Elias

by Amy Aislin

  "My sister and I were put into foster care since we didn't have any other family," Elias continued. "But because Amira's six years older than me, they split us up and sent us to different homes, to ones with kids our own age."

  Ty swallowed hard and reached for Elias's hand. "I'm sorry," he said.

  "Don't be." Elias rubbed his thumb over the back of Ty's hand. "It was a long time ago."

  "Was foster care..."

  Elias smiled at that. "It wasn't as bad as the stories you hear. I bounced around from family to family for the first couple years, no placement lasting longer than a few months. Then just before my eighth birthday, I got placed with the Hoods. They adopted me two years later."

  Oh, thank God there was some good to this story.

  "What are they like?" Ty asked.

  "They were great," Elias said, smile fond as he played with Ty's fingers. "First thing they did when the adoption went through was take me to Disney World. It's still my favourite place in the world."

  They were great, Elias said. Did that mean...

  "Do you still talk to them a lot?" he asked, tentative, not wanting to summon bad memories yet desperately needing to know.

  "No," Elias said, voice whisper-soft. "That plane crash three years ago, between London and Paris?"

  Ty put two and two together, his shoulders slumping.

  Elias's smile was sad as he correctly read Ty's reaction. "They were on it."

  "God! Can't you catch a break?" Ty's voice was garbled with tears, and he swiped at his burning eyes. "Life sucks sometimes."

  "Yeah," Elias agreed. "But I turned out all right, didn't I?"

  It was ridiculous that Elias was trying to comfort Ty when it should be the other way around. Ty sucked up his tears and walked around the table to straddle Elias's lap. Putting his arms around Elias's shoulders, he buried his face in his neck and held on tight.

  "Don't be sad, baby," Elias said. His voice was strong, but he held Ty just as tightly. "I'm okay."

  Ty could argue that point, but he didn't. He sniffled and pulled back.

  "Are you close with your sister, at least?" he asked.

  "No," Elias answered, hands smoothing up and down Ty's thighs. "We weren't close even as kids. She moved to Vancouver for university when she was eighteen and never came back. We talk on the phone every once in a while, but it's always like talking to a stranger."

  Ty patted Elias's hard shoulders. "You can have some of my family," he offered. "They'd take you."

  "I don't know if I want your family," Elias said. "They're kind of crazy."

  Ty's laugh was half snort, half sob. "Wait until you meet the rest of them on Saturday."

  The horror that widened Elias's eyes was hilarious. Ty laughed even though a part of him still hurt so much for Elias and everything he'd gone through. Leaning forward, he captured Elias's lips with his, kissing him slowly, hoping to convey to him that he was safe here with Ty. Pulling back, he frowned into Elias's eyes.

  "You taste like my hot chocolate," he grumbled.

  Elias chuckled and leaned in for another kiss. "Want some more?"

  "No," Ty said, laughing, pushing Elias away. "I want my own."

  "No, you want mine."

  Yeah, he did.

  "Do you wanna colour with me?"

  God, did he ever.

  Elias followed the pig-tailed five-year-old over to the kids' play area in the den, where most of the children had congregated to play. A couple of pre-teens were playing a video game—something with lots of bloopy noises—and three pint-sized girls were playing house over by the plastic kitchen playset.

  The five-year-old handed him a Harry Potter colouring book, pointed at a box of coloured pencils, and sat in a child-sized chair at the child-sized table. Elias sat on the floor across from her, which put the table at mid-chest. Perfect colouring height for him.

  Too bad he hadn't found the den an hour ago, when the press of so many bodies in the Green house started to be too much. He could handle introducing himself and talking about himself for only so long before he lost the will to live. Luckily, midway through the arrivals, he'd discovered a trick. If he began the conversation with "So, what do you do?" instead of the other way around, then all he had to do was pick apart their answer and jump on a second topic. "Oh, you're an electrician? How did you get in to that?" It was brilliant, because by the time the other person's explanation ran down, Elias was being introduced to someone new who'd just arrived, and he could start the cycle all over the again. It meant, in essence, that he barely had to say anything at all.

  Ty was in his element as he accepted birthday wishes from his family and friends. Every guest who arrived gave him a huge hug and pressed a gift into his hands. Yet there was a certain tightness to Ty's eyes that told Elias what he really wanted was to crawl into a corner and read.

  Elias could relate.

  "Ah," Ty said from the doorway. "There you are." He sat next to Elias, bracing himself with one hand on Elias's shoulder. "Hannah, can I draw, too?" he asked the pig-tailed girl. She handed over a My Little Pony colouring book.

  Ty took one look at it then leaned over to see what Elias was drawing. His eyes lit up. "Trade you?"

  Elias looked at his half-coloured Hogwarts crest. "No." He moved his book out of Ty's reach.

  Ty pouted. It shouldn't have been adorable on a grown man; somehow Ty pulled it off. However, it seemed that Ty didn't actually want to colour. He tested out four shades of pink for his pony. Unhappy with them, he switched to purple. Then he flipped through the pages of his book for a different page to colour. Apparently unsatisfied, he set it aside and grabbed a different one: Despicable Me. Apparently, he didn't like that one either.

  "What's wrong with you?" Elias asked, straight to the point. Ty was not normally a fidgeter.

  "Do you want to see my room?" Ty said instead of answering.

  Why yes, yes he did.

  "Bye, Hannah," he said. It was only appropriate since she'd invited him to colour with him in the first place. She ignored him.

  They had to pass by the packed living room on their way; luckily no one stopped them. Jenn was the only one who caught them, but she simply waved and went back to her conversation.

  "You're in the basement?" Elias asked as Ty took them downstairs.

  "Yeah. I moved down here when my parents finished it when I was in high school."

  Ty's bedroom walls were blue, his carpet a thick cream. It was also empty. Made sense seeing as he'd just moved all of his things to his new house. There was nothing to see, so why had Ty bought him down here?

  Ty stretched out on the couch outside his bedroom, and Elias joined him, snuggling Ty close so he didn't fall off the edge. Ty's restless fingers played the piano on Elias's chest in an irritating rhythm. Elias threaded their fingers together.

  "Are you okay?" he asked again.

  "Yeah," Ty said. "Just...too many people."

  They lay together in the semi-darkness, the only light coming from the basement windows. Party sounds filtered through the ceiling: children screaming, a crying baby, a thud as something was dropped, and above it all, the din of a dozen conversations. They didn't speak, didn't move. Simply lay quietly, enjoying each other's company, breathing each other in. Elias's other hand was around Ty's waist, and he snuck it under Ty's T-shirt, wanting to feel his warm skin. Ty shivered and pressed closer.

  Elias released a long breath, his muscles unclenching. Alone with Ty, he could finally relax. Didn’t have to be on. It surprised him that Ty felt the need to escape his own family and friends, but maybe like Elias, he preferred people in small groups and small doses.

  "How long will the party last?" Elias asked.

  "Oh, probably until eleven or so."

  Oh, God.

  "Don't worry." Ty patted his chest. "Jenn and my dad will sneak us out of here in about an hour."

  God bless Ty's only normal family members.

  A creak as the basement door opened. Ty moaned a prot
est.

  "I don't think he's down here," a voice said. One of Ty's brothers.

  "Jenn said she saw him head this way." That was the other twin.

  "If you say so."

  "Besides, where else would he hide?"

  They appeared at the bottom of the stairs, dressed similarly in dark jeans and polo shirts. Ty had told him that they lived next door to each other and shared a big backyard. Elias couldn't tell which was which yet, but he knew Matt called everybody "dude." He felt like he should sit up—wouldn't it be weird for them if they saw he and Ty cuddled together? But Ty didn't move, so Elias stayed where he was.

  "Dude."

  Ah, so the one in the purple polo was Matt. Jeremy was the one in green.

  "Aunt Liza thinks your new boyfriend's hot."

  Ty chuckled and finally sat up. Elias did the same, propping himself up in the corner between the arm and the back of the couch.

  "Which one was she?" Elias asked.

  "The one with the cane," Ty said.

  "The four-hundred-year-old?"

  That cracked the brothers up and neither one of them refuted his claim. The four-hundred-year-old in question was a tiny, stooped lady with wrinkles on her wrinkles.

  "She patted my cheek like I was a disobedient toddler earlier,” Elias grumbled.

  Ty laughed so hard he fell over on the couch, making Elias smile at him like a sentimental fool.

  The door opened and closed again, soft footsteps descending the stairs.

  "Maddie, did you bring cake?" Jeremy called.

  Ty's teenage sister did indeed bring cake. The whole cake. What was left of it anyway. And given it'd been huge to begin with, there was a little less than half left. She set the cake dish on the floor and handed out forks.

  Jenn found them five minutes later, lying on their stomachs in a circle around the dish, picking at the triple chocolate fudge cake with three layers of icing.

  "Where's my fork?" she asked.

  Maddie held one out to her and she dug right in with the rest of them.

  The doorknob jiggled at the top of the stairs.

  "I locked it behind me," Jenn told Ty.

  "I love you," he said, stuffing his face with a huge bite of cake.

  "Mom's going to come looking for us eventually," Maddie said.

  "She's currently occupied trying to get Kylie to clean the drawing she made on the wall in the kitchen," Jenn said.

  Jeremy groaned. If Elias remembered correctly, Kylie was his toddler.

  "I told Mom not to put the whiteboard against the wall," he said.

  "Maybe she thought your daughter was smarter than you and could distinguish between a drawing surface and a non-drawing surface," Ty said.

  "Why would any child of Jeremy's be smart?" Matt joked.

  "Says the guy whose son tried to toast yogurt," Jenn quipped.

  "I'm sorry, whose six-year-old tried to plug in a book?" Matt said to her.

  "Children are the root of all misery," Jeremy said philosophically.

  It was fun to watch them banter back and forth. Elias had never had this kind of relationship with his sister, and he'd been careful not to get too attached to any of the foster kids that came while he lived with the Hoods, knowing they could be removed and placed elsewhere with barely a moment's notice. In the back of his mind, he hadn't really believed that Ty's sitcom-type family actually existed; one where the parents were still alive and together and the siblings were friends as well as family.

  They polished off the rest of the cake. It was impressive how much the Green siblings could eat. When there was only a small corner left, Elias forked it closer to Ty. It was his birthday cake after all. Ty bumped his shoulder with his in thanks. Jenn smiled at him, Maddie pretended not to notice, and the twins made big doe eyes and pretended to swoon.

  "Just for that," Ty told his brothers, "you don't get my sushi gift card."

  "Awww."

  "No fair."

  "Aunt Margo is still getting you a gift card to that sushi place?" Maddie asked. "How does she not know yet that you don't eat sushi?"

  "But we got you such a great gift." Matt was still complaining.

  "Yeah, isn't that worth a twenty-five-dollar sushi gift card?" Jeremy said.

  "You haven't given me anything," Ty said through a laugh.

  It gave the twins pause. They met eyes, had some kind of silent conversation, and by apparent mutual agreement, Jeremy disappeared upstairs.

  "So, Maddie." Matt's devilish tone made them all pause. "Where's your boyfriend?"

  Maddie narrowed her eyes at her brother.

  "Boyfriend?" Jenn asked.

  "What boyfriend?" Ty asked.

  "There's no boyfriend," Maddie said, colour high in her cheeks.

  "I caught them kissing in the shed last night," Matt sang.

  "The shed? Ew," Ty said and shuddered hard.

  "There are centipedes in there," Jenn said.

  "We were not kissing," Maddie insisted.

  "Really?" said Matt. "Then what would you call the art of thrusting one's tongue down another person's throat?"

  "Tonsil hockey," Elias suggested.

  "Making out," Ty said.

  "Sucking face," Matt said.

  "Canoodling," Jenn said.

  A growl released from the back of Maddie's throat. "I hate you all."

  "So? Where is he?" Ty asked.

  "Yeah, how come you didn't invite him?" Jenn poked Maddie's shoulder with her fork.

  "Because he's not my boyfriend," Maddie said. "He's just a friend, who's also a boy."

  "A kissing friend who's a boy," Matt clarified.

  "How come he's not your boyfriend?" Ty asked. "What's wrong with him?"

  "There's nothing wrong with —"

  "Then my question stands," Ty interrupted. "How come he's not your boyfriend?"

  "Because he's...he's…" She seemed to be searching for an excuse. "He's not a good kisser."

  Silence.

  Then, "If he's not a good kisser," Jenn started, "you were doing what while he was kissing you? Counting his teeth with your tongue?"

  "Can you do that?" Ty asked.

  "We can try it out later," Elias promised.

  Ty beamed at him.

  "Awww," Jenn said, smiling indulgently at them. "You guys are cute."

  Jeremy reappeared, envelope in hand. Ty's gift presumably. "What'd I miss?"

  "Maddie has a boyfriend," Matt said.

  Maddie's forehead hit the floor.

  Turned out, it was rather difficult to count another person's teeth with one's tongue. It was hard to tell where one tooth ended and another began, but Ty gave it his best shot anyway.

  After the party Ty had driven Elias back to his condo on Queen's Quay, fully expecting Elias to kiss him goodnight and then wave him off so Ty could drive home alone. But Elias had invited him inside. To spend the night. Ty had packed an overnight bag this morning, hoping for exactly this outcome. Presumptuous?

  "No," Elias said when Ty told him. "Smart."

  Ty was glad he thought so.

  Two hours later, thoroughly fucked, feeling languid and loose, he was happy to spend some time exploring Elias's mouth. Lying side by side, legs tangled underneath the covers, Elias's tongue in his mouth tasting of chocolate and coffee, Ty felt sinful and wanted.

  "I'm surprised you're not asleep yet," Elias murmured, hand in Ty's hair.

  "I make no promises for what the next five minutes hold," Ty said. He was too sleepy and sated not to fall asleep, no matter how much he wanted to stay awake and talk to Elias all night.

  "I think I can tempt you into wakefulness," Elias said.

  "Yeah?" Ty's smile was naughty, and his dick gave a twitch.

  "Not with that," Elias said, laughing. "Come with me."

  They put on boxers before Elias led Ty to the second bedroom he used as an office. Elias's condo faced the lake, almost directly across from the island airport, and Ty was momentarily distracted by the airport lights.<
br />
  Until he realized why Elias had brought him in here.

  "Eli…" His heart froze then started to pound. Framed pictures hung on the walls, landscapes and wildlife photos with Elias's digital signature in the bottom right. They were incredible: the northern lights, a herd of bison in the prairies, a lone wolf, fall in Algonquin Park, a pair of swans, a hummingbird, snow-capped Rockies, an owl in flight. All with an ethereal quality that made them look more like paintings than prints.

  "These are amazing," he whispered. He reached to touch but yanked his hand back, afraid of leaving smudges on these works of art.

  "This one's going to be in CanadaTravels in September." Elias pointed at the Algonquin Park image.

  "That's…that's the number one travel magazine in the country," Ty said, amazed.

  "Yeah," Elias said, like it was no big deal. "That one—" He pointed. "—was in a past issue. This one's on their website." He kept naming websites and magazines his images had appeared in, including some big name ones that had Ty's jaw dropping.

  "Remind me again why you don't do this full time?" Ty asked.

  Elias shrugged. "I've been with Top Line for seven years."

  There was a non-answer if Ty'd ever heard one. How was that even a legitimate reason for not following a dream? Because it was clear that this was Elias's passion. His face lit up, eyes gleaming, as he spoke about the photographs, how he'd gotten certain shots, the patience associated with wildlife photography, how fun it was to tweak RAW images, the rush he still felt whenever a publication accepted one of his submissions or he sold a print off his website.

  It was the first Ty was hearing of a website, and when his gaze landed on Elias's laptop, sitting innocently on the desk, Elias read his mind. With an indulgent roll of his eyes and a slight smile, he powered it up, navigated to his website, and turned the laptop toward Ty.

  Ty went through his online gallery for who knew how long. At one point, Elias disappeared. He came back with a hoodie for Ty, who hadn't realized he'd been sitting there in boxers and goosebumps. Left again. Returned with hot chocolate.

  "Are you hungry?" he asked.

  "Go away," Ty said. "I'm busy."

  Elias snorted a laugh and left.