Right on time...wouldn't you say?

[bluetears07]

Disclaimer: Ever so sorry boys…the stuff in here never happened.
Paring: Sean A./Elijah
Summary: AU: Some things are just meant to happen while others are simply ripples off of one small mistake that change us forever. (Read AU Description, and also AN)
AU Description: Same as before. (Refer to the “Prologue’s” AN for information mentioned previously.)
Rating: R (over-all) Chapter Fifteen: NC-17
AN: *In the following Hally is a total tease* Little bit o’ fluff in here, but it just can’t be avoided…oh and a little bit of stage gore, so if you don’t like blood, even thought it’s fake, you might want to skip that part.
Guide: ‘Thoughts’

Post-it Note Message
+++++++++++++++

Preordained

Chapter Fifteen: Revelation

“Hey Chris,” Sean started conversationally, though on the receiving end of the phone line Christine could clearly hear an underlying tone of hesitancy in her husband’s voice. Swinging his dangling legs back and forth slightly, seated upon the cold ceramic countertop of the bathroom sink, Sean started to nervously chew his lower lip before continuing.

“I got a bunch of scenes back from Focus today that I have to look over and edit.” He paused, this was the tricky part. “So that means that Elijah and I are probably going to have to pull an ‘all nighter’ here in order to go over them all.”

As Sean had expected, Chris’ initial reaction was to ask him why he couldn’t go over the scenes at home so she could pitch in.

“Well, I don’t want to bother you or Ally,” he said before adding, “Plus if Elijah were there you know Ally would never go to sleep and he’d probably be too distracted talking with her to help me.” A quiet sigh of acceptance was muffled by the speaker on Chris’ phone as she murmured a hasty good-night and hung up.

With a quick snap of Sean’s wrist the flip phone snapped shut. This would be the first night he and Elijah would be spending together since before Christine got back from visiting her mother. In addition, it would be the first time Sean would be staying the night at Elijah’s apartment. Pushing down the short antenna of his cell phone with the press of his lips and teeth, Sean hopped off the bathroom countertop. He paused to look around the small tiled room he had never been in before now. Looking over the completely unnecessary amount of expensive hair styling gel with a bemused smile, Sean turned and walked through the open door into the adjacent bedroom. After sliding his cell into his pants pocket, he looked up to find a pair of unbelievably blue eyes staring at him, intent on following his every movement.

The young man’s head was tilted to the side, resting languidly against the headboard of his bed while a slow smile spread across his lips at Sean’s entrance. In his lap and clutched in his hands lay the stack of papers that Victoria had given him that evening, complete with criticizing, tacky yellow post-it notes. The younger man was wearing what Sean had soon learned to be Elijah’s lucky and favorite jeans; the faded ones riddled with holes that exposed the fabric of his boxers plus pale skin stretched delicately over hip bone. Sean noted that the scoring of holes became less frequent but larger as they trailed down to Elijah’s knees. Stretched across his torso was a pale blue shirt baring the famous ad slogan, ‘Where’s the beef?’ in faint red letters.

After crossing the short, but hazardous, space between the bathroom and Elijah’s bed, Sean picked up the black case of his laptop and placed it on the surprisingly clear nightstand. Once securing the expensive machinery, he slid in bed next to Elijah and hooked his fingers around the back of the younger man’s neck. Eager to comply, Elijah leaned closer and gladly lost himself in the first real kiss they had shared since last Friday. The only sound that seemed to fill the room was that of Elijah humming low in the back of his throat as Sean’s slippery tongue passed between his lips. Sean, with responsibility to his script tugging at his mind, pulled away. Pressing one last quick kiss to pale pink flesh, Sean took the papers from Elijah’s limp grip.

“What’d you say we start by sorting these out first?” The first time in his entire life, Elijah found that his pleading, vulnerable, big blue eyed look did not yield the desired affects on the man he had cast it upon. Miffed beyond belief at the turn of events, the younger man sat quietly with his arms folded over his chest while he watched Sean’s concentration shift from one small stack to another. Sean could feel Elijah’s gaze on him as the younger man silently cried out for attention. It was a rare thing for Sean to see his Elijah actually acting his age, well, maybe a little younger than his age, and it brought the faintest of smiles tugging at his lips.

Finally succumbing to the whims of his co-star, Sean pulled his attention away from the scenes and turned his face to press his lips against the pale column of Elijah’s throat. Slowly creeping high up the inside of his thigh, Elijah felt Sean’s fingers slip under ripped denim to caress the skin below. Pretending not to notice Sean’s advances, Elijah kept his face sternly schooled while Sean trailed nips and licks up to the lightly stubble-dusted juncture of jaw and neck.

“Elijah, please help me with this and then we can take a little break.” Sean pleaded before lightly nipping the soft lobe of the younger man’s ear.

“Alright…,” Elijah sighed in defeat, unfolding his arms and pulling his legs closer to his body to sit cross-legged. As soon as the two syllables had left Elijah’s mouth Sean pulled away and picked up the pile of papers.

“Chronological or by characters?,” Elijah asked, adopting a semi-serious voice while leaning against Sean’s hunched shoulder and looking at the top sheet. Pausing for a moment, Sean finally decided sorting by character would be best since once he started editing one character’s dialogue he’d get into their head and it would be easier to write more or less of their lines in whatever scene needed to be rewritten.

In silence the couple started searching through the scenes and began extracting those that contained the same group or pair of characters before putting them in their own separate stacks. After a quarter of an hour Sean stumbled upon the one scene he had wished would have remained untouched.

‘William and Patrick,’ he though picking out the yellow flagged scene, without reading the post-it. At the sight of the bittersweet, most poignant scene between the two characters that Sean held especially close to his heart, he was suddenly reminded of what had actually been first on his agenda for that night. Putting the paper back down on the coverlet along side the other Will and Pat scenes, Sean shifted his position so he was angled towards Elijah.

“Lij,” he whispered in a tone Elijah had only heard a few times before. A thrill of anticipation ran through Elijah’s body as heard his name spoken with such a voice. Only after he felt the warm touch of Sean’s hand gently cradling his own did Elijah chance a look at the deep hazel color of his eyes. “I…well I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while. I just hadn’t really admitted it to myself.” ‘How lame does that sound?’ Sean’s inner voice criticized him as he went on regardless of its taunting.

“That is until last Saturday. I was thinking about us…about this,” he motioned to the non existent space between them to illustrate his words. “It was really the first time since meeting you that I had a chance to just think without distraction. And I started thinking, quite a lot actually, about you…” Elijah heard the slight waver in Sean’s voice as his gentle grip tightened.

With a genuine smile, Elijah sat listening quietly as Sean started to babble on, getting caught up in small tangents as he tried to explain himself and his thought process. Allowing his writer to use words in order to protect himself against what rejection he thought he might receive, Elijah waited, though somewhat impatiently, as Sean mentioned something about ‘predetermined destiny’ that sent a shiver up Elijah’s spine. Then, to Elijah’s surprise, he heard Sean say something about how Ally had asked him why he hadn’t kissed Elijah properly after giving him the five week anniversary ring. A light flush painted his cheeks as he realized there really was no fooling Sean’s daughter.

In his heart he knew that everything Sean was saying about how he felt mirrored his own feelings, only more elegantly articulated but nevertheless longwinded. Just as Sean was about to venture onto another tangent, Elijah couldn’t resisted letting his body just slowly fall forward to press an anxious yet relaxing kiss against moving lips.

Words were elegant and beautiful when spoken by Elijah’s writer, but why use so many when so few would speak volumes beyond their simple syllables? Caught between forming a word and Elijah’s lips, Sean’s mouth froze before reckoning for the first time that a kiss was far more important that speaking. It was a searing caress that lingered against his lips even after Elijah had moved his mouth a half an inch from Sean’s. With eyes still veiled and cheeks flushed, Sean sighed in contentment, knowing that there would be no need for a protective wall of words because Elijah would never reject him.

“I love you, Elijah Wood.” It flowed so easily from his lips as if he’d said them a thousand times before, as if it was second nature. A sob woven through with a relieved laugh passed from between Elijah’s lips as his hand slid up Sean’s chest to press against his face; making sure it was real. Tilting his head up, Sean claimed another kiss from Elijah’s all too willing lips. “You and only you.” The promise slipped from Sean’s lips onto Elijah’s as he spoke against them with warm breath.

“Oh Sean, I love you too.” That’s when the emotional dam that Elijah had set up ever since deciding Sean would have to be the one to confess first, burst. “Oh, you have no idea how long I’ve waited for you to say that!” A torrent of locked up emotions all fell from his lips as he sporadically pressed fervent kisses to Sean’s lips and neck on every other sentence. Attempting to calm the raw bundle of nerves he now found wrapped in his arms and straddling his lap, Sean placed his fingers to Elijah’s moving lips and the younger man slowly quieted down.

“Shhhh,” he whispered as his fingers trailed down Elijah’s chin to trace the curve of his Adam’s apple and dip down into the hollow of his throat. As he started to lean forward, Elijah understood the silent request and slowly started tipping backwards on the bed. With one hand behind Elijah to support his weight and the other pressed to the mattress, Sean started to slide the papers strewn about out of the way and off onto the already untidy floor, leaving the coverlet free. ‘We’ll sort the scenes later…yeah that’s a good idea…’ Sean’s mind slowly rationalized as Elijah started kissing down the side of his neck. Finally pushing the last stack off the end of the bed, Sean found himself crouched above the most beautiful sight he was sure he would ever see.

A sultry smile was spread wide over Elijah’s lips as he looked up at Sean through dusky lashes. After writing his fair share of sex scenes infused with true love, Sean knew the open, trusting glint shining behind the veil of unadulterated love he saw rising to the surface of Elijah’s eyes. Shifting his weight, Sean sat back up as his hands slipped under the hem of a pale blue shirt. With undeniable constraint, he began to slowly trace Elijah’s sides, hitching up the fabric as he did so. As Sean moved the shirt up higher, Elijah made quick work of un-tucking and unbuttoning Sean’s pin stripped collared shirt before throwing the clothing off the bed to join the scattered sheets of paper. Once tugging Elijah’s shirt over his tousled hair, Sean set his lips and tongue to nipping gently against the newly exposed collarbone. At the sudden impassioned contact, a quiet moan slipped from Elijah as he arched into the caress. Encouraged by the breathy sound, Sean slid lower, pressing gentle kisses down his smooth chest.

Before that night, Sean had never really had the chance to explore his lover’s body with his hands and lips. It had always seemed to be rushed. Even before, when Christine had been away and Ally was at school, giving them all the time in the world, they were too eager with their newfound fortune to dwell on such a thing. Now however, Sean decided he would take all the time in the world to map out and memorize the pale expanses of Elijah’s lithe body.

Sean veered off his downward course to lightly graze his teeth over the darker flesh of one of Elijah’s nipples, feeling it quickly pebble beneath his lips as he proceeded to nip the skin. Rewarded with a low moan that came from deep in Elijah’s throat, Sean pulled back and blew a soft stream of cool air against the skin. Elijah writhed beneath Sean’s tongue as he twirled it against him. With a pleased smile, Sean moved his lips to descend on the neglected nipple. Repeating the same actions while tweaking the other between his thumb and forefinger, Sean returned to slowly sliding down Elijah’s body. Wet licks and kisses electrified Elijah’s skin with every caress as he balled his fist and twisted the coverlet in his hands. As soon as he felt Sean’s tongue delve into the dip of his navel, Elijah could hold back a loud gasp of, “Sean!”

The alabaster skin felt like warm satin under his mouth as he pushed his tongue into the depression of skin just above a thin line of dark hairs disappearing into low-slung jeans. His fingers traced down the defining line of Elijah’s hip bones, following the line down until his fingers hit rough fabric. After sliding his hands around to unbuckle the leather belt and deftly snap open the clasp, Sean tugged the well-loved jeans down Elijah’s slim hips with agonizingly slow movements, one inch at a time. Once he’d managed to remove the pants and boxers down so far they just barely covered the growing bulged and stray dark hairs that were slipping out, Sean stopped.

The gentle down slope of Elijah’s lower stomach looked so smooth and soft that Sean could help when his hands moved back up to slide over the skin. A giggle passed from Elijah’s lips as he felt the barely-there contact of Sean’s fingertips. Just as he had imagined, the skin was softer than any other Sean had felt. Laying between Elijah’s jeans clad legs, Sean followed the same path his hands had with his tongue. Another breathy giggle came from Elijah as Sean smiled against his skin and whispered, “Ticklish?” A quiet hum from Elijah was his only response as Sean paused for a moment to press his face against Elijah’s inner thigh as a fleeting thought came to his mind.

Quickly moving so he was crouched on hands and knees over Elijah’s body, Sean kissed him deeply. Tasting his own skin on Sean’s tongue sent Elijah’s hips bucking up along the thigh pressed firmly against his erection. The sensation, still somewhat new to Sean, gave him courage to voice his idea.

“I-I,” his breath was already catching in his chest as he pressed his kiss-swollen lips to Elijah’s ear. “I w-want to be inside you.”

Elijah could hear Sean’s voice trembling with repressed desire and a lingering hint of apprehension. In his chest he could feel his heart stop abruptly before redoubling its speed after hearing Sean’s words. He could only pray to God he still had some lube and a stray condom hidden away in his nightstand drawer. Elijah knew, despite the fact Sean wanted to wait for premiere night that this night, after they had just confessed to each other what they’d know since they’d met, was just as special.

“Here,” Elijah mumbled putting his hands against Sean’s naked chest, motioning with a gentle press that he wanted to sit up. Moving back to allow Elijah to sit up, he ran his hand over the muscles of Elijah’s back as they strained in time with his movements. He twisted around and pulled open the drawer of his bedside table. The younger man peered inside while chewing his fuller bottom lip and, after shifting around some papers and junk, found a short tube that was curled in up on itself. “Fuck,” he cursed, pulling the empty tube out of the drawer to make sure there wasn’t any still stored in the neck. ‘Spit is so not an option, not with Sean…’ Elijah’s mind screamed as Sean watched him unscrew the cap with hopeful fingers. To his surprise he in fact found a small amount of lube still stored inside the tube. It wasn’t enough though for what Sean wanted but surely Elijah could show him just what he’d need to know for that special night.

“Well, I guess we’re supposed to wait for premiere night.” Sean sighed, only understanding to some extent what it was that Elijah held in his hands. The older man dropped several reassuring kisses to the back of Elijah’s neck as he soothed the skin covering his shoulder blades. A mischievous grin spread over Elijah’s lips as he turned back to Sean and pressed him back onto the mattress so he lay across the pillows that rested against the headboard. Sean was surprised to say the least at the sudden change in Elijah’s demeanor.

“Not entirely.” A nimble finger swirled around in slow patterns down Sean’s chest before tracing the increasingly pronounced line of his restrained cock. “There’s enough so that I can still show you a few things that may come in handy,” Elijah paused as his smile widened at his own dirty pun before finishing, “on that night.” Despite the fact Sean had read a few things on the subject and knew the general idea, he still didn’t entirely understand what happened before hand. “That is if you’ll let me, Sean?” Melting under the simmering heat within Elijah’s eyes, Sean wordlessly nodded, unsure of what exactly he had just agreed to.

After capping the tube once more and placing it in his back pocket, Elijah hooked his fingers into the belt loops of Sean’s loose jeans. A desire stronger that he’d ever felt spurred him on not to tease Sean for how achingly slow he had started to remove Elijah’s pants. Pulling the offending garments past Sean’s ankle, Elijah dropped the jeans and boxers over the side of the bed. Still clad in dangerously low slung jeans, Elijah pressed his confined cock against Sean’s newly exposed hard on. The friction and new sensation of coarse, ripped and taut jeans rubbing against him sent Sean moaning Elijah’s name as he bucked his hips up wanting more contact. Giving in for a moment, Elijah answered back with a slow, grinding buck of his clothed cock against Sean, making the other man breathless.

“Shhhh.” Now it was Elijah’s turn to press his fingers to Sean’s lips as he explained to Sean what it was exactly he was going to do. Just as the first word was about to pass from his lips, Sean parted his own lips and took one of Elijah’s fingers into his mouth. A short hiss of pleasure sneaked past Elijah’s teeth before he found his words again.

“You’ll need to do this before you,” Elijah paused suddenly feeling a flush rise to the back of his neck, plus the fact Sean’s cheeks were hollowing as he sucked his finger didn’t help his ability to articulate what he needed to. “Penetrate me,” even saying the words sent his body trembling with suppressed longing. Feeling the quiver just beneath Elijah’s skin, Sean let the finger slip from his mouth. Sean took the hand in his own, he held it against the center of his chest for Elijah to feel his pounding heart.

“Or else it’ll hurt like fuck. Right now this’ll probably feel a little foreign at first but don’t worry,” he winked and kissed him slowly like he had early in the morning when the first stepped into the dojo. “I’ll be gentle.” It was a promise whispered against flushed, wet lips that left all lingering notions of pure lust behind in the dust.

The warmth covering Sean’s chest was suddenly gone as Elijah pulled away so he was sitting between his legs. He placed a humid hand against the inner of Sean’s thigh, running his thumb along the heated flesh as he leaned down to kiss the skin just below Sean’s bellybutton. With his other hand, Elijah fished out the nearly empty bottle from his back pocket. After squeezing the very last dollop of the slick lube onto his fingers, Elijah managed to just barely coat the first three, working the gel up and down the digits to warm it up for Sean.

“Alright, just relax.” Elijah instructed as he pressed the tip of his finger to the puckered opening. With a hand firmly in place to brace one of Sean’s hips, the tip of Elijah’s tongue slipped out between his lips as he concentrated on going slow. A muffled yelp escaped Sean just before he threw an arm over his mouth and bit down to stifle any other noises. Elijah gently stroked the skin of Sean’s hip beneath his fingers in an attempt to relax the older man. Screwing his eyes shut at the sudden sensation as one of Elijah’s fingers slipped purposefully slow inside him. It was like nothing he’d ever felt before, someone else, someone he loved with such a smoldering passion, touching, sliding in and buried to the knuckle inside him.

Spreading his own knees, Elijah nudged Sean’s legs wider as he pressed his finger in as far as he could, tight heat enveloping him. Once hearing Sean’s throaty groans in response, Elijah began to ease the second finger inside, next to his forefinger. He slowly began to stretch him with both fingers once Sean finally relaxed and adapted to the invading digits. After taking it slowly, Elijah pressed in once again only this time with a little more fervor. Sean’s head snapped back, his spine arching up and no amount of restraint could hold back the gasping whimper that tore from his lips as Elijah’s fingertips hit something within him.

“Shit…” Sean breathed while a searing heat raged just beneath his skin, focusing on burning the strongest near Elijah’s hands. A haughty grin contorted his lips as Sean’s body fell back onto the mattress before Elijah spoke. “Mmmm, you like that?” The only reply was Sean’s incoherent moan of what Elijah thought might have been his name. Remembering the first time he’d ever been touched in such a way by his first lover, Elijah knew how amazing it felt the first time someone hit that spot. After hearing Sean’s first unintelligible cry of abandoned, Elijah wanted more, maybe his name being screamed by that normally calm and controlled voice.

Withdrawing his first two fingers almost completely from Sean, Elijah plunged back in with all three. Another wave of burning heat crashed through Sean as he bucked against Elijah’s fingers, pushing them in farther. Elijah watched his writer writhing under the slow thrusts of his fingers as he continued to graze the same spot. Sean felt as though his body would burst right there as his bones liquefied at the sheer intensity of Elijah’s continuously shifting fingers. Ever increasing the speed, he saw a tell-tale quiver run through Sean’s body, he was so close.

“Oh shit,” Elijah gasped as an answering tremor flooded his body. He’d ignored himself so long, especially after watching Sean’s body arch against his searching fingers, that he was going to come now, hard and fast. Pulling his hand away from bracing Sean’s twitching hips, he quickly tugged down the too tight jeans far enough so that he could take himself in hand. Pumping his cock in time with the fevered thrusts of his fingers inside Sean, he watched through half lidded eyes and with rapt attention, as Sean’s back arched one last time.

“Lijah…,” his name, dragged out into one low, husky cry as Sean came sent him crashing over the edge, calling back with Sean’s name spilling from his parted lips. Hot spurts of milky fluid smeared between their sweat-slicked bodies as Elijah collapsed on top of Sean. The humid puffs of breath stirred the hairs dusting Sean’s chest as Elijah pressed his cheek to the very center of the older man’s chest. His breath soon slowed and returned to normal, as did Sean’s, while they lay together in silence. With his pants and boxers still low around his thighs, Elijah lethargically wiped his hand off on the back of his jeans before slipping them off completely to let them pile on the floor.

“I love you,” Sean whispered once more for Elijah’s ears only, kissing the tousled crown of Elijah’s head and breathing in the scent of his hair mingled with sweat.

“Mmmm, and I love you.” Elijah murmured back, leaning up to kiss Sean full on the mouth with drowsy lips and slow licks.

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An hour or so later, after cleaning themselves up and resorting the scenes, Sean sat against the headboard with a pillow behind his back and his laptop propped up on his bent knees. Fresh sheets were pulled around his waist and draped over his knees. Curled up by his side, comfortably using Sean’s chest as a rather warm pillow, lay a very content and very naked Elijah. Idly running his pale hand over the soft hairs of Sean’s chest, Elijah watched as his writer started reworking some of the scenes between William and Patrick. Sean found typing a little difficult with Elijah lying on him so but, after propping the computer on his knees and letting his arm rest over Elijah’s slim shoulders it was relatively easy, not to mention quite warm and comfortable.

“Can you hand me the next one, Lij?” Sean asked, pulling his left hand away from the keypad to run through Elijah’s messy hair before the younger man leaned forward to grab the next scene. Glancing down as he rested back against Sean, Elijah read over the yellow post-it note.

“Wow Sean, did you see this?” To Sean’s shock and surprise, Elijah sounded pleased and strangely impressed to see ‘their’ scene in the pile.

“Yeah…are you happy?” The incredulous tone seeped into Sean’s voice as he looked down at the top of Elijah’s head. Elijah tipped his head back to look at him with a cocked eyebrow, clearly confused by the tone Sean was taking with him.

“I thought you would be too…” Pausing for a moment something hit Elijah and his
mouth fell open with a shocked expression. “Did you read the post-it?”

There was a teasing tone threaded through his voice as he watched Sean’s eyes widened almost unnoticeably and he muttered a low, “Well no, not exactly.” A wicked grin spread over Elijah’s face once realizing he had noticed something Sean had paid no heed to. “Here, read it.” Elijah instructed, handing the papers to Sean.

Mr. Astin-

This particular scene is one of the reasons why we decided to produce this film; we at Focus are always wanting to push the limits of the box other producing companies are confined by. However, we believe the interaction between William and Patrick would be heightened more if there was some additional dialogue to help explain why William becomes emotional while they are “together.” For example, it would be a good idea to explain more when William tells Patrick “I have to finish this…” because that part of the scene is so key—it tells the audience that no matter how much this man might love Patrick, he values revenge above that love. It’s a very poignant scene, and we all believe a few more lines would make it all the better.

In fact, if Mr. Wood plays the scene right, with your assistance as Patrick, we believe your couple might steal the show and maybe even earn young Mr. Wood an Academy nod.

-Focus Features: Virginia G

.

Sean sat in stunned silence as he read over the note one more, not believing the words he had just read. Of course, he had assumed the worst since he had had to argue for an hour and a half with his publicist to keep the original scene in the book. Looking down at Elijah he found the younger man watching him with a smile on his lips before they parted and a playful voice sounded in Sean’s ears, “Well don’t just sit there, come on, we have a scene to angst up.”

Searching through the document saved on his laptop, Sean finally found the scene and started to read over it, trying to decide where to fit in more dialogue. His hand wound in the strand of Elijah’s hair as he quietly asked where he thought the best place would be. Elijah told him what he thought would work best and after adding the few lines the both agreed on, Sean thought he should add another new scene entirely.

“It’ll be perfect—just a shot of William bathed in moonlight bleeding through the windows of Patrick’s office while he’s getting dressed. Then he’ll looking back at Pat asleep on the sofa with the most heart wrenching expression; which I know you’ll pull off flawlessly.” Sean whispered the compliment against Elijah’s hair before pressing a faint kiss there. A shiver ran through Elijah as he understood the pure hopelessness of the two characters and how dramatically the scene would help to depict that feeling. “Kiss him once then slip through the door and never see him again.” Sean finished running his fingers blindly down the side of Elijah’s face, caressing the line of his jaw with his thumb. “How does that sound?” He asked unsure, waiting for Elijah’s approval before typing up the new scene.

“It’s so sad…” There was a youthful innocence to Elijah’s voice as he spoke quietly before he turned his face to bury it against Sean’s chest, feeling a sense of safety as he did so. A sting of remorse shot through Sean as he cradled the back of Elijah’s head. “But that’s the point…so it’ll work perfectly.” Elijah whispered against Sean’s skin as he let himself be wrapped up in warm, comforting arms.

“Don’t worry, Lij…that’ll never happen to us.” No matter how many times it had happened, Elijah was still surprised by the way Sean could read his every thought and action and correctly interpret the meaning of them. Sean knew exactly what his young actor was thinking. There had always been a large parallel between them as a couple and William and Patrick, especially since it was based on Sean’s dream of himself and the phantom lover who had turned out to be Elijah.

“I-I just don’t know what I’d do if I never saw you again…” There was so much despair in Elijah’s voice that Sean felt it tear at his heart. Curling his finger beneath Elijah’s chin, Sean whispered quietly, “Hey…hey come on now, Lijah…don’t worry about it.” Tiling Elijah’s face up with his hand, he leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to those trembling lips and to his surprise tasted salt.

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Making his way through the thin mist swirling inside the bathroom, Sean paused to look in the fogged over mirror as he ran a hand through his sleep-mussed hair. He was dressed and ready to leave, with fixed and edited scenes saved and ready for printing on his laptop. The shower was running and a low hum could just barely be heard over the methodic patter of water colliding with warm flesh. Turning to the plastic curtain, Sean pulled it back just a fraction.

“I’ve gotta go, Lij…” As soon as the younger man had hastily wiped the shampoo suds from his eyes, he blinked a few times as he processed Sean’s words. Understanding, Elijah leaned forward and placed a slippery kiss to Sean’s lips as he trailed a thin line of white foam along his cheek. A few wayward beads of water were dripping onto Sean’s head as Elijah nearly dragged him, fully clothed, into the shower with him.

“Mmmm, see you on Monday…” Elijah whispered wistfully against Sean’s slick lips before another quick kiss. Knowing if he didn’t pull away right then he’d be driving home soaked, Sean said his goodbye and softly closed the bathroom door behind him. After picking up his neatly sorted stack of paper and shouldering the strap of his laptop case, he headed for the apartment door.

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“So, did you work out all the scenes you needed to?” Of course that would be the first thing Christine asked as soon as Sean walked into the kitchen holding a cup of Starbucks coffee. She was standing before the stove pressing down a golden brow pancake that Ally was watching intently sizzle from her perch on the countertop.

“Yup,” he answered with a bright smile, leaning forward as Ally wrapped her short arms around his neck and press a little kiss against his cheek. Picking his daughter up from the counter he walked with her over to the table and sat her down in her favorite chair. As he cradled the back of her head he placed a kiss on the crown, asking if she slept alright while Daddy was gone. After watching her nod, Sean turned back to Christine serving up Ally’s favorite Saturday morning breakfast.

“Umm, Christine?,” Sean started, taking the plate from her hands and grabbing a fork and knife. His wife had yet to make eye contact with him.

“Yeah?,” she answered, the sound muffled as she opened the refrigerator to pick up the gallon of milk. Sean waited until he could talk face to face with her in order to ask the question that had been on his mind since filming began.

“A few days ago on set I saw you talking to Viggo, my director of cinematography.” He paused, watching a wash of comprehension fill Chris’ eyes. “What was that about?” Sean finally asked.

“That?” Chris said, raising her eyebrows as if Sean was asking one of the most pointless questions she had ever heard. “Oh, nothing…”

+++++++++++++++

Hiroshi’s ever commanding presence seemed to astound every last member of Sean’s cast and crew as soon as she stepped on set. Despite her short stature and old age, she still carried her self with pride and not to mention a wooden bokken that Sean knew from experience hurt like fuck when whacked with. She had been called in for filming on Monday because they were about to start shooting the climactic fight scene between Corbin and William, in which Will is finally killed, and they needed her expertise to choreograph the fight based on the script.

Standing along side her ‘tough-love’ pupil, Elijah, she began explaining to Sean, Orlando, Anne and of course Elijah, what it was she thought should happen in the scene. After explaining everything to the group, she was having a dilemma as to what move to use for Elijah’s initial attack. Glancing down at the script for reference, she finally settled on a particularly complicated move for Elijah to perform as he sliced open Orlando’s knee. Elijah groan inwardly knowing it could have been very simple but Sean seemed to like Hiroshi’s idea so he would grin and bear it.

“We’ll run through it once for practice before shooting it in real time. Then the rest of the day we’ll focus on slowing it down.” Sean finally decided when Orlando and Elijah came back from make-up looking battered and bruised. Sporting a black eye and a busted lip, Orlando smiled at Elijah who, at this point in time, only had a deep cut running along his cheek bone. Anne, on the other hand was merely covered with fake snow, the scene taking place during winter inside a grave yard they would need to get shots of when the went to New York City.

After all three of the actors got into position, Hiroshi stood off stage watching as Elijah unsheathed the weapon she had given him. The red scabbard was thrust to the snow covered ground as Elijah kneeled next to a tied up Orlando and placed the blunt blade to the young man’s throat. It was in this scene that William’s character just snaps, he looses sight of everything he and Patrick had been working for the entire time and, thanks to Sean’s script, Elijah was given the license to act like he had never before.

After hissing his lines in Orlando’s ear and cutting his bonds, it was time for Elijah to attempt his move. Listening to Hiroshi offstage, Elijah spun around with Katana in hand and, ending up kneeling before Orlando, feigned slicing the flesh of his co-star’s right knee. Obviously impressed, Hiroshi granted Elijah with a rare smile before explaining how he could do it better at the end of the scene.

Finally, after they had finished the run through, Sean announced that they would be filming. However, both Orlando and Elijah needed to be fixed up with blood packets that would explode in time with their attacks. Once that was taken care of and the pair was back, they began shooting.

“We are all that is left.” Elijah taunted the constrained Orlando with William’s voice as he looked out at the camera. “You can't fight it, Corbin,” his gaze swooping back to Orlando’s face as his voice grew lower. Unsheathing the sword, Elijah threw the scabbard down behind himself before pressing the blade to Orlando’s throat. “You know that the same blood courses through both our veins. It flowed in your father’s too.” Hitting the hilt of his sword against the stone behind Orlando’s head, Elijah’s lips pulled up into a sardonic smile. Anne watched with a horrid shock contorting her pretty face as she clutched Orlando’s shoulder. Elijah stepped back away from Orlando and, with a mocking bow, cut the binds restraining his opponent. “Unlike you, I respect that blood…”

Unbeknownst to Elijah’s character, Orlando still had a gun concealed and he drew it to shoot at Elijah. As soon as Orlando reached back to draw it though, Elijah did as Hiroshi had instructed and spun down, pantomiming slicing open Orlando’s knee. The blood packet spurted through the torn fabric and Orlando’s legs buckled beneath him. Anne screamed rushing to his side.

“No Fey,” he warned, taking aim and pulling the trigger of his stage gun. Fake blood flew from Elijah’s arm and he released his weapon just as he was slicing again at Orlando’s arm. The gun flew from Orlando’s grip as liquid spilled down his arm. Sean watched with bated breath, hoping the shot would work, as the two weapons passed one another in mid air. Once the double exchanged was made and each actor had their rightful weapon back in hand, Elijah swung at Orlando’s stomach. Orlando squeezed the trigger once more, sending a packet exploding in the middle of Elijah’s chest. Gasping for breath Elijah felt to his knees with a shocked expression painting his face and one word slipped from between his parted lips.

“Pat-rick…”

+++++++++++++++

They had planned for a sixteen hour day of shooting but Sean found himself finished with the death scene after only fourteen hours. He sent everyone home early, save Elijah. About an hour after almost everyone had left, the young man, still doused in sticky fake blood, grabbed Sean’s hand and dragged him in the direction of his dressing room.

“Mmmm, you were perfect.” Sean whispered against Elijah’s neck as he pressed him up against shut door. With a pleased smile, Elijah began to push back against Sean with his hips. They soon found themselves tipped over the arm of the small couch that took up almost the entire room. Wriggling on the cushions, Sean pulled at the stained buttons of Elijah’s sticky shirt. After placing a kiss against Elijah neck were the mock blood and slipped down, Sean couldn’t help recoiling. “Oh, that stuff is fucking vile.” Undaunted by the taste, Sean continued licking and kissing the crimson splattered pale skin.

“Sorry,” Elijah whispered back, opening Sean’s shirt and nipping at his collarbone.

+++++++++++++++

It had always been a wayward dream of Christine’s to surprise Sean at work, but there had never been a chance for her in the past. She decided that now would probably be the last time she would ever have to show her husband a little extra affection. However, she wasn’t sure if Sean would be happy with her if she showed up during a difficult scene so she decided to call Viggo and check to see what scene they where shooting.

“Hey Viggo, it’s Christine,” she paused as Viggo replied with a warm hello. “I was wondering if you could tell me jus what scene you guys are filming now?” There was a confused pause before Viggo told Christine that they had finished early. “An hour ago?” Christine echoed, unable to keep the shock out of her voice. “I’ve got to go Viggo, thank you.” She quickly hung up as her foot pressed just a little harder against the gas.

She’d always considered herself one of those women who believed that if you truly loved someone you could let them go, but once she realized that it was possibly someone Sean was working with, like he used to work with her, a jealous current overflowed her system.

‘Who is it, Sean? That slutty little make-up girl who wears way too much dark eyeliner—no, that’s not your style…maybe that blond costume designer. Hmm, you fuck her after she took your measurements, Seanie? Oh wait, it’s that pretty Australian actress!’ Chris’ mind screamed as she swerved left into the parking lot outside the Focus Features’ lot.

She pulled in next to a beat up dodge and recognized the young couple talking very heatedly in the front seat. Knocking hastily on the passenger’s window, Chris waited as Billy turned around to look at her. After rolling down the window, Dom leaned over Billy’s lap and asked what she needed. She put a smiling face on and asked calmly if either of them knew where she could find her husband.

“Don’t know, thought he left a while ago…” Dom began but was interrupted by Billy’s thick accent cutting through. “You could go ask Lijah, he’s still here in his dressing room.” Of course, why was she even wasting her time asking Billy and Dominic? Elijah would know exactly where to find Sean; maybe even be able to tell Chris who the other woman was if she played her cards right. Billy gave her the directions to Elijah’s dressing room and, with a quick thank you, she walked away towards the side door closest to the parking lot.

Taking a left, then a right and staying along that corridor as Billy had said she found a white painted door with Elijah’s name taped to it. She grasped the silver knob with newfound hope at what she might be able to extract from Elijah. As soon as she had turned the handle and opened the door, Christine’s eyes widened in shock at what she saw before slamming it closed.

Elijah, still dressed in his costume, was writhing and bucking against another man beneath him as he lay stretched out on his sofa. To her shock, his pants and boxers were bunched around his knees, as were the other man’s, and he was moaning quietly while the other man shifted beneath him. She could only guess, but the way his head was tilted, he was being kissed quite deeply.

‘Is everyone one in this city gay?’ Just as the thought crossed her mind she heard a loud thud followed by Elijah hissing a rather loud curse in pain. Unable to contain herself, Christine knocked quickly and, before being answered, opened the door. Her gaze first fell upon poor Elijah sprawled on the carpeted floor frantically yanking his pants back up around his waist. That’s when her heart stopped mid-beat as soon as she heard her name; she knew that voice very well.

“Christine!”

+++++++++++++++

AN: Big thank you to the one and only stellahobbit for beta reading. *hugs tight* And of course more thank yous to everyone who is reading, thank you very much for still haning in with me. :D (I can't stop it...it just keeps growing and writing itself!! It's a monster I tell you.)