It was the moment both of them had been dreading since their first kiss. Neither had said a word about it for months, but it was unavoidable now. It wasn't months or weeks or days a way anymore, it was now. In the morning, Rory would be leaving for Ireland. Rory would be going to the place his family lived, but his home was here. No matter how much he wanted and wished and prayed, he knew he had to face reality. And reality was that tonight, February fourteenth, was their last night together.
They'd both tried their best to avoid it. They pretended that Sam taking Rory back to the lake house was just a romantic whim. It was valentine's day, after all. They pretended the rain was just an excuse to keep them in bed all day. Rory pretended he didn t hear Sam crying in the shower, and Sam pretended that the left side of his bed wouldn't be empty when he went to sleep that night at home.
It had started raining just before they arrived to the lake house, Rory sighing and looking over at his boyfriend with a little smirk, kissing his cheek. "Just like the first time." he murmured, hoping Sam didn't hear the broken crack in his voice. They sat in Sam's old red pickup truck for twenty minutes or so, kissing and waiting for the rain to stop. When it didn't, Sam got out and went over the passenger side, helping Rory out and holding his hand as they ran to the front porch. They were totally soaked, but shivering and laughing as Sam shakily unlocked the front door, pulling him safely inside. Rory took off his jacket and boots as Sam flicked on lights around the house and turned on the heater. Rory walked through the hallway, looking at pictures of Brittany and himself, arms wrapped around each other and big smiles spread across their faces. There were some of Brittany and Santana together, some of Rory and Sam,some of lord Tubbington,and Many more of the whole group together. Rory loved this lake house, they had spent so many weekends here together, making memories. As he relived all the moments in those pictures, he realized that he still missed his family back home, but he had a family here too.
He could feel the tears building up in his eyes, the burn in his throat. He was trying, but tears spilled over his cheeks. In the back of his mind, he could hear Sam's footsteps and told himself to stop crying, that he had to be strong for Sam. Sam simply wrapped his arms around Rory, his voice soft. "C'mon baby. Let's get you all warmed up." He said, guiding him into the bathroom where a warm bubble bath was already running. Hm, Sam was fast.
"I love you Rory." Sam whispered, catching his lips in a chaste kiss. He placed warm kisses all over his neck as he unbuttoned the younger boy's shirt, sliding it smoothly off of his shoulders. Rory groaned softly as Sam's tongue traveled in lights licks down his stomach, stopping to quickly unbuckle Rory's jeans, noticing the buldge there. He pulled down his boyfriend's pants and boxers, taking only a moment to stare before popping back up and kissing him fiercely." Get in the tub." He whispered huskily against his skin, pushing him back slightly with a smirk. Rory chuckled, kissing Sam quickly and turning his back to him to carefully slide into the warm water.
Sam stripped easily and slid in behind rory, wrapping his arms around the brunette's waist and kissing his shoulder. Rory let his head fall back and rest lazily on Sam's shoulder, looking up into Sam's warm green eyes. Sharing lazy kisses as the tension in the air quickly eased, Rory smiled against his boyfriend's lips.
"I love you, Sammy." He muttered against his skin, kissing his jaw affectionately.
"I love you, too, Rory." Sam answered sincerely, his strong hands running down Rory's sides; comforting him and easing the pressure.
Taking a sponge and some soap, Sam poured warm water down the perfect skin of Rory's back. He planted loving kisses here and there as he went, his tongue and teeth sliding up and teasing at the exposed flesh or Rory's delicate neck.
They'd both stopped shivering; their whimpers of discomfort replaced with soft groans of pleasure.
"Bed... Let's go to bed." Rory muttered shakily, kissing desperately at Sam's jawline.
Quickly washing him off, Sam let the water drain out of the tub. He stood up and carefully stepped out of the tub, picking Rory up in his arms.
"Sammy!" Rory laughed, wrapping his arms around Sam's neck as he was carried to the master bedroom. "I can walk, ye know!" he smirked.
"Nope, I promised you wouldn't have to lift a finger tonight, and I'm a man of my word."
Rory sighed contentedly and rolled his eyes playfully as Sam laid him down gently against the pillows, climbing on top of him with a hand on either side of Rory's head to keep him balanced.
Sam leaned down, kissing Rory's forehead before moving to his nose, and then his lips. He stayed there for a while, groaning when Rory's soft fingertips ran timidly down his back.
"Might ask you lift your legs, though." Sam muttered huskily against his boyfriend's lips, a soft chuckle coming from both of them.
Smiling into the kiss, Rory pulled the other boy closer until they were skin to skin, earning a loud groan from Sam.
"Rory, I want to make I want to make this night special." Sam said, gently pushing Rory's hair back from his face and kissing his forehead again. "I love you so much, Rory James Flanagan. You have no idea how much... H-how much I'll miss you." the blonde whispered brokenly, Burying his face into the soft skin of Rory's chest.
"Shh, Sammy, I know, I know." Rory told him in a comforting voice, lifting his head up and looking up into the solid green eyes he'd been watching this whole year. It was hard to believe the year was already over.
"I love you too, Sam. More than I ll ever be able to say or sing about. But this won t be our last night together. I know we won t see each other for a while, but it won t mean that I love you any less. You ll mean just as much to me, and nothing will have changed."
"Thank you, Rory." Sam whispered, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend, kissing his chest.
"For what, at least this time? God knows I saved your arse more than once this year."
Sam laughed, kissing his lips affectionately. "For letting me be your Christmas sponsor. I mean, Isn't that how this whole thing started anyway?" He grinned, Rory pulling him up to his lips and kissing him tenderly and wrapping his muscular legs around Sam's back. He could be a little slow sometimes, but he definitively knew their conversation was over for now.
When Rory woke up a few hours later, He looked up though sleepy eyes to see that it was almost two in the morning. He was laying on his side, Sam's arms wrapped protectively around his waist as if to keep him from rolling away. He chuckled, turning his head to kiss Sam's shoulder. He always ended up playing little spoon, but it wasn't as if he was complaining. Sam was nice enough to wrap them in a warm blanket before he'd fallen asleep, so he wasn't cold like he usually was when he woke up Sam's bedroom. Carefully, he turned around to face Sam. He could tell Sam wasn't sleeping; he wasn t snoring. "Hi." Rory whispered across the pillowcase, smiling shyly as Sam brushed his cheek with his thumb.
"You always fall asleep right after." Sam said, his voice a little groggy from staying silent for the past few hours." It used to annoy me, but then I realized how wonderful it was, just having you lay here in my arms."
"That's very romantic and all, but kinda creepy tpp. You do realize you sounded a lot like a fictional character right there, don't you?" Sam laughed at his comment, punching Rory's shoulder playfully. "Oh shut up." He chuckled, kissing him tenderly. "Is this good morning, or are you gonna get a few more hours of sleep before your flight?"
Rory didn t answer, simply pushed Sam onto back, kissing his neck and chest." I can sleep on the plane." He muttered against Sam's skin, his kisses traveling further south.
It seemed that the next morning, everything had hollowed out. The passion and warm glow that had surrounded them last night had faded away, both boys sleepy and feeling lazy. Sam lay quietly next to Rory, tracing patterns with his fingertips down Rory's naked back, casting shadows with the sunlight that fell upon it.
"I'm gonna go take a shower, you should get ready." Sam muttered softly, pressing a soft kiss to Rory's lips before leaving the security of the warm bed for the door across the room.
Rory didn't have time to breakdown right now, he needed to pack and call his parents, maybe get a little breakfast ready to cheer Sam up. To cheer himself up.
Getting dressed as quickly as he could, he set about his duties; replacing the sheets and packing up any last minute items from his room at the end of the hall. walking back to the master bedroom, he heard Sam through the water, desperately trying to control what he'd been holding onto for all these months. Rory closed the bedroom door, giving his boyfriend the quiet he needed.
Once he was all packed, Rory moved into the kitchen, turning on the old sixties radio station to listen to while he made breakfast. Since moving to America, Rory had to actually learned how to cook. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce were wonderful, but their weeks were busy. His honorary sisters Brittany and Santana had taught him how to to cook breakfast; as many mornings were spent with the kitchen covered in flour, laughing as the pancakes on the stove burnt. Still, he learned how to make pancakes eventually.
Sam walked in to find Rory shaking his hips and humming to the music, a smile instantly coming to his lips. He walked over and wrapped his arms around the brunette's waist.
"so, hold me tight, tell me I'm the only one tonight, tonight." Sam sang along loudly, spinning Rory around the kitchen.
Rory laughed, kissing Sam good morning for a few minutes before smiling and getting back to breakfast, Sam's arms wrapped around his waist as he cooked.
They ate breakfast in the living room while watching the news, Sam even read the newspaper to make it seem like they were an old married couple.
When it was time to go, Rory tried his best to make it feel like one of their old road trips, loading the car with old 80's CD's and m&m's. They sang and laughed and kissed the whole way to the airport, and it didn't feel so much like a goodbye after all.
Then they got to the airport, and it was rushed and a hurry to get to the right place at the right time. Then they were there and just on time, but Rory eventually had to say goodbye.
Rory knew it wasn't their last kiss, but he tried to pour all the emotion and love that he could into that kiss, because it would be their last kiss until fall break.
"I love you." Rory whispered,kissing Sam just one more time before forcing himself to turn away and walk into the airport alone.
Two weeks later, Rory was home in Ireland. He was starting school with all of his friends he hadn t seen in so long. He was eating all the traditional Irish food he d missed so much. He was playing rugby with his brothers again and teaching his sister to play piano like he had always promised. He was home.
Still, he checked the mailbox everyday, hoping he would get a letter from Sam. They tried video-chats and emails and texts, but it just wasn t the same, not when they had been together all the time for the past year.
Finally, one day, Rory's little sister ran though the house, dropping off letters to their perspective owners. He heard a little knock on his door before Janna's little fingers slipped under the door, leaving a letter resting on the carpet. With a grin, Rory put his homework down and walked over, picking up the letter and turning it over. He tried his best not to rip the thing open when he saw that Sam was the sender. His Sam.
Dear Rory,
How long is it now that you've been gone?
I don t measure my days in class periods and how many times I can watch avatar before dinner anymore. I count them on a calender, little red exes trying to cross out the day as if it never happened. I've been miserable; everything seems so much slower without you here. It's like how my life was before I met you now; but it's worse because I know what it could be like. I can remember what it's like to wake up excited to see you, to have you right there next to me. I remember laughing and smiling all day, not really ever knowing why the hell I was so happy, just because you were around. I remember all the sparks and the nights I had a good excuse for not getting enough sleep. In the year that I ve known you, Rory, you've changed my whole life. You've made me realize that I can't close myself off every time things get too heavy. You taught me that I can allow people to give a damn, that I can let people in. But you left too soon, i still need you here. I know it's a bit selfish for me to want you to come back, so I'm not going to ask that of you. That's why I had to figure something out for myself; because I just can't live this life anymore, not when I m away from home for so long.
I know the post (that s what you call it, right?) is a bit slow, so you should be getting this letter just as I get there. (didn't plan it that way or anything. Nothing to do with calling Janna without you knowing and asking her to hide the letter until today.)
PS- I love you, and I ll see you soon.
Just as Rory's stomach untied all the knots, just as he wiped the tears from his eyes, and just as Janna ran into his room smiling; The doorbell rang.