Thanks so much to my wonderful Jim, writer-jesus!
Jim came out of his final exam grinning; he had finally finished school. No more boring lessons, no more pointless tests. He grabbed his bag and made his way to the classroom of his favourite teacher - favourite mainly because of their secret relationship they'd been having for the past six months. Then end of school meant the end of hiding. "Hey," he smiled as he entered the room, making his way over to the desk, behind which sat Mr. Moran.
"Hey," said Sebastian, not at all in a good mood. He knew he should be happy; he and Jim could properly be together now that the boy had finished school. But the telephone call he'd gotten that morning suggested otherwise. Jim was going to be so upset when he found out. Sebastian wished he could just forget about it, and make the time he had now with Jim count, but try as he could, he was unable to push the thought from his mind. All the same, he tried to smile and pretend everything was fine.
Jim moved to lean against the desk in the front row and cocked his head to the side. "What happened?" he asked, not bothering with any small talk. Sebastian stood up and gathered Jim into an embrace. He paused, miserably burying his face in the boy's neck and wishing he didn't have to say this. "I've been called back into the army, Jim." Jim froze at these words and clung to Sebastian.
"No…" he whispered in disbelief. He ran his fingers through Sebastian's hair. "No no no. You're…you're supposed to be here…with me." Sebastian held him tighter, angry tears threatening to spill out of his eyes. Why now?
"I know. You were going to finish school, and we were going to be together properly," Sebastian said in dismay. All their plans were ruined now. "I don't want to leave you," he whispered. Jim turned his head to kiss Sebastian's temple gently. Why was the only good thing in his life being ripped away from him?
"Wh- when are you expected?" he asked, trying to keep his voice from trembling.
"Next month. The seventeenth. I'm so sorry, Jim. So, so sorry." His face was so buried in Jim's shoulder that he could hardly be heard. Jim held him tightly and kissed whatever part of the man he could reach; cheek, ear, neck.
"It's okay," he said quietly, continuing to comb his fingers through the other man's hair. "I know, love. I'm sorry too. You'll come back and I'll be here waiting. I always will." In an effort to control the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes, Sebastian took a deep breath and pulled away, just a little, so he was able to look into Jim's eyes.
"I don't know how long it's going to be," he confessed. "Jim, it…it could be years."
"That's okay," Jim smiled, his own eyes getting watery. "I'll wait. As long as I need to. As long as you still love me. Just…come back to me, okay?"
"Of course I love you, I'm always going to love you," Sebastian replied, somehow smiling despite the fact that his heart felt like it was crumbling. "And I will come back. I promise. As soon as I can." He ran his hand along Jim's back comfortingly. The boy leaned back into the soothing touch.
"We still have time left, you know," Jim breathed. "I want to spend it with you. I…" he cleared his throat a little. "I was going to tell you my parents are going away for two months on some cruise…so we can be together a lot more." He gave a sheepish smile.
"Perfect," Sebastian said. He was determined to make the most of the time they had left together. "Do you…d'you want to go to your house, then?" he asked, surprised at how shy his voice sounded. Jim chuckled lightly at the man's tentative tone.
"If you want. Or yours. I don't care." He rested his head on Sebastian's chest. "I just want to be with you."
Sebastian held Jim closer to himself. "Jim?" he asked quietly. He didn't want them to rush into anything, but he so desperately wanted to be closer to Jim. "Before I leave, do you think you're ready to…?"
"Ready to…? Sleep with you?" Jim said, cocking his head to the side innocently.
"Yeah," Sebastian said. God, it almost felt wrong for him to ask something like that of someone so much younger. "I mean, we don't have to. I only want to if you're ready," he said quickly. Jim smiled and felt himself flush a bit. He pecked Sebastian's cheek lightly.
"Yes. I do want to, Seb." Jim hugged him tighter.
"Well, then," said Sebastian, trying to keep his voice from shaking. "Let's go." Jim had been to his flat many times, but usually they'd waited until later, when people were less likely to notice the boy getting into his car. Jim nodded and pecked Sebastian's cheek again.
"Love you," Jim said as he held Sebastian's hand, giving a reassuring squeeze, and started to make his way to the door.
"I love you too," Sebastian said, smiling as he followed Jim. He stopped just before Jim opened the door. "Are you sure you want to...? Holding hands, I mean. People are still around," he said nervously. Jim sighed and reluctantly let go of Sebastian's hand.
"Right, sorry, wasn't thinking," he nodded. Sebastian slowly put his arm around Jim's waist protectively.
"You know, technically, you're done with school," he said. "We could, if you want to. I mean, they can't do anything now." Jim brightened up at that and smiled as he felt Sebastian's arm around his waist. He silently retook Sebastian's hand in his, entwining their fingers. "Come on, then." Sebastain smiled and opened the door, leading Jim through the hallway to his car.
They walked alongside each other, as close as possible. Luckily, many of the students and staff had either already left, or were still in the exam rooms.
No one noticed them, or if they did, they didn't ask any questions. Once they got outside, into the parking lot, Sebastian let go of Jim's hand and got into the car. When Jim sat down, Sebastian looked at him for a moment, then laughed. "That went better than expected," he said.
Jim broke into a grin when Sebastian looked at him. "Luck's on our side then." He said, nudging Sebastian with his elbow. He leaned back in the seat and relaxed, taking a deep, slow breath. Sebastian gave Jim's hand another squeeze before he started the car and began the drive to his flat. He tried not to think about it too much, but he knew this would be one of the last times he and Jim made this drive for a long time.