Beauty In The Eye Of The Beholder - Part Fourteen
Title: Beauty In The Eye Of The Beholder
Pairing: Dom/Elijah
Rating: PG13-R, PG13 this part
Part: Fourteen
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. :)
This is actually the second-to-last part, so enjoy. :)
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
Part Thirteen
“I’m finished.”
Dom glanced up from the board he was chopping onions on.
“Finished what?” he asked, surprised at the over-excited sparkle in Elijah’s eyes.
“The book!” Elijah said, cheeks flushed.
“Really?” Dom put down the knife. “Where is it?”
“Printing,” Elijah said. He joined Dom and wrapped his arms round his waist.
“Well done!” Dom hugged back, and was just leaning forwards to plant a kiss on Elijah’s lips when Elijah pulled back.
“Should be done by now,” he said, and tugged Dom’s hand. “Come on, come and see it.”
Dom gave an amused smile and followed obediently. He raised his eyebrows slightly as he took in the huge pile of paper spewed from the printer that was set up on a side table in the sitting-room. Elijah bounded over, forgetting Dom momentarily in his excitement. He gathered the pages, straightened them, and held it up triumphantly.
“Can I read it?” Dom asked.
“Of course!” Elijah said. His smile faded a little. “I hope you like it.”
“I’m sure I will,” Dom said comfortingly.
There was a moment of silence.
“Can I start it now?” Dom said.
Elijah handed it over carefully. “I’ll go and finish dinner. What are we having?”
“Spaghetti bolognese,” Dom said, sitting down and gently sliding the title page away from the rest.
“What do I have to do to it?”
Dom snorted. “Just chop the veg. Then I’ll come and have a look.”
“Oh, no, tell me, I want to do it.”
“Ok, chop the veg, fry the onions, and add the jar of sauce in the cupboard. I’ve already cooked the mince, just add it to the mixture when it’s bubbling.”
“Right. And what about the spaghetti?”
“Put it in a pan of boiling water for about ten minutes right before we eat.”
“OK, I think I’ve got it,” Elijah said, and left the room.
Dom lowered himself into the armchair behind him, and began to read.
***
“Dom? It’s dinner time.”
Dom jerked in his chair, and looked up, registering how dark the room was. Elijah was standing in front of him, face concerned.
“Are you OK?” he asked.
“Yeah, fine,” Dom said, laying the sheaf of paper on the table next to him and standing up.
“You didn’t hear me calling?” Elijah asked, leading Dom out of the room.
“No, sorry,” Dom answered. They reached the kitchen and sat down - Elijah had already set the places.
“Thanks, this smells really nice.” He lowered his fork into the steaming mound of pasta and sauce and twirled it experimentally.
Elijah poked his food with the end of his fork and threw a quick look at Dom. “Well?” he demanded.
“Well what?” Dom teased.
“Well, what did you think?”
“What did I think of what?”
“Dominic! The book!”
“Oh, the book.” Dom stuffed a large mouthful of spaghetti into his mouth and chewed slowly and deliberately while Elijah tapped his fingers impatiently on the table.
“Good,” he said eventually.
“That’s it? Good?” Elijah repeated incredulously.
Dom chuckled. “No, seriously, Elijah. It’s good. Really good.”
“Is that all you’re going to say about it? No more in-depth feedback?”
Dom laid down his fork and decided to be as honest as he could. “You know I’m not much of a reader. And I don’t really know anything about writing or books. But I thought it was readable and interesting...I mean, I was so deep into it that I didn’t even hear you calling for dinner. And I know what happens in the end - I’m sure people that didn’t know would - ”
Elijah interrupted. “How do you know what happens? You didn’t flick to the end, did you?”
“No, but...” Dom paused and frowned. “Well, it’s your story, isn’t it? And I know what happens in that - you
come here and meet me and we fall in love and you write your book. Then we live happily ever after. The end. Isn’t it?”
Elijah smiled. “Sort of. Actually, I’ve been meaning to talk to you...”
“About what?”
Elijah, infuriatingly, decided now was the time to turn his attention to his pasta. He scooped up a forkful and painstakingly twisted it right round his fork, before eating it.
“Talk to me about what?” Dom prompted, once he’d swallowed.
“About moving back home,” Elijah said bluntly.
Of all the things he could have said, Dom reflected, that was probably the worst. In truth, he’d managed to shove that right to the back of his mind, and had buried it under six weeks worth of love and laughter. Now, though, Elijah had dragged it right to the surface, and Dom could feel it as a physical pressure behind his eyes.
“Oh,” he said, ashamed of the crack in his voice. “When are you going, then?”
“Well, that’s the thing,” Elijah said. “I’m not.”
“What?”
“I’m not going.”
Dom raised his eyes from his lap to Elijah’s face, hopeful and nervous at the same time.
“You’re not going?” he echoed weakly. “Why not?”
“I don’t want to. I’d rather stay in England.” Elijah took a deep breath. “I’d rather stay with you.”
Dom wasn’t even embarrassed to feel tears well up in his eyes. He took a moment to compose himself.
“Though...though if you don’t want me to...”
Dom glanced up in shock, to see Elijah blinking rapidly at his plate, hands clutched together painfully tightly. The vision completely destroyed the semblance of self-control he’d managed to piece together.
“I do,” he said simply, voice threatening to break again.
Elijah reached for his hand with one of his own, which was cold and trembling a little as Dom took it.
“Well then,” he murmured, voice thick, “I guess you were right.”
“Right about what?” Dom stroked the smaller hand in his own, and looked up from it to see a surprising smile curving Elijah’s lips, despite the single tear that was clinging to the eyelashes of his right eye.
“About the ending,” he said. “We’ll live happily ever after.”