you and i

12*

 He lay still under the covers as if a slight movement will destroy every bone in his body. There were four knocks on his door followed by a loud voice and a few more knocks, all of which he ignored. There was no way he could bring himself to get up let alone talk to the person that awaited him on the other side.

"Angelo, I know that you're in there. I called you all day yesterday and came back to the hotel to check up on you, but you didn't seem to be in your room...so I left. But you can't keep doing this; we need to talk so open this door!"

It was currently Monday late morning, early afternoon. Elliot was desperately trying to get his friend in opening up the door, but he didn't know what he was going through; not the slightest. That thought made Angelo smirk as he mouthed the words, 'if you only knew'

Normally people would've given up on Angelo's stubborn attitude, but Elliot wasn't going to let this one go that easy. There was a reason as to why he was here on this specific day and was more than determined to get what he came for.

He shrugged knowing that what he was doing right now wasn't working. So, he decided to take this on a different approach. "Have you noticed anything so far?" There was no answer, but he heard a small creak of the bed indicating that he has shifted a bit, maybe this was working.

"Do you remember what we talked about exactly a week ago today?" That was all Angelo needed to get up from his bed. Today was Monday, meaning the deal between them was over, which also meant that Angelo was allowed to get his "stuff" back.

And right now, he craved the feeling of euphoria clouding up his rational thoughts after the discovery of his newfound feelings for Elliot. But it wasn't until he opened up the door and made eye contact with him that he realized that this was a bad idea. The butterflies, quickened heartbeat and sweaty palms were coming back to him. At this rate, he may even admit to how he truly feels which is something Angelo wasn't ready for.

But it was too late, Elliot stepped inside and locked the door behind him; forcing him to communicate. "I called you several times yesterday, but it all went right to voicemail and now I come here just to see that you were in bed this whole time.......I guess I was all worried for nothing" His tone sounded calm to anyone who heard him, but Angelo knows better to detect some disappointment in his voice.

"The deal ends today, so I figured that I should give these back. Well......bye" There was millions of things he wanted to say, but he felt like he was suffocating in a sea of unsaid phrases that was meant for Angelo. He turned around, unlocked the door, and attempted to leave, but before he could open the door Angelo outstretched his arms blocking the exits from Elliot. "Wait...none of this makes any sense"

"What do you mean?"

"What was the point to all of this?" It was true that Angelo never quite understood why he took all of his drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes away from him. All he wanted from this deal was to learn how Elliot became the person he is and why he thinks a certain way in hopes that Angelo could somehow use that information in his own life. But all he got out of this is deprivation and confusion.

Elliot slowly turned around and stared at him with sincerity. "There was no set point to this deal. I didn't have to take away anything from you and none of his had a certainty of working" Now this is when Angelo was angry. So much so that he grabbed Elliot by the collar, dragged him over to the corner of his room and trapped him.

"THEN WHY THE HELL DID WE DO THIS ANYWAY?! AND DON'T YOU TELL ME SHIT THAT I DON'T WANT TO HEAR OR ELSE I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL-"

"YOU DON'T NEED THEM ANGELO!" This came as a shock to him. He has never heard Elliot raise his voice before and admittedly it did frighten him a bit. "What do you mean?"

"Don't you get it Angelo? You're only using it as distractions from the actual world. You take drugs and get high to forget how awful the society is to you and the same reason goes for the rest of the things I am returning to you now. But the truth of the matter is that you don't need them at all, and you never did"

"Then why would you take them away from me in the first place and how did you know that I won't use it even after you took it away from me?"

"You wouldn't do that. Angelo, I have trust in you too much to know that. And just for the record, you don't need me to tell you how to become the person you want to be. Sure, I may have said things that you've never heard anyone say before, but you wanted to hear them, which means that you have someone inside of you that you want to be, and you don't need me to figure that out"

"Then why go through all of that trouble just to prove that point"

"Because I believe in you Angelo. And I wanted to show you to believe in yourself too. This whole week, you didn't sneak anything into your body, did you? And I guarantee that you forgot about me taking away all of your alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes in the first place" When Angelo made a face that he always made when Elliot read him too well, he smiled at him.

"See I told you, you don't need it in your life. This past week, I got to know the real you, without anything influencing it. And you know what? I like the Angelo that shows raw emotion out of being human, rather than have chemicals take full control of every ounce of humanity" There was a pause as Angelo felt affection rising higher and higher within his chest. "You're a good person Angelo and I had the pleasure of getting to know you in such a short amount of time. You were right when you said that you'll help me along the way. Even though you may not be aware of it, you did end up guiding me and comforting me....so thank you"

In Angelo's eyes, he saw perfection standing right in front of him. Every little thing about him, he found a reason to love; his deep ocean blue eyes, small freckles surrounding his little nose holding up his crooked, black-framed glasses. The way he showed his perfect pearly white teeth when he smiled making all of the problems in this world seem like it was nothing. Just everything was perfect, even parts about him that even he didn't like.

Slowly without even noticing Angelo was moving his face in closer. He was aware of how close he was when he felt Elliot's hot breath on his upper lip. But he couldn't stop himself; his heart was making decisions for him as his hands cupped Elliot's face. He closed his eyes when he felt smooth warm lips make contact with his.

Elliot's eyes bugged out of his face, but he didn't resist, nor did he even try to get away. When Angelo finally came back to terms with reality, he disconnected their lips and lightly shoved Elliot away from him. "Oh god, I... I-I I'm sorry" Without allowing Elliot to answer he Angled out of the room.

"Angelo wait!" He chased after him while touching his lips with his index finger. If he concentrated hard enough, he could still feel the lingering sensation of his lips against his. No matter how strange, or unexpected, what happened, happened.

They just shared their first kiss.