Dancing in the Rain
Pairing: Sean/Elijah
Disclaimer: Don’t know these people. No offence intended or money made.
"Elijah, come in, you're getting soaked." He's standing
in the rain, his arms spread wide open, head tilted upwards,
laughing like a man possessed He looks so perfect I could cry.
His shirt is plastered against his body and as he moves I'm
fascinated by the movement of the muscles under his skin.
It's spring rain; that rain where you get absolutely drenched
without realising it, and he's been out there for a long time
now. We were sitting watching some video or other when he looked
up and laughed. He's been restless for a while now, wanting to
get out, go home. He misses his family and his friends, the
friends away from this mad life we lead, and he hates being
cooped up in hotels. Before I knew what he was doing, he was out
of the chair and opening the balcony windows.
He spins around on the spot and laughs again.
"Freedom, Sean," he says breathlessly. "It's
freedom. Can't you taste it?"
"It's rain, 'lij, that's all," I say. "Now come
in. If you get pneumonia, the whole of New Line will be queuing
up kill me."
"If I get pneumonia, you can nurse me," he says,
lowering his head briefly so that he can look at me.
"Chocolate to eat and wine to drink." He holds out one
hand to me. "Come on," he says, and he looks so happy
that I give in.
I turn the television off and step out into the rain with him. He
looks primeval and so beautiful that I can hardly breathe. It's
times like this that I realise how lucky I am; nobody else sees
this, he isn't like this with anybody else.
He pulls me into his arms and I laugh, then wrinkle my nose as
his cold, damp shirt presses against my chest. The rain's warm,
sure, but he's been out in it long enough to get cold. The hands
he slides under my shirt to rest on my back are like blocks of
ice, and when he buries his face in the crook of my neck, his
nose is freezing.
I push him away, shaking my head, and watch him again, standing
just inside our room. I'm more of a nature boy than him, I think,
but something's gotten into him today, and it's wonderful to see.
I stay in the shelter of our room, happy just to watch him.
He tilts his head back again and lets the rain fall on his face;
he's got his eyes scrunched up tight and the hugest grin I've
ever seen. His hair is soaked and half of it's spiked up where
he's run his hands through it and the rest of it's flattened
against his head. When he's like this I'm reminded of the young
man, boy almost, that I fell in love with, the one who laughed
all the time and who spent half his days hiding behind his hands
and giggling because he was so embarrassed at some of the things
he said.
That guy's still in there, but he hides it more now. Oh, not from
me, but from the public. He's learned over the course of this
journey of ours that you can't show your feelings to everyone
because that way you spread yourself too thin and you don't have
anything left for yourself.
I've watched him go down that path, almost losing himself. I
couldn't stop him, and it hurt me so much that I wanted to die.
I've held him close while he cried himself to sleep, and I've
stayed quiet while he shouted and screamed at me. I promised
myself that I'd never let him get so lost again. I'll always make
sure that he can find his way back.
The rain's getting heavier now, colder, but I don't think he's
noticed. I watch as his shirt gets wetter and wetter, clinging to
him and, same as usual, my body starts to respond. He doesn't
understand what he looks like, he thinks he's nothing special,
but that's nonsense. Apart from the obvious beauty he has
something about him - a light that draws people in and holds them
trapped in silk, so gentle that nobody wants to fight against it.
He looks over his shoulder at me and smiles, and I raise my
eyebrows, asking whether he's done yet.
He shakes his head and turns away from me again, tipping his head
down this time, resting his hands on the balcony railings,
letting the rain run down his neck. His gorgeous, sensitive,
vulnerable neck.
Sometimes I think that I don't deserve all this. How can I? What
have I ever done to make this gorgeous, funny, whacked out man
decide I was the one for him? He just looked at me one day, not
long after we met, and I looked back. All he had to do was ask me
one question, and my only answer could be 'yes'.
Enough. I walk over to him and run my hand up his spine. He
doesn't move, but I see him smile, just a little bit. I lean over
and kiss the back of his neck, pulling back as he stands up.
"Hey, you," he says, finally moving enough to put his
arms around me. He feels cold and damp, but his skin is kicking
out some serious heat. Don't understand how he does that.
I see him smile again, watching as he leans forward until he's
just a big Elijah-shaped blur. His lips against mine feel smooth
and warm. Familiar. I open my mouth slightly and I can feel him
smile as he slips his tongue inside to meet mine and the kiss
turns a bit hotter. The rain slides down his face and into my
mouth, which feels kinda nice. I put my hands into his hair and
pull him closer; suddenly I don't care that I'm getting
absolutely soaked.
He pulls back and I can see him properly. He looks like himself
again. Like the boy I fell in love with.. He needs, hell we both
need, time away from everybody, time to ourselves, and although
we don't have a break coming up for about 3 weeks, this weird
dance in the rain seems to have helped him, grounded him again. I
miss him when he goes away from me, and when he comes back, it's
reason to party.
"Had enough of the rain" I ask, sliding my hands across
his wet shirt, unfastening the top button. He shivers, partly
from the cold, I think, and partly from the noise his shirt makes
pulling away from his wet skin.
"What's the alternative?" he asks softly, so I lean
forward and kiss him again, my hands trapped between our bodies.
I make sure that he's in no doubt what the alternative is.
"Yeah," he says as I finally release his lips.
"I've had enough of the rain."
Taking his hand, I lead him back into our room.
The End
Feedback would be nice