My phone was ringing, waking me up from my sleep. It was Roman. The picture I'd set for him flashing with the vibrations if m phone.
"This better be good." I said, answering the phone. "You do realize it's three in the morning, right?"
"There is a problem." Roman began. He sounded worried and I hardly ever heard him worried.
"What is it? You've got to tell me." I said. Roman sighed on the other end and took in a shaky breath.
"I'm pretty sure Greg hates me. He's not talking to me and I know he stayed at Doverhall." Greg's parents were douchebags. Ever since he came out they've wanted nothing to do with him.
"Roman, I'm going to tell you something and you cannot tell another living soul." He was quite so I took that to continue. "Greg likes you."
"Well, I kind of figured that when he fucking asked me out." He shouted and I told him to hush. Most of the Dale family, including Eliam, was asleep. Even though he wasn't on speaker he was loud enough to be heard.
I felt Eliam shift next to me and felt his arms tighten around my waist. My t shirt was pressed against his chest. Sometime in the night he'd lost his shirt.
"Yeah, what was up with that? I mean, I thought you liked him." I could hear Roman's measured breath and knew he was coming up with a response.
"He was always what I fantasized over. Greg, with his glasses and soft curls. Greg, who loves books almost as much as I love Buffy. I built a lot of things off of what I thought I could have with him." Roman said, his words raw. "You know how it feels to wake from a really good dream? Like imagine the best dream you've ever had and when you wake up its gone and you have to keep moving. Keep going after something so amazing. That's what it felt like with Greg. It was too good."
"I'm not sure I understand you, Ro." I replied.
"He's too much of a dream, Sammy." He explained, almost annoyed at me not getting it.
"Why is that bad?" I asked hesitantly. I felt like we'd come across a fragile ground between us and just one wrong word would send us tumbling down.
"It's bad because dreams always end, Sammy. I already told you that."
***
I woke up, the second time, to an empty bed. The blanket was falling off of me, only covering my feet now. Eliam was in the bathroom, the soft yellow light seeping into his dark room.
"You awake?" He called softly to me, turning his head around to look at me.
"Yeah, barely but..." I trailed off, getting up and coming over to him. I didn't want to bring up Roman. I knew Eliam didn't like my 'meddling' in Greg and Ro's relationship so the best way to keep this peace between us was to just not bring it up. "It's Thanksgiving." I stated. Eliam smiled softly and turned to meet me half way.
"That it is." He'd already started to get ready. His white button up shirt hung on him, not buttoned yet. His black pants were the only thing in order. "How do I look?" He twirled around.
"Barely dressed." I laughed. A big grin decorated his face and he grabbed me by the waist band of my pants. My hands, reflexively, stopped my descent by slamming against his chest. He winced, barely, but didn't show much of a reaction.
"I can change that." He breathed, his mouth next to my ear. He reached out with the hand that wasn't on my pants and shut the door. His lips kissed up my neck as he backed me up against the now closed door. My back hit it softly. I closed my eyes almost against my will.
"You could get dressed." I said, shattering the moment like glass. He groaned in my ear, but I knew he was kidding.
"Fine. I knew I wasn't the only tease." He kissed me one last time then went back to getting ready.
I stepped out of the bathroom, shutting the door again behind me. I could hear Roman in my head. Telling me Greg was a dream. Over and over his words kept ringing in my mind.
I kept coming back to Eliam when I pushed the conversation away. Eliam was a dream, but we weren't going to end. We couldn't. Eliam was a dream but Eliam wasn't going to disappear. And neither were the things I felt for him. I could only hope the same went for him.
I could hear him humming to himself even through the closed door. I smiled at myself, letting my happiness consume me. At least for now. I listened to him. He was singing some old song I couldn't name.
I rummaged in my bag for the nice clothes I had packed for today. They were close to the bottom, smashed down by the movies on top. A suit, one of the only ones I had, not in bad shape. I threw off my shirt and replaced it with the white button up. My pants were next. The jacket was a dark maroon, matching the pants. I could never tie the tie. I tried, fumbling around with the thin black material, but I never seemed to get it.
"Here." A soft voice spoke from behind me. Fiona was walking into the room, hands up to help. I let go, letting the master do her work. Her hand were quick and the thing was tied neatly around my neck. "I taught Eliam how to do it when he was younger. All the Dale men are hopeless with fashion. Well, I guess most men are." She joked. Laughing, I thanked her. "No problem. I wanted to talk to you anyway so this was the perfect opportunity."
"What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" I took a seat on Eliam's bed and she sat next to me. Her hair was pulled up, tight, into a bun. The dress she wore was blue, complimenting her features, and flowed off of her like water. She stared me down.
"Eliam is sensitive. You probably already know that. He's sensitive and I think he trusts too easily." She admitted, she looked as if everything she was saying was 100 percent factual, which I knew it was. Eliam was sensitive, but not usually around me.
"Do you think we- uh- is this because of how quickly me and him got together?" I asked. Fiona shook her head.
"No, I think what you guys have is real and special. If that's what you're asking. No, I just don't want to see him getting hurt. You seem like a really nice person but Eliam is fragile. He's..." She trailed off. Her eyes locked on the now open bathroom door. Eliam was their, fully dressed in his suit, eyes blazing. I never would have described Eliam's eyes as 'blazing' but there was no other word.
"Can I talk to you, Fi?" When she didn't make a move to get up or go to him he stepped toward her. "Alone. Now."
Fiona stared back at him with just as much intensity and fervor. "Yes, but I don't see why you can't say it in front of your boyfriend." Eliam led her out of the room, slamming the door behind him and leaving me alone.
I was trying not listen, but they were so damn loud.
"Why are you trying your hardest to fuck this up?" Eliam. His words pieced straight through me. He shouldn't be mad at Fiona. She was only trying to keep him away from pain.
"I just want to see what this kids about. You never date, Eliam. Not after what happened with Taylor." Taylor, I assumed, was the boy Eliam had told me about. The one who'd told his entire school that Eliam was seeing a teacher.
"Don't bring him up." He hissed. "Sam is nothing like him."
I couldn't help but feel good at the fact that Eliam was defending me.
"I didn't say he was. I just don't want you to get hurt again." Fiona's voice changed. The calm brevity with which she spoke was replaced with soft and gentle words.
"I don't need you to protect me. Not anymore." Although his words were harsh and cruel his voice was sincere.
I could hear receding footsteps and I knew they were done fighting. But I didn't know if that was good or not.
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A/N: Hello, lovelies! Have you enjoyed the chapter? I hope the answer was yes. If it wasn't tell me why. I'd love to hear ways I could improve.
Thanks for all the comments and votes. They always make me smile.
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this is Eliam's "thanksgiving outfit" ( that sounds stupid *^*) it's super cool that you can now put pictures in the chapters. I kind of just wanted to try it out.