Seven Days (Part 2 of 7)
Lucas opened one blue eye to sunlight filtering through the curtained window of his new room. Eliott faced him, wide awake, leaning on one arm.
“How long have you been up?” Lucas asked, as he lazily rubbed sleep from his eyes.
“Just a few minutes,” Eliott answered. He was smiling, the smile so big his eyes were crinkled into half moons, the sea blue-gray of his irises barely visible behind his long lashes.
“How long have you been looking at me sleep?” Lucas moaned, as he pulled one of the pillows over his head to hide his blushing. “You’re such a dork,” he mumbled into the bedsheets.
He felt long fingers pry the pillow away, but he kept his face buried in the bed.
“I love the hoodie,” Eliott whispered in his ear. His voice sent warm tingles through Lucas’s body, which made him turn his face toward Eliott’s for a kiss.
Lucas had given Eliott the Romance hoodie without telling him that it was the first gift of seven for his birthday.
“And thank you for the dinner.” Eliott’s voice grew more serious. “I know it has been a rough couple of weeks.”
The shame Lucas heard in Eliott’s voice made him sit up immediately. He wrapped his arms around Eliott until Eliott hugged him back.
“It’s ok,” Lucas said. “Minute by minute, right?”
He saw the doubt on Eliott’s face, and his heart sped up. “I promise, it’s ok...I’m ok...we’re ok.” He gently pulled Eliott’s face to meet his again. “You’re feeling better, right?”
“I am, but remember, no parties or anything this weekend or next week for my birthday... I still need some time. I just want it to be us.”
“I understand, babe. I’m fine with that. You’re all I need anyway.”
“Now, who’s the dork?” Eliott teased, but Lucas could tell he was touched. “The ‘Lucas loves Eliott’ stitching on the inside was a nice touch.”
“I’m glad you liked it.” Lucas said.
Eliott’s smile grew brighter, and Lucas couldn’t help it as his gaze moved to his lips and then his eyes. Eliott’s knowing look was all it took before he moved to close the space between them. Eliott kissed him softly but deeply, the taste of his tongue awakening everything inside of Lucas...as it always did.
After they were finally sated from kissing, they sat against the headboard, legs crossed over each other. Lucas couldn’t tell where Eliott ended and he began.
“We still have a few weeks until holiday starts, and I’m still waiting on my results from the first few Bac exams,” Eliott said. Lucas could hear the worry in Eliott’s voice.
“You’re going to pass all of them with flying colors. I know it.” Lucas grabbed Eliott’s hand and pulled it to his mouth for a kiss, making Eliott blush and smile. “And then you can go to Uni and take all the pretentious art and dead language classes your heart desires.”
“Pretentious, huh?” Eliott chuckled, as he swatted Lucas with his pillow.
“You know it,” Lucas laughed, as he ducked to evade the pillow. “But I think you’ll have a good time at Uni and get to take classes you really enjoy...but that reminds me.”
Lucas left the bed to grab something from the drawer nearby.
“Come back, come back,” Eliott pleaded. “I’m not ready to get out of our bed, yet.”
Lucas loved how Eliott called everything “our”, “our room”, “our bed”, “our home.” Eliott hadn’t officially moved in, although more often than not he slept with Lucas at the flat.
“I’m just getting something I made for you,” Lucas explained. “Talking about art classes reminded me.” He returned to the bed, a framed picture in hand.
“Another gift?” Eliott asked. “What did you do?”
Lucas laughed. “I just saw this Pollock print and thought of you.” Lucas blushed a little as he remembered the first time they made love...and art together.
Lucas turned the framed piece around, his Day 2 gift to Eliott. The larger black frame contained two prints, each surrounded by a matte white frame. The top picture was a copy of a photo he had taken of the mural he and Eliott had made together at the school. The bottom was an inexpensive Pollock print, the colors and patterns close to those of the mural.
“Oh, wow.” Eliott said. He held the framed piece, staring at it like it was the greatest thing in the world.
“So you like it?” Lucas asked, wrapping his legs around Eliott’s longer limbs, again.
“I love it, mon amour,” Eliott said, as he placed the picture on his lap and pulled Lucas’s face close to his for a deep, long kiss. “I’ll hang it in our room...right there.” Eliott nodded toward the wall across from the bed. “That way I can see it every morning when I wake up...and remember one of the greatest moments of my life.”
“Oh, yea? One of the greatest?” Lucas’s voice was hoarse with reawakened desire.
Lucas looked at Eliott, and he could see that the blue-gray of his eyes had turned a deeper shade of gray. Lucas smiled. He didn’t know what he looked like, probably a silly mess of tousled hair and tell-tale desire. He couldn’t help it when Eliott looked at him like that. Hell, if he were honest, Eliott just needed to exist, and he was a goner. He could happily admit that.
The picture was placed to the side and would be hung later, but now all he wanted was to spend a lazy morning in the arms of his lover. The holidays were coming, and he knew Eliott would pass his tests...and there were still five more gifts to go.
