I Am Invincible

-*~- Five years later -~*-

“Oh god, Zach,” Cameron moaned as his lover gave one final thrust that made stars appear in his peripheral vision and sent them both over the edge with a string of semi-loud curses mixed with each other’s names falling rapidly from their mouths. They had learned to be much quieter these days than they had been in their teenage years – well, Cameron had at least; Zach was never as loud as Cam when they were making love. Cam didn’t want to wake Zach’s sleeping five-year-old son, Kayden, with the erotic noises that spilled from his mouth whenever he and Zach were being intimate, and so he learnt (over some time and with much…practice) to lower the volume.

Zach rolled off Cameron and lay spread-eagled on the mattress next to the younger man, breathing heavily. His lover curled up into his side and Zach wrapped his arm around Cameron’s tiny waist, resting his hand on the bony hip. His fingers danced lightly over the piercing that still protruded out from Cameron’s skin. They both sighed in content and lay silently together, neither of them wanting to leave the room and come down from the high they had experienced just moments ago. As Cameron traced patterns on Zach’s bare chest, Zach began whispering sweet nothings into Cameron’s ear.

I love you.

You’re beautiful.

Pour toujours et toujours.

Je t'aime, mon bébé.

This continued for a few moments – or maybe hours, neither of them could be sure, before the pair heard running feet starting from Kayden’s bedroom and continuing all the way to the bathroom down the hall. This was a regular occurrence in the mornings. Every second week, Kayden stayed at Zach and Cam’s apartment, and every morning, there is a rush to the bathroom before…

“Daddy, Cam Cam,” Kayden cried, flinging open their bedroom door. The black-haired child was so used to walking in on his father and Cameron doing things other than just lying on their bed that he didn’t even flinch when he noticed their nudity, he just looked up at their faces, which were slightly obscured by their messy hair.

“Hey, buddy,” Zach greeted, “What’s up?”
“I’m hungry,” Kayden announced, and his father visibly sighed. Kayden frowned, and crossed his skinny arms over his chest. “Daddyyyy,” he whined, knowing full well that his father was about to tell him to wait a little longer. After all, it was only 6:30 in the morning on a Tuesday and they usually had breakfast at 7 on weekdays.

Cameron laughed, and pushed himself up into a sitting position on the bed. “Go on into the kitchen, Kaydie. I’ll be there in a few minutes and I’ll make you breakfast, okay?”
Kayden nodded enthusiastically and ran from the room. Zach laughed, and sat up. “You’re too nice to him.”

“Yeah, I know,” Cam sighed, and pecked Zach’s lips before swinging his legs around the side of the bed and standing up. He bent down to pick up a pair of pyjama pants that had been discarded earlier that morning and he could feel Zach’s eyes on him as he did so and he grinned, before straightening up. “Enjoy the view?” he asked, mischievously.

“Oh, yes,” Zach replied earnestly, making Cameron giggle as he pulled on the pyjamas that were much too big for him – obviously, he’d picked up Zach’s by mistake. He walked around the other side of the bed, and kissed Zach again quickly, before heading out of their bedroom.

Cameron found Kayden sitting at the kitchen table, with a knife in one hand and a fork in the other and a pout on his face.
“You took too long,” Kayden grumbled, “I was wasting away here!”

Cameron and Zach had decided a long time ago that Kayden was going to be an actor when he was older. He’d always been a drama queen, since the day he could talk. His first word was ‘dead’. Zach swears up and down that it was actually ‘dad’, but Cameron knows better, he was actually there when it happened, unlike Zach, who only heard about it after.

“Oh, shut up,” Cam said to Kayden playfully, while placing a frypan on the burners of the stove and turning it on to heat up. He went over to the fridge, tripping slightly on the bottom of his pants and taking out the tofu bacon. Kayden had decided when he was four that he wanted to be a vegetarian and from that day on, had refused to come into contact with meat at all. Cameron threw a couple of rashers into the pan and watched them sizzle for about a minute after he put in two pieces of toast in the toaster to cook. When the bacon began jumping and popping in the pan, he took them out and placed them on a plate that he removed from the cupboard above his head, just as the toaster beeped, signalling that Kayden’s toast was done. Cam buttered and cut it in half and put it on the plate with the bacon, and then placed it in front of Zach’s son.

“Eat up,” he said, leaning against the counter casually.
“Thanks, Cam,” Kayden said through a mouthful of toast.

Cameron shook his head and began fiddling with the shiny silver engagement ring Zach had given him nearly a year before. It was a regular occurrence that Zach would catch Cameron twisting the thin silver band around his finger dreamily, usually thinking of the past, and sometimes of the future.

The past five years had been a surreal blur for Cameron. So much had changed in such a short amount of time, that sometimes it scared him. On his 18th birthday, he moved into Zach’s apartment. Ryan and Kirsten had moved out a week before, into a new apartment, and they had been living there ever since, happily in love, with Kayden staying there every other week, giving Zach and Cam alone time. Cameron finally got over his aversion to Kirsten and they became good friends after a while. He no longer sees her as the one hisboyfriend fiancé cheated on him with, but as the person who brought Kayden into the world, and he’s grateful to her for that, because he loves Kayden as if he were his own.

When Cameron reminisces about the past, his mind always wanders to his brother’s wedding. Declan and Tamsin had tied the knot nearly two years ago and are now expecting their first child, a girl, who they are planning on calling Alyssa. Cam is really happy for his brother, and is excited to be an uncle, but he knows that his father isn’t all that pleased. Alex had spent the last seven months complaining to anyone who would listen (that is; no one) that he was too young to be a grandfather. Everyone had been getting sick of the whining and usually just told Alex to shut up, and he would, with a pout on his face, before starting up again five minutes later.

Cam also thinks about when Emilie called him in the middle of his shift at the local music store, squealing that Aaron had asked her to marry him and begged him to go straight to her house after his shift to gush over the ring Aaron had bought her. They were getting married in August, and Emilie was excited that Hanna was able to come to the wedding. Hanna had moved to England right after graduation for an apprenticeship she had received. She was coming back at the end of July for a holiday, and, of course, to be one of the bridesmaids at her friend’s wedding. Cameron was going to be Emilie’s ‘maid of honour’ so to speak, and was even happy to be called that title, but absolutely put his foot down when asked if he was going to be wearing a dress.

During the five years that had passed since prom, Cameron found that, whenever he thought about his troubled past, he couldn’t be sad, or angry, or upset that it happened. Because it made him who he is. He didn’t think he’d be as content as he is with his life now if all that hadn’t happened. He realised that he’d spent so much time looking at the negative aspects of everything, instead of focussing on the positive. He’s trying to change that, and so far, it’s been working.

When Cameron returned to reality, he noticed that Kayden was gone. He’d left behind an empty plate and half a glass of orange juice. Cameron sighed, and picked them up from the table. He placed them in the sink and ran some water over them, before wandering back into his and Zach’s room. Zach was still dozing, but woke up a significant amount when Cameron entered. He opened his arms wide, and Cameron made his way over to him, crawling onto the bed and falling into his lover’s chest as gracefully as he could.

“You know, Kayden finished breakfast at least twenty minutes ago.” Zach’s fingers on one hand ran through Cam’s soft hair as he spoke. Zach picked up Cam’s hand, “You were playing with this again, weren’t you?” he asked teasingly, fingering the ring that sat on Cameron’s third finger.

Cameron blushed a deep red and nodded, embarrassed. He pressed his face into Zach’s warm chest as Zach chuckled at his embarrassment.

“Don’t worry, baby. I love it when you do that. But I love everything you do…” Zach trailed off as Cameron looked up. Zach leaned down and connected their lips in a light kiss.

“I love you,” Cameron whispered against Zach’s lips.
“I love you, too.”