All The Ways We Touch [BxB]

fifty-seven - heaven is a place on earth pt. one

A throbbing in his bladder brought Elliot out of a dreamless sleep, but before he could check what time it was, he hurried out of bed to take a long piss. It was strange that he was naked, as he didn't normally sleep that way, but when he tried to remember why, all he could recall was Jamison kissing him, then leaving to get him water. 'I must've passed out on him. How embarrassing.'

Through the window in the bathroom, he could see that it was the early dawn, the sky just beginning to lighten into a deep indigo. It'd been months since he'd woken up that early, but it felt oddly nice. When he returned to the bedroom, he picked up his phone and checked the time, finding that it was just after five, far too early to get up for the day. Unfortunately, energy coursed through him, and although it would only wake him up further, he decided to step out onto the patio for a smoke. It'd been a long time since he'd sat there and watched the sunrise, and while he wasn't particularly eager to do so, there was a calming familiarity to it. Taking the blanket from the closet, he wrapped it tightly around himself and then quietly stepped outside, his pack of cigarettes and lighter in hand. Slumping down onto the couch, he took a deep breath of the frigid air, which stung his lungs, and sank deeper into the blanket as he tapped out a cigarette and set it on his lip. Lifting the lighter, he paused as he looked out at the pool, watching steam rise from the warm water, a frown developing the longer he stared.

"Fuck," he hissed, taking the cigarette from his lip and setting it in the ashtray with a huff. Slipping back inside their bedroom, he left the cigarettes and lighter in their room and headed downstairs to the patio door.

"What am I doing?" He whispered as he left the blanket on the kitchen island and walked out into the cold completely nude. It was like his body had taken over, and despite every thought challenging his actions, he continued striding until he stood at the edge of the deep end of the pool. "What the fuck am I doing?"

Without further hesitation, he dove into the warm water like it hadn't been months since he'd last been in a pool. The water conformed to him, holding and welcoming him like an old friend as he glided beneath the surface, his mind completely blank. There was nothing else; no thoughts, desires, or worries, just feeling. The way his body slipped through the water, the blood pumping through him, the expansion of his lungs, everything was in service to one goal: get to the end of the pool and back. The whole world fell away when Elliot swam; it was just the water, the air in his lungs, the burning in his muscles, and concrete surrounding him. He was home.

Elliot did lap after lap, not bothering to count how many, until his body told him that it was time to stop. It was the only time when his mind and body were completely in tune, having achieved a harmony he couldn't otherwise manufacture. Well, that and sex. The sun had just risen as he hurried to an outdoor cabinet to grab a towel. It was too cold to stay outside for long, so he tried to dry his legs off enough that he wouldn't drip water all over the house as he ran up to their bathroom and took a quick shower, careful not to wake Jamison. Elliot didn't know what this meant and, as such, wasn't sure if he wanted to tell him yet; therefore, he decided to keep it to himself for now. When he was finished getting dressed, he took the flashcards off of Jamison's nightstand and headed back down to the living room to study, his phone left behind on his pillow for the alarm.

The shrill beeping sounded off, pulling Jamison out of a dream in which he'd spent nearly the entire time running through the forest, desperately trying to flee from an unseen force. When he didn't feel Elliot shift or hear his normal groan, and the alarm didn't get shut off, he finally sat up and looked around. "Elli?" He yawned as he reached over and turned it off himself. When there was no response, he got up and saw that, strangely, their bedroom door was open. "Elliot?" He called, wandering down the stairs, yawning loudly. "Where are you?"