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Title: Burning Through My Soul
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham
Fandom: Hannibal
Rating: PG-13
Table: narrative_x_10
Prompt: Story 05
Author's Note: One-shot, AU fic. I write so much angsty, dark, doomed fir for these boys that I thought it was time for a little AU fluffiness & love. Yes, I did write the haiku.
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Hannibal Lecter or Will Graham, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Will looked around him at the people in the glittering, elegant restaurant, feeling out of place. He knew that when Hannibal dined out, he only wanted the best; it shouldn't have surprised him that his lover would have chosen this place for their anniversary.

He hadn't thought that Hannibal would take him out for their anniversary; he'd expected his lover to cook for them, then to have a quiet evening at Hannibal's home, making love and waking tomorrow morning lying in Hannibal's bed, safe in his arms.

It was the way he most enjoyed waking up. Being alone in his own home had no appeal for him now, not when he wanted to be with Hannibal all the time.

But he couldn't be here in Baltimore every night. He had responsibilities.

And, as Hannibal had pointed out, their relationship was still more or less in the nascent stages. They spent a lot of time together, but Hannibal didn't think that them living together was a good idea, and Will had reluctantly agreed with him.

If they lived together, then they might discover too much about each other that they weren't ready to learn yet. And there was a part of him that still needed his solitude; there were times when he just wanted to sit down by himself and read a good book instead of making love.

Not that he didn't want to be with Hannibal, but sometimes he needed his privacy. Hannibal had pointed out that even though he would have his privacy and his own space, it would still feel far different from having his own private home.

But he still couldn't help wondering what it would feel like to live with Hannibal, to sleep in his arms every night and wake there every morning.

Would it be so different from what they shared now? He didn't really think so. After all, they spent at least a couple of nights during the week together, and every weekend. He might as well be living there now, in some ways; he had clothes there, and a toothbrush.

Everything was good just as it was. It didn't need to change.

Besides, Will reminded himself, they had only been together as a couple for six months. They had never even said those fateful three little words to each other; he hadn't felt that it was the right time say them yet, and Hannibal apparently didn't either.

He felt them, of course. He loved Hannibal. Will had loved him from the beginning; he had never thought that love at first sight was something that happened outside of bad romance novels and chick flicks, but apparently, it had happened to him.

"It's a bit hard to believe that we have already been together for six months, isn't it?" Hannibal asked, bringing Will's attention back to his surroundings. "It seems like only yesterday that I first saw you, and you smiled at me and shook my hand."

Will remembered that handshake; he had felt a thrill of electricity run through him when their hands had touched. He had known from that moment that he was lost; he was sure that he'd fallen for Hannibal then and there, with no questions asked.

Love at first sight. It had never seemed possible before, but it had hit him with the immediacy of a lightning strike, and he had never been the same since.

He couldn't have stayed the same. Not with Hannibal in his life.

"I can remember everything about the day I first me you," he murmured, looking across the table at his lover. If anything, Hannibal only seemed to have become more handsome since then. Will could hardly take his eyes off the other man, resplendent in black tie.

"So can I," Hannibal said softly, leaning closer across the table and reaching for Will's hand. "I remember everything about every moment we're together, Will. You fill my days and my nights. When I'm not with you, I'm thinking about you. You even fill my dreams."

"I do?" Will's eyes widened at Hannibal's words. He hadn't expected them, hadn't expected his lover to be so forthcoming about his feelings. Not here in public.

"Indeed you do." Hannibal's voice was very soft, he let go of Will's hand to reach into the pocket of his jacket, pulling out a slim box and laying it on the table. "I know we said that we weren't going to get each other gifts, but I couldn't resist. Happy anniversary, Will."

Will picked up the box, feeling guilty, a blush suffusing his cheeks. "I didn't get you anything," he murmured, shaking his head. "I should have. I'm sorry, Hannibal. I thought we'd agreed not to, and I didn't expect a present from you."

"There is nothing to apologize for," Hannibal said softly, laying one hand over Will's. "It was just something that I felt I needed to do. Go on, open it."

Will did as he was told, opening the box and gazing at what lay there.

It was a long silk scarf with Japanese characters on it, folded over a few times. Carefully, he picked the silken folds up and shook them out; the colors were beautiful, every shade of purple from a pale lavender to a deep dark orchid, the Japanese writing in a soft cream shade.

"What does it say?" Will asked, his voice soft, the words catching in his throat. He should have realized that Hannibal would get him something beautiful for their anniversary. It was his lover's way to do small things like this for him; he should have reciprocated.

"Read for yourself," Hannibal told him with a smile, gesturing towards a card that lay in the box. Peering at it, Will could see that there were three short lines of writing. Picking up the card, he held it up, reading the words printed in elegant calligraphic script.

"Irresistible
Blue gaze burning through my soul
How could I not fall?"

He traced a fingertip over the raised writing; somehow this seemed less like something that Hannibal had purchased than something that came from his heart.

Will was fairly sure that his lover hadn't found this card, or that silken scarf, in a shop somewhere and felt that the words fit the two of them. They were too personal, too specialized. "You wrote this, didn't you?" he asked, his voice very soft. "You wrote this for me."

Hannibal nodded, a pleased smile curving his lips.

"Yes, I did," he answered, his voice very soft, meant only for Will's ears. "I've felt that way since we first met. With those beautiful blue eyes gazing directly into my heart and soul --" He shrugged, reaching across the table to take Will's hand in his. "How could I not fall?"

How could I not fall. The words suddenly registered in Will's brain, as though he was hearing them for the first time. "Fall," he repeated in a whisper. "You fell for me?"

"Of course I did." Hannibal lifted Will's hand to his lips, his eyes still on his young lover's face as he brushed a kiss across the back of the soft skin. "I love you, Will. I've loved you from the first. From the moment your eyes met mine, I was lost."

Will could feel tears pricking at the back of his eyes; he wasn't going to cry, not here, not in public where his tears could be seen. But it was hard to hold back his emotions; nothing had ever touched his heart as much as Hannibal's words did.

"There are no words to properly express what you mean to me, Will," Hannibal told him in a soft whisper. "You are my heart, my soul. You are .... everything. Since I've been with you, for the first time in my life, I've felt completely happy in every way."

Will nodded, unable to speak for a few moments.

"I feel the same way," he finally managed to whisper. "I don't think I knew what happiness was until I met you. You .... you make my life complete."

He wanted to say those three little words; they were begging to be spoken, begging to break free where Hannibal could hear them. But somehow, it didn't seem right to just say them aloud, to have those words hanging in the air between the two of them.

"You have been burning through my heart and soul ever since I first laid eyes on you," Hannibal told him, that dark gaze holding Will's. "I loved you then, I love you now, and I will always love you. My heart is yours, Will. My heart, and anything else I can possibly give you."

"I love you," Will whispered, the words finally slipping out of their own volition. "I've always loved you. Ever since the first time I saw you. I've fallen, and I don't ever want to get back up. I want to spend the rest of my life in your arms. And in your heart."

He had never meant anything more than he did those words.

"And so you shall, my sweet one," Hannibal murmured, brushing another soft kiss across the back of Will's hand before reluctantly letting it go as the waiter approached their table. "Tonight, and any other night that you wish. For all eternity."

Will sat back, feeling slightly dazed, but happier than he had ever been. Hannibal loved him. He'd said so. Here, in public, in front of the world.

And he loved Hannibal. Those words had finally come out, as naturally as though they had always been there in the open between them. The words that he'd meant with all of his heart and soul. The words that he had always wanted to say.

This was only their beginning, Will told himself as he picked up the menu to study it. Only the first chapter in the long and happy book of their lives, the book that he couldn't wait to start writing.

***