Elijah shoved up the sleeves of the too-long letter jacket and started working his way through the crowd.
Team members clapped him on the shoulder as they passed him in the throng. Elijah grinned, punching most of them on the arm before stuffing his hands deep into his jacket pockets.
Girls from his classes randomly stopped him as he made his way to the far side of the gym. Elijah called all of them by name, smiling, exchanging hellos or little waves of greeting. But even while he talked, he scanned the milling crowd for a tall, dark-haired form in a football jersey.
He didn�t see Orlando anywhere.
Elijah slid onto the end of a wooden bleacher next to an Assistant Coach. The players were sitting on two long rows of folding chairs just in front of him.
Still no Orlando.
Dom and Billy sauntered between the last row of chairs and the bleachers, high-fiving the assistant managers, the special teams� coaches, the assistant coaches, the Booster Club Mom, and the team manager. Dom skidded to a halt mid-slap with Elijah. Billy crashed into him from behind, hands automatically grabbing Dom�s hips to stop his forward fall.
Dom stared at Elijah, then at Elijah�s jacket. Dom grinned suddenly, elbowing Billy in the ribs. �Elijah finally got a letter jacket.�
Billy huffed and pushed at Dom�s hips. �Great. Come on, Coach just stood up.�
Elijah sighed silently in relief. He hadn�t thought anyone would actually notice. Everyone on the team was wearing letter jackets, team jerseys or t-shirts.
Dom turned around to face Billy, both eyebrows climbing to his hairline. �Elijah. Got. A. Varsity. Letter. Jacket.� Dom pointed his pinky at the small extender-patch sewn around the top edge of the LHS Varsity Football patch on Elijah�s left arm.
Southwest Conference - All American Player 2002.
Billy blinked, looked at the half-inch arch of fabric, looked at Elijah, looked at Dom, clapped his hands together and then clapped a hand over his mouth, his eyes huge. Dom nodded, grinning widely.
Elijah frowned and poked his shoe into one of their shins. �Move, ya�ll. Coach is about to talk.�
Billy and Dom scrambled around the edge of the row and threw themselves down across three chairs in front of Elijah.
Most of the students had already settled in the bleachers, so Orlando was easy to spot as he came through the double doors at the far end of the room. He saw Dom and Billy waving frantically, saw the empty chair next to them and loped quickly across the gym.
Orlando slid into the seat, cleared his throat and leaned forward, giving the appearance of listening as Coach Jackson started to talk. After a few seconds, Orlando turned his head, looking not-so-subtly over his shoulder down the line of other team members. He was half turned away, still searching the bleachers behind the team, a small wrinkle between his brows, when Billy elbowed him in the ribs and pointed over his other shoulder.
Orlando turned around slowly, saw Elijah sitting less than two feet behind him, grinned at the sight of Elijah wearing the jacket, and promptly blushed, jerking his head around to the front.
Dom had to turn away so Orlando wouldn�t see him laugh, his shoulders shaking with mirth. Billy�s eyes watered at the effort it took not to join him. He finally had to punch Dom in the arm to get him to quit.
Orlando cleared his throat and focused his attention on the Coach. He couldn�t believe he�d missed Elijah when he sat down. Now, of course, he was hyperaware of Elijah sitting behind him.
Under normal circumstances, Orlando would have enjoyed Elijah�s close proximity. However, today Orlando had been in the library for most of second period. He was supposed to be researching the literary references in a John Irving novel for his English class.
What he�d been researching had more to do with anatomy than literature.
Orlando shifted on his chair, willing his body to behave, praying the coach had a long speech and frantically trying to imagine his grandmother naked.
+
Orlando appeared calm and unaffected until he swung his helmet into the locker so hard it left a dent.
Half the team flinched, but no one said a word.
It was halftime.
It was a frigid, foggy thirty-eight degrees on the field.
And they were getting their asses kicked.
+
Elijah paced back and forth behind the table of towels and Gatorade. He glanced at his watch. The team had another eleven minutes before they had to return to the field.
He�d been watching them closely. Very closely.
Elijah grabbed one of his assistant managers by the arm, told her to finish the third quarter prep and took off towards the field house.
+
Elijah skidded to a halt just inside the doorway, stuffing his hands deep into his jacket pockets.
Fifty-three pairs of eyes looked up from their dejected huddle in the widest part of the room. Elijah�s heart pounded sharp and nervous in his chest. He caught Orlando�s gaze and flicked his eyes towards the far side of the room.
Orlando stared at him, confused.
Elijah resisted the urge to stomp his foot. He yanked his hands out of his pockets and settled them on his hips, impatient. He finally rolled his eyes and made a come-here motion with his hand.
Orlando stood up, sweat dripping and steam rising from his body, face red and wind-burned from the cold. He walked over to Elijah.
The rest of the team stared.
Orlando bent his head, gazing at the floor as Elijah talked quietly into his ear. Orlando nodded, looked up at the team, then nodded again. He stepped back and addressed the team. �Hey, Lij has a word of advice. Listen up.�
The entire team stared at Elijah.
Elijah didn�t see the Head Coach appear in the archway behind him.
Elijah took a nervous step forward and cleared his throat. �You�uh, Orlando has to stop throwing passes.�
There was a general murmur of dissent.
Elijah pressed on. �The Wildcats have a wicked defense, one of the best in the state. They�ve intercepted six of your passes. Six. In two quarters.�
The team made noises that were closely related to growls. They weren�t stupid. They knew the Wildcats were kicking their ass.
Elijah raised his voice. �You have to run the ball.�
This time there was a general uproar. They�d tried that already and hadn�t even made first down.
Elijah slammed a hand against the hard metal side of a locker. �Hey! Let me fucking finish, all right?�
The team went instantly silent.
Coach Jackson lowered his hand and gave his team a hard stare over Elijah�s shoulder.
Elijah glanced at his watch and his eyes widened. Four minutes. He stepped forward into the middle of the group. �All you gotta do is give the ball to Orlando. They�re basically ignoring him because they�re too worried about watching the ball. Run a few mediocre hand-passes until third down, then fake one and let Orlando run it. You can probably get away with it at least twice by running the second fake on the first down.� Elijah turned to Orlando. �You can run, can�t you?�
There was a heart beat of silence. Orlando raised an eyebrow and looked at the team. �I don�t know, guys. Can I run?�
The entire team burst into snorts of hysterical laugher.
Coach Jackson nodded, then jerked his head back towards the field, unseen by Elijah.
Elijah jumped when the team sprang up from their dejected crouches and started for the door, laughing, clapping him on the shoulder, shaking their heads and running out of the field house.
Elijah frowned. �What the hell is so funny?�
Dom skidded to a halt and whacked Elijah on the shoulder. �Orlando does cross country in the spring, man. He holds the state record for the four hundred and eight hundred meter.� Dom snorted and took off down the hall. �Can he run? That�s fuckin� hilarious.�
Elijah flinched at the hand on his shoulder and turned around. His mouth fell open. �Coach Jackson, I��
�It�s all right, Wood.� The coach snapped his notebook closed. �However, in the future, I recommend you talk to me before you send my team to the wolves.� Coach Jackson shot an equally hard look at Orlando. �However, you did consult the team captain, and I trust his judgment. So I suppose all I can say is�fine job. Both of you.� The coach left them standing in the hallway, gaping after him.
Elijah and Orlando sighed in relief, then laughed. Orlando held onto Elijah�s shoulder, grinning at him. Orlando sighed, still smiling, and leaned forward, head tilted. He was stopped by Elijah�s wide eyes and a hand thump-push against his chest pads.
Orlando blinked and flinched back. He nodded at Elijah, cheeks flaming, and tugged on his helmet, turned and ran out the door.
Orlando snorted as he headed across the damp grass towards the rest of the team.
Hell.
He�d almost kissed Lij in the locker room.
+
The locker room was always chaotic after a game.
That night it was a mad house.
They�d won the district championship. Two easy touchdowns in the last quarter, courtesy of their lightening fast quarterback, two perfect field goals, et voila: victory.
Orlando bumped Elijah�s shoulder as he reached around him for his bag. �You have to work tonight?�
Elijah shook his head.
�You going to the Blue Bonnet later to celebrate?�
Elijah shrugged.
Orlando grinned and sat down on the bench right behind Elijah, his towel slipping as he leaned down to pull on his socks. �Come on, it�ll be fun. Half the school usually shows up.� He looked up and went very still. The perfect curve of Elijah�s ass in well-cut khakis was exactly eight and one half inches off the end of his nose.
Orlando jerked back in surprise, possessed with an overwhelming urge to bite it. He flushed from his navel to his ears, his nipples suddenly tightening to hard peaks in the steamy locker room.
Orlando licked his lips, then looked away, clearing his throat. �I�uh, you can ride with Dom, Billy and me, if you want. Buffy�s riding with a pack of cheerleaders.�
Elijah went very still, his hand tightened on his comb. Going out with Orlando. And Orlando�s friends. Slowly he turned around. �You. Dom. And Billy?�
Orlando looked up at him, his smile slow and soft. �Yeah, with us. Is that ok?�
Slowly, Elijah nodded.
+
It was more than ok. It was amazing.
Dom and Billy were like two pre-pubescent Tasmanian devils trapped in a small space with no rabbit. They talked over, under and around each other in a hysterical rhythm of humor, constantly jibing, making fun of and then complimenting each other excessively throughout the bizarre twists and turns of their conversation.
Elijah was sitting up front with Orlando. They shared amused glances and rolled their eyes at the antics from the back seat. Their hands rested next to each other on the seat, fingers barely touching.
This was the closest they�d ever come to being together in public.
And it rocked.
Kind of.
+
Orlando pulled into the lot at the Blue Bonnet Dance Hall and Bar. He held a hand over the back seat. Elijah watched Billy snag a black felt hat out of the holder over his head and hand it to Orlando.
Orlando grinned, settled the dark hat on his head, tipped it towards Elijah with a wink and climbed out of the truck.
Elijah swallowed twice before clambering out.
Orlando.
In a cowboy hat.
There weren�t even words to describe how hot that was.
+
Elijah took another swallow of beer and stared across the huge saw-dusted dance floor, one foot keeping time with the western swing pounding through the sound system.
The dance floor was crowded but the football players were easy to spot in their Lockhart jerseys and blue jeans. At least half wore cowboy hats. Most of the team was dancing, some with the cheerleaders, some with other girls Elijah knew from school, and some with girls he didn�t recognize. Most of the football players were better than average on the dance floor and Elijah could tell they�d done this before.
Orlando, however, was fucking beautiful.
Elijah watched as Orlando threw back his head and laughed at something Buffy said before easily pushing her away from him in a flawlessly executed turn. He steered her slender form in half-spirals around his long body for a few measures before yanking her close and comfortable again, turning them gracefully around two pairs of stumbling dancers and steering into an open part of the floor, gliding smooth and quick across the worn polished wood.
They looked like they�d done this many times before.
Elijah was mesmerized. The only thing that would have been better would have been�
�Hey, you.�
Elijah looked up and smiled, setting his beer down. �Hey, Willow.�
�Do you dance?� Willow nodded towards the dance floor.
Elijah shrugged, his lips twitching. �Sometimes.�
Willow grinned and held out a hand. Elijah took it. The music faded, then came back up as the songs transitioned to a fast country waltz. Elijah stood on the edge of the floor for a few bars, one hand holding up Willow�s, the other on her waist. He raised an eyebrow. �Ready?�
Willow nodded, then grinned as Elijah counted off and moved her easily across the floor. He did a couple of conservative laps, getting a feel for their relative skill levels. He tried a natural turn. They moved together pretty well. He tried a more complicated spin around his back, over his head, twisting their arms, before pulling her back into a promenade again. Willow laughed. �You�ve done this before.�
Elijah snorted. �I was on the Wranglers my sophomore and junior year, back in Iowa.�
Willow tilted her head. �Wranglers?�
Elijah grinned. �Our country and western competition dance team.� Elijah guided her into another graceful turn.
Willow threw back her head and laughed.
+
�Baby, you�re not listening to me.�
�Huh?� Orlando looked at Buffy, cursed under his breath and steered them hard to the outside lane, narrowly missing a slow couple headed towards them on a collision course.
Buffy grinned and lowered her voice. �Quit staring at Elijah for just a second and listen.�
Orlando spun her out and back so fast she squealed and came back against him breathless.
Orlando�s eyes narrowed, teasing. �You were saying?�
Buffy punched him in the shoulder, her smile fading. �I just wanted to say�� She trailed off, biting her lip.
�What?� He smiled.
Buffy lowered her voice, her cheeks pink. �I�m sorry you�it�s too bad you can�t dance with him here.�
Orlando looked steadily at one of his best friends and partner in deception for more than five years, his expression unreadable.
Buffy plowed on, warming to her subject. �Because clearly, he can dance. Really well, in fact. I just think it�s�silly that you two can�t�I mean, it�s just dancing, right?�
Orlando snorted and guided her around the floor again, looking up just in time to catch Elijah�s gaze across the crowded floor. Elijah grinned and winked at him before spinning Willow around his side and moving out of sight.
Orlando smiled and looked down at Buffy. He squeezed her shoulder. �Thank you, but it�s ok.�
For now.
+
Orlando looked in the review mirror and saw Billy and Dom talking quietly in the back seat. Dom said something and Billy laughed softly before their conversation drifted to a low, meaningless hum. Orlando looked at Elijah.
Elijah was leaning against the door, feet tucked up on the seat, buried to his nose in the collar of Orlando�s letter jacket. He was watching Orlando through half-closed eyes.
Orlando saw the tops of Elijah�s cheeks flex and knew he was smiling under the cover of the jacket. Orlando smiled back. �What are you doing for Thanksgiving?�
�Hmm?� Elijah�s nose, mouth and chin popped out of the jacket. �I dunno. Just my mom and I, I guess. Maybe Uncle Vig, but he usually closes down the bar to play poker with his buddies. Why?� Elijah yawned.
Orlando cast another quick glance in the rearview mirror. Billy was crashed out, head lolling on Dom�s shoulder. Dom leaned in a corner of the back seat, eyes closed, one arm curled around Billy�s back. Orlando glanced at Elijah again. �You and your Mom, you could come with us to my grandparents� farm down in San Antonio. We have a pretty good turn out and there�s plenty of food.� Orlando cleared his throat. �And we, the kids�we usually camp out Friday night down by the river.�
Elijah blinked. Vacation and camping with Orlando. Hello. �I�ll ask.�
�I mean, it�s cool if you don�t�you will?�
Elijah nodded, smiling at Orlando across the dark truck. �Yeah, it sounds like fun.� Elijah yawned again.
Orlando grinned. �Cool.�
They drove another mile in silence. Orlando cleared his throat and wiped a palm on his jeans. After a few seconds, he reached across the seat and tugged on Elijah�s pant leg.
Elijah raised an eyebrow but turned to sit forward in the seat.
Orlando tugged on Elijah�s sleeve, pulling him closer. Elijah frowned and cast a glance over his shoulder to the back seat.
Orlando lowered his voice. �It�s ok. They�re both crashed and they won�t think anything of it, look at them.� He slid an arm around Elijah�s waist and slowly pulled him across the seat. He lowered his head to whisper across the warm curl of Elijah�s ear. �Besides, I�m warmer and more comfortable than that cold door, we still have at least another thirty miles and you�re halfway to being asleep already.�
Elijah shivered at the warm words against his ear, frowned at Orlando, then yawned for the third time.
Orlando snorted and tugged again.
Elijah relented with a sigh, flopping sideways on the long seat, head tucked into the now familiar curve of Orlando�s hip, one hand curling under a long thigh.
Orlando turned down the volume on the radio, then laid his hand along the top curve of Elijah�s shoulder. Elijah rolled into the touch, sighed and closed his eyes.
Maybe secretly dating the quarterback wasn�t such a bad thing after all.
+
�Hey, guys?� Orlando reached carefully into the back seat, trying not to disturb Elijah, and poked Billy in the arm. �Billy, we�re at your place.�
Billy came awake with a start, then pushed at Dom�s shoulder to wake him. Dom slowly opened his eyes, both young men blinking sleepily. They pushed open the truck door and tumbled out on one side. Dom stretched, then stepped up on the running board. Orlando rolled down the window. Dom looked down into the front seat and smiled.
Orlando followed Dom�s gaze to the sleeping form sprawled across his lap. Orlando�s hand remained on Elijah�s shoulder, his jaw tightening as he lifted his head and stared out the windshield.
Dom rested his chin on the fold of his arms in the open window. �You know, your jacket looks pretty good on him.� His voice was soft and serious.
Orlando jerked in the seat, turning to stare at Dom. He felt Elijah tense against him, awake and listening.
Dom smiled and nodded his head towards Elijah. �We like him. Not as much as you like him, clearly, but he�s cool.� He met Orlando�s gaze dead on. �Billy and I, we know what you�re going through, more than you know. So, if you need to talk or anything.� Dom shrugged, smiling. �We�re here, ok?� He winked, chucked Orlando on the shoulder and leaped off the running board, walking quickly to where Billy was waiting for him.
Orlando watched as Dom wrapped an arm around Billy�s shoulder and strolled up the front walk. Orlando released the breath he�d been holding and put the truck in gear, pulling away from the curb.
Elijah turned on the seat, eyes open and staring up at Orlando. Orlando squeezed his shoulder and drove on in silence. Elijah closed his eyes.
Orlando was half way up his front walk, the imprint of Elijah�s sleepy mouth against his still snapping along his nerves, when he realized that two of his best friends had just come out to him.
And he wasn�t really all that surprised.
+
�Kill me.� Elijah groaned and dropped into an ancient wooden chair, clomping his feet up on the porch swing next to Orlando, head back, hands holding his thanksgiving-stuffed stomach. �Kill me now.�
Orlando laughed, then groaned and clutched his own stomach. �Probably shouldn�t have had the pumpkin pie.�
Elijah snorted and shifted his feet, rocking the swing in a gentle motion. �Don�t think it was the pumpkin pie, man.�
�No?�
Elijah shook his head. �Might have been the apple pie, though.�
It was Orlando�s turn to shake his head. �Nah, I think it was the pecan pie.�
Elijah raised an eyebrow. �There was pecan pie? And I missed it?�
Orlando whacked Elijah�s foot, laughing and groaning again. He sighed and stared down the broad gravel drive, watching two of the farm dogs attempt to play tag with a frog. �Game�s probably on.�
Elijah nodded, his eyes already at half-mast.
Orlando knocked one of Elijah�s feet off the swing. �Come on, it�s too cold out here. Those ugly throw pillows in front of the TV are more comfortable than they look.�
Elijah groaned again and staggered to his feet, following Orlando inside.
+
Elijah woke to the muffled clatter of dishes and low feminine voices. He sighed and opened one eye. The TV was still going, the volume low. The game was long over. He blinked and turned his head. Orlando was comatose, face down on the floor next to him, long arms tucked under the oversize throw pillow, lips barely parted and breathing deep.
Elijah pulled the pillow tighter under his cheek, gaze wandering over the sleeping form next to him. The lengthening shadows of evening cast a liquid gold glaze over Orlando�s features and Elijah felt the awe creep over him again, making the vision something much more than just a sleeping boy.
What an amazing fucking day.
There�d been the two hour truck ride to the farm this morning, alone, because Orlando�s parents and Elijah�s Mom had to go back a day earlier than everyone else, so they�d taken a separate car.
There�d been a scenic detour just south of Austin. A hot, breathless, sweaty-palms-slammed-against-a-truck-window scenic detour. Parked in a shaded pasture on a deserted dirt road.
Ok, so the drive took three hours, not two.
Then the huge farm and rambling farmhouse, along with the easy teasing of Orlando�s extended family made Elijah feel warm and welcome.
Elijah was only just beginning to recover from the incredible food. The three hour nap had helped.
Elijah grinned into his pillow. Now, if he could just manage to trap Orli in a closet for a late-thanksgiving necking session, the day would be perfection.
�Mmmmhi.�
Elijah�s gaze wandered back up to Orlando�s face. He smiled when he saw the dark eyes cracked open, a sleep-rumpled smile crossing the creased features. Elijah reached out, hand hovering half-way between them, then tucked it back against his chest. �Hi.�
Orlando rolled to his back with a groan and stretched, yawning hugely.
Elijah watched the smooth ripple of cotton over skin and muscle as Orlando�s arms flexed over the dark head, fascinated by the way the layers of short and long-sleeved t-shirts wrapped soft and folded around the long torso.
Orlando blinked and yawned again, groaning as he added an extra twist to his stretch. His arms flopped back to the carpet and he rolled his head to the side, looking at Elijah. Orlando grinned, then rolled his head the other direction, his dark gaze scanning the living room.
No one. Just a few low voices coming from the kitchen three rooms away.
Orlando moved insanely fast for someone who�d been in a turkey-coma not thirty seconds before.
Elijah made a low sound of surprise, hands coming up to clutch at Orlando�s shoulders, his head tilted sideways, already half-hard from the lightening pounce lick plunge of Orlando�s lips against his. Orlando kissed him hard, hasty and deep, tongue pushing in and around the soft, surprised heat of Elijah�s mouth. One starving sweep of palms and long fingers from Elijah�s neck to his thighs.
Then he was gone.
Sprawled on the floor, head propped in a hand, grinning at Elijah from a good yard away.
Elijah was panting. �Bastard.�
Orlando grinned and flopped onto his stomach, propped up on his elbows. His smile faded and his eyes widened at the sound of running feet. Pairs of running feet. Orlando grunted under the impact of three whooping, pre-adolescent cousins, groaning as they pinned him down and demanded a rematch of last year�s Bloom Family Touch-Football Massacre.
Elijah laughed.
Orlando grabbed one of his cousins around the neck and whispered something in his ear.
Elijah grunted under the impact of three giggling bodies.
+
Orlando grunted and cursed under his breath as he landed hard on the ground. Again. He�d lunged for Elijah, only to find himself reaching for empty air. Again.
Damn, Elijah�s fast.
The annual post-stuffing-yourself football game wasn�t its usual massacre of Orlando and the munchkins versus the rest of the non-football playing teenage-adult clan. Elijah was on the other team and it gave them an incredible advantage. He could throw. And catch anything. And he ran like the very devil, quick and nearly impossible to catch.
Orlando watched the object of his fascination leap into the marked end zone, then high-five, bump-hips and chicken dance with his eleven year old cousin, Lindsay. They�d scored another touchdown.
By this time, the entire opposing team wanted Elijah to do everything. Someone grabbed the ball, set up for a field goal and Elijah grinned, ran forward and, with an ease that didn�t really surprise Orlando, nailed the ball.
Into the east pasture.
There was a moment of incredulous silence as the dark oblong shape was launched over their heads, flew across the driveway, over the hen house and disappeared on the far side of the barn.
�Oops.� Elijah�s cheeks were pink. Shit. Better watch that foot. �Sorry. Kinda overdid that.� One of the smaller boys laughed hysterically and took off at a dead run after the ball.
Orlando and Elijah gravitated towards one another, crossing the makeshift field while waiting for the ball to be recovered.
Orlando leaned sideways and knocked their shoulders together. �You�re pretty damn good, Lij. Definitely good enough to be on the team. Why didn�t you try out? Why manager?�
Elijah paused, considering the question. Coach Jackson had told him they didn�t need another player with his particular skill set, and he could risk sitting the sidelines for the rest of the season, or, if he wanted to actually do something, he could take over as Team Manager. Elijah shrugged. �Manager seemed like the best option at the time.� He smiled enigmatically and ran across the yard to where his team was huddled up.
Orlando snorted and gathered his forces.
+
�Ack! Sorryhi�� Elijah whispered and backed up, waving Orlando through the bedroom door they�d both tried to go through at the same time. Orlando tugged nervously on the hem of his t-shirt, cleared his throat and went in, Elijah right behind him.
A small night light illuminated one set of bunk beds that was already occupied by a young pair of twin cousins. The seven-year-olds were comatose, curled into an overlapping huddle, one clearly having abandoned the top bunk as being too lonely. They�d been hustled off to bed hours before Orlando and Elijah had finished a movie and finally decided to crash.
Orlando hesitated. Elijah paused, then walked by him to the other set of bunk beds, grasping the ladder of the top bunk. Orlando finally moved, pulling down the sheet and comforter for the bottom bunk and sliding in. He felt the bunk bed shift and creak as Elijah tugged down covers and settled in above him.
Orlando tucked his arms behind his head staring up at the slats. He heard Elijah shift and rustle, then flinched as a t-shirt slid down the wall from the top bunk and landed on his arm.
Orlando jerked when he heard a soft curse and Elijah�s head appeared over the side. �Sorry.�
Orlando had the shirt clutched in one hand, having barely managed to pull it away from his face in time for Elijah to appear. How weird would Elijah think he was, sniffing at his clothes? Orlando�s voice was a low whisper. �No problem.� He hesitated, then draped the shirt on a cross beam behind his head.
Elijah grinned and his head disappeared. �G�night.�
Orlando didn�t answer right away, his fingers locked tight together behind his head.
�Lij?�
Elijah�s head reappeared instantly. �Yeah?� They were talking in low whispers.
Orlando swallowed. �Do you�like the top?�
Elijah shrugged. �Sure. It�s ok, I guess.�
�Oh.�
�I mean, I thought you liked the bottom, so I took the top.�
�Uh, ok.� Orlando bit his lower lip. �Lij?�
�Right here.� Elijah grinned down at Orlando, tucking his arms under his chin so he could lean further over the side of the bed.
�Why haven�t you done�everything yet? With a guy?�
Elijah�s mouth opened, then closed with a snap. He stared at Orlando. �You�re not talking about the bunk beds, are you?�
Orlando frowned, turning sideways and pushing up on one elbow so he could see Elijah�s face better. �What? No, I just want to know why you hadn�t�done everything.�
Elijah swallowed. �I�� He had to stop and ask himself the same question. Why hadn�t he gone all the way with a guy? It wasn�t like he hadn�t wanted to, because he�d certainly thought about it. And he knew what was involved, because he had friends who had been very informative in that area. And it wasn�t like he hadn�t had sex at all, because he�d had a girlfriend. But going all the way with a guy�it just hadn�t seemed right yet, somehow.
It wasn�t until he�d stood next to Orlando that first time in the bar, that long finger tucked through his belt loop, those mesmerizing dark eyes terrified and fascinated all at once. It wasn�t until that moment that Elijah realized he wanted to do everything. All of it. Every dark, heart-pounding, unknown. To, with, for, under, over, anything, as long as it was with Orlando.
But he�d told himself he was crazy. He knew about Orlando�s near virginal inexperience and he knew that it would take nothing short of a miracle for Orlando to even kiss him, let alone one day, at some point down the road, in the unforeseeable future, be willing to do anything remotely resembling actual sex, all anal-penetrating, lube-required, condom-covered aspects included.
The miracle - the absolute stunning miracle of it all - was that Orlando had kissed him. And touched him. And let himself be touched.
And secretly or otherwise, he was Orlando�s boyfriend.
What a rush.
And now it was Orlando who was taking the first, tentative, neon-sign-in-your-face steps towards all of it. Every dark, heart-pounding unknown - with Elijah.
Elijah could barely breathe. �I�� He closed his eyes, trying to find an answer to Orlando�s question that didn�t lay him bare. He couldn�t. �I didn�t really want to. Until I met you.�
The next thing Elijah knew, he was twisted sideways hanging off the bunk, a warm mouth pressed against his, a long arm clutched at the back of his neck. Elijah made a low sound and cupped the back of Orlando�s head, pulling him harder into the awkward kiss, then sliding a hand down to cup Orlando�s shoulder.
Elijah paused, softening the part press taste of his mouth.
Orlando was vibrating.
Elijah pulled back, raising a hand to tunnel his fingers through the soft dark curls. �Orli?�
Orlando�s eyelids trembled, then opened. �I�me too.�
Elijah was stunned.
Orlando breathed shallow and slightly panicked. �I mean, obviously, not right this second. And maybe not even really soon�if that�s ok. I still need a little more time to�adjust and�but I�ve been doing research online and reading books and stuff and it got me to�thinking, and I think maybe�oh. God.� Orlando closed his eyes, took a deep, unsteady breath. He opened his eyes, laid a hand on Elijah�s chest, fingertips brushing the pulse in the hollow of Elijah�s throat.
When he finally spoke, Orlando�s voice was husky and trembling. �I want to have sex - alltheway sex - with you, Lij.�
