I'm so sorry this took so long to upload. I'm horrible at motivating myself. Anyway, enjoy!

A few hours later, the nurses made Jim leave. Sebastian watched him go sadly, wondering how on earth he was going to get through his time here if Jim could only stay with him for ten hours a day. He sighed, and took his medicine as directed, then just lay in bed, staring out the window, lost in thought.

Jim went home to an empty house and did much the same thing. He tried to read, or to watch television, but he couldn't seem to concentrate on anything. In the end, he just took a hot shower and went to bed much earlier than usual.

Four days later, Sebastian was still lying in that same hospital bed. A lot of his memories had come back, but only the ones involving Jim. Naturally, he was a bit reluctant to share these with the doctors, so they thought he was making far less progress than he actually was. As promised, Jim had been there every day, sitting by the side of the bed or - more often than not - crawling up to lie next to Sebastian. They talked for hours, Sebastian sometimes asking questions about things they had done in the past as he tried to piece together his life.

Today, finally, the doctors were letting Sebastian leave. He'd told them that Jim was a friend of his, and would be helping to look after him. The nurses gave Jim the rundown on what pills to give Sebastian at what time, and general instructions on how to care for him. Jim listened intently, not wanting to get anything wrong and mess up Sebastian's medication.

Eventually, after a half-hour demonstration that was extremely tedious in Sebastian's opinion, they gave him back his clothes and the few things he'd had in his pockets and allowed Sebastian to leave.

"So, where to now?" Sebastian asked Jim as he stepped outside and breathed in his first bit of fresh air for days.

"Your place to get some clothes, then my house," said Jim decidedly. He waved over a cab for them, since neither could drive and they didn't even have a car. "I wouldn't want you to stay all alone," he said with a smile. They got into the cab and Jim gave the driver his address.

"Thanks for doing this, Jim. I mean all of it. Staying with me, letting me live with you for a while…I don't deserve such good treatment," said Sebastian earnestly as he looked at Jim.

"Of course you do," Jim replied, rolling his eyes and smiling. "You did what you had to do to stay here with me. I owe you for that." He'd come to terms with what Sebastian had done, or at least was able to pretend he had. Sebastian's self-sacrifice had been terrifying for him, and the subsequent amnesia was a huge blow as well. However, it had all been for him, for them, and it was over now. They would be together like they said they would.

"I think we should just call it even," Sebastian said with a smile. He placed his hand over Jim's on the cold leather of the seat. He was immensely glad that Jim had taken everything so well, and hadn't balked at the prospect of caring for him. His broken arm was in a sling now, and he wasn't allowed to do anything that would aggravate his concussion, but other than that, he felt fine. The important memories, the ones with Jim in them, had mostly come back. They would be able to get through this, and whatever happened would be a hell of a lot better than him going away to get blown up in a desert.

They spent most of the cab ride in silence, afraid to talk openly in the presence of the driver. They still held onto their accustomed secrecy, although they both refused to let go of the other's hand. They got out in front of Sebastian's flat, asking the cabbie to wait ten minutes for them. Quickly Sebastian threw some clothes, his toothbrush, and other necessities into a duffle bag, then rejoined Jim in the living room. "I could come here whenever I want to now, couldn't I? No need to hide it anymore," Jim said, marveling at the idea. Before, they'd always been worried that someone from school or one of Sebastian's neighbors would see them together and assume the worst.

"Yeah, you could. That is, once I'm done living under medical surveillance at your house," Sebastian said with a smile. Jim nudged him lightly on the arm, then took Sebastian's bag for him and went back out to the cab.

The ride to Jim's house was equally quiet. Jim was eager to be alone with Sebastian so that he could embrace him properly for the first time in way too long. After paying their fare and getting out, Jim led the way into the big house that his parents owned, fumbling with his keys in his coat pocket. "You can take the guest bedroom," he said as they went inside. Sebastian had been to Jim's house a few times before, but never for more than a few hours. Now, they were looking at a few weeks together.

"What, you're not going to let me share your bed?" asked Sebastian teasingly. He chuckled as he carefully removed his jacket and hung it on the hook next to Jim's coat. Jim, holding Sebastian's duffle bag for him, stopped in the middle of the entryway, cocking his head and looking at the older man.

"I suppose we could do that," Jim said after a moment of thought. After all, why not? His parents weren't here, there was no reason he couldn't share a bed with his boyfriend. It wasn't like they'd be 'doing anything' any time soon; not with Sebastian's arm in a sling. "I mean, if you really want to."

Sebastian turned to him and smiled nervously. At first, he'd been joking, but after thinking about it, it'd be nice to have someone to lie with during the night. "Yeah," he said at last, nodding. "Yeah, that'd be nice. I mean, the arm might get in the way," he smiled, raising his broken arm a bit, "but if you don't mind sharing…" Sebastian trailed off, a little embarrassed by the whole thing. He'd been taking things very slowly with Jim, and even though there was nothing sexual in. this, it still felt like a big step.

Jim smiled, excited at the prospect of doing something that was, in his mind, so grown up. "I'm sure we'll figure something out," he said as he slung the bag more comfortably onto his shoulder and continued down the hall towards his own room.

Jim's bedroom was very plain; austere, even. While some teenagers would have posters or pictures on the walls, Jim had kept his bare, with only the white paint for decoration. There were no knickknacks or personal items on his dresser or desk. The only think that gave evidence to it being inhabited at all was a tall bookshelf filled up with books of all sorts. They were organized, of course, first by subject (the top two shelves were for novels, the lower three were for nonfiction, mostly relating to science or psychology) then alphabetically by the author's last name. The double-sized bed was carefully made, with the navy blue duvet tucked in at the bottom end. On the desk were a lamp and an expensive laptop. Perhaps there were more things hidden away in drawers or in the closet, but from what Sebastian could tell, everything was neat and tidy.

Sebastian looked around at the room, trying to remember if he and Jim had spent much time there. Probably not, he decided. The memories he had of Jim's house were mostly centered around the living room, although he could recall being shown the other rooms of the house. "Was I this surprised when I saw your room the first time?" he asked jokingly.

Jim set Sebastian's bag down at the foot of the bed. "Yeah, you were," he said a bit sheepishly. "You said it looked like one of those bedrooms in furniture showrooms." He looked around, smiling a bit at the memory. "I just don't see the point in having things strewn everywhere. This way, I can find whatever I need. And it will make packing a lot easier."

"Packing?" asked Sebastian. He was almost afraid to sit down, as if he'd mess up the order of the room. Instead, he just stood facing Jim, slipping his good hand into the pocket of his jeans.

"When I move out," Jim clarified for him. "I mean, there's no way I'm living here forever. Even if my parents allowed me to, I'd hate it. I'm going to get a place of my own soon. Well-" he stopped, blushing a bit as he looked down at his shoes. "Or a place with you. Like we talked about." Sebastian smiled and went up to Jim, taking one of the boy's hands in his.

"I've got a place. You could move in with me. When your parents come home, we could tell them about us, and you could come live with me," he suggested. That had been the plan before all this had happened, and Sebastian saw no reason for them to do anything different. He wanted to live with Jim, as long as the boy was willing.

Jim looked up at him, nervously smiling. He nodded, it being all he could think of to do at the moment. "Yeah. That sounds nice. We'll be together, like we said we would." His grin grew wider and he let go of Sebastian's hand, choosing instead to hug him tightly. "I love you, 'Bastian," Jim mumbled into the man's shoulder.

Sebastian used his good arm to hold Jim close to him, carefully keeping the broken one out of the way. "I love you too, Jim. And I'm…I'm sorry all this happened. Thank you for not hating me."

Jim nodded slowly, not bringing his eyes up yet. He didn't hate Sebastian, he never could. But he had to admit that what the older man had done had been reckless and terrifying. "I wish you'd have let me figure something else out," Jim said quietly, trying his best not to make it sound like he was accusing him.

Sebastian's heart sank at that. He knew that what he'd done had been reckless and ill-advised, but it had gotten them what they wanted, hadn't it? "I know," Sebastian said quietly, trying to think of some way to defend himself without starting an argument. "Next time I get called back to the army, I'll let you choose how I avoid it," he said, trying to make a joke to lighten the mood. Jim sighed and rolled his eyes at that. He knew Sebastian had done his best, but still…it had been hard.

"Well, let's hope I won't have to, yeah?" Jim said. "Otherwise we'll be moving to Siberia or something, where no one will find us."

Sebastian laughed at that. "I thought you'd be content with moving across London to my flat," he said teasingly. He was glad that Jim wasn't going on about this. They had plenty of time to talk about it, and things would get easier as time went on. They'd be happy together.

"Of course I'm content with it," said Jim, stretching up on tiptoe to kiss Sebastian on the lips. "I've wanted to live with you since the day we met. I love you." Sebastian returned the kiss eagerly, smiling down at Jim as he pulled away.

"I love you too, Jim."