The same anxious feeling he always had, when it came to his brother, followed him down the hall, as Aleksei made his way to his brother's room. But he kept reminding himself, that this might have been the only chance to do it.

He rubbed his neck awkwardly cursing under his breath and knocked on the door. He knew his brother was probably not sleeping as, throughout the year, Kasimir spent nights working and studying, surviving on little sleep.

Kasimir opened the door abruptly and paused in shock when he saw Aleksei at the door.

Aleksei glanced inside and when he saw the turned-on bed lights and open laptop, he let himself into the room.

"Do I need to ask why you are here?" Kasimir closed the door. "It's 3 a.m."

"It's 3 a.m. but you are still awake and we need to talk." Aleksei said boldly and walked over to the nightstand. He saw the ice bucket and the vodka bottle. "Did you snatch this from downstairs or brought your own?" He waited for no answer. He opened the bottle. "I figure you won't mind since you're already drinking."

"I have an exam in a few days. Can't this wait until morning?" Kasimir took his own drink from the nightstand and sat on the armchair.

"It can't wait."

Aleksei took one strong sip and abandoned the glass on the nightstand. He then walked towards the bed and nudged some of the papers aside so he can sit. The silence in the room was for the first time bearable and Aleksei wondered if it was always this easy to talk back.

Kasimir drank from the glass and then swirled the ice in the glass, avoiding eye contact. He just wanted to get it over with and be left alone.

"It's about Layla." Aleksei said expecting all hell to break loose the moment he spoke her name. Instead, like he knew what this was about, Kasimir stared at the ice in his glass.

"What about her?"

Aleksei clasped his palms together nervously and leaned his elbows over his knees. "It wasn't my fault that she took her life away."

Kasimir took that calmly. He just kept staring at the glass and eventually, his lips parted. "I know."

Aleksei exhaled in relief. He kept telling that to himself, but hearing the words confirmed from his brother was what finally closed that matter.

"Then why do you hate me so much?"

Kasimir was still avoiding eye contact. Holding the glass in his hands had melted away all the ice, so he sipped the remains for his drink in one go. "I don't hate you."

Aleksei straightened his back, confused. "Then why do you keep ignoring me and.."

Kasimir slid down the armchair into a more comfortable position. "I have a headache."

"Answer me."

Kasimir brought the glass to his forehead, cold from the ice remains and he closed his eyes. "It started because I was angry at you. I just needed someone to blame and you were the victim at hand."

"How is that fair?" Aleksei asked.

Kasimir opened his eyes and then rose up to a proper sitting position. "It's not. But nothing that came out of that situation was fair."

Aleksei couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I blamed myself all this year and you let me.."

Kasimir cut him off."I couldn't even believe that thing had happened. In one split second, my friend was gone. I couldn't process it. And you had the habit of not taking things seriously."

Kasimir placed the glass next to the armchair and for the first time locked eyes with Aleksei properly. "I always had to think about everything ahead. And the fact that you did whatever you wanted and said whatever you wanted without thinking of the consequences drove me insane. And when you crossed the line with Layla...it crossed the line with me. I did blame you for it, even though it occurred to me later I had no right to blame you for any of it. That was a mistake on my part. It's something I'll always regret."

Aleksei could understand that much. He sighed. "You could have said something."

Seeing Aleksei calmly taking everything, Kasimir relaxed his shoulders and the barrier he always kept up, was suddenly no longer there. "It took me so long just to get over her death. When I functioned again too much time had already passed and I just didn't know how to take back what I said. While I was trying to figure myself out, you were slowly losing yourself. You started talking less and less, you caused trouble at school and you were awkward around me."

He ran a finger over his chin.. "I thought it wasn't fair towards you so I suggested to dad to send you to Switzerland so you can at least get away from home, since I couldn't leave. And it worked. You went back to normal."

Aleksei nodded. Yes, Switzerland turned out to be the best thing that happened to him, even though it was against his choice. But if Kasimir had his best interest in mind, he should have just said something instead of just not talking to him for years." If you actually looked out for me why did you pull me out of school a week before graduation?"

Kasimir lowered his head."I got anxious when I heard the principal made you talk with an unstable student. The very reason you started spiraling at home was because you hated that part of yourself, where you could pry into people's weaknesses. The principal was putting you in situations in which you could have repeated what already happened once. Only this time you wouldn't need me to blame you."

"I don't need you to protect me." Aleksei said. "Your perverted idea of protection scarred me for life. I thought you hated me. I let you do whatever the fuck you wanted because I would have done anything to make you forgive me for what I said to Layla."

Kasimir shrugged. "Don't you hate me too?"

Aleksei's patience snapped. He worried his brother hated him, while his own brother projected back the same worries and insecurities and he was too blind to see it. He thought he could read anyone, but the person he didn't press for vulnerabilities and he needed to most, was his brother. Acting like a coward, letting his brother carry the burden once again.

"I've never hated you. Not once." Aleksei told him firmly. "And I'm sorry, for everything that I put you through. Yes, there were moments where I thought it was unfair, like asking me to leave Tai. But it never would have happened if I just confronted you properly. I'm sorry."

Kasimir was quiet and then a smirk curved on his face. "Ay you're a man now. You can hold a proper conversation without a tantrum."

Aleksei broke into a chuckle. "Is this funny to you?"

Kasimir pinched his fingers together, fully breaking into a silly grin. "A tiny bit."

"I'm not the same person as before, I admit that." Aleksei rested his hands on each side of the bed and leaned back. He was so relaxed, that conversation came naturally. "And doing that interrogation for the principal was good for me. I actually enjoyed doing something like that, having a positive outcome. Without me pressing, she never would have confessed to the principal."

"I didn't see it that way. I'm sorry." Kasimir gave him a nod with the apology. He had regrets about that day.

Aleksei sighed. "The only thing you should apologize for is what you made me do to Tai."

"I met your girlfriend." Kasimir smiled amused. "I was wrong about her. She's got spirit."

"That she does." Aleksei smiled back with pride.

"So how did you meet her?" Kasimir leaned back into the chair and brought his leg up into a more comfortable position.

"Now that's a story." Aleksei sprawled comfortably on the bed. "I liked her from before, but it all started when she and Nikita came for help, after a blackmail had happened."

***

Just before the break of dawn, Tai's door creaked as it opened and Aleksei tiptoed in. He gently closed the door and then made his way towards the bed. Tai wiggled under the covers, but she had dozed off waiting for him. Aleksei crouched next to the mattress and caressed her face.

Lazily, Tai opened her eyes. The room was bright as the first rays of sunlight entered through the blinders. When she saw his face she smiled at him. "You came.." she moved away from the corner of the bed so he can sit next to her.

 "I did."

"Did everything go alright?" She asked sleepily.

"It was better than okay." He planted a light kiss on her throat.

She opened her arms, cuddling him closer and he laid down next to her.

"Tell me, I want to hear it all." She whispered.

The sweet smell of the perfume she had worn the night before, was still lingering.

"Maybe later." Aleksei landed a kiss on her collar bone and another one on her shoulder, slipping the thin strap down.

With lazy pleasure, she ran her hand under his shirt, rubbing circles over his warm back. She pressed onto him, and breathed into his neck, as he continued leaving fluttering kisses over her skin. The covers slid off as she raised her leg and intimately intertwined it between his. His lips eventually found their way back to her face and he kissed her lips without any sort of rush or pressure. His fingers lingered down her body, touching and caressing every part of her soft body.

He was as sleepy as she was, and the weight of the world suddenly being lifted off his shoulders made him incredibly tired. He just wanted to get lost in a daze of warm cuddles and soft touches.

His hands gently found their way under her shirt, and he touched the dip of her back. He ran his fingers up and down her spine, until the shirt was slipping further and further up. The tug of desire, shudder over him as he found her breast and his lips followed the gentle slope, until her peek was in his mouth, hard and hot.

He could hear her breathing faster and unsteady, but in sleepy surrender. Her hands were working their way around the buttons of his shirt and then she slid it, down his shoulders tossing it aside.

He buried his face against her skin, the need for intimacy growing. The soft sunlight was caressing her thigh over the covers, as Aleksei slowly pulled down her shorts and tossed them next to the bed. She had let go of control and let him, love her to his heart's content. His hot mouth ran wet kisses down her belly, as he took pleasure in hearing her sighs.

Aleksei settled between her legs, spreading them apart, and placed a soft kiss on her inner thigh. He slipped her lacy panties to the side and traced his tongue over her. The hot, wet mouth, shocked her body enough to make her tremble in pleasure. Everywhere his tongue touched, flames followed. The palms pressed on her thighs as he spread her open, were burning over her skin.

Soon his fingers followed, taking her to the brink of pleasure like the last time, she had allowed him to touch her. He rolled the panties down from one leg, and then came up for a greedy kiss, while his fingers still explored and touched and teased moans out of hers. She grabbed his hand and opened her drowsy eyelids. His eyes were already full of desire, wanting to have her, just as much as she wanted to have him.

Reading the desperate need in her eyes, Aleksei reached at the back of his pants taking his protection out and then let Tai take the rest of the clothes off him.

He pressed his heavy body on hers while whispering her name. His chest moved in the same irregular breathing as hers.

Tai's hands went down his abs, and then she touched him in ways she fantasized for days. Stroking, gripping, searching for reactions in his eyes. She then wrapped her arms around his waist and grinded against him. He took her mouth greedily, taking everything he wanted from that kiss while holding her hips down. He pressed his erection against her entrance slowly, enjoying the wet grip she had over him.

She could felt him quiver in same torturous pleasure as her, but she wasn't as patient as he was. She grabbed him closer and took him into her in one thrust. Explosion of pleasure coursed along his flesh.

His heartbeat hammered against his chest, as he moved in and out of her.

She was lost in the moment. Everything was like a dream. The sound of his breathing fast and harsh in her ear, the mingling of breaths and shivers, the feel of their bodies moving into one rhythm.

She thought she would never have enough of it for life.

The room was completely engulfed in daylight as the blinds had hard time blocking the rising sun above the house. White covers were tousled at the corner of the bed and sheets were wrinkled and damp underneath them.

He tormented her, running kisses along her face, while driving her mad. The edge of pleasure they were continuously swinging towards had awaken them and the sweet sensual start had turned into a demanding need for more. He was relentless with his thrusts, greedy with his kisses and there was little to no break between the highs.

She desperately hung onto him, taking and giving, her head empty of thoughts. There was nothing more important than giving into him, loving him and enjoying the way he held her.

They took turns into giving pleasure, rolling onto the bed reaching higher peaks of pleasure and then exhausted, they fell asleep in each other's arms.