Beauty In The Eye Of The Beholder - Part Six
Title: Beauty In The Eye Of The Beholder
Pairing: Dom/Elijah
Rating: PG13-R, PG-13 this part
Part: Six
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
It didn’t take long to find Elijah’s car. There it was, pushed into the grassy verge by the side of the lane, leaving plenty of room for another car to go past. Dom pulled the Mini up in front of it, threw his raincoat hood over his head and got out.
He lifted the bonnet of the Morris gently, like a doctor probing open the mouth of a sick child to examine the throat. It was easily fixed - just water-logged, from the look of it. Dom happily messed around with oily spanners and greasy screws for a while, then, satisfied, let himself into the driver’s seat. It was more spacious than the Mini - it even had a back seat, which Dom noticed was strewn with loose paper, a Guardian with the crossword completed and a flask.
His hand was automatically inserting the key into the ignition when a sudden, sharp noise startled him. Heart thumping, his eyes were drawn to the source of the noise - Elijah’s mobile phone, lying on the passenger seat. It stopped abruptly and Dom felt his heart rate begin to calm. He picked up the phone and frowned at it slightly, trying to make sense of it, and then jumped again and nearly dropped it when his little finger hit against a section of the screen and it lit up with a small slice of text.
“One new message from: Karl. Sent: 11.34am. Message: Elijah, you fucking bastard. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re playing at. If you don’t want to be with me any more then just say. You know what, I don’t want to be with you any more. When you come back, if you come back, you can count on me being fucking gone.”
Dom’s eyes widened and he put the phone down gently onto the seat again. Rather gingerly, he returned to his task of starting the car, trying not to think about the message. It put quite a different spin on Elijah, who seemed all sweet and innocent - quite apart from the fact that he felt terribly guilty for reading someone else’s private message, albeit accidentally. The car started with a welcome rattle, and Dom gave it a noisy, experimental rev before shutting down the engine, getting back out into the pelting rain, and hooking the tow-bar to the back of the Mini using a tug rope. Then it was a simple matter of driving round the back-roads to the house.
***
Pulling up into the drive, he could see Elijah at the window of the sitting-room. He gave a wave, which Dom returned. Leaving the cars linked, he got in as quick as he could, hung his raincoat on the coat-stand in the hallway to drip onto the marble Victorian tiles, and went on in.
“You got it!” Elijah said brightly, beaming at Dom.
“Yeah,” Dom said. “It’s a lovely car. It should be fine for you to drive when you want it.”
“Thank you so much,” Elijah said gratefully. “It’s really good of you.”
“Oh, here.” Dom passed him the keys and the phone. “You left it on the seat, I thought you might want it - it went off while I was in there, so...”
“Ok, thanks,” Elijah said, though he didn’t look thrilled. He gave a sheepish laugh. “I actually left it there on purpose, I’m trying to avoid someone calling me.” He tapped the screen a couple of times and sighed, then glanced up at Dom. “So, did you...”
“Sorry,” Dom said automatically. His conscience really must be guilty, he thought. But Elijah looked surprised at this and it immediately became apparent to Dom that Elijah hadn’t noticed that he’d read the message at all. However, he thought it might be better to come clean anyway. “I accidentally read your message - I didn’t mean to, I just...touched the screen...” he trailed off lamely.
Elijah’s face fell a little bit more. His eyes searched Dom’s face as if wanting to find curiosity there. Dom tried to keep his expression neutral.
“Karl’s my...my boyfriend, at home,” Elijah confessed shyly. “And...well, I didn’t really tell him why I was coming here. Or that I was coming here.” Dom must have involuntarily looked shocked at this, because Elijah said hastily, “I didn’t deliberately keep it from him, it just sort of...slipped my mind.” His cheeks were beginning to colour. “Oh shit, I guess I should just go and phone him, shouldn’t I? No wonder he’s furious.”
Dom sat down tiredly on the velvet couch. He had never been a great one for giving anybody advice on their relationships, and least of all now, since he’d been out of touch with the world for so long. He simply shrugged and Elijah sighed in misery, making for the door, phone in hand. He slipped out, closing it with a soft click behind him.
Dom waited in silence, save the crackle of the fire, for almost half an hour before Elijah came back in. He gave Dom a weak smile and sat back down in the rocking-chair, turning his attention back to his notes.
The lack of communication between Elijah and this Karl person was obvious. But what was worse was that it cut Dom to the heart, reminding him painfully of the demise of his last relationship.
“Everything alright?” he asked, keeping his voice purposely casual.
Elijah looked up. “It’s OK, yeah...sorry, I didn’t mean to annoy you or anything. I know you don’t really know me, so...well, sorry, for going on about this.”
Dom waved it away. “Don’t worry about it.” He paused, then said, “Want some lunch?”
***
They went down to the kitchen together, and Dom sliced the bread and got the butter out of the fridge to soften while Elijah boiled the kettle and washed the teapot and cups.
“It doesn’t offend you, then?” Elijah asked quietly after a moment. “That I’m gay, I mean?”
Dom snorted, not unkindly. “Not at all.”
Elijah fumbled with a couple of teabags, dropping them into the pot. “That’s good.” But he didn’t look up, and his cheeks were taking on a pale pink tinge.
“Yeah.” Dom took a butter-knife out of the drawer with a metallic clink of cutlery. He felt an unfamiliar tug somewhere in his chest, and realised with a start that he felt sorry for Elijah. He obviously wasn’t happy at the moment.
The kettle clicked loudly, making them both jump, and Elijah poured the boiling water into the pot, hand shaking slightly. Dom drew his eyes away and fished the ham and lettuce out of the fridge, and began to lay them neatly on top of slices of bread.
“Can I use your bathroom please?” The American-accented voice was a little muffled, and as Dom glanced over at him, Elijah drew a hasty hand up to wipe his eyes.
“Go ahead,” Dom said, his own voice softening in response. “First floor, second door on the left.”
Elijah gave a small nod, hastening for the door.
***
Dom loaded the tray with the tea and sandwiches, and went to wait for Elijah in the sitting-room. Elijah came in nearly ten minutes later, eyes red-rimmed and cheeks very pale. He looked washed-out and completely miserable. Dom didn’t quite know what to say.
“I’m really sorry,” Elijah said, sitting down. “I’m not normally like this.” He gave a dry laugh, accepting his tea from Dom. Their fingers brushed for a split-second, and Dom yanked his hand back as though he’d been burnt, though his mind registered that Elijah’s fingers were icy. Elijah’s laugh trailed off into a sigh.
“Have a sandwich,” Dom said - maybe not the most helpful of things to say. But Elijah seemed glad for the semblance of normality, and took one, small smile in place.
“I’m sorr - ”
“Stop apologising!” Dom teased, taking a huge mouthful of white bread, ham and Romaine. “Really.”
Elijah laughed again, more genuinely this time, and they ate in silence for a moment, the fire crackling between them.
“Do you want to talk about anything?” Dom asked eventually. “I might not have much advice but I’m a good listener.”
Elijah shook his head gently. “I’m OK, thanks. It’s nice of you, but...” He trailed off, then reached over to take another sandwich, with a sheepish smile.