Disclaimer: the OS and the characters are not mine. No rent is sought from this infatuation of mine.
THE COLDEST SPELL
Ennis woke up with a start, his mind instinctively straining to understand why. It took him a minute he realized that it was the silence. Complete and eerie. As though a snow storm had not actually been ravaging Laramie for the past two weeks. It had been the coldest spell he had ever lived through. Colder even than the winter his parents drove off the road, and suddenly he and his brother and sister found themselves on their own with only ten bucks in a can… Yeah, so it was the silence.
Once he'd determined the cause, he also realized that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. He sighed, slipped his feet gingerly from under the blanket on the floor, and only then opened his eyes.
He'd expected to peer into the darkness, as was usually the case in winter. Instead, he saw light. Faint and shimmering, it seeped through the cracks in his old trailer, washing over its meager furnishings, touching everything with enchantment. He wrapped his threadbare blanket tight around him, took three steps to the window, and lifted the worn-out blind.
The world outside was swathed in a thick, fluffy blanket of pristine white snow. The air was dead still with an occasional snowflake or two floating giddily in the half-light. In the distance, over the town, crystal blue, pale gold and lavender columns of light were reaching up to stain the monotonous dark grey of the sky.
The famous Laramie light pillars. He'd heard about them on a number of occasions since he'd moved here but had seen them only a couple of times. The last was two years ago, when Junior had first come down to see him on New Year's Day. He hadn't paid much attention to them either time, but now he realized how pretty they were. Like… like… balloons on Valentine's Day… long forgotten, he'd thought…
...
He got to Don's cabin first and lit the fire right away. It was cold as hell and he was pretty sure that Jack would start bitching as soon as he arrived, never mind that Ennis had managed to get 3 days off in February when none had been expected till May. That boy, one bitchy mouth he got on him, Ennis chuckled to himself. But he knew how to make his man shut up and put that mouth to other, more pleasurable uses… Anyway, first things first - and warming up the cabin before Jack showed was the most important thing.
When the fire was dancing merrily in the hearth, he sat down on the low stool in front of it and lit a cigarette…
Alma had been upset when he said he was taking off hunting with Jack, two days before Valentine's Day. But it wasn't like they were planning on doing anything on that day, was it? So, he'd brought home a big box of chocolates the day before his trip, for her and the girls. The girls had been happy. He hoped Alma had, too… Fuck, how was one supposed to make everybody happy at the same time? Any way he looked at it, it was just not fucking possible…
Ennis was getting impatient when he heard the car approaching. He crushed out his newly lit cigarette against the floor, stuffed it back in the pack and got up, smiling, caught by surprise by the warm feeling that washed over him.
When he opened the cabin's door, Jack was hauling a cooler out of the trunk of his red pickup. An ice chest when it was fucking freezing outside? Yeah, he got a dumbass for a friend for sure…
"Need a hand?"
"My bag's on the front seat." Jack flashed a million dollar smile at him, mischief shining in his eyes. He deliberately bumped into Ennis as he passed by, sniffed at the air. "Haven't started without me, have you?"
"Nah. Haven't brought booze this time. Bought some BBQ ribs at a diner in town, though." He saw Jack turning his head and looking at him, surprised. He mumbled, heat creeping up his face, "Thought you'd be hungry by the time…" He shrugged awkwardly and hurried to the other side of the pickup.
When he got into the cabin, Jack was on his knees in front of the fire place, his blue parka and hat on one side, laying out the content of the cooler on a checkered red and white cloth on the floor: two tumblers, two tall glasses on long stems, two bottles of whiskey, cans of something Ennis couldn't see from the door, two large cream-colored ceramic plates, proper silverware and napkins.
"Great that you got the fire goin', cowboy. I've brought a little somethin' here too, so we can start the party like right away."
Jack turned to look at him with his big great smile. Seeing as Ennis was still rooted at the door, he jumped up, strode up to him and wrapped his arms around him.
"Hey, Ennis. You're a fuckin' genius, ya know?" he murmured, nuzzling Ennis's neck. Then he pulled back a little and attacked Ennis's mouth.
They stood making out by the door for a few minutes, then Jack sighed happily and pushed gently way.
"Let's eat first. I'm fuckin' starving."
Ennis snorted. "Thought so, too."
Jack descended on his cooler and started rummaging in it again, his back to Ennis, like he was trying to cover up something in it.
"Hey, I've been driving for the last fourteen fuckin' hours, alright? And by the way the roads are covered in sleet, in case you haven't noticed."
Whatever he was hiding in the box made a strange rubbery noise. When Jack turned around, Ennis saw he was holding a bottle of Champagne, a bunch of three-feet-long color balloons tied to its neck with red ribbons. He held up the bottle, parading it to Ennis, grinning excitedly.
"What the fuck is this, Twist?" Ennis muttered through his teeth, his eyes narrowing menacingly.
The smile started melting away from Jack's face like an icicle indoors.
"Just stuff I bought on the way… Christ, Ennis, it's fuckin' Valentine's Day tomorrow, 'member? That's all they've been selling for the last few fuckin' days… Don't have ta drink it if you don't want… I just thought…"
Jack shrugged, turned to the box and placed the Champagne bottle back in it, the balloons following suit with rubbery squeal. He held still for a moment, squatting by the box, and Ennis noticed the weariness in the slope of his shoulders.
"And the balloons?" Ennis tone softened, with just a hint of suspicion lingering behind.
"These?" Jack turned around. "I just thought… we could play games…"
"Like what?"
"Like… um, whoever loses in poker has to wear one of them… on his dick... Like a condom," he concluded with confidence.
"You're a fuckin' clown, Jack, you know?"
Ennis took a few steps separating them and pulled him up into a tight embrace.
"Whatever makes you happy, Ennis..." Jack sighed and sagged a little against him.
That night they didn't go at each other like they'd been starving for sex for a hundred years. They kissed and caressed each other's body for a long time, then Ennis mounted Jack and slowly brought them both to the one place where nothing mattered anymore but them, them alone. And when he was drifting off to sleep, sated and at peace in Jack's strong arms, he thought he heard Jack breathing into the back of his head 'happy Valentine's, cowboy'. But the next day he knew it had been just a dream.
...
He sat by the window smoking, watching the distant light pillars till they faded and the horizon started blushing pink.
They had forecast that the cold spell, the worst in decades, would end before Valentine's Day. Today was the day and it was gonna get warmer. It had been just two weeks but he felt like he'd been cold for years. There was only so much cold that a person could take at a stretch; Ennis simply couldn't take any more. So today, it had to get warmer.
But also, he'd seen the light pillars, like really seen them, for the first time, and they'd reminded him of the multicolor balloons Jack had brought for him once. And it probably hadn't been a dream after all, when Jack had whispered 'happy Valentine's' to him all those years back.
Ennis sighed as he stood up. He shuffled over to his flimsy wardrobe and opened it.
"Happy Valentine's Day, li'l darlin'," he murmured as he adjusted the two shirts on the hanger. He stroked Jack's collar. "… And thank you for the balloons."
Soundtrack: My Funny Valentine, by Matt Damon (the soundtrack to The Talented Mr. Ripley)