vigorli

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Title: Take Care of Me
Author: Liriel
Pairing: VM/OB, slight SB/EW
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: AU
Summary: Orlando and Elijah are flatmates, living in London. One afternoon they are overheard whinging about how easy girls have it. A challenge is issued. Will they accept it?
Beta: The incomparable, unforgettable

catlover2x Mwaaah
A/N: I know, and you know that most women don't have it this easy. So don't blame me, the opinions expressed in this story are those of the characters and not the poor author, who's just recording the events and thoughts.
A/N2: Special thanks to

mesnica for the awesome banner!

His arms around Lawrence's neck, Orlando admired the festive decorations adorning the house as he was carried downstairs for the first time in two weeks. The first week he'd been too sick to care that he was stuck in bed, but by the second week he'd chafed at being confined to bed.

Viggo had reluctantly gone back to work, and Orlando had been left alone, until Lawrence brought him his lunch one day and then made time to visit the lonely young man every afternoon.

But now it was almost Christmas, and Orlando had been allowed out of bed, provided he didn't exert himself at all. The young man was more than happy to submit to the restriction just to have a change of scenery.

Today was also the day that Orlando was to be allowed visitors for the first time. Elijah was coming to see him and Orlando was looking forward to it immensely. The two young men hadn't talked since the night of the charity ball, due to Orlando's illness and the curly-haired young man missed his friend.

Tucked within the folds of the blanket wrapped warmly around him was Orlando's present for Viggo. He wanted to get downstairs and put it under the tree before Lij arrived. He didn't want anyone to know that he had a present for Viggo until Viggo saw it himself.

“Here you are, Orlando,” Lawrence said cheerfully as he gently lowered the slender young man to sit on the couch. “Now give me that parcel and let me put it under the tree for you.”

“Thanks, Lawrence,” Orlando said gratefully as he handed the wrapped present over. “And thank you for all your help getting it ready in time.”

“No worries, mate,” the burly chauffeur said cheerfully. He was just straightening from hiding the gift when Jill entered the room with Elijah right behind her.

“Thanks, Jill,” Lij said brightly. Grinning at his friend cuddled on the couch, the young man with the messy hair made his way across the room to sit beside Orlando. Gently hugging his best friend, Lij looked searchingly into the dark eyes before speaking, “If you ever do anything like that again, I'm going to kick your ass from here to the Scottish border and back!”

“You and what army?” Orlando giggled. “You know Viggo won't let you.”

“Ha!” Lij replied. “Seriously, though, dude. We were all so worried about you. Viggo just about turned himself inside out, he was that upset. I think you gave him about a hundred new grey hairs.”

“I didn't mean to,” Orlando said seriously. “I just... I needed to think, yeah?”

“You whacked out artist! You couldn't think in the nice, cosy, warm, comfort of this house?” Lij rolled his eyes in mock disgust.

“You know I like to walk when I'm thinking, Lij,” the slender young man protested. “I didn't mean to get lost, or caught in the rain, yeah?”

“I know, man,” Lij responded with a slight shake of his head. “You really gotta pay attention to where you're going when you're out walking... especially because you don't know this area yet.”

“I know. But I did promise that I wouldn't do it again... and Viggo got me a mobile phone...”

“You just have to remember to take it with you!” Lij said with a grin, well aware of the fact that when Orlando was deep in thought, he rarely thought about such mundane things as money or keys.

“True,” the young man giggled, his brown eyes dancing with mirth. “But I don't think I'll have to go walking so much anymore.”

“Tell me!” Lij demanded, sitting back against the overstuffed padding of the couch, prepared to drag all the details of what had sent Orlando out into the rain.

“Well,” Orlando hedged. “I'm not going to tell you everything... but something happened, that I really needed to think about... and I think I've finally worked things out in my head.”

“That doesn't tell me anything!”

“I can't tell you any more, Lij. I haven't talked to Viggo yet. I have to talk to him first.”

“You're not going to leave, are you?” Lij asked fearfully. He wasn't worried any longer that Sean would toss him out if Orlando left Viggo, but he didn't want his best friend to be alone, with no one to share things with. Or anyone to look after him: which his recent illness had proved he needed.

“No,” Orlando smiled shyly as he shook his head. “I'm not going to leave.”

“Good,” Lij declared stoutly. “You could do a lot worse than Viggo, and I don't think you could do a whole lot better, dude. He adores you.” What Elijah couldn't tell his friend was that he and Sean had spent a lot of time with Viggo when Orlando was so sick, keeping him company and reassuring him that Orlando would live. Viggo had made both Lij and Sean promise not to say anything to Orlando. He wanted Orlando to decide to stay with him on his own, without feeling as though he had to.

“Give over, Lij,” Orlando said with a roll of his eyes. “I've been nothing but trouble to him since I came here. How could he possible adore me?” Nevertheless, the young man felt his heart leap at the thought that perhaps Viggo did really care for him.

“You'll see,” the blue eyed young man said smugly. “Now, I also came to see you today, to see what you wanted to get people for Christmas presents. I know you can't go out yet, and since Christmas is next week, I thought I'd see if I could help.”

“Oh fuck, I wasn't even thinking about Christmas presents!” Orlando groaned. “And how am I going to manage to get to my parents' for Christmas? I can't even go down the hall without needing help! I can't just tell Viggo I have to go somewhere else for Christmas!”

“You'll just have to explain to Viggo that you're supposed to go and visit your parents. He'll understand,” Lij said sympathetically. “Sean and I are going to see my folks on Boxing Day. I rang my mum and told her about Sean... no, not how we met, just that we did and that we're now together. I'm actually looking forward to going home for Christmas this year.”

Orlando looked thoughtful but a bit shaken.

“Now,” Elijah continued, pulling a pad of paper and a pen from his jacket pocket. “Who do you need to get presents for this year?”

*****
A/N: I'm well aware that Orlando's mother's name is Sonia... but we like Sonia. This version of Orlando's mother isn't very nice... so, due to a typing error on my beta's part, she's been renamed!

Orlando sighed and snuggled further into the blanket around him. He'd tried to explain to Viggo that he had to go to his parents for Christmas, but the older man said there was no way he would allow Orlando to go out into the unusually cold weather when he was just recovering from the chest infection and bronchitis he'd had.

To be honest, the young man really didn't want to go to his parents. They would only lecture him about how he should give up his foolish pipe dream of being an artist and find a real job. And he had no idea what they'd say if he revealed that he was in a relationship with another man. Oh sure, they hadn't done any more than kiss... except for the night of the charity do, but it was still a relationship. Orlando was getting quite addicted to being held in Viggo's arms. He felt safe, and protected, whenever Viggo held him.

Viggo had said he would call and explain things to Orlando's parents, but the young man knew his parents wouldn't take no for an answer unless Orlando was in hospital. Sighing again, the young man wished that Viggo would come and sit with him. Orlando looked up and smiled when his protector entered the room, but the smile slowly faded when he realized his parents were right behind Viggo.

“Since the doctor wouldn't allow you to travel yet, Orlando, I thought it might be nice to invite your parents here to see you,” Viggo said as he walked across the room to sit beside the young man. He hadn't missed the way Orlando's smile had faded when he saw his parents and wondered if he'd done the wrong thing by inviting them to visit.

“You don't look very sick,” Harold Bloom boomed dismissively as he took a chair across from Orlando. The balding man frowned slightly when he saw Viggo put his arm around Orlando.

“It would have been much better if you could have come home for Christmas, Orlando,” Sylvia Bloom said brightly. “Aunt Doris is going to be there this year. You know how she dotes on you.”

“She doesn't dote on me, mother,” Orlando said with a roll of his eyes. “She hates me, and takes every opportunity to make fun of me.”

“Oh tush,” Sylvia tsked. “Just because you can't take a bit of constructive criticism, you think everyone hates you.”

“Just what is going on here?” Harold interrupted brusquely. “Who do you think you're fooling, boy?”

“About what?” Orlando gasped in confusion after another spasm of coughing wracked him. He tried to catch his breath. “I'm not pretending that I'm sick, father.”

“I'm not talking about that,” Harold said sternly. “You're not a gay nelly boy. You're just using this fellow because you can't make a go of it on your own.”

Viggo blinked slightly at the blunt attack. He'd certainly not expected that, and judging from the shocked expression on Orlando's face, neither had he. “Now, wait just a minute,” the businessman began.

“No, you wait,” Harold interrupted. “I don't know what my son told you, but he's not gay, and I will not sit here and watch this farce for a minute longer. Orlando, get your coat, you're coming home right now. You are obviously not capable of standing on your own two feet. I seriously think you need to see a doctor if you think this is the way to get by in life.”

“Father, stop,” Orlando begged. “You don't know what's going on here. You're just making assumptions, but you have no idea whether I'm gay or not, you never cared enough to ask.”

“Don't be ridiculous,” Sylvia snapped. “Do you think we didn't pay attention to the girls you dated? You never once dated a boy. Now stop being silly and get up and get your coat. We've already taken up more of this nice man's time than we needed to. We didn't raise you to deceive people to get out of having a job. You're a failure and we're ashamed of you!”

“No!” Orlando shouted, tears spilling from his eyes. He hadn't expected his parents to just accept that he was in a relationship with a man, but neither had he expected them to demand he leave Viggo immediately. “I w-won't. Y-you don't...” the young man broke off to cough violently, choking on his sobs as he bent double in Viggo's embrace.

“I think that's just about enough,” Viggo said implacably, as he held the distraught young man in his arms. “You have no idea at all about what sort of relationship Orlando and I have, and neither is it any of your business. He's an adult and can make his own decisions. I invited you here only because I thought it would cheer Orlando up. He was quite upset because he felt he would be letting you down by being unable to go home for Christmas.”

“I can see now that he was upset at the thought of not living up to your unreasonable expectations for him,” the businessman continued. “I will not have you come into our home and upset Orlando like this. Your son almost died, and you don't even care. All you care is that you think he's in a sham relationship, and you are determined to extricate him, whether he or I wish it or not. This visit is at an end.” Viggo glanced at the doorway where Lawrence had appeared, drawn by the shouting. “Lawrence will show you out. You will be welcomed back here should you ever decide to accept your son for who and what he is. Until then, good day to you.”

Lawrence quickly herded the irate middle-aged couple out of the room, leaving Viggo to try and calm Orlando down.

“Shh, it's okay, baby. They're gone. I'm sorry, if I had know they were going to upset you so much, I wouldn't have invited them,” Viggo soothed as he stroked the distraught young man's curls.

Orlando clung to Viggo sobbing and coughing as he tried to control his emotions. He'd been through so much self-doubt already, and to have his parents refuse to even try to accept that he could be in a relationship with a man had hurt him badly. Desperate for comfort, Orlando shifted closer and closer until he was actually sitting in Viggo's lap. He curled into a ball and buried his face in the older man's neck, wanting the whole world to go away and leave him alone.

Viggo shifted Orlando slightly in his lap and wrapped the blanket around the shaking young man. Feeling helpless and more than a little angry with himself, because it was his fault that Orlando was hurt so badly, Viggo could do nothing but hold the sobbing boy in his arms, and hope that Orlando would forgive him.

Gradually, his sobs tapered off and were interspersed with yawns as the emotional storm calmed and Orlando's eyelids fluttered slightly as he fought off the desire to sleep.

Feeling the slender body in his arms relax, Viggo pressed a soft kiss to the tousled curls before speaking softly, “Do you want to go back to bed, baby?”

“No,” Orlando whimpered, tightening his grip on the older man's neck. “Please don't s-send me away.”

“I'm not going to send you away, Orlando,” Viggo hastened to reassure the young man. “I just thought you might be more comfortable in bed.”

“No, stay with you, please,” Orlando pleaded, his voice scratchy from the coughing and crying.

“Anything you want, baby,” the blue-eyed businessman murmured tenderly, smiling when Orlando laid his head on his shoulder. “Sleep now, my angel.”

Satisfied that Viggo wasn't going to try and get rid of him, Orlando surrendered to his exhaustion, the tight grip he had on the businessman's shirt loosening as he slipped further into sleep.

TBC