Chapter Thirty-Four

It was four years to the day. Four years since I was the happiest I'd ever been. Three of which I couldn't stand thinking about this day, let alone reliving it.

Yet, it was five in the morning when I found myself perched in the window, breathing the still night air of London's outskirts. Something had called me to this most familiar of seats. I'd been lead to this moment while still drastically half-asleep. And at times, my eyes would drift shut and my body would relax. Right up until the point where I thought I would fall, and I jerked back upright and my wide yes scoured the world around me like a panicked mouse.

The moment it happened, my eyes were just beginning to drift shut. Crickets kept up a nightly anthem outside the window and a soft, warm breeze brushed against my face. And suddenly, it was as if I could feel his thin fingers pushing it back behind my ear. I didn't notice the tears falling behind my eyelids as I began to remember that morning, oh so long ago.

My hair had found a way to fall over my eyes once more and he was brushing it lightly out of my eyes. When they fluttered open, sleep having been banished at his soft touch, Alec was smiling lovingly at me.

"Wake up, sleepyhead. Lots to do today," he whispered, making no move whatsoever to leave the bed we shared.

Beneath the blankets, I stretched my body, a content smile curling up my lips. Before I could even open my eyes again, I felt his lips on mine. I couldn't think of a better way to start the day.

When at last he pulled away, it was with a devilish smirk, "C'mon Oliver. Time to truly corrupt you." With that, he leapt out of bed and yanked all of the covers off of me.

Quickly, I yanked the sheet back to me so as to cover my exposed body. Alec's smile went from sinister to sweet and I caught a glimpse of the love we shared growing in his eyes. Leaning back over the bed, he placed his hand on my face and kissed me softly.

"You are so beautiful, Oliver, it makes my heart melt," he breathed. Then he placed a harder more exuberant kiss on my lips. Whipping away from me, Alec headed for the bathroom without another look back. My smile widened because I knew why. Throwing the sheet off of me, I followed my boyfriend into the bathroom just as the shower started.

Another burst of wind flew through the streets and it carried a colder draft than before, making goosebumps rise up on my skin. In the same moment, tears started to silently trail down my face. I didn't raise a hand to stop them. There were sure to be plenty of them, and I couldn't halt an army. Not with this day to think about.

That summer, Alec had gotten a car of his own and Harold was officially retired from chauffeur duty. It was a brand new, black Chevy Camaro with white racing stripes. And it was the first time since he got it that we had permission to take it out of our small town. Alec was taking me to the city. All by ourselves. Overnight.

Three hours we were seated in that car and blaring every other song on the radio. It was just like the day we went to the lake, only better. For miles and miles it was just the two of us heading east as fast as we could go.

When we finally arrived within the city limits, it only excited us further. We even made a game of seeing how long we could kiss at spotlights before someone eventually honked at us. Normally, I'd have been chagrined at our disruption of everyone else's lives. That day, though, I wanted nothing more than to be just like that: a disruption.

After checking into our hotel, Alec and I went and had lunch in the hotel's restaurant. It was sophisticated and glamorous. If Alec wasn't with me, I'd have felt like a fraud, sitting there in my cheap tuxedo and wearing my astounded country-boy expression. Yet, with him sitting beside me, his fingers intertwined with my own, I felt as if I was the most special boy in the world. And he made that happen.

After lunch, we were both ambitious enough to explore this foreign land. To me, it was mind-boggling. So many people piled so completely atop one another. Yet, it was so alive and busy. Like a beehive in the height of summer, everyone was on the move and very rarely did we see someone just enjoying themselves or relaxing. Though, how anyone could relax in so exciting an environment was unbelievable to me, at that time.

When we had done as much damage as we could in the small corner of the city we'd explored, we finally decided it was time to head back to our hotel. It was almost impossible to remember that we had reservations in the dining room when I was staring at him. Everything else seemed so distant. Unimportant.

A smile pulled at my lips as I thought of the confidence he had so inspired in me. Three quick strides brought me to him and I cupped his face with my hands. Our eyes met for only a second, but that was all I would ever need. My lips found his on instinct and I wanted nothing more than to stay there and kiss him forever.

Alec was thinking straighter than I. After a moment, he pulled away laughingly and said, "Oliver, I'm starving. If we don't hurry, we could lose our reservation."

A sigh left my lips, but I took the statement as it was meant. With no further delay, we were seated in the dining room for dinner at promptly seven thirty. And after we had finished our meal, and sumptuous chocolate dessert, we headed out onto the veranda for a moonlit stroll. I didn't think anything in the world could be better.

Then I woke up at six in the morning just as the barest hint of dawn was creeping across the sky. An urge so strong rise up inside of me that I immediately shook Alec awake. Throwing last night's clothes at him, I bade him to get up. That we were going for a walk.

Incredibly, it wasn't too cold when we slipped out to the veranda of the hotel. Situated at the top of a hill, the hotel veranda had an incredibly gorgeous view of the river that ran right through the center of the city and the sight caused me to catch my breath. Grabbing Alec's hand, we raced down the cement stairs that led to the boardwalk. By the time we reached the brick sidewalk at the bottom, we were both laughing from the simple exhilaration of the circumstances.

Leaning against the waist-high brick wall, we smiled widely at the sight of bridges barely glowing with their dim lights and the water that reflected back lights from the buildings sitting on its edge. It reminded me of an oil painting. Or a black-and-white photograph. All the lights caught in a flash of time and the reflection off the water frozen in history. Just like Alec and me.

After a moment, Alec jump up onto the low wall, his back to the water as he stared at me. Knowing just what he wanted, I placed my hands atop the cool, rough stone and jumped into position beside him. Raising my eyes to his, they stayed open for only a moment before he kissed me.

That's when I did it.

From my back pocket, I produced the small jewelry box that had long ago lost its fortune. I had given it a new one. And Alec was about to take it away.

When Alec finally pulled his lips from mine, I smiled in absolute bliss. Then my eyes short from him and down to my left hand. My heart warmed as a gasp escaped him. For in that tiny, unobtrusive box sat a silver ring. A very special ring. My mother's engagement ring.

It was the only thing I had left of her. The only thing I had left of the family that was long lost to me. That ring was everything that was left of me. And now I would give that away.

I would give it to Alec.
My friend.
My lover.
My family.
Alec.