And All the Electric Stars Are Shining

Here Comes The Sun

Chapter 4: Here Comes The Sun

The sun barely reaching across the small, private suburb in Oakland. The occasional flutter and chirp of birds. The street and sky painted with a brilliant, light orange.

Billie slept soundly, deeper than he had in years, like a baby. He wouldn’t move if he tried. After all the waiting, he was finally in the arms of the man he’d gazed at for decades.

It was better than he could ever hope for. It’s the chance he’d always wanted and knew he couldn’t get for himself. No matter how much and how badly he wanted to tell the man, he could never get the courage to say it to his face. How could he? He was never an outgoing child to began with but telling his best friend he was in love with him? That was out of the question.

He made a small whimper and moved closer, his peaceful dream still undisturbed. A faint smile even danced across his plump lips. His body was utterly spent after rediscovering the man he thought he knew. He certainly learned enough last night.

Mike shifted a bit in his sleep before taking a deep breath and slowly drifting back into consciousness. He always rose early and left his home quickly. He was never one to just lay about all day.

His eyes still not opened and clinging onto the last tendrils of sleep, he felt the press of another body against his. This body very different to the small, bony frame of his former girlfriend. This one giving off warmth and a strange mixture of the unknown and the familiar.

The body moved closer, sighing contently and continuing to sleep peacefully. Mike held the body closer, praying that last night was not another dream before opening his eyes slowly and to his acute surprise seeing a thick head full of messy, black hair.

He smiled softly at Billie’s crumpled, sleeping form. He looked like an angel. Slight smile still present on his lips. Mike closed his eyes again, relishing the feeling of Billie so close after all this time and also reflecting on last night’s activities. After a few moments, Mike decided it was definitely worth the wait and he’d wait another twenty years to feel that again.

Billie groaned softly, faintly becoming aware that his dream is but a dream and that the sun is shining brightly and directly on his face. He let out a light moan before opening his eyes that shined magnificently in the morning light. Mike thought they looked like two pieces of perfect jade.

He smiled brighter than he ever thought he could. “Morning, sunshine. Told you I‘d be here when you woke up.”

Billie wiped at his eyes, still a bit groggy from sleep before smiling back. “Yeah, I know,” he moved his head about an inch and kissed those thin lips softly. “Morning, yourself.”

Mike hugged him a bit tighter, glancing down at him, smile never wavering. “Mmhmm. You look like you slept well.”

“Yeah, I had a dream that everything I ever wanted kinda fell in my lap. Ever had a dream like that?”

Mike smiled again and ran his long fingers through Billie’s wrecked hair. “Yeah, I feel like I’m living it.”

Billie looked up at him, showing in his eyes that he loved the feeling of Mike playing with his hair. “You know, I feel the same way.”

“And I’m glad,” Mike dipped his head down to kiss Billie again. “I love you.” He said it so softly it was almost a whisper.

“I love you too,” Billie closed his eyes and sighed, not wanting to think of the outside world so early but not really having a choice in the matter. “I’m gonna have to leave today. I don’t want to though.”

Mike sighed as well. If he had it his way he’d never let Billie leave, never let the man out of his sight. The world isn’t always what we want though, now is it?

“I know…I don’t want you to go either but some things have to happen,” he started to play with Billie’s hair again.

“Yeah…” Billie nodded, closing his eyes and sighing happily as Mike ran his fingers through his hair again. He could most certainly get used to this. But not now, not yet anyway. “I’ll come back as soon as I can,” he added after a minute.

Mike continued to stroke his hair, running through each lock with gentle care. “I know you will. And I’ll be here, right here waiting. When do you think you should leave?”

Billie shut his eyes, already running through the different scenarios in his head and seriously not wanting to lie to Adrienne. “I…I don‘t know, man.”

Mike nodded a bit, resting his head on top of Billie’s. He glanced at the clock on the far wall of his room. “It’s nine thirty now. You don’t have to leave now though, right?”

“No, I could um, I could stay a bit longer.”

“Yeah,” Mike ran a hand through Billie’s hair. “You usually stay longer than that.”

“Yeah,” Billie sighed. He was such a horrible liar. He closed his eyes and imagined how bad this morning really can turn. He’s not ready for any of this. Twenty years and he still isn’t ready.

Mike glanced at Billie, noticing that his hazel green’s were out of focus, more like looking through him than actually looking at him. When they were in school people would mistaken Billie’s glances for rudeness. Mike was one of the only people that understood how smart and reflective Billie really is.

“You um, you want some breakfast or something?” he kissed his forehead softly, hoping to snap Billie away from his thoughts for a moment.

“Huh? Oh, um, yeah. Yeah, I’d like that.” Billie smiled shyly, glancing into his eyes for a moment before looking back down. Twenty years of imagining himself in this exact position and he can barely look into those eyes. He didn’t even feel worthy enough to look into them.

“Okay,” Mike smiled and pecked his lips, letting him go and stretching before getting out of bed. Billie got up slower, scratching his head and looking around for his boxers. He felt slight pain in his backside. Billie decided the pain was well worth the pleasure.

***

Billie finished his last bite of breakfast, placing his fork on the marble counter making a metallic clank sound. He rested his head on Mike’s shoulder, placing his plate beside him.

He sighed and glanced at the stove displaying the time. “It’s ten-thirty…” he said in a small voice. Mike blinked his eyes twice, snapping out of his thoughts and wrapped an arm around Billie.

“Yeah…”

“I don’t want to go,” Billie interrupted.

Mike looked up from the kitchen tiles into Billie’s eyes seeing complete honesty, almost a plea. That’s something he needed more than anything right now. He needed reassurance. Some faint reassurance that what they did last night was meant to happen and not just for his own sake.

“I don’t want you to go either, but it’s okay. We’ll…we’ll see each other soon.”

“Yeah,” Billie ran a hand through his hair and said in an almost inaudible tone. “I miss you.”

Mike moved the plates to the other counter and hugged Billie softly, kissing his forehead. “I miss you too.”

Billie rested his head in the crook of Mike’s neck. The knots and butterflies in his stomach clashed violently. He was so comfortable yet so scared. He never felt so strange in his entire life. “I-I love you…”

“I love you so much, Billie,” Mike said before kissing his neck. He glanced into Billie’s eyes and saw all the emotions hidden beneath them. He wiped away a strand of dark hair. “It’ll be okay. We’ll be together soon.” He closed his eyes, tightening his grip around Billie’s small frame, trying desperately to memorize the feel and smell of him before he had to leave. “I love you,” he whispered again more so to himself than Billie.

Billie shut his eyes, trying to hold back any raw emotions from slipping out and tumbling towards the surface. “I-I love you too,” he whispered into his neck before kissing it and pulling away regretfully. “I-I gotta go,” he looked back down to his hands, staring at the golden band wrapped around his finger, already trying to figure out what to say when he got home.

Mike nodded weakly, hopping off the bar before helping Billie to get down. “I’ll um, I’ll walk you to the door.”

Billie nodded and walked towards the door, Mike following close behind. He finally reached the door, turning back around and looking up at Mike again. “Um…I guess I’ll call you when I get there,” he said biting his lip.

Mike nodded again sadly, looking down at his feet before looking back at Billie. He would give anything to have just five more minutes with him. He was so scared of him leaving. He couldn’t help but think that this was a dream or that Billie didn’t really mean it or that he’d go home and stay with Adie and never talk about this again.

“I-I’ll talk to you soon then.”

Billie looked at him again before moving forward and hugging him tightly. “I love you, okay?” he sighed and glanced down. “I love you more than her…” he whispered quietly.

Mike felt his stomach do a flip finally hearing Billie say that. It felt like the greatest thing in the world. He hugged him back tighter. “Thanks, Billie. I-I think I needed to hear that more than anything else. I-I love you so much.”

Billie nodded, pulling back a bit and smiling weakly. “I love you too. See you soon,” he kissed him deeply one more time.