Prologue
Tall trees surrounded the house on three sides, the ocean on the fourth.
Two stories of glass and wood contained in itself a living room, a dining
area, a kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom. Elijah had chosen this place
for its privacy and the beach.
He dragged his luggage in from the car down the long walkway, away from
the rising heat of the day into the cool arms of the waiting house.
The mood in the air was expectant. Elijah was tense.
Daniel would be in tomorrow.
Day 1
Elijah was waiting anxiously for Daniel when he stepped off the plane.
They waited for his other luggage to come around the belt (a large piece
of luggage his mother had reupholstered so that he could not miss it) and
Elijah took pity on an exhausted and jetlagged Daniel. He made up a conversation
with himself, asking questions and then answering them. Daniel keeps quiet
and catches remnants of words, phrases, something about mass-produced plastic
chairs before noticing his sunshine yellow suitcase coming down towards
him. The re-upholstery job his mother did constituted of ironed-on large
ugly purple polka-dots on the burlap.
Elijah laughs himself silly all the way to the car, where Daniel falls
asleep.
Day 2
Elijah makes breakfast the next day for himself and a now perky Daniel.
He lets bread absorb milk, eggs, and cinnamon, alongside Daniel, who fries
the bacon. They duck to avoid flying oil drops, and then Daniel hides behind
Elijah, who then drops a dairy soaked slice.
They go to the grocery store later that day, to pick up anything else
Daniel might want, plus Elijah has a craving for homemade potato salad.
They stay away from the magazines that has Daniel on the cover, and buy
the ones that has Keanu Reeves instead.
When they stock their goods onto the rolling belt, their hands touch
briefly, Daniel smiles at him, and Elijah feels strangely hot blooded for
the rest of the day.
Day 3
At night Elijah reads mysteries while he's propped up on his bed. This
particular night, Daniel comes in, smelling like the green onions he had
chopped up for the potato salad. Elijah's room has a large window seat,
which Daniel goes to, curling up on the overly plump cushions and wrapping
himself with the blanket he had brought in from his own room, leans against
the glass and watches the night sky.
Elijah finishes his book 2 hours later, and carries Daniel back into
his room. Along the way, Daniel latches onto Elijah's arm, and refuses
to let go. Elijah watches Daniel sleep, before slowly, surely, prying his
arm away and tucking Daniel in. Hesitantly, he kisses Daniel's forehead
before turning to leave.
Elijah has trouble sleeping that night. His lips seem to burn.
Day 4
Every morning, Elijah would get the newspaper from the front step, pour
himself a cup of coffee, and settle into the small sofa in the kitchen,
his back against the armrest, his right leg up on the cushions, his left
foot on the tile floor. He puts his coffee cup on the small end table,
and muses through the headlines.
Daniel comes in later, makes himself toast or Pop-Tarts or whatever
else he can make with a toaster. He sets the plate next to Elijah's coffee
cup, the table now poorly neglected as it collected Elijah's coffee rings,
Daniel's crumbs joining the fray. Daniel sits on the other end of the small
sofa, Elijah bends his right leg fast enough so Daniel doesn't squash it.
By this time Elijah has started on the funnies, and Daniel waits to read
them.
This morning, he's tired of waiting, so, looking at the newspaper that
creates a wall between him and Elijah on the sofa, he ducks underneath
the paper, twisting and turning, leans his back against Elijah, folding
his folded hands on his stomach and reads the funnies this way.
Elijah breathes in the smell of Daniel's hair.
Day 5
The town is small, just like the house and the airport, and Elijah appreciates
that. He likes the fact that there's a quiet hush all around, and time
seems to slow down.
They meander through cobblestone streets, Elijah keeping an eye out
for any place that makes postcards or rents costumes. They window shop,
mostly, but they go into the more hideous tourist traps and buy the most
ugliest things they can find. They talk endlessly and senselessly, buying
ice cream and candy, and receive a flyer for the carnival that's open every
weekend. They make plans to go.
Elijah wonders if it can be considered a date.
Day 6
Elijah likes to lay stomach down on the moist grass in the backyard
to read in the middle of the day, where he would become sunblind temporarily.
Afterwards Daniel would laugh at the funny faces Elijah made squinting.
Daniel tried to join Elijah, reading his own book, but after half an
hour his attention span got the best of him, and Daniel would abandon his
book, wandering off the grass and onto the beach, making sandcastles or
wading in the tide or finding seashells or torturing the local crustaceans.
He made a crude sandcastle today, and after it eroded under the waves,
he looked up to see Elijah looking back at him, watching with an intensity
that competed with the glare of the sun. Daniel stared at Elijah and Elijah
stared at Daniel.
No one moved for a long time.
Day 7
Elijah makes breakfast again, pancakes and bacon, eggs and toast, fruit
and cereal, OJ and milk, and Daniel (strangely discontent for some reason
for the entire day) was relatively useless here, so he helps clean up.
That feast kept them full up 'til the evening, where they went to the carnival
(as lushly calm as the house and the town and the airport) and gorged themselves
upon cotton candy and corn dogs. They endured a long line for the roller
coaster, and Elijah felt queasy for the rest of the night, but still managed
to win a giant stuffed gorilla for Daniel, and Daniel won a giant stuffed
Tweety Bird for him.
As they walk back home with their prizes and a couple of extra bags
of cotton candy, Daniel flickers his attention between the stars in the
sky and Elijah next to him; and Elijah guesses, that, yeah, it could be
considered a date.
Day 8
Daniel can’t stop stargazing, and wants to stay up for 24 hours to see
them through a sleep-deprived haze. They start the process of staying awake
at eight in the morning, leaving all coffee and caffeine to be consumed
later, but otherwise go through their daily routine that day (Elijah marvels
at how soft Daniel’s hair is, Daniel wants company making a sandcastle).
Now there is the added knowledge that they are waiting, and Daniel gets
cabin fever as he wades through the shallow tide. He feels strange and
useless and out of place. He goes inside, leaving Elijah alone in the backyard
and begins cleaning house.
He starts with the kitchen, with the poorly neglected end table next
to the sofa and when it’s gleaming, free of coffee rings and crumbs, he
feels a quiet surge of pride. He moves onto the cabinets and counters,
and Elijah comes in and helps out with the mopping.
The hum of the washing machine accompanies them throughout the day,
as they clean house from top to bottom. When they are done, the stars have
come out, and Daniel brings a freshly washed blanket out to the grass damp
with ocean spray. The beach looks foreboding and scary, but Daniel feels
as calm as he did the first day he came out here, now relaxed as Elijah
settles in next to him.
The stars are gorgeous indeed, bright spots against inky-black space.
They begin working on their supply of caffeine and Daniel settles against
Elijah, who tenses. Daniel freezes.
The mood in the air was expectant, and Daniel lifts his head to look
at Elijah, half-hidden in the dark light, who’s looking at Daniel with
apprehension.
Daniel understands suddenly, why he’s been feeling discontent, and what
he can do about it.
He leans in for a kiss.
Day 9
Elijah wonders what just happened. He has an imprint of soft pink lips
against his, and he knows he likes it. And then he wraps his arms around
Daniel, and they spend the rest of the early morning sharing coffee-tinged
kisses, and they watch the sun come up.
Elijah wonders why he has been without this.
When they went back inside, they pushed the bed right up against the
window seat, so that Elijah could lay out, feet hanging over the edge and
read, and Daniel would curl on the cushions leaning against the mattress,
and they shared the pillows and blankets and wrapped their arms around
each other as they fell asleep.
Day 10
Instead of keeping his hands folded on his stomach as he rested against
Elijah in the morning, Daniel now had them resting on Elijah’s thighs,
alternating between running his hands up and down and playing with Elijah’s
knees. Elijah’s hands are kept busy holding the newspaper up so that they
can both read the daily funnies. The end table has become neglected again.
Elijah buries his face into Daniel’s hair, and runs the tip of his nose
up against the skin behind his ear. He retraces the trail slowly with soft
kisses, Daniel’s hands stopping where they are and gripping Elijah’s thighs
rather tightly. Elijah retraces again, licking the skin behind Daniel’s
ear from bottom to top, feeling Daniel shiver.
Day 11
They go back into town, buying groceries and exploring the streets again.
They buy sweets and treats from the local shops, and manage to stumble
across a postcard shop, but without any costumes. They take a couple of
pictures anyway, and Daniel sends one off to his parents.
They stand close to each other throughout the entire day, and Elijah
brushes his hand against Daniel’s, and smiles.
Day 12
Elijah brings his book onto the beach, tossing it into the sand and
ignoring it as he helps Daniel build a sandcastle. It looks rather nice.
Then Elijah sits on the sand, reading his book in the blinding glare
of the sun, while Daniel lays down with his head in Elijah’s lap, watching
the sandcastle disappear.
Day 13
Elijah doesn’t move the relationship beyond kissing and cuddling, which
is fine by Daniel, but that doesn’t mean Elijah sleeps alone. He gets out
of bed in the morning (away from soft sheets and a sleep warm body) to
go downstairs for his coffee and the newspaper, but this morning he wakes
up to the smell of chocolate chip waffles (the sheets are soft but cold).
Daniel makes the feast this time.
They go to the carnival again, sharing cotton candy and popcorn and
a candied apple. Elijah wins a giant stuffed Sylvester for Daniel that
goes with the stuffed Tweety Daniel won last week for Elijah, and Daniel
wins a goldfish.
They take a ride on the Ferris Wheel this time instead of the roller
coaster, holding each other’s hands as they watch the stars.
They give the goldfish to a little girl since they can’t take care of
it. They carry their prizes home, along with more cotton candy, and they
kiss each other on the street.
Day 14
Elijah likes the quiet hush of the small airport, and how the chairs
here are really comfortable. But he doesn’t like the fact that he has to
say goodbye.
Daniel’s luggage consists of a horrendous polka-dot suitcase, a large
gorilla, Sylvester, and Elijah’s heart.
Daniel goes home to his parents and a birthday cake with fifteen candles.
Prologue
Elijah packs up the next day, throwing white sheets over the furniture
and making sure the fridge was empty. When he goes upstairs to fix his
bed, he finds one of the postcards he and Daniel had taken together.
On the back Daniel had written I love you.