Chương 21: Twenty One

When the boys arrived at Lucas’ home, drenched from head to toe and smiling sheepishly, Ms. Kim couldn't help but shake her head in amusement. She quickly ushered them along to shower and change into clean, dry clothes before they both caught a cold. After that, Lucas rounded up all the junk food in the house, announcing that they were going to have a movie night in his room. She wasn't going to lie, the two were adorable together, so much that the fact that they were both guys was almost irrelevant. It was ridiculous how well they matched.

And yet, as she sat alone in the living room, mindlessly staring at the television screen, she couldn't help but think. She couldn't deny the happy glint she saw in her son's eyes over the past few weeks. It seemed as if he finally found someone he truly cared for, and she admired that. But there was still one obvious fact that stood in the way- they were both guys. She knew that her son was well aware of the risks that came with this relationship. And as happy as he was, she knew deep down that it wouldn't last. Right now it was easy, no one knew about it. But nothing was going to stay hidden forever. Soon, they were bound to face the world's harsh judgment. Then, there were also Elijah's parents. Knowing their type, they would never, ever approve of such a relationship. There were no two words about it. The obstacles in their way were far too large to ignore. This was real life, not a movie where they could go against the world or run away together.

Their relationship was not going to last. Realism demanded it.

But even if it was for a short while, she wanted them to be happy together while it lasted. To cherish every moment. To emerge from this road with beautiful memories and no regrets.

Only one question remains in her mind.

How long?

Elijah ended up falling asleep in the middle of the movie, mouth hanging open in the most graceful way possible. At least Lucas thought so, because the younger always looked graceful no matter what he did. He smiled and brought Elijah's head to rest on his shoulder. The latter hummed softly in his sleep as he cozily dug himself into the elder's neck. Lucas’ mind drifted back to the moment they kissed in the rain and he unconsciously bit his lip. It was all so good. So fucking good. Almost too good. The way Elijah's soft lips melted against his own was almost breathtaking. The feeling was indescribable, and it made him want to try it over and over again until he found the right words.

Lucas was falling.

He let his fingers softly trail across his cheekbones and his defined jawline, his touch as light as a feather. Noticing how it made Elijah stir slightly, he retracted his hand.

His eyes shifted to the dance trophy that still stood proud on his shelf, a reminder of their success that night.

He hoped that even if, Heaven forbid, they didn't work out, that they'd still be friends, and that they'd still be partners.

"But I don't wanna!" Lucas whined, a huge pout on his face. Alex rolled his eyes at the younger.

"Our project is due today, genius. And you've been bailing out since day one. You're not escaping this time."

Lucas sent Elijah an almost longing look, "But-"

"Not buts. You're coming with me." Before he knew it, the shorter was pulling him out of the cafeteria by the ear, the latter whimpering out a string of 'ow's as their friends watched in amusement. Elijah chuckled at the scene. Lucas really was a baby sometimes.

"Now that he's finally gone, we can discuss," Sam suddenly said, grabbing everyone's attention at the table. The guy actually looked serious for the very first time, "Lucas’ birthday is in a week. What are we going to do?"

Elijah blinked. Birthday? How had it never occurred to him to ask Lucas when his birthday was?

"Throw him a huge surprise party with lots of alcohol, fried chicken and big butts. Everything he likes," Miles suggested.

Elijah tried his best not to snort at the last one. No wonder.

"But isn't that what we do every year?" Chris groaned.

"Well if you have any better ideas please be my guest," Sam said with a scoff.

"I don't," Chris sighed, "What about you, Eli? I mean you guys seem to be really close these days. Any suggestions?"

Elijah shrugged, "You guys have known him way longer than I did. You'd know better."

Sam clapped his hands, "Party it is then. Where should we do it this time?"

Elijah bit his lip. He recalled his parents talking about having to leave the country for the next few weeks. "How about my place?" He suggested.

Sam lifted his eyebrows, "Would that be alright with you?"

"My parents are gonna be out of town so why not?"

"That does make sense but I'll have you know there's gonna be lots of drunk teenagers. I do not guarantee how your house will look the next morning."

Elijah pondered over it for a second. Well, the house was always in pristine condition anyway. He hated it. It would be nice to see it a huge mess for once. Besides, it was Lucas’ birthday. He could at least do that much. Of course he was going to have to lock his and his parents' rooms, not to mention his dad's office and his mother's study to make sure no one gets in there and does anything inappropriate.

"That's okay. We'll do it at my place."

Arms crossed, Elijah watched from his balcony as his parents' car took off. A small smile stretched across his lips. He walked out of his room and down the stairs to find the head servant walking in the hall.

"Hey, Kelvin!" He called out, making his way over to the head servant with a smile.

"Ah, Mister Elijah," The elder said, bowing politely.

"My parents aren't here so you can just call me Elijah," the blonde said with a smile, "Anyways, I'm gonna need your help with something."

The servant's brows furrowed in confusion as he nodded, "Sure, what is it?"

"I'm gonna be throwing a party here."

The man widened his eyes, "What? A party?"

"A friend's birthday party, to be exact. I don't want my parents knowing about it though."

The man was surprised to say the least. One because Elijah was never one to keep anything from his parents or rebel and two because he wasn't exactly the partying type, either. He bit his lip and looked very unsure, "Are you sure about this, Elijah? If your parents get to know, they surely won't be too happy."

"And that's why I need your help to make sure they don't..." Elijah sighed, "Ever since I was little I've just been doing everything they told me. It's my last year of school... I want to enjoy my life a little. Can you do this little favor for me? And I promise I'll take full responsibility if they ever do find out."

The man's expression softened and a kind smile made its way onto his lips, "I never thought I'd see the day. Okay, how can I help?"

Elijah grinned, "I want you to dismiss all the staff until my parents get home. It's better if they don't know about it either. I'll just need a few to come help clean up the next morning."

"Okay, you don't worry about a thing and leave it to me. I have a few staff members which I trust very much. I'll send them here to clean the house and your parents won't know a thing."

Elijah smiled, "Thanks, Kelvin. I really appreciate it."

There was a certain glow in Elijah's eyes, and it reminded Kelvin so much of the time Ricky was still around, when Elijah actually used to smile from his heart. Having worked there for around seven years now, he had developed a certain connection to the family and was unbelievably glad to see how happy Elijah was again. He deserved to enjoy what was left of the best years of his life, and decided he would help him do just that.

"Hey," Lucas smiled as he made his way to the blonde who was stood outside his house. He stopped right in front of his boyfriend, "It feels like forever since I've spent time with you. You've been pretty busy these days, huh?"

Elijah simply smiled, "You could say that. Come." The younger led Lucas through his garden and towards the front door of his house.

"You won't even wish me a happy birthday?" Lucas pouted, making the blonde stop and turn to look at him.

"Today's your birthday?" Elijah furrowed his eyebrows.

"Uh... yeah. I never did tell you, huh? I never asked about your birthday either..." Elijah didn't fail to pick up on his slightly disheartened tone even if he tried to play it off.

"I never asked you either. So I guess it's both of our faults, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Come on, it's cold. We should go in."

Lucas nodded and Elijah twisted the door knob, opening the door wide. He walked him through the short hallway and they stopped right in front of the living room. The elder was shocked to see all his classmates standing there, in the large room, holding up a huge banner that read "HAPPY BIRTHDAY DICKFACE!", with a terrible cartoon version of his face next to the words (which he assumed was courtesy of Chris).

"What..." He blinked. It wasn't really surprising that his friends would throw him a 'surprise' party since they basically did that every year like it was tradition. What was surprising was that Elijah was in on it too, and they did it in his house, no less.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" His classmates chorused (or tried to, at least, the end result was an ear-piercing cacophony of unsynchronized noises).

"Happy birthday, Lucas," Elijah said into his ear from beside him. When he turned, he saw Elijah smiling at him softly, and he couldn't help but smile back. Before he could even say anything, his friends had already attacked him with their violent hugs, leading him further into the living room. They demanded he'd start opening their gifts immediately and he had no choice but to comply.

Elijah watched his boyfriend open his friends' gifts with a soft smile on his face. He realized how much he liked seeing Lucas surrounded by his friends, laughing and enjoying himself. How much he liked Lucas. He hoped he would like his gift. Of course he didn't put it among all the others because he didn't want some idiot accidentally breaking it or something like that. Plus, he wanted to give it to him personally, not surrounded by their entire freaking class.

After the whole gift-opening session was over with, Miles blasted up the music and the drinks were brought out, and it wasn't too long before it turned into an obnoxious teenage party. Sam demanded that Lucas would drink, and Lucas sent a look to Elijah from across the room as if silently asking for permission. Elijah smiled and sent him a nod. It was his birthday, and he deserved to let loose and have some fun. Tonight was all about Lucas.

Hours passed. They kept partying like it was nobody's business, everyone getting drunker by the second. All things considered, Elijah still didn't like parties and preferred to remain in his own bubble. He stuck around the quietest possible corners for the most part, not wanting to intrude in all the fun with his awkward self. Lucas approached him time and time again, obviously under the influence as he tugged him off to the dance floor and forced him into a dance. And Eli would bob awkwardly to the absurdly loud EDM, waiting patiently for Lucas to get distracted so he could quietly slip back into his corner, only to be dragged off again twenty minutes later. It was sort of amusing though, seeing Lucas in his element, laughing and dancing and seeming like he was having the time of his life. It was also then when he found himself admiring Lucas’ bright smile and easygoing charisma as he joked around with his friends.

Somewhere close to midnight, Elijah made his way to the kitchen and quietly grabbed a carton of chocolate milk from his refrigerator, ignoring the couple that was making out there and went back into the living room to sit at an isolated sofa in the corner. He sat and watched his classmates dance and enjoy themselves as he sucked on his chocolate milk, and not long after he felt the couch dip next to him and an arm swung around his shoulder.

"Where were you all this time, Eli baby?" Lucas slurred, a wide drunken grin on his face. Elijah concluded he was more than just a little tipsy.

"Your reek of alcohol," Elijah said, crinkling his nose in displeasure, "how much have you had to drink?"

"A lot," Lucas hiccupped, "But does that mean you won't kiss me anymore?" He asked with a pout. Elijah rolled his eyes and pushed the other's face away from him.

"No."

"I really want to kiss you again though," Lucas stated with another one of those godforsaken pouts on his face. Elijah found himself blushing slightly.

"I don't care."

"I'm serious! I wanna do it again. Just like that night in the rain. Smoochie smoochie~" Lucas playfully leaned in closer and Elijah quickly pushed him away again, looking around to see if anyone was looking. Luckily there wasn't.

"Stop that, Lucas. There's people around here."

"Then let's go to your room," Lucas wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Lucas..." Elijah sighed exasperatedly, "Stop that."

"But why? You know... this girl came up and started dancing with me. Or, more like on me. But I left her and came to you because I knew you'd be jealous. See? I'm so loyal to you. Don't I deserve a kiss?" Lucas puckered his lips.

The corners of Elijah's lips twitched. It was taking everything in him to not smile like an idiot and keep a stoic expression, "No you don't."

"You're so mean... You didn't even get me a birthday gift..."

"I did."

"Really?" Lucas’ eyes lit up, "Where is it?"

"I'll give it to you later."

"Why can't you do it now?" Lucas asked, before gasping as if he just figured something out, "Wait, I know why!"

Elijah lifted an amused brow, "Why?"

"Because it's a lap dance!" Lucas said happily.

Elijah scowled immediately, "What the- No."

"Aww that's too bad... Could you give me one anyway? I'd love to get a lap dance from that amazing ass of yours."

"That's enough," Elijah stood up, face flushed. He didn't know Lucas was such a pervert when he was drunk. A sudden loud crash grabbed his attention and he quickly turned his eyes to the source of the noise. Only to be met with the sight of his mother's favorite vase lying shattered on the floor.

‘Oh, I'm so screwed.’

It wasn't like he didn't see it coming though. Frankly, he didn't care that much. ‘I hated that damn vase anyway.’ Elijah's watched the movies, he knew that even though they were going to clean the house very thoroughly, there would still be some stupid clue left behind somewhere like a shoe in a refrigerator or a drawing of a penis at the back of the bathroom door or some shit like that. And this was a huge house, they were bound to miss something. Sooner or later his parents were going to find out that this party happened, and he was surely going to get an earful.

He didn't really care.

"Sooo... What about that lap dance?"

Elijah rolled his eyes, "You're not getting one."

"Ugh fine. But expect me to give you one on your birthday," Lucas winked.

"No thank you."

"You know you can't deny a lap dance, Eli baby. Hey, would you like a little demonstration?"

Elijah face palmed, "Oh my God, Lucas, no. I don't want a demonstration."

"Are you sure...?" Lucas wiggled his eyebrows as he stood up and inched closer to Elijah. Thankfully, Sam popped out of no where right at that moment and Elijah internally sighed in relief. Anything that was going to get him out of this conversation about butts and lap dances was welcomed with open arms.

"There you guys are!"

"Sam, please take your drunk friend and go."

Sam laughed loudly, clearly also a little tipsy, "Let me guess. Drunk Lucas being inappropriate and talking about Yura's butt again?"

Elijah wanted to correct him and say "my butt, actually," but simply nodded instead, "Something like that."

Sam laughed again and smacked Lucas upside the head, "Stop talking about your sexual fantasies to Eli, birthday boy. You'll corrupt him."

"That's if he hasn't already," Elijah said with a scowl. Lucas only sent him a goofy grin. His legs gave out on him suddenly and if it weren't for Elijah quickly stepping forward and steadying him by the waist, he would have fallen down.

"Looks like he's gonna pass out." Sam said, "I'll take him home."

Elijah looked down at the brunette who was now resting his head on his shoulder, eyes closed.

"You're not in any condition to drive."

Sam scowled, "I was gonna get a cab."

"That's okay. He can just spend the night here. I'll take him to one of the guest rooms."

"Alright," Sam shrugged, "you go ahead. I'll kick all these people out of here."

"Thanks." Elijah said gratefully, wrapping Lucas’ arm around his shoulder to support him as he walked into the hallway.

"Where are we going...?" Lucas murmured lazily.

"The guest room."

"But I wanna sleep with you..."

Elijah sighed, realizing Lucas was too drunk to comprehend what he just said.

"No thanks. I let that happen once and I ended up with your drool on my face the next morning."

"Hey, we're boyfriends now, so we're supposed to exchange feelings... and saliva."

Elijah was about to retort but froze when he saw one of their classmates randomly popping out of a corner. He studied the two for a second, and Elijah figured there was no way he didn't hear what Lucas had just said. Worry enveloped him, until the guy grinned drunkenly at them, "Sup."

Elijah internally let out a sigh of relief as Lucas waved back at the guy happily. He passed by them and continued on his merry way, suddenly dropping to floor and laughing, before standing up and walking again.

‘I swear teenagers are so weird.’ Elijah grimaced.

"Nice guy, huh?" Lucas stated.

"Sure."

Once they reached the room, Elijah dropped him down to sit on the bed and looked at his watch. Exactly five minutes to midnight.

"Stay here, okay?"

Lucas immediately frowned, "Don't go..."

"I'll be back. I still need to give you your birthday gift, remember?"

Excitement quickly enveloped his features and he clapped happily, "Yay!"

"I'll be back in a minute, okay? Stay right here."

Lucas obediently nodded, looking almost like a puppy. It was true he was ten times more perverted when drunk, but he was also ten times more adorable. Elijah jogged up the stairs to his room as quickly as he could, grabbing the small box wrapped in silver gift paper and making his way down again. He stopped to quickly say goodbye to his friends and locked the door after them, before making his way back to the room where Lucas resided. He was still sitting right there in bed, hands neatly folded over his lap, eyes lighting up once he saw Eli. Elijah walked over to him and handed him the box. But when the brunette went to open it, he grabbed his hands stop him.

"You can't open it now. I just wanted to give it to you before midnight."

"But why?!"

"Because you're drunk. Plus... I want you to open it when I'm not around."

"But I'm too curious..."

Elijah rolled his eyes and sat down on the bed next to him, "You're just gonna have to wait. Did you enjoy the party?"

Lucas immediately nodded, "I did, a lot. I just wished I could spend more time with you…"

"I wanted you to have fun and let loose with your friends... not worry about my stiff, uneventful self all the time."

"But that's exactly why I like you. I like you for who you are, and I don't want you to change or become like anyone else."

Elijah smiled and looked down at his watch. It was just a few seconds to midnight now. He didn't know where he got the bravery, but he was sure it mostly had to do with the fact that Lucas was very drunk and probably wouldn't remember a thing in the morning.

"It's almost twelve," He said and leaned closer to the brunette, for once stepping out of his comfort zone and making the first move. "Happy birthday, Lucas," he whispered in his ear, before pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, allowing his lips to linger for a few seconds. He then moved to press his lips to Lucas’ own, hand cupping his cheek gently. Lucas was quick to respond, tilting his head to the side and sighing softly into the kiss. His hands went to clutch the front of Eli’s collar, lightly pulling him in and parting his lips.

Elijah could taste the alcohol in his breath and felt as if he himself was getting intoxicated. Lucas went to lie back down, keeping his lips on Eli’s as he pulled him down along with him until they were both laying down, facing each other. Eli pulled away slowly, running a hand through Lucas’ brown locks as the latter stared at him with glazed eyes.

“Thanks for today,” he whispered, smiling softly. “Will you spend the night with me?”

His tone was almost uncharacteristically gentle, eyes imploring as he stared at his boyfriend expectantly. And honestly, Eli himself didn’t want to leave. It was his birthday, the least he could do was honor his humble request.

“Okay,” he agreed slowly, placing a soft kiss to his boyfriend’s forehead. “I’ll just go make sure everyone’s gone and lock up the house.”

“Don’t be long,” Lucas pouted childishly and Eli rolled his eyes.

“Sure.”

By the time Elijah was back to the guest room, Lucas had already passed out on his back, lips parted and body sprawled out on the bed. Elijah stayed true to his word though, turning off the lights and slipping under the sheets with his boyfriend, a feeling of warmth and content filling his chest.

‘Good night, Lucas.’

The next morning, Lucas woke up with the worst headache he's had in a long time.

"Fuck. Why do I do this to myself...?" He clutched at his head, trying to stop the pounding. He looked at the bedside table and saw a cup of water and a two pills, which he could only assume Elijah for left him. The boy himself was nowhere to be seen though. He gratefully swallowed the pills and gulped down the entire cup of water. When he found himself able to walk, he dragged his feet into the bathroom and freshened up, and by the time he was out the headache had subsided for the most part. That was when he noticed a small box wrapped in silver gift paper on the bedside table and frowned.

That was when memories of the previous night came back to him. Memories of a sweet kiss and a birthday gift. And something about a lap dance.

Walking over, he unwrapped the box and opened it, finding a plain black mug and a folded note in it. He took out the hand-written note and started reading it.

"Hey,

So... There's something I wanted tell you but I'm too embarrassed to actually say it to you face-to-face. That's why I decided I'd write you this extremely cheesy note instead. Mind you, this is very uncharacteristic of me and more than just a little awkward to write but... I really need to tell you this.

I just wanted to say thanks. Thank you for everything. You may not realize it but you changed my life. Two years ago, I lost my brother. My only family, my best friend, my little brother. And I thought I lost everything because I had no one else in this world who actually cared about me. So I decided to start over. I bleached my hair, and I built these walls around me. I became an emotionless drone. I did what my parents wanted me to do and I never complained. I had no personality, no life basically. I became a little bitch, to put it in your terms.

But then you came along, and you taught me how to start living again. You taught me to chase my dreams and to not give two shits about what my parents said, to actually take the reins and be in control of my own life. The truth is, I started being happy again. And well... you make me happy.

Gosh this is so weird. Okay.

So yeah, bottom line, thank you, Lucas. For everything. I hope you like my gift.

Do me a favor and never speak of this note to me. This is already embarrassing enough as it is.

- Elijah."

Lucas had to read the name a few times over to really believe it was Elijah who wrote it. He bit his lip and read the note over and over again. It didn't fail to make him smile like some sort of love-struck idiot every single time. This was one of the few instances in which Elijah was being open about his feelings, and it made his heart swell. He folded the note and held it against his lips, feeling a certain warmth spread across his chest.

‘You don't have to thank me, Elijah.’

He put the note neatly back in the box and turned his attention to the mug. It was as he first saw it, just a plain black mug. Nothing more and nothing less. He didn't mind though, it was a gift from Elijah, and that was all that mattered to him. That note was enough to make his day anyway.

Placing the mug back in the box, he left the guest room and made his way to the living room. The place was a complete and utter mess, but what got his attention was Elijah, dragging a huge black plastic bag behind him and throwing all the empty cups and bottles in it. Smiling, he walked up to the blonde boy and hugged him from behind, taking him by surprise.

"Morning," He mumbled.

"Oh, you finally managed to get your ass out of bed."

"Yeah. Just had one of the worst hangovers to date. Thanks for the pills, by the way."

"You're welcome."

"So... What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Okay, that was a dumb question."

"No shit."

Silence enveloped them for a minute, before Lucas spoke up, "Thanks for the mug. I'll make sure I have my coffee in it every day."

Elijah bit his lip. ‘That means he read that embarrassing letter.’ "You're welcome. I made you some breakfast. Go eat, you'll need the energy because you're gonna have to help me clean up, birthday boy."

Lucas laughed softly and placed a small peck on Elijah's jawline, "Okay." The gesture sent shivers down the latter's spine but he shook it off and got back to cleaning. Not long after, the servants rang the bell and Elijah cleaned alongside them, with Lucas joining in when he was done eating. Lucas wasn't really the cleaning type, but he enjoyed it anyway because he was doing it together with Elijah. While they were washing the dishes together, they ended up having a huge water fight and were completely drenched and laughing when they were done. Lucas stopped to admire the way Elijah's damp white shirt clung to his skin, enough to show the outline of his abs. Was it weird that he wanted to run his hands all over his chest and test if the skin really was as smooth as it looked? It was definitely weird for him, but honestly speaking, nothing was not weird the moment Elijah stepped into his life. So whatever, he was just going to embrace it. He already promised himself he wouldn't deny any more, that he would just go with the flow. Still, that didn't mean he was going to up and make grabby hands at the blonde, that would just creep him out.

A few hours later, the house was spotless again. It looked exactly the same as it did before the party, save for the missing vase his mother adored so much for some deranged reason. After thanking the servants, Elijah sent them off and went to sit next to Lucas on the couch, letting out a long sigh.

"Thanks for the party yesterday, Eli. I had a lot of fun."

"I didn't do much. Except save your friends the cost of booking an event space somewhere, of course."

Lucas laughed, "True that. Hey... you never told me when your birthday was."

"The 12th of April. I'm not really one for celebrating birthdays though."

"Come on, you're never too old to celebrate your birthday! Just a heads up, I'm gonna make it the best birthday of your entire life." Lucas grinned.

"I'd like to see you try. You know I'm not easily impressed," Elijah said with a scoff, "But please, no parties. Or I'll saw your head off."

"I know you hate parties. And don't worry, I don't have a death wish."

"Glad you noticed."

"Okay, I really need to go take a shower. I'm all sweaty and gross. I'm gonna borrow some of your clothes," It was more like a statement than a request. Elijah sighed and shook his head as he watched Lucas go up to his room. He sat for a while, just blankly staring at the television screen with nothing in particular on his mind. He decided he also needed to take a shower and went up to his room. As he was making his way to his walk-in closet, he noticed a sheet of paper sitting on his desk. On it was written, in what he recognized as Lucas’ awful handwriting;

"You make me happy, too."

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