"Eli, I mean this with the utmost sincerity: I can NOT fucking go in there."
"It's just my parents' house, Otis."
"It's a fucking MANSION, ELI!"
"Baby, come on. They're not uppity like you think."
"Mother fuck me..." Otis growled, getting out of the car. "Augh...Fuck."
"Leg still hurt, sweetheart?"
"Yeah...I'm alright."
"Okay..." Eli wrapped his arms around Otis, then pulled away, kissing him. "I love you."
Grumbling, Otis walked with him into the house.
"ELI!" A beautiful woman greeted. She was small in stature, but had dark, tanned skin and black hair like Eli's, and the same kind eyes. She grabbed her son, pulling him into a warm embrace. "And you must be his boyfriend!"
"Y...Yeah...Otis...Nice to meet you." He held his hand out for her to take, but she wrapped her arms around him.
"We don't shake hands here, honey. Don't be silly." She drew away, gasping. "Oh! Your eyes! Eli was right!"
Otis quirked an eyebrow, looking to Eli for an answer.
"They're beautiful!" She explained. "Oh my goodness I've never seen such blue eyes!"
He blushed, looking down to his feet and leaning on Eli, who kissed his head.
They were lead into the living room, where a tall, thin man was sitting.
"Dad, I'm home!"
"Eli!" He stood, turning abruptly and smiling. "Oh good you did bring him!"
"I did. Dad, this is Otis."
"Pleased to meet you. My son was...ecstatic about you over the phone."
"N...Nice to meet you too..." Otis flinched as Eli's father moved to hug him, settling for resting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I forgot."
"Forgot...what?" Otis looked to Eli again.
"I...Look I know you don't like a lot of people to know, but I told them."
"Told them what?"
"That you..."
Otis narrowed his eyes.
"I told them you were abused..."
He pinched the bridge of his nose, crossing his arms over his chest. "Christ, Eli..."
"Don't worry, he didn't go into detail. He just said you had a horrible childhood and you weren't too keen on people touching you right away."
"I hear a lot about you, Otis. He really, really loves you."
Otis nodded. "Yeah...I know that...And uh...I...The feeling's...mutual."
Eli chuckled and nudged Otis. "You want anything to drink, babe?"
"Uh..."
"I'm getting a scotch. How's your back?"
"I- Uh..."
"It hurts. I'm getting you a scotch, too."
"Do you have back problems, sweetheart?" Eli's mother asked.
"Kind of, I guess. Uhm...I have...Just about everything problems."
"Oh, is that from..." His father trailed off. "Sorry."
"Yeah, it is. I got into uh...an accident...a few weeks ago though too and I'm...still healing...That's why I'm limping a little."
Eli returned and Otis gratefully took the glass, nursing it for a while as they talked.
"He's an AMAZING artist. You should see some of his work!"
"I'm not that...I mean-"
"Oh, don't be modest." Eli's mother scolded. "Do you have a display? A gallery?"
Otis stammered, looking to Eli in a panic.
"He...It's not that kind of work, mom. Otis is more...Blue collar. Art is his side thing. He's mainly a mechanic and a rancher, but his art is beautiful. It's on display at that...that uh..."
"Captain Spaulding's..." Otis filled in, looking into the bottom of his glass, willing it to fill again.
"Oh! Oh those are sculptures?! I thought they were real!"
"Nope. That's all mine." Otis cleared his throat.
"And a mechanic. Must be good with your hands." Eli's father chimed in.
"Oh he's very...Very good with his hands." Eli winked, taking Otis's lithe fingers in his palm. "VERY...Good with his hands." He kissed Otis's finger tips, laughing heartily as Otis's face turned progressively redder.
"Eli stop! You're embarrassing him!" His mother scolded. "I'll rescue you from this conversation: Have you seen where you're staying yet?"
"No, I haven't."
"Let's go. Come on, sweetheart."
Otis was in utter awe as she showed him around the house. Everything was so pristine and vast, but with touches of home. Pictures on the walls. Smiling faces. Happy times. There weren't many times he was forced to look his demons right in the face, but seeing what a childhood should be like was always one of them.
"Oh, you are limping, honey..."
"I'm alright. Goin' up stairs hurts."
"I'm sorry! We didn't have to come up! I'm sorry..." He saw a familiar look flash through her eyes. One he had seen in the mirror many times.
"It's...Okay...I'm not...I'm not upset. I won't hurt you..."
She calmly folded her hands over her dress smoothing it. "I'm sorry. I just...Sometimes...Even-"
"I know. Believe me, I know."
The evening wound down, and Otis and Eli found themselves curled up to each other, exhausted from the day and comfortable in their bed.
It wasn't long that their comfort lasted, as Eli heard Otis stir. He was sobbing softly, trying to muffle his pain with the blanket.
"Otis...come on wake up...Wake up sweetheart..."
He continued to sob, whimpering and shaking.
"Come on..." Eli shook him as hard as he felt he could without hurting Otis.
"No..." Otis batted Eli's hands away. "Get them off of me..."
"Shhh...Come on baby. Wake up. I love you..." He gently stroked Otis's face, making him flinch away in his sleep.
"NO! GET AWAY! STOP!" Otis kicked and flailed, toppling himself to the ground. "FUCK!" He scrambled under the bed, panting. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry...Don't...Please stop hitting me...I-I...I'll be good. Yeah? I'll be good."
"Otis...It's me...Sweetheart...It's Eli..." He crawled on the floor next to him, taking Otis by the arm. He let out a startled cry, trying to pull away until he came to his senses.
"F...Fuck...Eli?"
"It's me, baby. Come here." He helped Otis out from under the bed, trying to lead him to the mattress.
"No..."
"Babe, it's 3 am-"
"I'll...sleep on the floor."
"What? Why?"
"J...Just...let me, okay?"
"Okay..." Eli spread a few blankets on the floor, curling up beside Otis and drawing one over them.
"You...Why are you down here?"
"You're not fighting this alone. I don't know what is wrong, and I want you to tell me when you're ready. But you're not fighting it alone. If you sleep on the floor, I'll sleep there with you."
Wordlessly, Otis inched closer to Eli, curling into him.
"I love you..." Eli stroked Otis's hair, breathing him in.
Otis simply nodded, content to sleep.
