I've been wanting to write a TIH fic for a while now, and I finally found the perfect idea. It's just a short little one-shot, written on the spur of the moment yesterday, but I'm really happy with how it turned out, and hopefully you will be too. And a big huge thanks to ArtistKurai for providing the perfect title. I honestly had nothing. ~SG
Revelations of the Past
"Can I ask you something?" Tish asked as they walked hand in hand down the beach, their bare feet just out of reach of the lapping waves.
"Yeah." Priestly replied. He was a little wary of what she was going to ask because usually she didn't ask if she could ask.
"How did Boaz become Priestly?"
"Because nobody wants to be Boaz." he said. "Duh. My parents were cruel and unusual people."
"I get the name." she said. "But I meant everything else. The clothes and piercings and crazy hair. Is all of this really you, or are you hiding?"
"It's really me." he said. "I grew up in a really strict family. A really religious family, and my parents weren't that big on individuality. Especially not this kind of individuality. They wanted a son that followed the rules and did what was expected. "
She smiled. "But they got you instead."
"Yep." He grinned. "I was so relieved when I finally got out of that house. I could finally be me. The weird guy with the crazy hair."
She stopped him and reached up to put her arms around his neck. "You're not weird, Priestly." She stood on her toes and kissed him. "You're wonderful."
"I'm wearing a kilt, Tish." he reminded her.
She smiled again. "I love your kilt. I love you."
He smiled back and kissed her. "I love you too."
They walked for a little while in silence before Priestly decided he had a question to ask too. He'd always been curious about it, and now seemed like the perfect time to find out.
"What about you?" he asked. "What's with all the sex? You gotta know you're better than that, right?"
"I do now." she said. "But my dad wasn't that great. He left when I was like ten, and my mom was desperate to relive her high school glory vicariously through me. She put me in every beauty pageant she could find, and trained me to be the pretty popular girl. I thought that's all I was good for, and my only goal was to be prom queen. No one wanted me for my brain or anything. They wanted me for my body and my face because that's the image my mom trained me to put out. She never encouraged me to be smart or chase my own dreams. It was all about me following in her footsteps whether I wanted to or not. So that's all anyone ever saw."
"Tish, that's awful." Priestly said, appalled. "You are so much more than just a pretty face and a hot body. I hate that you had to grow up like that."
She wrapped her arms around him when he pulled her close and kissed her head, grateful that she'd finally come to her senses and found the right guy. "I don't like the way you had to grow up either, but at least we got away from all that."
"Yeah." he said. "So, how many beauty pageants did you win, and are there pictures?"
"Shut up." she said, laughing and pushing him into the water.
"Oh, come on, Tish." he complained as he stumbled backward, but managed to keep his feet under him. "Not cool."
She laughed again, and slipped her arm around his waist when he settled his over her shoulders. She leaned against him as they walked. "Calm down, Renaissance Man. You got your feet wet. Big deal."
"It is if I catch a cold." he said.
"You're not gonna catch a cold." she said, and then screamed when he scooped her up. "No! Priestly, don't!"
She clung to him, laughing as he dove sideways into the ocean, soaking them both. She sat up, spitting out a mouthful of saltwater, and punched his shoulder as waves washed around them. "You are so dead, Boaz."
He grinned. "You started it, Platisha."
She splashed him and then leaned over and kissed him. "You are so lucky I love you too much to really hurt you."
"I know." he said as he stood up and pulled her to her feet. "Let's go home, Tish."
Tish smiled and kissed him again before jumping on his back for a ride back to the apartment they had just moved into. They were both wet and cold, but neither one could say they weren't happy. Their rotten childhoods were behind them, and they had finally found the home and family they had always needed at the sandwich shop. But even better than that they had found each other.
Tish was certain Priestly was the one for her as he carried her toward their home, and she knew without a doubt that he felt exactly the same way about her.