I finished washing up in the bathroom. Whatever Elijah had planned for tonight, I wanted to be ready for it.

Ready. Ready.

Thank you, Google.

I've been thinking about having Elijah on top for a while now. Honestly, ever since we started doing it, I saw that gorgeous expression spread across his face whenever I brushed against it.

The only thing holding me back was...

Honestly, Derrick's voice inside of my head.

It's always been there, taunting me. He always knew exactly what to say to make me feel disgusted with myself. For wanting something so pure as wanting Elijah.

This isn't wrong. Loving each other isn't wrong and showing each other our love isn't wrong.

I swallowed deeply, looking at myself in the mirror one more time.

Derrick doesn't have control over me anymore. Not here. Not with Elijah.

I wiped my face off and patted it dry with the hand towel.

I opened the door to be startled by a happy, bouncing on his tiptoes, Elijah.

"You all set?" He smiled, holding out his hand.

"You have no idea." I breathed out.

He gave me a curious look before handing me a blanket. He had one in his hand too.

"Cover yourself up. We're heading outside." He smiled.

I swung the blanket over my shoulders and wrapped myself up. He did the same before grabbing my hand and leading me outside.

It was clear that whatever he had planned was set up in the loft.

The lights were shimmering on the top so I could tell he had the little lights turned on. We followed the pathway he had paved off towards the boathouse until we stepped inside.

It was warm in here which was nice.

Walking up the steps, I couldn't help my smiles when I realized the reason it was warm was because he had set up space heaters in the corners of the loft.

The cot in the middle of the room was cleaned off for some clean sheets, more blankets and a few pillows. It was surrounded by a couple battery operated candles, my favourite snacks, and a little rectangular green gift wrapped box on the end.

I looked at Elijah, "What are you up to?" I breathed.

"We're going to spend tonight in here. I set up a projector so we can actually watch a movie up on the wall." He rushed to behind the cot to show me a projector which made the sheet hung up on the opposite wall make so much sense.

"You're so adorable." I shook my head taking it all in.

"Say you love it." He said, his voice slightly shaky.

I looked at him shocked. Did he think I wouldn't love this? "Elijah. You did all of this for me. You're...you're incredible." I stammared.

"Good..." He breathed, his eyes scanning my face. "I want you to open your present."

I smiled, nodding my head. "Okay."

He led me to the cot, as we both sat down.

He lifted the box and placed it on my lap.

I darted my eyes from the box to Elijah, and back again. "What could you have in here?" I shook the box next to my ear but heard nothing.

"Come on! I can barely take it." He said, biting his thumbnail between his teeth.

I was done torturing him. I had the biggest grin on my face as I tore the lovely forest green wrapping paper from the box.

How he managed to put all of this together while we're attached to each others side 99% of the time, I'll never know.

"I can't believe you did all of this." I said, opening up the cardboard box. My smile faltered when I saw what was waiting for me inside.

It looked like a big book. It had a design on it that was a forest on a foggy day. It looked so beautiful. In the middle of the book was a message written by Elijah himself. I could tell it was his neat handwriting from anywhere.

On it was the few but powerful words "The Summer We Found Us".

I tilted my head to look at him with furrowed brows. He met me with watery eyes and gave me a slight shrug.

I looked back to the book and opened it up to reveal a few pictures. They were of me this past summer. Throwing a football to Dad in the backyard. We were both laughing as I was clearly passing him the ball. He was lunging for it which made me throw my head back laughing.

I looked down to the next picture. It was of me and Gwen cooking us all lunch. We had been listening to music, I remember, and stood beside each other with aprons on and we were both smiling, having a great time.

The next picture below was of Elijah and I looking at each other as we played cards at the kitchen table. Gwen or Dad must've taken this picture. I was looking at him with so much love, I could see it written all over my face. Elijah was laughing because he was clearly winning, like he always does.

I kept flipping the pages. Another one of me and Dad, holding each other with our arms around each others shoulders as we walked down the street.

Another one where we were out on the paddle boards on a sunny morning.

Had he been snapping pictures of us the whole time?

I wiped my tear off the page before flipping over to the next page, and then the next.

The pictures were stunning. Elijah knew exactly how to capture the moment. And these moments were all mine. All for me. With the people that matter the most to me.

My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. These were all so special. I wanted to stare at them forever.

"Tobias," Elijah wrapped his arms around my neck, kissing me softly on my temple. "You're okay." He soothed me.

I didn't even realize I was crying. "I just...I love it so much, Elijah." My voice was so hoarse but I really needed him to know.

He looked at me with compassionate eyes.

"I didn't have any pictures of me and him." I trembled. "I'm just...so thankful."

He clasped the back of my neck and drew me in to a tight hold. "I know, baby. I'm so glad you love it." He rubbed my back.

The soft music playing in the background of a speaker and his rubbing my back made me calm down a bit. I sniffled, sitting back up.

"Wow, you're good at presents." I laughed through my tears.

"I'm not even done yet." Elijah laughed.

I looked at him shocked. "What? Seriously?"

"Yeah!" He said excitedly, dunking his hand in his back pocket. Out came a black thin laced necklace. It had one silver ring slid on that had a thin black band wrapped around right in the center.

"Woah," I said, bringing it closer to my eyes. It looked just my size. "This is so nice." I said sliding it on my finger.

Elijah beamed up at me and bit his lip, watching my excitement. "It's not a proposal or anything but–"

"Well, I'd think not. We're only 20." I laughed.

"But," he continued, grabbing my hand into his. "I wanted you to know how much you meant to me. This is a promise to you. The ultimate promise of all promises." He sounded nervous.

I dropped my smile and really listened to what he was saying. He breathed in deeply.

"This is...a promise to you. A promise that there's no more running. No more shutting you out, ever. It's a promise to always be open and honest with you, even when it's difficult. Even when it's the last thing I want to do.

It's a promise to always stick by your side so you always know you're never alone. Because you're never alone, Tobias. You never were and you never will be."

"Holy shit." I looked at him with wide eyes. "Elijah, this sounds a lot like a vow."

He swallowed deeply, shaking off what I said with a laugh. "That day will come, Tobias. It will and I hope you'll say yes when it does because you're my soulmate. You're the strongest, most resilient, most incredible person I've ever known and it'd be an honor to be loved by you for the rest of my life. Because I know...I know I'll never stop loving you." He breathed.

My lips parted slowly. "Elijah." I breathed. "I'm so fucking in love with you." I leaned in, pressing my lips to his. He tasted so sweet as he curled his fingers through my hair.

He leaned back, disconnecting our lips. I almost whimpered.

"Let's get this on you." He said sitting up on his knees and crawling behind me on the cot. He grabbed the necklace from my neck and fastened the clasp behind me. The ring dropped perfectly on my chest. Not too big, not too small. "If you ever feel like I'm far away or you're not sure how I feel about you. I want you to look down at this ring." He wrapped his arm around my neck, hugging me from behind. "But, I'm going to make it my personal mission to never let you feel like that. Ever." He held me so tightly, saying these sweet words in my ear.

I held on to his arms and closed my eyes, sinking into this feeling.

"How'd we get here?" I asked softly.

"I'm so glad that we did." Elijah let go, sitting beside me again.

"Elijah...Thank you." I breathed, looking in his eyes.

"Tobias, thank you." His words hit me like a brick. I know he meant so much in those words. Thanks for everything, he was saying.

I couldn't take it anymore. I lunged for his mouth, like his lips were the only things keeping me alive. Our connection is just too powerful to ignore. He immediately climbed on top of my lap, rubbing his erection on my waist, back and forth. I gripped his hips, feeling his rhythm rub against my dick. "Elijah," I moaned.

He licked my bottom lip before tugging on it gently. "Yeah?" He panted.

I looked at his eyes as he lifted his gaze from my lips to my eyes.

I took a deep breath. "I...I want you to fuck me."

He took in a sharp breath, understanding my words. "Are you...are you sure?"

I nodded and smiled softly. "As I'll ever be." I answered.

☀️

Authors Note:

Ooop! It's going downnnn.