Walk Away

by Tiriel

NC-17, m/m
Truman/Rosenfield

Begins the morning after my story "Reptile" -if you haven't read that one, go do it now. There will be a third, but I'm not sure when. These are NOT set in my Fall Universe. Coop's still out cold. Albert and Harry are each trying to sort out what happened last night.

Disclaimer: The characters of this story don't belong to me...they came from the twisted minds of David Lynch and Mark Frost (and I mean that respectfully)-I'll put them back when I'm done. Please don't sue me, all I have are student loans.

Warnings: Angst, angst, angst. AlbertAngst, TrumanTorture, and CooperCruelty. Unresolved series finale issues-*not* a fixit story. Oh, and cruelty to Annie, but do I really need to warn for that?

So I'm still in an angsty mood. Thanks to the usual suspects. Like Reptile, was, this is also dedicated to he-who-shall-not-be-named.

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Walk Away
by Tiriel

Harry woke up alone. That in and of itself wasn't unusual, but on that particular morning he hadn't expected it. He lay there and listened for a moment to the sounds of an empty house. "Albert?" He got out of bed and pulled on a clean pair of underwear. "Albert, are you here?" He walked to the window and looked outside. Albert's rental car was gone. "Shit."

Albert's words from the night before echoed in his mind. "I won't show up there. I might even leave town."

"Hell and damn." He walked to the telephone, picked up the receiver, and dialed.

"Great Northern Hotel."

"Hello, this is Sheriff Truman. Can you tell me if Agent Rosenfield has checked out?"

"Hold on for just a moment, please, Sheriff."

Harry stood and waited, trying not to think.

"Sheriff?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't see that Agent Rosenfield has checked in or out. When were you expecting him?"

"Yesterday. He arrived yesterday."

"Then he must have stayed somewhere else--"

"Thank you." Harry hung up the phone.

Albert had stayed somewhere else. He'd stayed with Harry. In his bed. Harry sat down and rubbed his hands across his face.

"What the hell happened?" He hadn't shared a bed with anyone since Josie. He took a deep breath. "From the beginning."

Yesterday afternoon he'd spoken to Albert on the phone. Yelled at him, to tell the truth. Then he'd gone to visit Coop. As he'd been leaving the hospital a few hours later, Albert had shown up there, his usual cruel, cutting, and caustic self. Harry had shoved him into the wall and left. Then Albert had shown up at the Bookhouse, polite for a change. They'd talked, Albert had turned nasty again, and Harry had gotten angry. Then Albert had kissed him, and they'd wound up naked on the floor, their semen staining Harry's t-shirt. Albert had revealed a piece of his soul. Then they'd gone to the hospital to visit Coop. Unless Albert had left town, that was where he would be.

XXX

At the hospital, Albert sat with Coop. He'd read the chart, even performed a cursory physical examination. It was all true. Coop was fine, on the outside at least. The rest of him, however, was a different story. Albert had been there when Leland Palmer died. He'd seen what Bob did to his host. And if Harry said that Bob was in Cooper now, he knew that it had to be true. They never had gotten around to talking about the plan to help Coop. They'd gone to Harry's place after the hospital, and the whole drive over there, Albert had been wondering if it was a mistake.

"Hello, I'm Annie Blackburn. You must be Albert. Dale told me so much about you."

"I'll just bet he did. He seems to have done quite a bit of that lately." Albert stood up and straightened to his full height. "Miss Blackburn, I understand that you've made Agent Cooper very happy, and I appreciate that. But I have neither the time nor the inclination to sit and swap stories over his sickbed. I am a doctor, this man is my patient. I would like a little privacy to perform some tests. So if you'll excuse us?"

"But Doctor Hayward--"

"Yes, yes, I'm sure he did. But this patient has two legs instead of four and is therefore a little out of the realm of expertise of a country doctor. I'm the second opinion. So please leave."

"But--"

"I don't even want to hear it. I've been polite until now, but you are trying my considerable patience." Albert pointed to the door. "Now get thee to a nunnery. And close the door on your way out."

Annie opened her mouth to speak again.

"To a nunnery--go!"

She turned and walked out, leaving Albert and Dale alone again.

"Oh, I know, I know, Coop. I was cruel to your ladylove. I'll make nice later. But first, I have some more things to say."

Albert paced around the room a little before settling back into the chair. "You know, I was in DC. I couldn't even go back to Philadelphia, because you weren't there. How sappy is that? But I have to tell you about what happened last night. You and I never exactly made any promises of fidelity, and you've clearly been enjoying yourself here, so... Well, I had an interesting night."

XXX

Harry continued reviewing the events of the previous night as he showered and dressed.

After the hospital, Albert had followed Harry back to his place, as they'd agreed. There'd been an unspoken promise at the Bookhouse that had made Harry very nervous as he drove home, the headlights of Albert's rental car a constant reminder of it in his rearview mirror. He and Albert had left the Bookhouse with every intention of having sex when they got to his place, he was sure of that. But then there'd been the visit to Coop in the hospital, a major mood-killer. Harry had spent the drive home alternating between kicking himself for getting in way over his head and trying to picture what might happen when they arrived. He had to admit, the possibilities he'd imagined had turned him on.

XXX

"So that's what happened yesterday before I came to see you," Albert said, "and there's more. I went home with him. Separate cars, and I left early this morning without waking him, but that's getting ahead a little. I followed him home, certain that I was making the biggest mistake of my life, but somehow unable to stop.

"When we got to his place, he offered me a drink. He seemed uncomfortable, but what else would you expect, given the circumstances? Then he said, 'Do you still, uh, want to, uh...' or something articulate like that. One thing about those khaki pants--they provide no cover for a man thinking lewd thoughts."

Albert shifted in the chair. "So since I could see that words were going to be a problem, and he clearly still wanted me, I kissed him. You should've made a pass at him, Coop. I'm sure you could've had him, especially after Josie died. I bet he was a wreck. And he's quite the kisser. I don't know if that's her influence or natural talent, but you missed out not jumping at him when you had the chance. Sure, he says he loves you like a brother, but...damn. I'm getting way off track, and I'm talking like I'm trying to make you jealous, which is silly because A-you probably can't even hear me, and B-you wouldn't be jealous even if you could hear me. You have Sister Maria. Give me a minute to refocus and I'll continue."

XXX

Harry took a look at himself in the mirror before he left for the hospital. He looked normal, the same way he always looked. Funny, considering the completely new and different kind of turmoil he was feeling inside about the night before.

After they'd arrived at his place, he'd offered Albert a drink, then stammered something vague. Albert had looked him up and down, a simple action that made Harry's dick twitch again just thinking about it. Then Albert had walked over and kissed him, and all the doubts had vanished again. Damn, that man could kiss.

They'd kissed their way to Harry's bed, shedding clothing as they went. It had been less urgent, more conscious than their encounter at the Bookhouse. The whole time, a piece of Harry's mind had been aware of the strangeness of it. A man's body against his, similar to his own but different from what he was used to. Men's clothing to remove, no lace or silk. Their height almost even, making kissing effortless. And then there were the questions.

Why am I doing this? Why do I want this? What happens in the morning? Can I do this? Will this happen again, or is it a one-time thing? And the doozy of them all--Did I want this from Coop, or is it just Albert? Do I want Dale?

He'd known, though, that, just like at the Bookhouse, the questions swirling around in his head weren't going to stop him from enjoying the moment. If he'd learned one thing these past few weeks, since Laura's murder, it was that if you relax and just let things come they always work out in the end. No pun intended.

So he'd done his best to shove aside the questions and the awareness of how Albert was different from a woman, different from Josie. The rubbing of Albert's progressively more and more naked body against his own had made that task surprisingly easy. Just like he had earlier that night, he'd let himself be swept away in the current of desire. That was something he'd always been good at, letting go in the heat of passion.

That desire was every bit as strong when he thought back on it, standing in his house, dressed and ready to leave for the hospital. For a moment he considered jerking off to clear the buzz of need out of his head, but instead he thought about Coop, at the hospital in his drug-induced sleep. That eliminated his erection far more quickly. He put on his hat and left for the hospital, where he both hoped and feared Albert would be.

XXX

"So we got carried away kissing again, and during all that spit-swapping we managed to get undressed and make our way to his bed. We rolled around a bit--that marvelous part where your erections brush together and there's so much skin to touch--well, you know what I like. I'd brought my overnight bag in with me, and eventually I pushed the big lug off of me long enough to get the necessary supplies. I had to give some pretty detailed verbal instructions at that point, let me tell you, and I don't think I'm going to repeat them here. You know the mechanics." Albert stood and paced over to the side of the room, looking away from the bed.

"He was a quick learner, I'll give him that. I wound up squirming, his fingers in me, saying something pathetic like 'Now, please.' And then he did something that just about ripped me in two--emotionally speaking. All that honesty earlier had left me weak. I was still rebuilding my defenses--still am, to tell the truth--and I thought for just a moment that I was going to break down and sob uncontrollably in his arms. What did he do to almost break me like that? I'm sure you're wondering. You've never seen me break down. So I'll tell you.

"So there I was, on my stomach on his bed, asking him to 'Take me now,' or whatever, and he put his hands on my hip and rolled me over. He looked down into my eyes and said, 'Look at me, Albert. I want you to know that this is me. Look at me.' And all I could do was stare at him. It took me by surprise, and it was all I could do not to break down. I would have done it, you know, if he hadn't said that. I would have forgotten that it was him, let myself believe that it was you, if only for a minute. Somehow he knew that. Maybe I told him too much." Albert cleared his throat and turned back towards the bed.

"So all I could do was stare up at him as he got between my legs and gave me what I'd been asking for. He was so gentle, tender, like he thought I'd break. He entered me slowly, tentatively. And the look of pleasure on his face when he got all the way in for the first time was incredible. That chill ran down my spine and I wrapped my legs around him. Once he got the idea that I wasn't going to break, we managed to find a good rhythm, the kind that makes your skin tingle. The whole time, I did what he'd told me to do. I looked at him.

"He said, 'Albert, I'm going to--' and it was pretty obvious what he meant. I reached a hand down to touch myself and said, 'It's okay, Harry.' The odd thing is, I think it was my saying his name that set him off. He pushed in deep one last time and came. Then he pushed my hand away from my cock and gave it a couple of strokes. A little clumsy, but he was still feeling the aftershocks of his own orgasm, and I was close enough that that was all it took. We stayed like that for a minute, until the last few tingles had passed. Then he pulled out gently, threw away the condom, and flopped down next to me on the bed, one arm draped over me.

"I was more tired than I'd thought, probably jet lag, and it was pretty late. I wiped off a little on the corner of the sheet, and then the next thing I knew it was dawn. He cuddles in his sleep. Or at least he did last night. I managed to untangle myself and leave without waking him, and I came here. That's it. Now you know everything."

XXX

They'd eventually made it to Harry's bed, and Albert had given instructions, sometimes more like orders, about how to proceed from there. Harry had done his best to follow them. He figured he'd done okay, based on Albert's reactions. Then there'd been the strangest thing about that whole strange night--a sudden flash of jealousy. The image of Albert and Coop in bed together had flashed through his mind, and he'd been jealous. Jealous of Albert or Coop or simply of their previous happiness, he couldn't say. So he'd turned Albert over so that they were face to face and said, "Look at me. I want you to know that this is me. Look at me." And then they'd done it. They'd had sex. Incredible sex. He still wasn't sure what it had meant, didn't have the answers to most of his questions, but when, if, he found Albert, maybe that would change. He walked through the hospital corridor, not entirely certain what he would say if it turned out that Albert actually was in Coop's room. When he got there, he could see Albert through the glass, so he began to open the door. He stopped at the sound of Albert's voice. He didn't want to interrupt.

A sentence, louder than the rest, came clearly to his ears as he let the door close.

"I've stayed too long already--I really have to leave."

Harry stepped away from the door and walked down the hallway. Albert was leaving, and it wasn't his place to try to stop him. He'd bullied him into coming to Twin Peaks to visit Coop in the first place. So with one glance back at the door to Coop's room, Harry walked away and went home alone.

The End

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Feedback is your friend.

Tiriel

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