Happy Birthday to me and a present to you!
Chapter Seventy-Five
"Breakfast!" Eliot found himself shouting up the stairs. It was only a little after seven, but he'd already been up a few hours. "And hurry your asses up!" With that he turned to his room. At this rate Sarah would be there before they even got down the stairs.
"Nate" His voice was softer as he entered the room, but he was no less intent on waking the man. "Wake up." He knew Nate wasn't anywhere close to a deep sleep. Not when mere seconds ago he'd been shouting through the hall. That wasn't something Nate was capable of sleeping through. "Come on now, don't be a lazy ass." When all he got was some mumbling he moved to the bottom of the bed and pulled off the blanket.
"Jerk"
Eliot laughed at Nate's name calling as he watched the other curl in on himself.
"It's not funny." He grumbled as he rubbed a hand across his face.
"You never complained when I used to wake you up." Eliot reminded as he sat on the edge of the bed facing Nate.
"That's because," Nate stretched as he forced himself into awareness. "I used to like how you woke me up."
Eliot shook his head with a sly smirk, "Well there's no time for that now."
"That never stopped you before." Nate sat up with a yawn.
"Well too bad, now hurry up and go hit the head, breakfast's getting cold." Eliot urged with a swat to the thigh.
"As soon as I shower." He knew he wouldn't feel human until he did.
"Food first, shower later." Eliot stressed. He was not going to let his effort go to waste.
"Already he's bossing me around and I didn't even get a good morning yet." Nate complained to absolutely no one.
"Hello, welcome to today" Eliot greeted sarcastically. "Now can we get to the kitchen?"
"Well, since you were so genuine about it." Nate snarked though he quickly added, "Under one condition."
"What's that?" Eliot questioned suspiciously.
Nate simply crooked a finger causing Eliot to lean over as he once more wondered, "What?" For a minute he thought Nate was going to whisper in his ear but that thought soon disappeared as a big wet kiss met his cheek. "Man!" Eliot whined in a feigned disgust as he wiped his hand across his cheek. "And with your dragon breath too!"
Nate was clearly pleased with himself as he stood from the bed stating coyly, "Food first remember."
"Ughh" Eliot exaggerated a huff as Nate closed himself in the bathroom, but he had a smile firmly In place as he left for the kitchen.
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"I'm not positive on what the plans are yet, but I figure we'll be back late afternoon, probably around four the latest." Eliot shared with the table, a warm cup of tea between his hands. He liked having a game plan.
"That works great for us!" Parker spoke excitedly; Hardison taking it upon himself to further the explanation when she didn't. "They've got a pumpkin fest a few towns over. We figured if it was okay with Sarah we'd take them over and check it out. Kinda make a day out of it."
"I'm sure she'll be fine with it." Eliot assured. "Just don't lose 'em." He smirked as Hardison glared at Nate.
The whole hide-n-seek thing was never supposed to be mentioned to Eliot and there was only one person that would have done so.
"Anyway," Hardison reeled in his annoyance as he asked, "Shouldn't you be getting ready Nate? They're going to be here anytime now." He'd be lucky if he had 15 minutes and it was clear the man hadn't even showered yet.
"I'm not going." Nate offered before taking a sip of his orange juice.
"And before you ask," Eliot interjected at the slight shift in his friend's gaze. "everything is fine between us." It wasn't their business either way, but he figured it'd be better to provide than leave them to pry.
"So why aren't you going?" Hardison asked despite the fact that Eliot had, albeit very nicely, just basically told him to mind his own business. "I mean yesterday you were gonna go."
"Let's just say I gained a day's wisdom." Nate shrugged as he lifted his dishes and moved to the sink. The explanation was easy enough, but he didn't feel the need to explain himself to Hardison.
"I want Chinese" Parker's random interruption was much appreciated by Eliot, though he still pointed out, "You just ate."
"Not now Bubba" She rolled her eyes at his unnecessary stating of the obvious. Sometimes he was just plain dim. "I meant later on, we should all meet up and get Chinese."
"Sounds good to me." Eliot voiced though he still looked to Nate who simply shrugged. He was apparently indifferent.
"We can work it all out when we drop off the kids." Hardison furthered the plan. He was all for time with Parker and if it got Nate and Eliot on their own date of sorts than he'd consider it a success.
"Well-" but Eliot cut Nate short as he said, "Get the door Hardison" and not two seconds later the doorbell rang.
"That's creepy man" Hardison left the room with a disturbed look, Parker right behind him.
"What were you going to say?" Eliot asked as he stood from the table to help Nate who had begun clearing it.
"Nothing really" Nate denied as he took a plate from Eliot. "You should get going though."
"They'll hold a minute." Eliot shrugged as he stepped into Nate's space.
"Thought you didn't like my dragon breath?" Nate joked to which Eliot smiled, they both knew Nate had brushed his teeth.
"If you don't want a kiss." Eliot went to step back but a hand on his hip kept him in place.
"What if I want more than a kiss?" Nate countered.
"Well then," Eliot ghosted his lips over Nate's. "You better play your cards right."
The way Eliot breathed those words had Nate tempted to throw everyone out of the house. Instead he huffed, "tease" to which Eliot replied, "Damn right" but he was soon giving the word a more pleasant meaning as he nipped at Nate's lip, taunting with his tongue.
"Eliot hurr…" and a quickly followed, "Y'all Nasty!" Had Nate quickly pulling away from Eliot, his eyes firmly closed as he prayed that Sarah wouldn't say anything about the hand he had just had up her brother's shirt.
"Haven't y'all ever heard of this thing called privacy!" Eliot feigned anger to hide -what was not- a red face.
"Man, you're in the kitchen!" Hardison reminded out of pure pleasure. Though he certainly didn't need a front row seat, he was happy to know they were back to the point of snogging. It meant things were headed in the right direction.
"It's my damn kitchen!" Nate still had his eyes squeezed firmly shut so Eliot elbowed him. He was not taking this heat alone.
"Sarah" Nate awkwardly pushed a hand through his hair as he acknowledged her presence. "Sorry about that." He didn't know what to say but Eliot's glare clearly said admitting wrong doing wasn't on the list of options.
"Nothing to be sorry about." Sarah shook her head to get herself focused. She had not been expecting that first thing.
"You say that to him." Eliot knew his sister too well to not be suspicious and he was soon proven right as she smiled evilly. "You're not going to let me live this down, are you?"
"Not in this lifetime." She teased. It wasn't often she got to make her brother squirm.
Once more Eliot was glaring at Nate who defended, "Hey, I'm not the one with the super-sonic hearing!"
"He got you there man." Hardison agreed with Nate. If he could hear his sister on the porch he should be able to hear her in the hall.
"I'm not the one who was breathing so damn loud." Eliot mock whispered in amusement. It was either get Nate joking or let him die of embarrassment.
"Do you really want to go there?" He knew Eliot was baiting him and he gladly took it.
"Nope" Eliot denied quickly.
"Because if you want to talk about loud"
"Nate!" Eliot chastised, but before he could say anything else Hardison interjected with another, "Y'all nasty! For real!"
"Appreciate it Hardison" Eliot snarked. He was not amused with the glint in Nate's eye. He'd thrown Nate a life jacket and nearly got tossed under the bus for the effort.
"As intrigued as I am," Sarah interrupted. "we need to get going Eliot."
"I'll be right there." He had meant it as an excuse for them to excuse themselves but neither of them took it.
With a shrug he moved back toward Nate. If they wanted a show he'd give them one. "You watch out for yourself today." It didn't matter to him that it was just recon, he knew from experience that if something could go wrong it would.
"I will" Nate promised as he took Eliot's hand. "I'll call you if anything comes up." Their makeshift audience had the hairs on the back of his neck standing up.
"You'd better" He wanted to say more but he could tell Nate was uncomfortable so he decided to forget the demonstration and spare him. "And I'd better get this peep show on the road." They didn't even have the decency to look properly ashamed.
"Call me when you get there" Nate requested as he released his grip on Eliot's fingers.
"I will" Eliot dismissed as he left Nate's side, moving carelessly past Sarah and Hardison and out the kitchen door.
"Bye," Nate dismissed the others with an awkward wave, Sarah promising to, "See ya' later" before he was truly alone in the kitchen.
With a deep sigh he turned to the sink with dishes in mind. Maybe he could wash away some of the lingering awkwardness with the remnants of that morning's breakfast.
"Nate" He recognized the voice immediately but that didn't mean he was any less surprised by the kiss he turned into.
"Babe" Nate reluctantly pulled away. "What was that for?" Not that he wasn't appreciative, but Eliot was supposed to be fastening a seatbelt at the moment not sneaking back in the kitchen with him.
"I know how you get about your goodbyes" He smirked as he gave Nate a quick peck. "I figured things like this should be on our terms not theirs."
"You better get going" Nate suggested, but it wasn't of much use as he lifted Eliot's chin right after to instigate a more languid kiss.
"Na'e" He breathed as he once more cursed Nate's timing.
"Call me when you're on your way back" Nate pressed a quick kiss to Eliot's lips before taking a step back.
"Be good" Eliot told himself more than Nate as he headed out of the kitchen once more.
With a morning like this, it was going to be a LONG day.
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"Carol!" Michael shouted up the stairs.
"I'm almost done dear!" Her voice came traveling back down.
"Take your time" He grumbled as he reached for the remote and sat on the couch. "It's not like we have plans or anything."
Had someone told him that 90% of married life consisted of waiting on a woman, he never would have said, "I do".
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"I thought you guys already left?" Nate questioned as he walked into the living room, a hand still rubbing a towel through his hair.
"We decided to wait and see if you wanted to come with." Hardison explained as he maneuvered himself around where Parker and the kids were playing with the cats on the floor.
"Didn't I already tell you that I had plans?" He should have sounded annoyed, but it was impossible when listening to Becca giggle.
"No, all you said was that you were a day wiser." Whatever that meant.
"I am" The look Hardison gave him was irritating to say the least. "Hardison I have plans."
"For real?" After the stint in the kitchen he no longer believed there were issues between Nate and Eliot but that didn't mean Nate didn't have some all his own.
"Hardison" Nate pulled him back a few feet by the elbow so that little ears wouldn't overhear. "In fifteen minutes I'm going to come out of that room in my best suit. I'm going to get in the car and go meet our client."
"You mean you're gonna get in the truck." Nate glared at him but still he furthered, "I'm just saying, we're taking the car. I wouldn't want you expecting the car and then bam… your bad, it's not there."
"Hardison" Nate sighed, ignoring the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, as he went on. "Then I'm going to do some recon on a jerk that thinks it's funny to bankrupt people."
"You got to learn to live a little man." Hardison shook his head in disapproval. "We could help you with all of that tomorrow."
"After that," He'd planned on keeping this to himself but he was just too tempted. It wasn't every day he got to make Hardison eat his words. "I'm going to do something that will earn me so many brownie points with Eliot that they'll be making me an honorary girl scout."
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Hardison's face was covered in a near stupid grin, his hand quickly slapping Nate's back in approval.
"Hardison" It was unnerving to have Hardison looking at him so, dare he say, proudly. "The sooner you leave the sooner I do."
"You're right" Hardison agreed as he stepped back to the others with a "Come on y'all! We're leaving!"
Nate simply shook his head as he watched Parker help Rebecca with her sweater, returning a wave to Brian as he headed to the door and smiling when Becca excitedly bid, "Bye Nay-Nay!"
Eliot was lucky he got to call them family.
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"So how was your morning?"
Something in the way Aaron said that was too innocent to be believable and it had Eliot sighing as he asked, "She told you, didn't she?"
"No one told me anything" Aaron denied. "Unless you're talking about you getting freaky in the kitchen."
Eliot couldn't help but laugh as he swore, "She's a damn liar!"
"Sure" Aaron teased as he looked over to make sure they were still alone in their corner of the shop.
"Hey! I was in my house! She's the perv that stood there watching!" Eliot mock defended. He knew Aaron was only giving him shit for the fun of it.
"I thought you said she was lying?" Aaron raised a brow as he moved over to the sports coats.
"She is! Her and Hardison's dopey asses interrupted before we got anywhere near freaky." He put on his best serious face and in no time Aaron was laughing.
"You never change, do you?"
Eliot simply grinned. It was nice to feel like one of the boys again.
"Hey, do you remember that time the priest"
"Naw man" Eliot cut off Aaron as he shook his head in humor. His face reddening as he tried not to laugh.
"He caught you behind the church with one of the choir girls" Aaron nudged Eliot as he did his best to hold in his own laughter. "He took you by the-"
"TOOK?" Eliot stressed his disapproval at the chosen word. "He PULLED me by the ear all the way to the parking lot!"
"He was so pissed at you." Aaron laughed.
"He wasn't the only one." That car ride home had been spent rubbing his ear, wondering if it would fall off from the abuse or the lecture.
"What happened to that girl anyway?" Aaron wondered.
"I met her in the same spot the next Sunday."
"You didn't!" Aaron was half in disbelief, half wondering why he was just now hearing of this.
"Hell yeah I did! That girl had a body built to be worshipped." If anything, the getting caught had just made them better at sneaking around.
"You're a dog!" Aaron grinned as he shook his head again.
"It has its perks." Sure, he probably should have been pickier at times, but he didn't regret it because it had all been in fun.
"I'm gonna tell Nate you said that." Aaron threatened jokingly.
"Now you're snitching on me." Eliot threw up his hands in a, 'seriously', gesture.
"Hey, I'm getting married! If I can't live vicariously through you I can at least get things stirring." Devious, he knew, but that was his job as a little brother.
"I'm gonna tell Ashlee you said that." Eliot tossed back as he looked over to where Kyle and Pete were inspecting a velvet jacket. Unless Austin Powers was part of the bridal party that was not happening.
"Now who's tattling." Aaron complained as he turned from the rack, everything looked the same to him.
"Feel free to tell Nate whatever you want." Eliot shrugged carelessly.
"You say that now." Aaron didn't believe his brother's ease.
"With the way we got together nothing's going to surprise him." That he'd swear to.
"You didn't?" Aaron's jaw was slack.
"Have you even met me?" His brother's disbelief was amusing, but he didn't feed it. Instead he tried to paint a clearer picture. Nate would give him hell if it ever got back to him that he had described their hook-up as… well just another hook-up. "He was being a jackass, I was just trying to teach him a lesson."
"You were what!" Aaron wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cover his ears.
"I… he… just scrap that." Eliot clenched his eyes as he thought of how that must have sounded. Sub context was definitely needed.
"Naw, it's too late for that." Aaron pressed. He was interested now.
"I'm innocent I swear" Eliot tried to keep his voice level even as his ears tinged pink.
"Uh-huh" Aaron hummed sarcastically. He might have believed that if it wasn't coming from his brother.
"He was the one that started instigating!" Aaron simply raised an accusing brow which was irritating. Okay, maybe he was a dog but Nate sure as hell wasn't a saint. Still he relented, "Okay, maybe I instigated a little."
"A little?" Aaron's attention was completely on Eliot. This was more interesting than suit shopping.
"Hey, I was ready to knock his fucking head off!" Had he already forgotten the part about Nate being a complete jackass?
"So why didn't you?" Aaron smirked.
"Cuz I was busy trying to get my own back on!"
"You know they invented these cool things called adjectives for a reason, right?" Aaron snarked. Some description would be wonderful.
"There was something about the way he was staring at me… You know the look."
"You kissed him." Aaron teased with a grin.
"I did not!" Eliot vehemently denied. "I wanted to, but that was a retarded ass idea. Naw, I was gonna move 'cross country and start farming some damn bananas or something… But then he kissed me."
"Awww" Aaron near gloated. "That is adorable."
"Shut up!" Eliot punched his brother playfully. "It is not adorable."
"The hell if it isn't. He kissed you and then y'all lived happily ever after." Even though Aaron was teasing he still thought it was sweet.
"No" Eliot once more denied. "He kissed me and then I wanted to knock his ass out all over again."
"But obviously you didn't." He didn't care what his brother said; it was adorable.
"He started instigating again." Eliot defended even as he admitted, "And then I started instigating."
"Then y'all got to instigating." Aaron deviously presumed, Eliot ducking his head in an embarrassed laughter. "You really are a dog." It was safe to say his brother was something else.
"Are you kidding me!" Eliot looked at Aaron in disbelief. "What part of, 'This was on Nate' did you miss? If he hadn't have kissed me none of it would have happened."
"Exactly, and that makes you stupid too!" Aaron insulted without any real malice. "Look how good he is… and you were just gonna walk away."
"It was Nate!" Eliot stressed though he knew Aaron wouldn't understand the severity of that statement. He would never admit to thinking this, but he could use Hardison right about now to help stress his point.
"It was love!" Aaron exaggerated.
"It was not" but with the look Aaron was giving him he dropped the other half of that statement. Instead he said, "Technically it wasn't on anybody. If I hadn't have let him know that door was open then he never would have made a move and w-"
"Naw" Aaron interrupted with a shake of his head. "You can't blame everything on him one minute and then go trying to steal yourself some of the credit the next!"
"So I'm a dog" Eliiot relented, but it was with a smile. "Shut up!" Aaron was still laughing at him and he was barely resisting the urge to punch him again. "So we ain't got the best story." Eliot shrugged as he really thought back to that day. For them it was the best it possibly could have been.
"Man y'all got a perfect story" Aaron loved the fact that once again he got to yank Eliot's chain. "It's one for the grandbabies!"
"Lord" Eliot's hands were quick to hide his face.
"Be proud of it" Aaron spoke a little more seriously as he tried to regain Eliot's attention. "Y'all got something good going."
"I know it." Eliot offered almost inaudibly. He and Nate had made their share of circles, but he honestly wouldn't change a single one of them.
"Despite how you got there." And once more Aaron was taunting him.
"For real dude, Shut up!" He knew Aaron wouldn't but he didn't really mind. He was enjoying himself and he knew Aaron was too. It felt good to be open and even better to know that Aaron still saw him as nothing more than his, slightly sleazy, big brother.
"For that I'm gonna tell Nate." Aaron swore.
"No one cares!" Eliot brushed off the threat. Like it or not Aaron had clearly accepted Nate as part of the family and that meant that Nate had to learn to deal with the teasing just like the rest of them. That didn't mean he wouldn't give Nate hell if he took the wrong side though.
"You will if I tell Sarah." Aaron countered.
"Boy" Now that wasn't funny. "I swear, I will whoop your ass all the way back home."
"Damn El" Aaron laughed even as he put his hands up in surrender.
"That girl's crazy." Eliot defended. Just the thought of her knowing gave him the shivers.
"She would drag y'all to church." Aaron slapped a hand against his thigh in barely repressed laughter. "Repent I tell you!"
"Aaron, I swear I'm gonna slap you." It was hard to threaten when you were clinging to your sides though.
"She would though," Aaron shook his head at the whacko that was his sister. "She would take you to church."
"Which is exactly why you're keeping quiet." Eliot tried his best to order. A smirk forming as Aaron motioned to zip his lip. "Come on," Eliot motioned for Aaron to follow him as he swore to himself to never let them know about Nate wanting to be a priest. He'd never live that down. "Let's see if they've got some swatches or something."
"Or something" Aaron breathed as he stared incredulously toward the dressing room.
"What is wrong with that kid?" Eliot was torn between laughing at or being mortified for the dude. Aaron's friend Kyle had gone in, but it was clearly a time machine because Bogart had come out.
"That is not happening." Aaron announced in something close to terror as he all but bombarded the others.
"You tell 'em" Eliot grabbed himself a seat in amusement.
First it had been Austin Powers, now Bogart… if he waited long enough he knew Bond would be by.
"Do you think they've got any 007 in here." Eliot burst into laughter before Pete even got the sentence finished. He didn't know who thought it was a good idea to send a bunch of hillbillies and a couple of rednecks into a tux shop but it was bound to be interesting.
E/N: I hope you enjoyed the update! This chapter is kind of a two part because I'm still writing the second half of their "day" but it was getting to be too much for one chapter and I don't know if anyone would actually sit down and read 7-8K words straight. But! I plan on having the next one posted sometime tomorrow!
I'm going to try hard for a birthday bash uploading extravaganza type deal and get all my stories updated (I know, I suck at it) so everyone spam me with reminders!
Thanks for reading!