Chapter Fifteen
"I came to check on Lij," Billy says, when Dom finally releases him and they make their way into the livingroom. "Didn't expect to find you here." They sit down and he smiles at Dom. "It's good, though, to find you here... Very good..." He pauses thoughtfully, still smiling.
"I've missed you, Dom, and frankly, I have been worried about you. About the both of you."
It's quiet in the livingroom for a while.
"So..." Billy says, voice almost dropping to a whisper and looking around the livingroom as if he's seeing it for the first time. "You being here... What exactly does that mean?"
"It's weird, you know," Dom says quietly. "Elijah's pretty difficult to live with right now, and yet there isn't a place in the world I'd rather be." They take a long, hard look at each other and Dom smiles. "He's learning, Billy, and so am I. This is where we belong."
He gets up from the couch, closes the bedroom door with a careful, soft click, and grabs two bottles of beer from the fridge in the kitchen. Walking back, he tosses one to Billy and plops down next to him again. He stares at the drops of water forming on the bottle before he continues.
"I realise now that some people are more insecure about the way things look to the rest of the world than others. I think the fact that Lij's every move has been closely watched ever since he was eight years old doesn't make it very easy for him to flip the proverbial bird to that world. Being constantly aware of the
consequences of his actions has become second nature to him. I have never been forced to do that and I see now how my life, in many respects, has been so much easier than his."
Dom looks up, shrugs, and smiles at Billy. "I am beginning to really appreciate how well-balanced he actually turned out after all those years." He stares at the wall for a minute, searching for words.
"You know what, Billy?" he finally continues. "You would never have guessed it from the looks of him, but Lij is very insecure when it comes to relationships, regardless of gender. Sometimes it almost seems as if he crumbles under the weight of it, yet he quite smoothly fronts a billion dollar movie franchise, never batting an eyelid. He really is an enigma at times..." He grins softly, then suddenly his face clouds over, remembering.
"You have heard about Sean's pretty little attitude to all this?" he asks gravely, and Billy shifts on the couch, nodding, the memory of how awkward Elijah and Sean had been around each other during those few days before Lij had become too sick to appear on set still fresh in his mind.
"It's not my attitude, Dom, just so you both know."
"Of course I know that, you silly git," Dom snorts, both indignant and amused. He wraps an arm around Billy's neck so he can pull him towards himself, plants a kiss on top of Billy's head and lets go. "And so does Lij."
* * *
Far too many beers, a take-out order of pepperoni pizza and two lousy films later, Billy closes the frontdoor behind him and staggers towards the taxi that awaits him. He taps the roof of his own car playfully when he walks past it - he'll come and pick it up tomorrow - and notices how the lights in Elijah's house are switched off one by one.
As the taxi backs out of the driveway, Billy closes his burning eyes, his mind on the fact that he is going to arrive on set tomorrow with a considerable hangover. Then he recalls how Dom had been sitting in front of him, eating slices of cheese-soaked pizza while looking at him with his exhausted grey eyes as if he were a fucking lifeline.
Billy decides that he doesn't care about the hangover anymore, not even when he feels a wave of nausea sweep through him with the rather abrupt turns the taxidriver is taking.
* * *
"God, I had conveniently forgotten the horror of Feet at four-thirty in the bleeding morning," Dom curses softly but audibly, putting one big hairy foot down and offering another, considerably smaller one for the application of glue. Billy snickers behind him, almost done himself and ready to move to the make up trailer.
"Well, then, let me conveniently remind you of the fact that you will be spending most of this day uncomfortably stuck in a walking, talking, very fake tree," he says, and Dom groans. More snickering ensues behind his back.
"Always there, Dommie, to brighten your day."
* * *
Dom enters the house, dropping his bag in the hall, making straight for the bedroom. He wants to check on Elijah, but really longs to get some much-needed sleep himself as well. After his first week of filming at the most ungodly hours of the day, the routine has yet to settle into his system, and until it does he is just tired beyond belief.
He quietly walks into the bedroom, finding Elijah asleep under the covers, face down, one arm dangling off the side of the bed.
Lij had recovered well during the past week. He had slept almost continuously during the first few days, ultimately shedding that horribly insistent fever, slowly regaining the strength to sit up with Dom, who patiently convinced him to eat a little more every day. This 'feeding of Elijah' had become a running joke between the two of them, with Dom blatantly trying to seduce Lij into eating all kinds of delicious goodies he brought home after filming, and Elijah trying to come up with the most original excuses for not having to constantly gorge himself.
He smiles inwardly when he sheepishly realises how he had needed to recover as well. Spending time up in Treebeard with Billy had been refreshing and enlightening - as usual. Talking and listening to Billy had made him realise that he should be putting down the jar of glue for good and allow Elijah to stick his own fragments back together if necessary. "If you keep doing that for him, he will never learn how to do it himself, Dommie," the Scotsman had said, and, with a sinking feeling, Dom had known he was right - as usual.
Sitting down on the bed, pulling at the laces of his trainers, Dom silently acknowledges the fact that he has always had a tendency to single-handedly try and rescue the entire world.
And Elijah had been Dom's entire world for long enough.
Billy made sure Dom realised there was more to life than trying to save boys who could - and would - ultimately save themselves. There was an entire Fellowship out there who deserved his horrible jokes and hilarious impersonations. There were people to meet and places to go and things to do. Like Billy, and Treebeard, and pulling off some bloody brilliant acting together.
It had taken them exactly one evening to become inseparable again and one teabreak up the tree to realise just how much they mean to each other. And at the end of the day they would collapse in each other's arms and go home to have dinner together - always at Elijah's place, since Dom took his multiple positions as lover and nurse and cook very seriously .
Often the three of them would sit in the livingroom afterwards, watching a film or some footie on tv, with Dom and Billy sharing a couple of cool beers and countless ridiculous jokes, and Elijah just listening, not even trying to keep up with them but laughing at their banter, and pushing bits of food around on a small plate that Dom kept preparing for him persistently each evening. He was never particularly hungry but did not want to disappoint his love either.
Most nights, Elijah would eventually finish the plate and retire to the bedroom early, kissing Dom slowly and softly, and ruffling Billy's hair almost mischievously on his way out. Some nights, however, he would fall asleep with his head in Dom's lap and Dom would run his fingers through the dark hair thoughtlessly, while he and Billy quietly discussed every conceivable topic under the sun.
No one ever mentioned Sean Astin, though, and the three of them silently anticipated the day when Elijah would return on set.
Dom takes off his jeans and pulls his shirt over his head. He removes his boxers, tossing them aside carelessly, and crawls under the duvet, scooting close to Elijah. He slings an arm around the thin waist, rests his head against Lij's shoulder and, breathing deeply for a few seconds, falls asleep almost immediately.
* * *
When Dom wakes up the next morning he instantly knows he is alone in the big bed. There is no steady breathing to his right, no careless leg draped across his own, nothing at all. So he opens his eyes and looks at the empty spot where Elijah normally lies curled up, feeling slightly worried.
He gets up and quickly pulls on a pair of discarded boxers, not sure if they are his own, and when he opens the door to the hall, he is greeted by the smell of coffee brewing in the kitchen. Yet a peek around the kitchen door tells him Lij is not there.
In the livingroom, one of the large sliding glass doors is opened just a little bit, and a sweet spring breeze causes the soft, gauzy curtains in the corner to bulge slightly. The sun has managed to reach around the house and its warm rays are forming fuzzy patterns on the hardwood floor. Dom's attention, however, is drawn to the other sliding glass door where Elijah is standing, looking out of the window, holding a mug of coffee in both hands, wearing absolutely nothing.
It makes Dom stop dead in his tracks as he breathlessly takes in the sight.
One, two, three paces into the room and he can hear Elijah softly humming to himself, sipping gingerly from the mug, then humming some more. Four, five, six steps and he rounds the couch, looking at Elijah's sleepsoft face, his eyes blue as cornflowers in the early morning sunshine. Just one more step, and then his palms slide gently around Elijah's waist.
""Oh," is all the boy says, so quietly, relaxing again after the briefest moment of surprise, and Dom pulls the warm body close to his own, tight buttocks pressing against the morning erection hidden in his boxers.
After a few moments, he cannot help but stroke Elijah's soft stomach, vaguely realising how exposed they are in front of the glass doors. He rests his chin carefully on Lij's shoulder and casts a glance into the garden, not really seeing anything, but relishing in the sweet scent of Elijah's neck, kissing the secret spot behind his ear.
The humming stops and Dom can see how dark lashes come to rest against pale cheeks. Lij's head tilts backwards a fraction and finds support on Dom's shoulder. Another kiss and Dom's tongue quickly flicks against Elijah's ear. Lij's mouth opens slightly and Dom can hear him breathe.
"Oh," he utters once more, and while Dom suckles gently on the earlobe, his right hand slides off Elijah's concave stomach, moving down slowly until it reaches springy, dark curls. Dom's hand brushes the hair lightly before moving further down to eagerly cup Lij's cool, delicate sac. He carefully lifts the heavy testicles in his hand and squeezes them softly, while his thumb reaches to press against the base of Lij's cock.
"Goodmorning," Dom whispers, releasing a glistening earlobe. "Feeling better?"
"I'm hungry," Lij breathes, not opening his eyes.
"God, yes..." is all Dom can say, and his left hand comes down to linger playfully around the head of Lij's cock. His right hand continues to stroke the underside persistently and when he decides to close his fingers around the velvety shaft, Dom shivers as he feels it grow.
He looks down and watches how Lij's rampant cock slowly fills out in his hand while he keeps stroking the pulsing vein with his thumb. His other hand goes up again to Lij's stomach and on to his chest, where he rubs his flat palm roughly against an already sensitive nipple. Elijah gasps and tries to turn around in Dom's grip, eager to return some of the favours, but Dom holds him tight.
"Patience, my love," he whispers again, his lips touching Lij's cheek as he speaks. "Patience."
Dom closes his right hand firmly around Lij's cock and squeezes the head gently, which sends a shiver through Elijah's body. Small drops of milky fluid gather at the slit and Dom dips a finger in it, continuously drawing tiny circles on the swollen, bloodflushed head. Finally, he holds the finger close to Lij's face, still glittering with the remains of precum on it, and to his satisfaction Elijah greedily sucks the finger clean.
"Good?" Dom teases, smiling, after Lij's prolonged whimper, wordlessly begging him to just get on with it. He opens his eyes, bright blue and blazing with desire, and Dom has his answer.
Dom's left hand holds Elijah carefully in place, while his right sets up a hotfast pace, smoothing the silky skin quickly from base to top over a rock hard shaft. Lij's stomach moves in and out quickly, in time with his fevered breathing, and he is struggling to keep his hips from thrusting against Dom's hand, desperate for release. One arm hangs aimlessly by his side, hand clutching a forgotten coffee mug, while the other snakes around Dom's neck, pulling him close. Lij turns his head so his lips touch Dom's cheek and, with eyes closed, he starts whispering his dirty chant.
With his fingers wrapped tight around Lij's throbbing cock, Dom knows that after three weeks of abstinence Elijah is bound to come any second now, and he should pull out some tricks to delay that sweet eruption for as long as possible. He realises it is no use, however, when his other hand goes down again to cup and lift Lij's balls. They tighten forcefully the moment they are touched, and, now that he is no longer held in place by Dom's left arm, Lij's body immediately responds by thrusting roughly into the hand that is furiously pumping his aching cock.
Four thrusts - Dom counts them --before Elijah violently releases thick jets of semen, covering Dom's fingers and the glass of the sliding door, pushing his convulsing body hard into Dom's chest, choking out a loud, foul curse, while Dom keeps kneading his balls until he has nothing left to give.
* * *
Sunday is probably the most beautiful day in the week of a hobbit, Dom muses as he spoons behind a spent Elijah on the bed. No early calls, no Feet, no fake tree, no pissy AD on his back all the time. He can sleep the day away if he wants to. And he wants to. He grins softly, not sure if Lij is already asleep, and lazily recalls the events of the morning.
Lij's knees had buckled after he had come, and they had both collapsed against the back of the couch, laughing, catching their breath, Dom taking in the ever beautiful sight of post-coital Elijah.
Lij had sucked him off, right there on the floor behind the couch, not being able to stand on his feet and too tired to use his hands. Dom had not lasted any longer than Elijah, spurting long and hard against the back of Lij's mouth. After swallowing gracefully, Lij had kissed him fully on the mouth, making sure Dom tasted himself on those sinful, swollen lips. Then he had yawned intensely, with his head on Dom's chest, ready to go back to sleep.
Walking back to the bedroom had almost been too much to ask, but lying down on the comfortable bed and pulling the cool sheets over his flushed body had been worth the effort.
Dom brushes dark strands of hair out of Lij's neck and places a tender kiss on the damp skin. "I love you, Elijah Wood," he whispers, gathering the tired boy in his arms, closing his eyes to get some more sleep as well.
"I love you too, Dominic Monaghan," he hears suddenly and his eyes fly open again. Elijah rolls onto his back, moving to cradle Dom's face in his hands. "I love you, and I have missed you so." He pauses, thinking.
"Life really sucks when I'm not with you, Sblom, so it's about time I joined you again." He smiles brightly, and for the first time in months, the smile reaches his beautiful, beautiful eyes...
Chapter Sixteen
Meet Confusion Index