Title: Meet Me in the Barnyard
Pairing: Adam Lambert/Tommy Ratliff
Tags: Romance, Snow and Ice, Shifters
Summary: There's a frozen road in a snow storm, a barn in the middle of nowhere and some surprising people who reveal themselves to be horse shifters.
BETA: TheSupernova
The night chill surrounded me with the harsh, whistling wind creating a foreboding feeling in my mind. Something wasn't right, not tonight, although I had no idea why. Adam had asked me to meet him here, but it was such an out of the way area-an ice covered road a few miles out of the city.
"Meet me here at one am, Tommy." Adam whispered over the phone. His voice was breaking. "I need you. To show you something. To tell you... what I've been hiding."
"Adam..."
"You've been asking me over and over and I guess I finally worked up the courage to tell you." Adam sighed. "Just... keep an open mind, okay, baby?"
I grinned, even though Adam couldn't see it. "Kinda hard not to with you, isn't it?"
"This better be fucking worth it." Tommy growled, mostly too himself. He doubted anyone could hear him in this snow storm. Because Adam just had to insist on making him drive out to the godforsaken middle of nowhere.
Tommy jumped about two feet in the air when he heard the crunching of snow behind him.
"And here I thought you were looking forward to meeting me here." Adam smirked. "Don't you want to know what I'm hiding?"
The bastard was wearing a full snow outfit: thick, warm, weatherproof boots, pants, and a hooded coat. It was black with gold stripes; it reminded Tommy of the outer clothes hikers or snow boarders would wear to protect themselves from the biting cold. Tommy only had a pair of kinda-waterproof boots, jeans and a warm jacket that really wasn't all that warm. Because living in L.A. didn't really warrant snow jackets (warm, rain jackets were more his style).
"Bastard." Tommy glared. Adam just gave him that all-knowing smirk.
This really had better be worth it. Tommy thought to himself. Adam only snickered as Tommy shoved his way past; towards the general direction Adam had first appeared.
They walked for almost forty minutes before reaching a large, open clearing. The treetops were hanging thick with snow, but the ground had masses of hoof prints disturbing the landscape. In the distance he saw a large two story house, with a barn attached to the right side. Tommy didn't see a fenced enclosure, so either the barn was empty or the horses inside knew better then to wander off.
"This way." Adam said. "Let's head towards the barn, first. It's... I- you'll see."
Adam wasn't making any sense. He watched as Adam trudged his way through the deep, well trodden snow. Despite the snow being well stamped upon, it was still almost three feet thick; he could occasionally see the grass where the horses had assumedly dug through with wild abandonment.
Adam was a few feet ahead before Tommy finally pushed himself forward and continued walking in Adam's footprints.
The bar door slide open smoothly in a freshly worn groove along the ground, and Tommy ran though the door before Adam could open it partway. From the outside, with the snow heavily coating the roof and though the flurry of snow, Tommy couldn't tell how old the building was, but it was definitely modernized. The stalls and horse equipment lining the walls looked clean and well kept. Most importantly, however, was the central heating.
"Tommy." Adam pointed to an open door to his immediate right. "There's a change of clothes in here and I bought you a snow outfit for your trip back to the car."
Tommy glared. Again. "You could have just brought it to me before you made me come all the way out here in this fucking snow storm. No one in their right mind would come out here. Frozen roads are not fun to drive on, you know?"
Tommy had dropped his speed to a crawl as he drove down the deserted road. It had taken longer to get here, but he didn't spin off or get into an accident, so he wasn't going to complaining (much).
"Yeah, I could have." Adam had that fucking smirk plastered onto his face. "But then I couldn't watch you get undressed and proceed to fuck you senseless while you attempt to slip into your dry clothes."
And okay, so the sadistic bastard had a point. Though he would have agreed to get naked without being subjected to the frozen elements outside. Tommy hesitated over Adam's motives, but it was promptly forgotten when Adam continued:
"You're so wet, and cold, baby." Adam said, coming up behind Tommy. "Looks like I'm going to have to dry you off." He emphasized. "Everywhere."
Tommy was naked and in the small, bare changing room in 9.5 seconds flat. A new record.
Once dry and twice well-fucked, Tommy had been lead to a bench in the middle of the barn.
"I've kept something from you- about myself, and my family that I should have told you years ago but I was too afraid." Adam was stumbling about his words nervously. "All I ask is that you'll forgive me and that I hope we'll still be together, afterwards, though I'll understand if you don't want to stay-"
"Adam!" Tommy interrupted. "Stop."
Tommy walked over to Adam, rubbing his hands up and down Adam's arms. "Whatever it is, we'll be okay. Maybe I'll accept it, or maybe it'll take some getting used to, but I'm not leaving you when I find out your big secret."
"Yeah, okay, I just- yeah." Adam led Tommy back to the bench. "Wait here."
He watched as Adam walked off towards the back of the barn, opening the last stall. A chestnut horse trotted out, turning to stand by Adam's side. It let out a small snort and nuzzled Adam's neck.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm okay, just nervous." Adam said. "I'm- I'm ready to do this. I can't keep hiding this secret. Tommy doesn't deserve it."
The horse softly whinnied in response. Tommy didn't know what to make of Adam's conversation with his horse; in fact, he had no idea Adam even liked horses. Adam's never mentioned going horseback riding as a hobby either, so this came as somewhat of a surprise.
Tommy watched patiently as Adam and his horse slowly made their way up the aisle. This was a classic stalling tactic Adam only ever used during performances when the band wasn't ready, or he needed to hold up the performance for whatever reason, but never out of nerves.
Eventually, the horse tired of Adam's impersonation of a snail and walked on over to Tommy's side. It snorted impatiently.
Adam picked up his pace, but not my much. When the horse snorted again, Adam sighed.
"Yes, mom."
Tommy froze. Adam wasn't doing much better; his eyes were wide, and Tommy could see the sheer terror behind them. Before Tommy could ask "What the fucking hell?"
The horse beside him nudged Tommy's shoulder and stepped back. Tommy watched in odd fascination as it slowly transformed into a woman with long, wavy chestnut hair; she wore a long, flowery sun dress with white low heeled shoes.
"Mrs. Lambert..."
"Surprise!" She grinned, and Tommy scooted over to make room for Adam's mother, Leila
"I-" Before Tommy could say anything else, Leila directed Tommy's attention to Adam, who also transformed, this time into a black Friesian horse with golden highlights streaking his tale and mane.
Out of all the things Adam had been hiding, the fact that he was a horse shifter had never quite crossed Tommy's mind. Yeah, Tommy had heard of shifters, but they were an extremely secretive bunch. The general public still wasn't completely accepting of shifters, and they often experienced derogatory comments and acts of racism wherever they went, despite being "equal" in the eyes of the law.
Tommy shook his head. This-this he could deal with. So his boyfriend was a shifter; it was unexpected, but not a deal break, as far as he was concerned. Leila squeezed Tommy's shoulder, and smiled softly. She nodded and all but pushed Tommy off the bench towards her son.
He could take the hint.
"Adam." Tommy said. "My poor, anxious thing."
The horse backed up a few steps, but Tommy refused to back down. He just followed Adam's steps until Adam stopped, and allowed Tommy to walk up beside him. Tommy instinctively ran a hand through Adam's mane and smoothed his way down the horses' muzzle.
Tommy leaned his head against the horse's neck.
"I don't hate shifters." Tommy whispered. "I've never met one before-so far as I know-but you should know better than anyone that being different isn't a bad thing. It makes us who we are and this is just a part of you. I love you, baby boy, and nothing will ever change that."
This time, when Adam stepped back, Tommy allowed it; he watched for a second time, as a shifter transformed back into their human form.
"You promise you won't leave?" Adam asked nervously. "Aren't you afraid?"
Tommy shook his head. "Being a shifter doesn't change who you are. My love for you is unconditional. It has and always will be."
"Baby..." Adam grabbed Tommy's neck, pulling him into a kiss. "Tommy..."
Adam encircled his arms around Tommy. The hold on his body was extremely tight; possessive.
"I'm never letting you go after this." Adam's voice brushed softly against Tommy's ear. "I'll be keeping you forever, you know."
Tommy grinned. "Yeah. Guess I'll just have to live with it, huh?"
"Mmm." Adam agreed, before pulling Tommy into another kiss.
Meanwhile, a gentle smile crossed Leila's face.
"I'm so proud you." She said softly. "More then I have ever been."
She walked towards the farm house, leaving the boys behind to start dinner. After all, they'll probably be hungry whenever Adam moves on from deep-throated kissing to the game of "let's plow my boyfriend into the ground".
She believed that sex was not to be a taboo subject at home. If Adam had questions or needed advice, he knew he could come to her freely (and she would talk and listen without judgment). This didn't, however, mean she had any interest in intruding on her son's privacy.
Some things were better left alone.
Note #1: I started writing this story in my creative writing class, and finished it at home. Because it was partly written under a time limit, it has a slight different "feel" to it.
Prompt: Mom is a horse. Frozen road.
Because apparently, when someone says "I'm a horse" it automatically translates to either "I'm a horse shifter" or "I'm a centaur".