Fic: Turn of the tide 1/2
Title: Turn of the tide 1/2
Pairing: Alberto Contador/Andy Schleck
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: This is a figment of my overactive imagination. But I blame those cycling guys for turning the fic gears in my head like there’s no tomorrow.
Warnings: Risk of getting cavities due to high level of romantic fluff/sap.
A/N: MAIN VERSE MASTERPOST with links to all fics in chronological order.
Date: 9.08.2010
Location: Saint-Malo, France.
Around three o’clock that fine Monday in August, the two men walked out of their hotel after a good meal. They wandered the narrow streets of the medieval fort, passing many quaint little establishments on their way to the town’s battlements and the beach. They planned to walk along the wide beaches and climb to the top of the Grand Bé island, as long as low tide held.
From a little vendor’s shop, the younger of the pair purchased a bottle of water and an enormous ice cream, which he proceeded to devour, while his friend watched with a knowing smirk. Judging by the thin, long-limbed appearance of the young man, he’d probably never eaten an ice-cream in his life. Which is why, at their next stop, in front of a pastry shop, the middle-aged matron offered both of them an extra portion of Chausson aux Pommes (Apple Slippers), clicking her tongue and telling them in mother-hen French that they needed to eat more.
Storing the leftover sweets in a small back-pack, the pair made their way eastward along St. Malo’s high, fortified walls, taking in the amazing view. Before them, the ocean stretched as far as the eye could see, dotted here and there with small islands and dangerous teeth of rock. The low tide revealed wide stripes of beach, strung along a coast infamous for its history of pirate raids and shipwrecking. To their right, the two friends saw an old fortress, high up on a spur of weather-worn rock. For the time being, tourists walked to and from it, but come high tide, the place would become isolated by the sea.
“Do you want to go there?” Alberto asked, pointing to the fortification in question. “Or there?” he shaded his eyes and motioned his companion to look at the tidal island Grand Bé, rising from the beach ahead of them.
“Grand Bé,” Andy replied, taking off his sunglasses for a better look and then squinting as the light hurt his eyes. “There are fewer people there right now. But first we walk on the beach a little, Okay? I don’t feel like climbing just yet.”
“Must be all the sweets you ate,” the Spaniard smirked.
“What? I was hungry, ” the young man shot his lover an indignant look.
“After all the food we just had?! Am I missing something? Are you still growing?”
“Hehe, you’re just jealous that I’m taller,” Andy flashed his adorable, boyish grin. “Besides, aren’t you constantly complaining that I’m too skinny? Let a guy eat in peace, will you?”
Alberto merely shook his head and walked toward the closest flight of stairs. Andy followed him and they made their way among the surprisingly small number of tourists which populated that particular beach. Granted, it was Monday and also the hour of siesta, but the fine weather should have brought more people out to enjoy the sun and the breeze. Likely, the better part of the tourist population either slept off their lunch or waited for high tide, when things would become spectacular on the beaches.
Since their arrival in the picturesque, medieval city, Alberto and Andy had successfully passed for anonymous tourists, the vast majority of people utterly uninterested in anything else but the sights and the cuisine. If they did notice someone or other giving them sidelong glances and thinking ‘I’ve seen these guys somewhere before. Heeey… aren’t they…?!’, both of them pretended to be none the wiser and had thus far avoided being approached.
As soon as he reached the sand, Andy took off his shoes and walked to the surf line, enjoying the feeling of cold water on his bare feet. Behind him, Alberto followed slowly and if his eyes weren’t hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses, anyone who cared to observe him would have been floored by the intensity of the man’s look. Alberto watched his lover with a painful mixture of love and relief. He’d been very close to missing on those perfect moments, just days before their long-planned vacation came to pass. They’d somehow survived their ugliest and most frightening argument to date, finally speaking to each other only two days before they were supposed to meet in Nantes. Alberto couldn’t help constantly checking Andy’s face and his behavior for signs that he might still be upset, while suspecting that his lover probably did the same. They had made love the evening before and again in the morning. Andy had become his ‘smiles and sunshine’ self again. All seemed right with the world, but some of the guilt for his part in their fallout hadn’t left Alberto yet.
“You’re not allowed to be so serious,” Andy admonished his lover, when Alberto’s smile was chased away by unpleasant memories. “In fact, you’re not allowed to be serious at all,” the young man grinned from ear to ear, as though to lead by example. When it didn’t prompt the same response right away, Andy flicked some water at Alberto’s thoughtful face.
“Hey! What was that for?”
“You’re no fun,” Andy replied, dodging Alberto’s attempt to catch him. He beamed another trademark smile and took off, swerving around a pair of girls in swimsuits. It was tempting to run after him, catch the man and tackle him. They’d roll on the wet sand, tangle themselves into one another and forget that there were people around. With a wistful sigh, Alberto gave the Grand Bé a hopeful look and followed Andy’s direction at a more dignified pace.
“I bet you wish you still had these on,” he laughed when catching up with Andy and watching him pick his way between many crushed seashells. Alberto had ended up carrying Andy’s shoes, since the easily distracted guy had unsurprisingly forgotten them.
“My shoes,” Andy took the canvass sneakers back. “Thanks.”
“You’d be walking around barefoot for the rest of the day if it weren’t for me,” Alberto replied, laughing when he saw Andy’s unconcerned shrug. “I think I deserve a reward because I’m looking out for you.”
That, at least, seemed to catch Andy’s interest. “And what would you like?”
Alberto gave him a meaningful look which the darkest shades in the world couldn’t obscure.
Because he couldn’t carry out his lover’s wish where they stood, Andy stepped closer to Alberto and took his hand. So what if people would stare at the gay couple? He linked his fingers with Alberto’s and gave him an encouraging smile.
“You think we should, Andy?”
“Ah, what the hell? Let’s live dangerously. It’s not like anybody’s paying us any attention.”
“You think? We’re in France, remember? Where else would people know us, if not here? You’d be surprised how many people recognize us, but they say nothing because we are on vacation. It’s nice of them to leave us alone, but it’s not that easy to go around unnoticed.”
I spite of his words, Alberto made no move to release his lover’s hand.
“Let people notice us, then. When they see us holding hands and stuff, they’ll probably think they’re seeing things and there’s no way we could be those cycling guys,” Andy replied, pleased to see Alberto smile and accept his lighthearted line of reasoning.
A bit self-conscious at first, they resumed their stroll along the beach, passing by sunbathers and even some daredevils who braved the cold Atlantic waters. Both of them would have loved to catch some sun, but neither felt like displaying his Tour de France tan-or lack thereof. Nothing screamed pro-cyclist to the eyes quite like that.
Hand in hand, they followed the concrete path to the Grand Bé, behind a group of Danish girls who did a double take before letting them pass. Up the gentle slope of the small island, Alberto led Andy to where he’d seen a memorial on the brochures. The path curved around the side of the island, obscuring the walled city from view, but opening up a breathtaking panorama of the ocean, as the two men reached the site of Chateaubriand’s gravestone. They stopped, side by side, taking a moment to look at the simple stone cross, rounded and polished by the elements.
“This is nice,” Alberto observed in a quiet voice. “To be buried in a place like this, facing out to sea.”
“It feels so lonely, to me. He must have been something else, this man, to want only the waves and the seagulls for company,” Andy answered in like manner. He squeezed the hand in his and ran his thumb over Alberto’s skin in a gentle caress.
“I wish I could tell you more about him, but all I read was that his grave is here. We’ll have to find some information when we get back. You’re right, though, there is something very lonely about this place. And looking out to the sea… I don’t know, it makes me feel kind of small,” Alberto moved closer to his lover as he spoke.
“Well, compared to how old this place is and how vast the ocean… we are pretty insignificant,” the young man agreed. “Come on, lets find a place to sit down. We’re blocking other people’s access.”
Alberto gave Chateaubriand’s memorial a long, thoughtful look, before allowing Andy to lead him uphill, along a narrow footpath which took them to the heart of the island. To their left, they saw the crumbling walls of an ancient fort, bits of natural or man-shaped rock rising from the tall grasses here and there. Andy chose to sit on a slab of polished rock barely big enough to accommodate the two of them. As soon as Alberto joined him, their hands came together again. They sat like that, shoulders and knees touching, looking down on the place of burial and scanning the horizon. Behind them lay Dinard, with its luxurious hotels and the busy ferries passing to and fro all day. Saint Malo appeared in all its glory, crammed behind its impregnable walls. Out at sea, little islands fought a loosing battle with the tide, almost every one of them bearing some vestiges of fortification or lighthouses.
“It’s so beautiful,” Andy whispered. “You can see everything from here.”
“Mmmhmm, I’m glad you like it. Almost every place in France is beautiful and I loved this part of the coast because it’s more quiet… also more wild, more natural, you know? I thought we might be disappointed when we arrived, because it’s not like the other, exotic places we could have gone to. But I love it.”
“So do I, you made the perfect choice. Thanks.”
Alberto wrapped an arm around his lover and smiled when Andy leaned into the embrace. They shuffled a bit, trying to make themselves as comfortable as possible on bare rock, then Alberto’s other arm closed the circle and onlookers be damned, nothing would ruin the wonderful moment.
“You know what?” Alberto asked after a while of companionable silence. “It’s not that I want to bring back bad memories… but there’s something I have to tell you, now that we’re here.”
Andy tensed in his arms and Alberto wished he’d found a better way to broach the subject.
“It’s alright. Don’t worry, please. It’s nothing bad. In fact, I’m sure you’re going to like what I want to say. It’s just that I feel strange, being here with you, after I’ve thought of myself in this same spot, looking out at the ocean and missing you instead.”
Andy made to move so that he could look at the man’s face, but the arms around him would not give. So he settled for resting his head in the crook of Alberto’s neck and listening to his soothing heartbeat instead.
“You would have come here… without me?” Andy inquired softly.
“If I had no other choice… When we weren’t,” Alberto hesitated and the man in his arms felt him swallow painfully. “A few days ago, before we spoke and we forgave each other, I thought that this vacation was compromised. But I couldn’t help looking at pictures of this place on the internet, to distract myself. When I saw this island and I heard about that tomb over there… I decided that I would come and wait for you here.”
“Alberto…”
“I mean it. Maybe I shouldn’t tell you all this, but I would have called you on that same day you called me. I couldn’t wait much longer and the silence between us punished me, instead of making a point to you. But I thought that maybe you wouldn’t want to hear it, you wouldn’t want to talk and you wouldn’t care that I was so sorry, because I hurt you so much.”
Andy would have said so many things… he had a reply for practically every word coming out of Alberto’s mouth, but he knew that the other man needed him to listen. So he held on, both literally and figuratively, allowing Alberto to continue undisturbed.
“It made me so sad to think that we would not have our little vacation and I wondered what would happen if we couldn’t find a way to get over that mess. I became a little desperate, you know, thinking that you would not get back to me or answer any of my calls. So, as a worse case scenario, I saved a few pictures of this place on my laptop and I would have emailed them to you, saying that I would come here, as we planned, and wait for you by that grave, until you came to me.”
Andy shuddered and his arms tightened around his lover to the point of pain. He closed his eyes and his breath caught, upon hearing Alberto say such things.
“I know it sounds stupid and romantic, like in the movies, but I was really going to do it,” Alberto smiled, even as the air was squeezed out of him.
“It’s not stupid!” Andy shook Alberto in protest. “It’s the most unbelievable thing I’ve ever heard!”
“You mean you don’t believe me?”
“No, I do believe you. I honest-to-god think that you would have done exactly that. What I’m saying is that… if things turned out that way, it would have been the most incredible thing anyone had ever done for me.”
“Well, I would have done it,” Alberto replied softly, running his hand along Andy’s arm and brushing the side of his face. “I would have been here everyday and I would have called everyday, too. Or texted you, or sent e-mails with pictures of my pathetic self hanging around on these rocks. I would have called your brothers, too, and your parents and even Bjarne Riis, to get the numbers of your team mates.”
“Now you’re being silly,” Andy laughed. But the mere thought of Alberto doing such things… no, the mere thought of Alberto thinking about doing such things filled Andy with indescribable warmth.
“I know, but stupid is as stupid does. If you stayed mad at me… and who could blame you for it? If you found it too hard to forgive me, I’d have done all kinds of desperate things. Including talking to dead men in this place and being all ‘woe is me, what have I done, can I please, please have my lover back?’ ” however ridiculous he knew he sounded, Alberto found it much more pleasant to be a pathetic sap for Andy’s benefit than to lash out at him, however justified his anger might be.
“You’re crazy, ”Andy laughed and nuzzled his lover’s neck.
“Well, if I’m crazy, it’s all your fault, mister.”
“I know, ” the young man chuckled. “Kiss me.”
“Mmm?”
“Come on, you cannot say stuff like that and not kiss me,” Andy whined, turning his head expectantly.
Alberto looked at that beautiful face, framed by unruly hair and lit by the most brilliant of smiles. His head spun and his heart raced with the knowledge that he would do anything indeed, to keep Andy like that, in his arms, begging to be kissed. He looked into those bright, blue eyes and saw the best of himself reflected there… before he was manhandled into a rough, demanding kiss. Apparently, Andy had no patience for his romantic, earth-shattering introspection. Or it had become unbearable to be the object of so much adoration without giving some of it back. Either way, Andy poured himself into that kiss and he held onto Alberto as if to say without words everything Alberto had spoken before.
The hiss of the wind through the grass and the murmur of the sea became muted. The only sounds in their little universe were those of hearts too big for human rib-cages. Alberto needed something to brace himself against, before ending up spread on a bed of… rocks. He needed to breathe but needed Andy more so they kissed and kissed and kissed some more, until passing out was just around the corner. At the last possible moment, and with infinite reluctance, Andy pulled back, breathing as though he’d just finished the climb up Mount Ventoux in less than 57 minutes. He gave Alberto a ‘wow’ sort of look, grinning madly to see the same exhausted awe on Alberto’s face. They were both struggling to catch their breath when they settled into each other’s arms as before.
“So tell me, how long were you planning to wait for me?” Andy’s question sounded teasing, but hearing Alberto’s answer was, in fact, a very serious matter.
“What, you want to hear more stupid, romantic stuff?”
“Why do you keep saying that?” Andy countered, turning in the embrace and frowning.
“Alright, maybe it’s not stupid, just ridiculous.”
“Well, if doing romantic things for me is stupid and ridiculous…,” Andy felt more than a little hurt and wanted to move away, but Alberto tightened his hold. He cupped Andy’s cheek and turned his head so that their eyes could meet.
“Hey, none of that. Don’t be angry, now. I don’t think I’m being stupid about you, far from it. It just probably looks that way to someone from the outside, someone who doesn’t understand how I feel about you, ” Alberto paused to press a soft kiss on his lover’s lips. “The right thing to say to you when you want to know how long I would wait is… ‘forever’.”
Andy’s eyes shone in a way that made Alberto think forever was not such a long time.
“Come on…,” Andy whispered, sounding halfway between admonishing and inviting. His lover chose to answer the invitation and kissed Andy again.
“Mmm, alright, so… forever may be a bit dramatic,” Alberto grinned when he pulled back and saw the dreamy look on his lover’s face. “But I would have been here for a week, at least. A loooong and depressing week, if you kept ignoring my attempts to reach you,” Alberto said, making Andy pout and smile in the same beat.
“So… a week, hmm? And then?” he eyed Alberto speculatively.
“Are you trying to torture me, or what?” Alberto sighed.
“Maybe, just a little,” his companion teased, but he took Alberto’s hand and ran his fingers over Alberto’s palm in a soothing caress.
“If you insist, I have to humor you, no? Well, then, if you must know, there is no way you can get rid of me so easy. If you had left me here to be miserable for a week and refused to answer all my messages, I would have come for you. No matter if you were at home or training or in a race, I would have found you. But tell me, would you have the heart to say no, if I begged you to come here?”
Andy settled for an enigmatic smile, but his eyes told a big, definite NO.
“Hmmmm, if this is what you’re going to be about and you really, really want me to say it, then please know that I would not let you run and hide from me. Not without giving me a chance to fix things between us, ”Alberto said, his expression becoming serious as he looked out to sea.
“And if I did run? If I changed my number, told my family and my mates to send you off packing if you bothered them… if I’d have found a place to hide and if all I wanted was to never hear from you again?” Andy decided to press his luck.
“That wouldn’t be a very brave thing to do, eh?” Alberto couldn’t help saying, even if he regretted it when Andy’s face fell.
“Maybe I would have taken the cowards way out. What then, Alberto?” Andy countered, but he sounded defensive, if anything.
“There was always the Vuelta, as a last resort,” Alberto frowned and gazed silently at a speck of white on the horizon, where a centuries old lighthouse braved the rising sea.
“The Vuelta?”
“Yes. Even if you were still mad at me, if you hated me and never wanted to see my face again, I know that you would still help your brother in the Vuelta. You would have been in Spain at the end of the month and I would have found you there. You know,if anyone has influence with the Spanish organizers, it’s me. So I would have been there everyday, no matter where the stage started or finished, at your hotel, until you and your team would be sick of the obsessive, stalker guy.”
Andy snickered in spite of himself and the seriousness of what he was being told.
“You can laugh about it, but I’m not kidding. I wouldn’t have left you alone until you heard me out and, if it really came to it, I would have wanted you to say it to my face… that you want me out of your life,” Alberto said, seemingly casual, but his hold on the man in his arms told a different story.
“Good to know that you wouldn’t give up if I rejected you. I have no idea how I’d have dealt with someone insisting like that. However… if I really wanted out of our relationship, if I’d met you and told you that our differences are beyond reconciliation… would you have accepted it?” Andy felt the need to press the issue even further, despite knowing that he trod on thin ice.
“Andy, why are you doing this? Are you looking for trouble? Why do you have to play this ‘what if’ scenario and ask me all these awful questions? If we’re not OK, then just say it,” the Spaniard finally grew tired of being prodded in a place still smarting from the unpleasantness of the previous week.
Knowing that he’d come close to ruining their otherwise perfect day, Andy offered his lover an apologetic look. He lifted Alberto’s hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles, one by one.
“I don’t want to upset you, Alberto. I’m sorry. I promise I will never bring it up again. But now, and only because you were the one who started it, I just have to know. Because, when we were away from each other and so full of anger, I thought about what you would do a lot and wondered what if you would finally give up on me?” the young man pleaded, both with words and his big, blue eyes.
“God, Andy, if you really must know then yes, if you gave me no other choice, I would have finally given up. But not without one hell of a fight. I couldn’t have kept stalking you forever, there is no such thing as forcing love upon someone, so I would eventually have to let go, no matter how much it might hurt. Of course, I would be miserable. I’d hate myself for making mistakes and pushing you away, I’d miss you and be very lonely. Still, I’d always hope that you would miss me, too and maybe you would come back to me, some day. I would never stop loving you, even if you are not mine anymore,” Alberto finished, with a pained little smile.
A moment of silence passed, while Alberto watched clouds gathering on the horizon and Andy pondered on what had been said. Of one thing he was beyond certain: he had never loved and been loved as much as there and then. Knowing that, he held all his questions answered.
“Say that again,” Andy pleaded, resting his head on Alberto’s shoulder and nuzzling his neck.
“What? Which part? All of it?” the man in question couldn’t quite believe his lover’s persistence.
“No, just the part where you said I’m yours.”
“Oh, ”Alberto breathed, relieved and warm all over. “You’re mine.”
“Yes. And don’t you forget it,” the younger man concluded, reaching out for Alberto’s head and turning to kiss him. There had been enough talk, most of it fringed with pain which Andy wanted nothing more than to chase away. So they spent an indefinite amount of time kissing, taking their time and saying more to each other than mere words could convey. The breeze swept around them, whispering through the grasses, ruffling
Andy’s hair, but managing little in the way of cooling the hot air between them.
At length, Andy pulled back and rose to his feet, straightening his back. He rewarded Alberto’s dreamy expression with his best sunny smile.
“Where are you going?” the Spaniard sighed, finding himself without his armful of lover.
“Nowhere, but I had to get up. There’s not enough room on that rock to molest you proper. Besides, my back hurts. And not in a good way,” Andy gave his lover’s sudden speculative grin a pointed look.
“Now that you mentioned it… yea, we could walk around some more. Maybe we can find a better spot.”
Andy nodded and held out his hand, pulling Alberto into his arms and giving him a long, thorough kiss.
“What… what was that for?” he managed, when Andy released him, but thankfully held him still, because his legs didn’t feel quite so steady.
“That was for you, because you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m never going to forget this moment,” Andy told him, causing Alberto to lean heavily on his lover, holding onto Andy as though he were out at sea and Andy was his only lifeline.
“It’s perfect, then, because I wanted this to be unforgettable, ” he whispered, face hidden in the crook of Andy’s neck.
They were content in that embrace for a good long while, before the crying of many seagulls pulled them back to reality. Then, before being tempted to kiss Alberto within an inch of his sanity and in a public place no less, Andy took his lover’s hand and pulled a happy looking Alberto in the direction of the ruins they had seen earlier. Mindful of their footing, the two of them walked among the crumbled walls, trying to imagine what the fortification must have looked like before it had fallen into ruin and whether a cannonade had brought its demise.
“You know, we go to so many places full of history, like this, and yet we never have time to really see any of them, “ Alberto said as he ran his palm along the rough surface of a partially collapsed wall.
“If we want time, we should change our profession from cyclists to tourists,” Andy replied smartly. He saw Alberto smile and give him a wistful look.
“I could do that. If it means I can go to all kinds of nice places with you, I wouldn’t mind becoming a tourist at all.”
By the time Alberto had finished his sentence, Andy was before him, wrapping himself around his lover and giving him another one of those soul-searching kisses. If the man would always give such answers, the world would be a much happier place, Alberto decided. He felt a surge of excitement and anticipation course through him, when he thought about how everything was going exactly as he had hoped.
Except he hadn’t hoped that Andy would move back about as fast as he’d swooped in, just for the satisfaction of seeing Alberto’s thoroughly kissed face.
“Hey, get back here. And tell me something, while you’re at it,” Alberto pretended to protest.
“What might that be?” Andy returned into the circle of his lover’s arms.
“You’ve wanted all kinds of answers out of me today, but it occurred to me just now that you never said what you would have done… if the mess hadn’t been fixed when it was fixed,” Alberto looked up at Andy’s smiling face, a bit remorseful as he knew that the joy would fade. To his surprise, however, Andy kept smiling. In fact, his beautiful face was lit with the utmost pride and joy, making it almost impossible for Alberto to not kiss him.
“It’s not a question of what I would have done as much as it is a matter of what I have done,” the young man replied. “I’m here, aren’t? I realized that I’ve got to stop letting stupid things come between us. We don’t have it easy at all, even without me trying to complicate things and make them impossible to deal with. Besides, it was a matter of what hurt more, and believe me, the thought of not having you this close again was far more painful than anything we might have said to each other in anger.”
Because Alberto agreed wholeheartedly, he proceeded to demonstrate it. They forgot themselves into a heated exchange which lead to Andy being backed against the old fortress wall, while Alberto kissed him and ran his hands over him frantically. It quickly became a matter of extreme misconduct in a public place, when Alberto’s mouth traveled a torturous way down the side of Andy’s neck and Andy responded by hooking one leg behind Alberto’s knees, pulling the man into very dangerous contact. If only they were all alone on the little island and everyone had decided to go back to shore, since the tide was coming in and all…
“Shit! Alberto, stop! ”Andy gasped and struggled in the embrace.
“Mmmm?” the man in question mumbled against the soft spot just behind Andy’s ear.
“God… it said stop! Do you know what time it is?!”
“A long time since we had sex?” Alberto breathed hotly in his lover’s ear.
In spite of badly wanting to say ‘Yes!’, Andy grabbed the back of Alberto’s shirt and pulled his lover to a more bearable distance. “I’m serious, Alberto! What time is it?”
“Erm… 5:32. Why is that so important, all of a sudden?” Alberto managed to reply with a straight face.
“Shit! We’re done for. The tide, Alberto! Didn’t you say that this island becomes isolated by the sea at high tide?”
“Well, yes, but…?”
“If it’s five thirty now and the tide is highest at 19:40, that means… we’re fucked,” Andy finished on a note which had Alberto smirking in spite of his attempts to keep his poker face on. Andy didn’t notice, as he was busy disentangling himself from his lover and dashing for the southern side of the island, where he could take a look at how seriously screwed they really were.
“Come on!” the young man called for Alberto. “Hurry up, there might still be a way to get across if the lifeguards see us!”
‘Of course there is. They have boats,’ Alberto thought, while following his lover at a very sedate pace. But he wore a hungry, predatory sort of look on his face as he neared the cluster of rocks atop which Andy had climbed.
“What’s the matter? Are we stranded?” he inquired casually.
“Damn right we are,” Andy muttered, struggling to keep his balance and shading his eyes. He stared in the direction of Dinard and the walled city where he could see the greater portion of what used to be wide beaches presently swallowed by the sea. “How high did it say the tide gets?”
“About 12 meters. Said so on that sign when we climbed on the island. And the currents are very strong. It would be madness to try and cross to the beach now,” Alberto kept the casual tone, wondering how long it would take Andy to look at him and catch on.
“Well, lets hurry over to the other side. Maybe someone will see us or hear us if we shout for help,” Andy urged his perfectly calm lover, hopping off his high perch and heading in the direction of the bay.
“Andy, come here. We’re not going back. Not for the next few hours, anyway,” Alberto called after his lover in a voice which made the younger man freeze in his tracks.
“Whaaaaat you youuuu mean?” Andy turned around and asked, with a perfect ‘what-the-fuck’ expression on his face.
Alberto merely smirked and gave his lover a suggestive look.
“Oh, my God, ” Andy groaned when the fact of the matter dawned upon him. “You planned this?”
“I might have…” Alberto looked positively smug.
“You mean you got us stuck here on purpose, for the next six hours to…,” Andy’s eyes widened with disbelief on that beautiful face. As he gaped at his lover, he didn’t know whether to feel outraged or thrilled.
“Yes, pretty much. Now lets find out if we’re alone on this island. Hopefully, nobody else had the same idea. If so, I think I can keep you entertained for the next couple of hours,” Alberto grinned, fully enjoying the awestruck excitement so obvious on Andy’s face. “Come on, we’ll make love on a deserted island and watch the sunset in each other’s arms. What could possibly be more romantic than that?” he added and motioned for Andy to follow him.
Andy felt his eyes water from much more than just the salty breeze. His breath caught when he tried to say something and he gave in, walking to the unbelievable man before him.
Part two is forthcoming, in which the author takes creative liberties with the weather, French coastal authorities and can maybe convince the protagonists to take full advantage of their time on the deserted island.
Pairing: Alberto Contador/Andy Schleck
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: This is a figment of my overactive imagination. But I blame those cycling guys for turning the fic gears in my head like there’s no tomorrow.
Warnings: Risk of getting cavities due to high level of romantic fluff/sap.
A/N: MAIN VERSE MASTERPOST with links to all fics in chronological order.
Date: 9.08.2010
Location: Saint-Malo, France.
Around three o’clock that fine Monday in August, the two men walked out of their hotel after a good meal. They wandered the narrow streets of the medieval fort, passing many quaint little establishments on their way to the town’s battlements and the beach. They planned to walk along the wide beaches and climb to the top of the Grand Bé island, as long as low tide held.
From a little vendor’s shop, the younger of the pair purchased a bottle of water and an enormous ice cream, which he proceeded to devour, while his friend watched with a knowing smirk. Judging by the thin, long-limbed appearance of the young man, he’d probably never eaten an ice-cream in his life. Which is why, at their next stop, in front of a pastry shop, the middle-aged matron offered both of them an extra portion of Chausson aux Pommes (Apple Slippers), clicking her tongue and telling them in mother-hen French that they needed to eat more.
Storing the leftover sweets in a small back-pack, the pair made their way eastward along St. Malo’s high, fortified walls, taking in the amazing view. Before them, the ocean stretched as far as the eye could see, dotted here and there with small islands and dangerous teeth of rock. The low tide revealed wide stripes of beach, strung along a coast infamous for its history of pirate raids and shipwrecking. To their right, the two friends saw an old fortress, high up on a spur of weather-worn rock. For the time being, tourists walked to and from it, but come high tide, the place would become isolated by the sea.
“Do you want to go there?” Alberto asked, pointing to the fortification in question. “Or there?” he shaded his eyes and motioned his companion to look at the tidal island Grand Bé, rising from the beach ahead of them.
“Grand Bé,” Andy replied, taking off his sunglasses for a better look and then squinting as the light hurt his eyes. “There are fewer people there right now. But first we walk on the beach a little, Okay? I don’t feel like climbing just yet.”
“Must be all the sweets you ate,” the Spaniard smirked.
“What? I was hungry, ” the young man shot his lover an indignant look.
“After all the food we just had?! Am I missing something? Are you still growing?”
“Hehe, you’re just jealous that I’m taller,” Andy flashed his adorable, boyish grin. “Besides, aren’t you constantly complaining that I’m too skinny? Let a guy eat in peace, will you?”
Alberto merely shook his head and walked toward the closest flight of stairs. Andy followed him and they made their way among the surprisingly small number of tourists which populated that particular beach. Granted, it was Monday and also the hour of siesta, but the fine weather should have brought more people out to enjoy the sun and the breeze. Likely, the better part of the tourist population either slept off their lunch or waited for high tide, when things would become spectacular on the beaches.
Since their arrival in the picturesque, medieval city, Alberto and Andy had successfully passed for anonymous tourists, the vast majority of people utterly uninterested in anything else but the sights and the cuisine. If they did notice someone or other giving them sidelong glances and thinking ‘I’ve seen these guys somewhere before. Heeey… aren’t they…?!’, both of them pretended to be none the wiser and had thus far avoided being approached.
As soon as he reached the sand, Andy took off his shoes and walked to the surf line, enjoying the feeling of cold water on his bare feet. Behind him, Alberto followed slowly and if his eyes weren’t hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses, anyone who cared to observe him would have been floored by the intensity of the man’s look. Alberto watched his lover with a painful mixture of love and relief. He’d been very close to missing on those perfect moments, just days before their long-planned vacation came to pass. They’d somehow survived their ugliest and most frightening argument to date, finally speaking to each other only two days before they were supposed to meet in Nantes. Alberto couldn’t help constantly checking Andy’s face and his behavior for signs that he might still be upset, while suspecting that his lover probably did the same. They had made love the evening before and again in the morning. Andy had become his ‘smiles and sunshine’ self again. All seemed right with the world, but some of the guilt for his part in their fallout hadn’t left Alberto yet.
“You’re not allowed to be so serious,” Andy admonished his lover, when Alberto’s smile was chased away by unpleasant memories. “In fact, you’re not allowed to be serious at all,” the young man grinned from ear to ear, as though to lead by example. When it didn’t prompt the same response right away, Andy flicked some water at Alberto’s thoughtful face.
“Hey! What was that for?”
“You’re no fun,” Andy replied, dodging Alberto’s attempt to catch him. He beamed another trademark smile and took off, swerving around a pair of girls in swimsuits. It was tempting to run after him, catch the man and tackle him. They’d roll on the wet sand, tangle themselves into one another and forget that there were people around. With a wistful sigh, Alberto gave the Grand Bé a hopeful look and followed Andy’s direction at a more dignified pace.
“I bet you wish you still had these on,” he laughed when catching up with Andy and watching him pick his way between many crushed seashells. Alberto had ended up carrying Andy’s shoes, since the easily distracted guy had unsurprisingly forgotten them.
“My shoes,” Andy took the canvass sneakers back. “Thanks.”
“You’d be walking around barefoot for the rest of the day if it weren’t for me,” Alberto replied, laughing when he saw Andy’s unconcerned shrug. “I think I deserve a reward because I’m looking out for you.”
That, at least, seemed to catch Andy’s interest. “And what would you like?”
Alberto gave him a meaningful look which the darkest shades in the world couldn’t obscure.
Because he couldn’t carry out his lover’s wish where they stood, Andy stepped closer to Alberto and took his hand. So what if people would stare at the gay couple? He linked his fingers with Alberto’s and gave him an encouraging smile.
“You think we should, Andy?”
“Ah, what the hell? Let’s live dangerously. It’s not like anybody’s paying us any attention.”
“You think? We’re in France, remember? Where else would people know us, if not here? You’d be surprised how many people recognize us, but they say nothing because we are on vacation. It’s nice of them to leave us alone, but it’s not that easy to go around unnoticed.”
I spite of his words, Alberto made no move to release his lover’s hand.
“Let people notice us, then. When they see us holding hands and stuff, they’ll probably think they’re seeing things and there’s no way we could be those cycling guys,” Andy replied, pleased to see Alberto smile and accept his lighthearted line of reasoning.
A bit self-conscious at first, they resumed their stroll along the beach, passing by sunbathers and even some daredevils who braved the cold Atlantic waters. Both of them would have loved to catch some sun, but neither felt like displaying his Tour de France tan-or lack thereof. Nothing screamed pro-cyclist to the eyes quite like that.
Hand in hand, they followed the concrete path to the Grand Bé, behind a group of Danish girls who did a double take before letting them pass. Up the gentle slope of the small island, Alberto led Andy to where he’d seen a memorial on the brochures. The path curved around the side of the island, obscuring the walled city from view, but opening up a breathtaking panorama of the ocean, as the two men reached the site of Chateaubriand’s gravestone. They stopped, side by side, taking a moment to look at the simple stone cross, rounded and polished by the elements.
“This is nice,” Alberto observed in a quiet voice. “To be buried in a place like this, facing out to sea.”
“It feels so lonely, to me. He must have been something else, this man, to want only the waves and the seagulls for company,” Andy answered in like manner. He squeezed the hand in his and ran his thumb over Alberto’s skin in a gentle caress.
“I wish I could tell you more about him, but all I read was that his grave is here. We’ll have to find some information when we get back. You’re right, though, there is something very lonely about this place. And looking out to the sea… I don’t know, it makes me feel kind of small,” Alberto moved closer to his lover as he spoke.
“Well, compared to how old this place is and how vast the ocean… we are pretty insignificant,” the young man agreed. “Come on, lets find a place to sit down. We’re blocking other people’s access.”
Alberto gave Chateaubriand’s memorial a long, thoughtful look, before allowing Andy to lead him uphill, along a narrow footpath which took them to the heart of the island. To their left, they saw the crumbling walls of an ancient fort, bits of natural or man-shaped rock rising from the tall grasses here and there. Andy chose to sit on a slab of polished rock barely big enough to accommodate the two of them. As soon as Alberto joined him, their hands came together again. They sat like that, shoulders and knees touching, looking down on the place of burial and scanning the horizon. Behind them lay Dinard, with its luxurious hotels and the busy ferries passing to and fro all day. Saint Malo appeared in all its glory, crammed behind its impregnable walls. Out at sea, little islands fought a loosing battle with the tide, almost every one of them bearing some vestiges of fortification or lighthouses.
“It’s so beautiful,” Andy whispered. “You can see everything from here.”
“Mmmhmm, I’m glad you like it. Almost every place in France is beautiful and I loved this part of the coast because it’s more quiet… also more wild, more natural, you know? I thought we might be disappointed when we arrived, because it’s not like the other, exotic places we could have gone to. But I love it.”
“So do I, you made the perfect choice. Thanks.”
Alberto wrapped an arm around his lover and smiled when Andy leaned into the embrace. They shuffled a bit, trying to make themselves as comfortable as possible on bare rock, then Alberto’s other arm closed the circle and onlookers be damned, nothing would ruin the wonderful moment.
“You know what?” Alberto asked after a while of companionable silence. “It’s not that I want to bring back bad memories… but there’s something I have to tell you, now that we’re here.”
Andy tensed in his arms and Alberto wished he’d found a better way to broach the subject.
“It’s alright. Don’t worry, please. It’s nothing bad. In fact, I’m sure you’re going to like what I want to say. It’s just that I feel strange, being here with you, after I’ve thought of myself in this same spot, looking out at the ocean and missing you instead.”
Andy made to move so that he could look at the man’s face, but the arms around him would not give. So he settled for resting his head in the crook of Alberto’s neck and listening to his soothing heartbeat instead.
“You would have come here… without me?” Andy inquired softly.
“If I had no other choice… When we weren’t,” Alberto hesitated and the man in his arms felt him swallow painfully. “A few days ago, before we spoke and we forgave each other, I thought that this vacation was compromised. But I couldn’t help looking at pictures of this place on the internet, to distract myself. When I saw this island and I heard about that tomb over there… I decided that I would come and wait for you here.”
“Alberto…”
“I mean it. Maybe I shouldn’t tell you all this, but I would have called you on that same day you called me. I couldn’t wait much longer and the silence between us punished me, instead of making a point to you. But I thought that maybe you wouldn’t want to hear it, you wouldn’t want to talk and you wouldn’t care that I was so sorry, because I hurt you so much.”
Andy would have said so many things… he had a reply for practically every word coming out of Alberto’s mouth, but he knew that the other man needed him to listen. So he held on, both literally and figuratively, allowing Alberto to continue undisturbed.
“It made me so sad to think that we would not have our little vacation and I wondered what would happen if we couldn’t find a way to get over that mess. I became a little desperate, you know, thinking that you would not get back to me or answer any of my calls. So, as a worse case scenario, I saved a few pictures of this place on my laptop and I would have emailed them to you, saying that I would come here, as we planned, and wait for you by that grave, until you came to me.”
Andy shuddered and his arms tightened around his lover to the point of pain. He closed his eyes and his breath caught, upon hearing Alberto say such things.
“I know it sounds stupid and romantic, like in the movies, but I was really going to do it,” Alberto smiled, even as the air was squeezed out of him.
“It’s not stupid!” Andy shook Alberto in protest. “It’s the most unbelievable thing I’ve ever heard!”
“You mean you don’t believe me?”
“No, I do believe you. I honest-to-god think that you would have done exactly that. What I’m saying is that… if things turned out that way, it would have been the most incredible thing anyone had ever done for me.”
“Well, I would have done it,” Alberto replied softly, running his hand along Andy’s arm and brushing the side of his face. “I would have been here everyday and I would have called everyday, too. Or texted you, or sent e-mails with pictures of my pathetic self hanging around on these rocks. I would have called your brothers, too, and your parents and even Bjarne Riis, to get the numbers of your team mates.”
“Now you’re being silly,” Andy laughed. But the mere thought of Alberto doing such things… no, the mere thought of Alberto thinking about doing such things filled Andy with indescribable warmth.
“I know, but stupid is as stupid does. If you stayed mad at me… and who could blame you for it? If you found it too hard to forgive me, I’d have done all kinds of desperate things. Including talking to dead men in this place and being all ‘woe is me, what have I done, can I please, please have my lover back?’ ” however ridiculous he knew he sounded, Alberto found it much more pleasant to be a pathetic sap for Andy’s benefit than to lash out at him, however justified his anger might be.
“You’re crazy, ”Andy laughed and nuzzled his lover’s neck.
“Well, if I’m crazy, it’s all your fault, mister.”
“I know, ” the young man chuckled. “Kiss me.”
“Mmm?”
“Come on, you cannot say stuff like that and not kiss me,” Andy whined, turning his head expectantly.
Alberto looked at that beautiful face, framed by unruly hair and lit by the most brilliant of smiles. His head spun and his heart raced with the knowledge that he would do anything indeed, to keep Andy like that, in his arms, begging to be kissed. He looked into those bright, blue eyes and saw the best of himself reflected there… before he was manhandled into a rough, demanding kiss. Apparently, Andy had no patience for his romantic, earth-shattering introspection. Or it had become unbearable to be the object of so much adoration without giving some of it back. Either way, Andy poured himself into that kiss and he held onto Alberto as if to say without words everything Alberto had spoken before.
The hiss of the wind through the grass and the murmur of the sea became muted. The only sounds in their little universe were those of hearts too big for human rib-cages. Alberto needed something to brace himself against, before ending up spread on a bed of… rocks. He needed to breathe but needed Andy more so they kissed and kissed and kissed some more, until passing out was just around the corner. At the last possible moment, and with infinite reluctance, Andy pulled back, breathing as though he’d just finished the climb up Mount Ventoux in less than 57 minutes. He gave Alberto a ‘wow’ sort of look, grinning madly to see the same exhausted awe on Alberto’s face. They were both struggling to catch their breath when they settled into each other’s arms as before.
“So tell me, how long were you planning to wait for me?” Andy’s question sounded teasing, but hearing Alberto’s answer was, in fact, a very serious matter.
“What, you want to hear more stupid, romantic stuff?”
“Why do you keep saying that?” Andy countered, turning in the embrace and frowning.
“Alright, maybe it’s not stupid, just ridiculous.”
“Well, if doing romantic things for me is stupid and ridiculous…,” Andy felt more than a little hurt and wanted to move away, but Alberto tightened his hold. He cupped Andy’s cheek and turned his head so that their eyes could meet.
“Hey, none of that. Don’t be angry, now. I don’t think I’m being stupid about you, far from it. It just probably looks that way to someone from the outside, someone who doesn’t understand how I feel about you, ” Alberto paused to press a soft kiss on his lover’s lips. “The right thing to say to you when you want to know how long I would wait is… ‘forever’.”
Andy’s eyes shone in a way that made Alberto think forever was not such a long time.
“Come on…,” Andy whispered, sounding halfway between admonishing and inviting. His lover chose to answer the invitation and kissed Andy again.
“Mmm, alright, so… forever may be a bit dramatic,” Alberto grinned when he pulled back and saw the dreamy look on his lover’s face. “But I would have been here for a week, at least. A loooong and depressing week, if you kept ignoring my attempts to reach you,” Alberto said, making Andy pout and smile in the same beat.
“So… a week, hmm? And then?” he eyed Alberto speculatively.
“Are you trying to torture me, or what?” Alberto sighed.
“Maybe, just a little,” his companion teased, but he took Alberto’s hand and ran his fingers over Alberto’s palm in a soothing caress.
“If you insist, I have to humor you, no? Well, then, if you must know, there is no way you can get rid of me so easy. If you had left me here to be miserable for a week and refused to answer all my messages, I would have come for you. No matter if you were at home or training or in a race, I would have found you. But tell me, would you have the heart to say no, if I begged you to come here?”
Andy settled for an enigmatic smile, but his eyes told a big, definite NO.
“Hmmmm, if this is what you’re going to be about and you really, really want me to say it, then please know that I would not let you run and hide from me. Not without giving me a chance to fix things between us, ”Alberto said, his expression becoming serious as he looked out to sea.
“And if I did run? If I changed my number, told my family and my mates to send you off packing if you bothered them… if I’d have found a place to hide and if all I wanted was to never hear from you again?” Andy decided to press his luck.
“That wouldn’t be a very brave thing to do, eh?” Alberto couldn’t help saying, even if he regretted it when Andy’s face fell.
“Maybe I would have taken the cowards way out. What then, Alberto?” Andy countered, but he sounded defensive, if anything.
“There was always the Vuelta, as a last resort,” Alberto frowned and gazed silently at a speck of white on the horizon, where a centuries old lighthouse braved the rising sea.
“The Vuelta?”
“Yes. Even if you were still mad at me, if you hated me and never wanted to see my face again, I know that you would still help your brother in the Vuelta. You would have been in Spain at the end of the month and I would have found you there. You know,if anyone has influence with the Spanish organizers, it’s me. So I would have been there everyday, no matter where the stage started or finished, at your hotel, until you and your team would be sick of the obsessive, stalker guy.”
Andy snickered in spite of himself and the seriousness of what he was being told.
“You can laugh about it, but I’m not kidding. I wouldn’t have left you alone until you heard me out and, if it really came to it, I would have wanted you to say it to my face… that you want me out of your life,” Alberto said, seemingly casual, but his hold on the man in his arms told a different story.
“Good to know that you wouldn’t give up if I rejected you. I have no idea how I’d have dealt with someone insisting like that. However… if I really wanted out of our relationship, if I’d met you and told you that our differences are beyond reconciliation… would you have accepted it?” Andy felt the need to press the issue even further, despite knowing that he trod on thin ice.
“Andy, why are you doing this? Are you looking for trouble? Why do you have to play this ‘what if’ scenario and ask me all these awful questions? If we’re not OK, then just say it,” the Spaniard finally grew tired of being prodded in a place still smarting from the unpleasantness of the previous week.
Knowing that he’d come close to ruining their otherwise perfect day, Andy offered his lover an apologetic look. He lifted Alberto’s hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles, one by one.
“I don’t want to upset you, Alberto. I’m sorry. I promise I will never bring it up again. But now, and only because you were the one who started it, I just have to know. Because, when we were away from each other and so full of anger, I thought about what you would do a lot and wondered what if you would finally give up on me?” the young man pleaded, both with words and his big, blue eyes.
“God, Andy, if you really must know then yes, if you gave me no other choice, I would have finally given up. But not without one hell of a fight. I couldn’t have kept stalking you forever, there is no such thing as forcing love upon someone, so I would eventually have to let go, no matter how much it might hurt. Of course, I would be miserable. I’d hate myself for making mistakes and pushing you away, I’d miss you and be very lonely. Still, I’d always hope that you would miss me, too and maybe you would come back to me, some day. I would never stop loving you, even if you are not mine anymore,” Alberto finished, with a pained little smile.
A moment of silence passed, while Alberto watched clouds gathering on the horizon and Andy pondered on what had been said. Of one thing he was beyond certain: he had never loved and been loved as much as there and then. Knowing that, he held all his questions answered.
“Say that again,” Andy pleaded, resting his head on Alberto’s shoulder and nuzzling his neck.
“What? Which part? All of it?” the man in question couldn’t quite believe his lover’s persistence.
“No, just the part where you said I’m yours.”
“Oh, ”Alberto breathed, relieved and warm all over. “You’re mine.”
“Yes. And don’t you forget it,” the younger man concluded, reaching out for Alberto’s head and turning to kiss him. There had been enough talk, most of it fringed with pain which Andy wanted nothing more than to chase away. So they spent an indefinite amount of time kissing, taking their time and saying more to each other than mere words could convey. The breeze swept around them, whispering through the grasses, ruffling
Andy’s hair, but managing little in the way of cooling the hot air between them.
At length, Andy pulled back and rose to his feet, straightening his back. He rewarded Alberto’s dreamy expression with his best sunny smile.
“Where are you going?” the Spaniard sighed, finding himself without his armful of lover.
“Nowhere, but I had to get up. There’s not enough room on that rock to molest you proper. Besides, my back hurts. And not in a good way,” Andy gave his lover’s sudden speculative grin a pointed look.
“Now that you mentioned it… yea, we could walk around some more. Maybe we can find a better spot.”
Andy nodded and held out his hand, pulling Alberto into his arms and giving him a long, thorough kiss.
“What… what was that for?” he managed, when Andy released him, but thankfully held him still, because his legs didn’t feel quite so steady.
“That was for you, because you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m never going to forget this moment,” Andy told him, causing Alberto to lean heavily on his lover, holding onto Andy as though he were out at sea and Andy was his only lifeline.
“It’s perfect, then, because I wanted this to be unforgettable, ” he whispered, face hidden in the crook of Andy’s neck.
They were content in that embrace for a good long while, before the crying of many seagulls pulled them back to reality. Then, before being tempted to kiss Alberto within an inch of his sanity and in a public place no less, Andy took his lover’s hand and pulled a happy looking Alberto in the direction of the ruins they had seen earlier. Mindful of their footing, the two of them walked among the crumbled walls, trying to imagine what the fortification must have looked like before it had fallen into ruin and whether a cannonade had brought its demise.
“You know, we go to so many places full of history, like this, and yet we never have time to really see any of them, “ Alberto said as he ran his palm along the rough surface of a partially collapsed wall.
“If we want time, we should change our profession from cyclists to tourists,” Andy replied smartly. He saw Alberto smile and give him a wistful look.
“I could do that. If it means I can go to all kinds of nice places with you, I wouldn’t mind becoming a tourist at all.”
By the time Alberto had finished his sentence, Andy was before him, wrapping himself around his lover and giving him another one of those soul-searching kisses. If the man would always give such answers, the world would be a much happier place, Alberto decided. He felt a surge of excitement and anticipation course through him, when he thought about how everything was going exactly as he had hoped.
Except he hadn’t hoped that Andy would move back about as fast as he’d swooped in, just for the satisfaction of seeing Alberto’s thoroughly kissed face.
“Hey, get back here. And tell me something, while you’re at it,” Alberto pretended to protest.
“What might that be?” Andy returned into the circle of his lover’s arms.
“You’ve wanted all kinds of answers out of me today, but it occurred to me just now that you never said what you would have done… if the mess hadn’t been fixed when it was fixed,” Alberto looked up at Andy’s smiling face, a bit remorseful as he knew that the joy would fade. To his surprise, however, Andy kept smiling. In fact, his beautiful face was lit with the utmost pride and joy, making it almost impossible for Alberto to not kiss him.
“It’s not a question of what I would have done as much as it is a matter of what I have done,” the young man replied. “I’m here, aren’t? I realized that I’ve got to stop letting stupid things come between us. We don’t have it easy at all, even without me trying to complicate things and make them impossible to deal with. Besides, it was a matter of what hurt more, and believe me, the thought of not having you this close again was far more painful than anything we might have said to each other in anger.”
Because Alberto agreed wholeheartedly, he proceeded to demonstrate it. They forgot themselves into a heated exchange which lead to Andy being backed against the old fortress wall, while Alberto kissed him and ran his hands over him frantically. It quickly became a matter of extreme misconduct in a public place, when Alberto’s mouth traveled a torturous way down the side of Andy’s neck and Andy responded by hooking one leg behind Alberto’s knees, pulling the man into very dangerous contact. If only they were all alone on the little island and everyone had decided to go back to shore, since the tide was coming in and all…
“Shit! Alberto, stop! ”Andy gasped and struggled in the embrace.
“Mmmm?” the man in question mumbled against the soft spot just behind Andy’s ear.
“God… it said stop! Do you know what time it is?!”
“A long time since we had sex?” Alberto breathed hotly in his lover’s ear.
In spite of badly wanting to say ‘Yes!’, Andy grabbed the back of Alberto’s shirt and pulled his lover to a more bearable distance. “I’m serious, Alberto! What time is it?”
“Erm… 5:32. Why is that so important, all of a sudden?” Alberto managed to reply with a straight face.
“Shit! We’re done for. The tide, Alberto! Didn’t you say that this island becomes isolated by the sea at high tide?”
“Well, yes, but…?”
“If it’s five thirty now and the tide is highest at 19:40, that means… we’re fucked,” Andy finished on a note which had Alberto smirking in spite of his attempts to keep his poker face on. Andy didn’t notice, as he was busy disentangling himself from his lover and dashing for the southern side of the island, where he could take a look at how seriously screwed they really were.
“Come on!” the young man called for Alberto. “Hurry up, there might still be a way to get across if the lifeguards see us!”
‘Of course there is. They have boats,’ Alberto thought, while following his lover at a very sedate pace. But he wore a hungry, predatory sort of look on his face as he neared the cluster of rocks atop which Andy had climbed.
“What’s the matter? Are we stranded?” he inquired casually.
“Damn right we are,” Andy muttered, struggling to keep his balance and shading his eyes. He stared in the direction of Dinard and the walled city where he could see the greater portion of what used to be wide beaches presently swallowed by the sea. “How high did it say the tide gets?”
“About 12 meters. Said so on that sign when we climbed on the island. And the currents are very strong. It would be madness to try and cross to the beach now,” Alberto kept the casual tone, wondering how long it would take Andy to look at him and catch on.
“Well, lets hurry over to the other side. Maybe someone will see us or hear us if we shout for help,” Andy urged his perfectly calm lover, hopping off his high perch and heading in the direction of the bay.
“Andy, come here. We’re not going back. Not for the next few hours, anyway,” Alberto called after his lover in a voice which made the younger man freeze in his tracks.
“Whaaaaat you youuuu mean?” Andy turned around and asked, with a perfect ‘what-the-fuck’ expression on his face.
Alberto merely smirked and gave his lover a suggestive look.
“Oh, my God, ” Andy groaned when the fact of the matter dawned upon him. “You planned this?”
“I might have…” Alberto looked positively smug.
“You mean you got us stuck here on purpose, for the next six hours to…,” Andy’s eyes widened with disbelief on that beautiful face. As he gaped at his lover, he didn’t know whether to feel outraged or thrilled.
“Yes, pretty much. Now lets find out if we’re alone on this island. Hopefully, nobody else had the same idea. If so, I think I can keep you entertained for the next couple of hours,” Alberto grinned, fully enjoying the awestruck excitement so obvious on Andy’s face. “Come on, we’ll make love on a deserted island and watch the sunset in each other’s arms. What could possibly be more romantic than that?” he added and motioned for Andy to follow him.
Andy felt his eyes water from much more than just the salty breeze. His breath caught when he tried to say something and he gave in, walking to the unbelievable man before him.
Part two is forthcoming, in which the author takes creative liberties with the weather, French coastal authorities and can maybe convince the protagonists to take full advantage of their time on the deserted island.