Summer of '07

Lights Out

Chapter 26

April 2019

~TRAVIS~

"Power went out," Elijah points out the obvious.

"Yeah, no shit." I roll my eyes, reaching for my phone and turning my flashlight on. "I gotta find some candles."

"Why? I thought you said you were going to bed," he asserts, slightly starting to annoy me.

"You're right. I said I was..."

"You did," he says as he approaches me in the dark, reminding me of a dream I had from the summer of '07. A dream that consisted of Elijah and I kissing for the very first time in the midst of darkness. It was so weird how the dream was suddenly starting to become real, even if this obviously wasn't the first time we were kissing, the setting was the same and I couldn't help but feel like it was a callback.

"When I first realized that I had feelings for you that summer, I had a dream just like this..." I mumble to him, as if I felt guilty about telling him this, knowing that it would just bring him closer to me.

"You had a dream that I would kiss you in the dark? Are you psychic all of a sudden?" He whispers to me seductively as he moves in closer and I can feel his soft breaths against my lips.

My heart's racing and my blood is pumping. Fuck it. Fuck everyone. Fuck everything. I just want to kiss the guy that I've loved since I was 17.

"I just want it to be the way it was between us," he whispers again.

"Then why'd you ruin it in the first place?" I ask him defensively.

"Because I was scared... and selfish. But let me make it up to you," he answers quietly. I don't know why he's whispering, it's not like there's anyone around to hear us. We're in my apartment for fuck's sake.

"How?" I ask him, even though I know what he's going to do.

"Like this..." he says and I feel his lips move in closer, but I still find myself resisting the temptation.

"I can't... I want you... but I can't." I want him right here and now, but I can't. It fucking sucks!

"Alright then. I'm leaving," he says, as I can feel him turning his back on me just before he turns on his iPhone flashlight. Wait, what? He's leaving? In what car? I'm the one who drove him here and I can't drive him back now in that fucking thunderstorm. He's gonna have to wait.

"Elijah, wait!" I shout, but by that time he's already halfway out the front door. Where the fuck is he going? Out into the storm? Fuck! I follow him down the stairs and continue to cry out his name. "Elijah, will you just fucking wait! I can't drive you back right now!"

"That's fine! I'll just catch a fucking cab!" He shouts back as he exits the stairwell and walks right into the thunderstorm. The things I do for love.

I continue to follow him, letting myself get fucking drenched but it's fine because there's no way in hell I'm just gonna leave him out here. "Elijah, come back! I'm sorry!"

"Sorry for what?!"

"For everything. I'm sorry that Michelle cheated on you, but I'm not gonna help you cheat on her just for revenge. I'm not gonna let you take advantage of me like that! I can't let you break my heart again!"

"Fuck you! I already told you that it has nothing to do with her!"

"It has everything to do with her, that's why you came here tonight! You said it yourself, she didn't care about your feelings so why should you care about hers? You know it's about her!"

"It's about you, you fucking idiot!" He screams, slamming his fist into my cheek and sending me to the ground. Fuck no! He ain't doing that shit to me again! I briskly rise back to my feet and I tackle him to the ground like a linebacker. He slams into a pit of mud and before I know it the both of us are covered in nothing but mud as we take turns pounding on each other. I wouldn't necessarily call it an actual fight as he quickly begins to give up once he's seen that I've pretty much won this already. Oh, how the tables have turned!

"This isn't like the last time... you don't get to just beat me up and leave me bleeding on the ground," I tell him as I've completely gotten him pinned to the ground like the pussy he is.

"I'm sorry I punched you. I'm just so sick of you accusing me of using you as some sort of fucking revenge plot. I'm telling you right now that it was bound to happen at some point because I still... because I still love you. More than Michelle. And I know that you love me too. Tonight, I felt like I needed you after what happened. I didn't intend for stuff to happen tonight. I just needed you." This whole scene makes me feel like it's happening straight out of a romance novel.

I get up from the ground and without a word, I raise my hand for him to grab. He clasps my hand as I pull him up and before I know it we clash into a hug. The thunderclaps and bolts of lightning however quickly persuade us to return to the safety of my apartment before we get killed by a falling tree or something.

Of course we're still drenched and covered in mud by the time we get back inside and so we head for the bathroom first and light it up using our phone flashlights. He takes off his soaking wet shirt and plops it onto the floor as he stares at me. I do the same as I start the shower. "You can go first if you want," I say, knowing damn well what he's thinking right now but still feeling reluctant about it all.

"Okay..." he says with a strong sense of disappointment, though at least he's finally done trying to pressure me into doing something I don't want to do. Makes me actually want to do it now that there's no pressure. I head for the bathroom door but before I leave, I quickly take a quick turnaround and give him a small peck on the lips. Not a full-on makeout but something to get it out of my system for now.

Before I leave the bathroom however, I find myself asking him, "Say if we were to hookup tonight... what happens tomorrow? Ya know, with Michelle and everything? We get together tonight, but what happens then?"

"Honestly... I don't know. I guess we'd have to play it by ear. Things are just so complicated right now for me to give you a definitive answer. If I weren't married... things would be different."

"Would they? The last time we hooked up you weren't married. But then the morning after, you stopped talking to me."

"I can promise you that won't happen again. I know what I want this time. And it's you, and only you." I'd very much like to believe that.

"So what, are you just gonna get a divorce?"

"Probably. She already destroyed our relationship... why should we continue it?"

"I... don't know..."

"I mean, I love you more... so maybe it's best we end it. She can be happy with her new man... and I can be happy with mine."

I smile at the thought and I finally decide to drop my shield. There's nothing really holding me back anymore... assuming that Elijah can be trusted with what he's saying. And I think that I do trust him. I believe that he loves me, just as I love him. I hope that I'm not making a fucking mistake. I drop my pants so that we're both now completely naked. I slam my lips into his and we makeout lustfully in the dark, just like in my dream. We get into the shower together and I don't stop kissing him as the water rains down on us.