Elliot
Me too.
Jackson
Tell me in person when you get here, wanker.
Elliot
RUDE.
All he got back was a winking emoji because his boyfriend was a juvenile idiot. A juvenile idiot whom he loved very, very much. Who was smiling again, at least a little bit, because of him. And who he was going to make sure got everything he wanted.
Chapter 27
Elliot
Leicester, 10 days to the Olympic Marathon
Having Jackson there to pick him up at the station in Leicester vaguely made Elliot feel like he was in an old-time film. Ok, so Leicester Station didn’t have that cinematic quality, but he still had a strange urge to leap into Jackson’s waiting arms. He didn’t, because that would have been absurd.
Jackson probably would have enjoyed it, though.
Instead, they avoided each other's gaze until they were sitting in the car. Then Jackson turned to him and dove in for a kiss. Elliot sighed against his mouth, trying to project every feeling he had into the press of their lips.
“Shall we try this again?” Jackson asked.
Elliot nodded, suddenly nervous.
“I love you, Ell,” Jackson said softly.
Elliot smiled. “I love you too, Jackson.”
They kissed again, lost in their own world until a horn sounded, making them jump apart in shock. Jackson laughed and started the car. Elliot watched him as he pulled out of the station.
“How’s your dad doing?”
Jackson’s smile dimmed. “Better, apparently. They still won’t let us in to see him, though. It sounds like it was touch-and-go for a bit. I can’t believe I wasn’t here. I should have been here. It feels so bloody selfish.” A strangled sob escaped Jackson’s throat, and Elliot reached across the console and squeezed his knee.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be breaking down like this. You’ve just arrived, and I’m so glad you’re here, but I’m not very much fun right now.”
Elliot reached over and cupped Jackson’s jaw. “You don’t need to be fun, Jackson. I’m here for you. For every version of you, even when things are hard.” As he spoke, he realised it was true. Elliot was all in on this; he wanted every moment with Jackson, no matter how selfish that made him. “And I will be here, beside you, for everything. Every race, every triumph, every failure. I’ll be there to celebrate with you, kiss your tears away, or to rub it in your annoyingly gorgeous face when I beat you.”
Jackson let out a watery laugh. “Sounds like you're proposing.”
“Not yet, Jennings. Calm down.”
Sobering, Jackson spoke quietly. “He won’t have forever; I know that. Mum says they think years rather than months, which is good. But nothing seems like enough, you know?”
Elliot didn’t know, not really. He’d never had the kind of connection Jackson had with his family. Still, he couldn’t actually fathom how he would respond if he were in the same situation. Probably not as indifferently as he liked to think, despite how angry he still was with his dad. They drove out of the city, and the streets widened, giving way to leafy suburbs.
“What do you want me to tell them?” Jackson asked.
“About what?”
“About us, Ell,” Jackson replied gently. So gently it made Elliot’s heart ache. “I’ve explained that you’re coming and thatwe aren’t archenemies or anything, but…I didn’t want to say more without checking with you first.”
“Do you want them to know?”
