34B. |raylijah

12

"Jacob, I got the cereal that you asked for," Elijah called, lugging the heavy bag of groceries into his apartment. He nearly jumped out his skin when he was met with Chresanto—the man stood in his kitchen glaring as chewed an apple. "Um, Jacob!" He yelped in fear. He backed away, holding the paper bag of groceries close to his chest—he thought the man was going to pummel him.

"No no it's okay he-"

"Jacob!" Elijah called again, backing away.

"Huh?" Jacob walked into the kitchen. He'd been leaving the bathroom as shot Elijah a bewildered expression, noticing the man's frightened demeanor. "Chresanto." He eyed the confused man, narrowing his eyes. He knew Chres could be quiet intimidating.

"I didn't do anything, I promise, bug." Chres surrendered, holding his hands up.

"What's going on here?" Elijah questioned with caution, still keeping an eye out for any sneak attacks from the stocky man. "Why's he here?"

"I was starting to miss him too bad." Jacob explained with an apologetic grin. Jacob had only been at Elijah's place for two days—the boy's bruises were still there, but they looking a lot better than before.

"I didn't mean to scare you." Chresanto apologized. Elijah still wasn't buying it.

"Thank you, Li." Jacob turned to Chres, smiling faintly. The man seemed to blush before mimicking his grin. Elijah thought it was cute how Jacob could just smile at Chresanto and immediately switch his mood.

"It's okay." Elijah said. When Jacob wasn't looking, Chresanto turned to the man and furrowed his eyebrows, sending the man a mean expression. It was no secret that the man could be a bit overprotective when it came to Jacob. He was livid that Jacob went to Elijah before him. He wanted to throw a fit of rage but with one look of Jacob's bruised face, he'd seem to melt into a puddle. He'd nearly tackled the boy when he saw him, pulling him into the tightest embrace he could offer—Jacob cried in his arms at the action. Despite the consequences of being with Jacob, he was still in love with the younger boy. He trusted Jacob with every bone in his body; he just didn't trust others to not take advantage of the boy's naive tendencies—he was still cautious when it came to Elijah. He seemed decent but he didn't know for sure.

"I saw that." Jacob attempted to frown, but the smile on his face wouldn't go away if he wanted it to. It was as if the boy wasn't sobbing in Elijah's arms days prior.

"Sorry, bug." He apologized, pecking the boy's head. He chuckled when the hairs tickled his nose. "Thank you," Chres finally spoke, his eyes softening as he glanced towards Elijah. He looked like he did last time—exhausted and worn down. The man looked older than what he was; probably beat down from work and various life struggles. Elijah felt a little sorry for him. "For taking care of him and being there. I don't trust a lot of people when it comes to Jacob, but I'm glad you kept him safe. I can't thank you enough, honestly."

"You don't have to thank me. I care about Jacob and it might not be much compared to the way you care about him but trust me, if he ever needs help, I'm here." Chres nodded, ushering the boy to the door. Before they could leave, Jacob turned around and grabbed the box of fruity pebbles from the counter, mumbling a 'thank you'.

Later that day, he decided to pay Rayan a visit.

"I want to fuck you, Elijah." The man admitted. Elijah, who had been sipping on a lemonade, started to violently cough. He'd been so taken aback at the statement that he started to choke.

"Excuse me?" Elijah said in between coughs as he pat his chest.

"I said I want to fuck you." Ray repeated. "We don't have to do that just yet—I just wanted to make that known." He shrugged, smirking.

"Tell me about your tattoos and stuff." Elijah said quickly in a weak attempt to change the subject.

"Which one?" Ray chuckled. He knew exactly what Elijah was trying to do.

"All of them."

"Well, my sleeve tattoo was a rebellious act honestly." He laughed. "I got it when I was sixteen and my parents were beyond pissed." Elijah laughed at that. He'd once thought of doing such a thing to spite his mother as well. "I just told them to throw some designs together and get busy."

"What about the one on your neck?"

"It says 'dream' in arabic." He shrugged. "I do that a lot."

"Me too." Elijah admitted. He tugged at his collar, slightly embarrassed at his outfit. Whilst Rayan had on a 'Fall Out Boy' Band tee and a pair of black, ripped jeans—he'd simply wore plaid button up shirt and green trousers, never forgetting his gold framed glasses. Their styles were obviously different and sometimes Elijah wondered where he'd fit into the boy's world of Rock bands and leather pants—all he seemed to enjoy was jazz and collard shirts.

The two seemed to enjoy Mac Demarco though; they were currently listening to One More Love Song. "I have a tattoo." Elijah said quietly. He'd never told anyone about it.

"Tell me more." Ray turned, pushing a few braids out of his face, now facing Elijah and giving him his full attention.

"Well I got it like last year." Elijah chuckled at the memory. He was on the verge of fainting while getting it done. "Do you mind if I take off my shirt?" He questioned. Ray nodded, urging him to go ahead. Elijah slipped off his shirt and revealed the Alchemy symbol tattoo on his chest.

"What does it mean?" Ray questioned as he focused on every detail in the large tattoo. Though he labeled himself as pretty blunt and honest, he decided against telling Elijah that he was slightly turned on. Not now at least.

"It means love, balance, and artistic creativity. Probably some other stuff too." Elijah smiled, tracing the tattoo. "I saw a picture of it in the library one day and just...went for it; I was tired of being kinda lame." Rayan chuckled.

"Not having tattoos doesn't make you lame, Elijah."

"I know—but I always loved the idea of tattoos. You stand for something so much, that you want a reminder of it on your body forever. That's kinda beautiful when you think about it." He explained, how buttoning up his shirt.

"I never really thought about it like that," Rayan shrugged. Their eyes met for a moment—Elijah nor Rayan bothered to look away; Rayan became engulfed in the man. He took in Elijah's appearance—admiring the man's lissome lips and tantalizing gaze. Rayan simply thought Elijah was breathtaking. And Elijah thought the same about him. "Elijah?"

"Yes?"

"Can I kiss you?"

"Yes."