All The Ways We Touch [MxM]

twenty-four - cold water pt. one

After breakfast, Elliot had taken care of the dishes and put away leftovers. Jamison had done well and ate an entire pancake and a half, which was particularly impressive given each was the size of a dinner plate and had been soaked in syrup.

"So, are you ready to go back upstairs?"

Jamison nodded and slowly pushed back his chair, getting back up to standing, his body aching from sitting against a hard surface. Even though they were cushioned, the chair was still much less forgiving than his body needed.

"Yeah," he said, his fingers scratching around the bandage on his forehead as he walked out of the room. Itchiness around the wound had been driving him crazy since he woke up but he'd tried to ignore it, the area still very tender. There wasn't much he could do about it anyway.

"Are you in any pain?" Elliot asked as he followed behind him. "When was the last time you took a pain pill?"

"Before bed." Jamison continued cautiously rubbing the edges of the bandage, only becoming more annoyed when he felt no relief. "I'm doing okay. Truthfully, I don't like pills and medication so I try not to take them unless necessary." Being force-fed medication had done a great job of associating all pills as being negative.

While Elliot didn't want Jamison to suffer through pain, it was clear that he had strong feelings about it and it wasn't his place to convince him of otherwise. "I appreciate you telling me that. Just let me know if you'd prefer something less extreme; like some ibuprofen, if that makes a difference," he said, slowly making his way up the stairs. Jamison's honesty continued to comfort him. 'No wonder he was so disinterested in the Xanax.'

Once he'd reached the landing, Jamison turned and looked in the opposite direction than Elliot's room. There was a hall that led to another door and he tilted his head as he looked at it.

"What's in that room?" It couldn't be the guest room, Vera and Jack had slept there after the night at the beach but they never went upstairs. Besides, why would you want a guest room so close to your bedroom? Assuming you had the option, which Elliot did.

"Junk," Elliot said cooly, a contradiction of the deep frown on his face. "A bunch of stuff I've been meaning to get rid of."

Jamison turned and looked back at him, a brow raised. Elliot didn't seem like the type to hoard a bunch of things he didn't want or need, but then again, he'd really only gotten a good look at his bedroom. Sure, his closet was packed with entirely too many clothes, but that wasn't uncommon for most people. "Really? Can I see?"

Being stabbed sounded more pleasant than opening that door. Elliot shook his head. "Maybe some other time. Is that okay?"

Shrugging, Jamison passed by him, scratching around the bandage again. "Of course it's okay. It's your castle, princess."

Elliot's occasional secretiveness was intriguing, albeit a little frustrating, but Jamison didn't want to be a hypocrite and push Elliot to open up when he was patient with him. There would come a time when Elliot decided to open the door and let him in. Both literally and figuratively.

More talk of the castle reminded Elliot of Jamison's earlier comment. 'Should I bring it back up? Should I wait and see if he says something? What if that was his way of trying to bring it up and he's waiting for me to say something? What if he thinks I don't want him to move in now because I haven't?'

Unfortunately, the arrival of their breakfast had interrupted a pretty special moment and he wanted to discuss that too, but he was a little iffy on whether they should dive right back into it or let there be more of a break before another serious conversation. He was still emotionally exhausted from the ordeal and was unsure how long it would take to recover. In the meantime, he felt especially on edge and unable to regulate and properly process his emotions. It was a little worrisome but there wasn't much he could do about it.