Will You Hold Me? ((Jack Wheelan))

It was ridiculously cold out.

At this point, Elijah knew he was being a baby...he grew up in an area that was rather cold.  The chilly upstate New York winter night should be nothing to the boy.  And really, now that he thought about it, Bridgewater was probably in the negatives right now.  Maybe Elijah was going soft...maybe he was coming down with a cold.  In any case, he should not have needed to grab an extra couple of blankets and wrap them tightly around himself in bed.  And come to think of it...Jack only had a blanket or two, and he was fast asleep while Elijah cuddled in as close as he could wrapped in all those blankets.  Shivering, the small boy tried to distract himself from the cold.  "Jack," the boy whispered through chattering teeth.  "Jack, wake up..." but his teeth were gnashing too hard and his voice not even a whisper.  More like a slight exhale with words.  Pulling the blankets in closer, Elijah shut his eyes.  "Warm.  Tropical rain forests.  Mexico..." not that Elijah had been to any of these places.  He had never traveled too far from Bridgewater when he lived there, which meant the Long Island Sound where camp was was the warmest place he had ever been.  And right now, the son of Discordia was far from warm.  Swaddled in his blankets, shivering next to his boyfriend.  The boy thought he must have been asleep at some point...Jack never went to sleep until he was sure the smaller boy was...so at some point, Elijah must have fallen asleep before waking up...freezing cold.

The logical part of his mind was trying to point out that Jack was right there, and he would be just fine to be woken up so he could hold Elijah, cuddling together under the blankets.  But with how cold he was, the small boy didn't want to reach out of his blanket roll at all, even to wake up his boyfriend.  It didn't help that all his clothing had been shrunken enough that layering was hard.  Elijah had managed two pairs of sweatpants, two long sleeve shirts, and his last piece of baggy clothing- the dark blue sweatshirt he was borrowing from Jack.  That was how he had started...the layers and the first couple blankets.  It was after he had woken up shivering that he grabbed the last few blankets.  Even though it was dark, the small boy could see that Jack was comfortable and asleep, his body rising and falling with each deep sleeping breath he took.  A tiny whimper escaped Elijah's mouth...all he needed to do was wake his boyfriend up and get him under all the blanket.  And of course, let Elijah bury himself in his arms.  Jack's arms were always warm.  They fit perfectly around Elijah's small frame, and with the dark haired boy being held close, his head resting on his boyfriend's chest, it was impossible to stay awake or be cold.  And sleep while being warm sounded like the best thing that could ever possibly happen right now.  Shivering, Elijah tried to brace himself to reach out for Jack.  Just an arm...it was just an arm that he'd be pushing out from the blankets so he could shake Jack.

"Stop being a baby, Elijah," the boy whispered to himself.  He had been born and raised in Bridgewater, Maine.  It had to be in the negatives there.  Quite possibly snowing.  Of course, his father's house was always nice and warm.  The boy's room in the Principia was much chillier...especially with all the windows.  At this point, Elijah was feeling a bit grumpy.  He hated that he was waking up in the middle of the night shivering.  He was tired and just wanted to be asleep in Jack's arms.  When had they moved from their cuddling position, anyway?  It wasn't like the bed was big enough that they kicked their way to opposite sides and there was lots of room in between.  With a deep huff, Elijah finally pushed out his arm, feeling the goosebumps run up his arm violently.  Shuffling a little closer on his side, the boy started shaking his boyfriend's shoulder.  "Jack," he said louder this time, shaking the older boy's shoulder.  "Jack, wake up...I'm freezing cold...come hold me under all of my blankets..." disjointed phrases that probably didn't make much sense.  Not that it mattered at this point...Elijah needed his boyfriend awake now.  At least long enough that he could move to hold Elijah until the small boy fell back asleep.  Or maybe have a little bit of conversation so they could comfortably fall back asleep together.  "Jack, please wake up...please?"

Jack pulled his leather jacket over his shoulders and zipped it up to his neck.  Standing beside the bike, he turned the key and pushed the button, grinning as the motorcycle roared to life.  He pulled on his gloves and straddled the bike, shifting to make himself comfortable.  Lifting it off of its stand, he kicked it up, shifted into gear, and pulled back on the throttle.  Little by little, he eased off the clutch and the bike rolled forward.  The wind whipped through his hair as he hit the empty road and easily wove his way through the twists and turns.  Shifting up through the gears, he increased his speed, his smile widening with each new change in direction.

Suddenly, the bike shuddered under him.  It tilted sideways.  Jack quickly corrected the movement to keep himself upright.  He didn’t have time to look back and see what he had hit.  The next turn was coming up too fast.  Just as he hit the curve, the bike slipped again.  His heart skipped a beat as he corrected the movement again.  What was going on?  The motorcycle was in top shape.  It couldn’t be failing on him.  Jack swerved as a voice reached his ears over the sound of the wind.  “Jack.”  Who was speaking?  The road was empty.  Nobody else was around.  The wind was too loud.  There was no way he’d be able to hear anybody.  “Jack, wake up…”

Jack groaned and rolled over.  Elijah’s wide blue eyes stared at him through the dark.  He blinked back sleep as the free feelings of the open road faded, giving way to the dark, cold reality.  He wasn’t on a motorcycle in the sun.  He was in Elijah’s bed in the Principia in the middle of the night.  Stretching out, he took in the sight of his boyfriend.  Elijah was burrito-ed up in at least half a dozen blankets.  Even under all the layers, Jack could tell he was shivering.  “What did you do that for?” he asked sleepily.  “You know it’s always colder alone.”  Reaching out from under his single blanket, Jack pulled at Elijah’s covers, gently unrolling him.  Finding his tiny body, he pulled him close.

“Jesus, you’re freezing,” he grumbled, taking his hands in his own.  “You need more substance to you.”  Jack adjusted all of the blankets over both of them before pulling off his t-shirt and baring his chest.  Pulling Elijah tight against him, he murmured, “I won’t force you, but you’ll warm up faster if you’re willing to shed a few layers and share body heat.”

Gods, Elijah's teeth were chattering loudly.  How could Jack not hear them?  The son of a Venus typically woke up if Elijah so much as coughed, so why not the teeth?  Maybe it just seemed loud to the small boy.  Honestly, Elijah had no idea how that all worked.  It seemed like some random scientific fact that the boy hadn't been paying attention to when he learned it...if he learned it at all.  Maybe that was during the half of the year he was expelled from.  Or later on in a high school science he hadn't reached at all.  "Damnit, Jack," Elijah whispered, trying to shuffle in closer again.  His huge blanketed body wouldn't allow too much shuffling or getting in too close.  It was all starting to make the boy grumpy.  Twisting and turning slightly, the son of Discordia shut his eyes, willing himself to fall back asleep.  But he was too cold, his teeth chattering too loudly.  And he knew he wouldn't fall off without Jack's arms around him.  It was just how these things worked...Elijah had never had much luck with sleep...his boyfriend was the only "sleep aid" that had ever worked.  The Praetor always dreaded the nights Jack had to sleep in his actual barrack.  Those were the nights that he didn't get much sleep...though even those nights yielded more sleep than any used to at all.  Because even if the older boy wasn't sleeping over in the Principia, he would be in a night or two, so it was easier for Elijah to fall asleep.  And the nights when his boyfriend was over...the small boy had never gotten that much sleep in his life.  With Jack holding him, Elijah got the sort of hours that doctors recommended.  But he couldn't sleep tonight this cold and this far from the older boy.  With an ill-tempered huff, the boy tried to roll to his other side again, his blanket bundle just making him wobble in place a little.

When Jack finally seemed to be waking up, Elijah narrowed his eyes slightly.  The older boy was waking up, but not waking up fast enough.  "Jack," the boy said with a slight edge to his voice.  Wiggling slightly, Elijah pulled his arm back in, squeezing it closer to his side to warm it up again.  The goosebumps didn't seem to want to go away, though.  Glaring, and his lips forming a slight pout, the boy watched his boyfriend wake up, resisting all urges to reach out again and try to speed along the process.  Though it still seemed sort of mean to waking Jack up by poking him repeatedly, no matter how sleepy and freezing Elijah was.  "Well I didn't do it on purpose," the boy said exasperatedly.  The tone probably wasn't necessary, but since all the Praetor could do at this point was wobble a little with his blankets, he wanted Jack to wake up fully and fix things.  "But now I can't move," he added a little frustratedly.  The boy's eyes started watering a tiny bit as he waited for his boyfriend, shaking more and teeth chattering.  "I know it's colder alone...once I got up for more blankets, I couldn't bundle up and cuddle back up," another frustrated huff.  Elijah didn't want to explain it all...he just wanted to be warm and cuddled up with his boyfriend.

As the boy felt himself being unrolled from his blankets and pulled in close to Jack, Elijah felt ready to weep with happiness.  Once again, his boyfriend had come to the rescue...as he felt the older boy's arms pulling him close, Elijah curled around his body.  Just as Jack's arms fit perfectly around him, the Praetor's body fit perfectly with Jack's...even with the extra layers of clothes and blankets.  All it took was a couple seconds for the son of Discordia to feel his body relaxing.  And as he relaxed, the boy felt his body start to warm up.  "I know I'm freezing," he said softly, taking some deep breaths.  Jack's hands were nice and warm, and Elijah squeezed them tightly, cuddling in closer as he was better able to.  "And it's impossible to get more substance.  Even when I eat a lot, and a lot of junk food, I can't gain any weight..." Elijah looked into Jack's eyes, a slight sparkle in them.  "You've seen it over and over again...I definitely ate more than half of my birthday cake that day and there were no weight consequences.  I have the fastest metabolism ever," thawing out and rambling already.  Elijah had no idea what time it was, but his alarm was set for 5:45am, and he wanted to get some sleep before.  Unless Jack had turned off his alarm...or would do so shortly.

Elijah hadn't been paying attention, but Jack had taken his shirt off at some point.  With a soft sigh, the small boy rested his cheek against his boyfriend's bare (and warm) chest.  For a moment, the boy just lay there, breathing deeply.  Shedding some layers would probably be helpful, though.  Body heat was scientifically proven or something.  After another minute, Elijah pulled off the big hoodie and two long sleeve shirts, snuggling in close to Jack.  "That's all.  And I want all my blankets back," the boy grasped for the blankets his boyfriend and pulled him out from, tugging them over the two of them before curling in closer to Jack.  "I think I'm beginning to thaw," the boy said with a sigh of relief.  "I can feel the feeling coming back in my fingers and toes," he added darkly.  "Promise not to go back to sleep until I'm warm and asleep again?" Elijah mumbled, hoping Jack would suggest turning off the alarm clock so the two could sleep in a bit.  With how long Elijah had spent up (however long it had been), he wouldn't mind an extra couple hours, though he was far too stubborn to admit that on his own.

Jack stared up at the ceiling and just listened as Elijah went rambling on.  Pulling him tight against his body, he slowly ran a hand up and down along his arm in an effort to warm him up.  His dream had been wonderful.  It was warm and thrilling and dangerous.  But as the son of Venus held his boyfriend in his arms, he realized reality was so much better.  He never would have expected himself to be where he was now.  He wasn’t boyfriend material, nor was he one to settle down.  Yet…here he was with Elijah.  Jack was terrible with dates, but he knew they had been together for something like nine months.  Jack found a new guy (or girl) to flirt with every couple of weeks, so the fact that he had managed to stay with the same man for nine months was utterly mind-blowing.  Even more so was the realization that he was still madly, deeply in love with that man.  When had things changed so drastically?  It had to have built up over time.  Looking back, there were so many small—and big—points with Elijah that had completely turned the boy around.  It was all Elijah’s fault, but the son of Venus had never been happier.

Lost in his own thoughts, Jack missed Elijah’s question.  Truthfully, he had missed most of what his boyfriend said, but it didn’t matter.  All that did was the fact that Elijah was curled up in his arms, and neither one of them was going anywhere.  Moving his hand from his arm, Jack lifted Elijah’s chin and kissed him tenderly.  “I love you, baby,” he whispered.  “And I’m so happy to have you.  I don’t know how it happened like this, but I want you to know how much you mean to me.  Coming to bed with you, having you in my arms, knowing you’re mine…I never saw myself as that guy, but with you, I am.  Sometimes I picture what my life would be like without you.  I wouldn’t be here at camp anymore.  I’d be out in the world, trying to make it on my own.  Things would be the same as they were before camp.  It would just be parties, meaningless sex, and no real direction.  I’d keep pushing down my heritage because nobody would understand.”

Jack paused, letting the words and thoughts swirl around his head before speaking again.  “I still don’t have much direction,” he murmured softly.  “But at least I have somebody I care about.  Ashley was the only one who ever meant anything to me.  The problem was that she let me do what I wanted, when I wanted.  I’m not saying I didn’t have fun.  I did enjoy myself.  But when you really don’t care about people, you start to wonder if anybody really cares about you.  Those were the nights I’d drink to forget.  It’s easy to pretend people like you when somebody is always refilling your cup.”

The son of Venus fell silent for a moment.  Without even looking at the clock, he reached over to the bedside table and flipped off the alarm.  Elijah could get mad at him later.  Now, he just wanted to stay curled up with his boyfriend.  “I’m sorry, babe,” he whispered.  “I didn’t mean to get like that.  I just want you to know that you mean so much to me, and coming to bed with you is the best part of my day.  I really love you.  I know I don’t always show it in the best way, or even at all, but I do love you so, so much.”

Sometimes, Elijah felt so selfish when he talked. The boy tended to ramble, and his ramblings rarely made sense. It was definitely difficult for people to keep up with him...River and Jack were the best at that. Though Calix and Lúth were decent...the point was that the boy could go on and on, even if he himself didn't really understand what he was saying. That was the case now. Elijah knew he was talking...he heard his voice in a disjoined way, but he was still exhausted and a little cold. Anything he said could probably be chalked up to that. Despite all this, the boy knew what he was being listened to. And Jack was not listening to him. Elijah was aware that his boyfriend ofter zoned out when the son of Discordia was ranting too much...which the boy didn't mind at all, because if his boyfriend was listening all of the time, he'd end up being as insane as the Praetor was. And one half of the couple should be sane. It was just one of those things. [color:f940=78c7c7]"Jack," Elijah mumbled softly. He really had nothing to say beyond that. He really just wanted his boyfriend there. And his boyfriend was there. Holding the small boy close during a cold night, keeping him warm...keeping him protected. It was really silly in a way...Elijah was strong and independent. He went running (almost) every morning and then trained for an hour afterwards (most mornings). The boy had started slacking on that since Jack had started staying over. The older boy usually switched off Elijah's alarm...apparently not many people other than Elijah were able to get up at 5:45am and be active right away. Sometimes the boy coaxed Jack to join him...keeping him moving while they were running and keeping a close eye in the arena when the son of Venus was doing crunches as Elijah worked with his knives...there had been a few times where Jack had just fallen asleep on the ground while doing crunches. Elijah didn't blame him for that one. When it happened, Elijah gently woke up his boyfriend and help him get back to bed so he could sleep a little while longer.

Really, Elijah loved Jack and would do anything for him. Anything. If it wasn't for Jack, the small boy would be in a very bad place...to put it mildly. "You're not even listening to me," Elijah mumbled grumpily as his boyfriend started talking. But the boy couldn't get too upset. The words coming from the older boy were too nice. "Jack...I love you, too," he said softly. He thought about the words...how Jack would be back to functioning in the mortal world...or not functioning by the sounds of it. It was unspoken, but both of them knew Elijah would be in a similar situation. The boy had always scoffed love of any sort. That was before, in the mortal world. Where no one loved him, even his father, and the small boy had no one to love anyway. He and his father had never had anything...those ties were long cut. His step-mother could barely handle herself, let along a child...or a "problem child". Elijah had always been alone. Even starting at camp, there had been no one. Than River came along, and Lúth and Calix and Jack. People who loved Elijah, and he loved back. Burrowing himself deeper at Jack's side with all the blankets, Elijah tried to listen to what the older boy was saying, but it was a little difficult in his sleepy state, especially as he was warming up and getting even more drowsy. But this was all important...one many levels. The words, of course, but the fact that Jack was using verbal communication...the smaller boy was usually the one who took care of that. Jack was much more a physical communicator.

Still a little sleepy, Elijah was a bit confused as to where this was all coming from. Not that he minded. "I'm glad I made a splash," the boy said drowsily with a small smile. "It's not just you, you know...I don't even want to think about what my life would look like if you hadn't come in...and made such a huge difference. I didn't have anyone before camp...I would be such a different person..." the boy yawned. Despite being mostly asleep, Elijah wanted to make sure Jack got out from his epiphany that the son of Discordia was getting. "And you don't have to pretend anymore, because I'm here and I'm never going to stop loving you...and don't you ever forget that," Elijah could tell he was drifting off again. Cuddled against his boyfriend under a mountain of blankets was doing much better than earlier. Being wrapped up in blankets could only do so much...even though the boy had still been freezing. But laying against Jack's warm chest, curled close to the older boy, Elijah was feeling much warmer. And with the warmth came the lethargy, the boy was finding it harder and harder to keep his eyes open. He was warm and comfortable, and Jack smelled like Jack...Elijah could feel himself relaxing in the son of Venus's arms.

"Don't apologize," Elijah whispered, resting his hand on Jack's chest. "I like when you talk about it all...it's easier for me to understand words than lots of the physical stuff...not that I don't like the physical stuff..." the boy yawned again, feeling the older boy's heartbeat under his head. It was one of Elijah's favorite feelings...Jack's heart beating only for him. He wouldn't want it any other way. "I love you too, Jack," Elijah smiled sleepily. "And I promise you can come to bed with me whenever you want...for as long as you'll have me..." the boy finally felt the overwhelming fatigue wash over him, his eyes fluttering shut as he laid in Jack's arms...the perfect fit. With Jack's heart beating like this, it was only a matter of time before the boy fell back asleep. And probably for good this time. And he would wake up in his boyfriend's arms...Elijah never knew if he liked falling asleep in Jack's arms best or waking up in Jack's arms best. Maybe it just didn't matter at all. More asleep than awake, the boy gave a final yawn. "I love you, Jack..." the words sounded slurred from the sleep. "I love you and I need you...always will..." and with that, Elijah let the much needed sleep take him away.