Troy Vaughan smirked as he twined his arm around his lover's waist and pulled the young man closer. "You say that, but you don't mean it."
Connor pushed himself out of the painter's grasp and stalked to the other side of the room. "I mean it. I don't want anything for Valentine's Day. No hearts and frilly lace. No love notes or presents. No cutesy stuffed animals. No flowers, and absolutely no chocolates." A pointed glare directed at Troy told him that Connor knew exactly what kind of chocolates Troy would have given him.
"Now, love, you don't really mean that. It's Valentine's Day. The day to celebrate your undying love for your partner." Troy gestured extravagantly, moving to pull Connor back to him, but the young man sidestepped and avoided him. "Let me do something romantic. Dinner and a movie at the very least."
"Oh no you don't. I know exactly the kind of thing you'd try to pull." Connor was launching into a full-blown tirade. There was no way Troy was going to be able to calm him down from this with words alone. "Last time we went to a movie you gave me those cursed chocolates and we ended up fucking in the bathroom." Troy refrained from mentioning that Connor had eaten the aphrodisiac chocolates of his own free will while Troy was at work. It wasn't his fault that Connor hadn't read the label on the box until afterwards. He hadn't even bought the chocolates. "Whenever we go to dinner you start feeling me up under the table and making lewd gestures with your silverware. Then I stalk off and we end up fucking in the car." Okay, so that was entirely his fault, but it was fun seeing Connor get all flustered.
"I promise to behave. I'll be on my best behavior." It was an empty promise and they both knew it.
"You, Troy Vaughan, do not behave." That wasn't true. He could behave when he wanted to. But he never wanted to when Connor was around.
Troy sighed. "You really don't want me to do anything special?"
Connor nodded warily. "Yes."
"Alright. If that's what you want, then that's what you've got."
His lover stared at him in shock, making Troy pout a little. Was it really that rare for him to give in and let Connor have his way? Troy liked to think he was a little more considerate than that.
"Thank you."
Troy smiled at the words, glad that he'd finally gotten Connor out of his argumentative mode. He stepped forward and pulled the younger man into his arms, placing a light kiss on Connor's forehead as he did so. "I just want you to be happy."
As Connor relaxed in Troy's arms, Troy noted for future reference how easy it was to end a fight by admitting defeat. After all, Troy had no intention of just spending Valentine's Day doing nothing. But Connor didn't need to know that.
Connor kept his eyes fixed on the sidewalk in front of him as he walked home from the university. He knew what he'd see if he paused to glance in the windows of the shops lining the street. Pink hearts and flowers, lace, sparkles, and all those other decorations that made him want to gag. He hated Valentine's Day. Always had since his mother remarried. The holiday had no meaning for him and he wanted to forget its existence.
Valentine's Day was the holiday of lovers. For the first time in his life he actually had a lover to celebrate with, but even that wasn't enough to make him want to do anything. Besides, he and Troy had a strange relationship. Romance had never been a strong part of it. There had been love, certainly, and an overabundance of lust, but they'd never been romantic. They'd dated of course, though thinking back Connor could only think of three outings that could be considered real dates. Of those, the first had been part of Troy trying to get into his pants, and the third had ended barely before it started with Troy in his pants at the movie theater. Stupid chocolates. It was all their fault.
With a sigh of relief, Connor stepped into the lobby of their apartment building and avoided looking at the decorations on the receptionist's desk. He briefly rifled through the mail that had accumulated in their mailbox, most of it for Troy. One of the painter's quirks was that he never checked the mailbox. When Connor had moved in he'd found the thing stuffed full and another bag in storage. A tiny slip fluttered out from between the letters and Connor bent to pick it up, blinking when he saw his own name on it. Apparently someone had sent him a package, but he had no idea who.
He handed the slip to the receptionist and waited while she retrieved the package. The box was fairly large, with no return address listed on the box. Somehow he managed to maneuver both himself, the large box with a pile of Troy's mail on top it, and his overfull book bag into the elevator without dropping anything. Once he was in the apartment he made sure to sort the mail on the counter. He stacked Troy�s mail in chronological order as best he could tell and threw away his own, all credit card offers and advertisements. With a small amount of curiosity he turned to the box on the counter.
The sides were only loosely taped shut, as if the packer hadn't cared about the contents enough to ensure that they didn't fall out. The tape was easily pealed off and he pulled aside the flap. An assortment of objects was revealed, all jumbled together with no particular sense of neatness. On top was a letter.
"Found these in the attic. I thought you might be interested in them. �Love, Lily"
Mixed feelings ran through Connor. The situation with his mother and step-father had never been fully resolved. He wasn't quite sure what his place in their lives was any more so he'd decided just to stay out of it. Laying the note aside he moved the box to the floor so he would have more room to examine the contents of the package. As he pulled out the first item he knew exactly what all this stuff was.
He'd been fairly young when his father had died. The only thing he really remembered from that time was crying for his dad to come back and being very confused as to why he had never returned. With a sad smile he pulled out the small bear he'd thought he'd lost when he moved, petting its fur lightly before setting it aside. One by one he pulled items from his childhood out of the box and set them in a semi-circle around him. Old toys, a few books, and the watch he remembered was his father's favorite. At the bottom of the box was a small leather-bound book.
*mark* Drawing his knees up to his chest, Connor balanced the book on them and slowly cracked open the cover. Inside the faces of his parents smiled back at him, the picture taken sometime just before Connor was born. A small red heart was glued to the back of the cover, the words scrawled on it blurred suddenly by the tears Connor only now noticed were dripping from his eyes. Shaking slightly, Connor pulled the book to his chest as he dropped his head to his knees.
He was still sitting like that, his shoulders quivering slightly as he forced himself not to cry, when Troy came home.
"Connor, what happened?" Troy was at his side in an instant, his hand placed comfortingly on Connor�s shoulder.
Sniffing, Connor looked up at Troy and blurted the question that had been on his mind since he�d started going through the package. "Why did he have to die?"
Troy�s expression instantly softened as he pulled Connor to him and started to lightly stroke his back. Connor struggled against his tears as the embrace reminded him of the last time Troy had held him like this. Then, it had been the memory of breaking glass and pummeling fists that Troy had been trying to chase from his mind. With a small cry, Connor let his tears flow onto Troy�s shoulder.
"Mommy! Mommy!"
The small boy ran up to his mother, bouncing in joy and holding up his latest creation. The woman, in her late twenties, turned and smiled at the child. A step behind the child, a man in his early thirties followed with an amused grin on his face. "What is it Connor?"
The boy thrust the piece of paper at his mother, a few pieces of glitter falling from it to litter the kitchen floor. "Look!"
The woman accepted the paper heart and smiled sweetly at her son. "It�s lovely, dear."
"Daddy and I made it for you!"
A loving glance was shared between the married couple over the young boy�s head. Smiling, the man stepped forward, pulling a bouquet of flowers from behind his back.
"Happy Valentine�s Day, love."
Connor smiled up at his parents as they embraced.
Groggily, Connor blinked his eyes open. He winced at their soreness, stinging in pain still from crying so heavily, and kept them shut for a few more minutes before daring to open them again. It was dark out and they were moving.
"Troy?"
A hand reached out from his left side and stroked his arm. He could tell Troy was smiling at him. "Yes, love?"
"Why are we in your car?"
There was a slight pause before Troy answered. "Because I thought you might like to get away for a little while."
Connor was too out of it to really object. Besides, if Troy had been insistent enough to lug Connor�s sleeping form down to the car then it must be something worthwhile. "Where are we going?"
Troy�s hand slid down until it met Connor�s palm and locked their fingers together. "It�s nothing much, just an out of the way place I like to go sometimes."
"Oh." He didn�t feel like pressing the issue. He didn�t really feel much at all at the moment, too drained from his earlier bout of crying to think much about what was going on.
"We�ll be there in about fifteen minutes."
Connor must have drifted off to sleep again because the next thing he knew he was being lifted out of the car by Troy�s strong arms. Instead of protesting like he normally would, he wrapped his arms around his lover�s neck and laid his head on Troy�s shoulder. In the faint moonlight, he could make out trees surrounding them. He must have been asleep for a long time for them to have gotten this far out of the city.
Troy walked up to a small cabin, the door already hanging open for them. The room was dimly illuminated with a fire burning in the fireplace the only source of light. Troy gently set Connor on the blankets layered in front of the fireplace before turning to shut and lock the door behind them. Connor watched his lover as Troy moved to lie next to him.
"What is this place?"
Absently kissing Connor�s neck, Troy answered lazily. "A friend of mine owns a camping ground outside the city limits. I�d originally reserved this cabin for tomorrow, but I figured it�d be better if we left a day earlier."
It took a moment for Connor�s fuzzy brain to make out the date, and when he did he frowned. "I told you I didn�t want anything for Valentine�s Day."
Troy rolled so that he was on top of Connor. He leaned down and pressed their lips forcefully together, parting his lips to run his tongue against Connor�s closed mouth in a plea for entrance. Connor wasn�t ready to give in. Troy leaned back.
"I know you didn�t want anything, but I wanted to do something." Troy ran his hands down Connor�s sides. "Even if you don�t like the holiday I wanted to celebrate." He placed a kiss lightly on Connor�s forehead. "Because I love you, I can�t just let the day pass."
The words brought a small smile to Connor�s mouth but he tried to hide it. A thoughtful expression crossed Troy�s face before he rolled off suddenly.
"That reminds me. I got you a present."
Connor felt his earlier good mood fade as rapidly as it had started. He wondered what horridly romantic thing Troy had managed to get him. If it was chocolates he was going to ram them down Troy�s throat and storm out the door. To his surprise, Troy returned with a large rectangular object. Connor regarded it with slowly building curiosity as it was placed in his hands. Troy settled next to him again and gestured for Connor to open it.
Hesitantly, he peeled off the paper covering the object. Patches of color jumped out of him from where he�d torn off the paper, contrasting sharply with the plain brown wrapping. The paper was completely removed and set aside. Silently, Connor observed the scene laid out before him on the canvas. A clear blue sky overlooked a field of irises in bloom. All of this was painted in vivid, clear detail. Gently, Connor touched the brush strokes, marveling at the careful strokes used to bring the field to life.
He turned to his lover in amazement. "You did this?"
Troy nodded. "Do you like it?"
"I love it." Connor stared at the canvas once more. "Why�d you make it though? There are more than enough paintings in the apartment. Why make one like this?"
"Those are my paintings, depicting things I like. This one�s yours. I made it, but it�s all yours." He trailed a thumb down Connor's cheek absently, his eyes boring into Connor with loving intensity. "Every time we're out walking you always were fascinated with the irises at the flower shop on the corner. Real flowers fade so I wanted to give you something that would last a lifetime. We can hang it wherever you want when we get home."
It was just a picture, a simple scene of flowers and clouds, but it touched him more than it probably should. Troy had done this for him. Troy had put a tremendous amount of effort into this, just for him. He loved it because it showed how much Troy loved him.
Silently, he set the picture aside and wrapped his arms around his lover. "I love you."
Connor let himself be lowered back onto the blankets, Troy�s smiling face settling above him. "It�s alright if you don�t want to celebrate Valentine�s Day. I accept that. But I hope you won�t object too much if I celebrate it in my own way."
With a chuckle, Connor wrapped his arms around Troy�s neck and pulled his lover down for a kiss. "How does that work? You celebrate it and I don�t?"
Working his hands under Connor�s shirt, Troy started to pull the fabric off. Kisses reigned down on the exposed flesh, followed by wandering hands as Connor�s shirt was thrown back towards the entrance. "We�ll make it work."
He didn�t doubt that they would as Troy very efficiently stripped Connor of his clothing. Connor followed more slowly in peeling off Troy�s clothing, taking a bit more care with it than he had with the wrappings on the painting. In a way, they were both presents for him. They both expressed Troy�s love for him.
The blankets under Connor were warm, made from some type of fake fur. Their bodies were illuminated by the fire a few feet away from them. That was all Connor needed to see. Right now all he cared about was the body moving over his own in gentle worship. His thighs were parted and Connor lifted them to twine around Troy�s waist, similar to how his arms were once more wrapped around the painter�s neck. Slick fingers pushed inside of him and Connor bucked to meet them. He didn�t need to wonder how Troy had found the lubricant. Troy probably had had a tube hidden in the blankets ahead of time.
Knowing fingers searched inside of him, making Connor moan at the familiarity of the action. He was amazed sometimes how much Troy knew about him. He knew how to set Connor�s veins on fire with a single touch, where to caress to get the best reaction. Troy stretched him lightly, making his hips buck involuntarily as he pressed against Connor�s prostate. Before Connor could get too close, Troy stopped his teasing and pulled his fingers out, wiping them on the blanket before grabbing hold of Connor�s hips with both his hands.
"Yes!" Connor cried out as he was entered in one swift push, his thighs quivering around Troy�s waist. Disengaging one of his hands from around Troy�s neck, he grabbed the back of Troy�s head. He pulled Troy to him, forcing their mouths to meet and moaning as Troy�s tongue invaded his mouth. This was heaven, here in Troy�s arms. Or at least it was the only heaven he ever wanted to know. Good or bad situations dissolved around him, and all he could think of was the rhythmic motion of Troy�s hips as he moved inside him.
They moved as one, slowly building a pattern of rise and thrust as Connor lifted his hips off the ground to meet Troy�s gentle push. He pressed himself into Troy�s skin, forced them together so that there wasn�t a hair�s breath between them for the length of their bodies. Connor gasped and panted into Troy�s mouth, never parting them for more than the fraction of a second needed to gasp a quick breath of air before they joined once more. His head lolled back into the blankets as Troy�s thrusts grew more frantic. They were close, both of them, so close to nearing completion, but he didn�t want to let go. He wanted to stay in this glorious revelry for as long as he could. He closed his eyes as his panted breaths rose in pitch to needy moans and beyond that.
"Connor!"
Troy shouted the name as he buried himself one last time, slamming their bodies together as his seed shot deep within Connor�s body. Connor couldn�t hold out any longer and he came, his body spasming tight around Troy in his release.
Lying next to his lover, bodies entwined and breath mingling, Connor guessed that maybe Valentine�s Day wasn�t such a bad holiday. At least not the way Troy celebrated it.
Maybe next year, he�d celebrate it too.
Index