A/N: I know that this isn't your typical fanfiction story. But let me just tell you how much fun I'm having writing it. Everyday, I think so something else and I can't wait to get it down on paper. It may not be that popular, but man is it fun!

Thanks for reading it and I'm glad that some of you are feeling sorry for Jeff. Personally, I just want to give his crazy ass a hug.

xoxoxo

Shanny

Scratch the Surface - Chapter 6

The humidity in the air is like a blanket over my nose. It's hard to breathe and all of the mold and dust in here isn't making it any easier. There's a window in the far corner, but I can't really get to it, unless I move all of the wooden chairs piled in front of it. Judging from how old this place is, I doubt if it'll even open. But it's too damn hot in here not to try.

I step carefully across the room because most of the floor boards are weak. Wonder what's underneath of this place? Probably a crawl space, but I'm not really willing to break my leg to find out. Each step has to be deliberately slow and careful as on my approach the window.

Adam is standing close to the old mantel bouncing on his toes. "Here's a weak spot." Shifting his weight on the different parts of the plank, he discovers one of the flaws with the floor. Definitely something we need to be aware of. He steps cautiously to the iron grates in front of the fireplace and starts to pull on them. "These are sturdy though." Pulling until he's red in the face, the grates don't move. They are bolted into the stone structure and have probably rusted into place. That's a really good sign.

Placing one foot directly in front of the other, I count the number of steps it takes me to get from the front door to the window. I know when it gets dark I won't be able to see my hand in front of my face and I need to know how to navigate my way around this room. Exactly twenty-five paces. Not bad for a guy that wears a size ten shoe. If our guest is a woman, it will take her more because her feet are going to be smaller; that give us an advantage. "Twenty-five." I look over at Adam and he nods, making a mental note of the possible escape route.

The chairs, if they can even be considered that, aren't really heavy. They're more messy than anything. Most of them are breaking apart in my hands and kicking up more dust each time a piece of wood hits the floor. I think the dust is upsetting the maggots happily living in the dead raccoon lying there, because they're starting to squirm around on the windowsill. Not that it matters much now. They can't escape. The damn window is painted shut. Fuck. It better be cool when we use this place or else I'm not going to be in a very good mood. I don't like to be hot.

Adam's hand on my shoulder makes me turn around and before I can fully face him, I see his foot lift off the floor. He kicks out a pane of glass and smiles at me. "Better?" Almost immediately I feel the breeze from the trees outside breathe life into the room and carry out some of the moldy smell. I can't help but to smile at him. He always knows what I need without me having to tell him.

Nodding, I close my eyes at the feeling of his lips on my forehead. "Where'd you find this place?" We're out in the middle of nowhere. This cabin was built out in the woods for a reason, apparently. Whoever lived here before, did not want to be disturbed.

"The one I buried a few weeks ago. It's not that far from here. I found it on my way back." Adam turns and looks around the room with a proud look on his face. This spot is truly a rare find.

I look out the hole in the window at the creek flowing just beyond the shrubbery. Not only do we have a place where we can just be ourselves and party without worrying about someone interrupting us, but we also have a view. "It's beautiful." If I could spend all day looking out of this dusty window, I probably would, but I know that there is much more to discover.

Walking the twenty-five paces back to the door of the cabin, I turn around to only to see Adam venturing off into the adjoining room. It takes fourteen paces from the entrance to get to the first of the broken and cracked stone stairs leading up to the second level. These stares are tricky and if I'm not careful, they're going to crumble under my weight. It's dangerous, I know, but we don't take chances. We need to know everything about where we are so if by chance our company decides they no longer want to party; we know where they will try to go and what condition they'll be in when we find them.

The third step is really wobbly and probably won't last if I put all of my weight on it. Instead of chancing it, I skip that one and place my foot on the step above it. From where I stand I can see the open floor plan of the upper level. It's just one big room, like an attic almost. There's little to nothing up here; mainly bird shit, a few dead rats, a bat or two and a big ass hole in the roof. The floor is completely rotted through to the point where I can see the exposed joyces that were used to create the floor. Apparently the termites haven't eaten through to the ceiling yet because I didn't notice any holes while I was downstairs.

There's nothing we can use up here. I can't step on the floor because just pushing my hand on one spot sends a board straight through. I flinch at the crash it makes on the floor below. "Sorry!" I don't think Adam even hears me because he doesn't answer. Taking one final look at this room, I notice a small door hidden in a corner just below a huge spider web. I have to check it out, even if it means that I actually go through the ceiling myself.

You get use to crawling around in dark, dirty places after awhile. Not the sheen of dirt covering my knees nor the blood on my palms, from the where the jagged pieces of bare wood of the ceiling beams cutting into them, are really noticeable. My only concern is getting across the room to that door. I make sure to keep my weight steady. Sliding one leg and one hand across the beams in even strokes, I listen intensely to the wood creaking under me. On all fours, it takes me less than thirty seconds to make it across to my destination. That information might come in really handy.

The door opens without protest, but I can't see anything inside. A flick of the lipstick flashlight illuminates the crawlspace enough for me to see what I want to. The area is barely bigger than a closet and there are all kinds of hooks, chains and tackle stored within. "Fishermen." It makes sense. There's a creek right down the way. This secluded cabin was probably some fisherman's home away from home at one point in time. I would love to have seen it when it was functional.

Gathering as much of the stuff from as inside as I can, I slide it along the floor back toward the stairs. Peering down from the landing, I see Adam standing in the front room tapping his finger against his bottom lip. He's got a vision, that look on his face is a dead give away. "Catch."

He looks up with happy eyes and moves toward the stairs to see what it is that I've found. His smile gets wider with each item I throw down to him. "All this shit was upstairs? This place is fucking amazing!"

"Watch the third step..." I hadn't had a chance to tell him about it before he starts up to catch the bait box that lands just short of his grasp. He wobbles on it, and manages to jump down before the step completely slides off of the platform it was resting on.

Picking himself up from off the floor, he dusts off his pants and claps his hands together to get the wet leaves off of them. "That it?" When I nod, he gathers the items and carries them over to the fireplace.

Carefully, I make my way down the stairs, jumping from the fourth step to the floor. I see that Adam's found more shit from the other room that he has now placed in front of the fire place. A hatchet, sheets and something that resembles a bed frame. "What's all this?"

"I haven't really figured out what it's all for yet, but give me a few hours. There's a bunch of other shit in there, too." With a shrug he turns to me and gives a sheepish smile. "There's a mattress in there, if you want it."

A mattress? This place is like the fucking North Pole and Adam is Santa Claus. I don't know the last time I was able to do it on a mattress, excluding being with Kelly. Usually I get a chair, table or the floor. Not that I mind, but with the condition of our accommodations being what they are, I usually end up with cuts and scrapes on me because of it. But a mattress? The possibilities are endless.

"So what do you think? You like it?" Adam looks so hopeful when he turns to face me and takes both of my hands in his.

I'm so impressed with his find, words can't even describe it. "It's perfect, Adam. I love it." I squeeze his hands before turning toward the other room. "What's that room like?"

Running a hand through his blonde waves, he shrugs. "A bunch of junk mostly. But I figure if we pull out everything we need into this room and pile all of this shit front of that door, we can just party here." I follow behind him and take a look at all of the things left behind from the previous owner including the piles of nude magazines scattered around the room. People and their porn. I'll never understand those perverts.

It only takes a minute to drag out the mattress and we toss it in the front room along with everything else. Adam returns with a few lanterns and oil and they go on top of the mantle. Right now, this place looks like shit, but over the next few days, we'll set it up how we want it. After Adam gets an idea of where he wants everything placed and what exactly he wants to try, this place will be a palace.

We walk in silence toward around the back of the cabin and push past the bushes to see the creek. "Hey, Adam? You think we can actually keep this place? Like a place just for us?" I feel like a child with my request, but I'm attached to it. This could be our home away from home just like it was for those fishermen. Sure, Adam and I have a house together that's beautifully decorated and is warm and inviting, but we don't have a place to play together. Adam's always complaining that with the amount of time we spend scoping out locations, we're seriously cutting in on the amount of parties we could have. And I have to agree. If we had one place, we could party all the time. "With this place we could entertain whenever we wanted to. And if we rigged the floor upstairs, you could keep them in that little closet. Or we could use the fireplace? And of course, there's always this creek, if you wanted to get rid of them?" Probably sound desperate, but I want this so badly. "I don't know. It just seems like we could be happy here."

"If you want it Jeff, it's ours. You know I'd give you anything you wanted." The serenity in his voice makes my cheeks feel flush. Just standing at the mouth of the creek looking at the murky water flowing happily downstream, and knowing that we have a place to call ours makes me feel so completely at peace. I know that I wouldn't want to share what I'm feeling with anyone but Adam. He's the only one that can understand why I'm so happy. "Happy anniversary." He looks down at his watch and then up to my eyes. "It's getting late. You gotta get out going."

It's been five years already? It seems like it's only been a few months since we discovered that we have so much in common. As much as I'd like to stay and think about our years together, I know he's right. I have to get home and showered before I pick up Kelly. She's going home for a week and I want to spend some time with her before she leaves. I'm not sure what Adam's going to do tonight, but he promised to give me and Kelly uninterrupted time together. Knowing him like I do, he'll probably end up back here and work on getting everything in order.

We found a house, and I'm going to spend some time with Kelly. This is the best anniversary with him that I've ever had.