Beauty In The Eye Of The Beholder - Part Thirteen
Title: Beauty In The Eye Of The Beholder
Pairing: Dom/Elijah
Rating: PG13-R, PG13 this part
Part: Thirteen
Disclaimer: No I don't own them, yes this is made up.
Feedback: As always, any feedback (inc. CC) is welcome.
Notes: AU. Comes from a plot bunny by cara_dee that I read and couldn't stop thinking about: "A modern day beauty and the beast. Lij is in England, and Dom is a man who has been on his own for a very long time. These two, the beauty and the beast, come together, and give one another just what each need." So I adopted the bunny, and here it is. This will be a series - updates short but regular. :)
Prologue
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight
Part Nine
Part Ten
Part Eleven
Part Twelve
Dom was barely aware of the week passing. He’d never really understood the expression that time flies when you’re having fun, but now it occurred to him that maybe he’d just never been properly happy before. Time was certainly flying now - he spent long days in the cool autumn sunshine digging the flowerbeds and kissing Elijah, and long evenings in the fire-lit sitting room, watching the flames and kissing Elijah some more. Not to mention long nights, curling up in bed around a warm body, and yet more kissing.
***
“Why don’t you move in with me?”
Elijah glanced up, eyes surprised. “What?”
Dom nervously pulled at the tassel on a cushion, then dumped it unceremoniously to one side. “Why don’t you move in with me? I mean, I know you’re still paying for your hotel room and it hardly seems worth it.”
Elijah paused, fingers poised over the keys.
“Well,” he said, “I didn’t want to rush you. It seemed rude to ask.” He put down his laptop and shifted a little closer to Dom. “Do you want me to move in? Or are you only asking to be polite?”
“No, I want you to,” Dom said firmly, and was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek. “Anyway,” he continued, steeling himself, “I don’t know how much longer we have together - we’d better make the most of it. When are you going back to America?”
Elijah, who was resting his head on Dom’s shoulder, gave him a sideways look out of wide blue eyes.
“About that,” he said gently. “I...well, I’m not sure I really want to go back.”
Dom couldn’t believe his ears. “What? But you live there - you work there!”
“Hm,” Elijah murmured, non-committed. “Actually, I’ve been looking at some things here - journalism
things - and I’ve applied for a couple. I just think I need a break from everything at home, and I want to be
here to write my book. And there’s you, of course.” With that, he laid his head back on Dom’s shoulder, taking his hand and linking their fingers together.
“So you’re staying in England?” Dom asked, incredulously.
“For the foreseeable future, yeah.”
There was a beat of silence.
“Well, that settles it,” Dom said decisively. “Get your stuff first thing tomorrow morning and move in with me.”
***
Elijah didn’t have as much stuff as Dom had expected. He didn’t even have a large suitcase - just a small case with some space still left in it.
“There, you can use that side of the wardrobe,” Dom said, opening the oak door for Elijah, “and I’ve cleared these drawers for you...”
“You shouldn’t have gone to any bother,” Elijah said politely. He unzipped the suitcase and started unpacking hastily folded clothes. “Though thank you.”
Dom waved it away. “It’s no trouble.”
Elijah paused for a moment, a half-unfolded jumper in his hands. “I think you’re really brave, you know. To...to be letting me get so close so soon. I would have thought that after Billy and everything, you would have been really cautious and careful.”
Dom pondered this, sitting down on the edge of the double bed.
“I suppose you’re right,” he said slowly. “Maybe it’s just the kind of person I am - I fall in love really quickly, and that makes me trusting. I mean, I trust you completely.”
Elijah’s face changed subtly, a barely-visible frown creasing his forehead. “But why?”
Dom simply shrugged. “I don’t know why. I just know that I do. Don’t you trust me?”
Elijah laid the jumper over the end of the bed and sat next to Dom.
“I do,” he said, “but you’ve told me everything about yourself.” He let out a wry laugh. “All you really know about me is that I came to England on a whim without even telling my last boyfriend that I was coming at all. That hardly seems the most trustworthy thing someone could do.”
In all honesty, Dom had quite forgotten that. He was surprised to find he didn’t care, and was just about to say so when Elijah continued.
“You’re a much nicer person than I could ever be, even if I tried. Really, Dom, you could do better than me.”
Dom reached for Elijah’s hand, but Elijah jerked it away sharply, giving Dom a cold, blue glare.
“What’s wrong?” Dom asked, keeping his voice gentle. “If you want to talk to me about anything, then go for it - you listened to me, I’ll listen to you.”
Elijah stayed quiet, for such a long time that Dom was about to get up and go, but just as he was gearing up to do it, Elijah spoke.
“I really like you,” he murmured, “and I want to be with you, but I just feel...that you deserve better than me.”
“But I don’t see why you aren’t plenty good enough. And anyway, you deserve better than a social recluse too.”
Elijah gave a shaky laugh, but Dom could see that his eyes were damp.
“But after Billy, you need someone steady and slow and careful like you, not someone that just goes crashing in and leaving broken pieces everywhere like me. I mean, take what happened with Karl - it was my fault we fell apart. I...I had a one night stand.” He waited only just enough time for Dom to hide a look of shock, before adding, “On his birthday.”
Dom didn’t quite know what to say.
“Erm...why?” he asked eventually.
Elijah shrugged wildly. “I don’t know. Felt like it.” And with that he hid his face in his hands and let out a series of sobs.
Dom just sat there. He felt slightly numb. Had he really judged Elijah so wrongly? He didn’t even have the heart to put one arm round his shoulders, which were shaking.
“I wasn’t even going to tell you that.” Elijah’s voice was choked and muffled. “I was just going to carry on pretending, but...you deserve better.”
Dom couldn’t argue. He might not be perfect, but he’d never cheated on anyone. And after the mess of his last relationship, maybe Elijah was right - maybe he did deserve better.
The trouble was, he wanted Elijah.
He waited in silence until Elijah’s sobs were receding. Then, as Elijah got up and folded the jumper back into his suitcase, Dom spoke.
“But I love you,” he said. “Surely you’re not going to deny me my first relationship in six years just because you messed up? I mean, it’s not my fault.” He felt slightly bad at guilt-tripping Elijah, but not bad enough to take it back.
Elijah spun round, cheeks red from crying, eyes swollen and still wet. “What do you mean?” he demanded.
“I mean I still want you,” Dom said firmly. He got up and took the jumper back out of the case, gently moving past Elijah, who seemed to have frozen on the spot. “I love you, whatever you’ve done in the past. You’re not going to cheat on me, are you?”
Elijah shook his head mutely, eyes beseeching.
“Well then,” Dom said. “That’s that. Pass me your coat and I’ll hang it up.”
Elijah handed him it, and as he did so, their fingers brushed. Elijah’s were cold and trembling a little. Dom abandoned the coat, letting it drop to the floor, and took the hand between his own.
“You still want to be with me?” he asked, meeting Elijah’s eyes.
Elijah nodded, and whispered a definite “Yes.”
Dom pulled him into a hug, letting Elijah rest his forehead on Dom’s shoulder, while Dom combed his fingers soothingly through Elijah’s dark, ruffled hair.
“Why don’t you give Karl a ring?” he asked quietly. “Tell him you’re sorry?” He felt Elijah nod. “Good. Go on then. You stay here and call him, and I’m going to make a pot of tea. Come down when you’re ready.”
As he made for the door, Elijah said softly, “I love you,” and Dom smiled as he closed the door with a gentle click.