(Late) Valentine's Day fluff
Feb. 16th, 2012 06:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
frogs_of_warHappy birthday to those born in the busiest season for florists.
And thanks for the gifts. This is my gift for everyone. (Feel Lucky. My family got free leftover balloons)
Title: Starting over
Status: Complete
Series: One Hour Stories
Genre: m/m romance, drama
Rating: PG
Length: about 1,100 words
Summary: A storm brought Kalle back and now Scott feels caught in a hurricane.
Note: Charis, this is the story I mentioned weeks (months?) ago.
Scott closed his eyes, took a deep breath, opened then again, and put the phone back up to his ear. “Repeat that.”
“Kalle is on the way to your door,” said Madilyn. “He should be there now.”
“You’re outside?”
The door bell rang.
“He needed a ride. I thought you’d like a heads up.”
“Sure.” Scott snapped his phone closed. “Thanks for the advanced warning.”
The door bell rang again. He’d have to answer it.
Kalle stood on the doorstep, beautiful as ever. His hair was still white blond and his skin sun-kissed. His muscles ripped as he adjusted his bag over one arm. He lifted his suitcase with the other and pushed his way past Scott.
The years since they’d been together hadn’t left their mark on Kalle although they’d torn Scott apart.
“Why are you here?”
“Tornado.” Kalle set his bag on the easy chair. “I have no home, no car, no clothes other than the ones I took to the conference. Could have been worse. I could have been home.”
Scott had heard about the big tornado that had ripped up an entire town. His friends had spent two days worried sick over Kalle before Kalle had gotten a hold of them. Scott had felt Kalle’s loss all over again. But that didn’t answer the real question.
“Why are you here? With me?” The words were hard to say but the answer would be harder to hear. Scott had no lover and no kids and a spare room. His friends had foisted their friends and relatives off on him before.
Kalle flopped on the couch. “I thought we could start over.”
Scott caught his breath. He couldn’t have heard that right. He stepped to the side to put a big easy chair between them. “You want to start over?”
“I never wanted to leave.”
Scott took a calming breath. Then another. Then a third and relaxed his clinched fists. “But you did. You took my parents’ money and you walked away.”
Kalle sighed and closed his eyes. He looked so vulnerable and sad, so lovely and delicate and heartbroken. “Do you think that your dreams would have come true if I’d stayed? Your parents had a point.”
“They did not!”
Kalle turned his beautiful blue eyes on Scott. “You were ignoring your career, your dreams, to take care of me.”
“My dreams? My dreams had you in them.”
“But they were all of you as a famous photographer and me as your favorite model.” Kalle sat up. “If I wouldn’t have left, you would still be snapping pictures for a few bucks a week. I knew you were better than that.”
Scott banged his fists into the seat back of the easy chair. “Better than taking care of you? I loved you.”
“Sure.” Kalle got to his feet. “But you might have resented me soon enough. You weren’t going to take the Novak job, so I took the money your parents offered and left. Would you be where you are today of I stayed?”
That wasn’t the point. Kalle had betrayed him. He’d taken Scott’s parent's side and walked away. “Was the money worth it?”
Kalle walked over to his bag and opened it. “I can now read English. I can cook. I know how to clean up after myself. I can budget and balance my bank account. And I can look people in the eye when I talk to them.” He handed Scott a scrapbook. “I followed your career.”
The book was filled with articles about Scott and his work. The last few pages were blank.
Kalle shrugged. “I took it with me to fill the time away from home and now it’s one of the few things I have left.”
Scott wrenched his eyes away from the book. He wasn’t going to let Kalle off so easily. “So why did you wait so long to return?”
Kalle looked at the floor and scratched his neck. “Your parents kept sending me money to stay away.”
So it really was about the money.
“I wanted to become the kind of person they wouldn’t be embarrassed by.”
“You never embarrassed me.”
Kalle smiled and his eyes twinkled. “I know. You’ve always been the most amazing man in the world.”
Scott’s gut tore open. Kalle had to know what he was doing to Scott. “So are you? That kind of man now?”
Kalle bit his lip. “I hope so.”
“But you’ve been successful for a while.” Much as Scott wanted not to care, he’d kept an eye on how Kalle was doing. “Why not come back sooner?”
Kalle sucked in a breath. “I stopped taking your parents’ money two years ago.”
“So why didn’t you come home?” Home was anyplace with Kalle in it. Scott hadn’t felt at home since he left. “Did you fall for someone else?”
“No! Don’t think that! It’s only you. It’s only ever been you. It will always be you…but…”
Scott clinched his teeth. How could Kalle think that and have left him? How could he think that and not run back to Scott at the first opportunity. “But what?”
“But the me you were in love with was a boy. I might have been twenty, but I was such a child. There was so much I didn’t know. I knew you loved me, but could you love me as an equal? Could you ever love this me?”
Tears dripped down his cheeks. Scott’s heart broke. He wrapped his arms around Kalle and tucked Kalle’s face against his neck. “You were scared.”
Kalle nodded against him. The tears didn’t stop. “I was always such a scardy-cat.”
Scott rubbed his chin against Kalle’s hair. It wasn’t white blonde, it was just white. Scott didn’t even have any gray yet. He felt unaccountably better knowing that Kalle wasn’t as perfect as he first looked. “But you’re my scardy-cat and that’s all that matters.”
He slipped his hand under Kalle’s shirt and Kalle molded to him and lifted his face for a kiss. Scott indulged in a way he hadn’t in years.
They didn’t make it to the bedroom. They didn’t even make it to the couch.
Scott would have to call Madilyn and thank her for bringing Kalle back to him.
Maybe in a couple of days.
And thanks for the gifts. This is my gift for everyone. (Feel Lucky. My family got free leftover balloons)
Title: Starting over
Status: Complete
Series: One Hour Stories
Genre: m/m romance, drama
Rating: PG
Length: about 1,100 words
Summary: A storm brought Kalle back and now Scott feels caught in a hurricane.
Note: Charis, this is the story I mentioned weeks (months?) ago.
Scott closed his eyes, took a deep breath, opened then again, and put the phone back up to his ear. “Repeat that.”
“Kalle is on the way to your door,” said Madilyn. “He should be there now.”
“You’re outside?”
The door bell rang.
“He needed a ride. I thought you’d like a heads up.”
“Sure.” Scott snapped his phone closed. “Thanks for the advanced warning.”
The door bell rang again. He’d have to answer it.
Kalle stood on the doorstep, beautiful as ever. His hair was still white blond and his skin sun-kissed. His muscles ripped as he adjusted his bag over one arm. He lifted his suitcase with the other and pushed his way past Scott.
The years since they’d been together hadn’t left their mark on Kalle although they’d torn Scott apart.
“Why are you here?”
“Tornado.” Kalle set his bag on the easy chair. “I have no home, no car, no clothes other than the ones I took to the conference. Could have been worse. I could have been home.”
Scott had heard about the big tornado that had ripped up an entire town. His friends had spent two days worried sick over Kalle before Kalle had gotten a hold of them. Scott had felt Kalle’s loss all over again. But that didn’t answer the real question.
“Why are you here? With me?” The words were hard to say but the answer would be harder to hear. Scott had no lover and no kids and a spare room. His friends had foisted their friends and relatives off on him before.
Kalle flopped on the couch. “I thought we could start over.”
Scott caught his breath. He couldn’t have heard that right. He stepped to the side to put a big easy chair between them. “You want to start over?”
“I never wanted to leave.”
Scott took a calming breath. Then another. Then a third and relaxed his clinched fists. “But you did. You took my parents’ money and you walked away.”
Kalle sighed and closed his eyes. He looked so vulnerable and sad, so lovely and delicate and heartbroken. “Do you think that your dreams would have come true if I’d stayed? Your parents had a point.”
“They did not!”
Kalle turned his beautiful blue eyes on Scott. “You were ignoring your career, your dreams, to take care of me.”
“My dreams? My dreams had you in them.”
“But they were all of you as a famous photographer and me as your favorite model.” Kalle sat up. “If I wouldn’t have left, you would still be snapping pictures for a few bucks a week. I knew you were better than that.”
Scott banged his fists into the seat back of the easy chair. “Better than taking care of you? I loved you.”
“Sure.” Kalle got to his feet. “But you might have resented me soon enough. You weren’t going to take the Novak job, so I took the money your parents offered and left. Would you be where you are today of I stayed?”
That wasn’t the point. Kalle had betrayed him. He’d taken Scott’s parent's side and walked away. “Was the money worth it?”
Kalle walked over to his bag and opened it. “I can now read English. I can cook. I know how to clean up after myself. I can budget and balance my bank account. And I can look people in the eye when I talk to them.” He handed Scott a scrapbook. “I followed your career.”
The book was filled with articles about Scott and his work. The last few pages were blank.
Kalle shrugged. “I took it with me to fill the time away from home and now it’s one of the few things I have left.”
Scott wrenched his eyes away from the book. He wasn’t going to let Kalle off so easily. “So why did you wait so long to return?”
Kalle looked at the floor and scratched his neck. “Your parents kept sending me money to stay away.”
So it really was about the money.
“I wanted to become the kind of person they wouldn’t be embarrassed by.”
“You never embarrassed me.”
Kalle smiled and his eyes twinkled. “I know. You’ve always been the most amazing man in the world.”
Scott’s gut tore open. Kalle had to know what he was doing to Scott. “So are you? That kind of man now?”
Kalle bit his lip. “I hope so.”
“But you’ve been successful for a while.” Much as Scott wanted not to care, he’d kept an eye on how Kalle was doing. “Why not come back sooner?”
Kalle sucked in a breath. “I stopped taking your parents’ money two years ago.”
“So why didn’t you come home?” Home was anyplace with Kalle in it. Scott hadn’t felt at home since he left. “Did you fall for someone else?”
“No! Don’t think that! It’s only you. It’s only ever been you. It will always be you…but…”
Scott clinched his teeth. How could Kalle think that and have left him? How could he think that and not run back to Scott at the first opportunity. “But what?”
“But the me you were in love with was a boy. I might have been twenty, but I was such a child. There was so much I didn’t know. I knew you loved me, but could you love me as an equal? Could you ever love this me?”
Tears dripped down his cheeks. Scott’s heart broke. He wrapped his arms around Kalle and tucked Kalle’s face against his neck. “You were scared.”
Kalle nodded against him. The tears didn’t stop. “I was always such a scardy-cat.”
Scott rubbed his chin against Kalle’s hair. It wasn’t white blonde, it was just white. Scott didn’t even have any gray yet. He felt unaccountably better knowing that Kalle wasn’t as perfect as he first looked. “But you’re my scardy-cat and that’s all that matters.”
He slipped his hand under Kalle’s shirt and Kalle molded to him and lifted his face for a kiss. Scott indulged in a way he hadn’t in years.
They didn’t make it to the bedroom. They didn’t even make it to the couch.
Scott would have to call Madilyn and thank her for bringing Kalle back to him.
Maybe in a couple of days.
