XiaolinFireGirl - You're sweet. He just sent a nasty flaming review and I got mad. Thanks for making my day brighter!
Chapter 8 - You! I'm Still Mad at You!
"Well, here's my homestead," said Elijah, leading Clay up to a white house with green shutters. They had left the Bailey Ranch at five in the morning amid hugs from Mrs. Bailey, stony glances from Mr. Bailey, and 'Y'all write now, y'hear!'s from Jessie. They'd gotten on the plane shortly after six and flown three hours to Oklahoma, where Elijah lived. They'd hailed a taxi at the airport and gotten to Elijah's house, where they currently were. Elijah looked up at Clay and smiled. "You'll love my family, I promise. Cousin Jackie should be here soon, and in the meantime, you can meet my brothers and sister!"
"Sounds like fun," said Clay, smiling warmly at Elijah. Elijah felt the butterflies spring up in his chest when Clay smiled at him, and Elijah grinned back just as broadly.
Elijah opened the door and said, "Mum, Zac, Becca, Chet, I'm home!" he cried.
"INTRUDERS!" screamed someone from the couch, and the next moment Clay felt something round and furry hit him in the chest. It began vibrating and making little purring noises.
"DANGIT, ZAC, STOP THROWING THINGS!" Elijah yelled, taking the toy from Clay and hurling it back at the boy on the couch. The boy wore a well-worn pair of jeans, a long sleeved striped shirt, and a fuzzy, bright green, floppy hat, which hid bright orange hair like Elijah's.
"STOP YELLING!" yelled a voice from the back, through a door.
"NO!" Elijah screamed back.
"Someone here?" murmured another voice from the back.
A girl stalked through the door and frowned at Elijah. She had darker orange hair, paper-white legs and huge tracts of land (A/N: Bonus points to all the Monty Python fans who got that). She was shorter than Elijah and only slightly taller than Zac. "Why were you yelling?" she asked in an annoyed voice.
"Nice to see you too, Becky," grumbled Elijah. At Becca's very annoyed look, he explained, "Zac threw his Tribble at Clay."
A woman stepped up behind Becca and smiled at Elijah. "Hey, babe!" she said happily, walking over to Elijah and enveloping him in a tight hug.
"Hi, mum," said Elijah equally as happily. When she stepped back, he said, "Mum, this is Clay. Clay, Mum."
"Howdy, ma'am," said Clay, holding out his hand.
Elijah's mother ignored the hand and hugged him as well. "Happy to meet the new man," she said, winking at Elijah.
"New man?" asked a voice from the kitchen. A huge redheaded man stepped through and smiled at Elijah. "Hey, Lije! Didn't know you were back!"
"Just got back," Elijah replied, walking over and hugging the man. "Great to see you again, Chet."
"What's this I heard about a new man?" he asked again.
Elijah took Clay's hand and led him over to Chet. "Chet, this is Clay, my boyfriend. Clay, this is Chet, my extremely overprotective older brother," he said, casting a meaningful glance at Chet.
"Alright, fine, I won't pick on him!" said Chet, throwing up his hands.
"Thank you," said Elijah happily. He turned to Clay and grinned happily before the doorbell rang. "Cousin Jackie is here!" he said happily. He ran to the door and flung his arms around another redhead. "Hi, Jackie!" he said cheerfully.
"Whoa, hey, Elijah!" said another joyful voice, but this was one Clay recognized. When Elijah released the boy and turned to Clay, his worst fears were confirmed. "Clay, meet my cousin—"
"Jack Spicer!" Clay snarled, stalking over to the boy and grabbing him by the collar of his black coat.
"Clay!" squeaked Jack as he was lifted from the ground. "What are you doing here?!"
"I could ask you the same thing," Clay growled before he felt a warm hand on his.
"Problem?" Elijah hissed.
Clay dropped Jack and turned, furious, to Elijah. "Yeah, there's a problem! You're related to a no-good varmint!"
"May I speak to you for a moment?" demanded Elijah. He smiled falsely at his family. "Excuse us for a moment," he said, gripping Clay's hand tighter than necessary and leading him to the hallway that Elijah's mother and Becca had exited earlier. The first door on the right was black and covered with threatening messages, but when Elijah opened it, it revealed a pink walled room with a purple ceiling. On the far side was a queen-sized bed with a flowered comforter. A bookcase on the next wall faced it, behind a chair and music stand, next to which were an electric bass and a cello. Next to the bookcase was a writing desk and an entertainment center with a stereo and several boxes of various things. On the wall next to that was a closet and a dresser, and the next wall had a desk with a computer and various sticky notes and scraps of paper. Elijah shoved Clay into the cluttered but inviting room and demanded, "What in the hell are you doing?!"
"Your cousin is my worst enemy!" Clay shouted, sending Elijah back. Clay had never shouted at him before. Elijah's normally okay temper flared.
"How dare you shout at me!" Elijah cried, balling his fists and closing his eyes, he was screaming so hard.
"You're makin' a fool of yourself, Elijah!" exclaimed Clay, throwing his hands out. "You're bein' an idiot!"
"Don't make fun of my family, and don't call me an idiot!" Elijah yelled, trying his hardest not to hit Clay.
"I'll make fun of people who deserve it, and I'll call people idiots who are idiots!" Clay roared back.
"Oh yeah?" Elijah snarled. He snatched Clay's hat off his head and jammed it on his own. "Lookit me!" he said in a bad imitation of Clay's accent. "I'm a stupid hick cowboy with stupid sayings and a stupid accent who doesn't know what in the hell he's talking about!"
"Two can play at that game!" Clay cried, grabbing Elijah's glasses off his face and sticking them on his nose. "Look! I'm a freckle-faced, blind ginger kid with crooked fingers and big feet who's actin' like an idiot!" he said fiercely.
"Hey! Damnit, I can't see!" Elijah cried as he stumbled blindly for a moment, tripped over his big feet, and fell onto Clay who caught him by the wrists. Elijah squinted up at Clay and snarled, "I hate you."
"The feelin's mutual," Clay growled. Elijah and Clay stared at each other for a moment, Clay's hands gripping Elijah's wrists and Elijah pressed against Clay's body, before the tension in the air was just to much and Elijah crashed his lips onto Clay's, kissing him ferociously and passionately, Clay kissing back with as much anger and fervor as Elijah.
After a moment, they heard a cough and someone screaming, "EW, COOTIES!" They left the kiss and turned to the door, seeing Jack and Zac standing there, an expression of horror on Zac's face. They must've looked a sight, Elijah wearing Clay's hat with his wrists captured by the cowboy's big hands, Clay wearing Elijah's glasses, which were by now considerably fogged, looking at each other with hatred etched on their features.
"Hey!" said Clay heatedly, dropping Elijah's wrists. "We're busy!"
"Yeah!" agreed Elijah. "Can't you see we're having an angry, hot make out session to release all the sexual tension in the air?!" Jack's eyes widened and Zac stuck his tongue out disgustedly before Elijah strode over and slammed the door in their faces. "So get out!" he screamed before turning back around. "You!" he shouted at Clay. "I'm still mad at you!"
"Yeah, well, me too!" said Clay, stepping over and placing his hands on the door on either side of Elijah, successfully pinning him to the door. He leaned in and captured Elijah's lips hungrily, vehemently, and Elijah grabbed Clay's hair, deepening the kiss.
Several angry, hot moments later…
"Wow," said Clay, rolling to the side of the door and collapsing on the wall. "Remind me to get you riled up more often." He slid down into a sitting position.
Elijah laughed softly and sat down next to him. "You weren't so bad yourself," he said as Clay put an arm around him. He snuggled into Clay's chest and inhaled the smell of cool soil and clean mountain air and freshly picked flowers, a smell so totally and utterly Clay. Clay smelled something different: he smelled new paper and spicy cologne and the smell of the kitchen, the whole and complete smell of Elijah.
"Hey, Elijah?" asked Clay tentatively after a moment. Elijah made a little happy noise into Clay's chest, which Clay took as an affirmative. "I'm sorry I called you an idiot and a ginger kid and a freckle-face. Your fingers aren't that big and I like your crooked fingers." He removed Elijah's glasses and placed them in their rightful place on Elijah's face. "But you are blind."
"Yeah, I'm sorry I called you a stupid cowboy," Elijah murmured back. "And I like your accent and sayings, the sayings are kind of endearing and I've always loved guys with accents." He removed Clay's hat and put it on Clay's head. "But you are a hick."
Clay chuckled. "Fair enough," he said softly, and they sat there for a moment, breathing the smell of each other and marveling in their fortune before rising and going back into the family room to act as though nothing happened.