On Sunday morning, the first thing Killian did, was check on West and Paul. Eight AM in the morning and he was already knocking on their door, pajamas and all. Unfortunately Paul couldn't be arsed to get his ass out of bed, West however, had to, it was his duty as Killian's boyfriend.
"Couldn't you at least bring some coffee? You don't wake people up this early without bringing them coffee."
"Pretty sure there's coffee inside-- why are we standing outside again?"
"Walls are thin. Don't wanna wake Paul up."
Killian only nodded, he could tell that West was still a tiny bit upset.
It wasn't that he was mad at Killian for cleaning up after his dad and hiding it,
He was more upset at Paul for thinking it was okay to ask Killian to help him with something that was none of his concern. He didn't know Killian well enough to ask that much of him, and even if he did, it still wouldn't have been appropriate.
"So... why'd you do it? Why'd you help him." West questioned, "You could've said no."
"I don't know," Killian admitted with a shrug, "I guess I just... didn't want to see you hurt. And your Dad made a mistake, I think it's been hard on him... but I shouldn't have tried to cover it up. I'm sorry."
"Would you have kept it from me? If I didn't find out the way I did?"
"I eventually would've told you."
"I don't want you involved in this. In my family drama."
"I thought I was your family now, too."
West averted his eyes then patted his pockets for his car keys before throwing them at Killian, successfully ignoring his previous statement. "You should drive."
Killian sighed but chose to let it go as well, he didn't want to ruin his own day. "Where to?" He asked.
"Wherever."
They hopped into the car and sped away.
You'd think that spending time alone in car for a long period of time would give them a chance to hash things out, but the car ride was silent as ever.
The air was thick with tension, but neither one of them wanted to be the first to speak up, so they stayed in their heads, keeping their thoughts to themselves.
Without even noticing, they had driven for over an hour. When West finally pulled himself from his thoughts and started to take his surroundings into account, he spotted the Baltimore Airport and an idea struck him.
"Pull in here." He ordered.
Killian gave West a mildly quizzical glance, "The airport? Why? Are we gonna watch the planes take off?"
"Something like that..."
He drove into the airport and luckily found a parking spot that was nearest to the main doors.
They got out of the car and headed inside, both of them had never stepped foot inside an airport, it was safe to say it looked exactly like it did in the movies; extremely full. There were children running around with their parents struggling to catch up, an elderly woman arguing with a security guard about her missing luggage, a couple of honeymooners holding hands and whispering sweet nothing's into their lover's ears, and a collection of different people from all walks of life. It was interesting, but it wasn't the two boys' most favorite place.
"What's your cheapest flight?" West asked once they reached the ticket sales center.
The lady at the counter typed something onto her computer before glancing up at the two of them, "A round trip to Fort Lauderdale is $53."
"Is it departing today?"
"In exactly fifteen minutes."
"Yeah. We'll take two tickets."
"Do you have any baggage?"
West and Killian exchanged looks, both of them were thinking the same thing, 'you have no idea' was what they wanted to say, but West ended up shaking his head no. They definitely had no baggage, no physical baggage, anyway.
He then handed the nice lady his ID and card to pay for the tickets.
"Are we really doing this? We don't even have any clothes packed." Killian pointed out, his eyes drifting down to his grey sleeping pants and old flip flops.
"Those shoes will be perfect for the beach, aaaand this is sorta your gift for passing your driver's test."
"Enjoy your flight."
"Thanks," West grinned, "You too."
They stepped away from the counter and made their way to the gate.
"You just told her to enjoy her flight."
"I did?"
----------
They once again didn't speak much during the flight, they were in the air for two hours and forty minutes and most of it was spent with each of them listening to music on their phones.
They arrived in Florida just after twelve PM and promptly booked a room in a cheap motel five minutes away from the beach.
There was a smoothie shop near where they'd be staying so they decided to grab some refreshments before hitting the beach.
"This is nice..." Killian commented after taking a sip of his mixed berry beet smoothie, West however, had stuck to good old fashioned vanilla.
"Mhmm." West nodded.
He took his phone out of his pocket and texted Dennis to ask him if he could pick his car up from the airport so he wouldn't come back to a thousand dollar parking bill. He didn't want to bother his Dad.
Whilst West was distracted, Killian's eyes wandered around the smoothie shop, taking in the different kinds of people, before landing on a strapping young man who was drinking a matcha smoothie alone on a table not so far from theirs.
A phone call came through on his phone and Killian decided to eavesdrop, the man would probably have more interesting things to say than the one sitting across from him, fiddling with his phone.
"Delilah..." The man greeted, a smile forming on his face. Killian guessed Delilah was Strapping young man's significant other, or at least someone very special to him. Strapping young man looked like a 'David', twenty five years old, got accepted into multiple Ivy league universities as a teenager, ended up going to Yale. Had his own law firm, now.
Great, Now I'm making up stupid stories in my head.
"Yes, I've made all the arrangements, meet me at La Nourriture at seven thirty, if you get there before me, just tell the hostess to lead you to our table, I booked it under Stuart Roosevelt. Alright... see you soon."
Oh, his name is Stuart. I'd rather just call him strapping young man.
"You okay?" West asked, his attention snapping back to his boyfriend.
"Yeah. Do you know the restuarant he was talking about?"
"What? Were you eavesdropping?"
"Yes."
"No, Killian." He replied with a roll of his eyes, "This is my first time in Fort Lauderdale."
"No, I know, me too. But I know that restuarant, I saw it once on Food Paradise."
West raised an eyebrow questioningly, he wasn't familiar with whatever that was.
"You know... the TV show." Killian specified.
"So let's go, then."
"We have to book months in advance to even get a table. And they'll take one look at us and probably think we're homeless or something, should've bought a change of clothes."
"C'mon," West ordered as he stood up from the table, "I saw a thrift shop not far from our motel, hopefully we can get 'appropriate clothing'."
"Did you not hear a word I said? We have to book months in--"
He silenced Killian by covering his whole mouth with his hand, "You talk too much."
Killian rolled his eyes then smacked West's hand away before standing up and following him out of the smoothie shop.
The thrift shop ended up having some pretty decent suits and dress shirts so that's what they bought, along with some oxford shoes and hair gel.
They went back to their motel to iron out the clothes, and to do their hair before heading to the restaurant around five PM.
--
"Remember, act rich and British."
"Welcome to La Nourriture." The Hostess kindly offered.
West flashed the lady a dashing smile and got ready for the performance of his life, "Evening Darling, I have a reservation under Stuart Roosevelt."
The lady tucked a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear, her cheeks turning into a rosy tint. West had that effect on people (excluding Easton's weirdos) especially when he smiled.
Killian resisted the urge to say "He has a boyfriend." and instead, remained quiet. He didn't want to blow their cover.
The lady scanned her desktop for Stuart Roosevelt but noticed that his reservation wasn't for another two hours, "Oh, I'm... sorry. Your table isn't ready yet."
"I apologize for being forward, but..." West stepped closer to the Hostess' desk and discreetly pulled out a small box from his blazer.
"I really need that table, tonight's a very special night." He popped open the box to reveal a fake gold ring he bought at the thrift shop when Killian wasn't looking. "I plan to finally ask Mr Morgan over there for his hand in marriage, I'm sure there's an empty table somewhere in there... please."
"Oh... oh my... God-- I'll-- let me check for you, sir." She stammered excitedly.
"Of course."
She hit a few buttons on her keyboard then beamed when she found an unoccupied table on the balcony with an amazing seaview.
She led the two boys to their table and Killian's jaw almost dropped at how beautiful the view was, the restuarant looked even better in person.
"This view is fucking--" He slipped up, "It's splendid. It's a splendid view, thank you." They took their seats, with Killian gawking at everything in sight, his face gleaming like a kid in a candy store.
The hostess gave Killian a weird look then set two menus on either opposite sides of their table. "A waiter will be with you shortly."
The boys made themselves comfortable on the fancy leather seats and opened their menus, their waiter arrived a few minutes later.
"Good evening Mr Roosevelt, Mr Morgan. My name is Gerard and I'll be your server for the night. Shall I interest you in one of our fine wines? A new Château Margoux just came in."
"Surprise us."
"Very well."
"I don't even know half the stuff on this menu. Why is everything written in French?" Killian whispered once Gerard was out of earshot.
"Well, it is a French restaurant..."
"Yeah, thanks for stating the obvious, smartass. I don't know how you pulled this one off, and holy shit, are these the prices for the meals? We have to get out of here right fucking now before--"
Gerard arrived before Killian could finish his sentence. He placed two glasses on the table and poured red wine into each of them.
"This is a 2010 Pavilion Rouge."
"Ah yes," West smiled, He whirled the wine around the glass and put it to his nose, inhaling the sweet flavor, all the while trying hard not to vomit, he couldn't stand the sight, nor the smell of alcohol. "One of my favorites. Gerard, you've out done yourself."
Killian stared admiredly at the boy sitting across from him, He still didn't know what the hell was going on but he was impressed at how good West was at pretending.
But then again, West had mastered the art of faking, he'd done so for half of his life.
"Thank you Mr. Roosevelt, are you ready to order your starter?"
"Yes, We'll both have the Ris De Veau."
The waiter disappeared once again.
"What did you order?" Killian asked.
"No idea, let's just hope it isn't something alive."
Killian chuckled at that, then his gaze fell on West, he had a clean-cut look, his face was free of stubble unlike his, his hair was neatly combed and his cheap suit fit him perfectly, you couldn't even tell that it was $3. "The rich lifestyle suits you." He complimented.
"And you."
"Please, I probably stick out like a sore thumb."
"You're perfect."
The waiter arrived with their starter and set it on the table, the boys couldn't exactly tell what the dish was but they thanked Gerard and tried to enjoy whatever meat was on their plates.
They finished their starter then went on to order their main and later on, their dessert.
Before the night was over, West decided to pull one last trick.
"Play along." He whispered, much to Killian's confusion.
He then got up from his seat and walked to Killian's side of the table before going down on one knee, everyone in the restuarant ooh'd and aww'd and started taking out their phones to capture the once in a lifetime moment.
"My love..." He began.
"I believe that God sent you into my life to give me something to fight for, to show me that there is love in this world, to give me hope and to bring me joy. You are truly a gift from the heavens. You are my dream come true, you are my world, you are the laughter in my voice and the smile on my face."
Killian blushed to the tips of his ears, he knew the whole proposal was fake but he still couldn't help himself. All the attention was on them, and this time it didn't feel embarrassing at all.
"A year ago I could have never imagined I would be in this place. A place where I'd look into the eyes of my best friend and pledge to you my love. You are my once in a lifetime, My miracle. I could never hope to find someone who fits me better--"
"Hey! You two!" A voice suddenly yelled. A burly man wearing a uniform that looked suspiciously like a security guard's was heading straight for them with the real Stuart Roosevelt in tow, and he didn't look too happy.
"Fuck," West cursed, "Abort mission, abort mission!"
He got up from the floor then peered over the balcony, the drop to the ground wasn't significant, plus the 'ground' was just beach sand. He gestured with his finger for Killian to follow him then jumped over the edge, successfully landing on the beach.
Killian stared horrifiedly at the balcony West had just disappeared over and at
Stuart and the security guard that were quickly advancing on him. He had no plans to spend the rest of his life in jail so he followed West's lead and jumped.
Once on the beach, he took off his dress shoes and instructed West to do the same so they'd have an easier time running on the sand. With no warning, the burly security guard jumped right after them so they took that as their queue to run for it.
They eventually lost the security guard and managed to make their way back to their motel room.
----
"I am... beat."
"That was exhilarating," Killian exclaimed as he threw himself onto the bed, "Who knew you were such a bad influence."
West shook his head, smiling, then dropped his blazer on the floor, "I'm gonna hop in the shower real quick... Wanna join?"
"What?"
"Do you want to join me in the shower?"
Killian looked away shyly, "Oh... Thanks but, uh-- you go ahead."
"Your loss." West shrugged, he undid the last button on his dress shirt and threw it in Killian's direction and it landed on his face.
Once in the bathroom, West set the temperature of the shower to his heart's desire; as hot as how he imagined the pits of hell to be.
He grabbed one of those free motel soaps from a small basket that was placed ontop of the toilet tank and sniffed it, it was patchouli scented so he put it back with a grimace. He hated patchouli.
He stepped into the shower and was immediately soaked by the outrageously hot water. The water pressure was perfect, too. He had had low expectations since the motel was cheap and seemed sort of shady.
He closed his eyes and relished how the steamy water sprayed against his hair and skin.
The hot water always calmed him and managed to take his mind of things, granted, his life was less stressful now, but there was still an elephant in the room; the unfinished conversation he had had with Killian at the beginning of the day.
Just when he was about to turn the water off, the door slid open and a very naked Killian stepped in with a bar of the horrible-smelling soap.
"Thought I should... take you up on your offer." He smirked.
He rubbed the soap against his palms until it turned into a foamy lather then smeared it all over his hair since it apparently doubled as shampoo now.
West was at a loss for words, all he could do was nod, He couldn't even comment on how much he hated the smell of patchouli.
He was just urging himself not to stare at Killian's lower body. Which was proving to be notably hard.
He continued to slide his hands through his blonde hair, all the while raking his eyes hungrily across West's lean body.
The shower wasn't particularly large, so their bodies were a mere inches from touching, the hot water intermingled with the way Killian was looking at him sent blood rushing to his groin.
He suddenly felt obligated to leave.
"You should--" He uttered before clearing his throat.
His voice had dropped a couple of octaves, it sounded slightly hoarse, almost raspy, like it wasn't his own. "You should hurry up before the water gets cold."
He moved to open the sliding door but Killian stopped him by grabbing his wrist. The light graze of Killian's skin against his, sent his mind into a frenzy and electrified every single nerve in his body, making him drunk with desire.
West kept his eyes fixed on the hand on his wrist, fighting the urge to look up at Killian, knowing he'd lose all the restraint he had if he did.
He was terrified of how much he wanted him, of how much he wanted to feel Killian's body pressing against his,
As if reading his mind, Killian let go of his wrist and instead laid a gentle finger on West's chin, tilting his head so he'd face him.
Killian longed for even the slightest glance of deep brown eyes that always managed to make his heart race, and when their gazes finally locked, all of West's self control flew out the window.
He pushed Killian against the wall and slammed his lips to his, nearly knocking all the wind from his lungs.
Their little squabble seemed so insignificant, now, all their minds were locked on was the present,
tongues clashing and teeth colliding
and the metallic tang of blood on their lips, but even that wasn't reason enough to come up for air.
All Killian could focus on was the warmth coursing through his veins as West explored every inch of his mouth with fervor, his fingers expertly gliding and pulling at his golden blonde hair.
When Killian felt West's length pressing against his stomach, he reached down with one hand and lightly wrapped his fingers around him.
That simple, gentle touch made West draw back from Killian's lips to let out an involuntary moan,
He slowly started stroking him up and down, moving his hand skillfully along West's girth, all the while keeping his thumb focused on pleasuring the tip.
Killian watched West's face in wanton, admiring the way it spelled out pure ecstasy as the water streamed down his delicate features, making him look like a work of art.
He loved that he was able to make West feel good, but he wanted to make him feel something more.
He held West's shaft against his and palmed the both of them in one hand.
West was a stranger to the intense sensation of another man rubbing up against him, the pressure was enough to make his legs weaken so he placed his hands on either side of Killian's head on the wall to regain his balance.
Soon enough the feeling became too much to bare,
"Fuck, I'm gonna--"
"Wait..." Killian breathlessly managed to muster, "Wait."
Killian's spine tingled as the pace of his strokes gradually increased and the pressure started to build, a feeling so warm spread from his groin, to his stomach, to his legs, and throughout his entire body that his vision started to blur.
"Now." He whispered, and the euphoria that followed made everything around them disappear.
All they could do was to allow their bodies to react as an otherworldly feeling wrecked through them and shattered their very senses, a feeling that felt so good that it hurt, so consuming that it left you wanting more.
When it was over, they collapsed into each other onto the tiled floor and let the now ice old water rain over them, calming their exhausted bodies.
---
Once they were tucked in and comfortable in bed, Killian decided to bring up something that had been bothering him since the start of the day, he couldn't go to sleep without resolving the issue again,
"Weston?"
"Hmm?"
"Are we... okay?"
West let out a rueful sigh, he knew the way he'd treated Killian that day had been uncalled for. He truly felt deep regret.
"I'm sorry about how I reacted, I know you were just trying to help. And... about earlier... you are my family." He finally acknowledged, "I just don't want to burden you with Paul's issues, they're mine to bear... only mine."
"You could never burden me. I want to be there for you... and Paul."
"It's a lot. You might come to regret it."
Killian huddled closer to West on the bed and lay his head on his chest, "I don't think I'd ever regret showing you how much I care."
"If the pressure becomes too much and you feel like you can't handle it... just know I won't resent you if you walk away."
"Hey, I'm staying, alright?"
"Alright." West conceded, he wrapped an arm tightly around Killian's shoulder before kissing the top of his head. "Your hair smells like patchouli."
"You like it?"
"Yeah... yeah, I do."
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