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----- A Drink with a Stranger By: Sean Roberts -----
-- Chapter 15 --
Lane and Finn returned to find Taylor and Jessica enjoying the lake. Victoria was sitting in between Mr. and Mrs. Conway, an annoyed look on her face, as they sat beside her with drinks, talking to her with smiles on their faces. Ellis was nowhere to be seen.
"There you are!" Victoria said.
"Oh Finn, she's wonderful!" Sally said. "We're so happy for the two of you. We've just been getting to know her better."
"We were just asking her if she had any friends she could set you up with buddy," James said.
"Okay!" Lane said with fake cheer. "Victoria, why don't we join those guys in the water?" She nodded and stood up quickly. "Sorry about my parents," Lane said when they had gone inside the house to change.
"It's alright Lane, they're really nice. It's just that I was really hoping to get some work done."
"Well come on then, let's sneak a shot of something while they're not looking." They went to Lane's bedroom, and when they opened the door, they found Ellis sitting on the bed, staring at his phone. He did not seem to like what he was looking at.
"Sorry, I'll get out of your way," Ellis said, looking up at the three of them. He stood up and pushed past them, not giving Lane a second glance.
"Ellis..." Lane said softly. He either did not hear or pretended not to hear. Lane sat down on his bed. "Shit," he said to himself. He looked up and saw Victoria, who looked confused. "Right, well, how about that drink," Lane said, getting the bottle from his duffel bag.
They drank, changed and went back downstairs. They found Ellis sitting on the deck, talking to Lane's parents. Lane's dad looked up.
"Hey Lane," he said. "Good thing you found someone else to run that paper with you, huh? Would have been a lot of work otherwise."
"Yeah. Ellis has been great," Lane said, smiling. Ellis was still avoiding eye contact. "Hey Ellis, we're all going in the lake. Are you joining us?" Ellis looked up, and his eyes widened slightly at seeing Lane shirtless. He swallowed, then shook his head.
"Maybe later."
The three of them dove into the lake, turning into kids as soon as their bodies hit the water. Taylor was overjoyed to have them all there. They splashed around, laughing at nothing, enjoying the water's warmth and the remaining sun. A few minutes later, Lane dove into the water and came back up, only to see Ellis swimming towards them. Lane smiled at him.
"What's over there?" Ellis said, pointing at a spot on the other side of the lake.
"Nothing," Lane said.
"Good enough. See that big tree? I'll race you." Lane looked at him, seeing Ellis' mistake.
"Aren't you supposed to take it easy, because of your arm?" Lane said.
"Nah," Ellis said, not missing a beat. "It's healing better than I thought. So, how about it?"
"Yeah," Lane said. "Sure." Taylor started laughing, loudly, and they looked over.
"You'll never win!" Taylor said.
"We'll see about that," Lane said, laughing with him. Taylor counted them down and the two boys took off towards the other side of the lake. Lane could feel Ellis beside him the whole way. It was hard to say who won; it really did not matter. They were far enough away that nobody could see them. They climbed out onto the mossy rocks, towards the tree.
"I figured we should talk," Ellis said.
"I appreciate that," Lane said. "This is torture."
"How do you think I'm feeling? Let's call a truce, just for the weekend."
"Why the sudden change of plans?"
"You not wearing a shirt," Ellis said. He took Lane into his strong arms. There was a comfort there, as always. Lane could smell him; Ellis' unmistakable smell combined with the freshness of the lake. Their bodies wet and hungry, their lips touched. There was a silence around them, in these woods, and they could feel the beats of their hearts. Lane could almost feel the blood running through Ellis' body through his hands on Ellis' back.
"We'd better get back," Lane said. "Before they send someone to look for us."
Until the sun went down completely, they all stayed in the water, their worries and responsibilities carried away into the lake's warm water.
--
The bars in town were small, and not very lively. Their fake IDs worked, but for teenagers there was not really enough excitement. Ellis had finally managed, in a way making it seem like their idea, gotten Taylor and Jessica to go to bed. They went back to the lake house early and sat outside. Ellis provided a very expensive, bottle of scotch for them to enjoy. None of them drank much—just enough to keep the evening moving along.
Finally, Finn and Victoria decided to go to bed, and Lane was left alone with Ellis.
"So what's the deal with Finn?" Ellis asked. Lane took a deep breath.
"We've been best friends since before I can remember. Well, until we weren't a few years ago. We stopped talking. Now we're friends again."
"That really doesn't explain..."
"Being such good friends, we may have, umm, experimented with each other a bit. But that was when we were fourteen years old."
"Lane, in the restaurant when I saw you—"
"It was a simple lapse in judgement on both our parts. It was like an old habit. I mean, the thing is, we stopped talking suddenly. We didn't get a chance at any closure; and I guess we just needed to do this. And Ellis, I would really like to remind you that you and I, at the time, weren't together."
"You can't be seriously expecting me—"
"I'm not. I'm just pointing it out. Because I fucked up and I'm trying to save a little face." Ellis reached over and took Lane's hand into his.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For this; for telling me. And for being here with me and inviting me. Your parents are so nice. And it's been killing me to not be with you."
"Technically I didn't invite you."
"I assumed that Taylor cleared it with you. Or at least that you didn't object too much. Anyway, my parents wanted to spend the weekend cleaning the house. I was glad I got out of there."
"Yeah, I bet." Lane let out a laugh, wishing he had chosen a different set of words. "Listen, I don't want to rock the boat here, but—"
"Then don't. Here, have another." Lane held out his glass and Ellis poured them each another shot. "It's really quite wonderful out here."
"I love it up here too. We don't come up as often as I'd like. Ellis, I need you to tell me what's going on."
"With what?"
"With me."
"Turn yourself in," Ellis said. "To Principal Vance. Tell him what you've been doing."
"Aside from me getting expelled—which in all fairness, maybe I deserve—it will end up screwing over a lot of people."
"You're probably right," Ellis said. "Look at that," he said, pointing up. The moon filled up and had accented the water in silver. A light breeze blew, rustling the trees. "I'm glad we made a truce for the weekend," Ellis said. "Just for the weekend. I can't stand being here with you and not kissing you." Lane smiled, the sides of his mouth hurting. He had been smiling a lot that evening. He could not have been happier that Ellis suggested this. He pushed everything out of his mind. He realized that he could deal with everything that was going on as long as he had Ellis by his side.
Lane leaned over and kissed Ellis. He climbed on top of the lounge chair; on top of Ellis, and kissed him again. They ripped off each other's clothes and took each other in their hands. This was not the same as kissing Finn. No matter what he expected, the kiss was always different. There were no feelings of guilt as they tasted each other. They were merciless. They were pulling each other too hard and biting each other's lips, refusing to let go. Lane finally could not take it anymore, and tried to pull away, but Ellis' touch became softer. He leaned forward so Ellis could kiss his neck.
He closed his eyes and moaned as he felt Ellis' lips and tongue on his skin. He rubbed Ellis' stomach, and moved his hand up Ellis' chest, feeling the hard muscles as he came. His hand became wet as Ellis allowed himself his own release. They kissed again, the scotch having relaxed them; the taste still on their lips of the drink that shared its colour with Ellis' eyes.
They climbed into the lake, holding onto the post of the dock as they kissed and let the water wash them off. The touch of a lover was all they needed. The water was surprisingly warm for the time of day, and they lingered inside it, kissing each other and feeling each other until they climbed out to the dock and sat naked, their arms touching, to dry off. Lane leaned over to kiss Ellis again, but Ellis turned his head away.'
"What's wrong?" Lane said.
"Nothing," Ellis said. "I think we'd better get to bed."
--
Lane went downstairs early in the morning to get a glass of water. Ellis was already in the kitchen, fully dressed. There were eggs, flour, milk and other ingredients on the counter; there was a silver mixing bowl full of some sort of batter. Ellis was wearing Lane's mother's cooking apron.
"What are you doing?" Lane said.
"I decided to make breakfast for everyone. I figured it would give your parents a break from cooking."
"Couldn't sleep either huh?"
"Not a wink. Come here, stir that for me will you?" Lane nodded and started to stir the batter. "I'm sorry about last night," Ellis said. "I mean about turning away from you. I suddenly realized that this can't last, and I couldn't kiss you again. It would have killed me." It was not like Ellis to exaggerate like that. Lane continued to stir, his hands starting to shake. He needed to tell Ellis that he knew about the gambling; about the revenge plot; so they would be even. Maybe that was even the best solution to get it to stop; to get Keith out of hot water. They were both doing something they should not be doing. But he could not do that yet; he needed to speak with Keith first and see if there was another option.
"I had to make myself not think about that," Lane said. He stopped stirring. "Ellis, I don't know what to do either. I can't make you get over what I did. Umm, I mean, what I'm doing. I haven't stopped, you know, with the assignment thing." Ellis put down cheese he was grating and turned to face Lane.
"I can get over it. I am over it. I just needed you to say that. If you can live with yourself Lane, then I can deal with it. You never really told me that you were okay with it, until now."
"Shit, you're right. I've been scared that you're going to—"
"Well you shouldn't be," Ellis snapped. "I told you before. I'm not going to do anything behind your back."
"You did tell me that," Lane said. Ellis smiled at him. Lane stepped forward quickly, pushing Ellis against the counter as he pulled off the apron. They pressed up against each other as they kissed, the pajama clad boys quickly becoming hard. Lane pressed his body even closer to Ellis, whose arm pushed the metal bowl off the counter. It fell to the floor with a loud crash, spilling its contents. The boys barely noticed it. They continued to kiss.
"Lane!" said a stern voice. Lane felt a lightning bolt shoot through his body. He turned around. It was not just his father standing there—his mother, Taylor, Jessica, Finn and Victoria were all there, looking tired and wearing pajamas, staring at them in disbelief.
--
The sun was just starting to peek through the darkness, turning the sky a dark navy blue.
"You woke us all up," Finn said. He was gesturing towards the bowl. "I guess breakfast is off then?" Nobody was looking at him or saying anything.
"Everyone go back to bed please," Lane's dad said firmly.
"But dad! I want to see—" Taylor started.
"Now!" he said. Everyone left without another word, except for the two deer caught in the headlights.
"Umm, Mr. and Mrs. Conway, this is my fault," Ellis said once everyone had gone. "Lane—"
"Ellis," Lane interrupted. "It'sokay. Can you give us a few minutes?" Ellis looked relieved, and without making eye contact with Lane's parents, brushed past them and went upstairs. "I'll get this cleaned up," Lane said.
"Why didn't you tell us," James said. Lane looked towards his mother.
"Honey," she said. "We aren't mad. I just wish you would have told us."
"I don't know why I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to get upset. And you just said it's okay, but you still seem upset."
"It's a bit of a shock," his father said. "Does anybody else know? I mean, before just now?"
"Just Finn. Look, I would have told you eventually. It's just that I haven't been seeing anyone, and so—"
"Honey," his mother said. "When you, you know, kiss someone, it sort of means that you're together." Lane buried his face in his hands.
"Okay, yes, thanks mom. Can we please not talk about this anymore?"
"Lane," his mother said. "For the record, we really do like Ellis. I assume he was the one who decided to make us all breakfast?" Lane nodded. "Well good. Please go and retrieve him so we can all eat." James smiled at his son. Lane nodded, then he ran up the stairs.