"I'm so sorry, Tobias. I really thought that was going to work." Elijahs voice wavered. I could tell he was trying to hold himself together.

I felt defeated too but it was honestly okay. It was a far-fetched plan anyway.

"It's okay, Elijah," I said, squeezing his thigh.

"No, it's not! This is all my fault. If I had kept my stupid mouth shut, this holiday would've actually been so much fun. If I had just gotten over my shit, we'd actually still be friends. If I had just grown up and stopped being a total baby, we might've been—" He cut himself off.

I looked down at my hands. I think I knew where he was going and I thought about that too. I thought about it so often that it hurt.

We've lost so much time over these years due to not talking and miscommunication. In this one road trip alone, I've laughed and talked more than I did in my whole high school career. That's not normal. Life would've been normal if I had him by my side.

I squeezed my eyes shut and leaned my head back on the headrest.

"Don't shut me out. Talk to me." Elijah pleaded.

"What's there to say? It's my fault too, Elijah. This isn't just on you. I made my own bed." I shrugged, looking out my window.

"Well, then we can lay in that bed together." He joked.

I tilted my head at him. "You say and do the most sexual things at the most random times, you know that right?" I laughed. I actually like this about him.

"I know." He laughed softly, leaning his head back on his headrest too.

Suddenly, his playlist on his phone switched to the next song which played Too Experienced by Barrington Levy. Jude's song.

"This song always makes me think of Dad." Elijah smiled.

I smiled too since I thought the same thing but quickly that smile faded when I realized how we were headed back to the lakehouse where he wasn't happy with me.

"He's going to come back around, Tobias. He will." He glanced at me, dropping his hand in my lap. I looked down at it and joined my hand with his.

"You're lucky, you know. I've always wanted a Dad like him and I think I kind of got lost in the feeling of having it." I said squeezing his hand in mine.

"You didn't lose it. It's still there. News flash, Dads get mad sometimes. They forgive you though because they love you."

"Not mine." I gulped, looking out the window. I didn't mean to say that but it just slipped out.

"Do you feel comfortable to talk to me about him? What you went through?"

I thought it over. I've never really talked about it ever with anyone. I don't know where I'd start even if I tried.

"Maybe if you...asked me questions. I'd be able to answer them."

"Yeah, that sounds good." Elijah dropped my hand for a moment to turn down the music. It was nice of him to come back to me right away, putting his hand right back to where he had it before.

I grabbed onto him and readied myself.

"Well, I'd love to understand what life was like for you when we were kids. I had no clue what was happening when you went home without me there. Are there any parts of your home life that you'd feel comfortable with sharing with me?"

I breathed in, racking my brain for which parts I'd feel most comfortable with telling him. I didn't want him to look at me differently but talking to someone about it actually feels kind of nice right now. Especially since that someone is him.

I swallowed harshly. "Well, my Dad loved his alcohol after work. I always knew when I was a kid to get to my room and stay quiet whenever he got home."

"What would happen if you weren't quiet?" Elijah asked.

I hesitated. "Usually, he'd call me names. Call me worthless, useless, pathetic. You name it, he said it." I scratched the back of my head with my empty hand. "Sometimes he'd choke me, kick me, hit me with a belt if I was being extra bad that day, like making too much noise or coming home late from school." Elijah squeezed my hand. "He loved not giving me food. I'd go a few nights sometimes without something to eat or he'd send me to school with no lunch if I didn't make my bed or something. Sometimes he'd lock me in a room for days which was the worst. In my own filth, hungry and alone." I squeezed my eyes. "Fuck, I'm sorry." I breathed.

"Hey. Hey." Elijah wiggled my hand. "You want to stop talking about this, we stop. Immediately. No questions asked. You're in control here." He said, trying his best to keep his eyes on me and back on the road.

"No, it's okay." I breathed deeply out of my nose. "I'm okay." I breathed in and out.

"Tobias?..." Elijah breathed in. "I want to ask you but you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, okay?" He rushed his sentence.

I nodded my head. "Okay."

"Did he...did he touch you?"

I felt my stomach turn. The guilt and shame wash over me. That was the one question I didn't want to answer.

"You can be a good boy sometimes. You just need some correction."

"He wouldn't touch me...He'd just make me...Fuck!" I yelled, crushing my hands to my eyes. "I-I hate him. I hate him s-so much." I cried.

Suddenly the car came to a big swerve as he parked us on the shoulder.

"Hey!" Elijah peeled my hands away from my eyes and looked me straight in the eyes. "Hey, you are never ever going to be touched by that man again, you hear me? I will never let him hurt you ever again." The anger in his eyes was believable. But how can he promise that?

Derrick was so big and he's always gotten away with it.

"He'll always get away with it." My voice was choked.

"Fuck that. He's not getting away with shit. Not anymore. He's not going to win this, Tobias. You hear me? You're not alone anymore." He positioned his palm on my jaw, softly caressing my skin.

"I'm not alone," I repeated back to him, shivering.

"You're not alone. Never again. I promise." Elijah pulled me into his chest by the back of my neck. He was so warm as he rubbed my shoulders and my back.

The coldness that had washed over me slowly started to die down. His strong hold on my body and the soothing smell of his neck distracted me from the horrific thoughts that had raced through my mind.

"You're safe now," Elijah whispered into my ear. His brown hair cascaded around my face as I peeled away to look at his eyes. "Thank you for trusting me with that. I don't take the fact that you let me in like that lightly." He said, his voice hushed.

"Thank you for being here. For me." I stammered.

"Always." He breathed. "I mean it, Tobias. I really mean it."

"You promise?" I breathed so close to his mouth that we were sharing the same breath at this point.

"I promise. I'm not going anywhere" He gripped the collar of my button-up shirt. In an instant, we were drawn together.

Such a hard, rushed kiss that felt so soft and gentle all at the same time. The taste of his mouth was so familiar as though I'd been searching for that taste all my life. Elijah gripped the back of my neck, pulling me closer to him. I did the same to him, gripping his jaw with my hand and pulling him over the center console and onto my lap. My hand stretched out beside me to pull the lever and drop my seat.

As if drawn together, our bodies morphed perfectly into each other as he wiggled his way over the middle console and crawled on top of me. We were both so tall but we made due. His kisses were too hypnotic to have me thinking about anything else.

"Fuck, Elijah." I moaned into his mouth. He moaned back, biting my bottom lip. I felt like I was on cloud 9.

I could feel his hands roaming underneath my shirt. His soft touches across my abs were sending me to another planet. Knowing he was a fan of my body was doing something incredible to me.

"Tobias." He moaned.

"Yeah." I breathed.

"We should probably hit the road before Dad gets too suspicious," Elijah said between kisses. I had to laugh.

"You're right." I breathed, dropping my face to his shoulder. "You're right," I repeated, slapping him lightly on the ass.

"Pause." He smirked, climbing off of me and shifting back to the driver's seat.

"Play," I said, tugging him back to me, and stealing another kiss.

I loved feeling his laugh in my mouth. Feeling his lips on mine as he smiled. "Pause." He moaned, breathlessly.

"Pause." I agreed, sitting back in my seat and reconnecting my seatbelt.

Fixing our hair in the mirrors and straightening back out, we both took a second to catch our breaths. Elijah started back up the car and with that, we were back on the road.

"Come here, you," Elijah said, grabbing my hand again and placing it back on his lap. 

☀️

Authors Note:

Omg omg omg omg their first kiss. IT'S HAPPENING. Don't mind me... just giggling and kicking my feet 🤭

On a serious note though, this chapter talked about some pretty heavy topics. If you or someone you know is suffering with parental abuse, please talk to someone about it. 

Victim Services Call the Victim Support Line, toll-free at 1-888-579-2888 or at 416-314-2447 in the Toronto area, to find information and referrals to services that help victims of crime in your community.

I seriously love and care about all my readers so if you even want to reach out to ME, you always can. I'm no professional BUT I'm here as a friend. This story is fiction but this is really real for many people. Please reach out if you need help. ❤️