34B. |raylijah

31

Elijah jogged up the stairs, suddenly satisfied with his day—work wasn't that hectic. Mike seemed to lighten his workload and take on some of his reports. He'd even got the urge to look better for work; he'd switched his usual blue jeans out for a pair of navy, blue trousers and his usual, dull colored polo for a long sleeved dress shirt and a matching vest. The man even got a haircut recently, now feeling more presentable.

He'd noticed Josh looming around in the hallway, Jacob nowhere in sight. The teen had his hands stuffed in his pocket as he leaned against the door where he resided—his face was contorted into his usual scowl. But he looked to be groomed now; his hair was recently detangled, and shined under the dull hallway lights and his clothes were much cleaner. Jacob and Chres seemed to be taking good care of the boy. "Hey," Elijah broke the silence, causing Josh to glance over at him. "Where's Jake?"

"Him and Chres went to church." He replied curtly, watching as Elijah head towards Rayan's door—his usual music wasn't blasting through the door, it was oddly quiet. "You sure you want to go in there?" He smirked. Elijah raised an eyebrow, shrugging off the question.

He twisted the door, seeing it was unlocked. Rayan always left the door unlocked. "Ray?" He called, wandering towards the kitchen. Elijah was a little curious about what was waiting for him so he was surprised when he was met with Rayan but he looked different—his hair was pulled into a tight, neat bun with not a single hair out of place. His clothes were ironed and he looked...presentable. He wore a collared shirt that was tucked into a pair of jeans—Elijah fought the urge to laugh at the sight. He was dressed like someone's dad. He'd even taken out his lip piercing. "You look funny." He snapped his head in Elijah's direction, his eyes nervous and shocked.

"Elijah, you have to–"

"You really need a pop of color in this place, De'Quan." A woman's voice called as it grew closer and closer—Elijah turned around, taking in the sight of a woman who was much older than the two. Her grey hair was trimmed into a pixie cut as she sported a long, sun dress; it wasn't long before a man joined her. The man was older as well and he was the spitting image of Ray—he'd even had hair similar to the boy; his silver tresses were pulled back into the same hairstyle. Elijah noticed that he also had two earring aids, different from Ray's one. "Well, hello?" The woman forced a smile, looking back and forth between Rayan and Elijah. "Who's this?"

"This is my friend." Rayan finally spoke, his hands forced into his pockets as he seemingly fidgeted under his parent's gaze. Elijah scrunched up his face, visibly upset with Rayan's answer. Friend?

"Friend?" His father mocked, practically reading Elijah's mind. "We only know of Anthony and Melian." His mother nodded in agreement, raising her eyebrow at Elijah—she seemed to be examining the man. She stared, clearly judging him. Jon's real name is Anthony? Elijah thought.

"Does this friend have a name?" His mother said, now averting her stare into Rayan's direction.

"Elijah." Elijah finally muttered after realizing that Ray wasn't going to speak. He wanted to shrink whilst they seemed to sit in a long period of silence.

The sound of little feet padding against the floor sliced through the thick tension forming—the culprit was soon revealed. It was a child.

He looked to be no older than 1 or 2 years old; his skin was white, and he was extremely pale—his eyes were icy blue and his hair was a light shade of ginger. It dawned on Elijah that the infant was clearly albino—he raised an eyebrow at the sight, watching as he tugged on Rayan's father's pants leg. He picked up the whiney child who seemed to relax in his arms. "I'm Ryan by the way," The older man spoke, narrowing his eyes at an eerily silent Rayan. "And this is my wife, Toni; we're Rayan's parents."

"Nice to meet you two." Elijah forced a smile. "And who's this?" He cooed, directing his attention to the child.

"Syn." Rayan cleared his throat—his voice was curt and he spoke quickly. Elijah turned to see his boyfriend and noticed how his face was tense and his lips were trembling.

"Well," Toni spoke. "We're going to the room to get washed up and ready for dinner—you should join us, Elijah. We'd love to get to know one of Rayan's friends more."

"No, he's–"

"I'd love to." Elijah spoke over Rayan, shooting daggers into the man's face now.

His parents let themselves out, taking Syn's car seat with them.

Elijah leaned against the counter as Rayan began to fidget under his harsh glare. He couldn't believe the way Rayan was acting. "Friends?" He snapped, causing Ray to avert his gaze to Elijah's face. His features held embarrassment and remorse. "Is that what we are?" His feelings were hurt, he couldn't deny it.

"Elijah, no," Rayan uttered, frowning as he began to notice the hurt growing on his boyfriend's features. "They just bombarded me; I didn't even know they were coming here! I was so damn nervous–"

"So are you out?"

"Of course I am."

"So why didn't you want your parents to know about us? What the hell was that about?" Rayan began to massage his temples as he let out a loud sigh—he was visibly stressed.

"I don't know, Elijah." He breathed, emphasizing his words as he spoke through gritted. "I was kinda ambushed!"

"You need to calm down." Elijah huffed, shuffling closer to the man. He pulled him a hug, feeling the man visibly relax—Rayan nuzzled closer to the man, inhaling his soft scent. He wrapped his hands around Elijah's waist, planting a kiss on his neck. Elijah seemed to relax as well. He wanted to scream and yell and argue but he figured Rayan was already overwhelmed.

Elijah sighed before planting a kiss on the man's lips. The action made Rayan push closer to him, closing the space between their body. He pulled away, staring into the man's eyes—he pulled Elijah into another kiss, snaking his hand between the two of them to palm him though his jeans. Elijah moaned into the man's mouth, rolling his hips into Ray's hand. He huffed, exhaling in person. "Elijah, can you fuck me?"