One Last Time
Short fic about Brokeback Mountain because I needed some kind of catharsis after that emotional wring out.
Pairing is Ennis/Jack, of course. :)
It's mid-June when the doctor tells him could be any day, and Ennis leaves feeling lighter than he has in months. The plastic medicine bag full of small orange bottles still sits on the kitchen table when the old truck backs out onto the road for the last time.
The sun comes hot and early over Brokeback Mountain when he starts walking. His breath comes in short gasps, and his heart pounds painfully in his chest, but Ennis finds that it doesn't much matter anymore, and it's freeing in a way he never would have expected.
The word beautiful runs through Ennis' mind over and over again as he trudges on. It is beautiful, the season hovering between spring and summer. The wildflowers are profuse; the sky is so blue it's distracting. The openness of it all captivates him, as it always has. Ennis can feel himself expanding, as if his very soul is swelling to fill the space.
He walks for hours; there's nothing to stop for, not anymore. All that matters is this, the sky and the space and Brokeback Mountain, rising up in front of him and falling underneath the soles of his boots.
When he finally stops, it's because he truly can't go on; he falls to his knees in the grassy field he's been passing through. The sun has just set, and the sky is gray-blue with the last light of day. Something brighter than a star- a planet, maybe- appears just over the horizon as Ennis lies down one last time to watch the night fall.
Before he sleeps, Ennis sees the stars light up the night, crowding out the dark and drawing a web of white lines and points in the sky.
When he wakes up, all the pain is gone. He's lying in the same field he fell asleep in; by the way the light's hitting his face, it's mid morning. Ennis feels different, like he's half air, light and unburdened. There's someone standing just in front of him.
And then Ennis is on his feet: he won't wait, he's finished waiting. Jack is solid beneath him as Ennis pushes him to the ground and slams his lips down on Jack's. He doesn't stop kissing Jack until he has to stop to breathe; and then he keeps going, almost high on it, on Jack's chest hot against his and Jack's shirt tearing in his fists and Jack's lips on his, warm and wet and eager. Finally Ennis collapses against Jack, laying his cheek against Jack's. He can feel their two hearts racing, feel Jack's chest rising and falling beneath him.
"Is this heaven?" he murmurs finally.
"I heard God don't like our kind," Jack replies. "Maybe it's hell."
Jack's voice does something to Ennis, and he thinks he could just sit and listen to him forever. He feels somehow full, so full that he could almost burst. He can't stop the smile that spreads across his face ad makes his cheek rub against Jack's stubble; he feels delirious and wild and happy.
"I guess it doesn't matter," Ennis says, and kisses Jack again.
Pairing is Ennis/Jack, of course. :)
It's mid-June when the doctor tells him could be any day, and Ennis leaves feeling lighter than he has in months. The plastic medicine bag full of small orange bottles still sits on the kitchen table when the old truck backs out onto the road for the last time.
The sun comes hot and early over Brokeback Mountain when he starts walking. His breath comes in short gasps, and his heart pounds painfully in his chest, but Ennis finds that it doesn't much matter anymore, and it's freeing in a way he never would have expected.
The word beautiful runs through Ennis' mind over and over again as he trudges on. It is beautiful, the season hovering between spring and summer. The wildflowers are profuse; the sky is so blue it's distracting. The openness of it all captivates him, as it always has. Ennis can feel himself expanding, as if his very soul is swelling to fill the space.
He walks for hours; there's nothing to stop for, not anymore. All that matters is this, the sky and the space and Brokeback Mountain, rising up in front of him and falling underneath the soles of his boots.
When he finally stops, it's because he truly can't go on; he falls to his knees in the grassy field he's been passing through. The sun has just set, and the sky is gray-blue with the last light of day. Something brighter than a star- a planet, maybe- appears just over the horizon as Ennis lies down one last time to watch the night fall.
Before he sleeps, Ennis sees the stars light up the night, crowding out the dark and drawing a web of white lines and points in the sky.
When he wakes up, all the pain is gone. He's lying in the same field he fell asleep in; by the way the light's hitting his face, it's mid morning. Ennis feels different, like he's half air, light and unburdened. There's someone standing just in front of him.
And then Ennis is on his feet: he won't wait, he's finished waiting. Jack is solid beneath him as Ennis pushes him to the ground and slams his lips down on Jack's. He doesn't stop kissing Jack until he has to stop to breathe; and then he keeps going, almost high on it, on Jack's chest hot against his and Jack's shirt tearing in his fists and Jack's lips on his, warm and wet and eager. Finally Ennis collapses against Jack, laying his cheek against Jack's. He can feel their two hearts racing, feel Jack's chest rising and falling beneath him.
"Is this heaven?" he murmurs finally.
"I heard God don't like our kind," Jack replies. "Maybe it's hell."
Jack's voice does something to Ennis, and he thinks he could just sit and listen to him forever. He feels somehow full, so full that he could almost burst. He can't stop the smile that spreads across his face ad makes his cheek rub against Jack's stubble; he feels delirious and wild and happy.
"I guess it doesn't matter," Ennis says, and kisses Jack again.