Part 1 (conclusion)
DeAnna Zankich
Sequel is | Cloudbusting
Summary: Brian, Stuart, and Vince meet up once again, and fun ensues.
Warnings: None
"Stuart?" Vince whispered against his lips.
"Hmm?"
"Look at me, luv." Vince took his face in his hands and stared deeply into Stuart's eyes. "That night when you fell asleep on my chest when we were fourteen years old, I kept thinking about this moment. About right now."
Stuart tilted his chin, curiously, his heartbeat picking up speed. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"That night I planned this scene over and over in my mind until it was just right."
Taking a deep breath, Stuart touched his finger to Vince's lips. "Wait, you can't . . ."
"I can and I'm going to," Vince said, smiling gently. "I believe I've just proved that I've had this plan the longest."
"But-" Stuart laughed at himself for even thinking of protesting.
"No `buts'. Just sit there and listen to me. I want you to really think about it, Stuart. Really think."
Sighing, Stuart felt his eyes well up but he didn't say anything. He let Vince take his hands and just sat there, waiting.
"I want you to tell me the truth," Vince began, looking right in his eyes. "Do you love me?"
"Vince, that's-"
"Just tell me."
Stuart looked at him soulfully. "Of course I love you. So much, it's just . . . huge."
"And are you happy-being with me, I mean?"
"I don't know why you have to ask me that . . ."
"Because," he said, grinning. "It's in this seventeen year old script. Now just work with me, please."
Stuart laughed and one of the tears that had been hovering in his eyes tracked down his cheek, cooling there in a wet line. Vince wiped it away gently then touched his finger to his tongue, tasting it.
"Are you happy with me?"
"Stupidly happy," Stuart answered, meaning it.
"Do you believe I'll never leave you?"
"I know you won't."
"Do you believe I love you more than anything else in my life?" Vince's voice broke there, cracking softly as his eyes well up.
"Yes." Another tear followed the previous one and Stuart took a deep breath, steadying himself.
"And this-is most important. When we sleep together at night, do you feel safe in my arms?"
"God, yes," Stuart said, trembling a bit.
Vince pulled him into a kiss again and Stuart could taste the salt on both their faces. Somewhere up near the hotel, a bird chirped for the last time as the soft evening made way for the starry night.
"Stuart Alan Jones," Vince whispered. "Will you marry me?"
Completely surprising himself by bursting into tears, Stuart said, "yes, you bastard. Of course I'll marry you. But you are NOT forgiven for messing up my plan!" He laughed through the tears and squeezed Vince to him, hugging him tighter than he ever had.
Vince's arms wrapped around him and lifted him with the force of his embrace and he was laughing, too. Laughing through his tears.
"You are sure," he said against Stuart's neck.
Leaning back so they could look at each other, Stuart sniffled. "I was going to ask you, Vince. Of course I'm sure. Are YOU sure?"
"Been sure, you twat," he teased. "Been sure for seventeen years."
"God," Stuart said, letting out a long breath. "Can you believe that? Seventeen years!! It's mad, that."
Vince shifted under him and got to his feet, reaching down with his hand to help Stuart up. "Come on, then," he said. "I'm assuming you saw the room when you went up for your jacket."
"Wait," Stuart said, smiling. "You knew you were going to do this now? This afternoon when you came back from Loch Ness?"
"Yeah," Vince said, matter-of-factly.
"How did you know I would be out of the room? What if I'd been in there? Then what?"
"I knew you'd get hungry at some point and I asked Monique to make sure you were out of the room for the rest of the day after you came down. She didn't seem to have any trouble doing that."
Stuart shook his head in disbelief. "Christ. What about Reb? Is she a prop, as well?"
"Not exactly," Vince said. "But when I met her this morning at breakfast she and I got talking and she asked me if I would look after Andie out on the boat. Apparently, Reb wasn't going because she gets seasick. I said I'd be happy to, but in return for that I asked if she would try to keep you occupied during the afternoon. Monique had to get you into the library and Reb had to keep you there long enough for the staff to put all that together in our room. Worked out all right, yeah?"
All he could do was laugh and shake his head, feeling wonderfully and happily duped. He folded his arms around Vince's neck and kissed him, deeply. "You are completely fantastic."
"I'd have to be, wouldn't I?" he said. "To marry you."
Stuart laughed, seductively. "That's it. Come on. You're gettin' the shafting of your life right now." He took Vince's hand and they walked back up the gravel path to the hotel just as the last of the light drained out of the day.
* * *
Vince:
Another romantic touch Vince had arranged for their suite that afternoon was a bubble bath. He and Stuart loved to lounge in the tub and drink wine just lying there, soaping each other's bodies and talking softly. After they made love when they returned to the room that day, Vince filled the tub and put in some of the fragrant bath beads Stuart liked. They were the same scent pallet as the jasmine and mint soap in the shower at home.
He was on his back with Stuart lying on top of him, his head resting on Vince's chest. Vince had already washed his lover's hair and was then softly toying with the damp ringlets, tugging them gently away from Stuart's temples and curling them around his fingers. There was just enough light in the bathroom for him to see the highlights in Stuart's hair. A million colors of black, brown and indigo made those curls shimmer.
Stuart sighed as Vince pet him, snuggling close under the warm aromatic water.
"So I supposed you want a big wedding and all," he teased.
"'Course I do, yeah," Vince said. "I want you in a white lace dress with flowers in your hair and a big bouquet in your hands."
"Have you been talking to Kate?" Stuart said. "She said almost that exact thing about me being the bride. I think not."
Vince laughed softly. "I don't think either of us need to be a bride, luv. We just need to be there at the same time."
Stuart looked up, resting his chin on Vince's chest. His dark blue eyes glistened in the low light from the candles along the edge of the tub. "So, what sort of party do you have planned for our wedding?"
Feeling his cheeks burning, Vince just smiled. He supposed there was no sense denying that he did have a plan-one he'd been thinking of for years. "Not that I've actually thought of any place specific, but I think it would be lovely to be outside, you know? Someplace with a garden. Maybe a little ceremony in the evening or something."
Stuart just watched him, waiting for the truth to come out like it always did.
Vince sighed. "You'll laugh."
"Not today," Stuart said, softly, his eyes growing sad for a mom
ent. "Just tell me. I want to know what you've planned." Rolling his eyes, Vince took a deep breath. "I thought it would be nice to do it in your father's garden. He works so hard on it and it's really lovely. Plenty of space. We could have the party at ours, but I thought it would be nice to have the ceremony there. If you think your mother could stand it."
Stuart put a kiss on Vince's naked chest, just above his heart. "My mother doesn't have to come if she has a problem with it. But I think my father would be very pleased with that plan. Especially if YOU ask him-he loves you. Say what you just said to me about his garden. Well, except that bit about Mum."
"You think he would? Really?"
"I think so. And then we'll have the party at our flat, yeah?"
"Yeah. Sounds good." Vince touched Stuart's cheek with the backs of his fingers. "I didn't mean to disrupt your plan, Stuart. There's no reason why you can't do what you were going to do, as well. I can act surprised."
"I doubt you would have been surprised, anyway," he said.
Looking in those dark blue eyes, Vince felt like he could burst with happiness. "I would never expect you to ask me to marry you, Stuart. That's just . . . I would never have expected it. I was only joking when I said that last week."
"I know you were, Vince. And I wish you hadn't been. I wanted you to be expecting it. To see it coming a mile away."
They looked at each other for a long time and then Stuart scooted up in the tub and kissed him in that way Vince absolutely loved-the handsome brunette started with a tiny nibble of Vince's bottom lip, then he sucked on it gently before taking it between his own lips and kissing it. Then he moved to the top lip and gave it the same treatment, ending the sensuous kiss with a lovely, moist smack. It was a kiss loaded with erotic promise and it made him feel tingly all over. Vince loved all the sounds of sex and lovemaking and Stuart made sure to accentuate them whenever he could.
"We should go down for dinner," Stuart said. "Don't want to keep your little cast of actors waiting."
Vince chuckled, very pleased with himself, as he let his lover help him out of the bath
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