Lion (manxboy)

Chapter 17

Early in the afternoon, when Lion received a phone call from the hospital, his mother was being moved down to the last floor. Lion was excited about this since his mother would probably be leaving the hospital after her grand operation.

The boy danced around the kitchen island as he cooked up dinner for Elijah and him. His hips swayed, and the light humming of a song lingered in the air along with the smell of freshly baked cinnamon cookies. Lion hadn't felt this happy since the day he was announced captain of his soccer team. The joy and excitement rushed through him. Lion waited patiently for Elijah to walk through the door, his feet tapping every time he would stop dancing.

The sound of the doorknob squeaking froze Lion in his place. His dark eyes narrowed to the door as it opened wide with Elijah walking in. The boy had a broad smile on his face as he padded his way around the kitchen island and put himself on his tiptoes to kiss Elijah. Elijah tensed but quickly relaxed, kissing Lion back with passion.

"How was your day?" Lion asked, pulling away from the kiss and moving back towards the cooking food.

Elijah sighed and undressed himself down to his boxers, "Shawn and Joshua had their last court day today, and Donovan was moved to his cell at the penitentiary." Elijah noticed the boy's confused expression and smiled, "Donovan was sentenced fifty years in prison for his crimes. He won't be coming back out any time soon." The man moved towards the bedroom to grab a pair of jogging pants.

Lion looked away and placed his spatula aside, taking in deep breaths, "I wish things could have gone differently." Lion mumbled.

The boy's neck healed with a slick scar, which his hand often rubbed over, and his foot had minor scarring along the top. Those wounds only reminded Lion of the incident.

"It happened a month ago, Lion, we got him, and he won't be escaping." Elijah reassured Lion, walking towards him with a small box in his hand, "I got you something before coming home. An old friend of mine wanted you to have it." Lion put the heat down on the stove and turned around. Lion took the box in his hands and slowly unwrapped it. Hesitantly, he popped the cover open only to reveal a silver-rimmed with a golden interior ring. Lion's mouth fell open in awe, his eyes watering with tears of joy, "she would have wanted you to have it. She made it herself."

Lion observed the promise ring with tears flowing down his cheeks before he put it on and jumped into Elijah's arms, "thank you, Elijah! Thank you so much. It's so pretty." Lion cried against Elijah's shoulder. His arms not letting go of the man.

Elijah adored seeing Lion happy, and he would do anything to keep him that way. He thought it would be too soon to ask Lion to be his boyfriend, so instead, Elijah asked his friend to craft him a ring. She wasn't wrong about Lion loving it.

"What are you cooking?" Elijah asked and followed Lion back to the stove, his arms always wrapped around the boy's waist, "smells nice." He added.

"I'm making fish fillets. I found my mom's old recipe book in one of my boxes a while ago and thought it would be nice to make something for you since you're always making the food." Lion smiled and placed his free hand against Elijah's. He adored every second of this moment and wouldn't want anything to change.

Elijah also smiled. He moved his thumb around and rubbed circles on Lion's stomach, watching the boy cook the food.

Lion finished up and put the fish on the plates. He then added the side mashed potatoes and small boiled carrots. Lion felt like his old self again, making food and doing more things around the house. Elijah gave Lion space, a light chuckle slipping his lips as he watched Lion pad around the kitchen and place the plates neatly on the counter.