“Here you are. How long will you whisper in the dark?

It was Aura. Who else could it be?

For some reason, Elijah wanted to laugh, even though the experience was turning out to be stranger than he'd anticipated. Instead of finding William  who had told him he would arrive that morning, it was Aura who had greeted them last night and opened the door for them; she hadn't asked anything and just said, 'Luca's room is in the same place.'

With a shrug, Elijah had picked Luca up and headed upstairs, not the least bit put off by Aura's presence. Elijah admitted he was moving too fast, too eager, but who could blame him when as soon as they entered the room Luca had moaned softly and kissed him even sweeter, starting to take off his own clothes and lying in the middle of the bed with his legs open? 

Elijah was only a human, and like the weak being that he was, he did what Luca didn't have the courage to ask aloud, but said with his gaze and all that bare skin. He had knelt on the bed, kissed from Luca's legs to his neck to finally touch where he wanted most. Maybe he got a little carried away, touched too hard, because when he saw Luca, the boy was coming in his mouth and on his face, moaning like it hurt and  shaking so hard that for a moment he thought Luca was going to have an epileptic seizure; the only reason Elijah wasn't worried was the expression of pure ecstasy on the delicate face of his baby, the heaving sigh as Luca relaxed on the bed and closed his eyes, calm and content.

He hadn't even cared about the result, him excited and frustrated, and Luca sleeping peacefully. It was his fault, plus Luca was under no obligation to reciprocate, whether they were dating or not. Taking a deep breath, all Elijah did for long minutes was watch Luca sleeping comfortably on the bed, arms stretched over his head, gripping the pillows, legs spread and cock now flaccid, small and collected in the path of thin black hair that went from the lower part of his belly button to his groin, still wet with saliva and semen. Elijah wanted to touch him again right then, turn Luca on one more time and see how long it took for him to come again.

In the end, making an effort to step away, Elijah got out of bed slowly so as not to wake Luca up, entered the bathroom that was inside the suite and lowered his pants. It would be safer if he took care of things away from Luca, just to make sure he could behave the rest of the night; Elijah knew how suspicious Luca was when it came to sexuality and trust, especially when a year ago Luca had broken up with his boyfriend and not told him the reason. And even if he suspected what had happened, that was none of his business either. If Luca didn't want to tell him, Elijah should respect his decision. For now.

That way, he took care of things mechanically, found a clean towel, dampened it with warm water and cleaned Luca, then stripped off his clothes and climbed into bed with him. Elijah had barely laid his head on the pillow when Luca wrapped his arms around his neck in his sleep, snuggling against him. Legs against legs and chest against chest, practically kissing him, stretched against Elijah’s body.

"I missed you.” Luca murmured, sighing contentedly and falling back into his deep sleep once more.

Elijah thought that had been one of the happiest moments of his life, Luca after so long letting himself be vulnerable around him when Elijah thought that these scenes would never happen again.

Feeling a tightness in his heart as though it would explode at any moment, and wanting to cry, Elijah finally allowed himself to close his eyes and accept his feelings. He loved Luca, not even time or other people would make that same sense of completeness set in; no one made him feel as good and as powerful as Luca did, no one made him laugh or cry as easily, or create this crazy desire in him to be the best just to make sure he would be able to give Luca everything he needed.

“I missed you too.” Elijah ended up muttering back before falling asleep, pulling Luca closer and finally letting himself go.

Now they were sitting at the kitchen table, Aura sitting across from him while Luca sat beside him, Luca filling a plate with food and a cup of plain, unsweetened coffee, handing it to him.

“You still remember.” Elijah said and picked up the cup, taking a sip, inhaling the fragrance of freshly brewed and ground coffee, not as strong as he liked, but of exemplary quality. It was all so familiar that Elijah found himself smiling, watching Aura smirking and Luca pretending he wasn't embarrassed by the compliment. Luca was never very good at receiving them.

"I didn't do anything special.”

“Hm.” He said, trying not to provoke Luca any further. But Elijah couldn't help it, he followed Luca with his gaze, seeing him finally sit down and grab a glass of orange juice for himself, taking a long sip before concentrating on his plate, when Aura looked at him and asked:

"Elijah Jackson, what brings you here?"

“Luca.” He said and smiled at Aura. Between them there was never room for anything but outright sincerity. After all, she had allowed Luca to practically move into his home for those long, magnificent years and he wouldn’t do anything to break the trust between them.

"Are you serious this time?"

"Yes.”

"That’s nice.”

Aura nodded, satisfied. She turned back to her food and raised a mouthful of eggs to her lips.

"What is this?” Luca asked, putting down his fork. He crossed his arms and glared at them.

"I wanted to know.” Aura shrugged. “You arrived late yesterday.”

"I can’t believe this!” Luca covered his face and groaned anxiously. "Did you see us?"

"I saw everything.”

There was silence, however, not for long. Luca pushed back his chair and stood up, staggering.

“I need… I need to get my bag.”

Which was just one reason for him to hide for a while or until the blush faded away. 

Elijah watched Luca drag himself out of the kitchen and turned to Aura.

"So, What?" He asked. He knew Aura wanted to say something, but he didn't want Luca to hear.

"You look different.”

"As?”

“More…decided. Mature.”

“Some things happened.”

When Aura didn't say anything else, he shrugged and continued:

“Luca left and I found out a few things.”

"Things?”

"Nothing much.”

Aura raised her eyebrows and Elijah surrendered.

“It seems I was very nice and innocent. So I decided not to be anymore.”

"Do not tell me.”

"Nobody tells me these things! I thought Luca didn't think about…about…”

“Sex?”

“Apparently I was wrong and he thought I wasn't interested.”

"Hm..." Aura looked at him for a few more moments and was merciful. “It's not your fault, it was that blonde girl who was always after you.”

"Damn it. I don't even like women!"

"And? I would be more careful if I were you.”

Elijah knew this wasn't a threat but it was a warning, as Aura would never do anything to get in the way of Luca's happiness.

"Do you think I should do something more drastic?"

“I think Luca would do something drastic if he thinks he's in the way.”

Elijah stopped breathing for a moment and realized the seriousness of the problem, only now did he see that Aura looked worried. She wouldn't be home when responsibility always came first for the Johnson’s; she wouldn't be wasting that precious time if Aura didn't think it was extremely important.

“I'll take care of everything. You don’t need to worry.”

"It's what I hope.”

With that, they both lowered their heads and continued to eat until Luca returned, calmer and more composed. They all finished eating the rest of the food, and in a hurry, Luca soon pulled him by the hand and towards the car parked in front of the Johnson's house.