't know, I like where this is heading."
There was a smile on Francis's face, "I like it, too. And I'm glad you're starting to think positively about your improvement, and your future. However," He tapped his pen against his paper, "I am going to encourage you to make sure that your improvement is based on you, not on Ivan being with you. It's important for you to develop habits that you'd have with or without that relationship."

A sigh escaped Alfred, and he turned his head to Francis with a frown, "I know that, and that's not what I'm saying. I just." He shrugged a let himself relax a little, "I feel good. I mean, I had panic attack at Ivan's the other day but there were no voices and he calmed me through it. It's a good start, I think."

Francis seemed content, "It is, yes. I think with this you can start to take care of yourself more, maybe devote some time to socializing and building relationships."

"Well I could do that," Alfred pondered, "I'll be going back to work soon, but maybe if I alter my schedule a bit…"

"I like that line of thinking."

Alfred smiled.

Francis took a post-it note and wrote down the date and time before he did anything else. The minute Ivan walked into his office, he went to the couch and lay down. He never thought he'd see the day when that happened.

"…And how are you, Ivan?"

"Happy," he said, eyes closed as he smiled at his own thoughts, "Did I tell you that I plan on becoming a teacher?"

"You mentioned it," Francis nodded, "And you said that might cause you to have to go back and get a degree again, right? What are your feelings on that?"

Ivan hummed, "Well, nervous." He brought his hands up to rest on his stomach, "But excited. There's a lot I could do with a teaching degree, and I think it will be nice to go back to college. I enjoyed the experience while I was there the first time. And even if I don't have to go back, this is a whole new world for me. It's going to be very different."

"Change of this nature could be a good thing, so I'm glad you're enthused about it."

"There's that," Ivan admitted, "And things with Alfred are wonderful."

A little smile spread on Francis's face, "Are they?"

"Yes. I really think this can go places. And that we'll both get something good out of it, even if it doesn't last long."

As he nodded and took down some notes, Francis murmured to himself, "You're not the only one."