Can You Be the One to Save Me?

A week passed slowly for the cat and his owner. Alex was under trainer orders that Zack wasn't allowed to have any contact with anyone other than Alex. To help establish a bond. You would think that Alex would be going mad by now, not really enjoying not being able to leave his house. But he didn't mind, he was really starting to get used to having someone around.

Zack really liked living with Alex. He was slowly learning all of his owners habits and how he could help the older boy. He had learnt how the boy bit his nails when he was thinking really hard about something and how he tried to claw his own forearms when he got upset. So far the only things that he had found that upset Alex to that point was his nightmares.

Zack had no idea what they were about or what caused them but he wanted to help Alex, that's what he was for and now with their bond strengthening, Zack could sense all of Alex's emotions quite strongly and every nightmare hurt Zack as well although the cat wasn't quite sure if Alex knew that.

#

Alex woke up wrapped in Zack's arms. This was slowly becoming a regular thing. He rolled over to face Zack who w already awake "How long have you been up?" mumbled Alex, his voice laced with sleep, the nightmare he'd had last night going unspoken.
"Not long" said Zack softly and Alex nodded before humming to himself.

"You know what today is?" asked Alex and Zack shook his head but he knew. Today was the end of the first week. Today Alex was probably going to introduce him to the infamous Rian.

Zack had learnt quite a bit about him and the sounds of it, Alex was lucky to have him. Rian had saved his life. He was the one who found Alex after his last episode (the doctor had told him that) and the one who had taken all of the sharp objects from Alex's house (Alex had told him that after he asked why he couldn't find any knives in the cutlery draw).

"Today marks one week and that means that Rian's coming over" said Alex "and that we have to go food shopping" he added as an afterthought. That comment made Zack chuckle.

#

A few hours later and Alex and Zack were waiting for Rian to come over. They had speed-cleaned most of the apartment and Zack could tell that Alex was getting nervous. Alex was sitting in 'his spot' on the couch and Zack was watching him from his mat in the corner. He slowly walked on his hands and knees over to Alex, putting his chin on his owners knee and smiling when he felt Alex's fingers thread through his hair.
One thing that he had learnt about Alex so far was that he needed to keep his hands busy, otherwise he started clawing and Zack didn't want that.

They sat in silence for a while before a knock on the door was heard and Alex looked at Zack "Sit on your mat ok?" he said "I don't know how he's going to react"
Zack nodded and purred softly "It will be ok"
Alex just nodded and let out a deep breath before standing up and opening the door.

Only to find Rian standing there, keychain in hand, searing for the right key. He looked up at Alex "'Lex" he breathed before pulling him into a bone-crushing hug.
"Hey Rian" said Alex as he let Rian go before heading into the apartment, pulling Rian inside and closing the door.

It was then that Zack got a good look at Rian from where he was sitting on his mat. Rian was tall, taller than Alex anyway. He had a buzz cut and was wearing a singlet top and cargo shorts. He was also incredibly muscular, Zack didn't doubt his ability to look after Alex and Zack was a bit scared as well.
Rian could easily crush him and Zack had thought that he was well built! That and he knew his highly Alex thought of Rian and his opinion. If Rian didn't like him, he was gone and he knew that Alex had a long way to go and he was doubting Rian's ability to look after Alex better than Zack knew he could.

Alex sat down on the couch again and Rian sat next to him.
"How've you been?" asked Rian, he hadn't even noticed that Zack was in the room yet.
"Better than I was before" said Alex "Zack's been a huge help, I guess I just needed someone here"
Rian smiled " Zack, huh? And when do I meet this mystery guy?"
Alex locked eyes with Zack across the room and he clicked his fingers once, making Zack start to walk towards him.
"He's right here" said Alex as Zack sat at their feet in front of them.

Zack sat silently in front of them and Alex watched Rian's reaction carefully as he gave Zack a look-over. After a tense minute Rian nodded. The room fell silent again.

"I have to pee" announced Alex suddenly, standing up and abruptly leaving. Zack's eyes followed him worriedly, he knew that Alex just wanted to escape the tension, even for a little while, Rian's eyes stayed trained on Zack's face. Rian waited until he heard the bathroom door close before speaking
"How has he been really?"

Zack looked up at him with wide eyes. Alex had never said not to tell Arian anything, but he wanted to respect his owners privacy. Rian noticed his inner struggle
"Tell me" he ordered and Zack knew that he couldn't refuse, any bad words from Rian and Zack would be out of there faster than he could blink.

"He has nightmares" said Zack eventually "But other than that we're doing ok"
"I didn't ask how you were" snapped Rian
"We're a team now" said Zack just a strongly in defence and Rian let out a sigh, dropping his head into his hands.

"I'm sorry" he mumbled "I guess I'm not really used to someone other than me being close to Alex. But you'll look after him, right?"
Zack nodded "That's what I'm here for"
"That's all I can ask for"