The Whole Thing

The Part With The Sunset

He was having this dream. It felt so real. When he touched the walls, he could feel every bump, every crease, every dent. When he breathed the air, it tasted as sweet as the air from his home. When he listened to Noel's voice, his heartbeat would rise just as rapidly. When he kissed Noel's lips, they glided like they did back in reality.

In the dream, he had complete control. He was no longer afraid of what his life would be but rather excited as to what it would become. He cut his hair, shaved his beard, took out a loan and employed Noel to do the same. Noel would steal from his friends and go a ridiculous bleached blonde. In the dream, they got stupid matching tattoos on a drunken night and had sex in a stranger's pool. Noel would swipe engagement rings and they'd wear them like they actually had a chance of getting married at all. Julian stayed in contact with his twins, visiting them whenever it was safe. Yet, the dynamic duo would eventually be run out of Europe and be forced to find another continent to settle and live the rest of their lives as happily committed fugitives.

His favourite part about the dream was driving off into the sunset.

He awoke to Noel playing with his smokey hair. Noel's eyes were glazed over like he was still tired. Julian tried not to stop the contact as he twisted his head slightly to check the time. It was only two in the morning and he yearned to return to his desirable dream. Yet now Noel had noticed his consciousness, he had other plans.

Noel slowly shuffled closer to him in the bed, a hand creeping up to his neck and his fingers sprawling out between Julian's strands of hair. Julian rested his hand on Noel's lower back as the criminal placed soft, morning kisses on his lips. There was no need to rush the tender embraces and most were left still for a few minutes before their mouths parted again. Soon, Noel slid his lazy tongue into Julian's mouth. He welcomed it. It wasn't a passionate, fierce collision but rather a gentle, tired gliding together.

"I love you" Noel breathed, pulling back from the kissing.

Julian smiled and started to play with his hair. He put a gentle kiss on his forehead before leaning back and closing his eyes.

"You can't go to sleep" Noel whimpered, "You gotta say it back"

"I love you"

Julian's eyes were still shut, however, which resulted in Noel pinching him. He hesitated but soon his eyes were open and he was looking into the criminal's dark pupils.

"I love you" He repeated, "I love you, I love you, I love you"

He started to attack him with kisses all over his face. Noel giggled and tried to escape them but with minimal effort.

"We should go"

Noel said with his last chuckle. He reached out and stroked Julian's bristled cheek.

"We should go... to sleep? I agree. There's a lot of driving to be done tomorrow"

"No. We should go right now"

"Where?"

"Anywhere"

"Go to sleep, little man" Julian sighed.

Noel just shook his head. He parted from their cuddling and got out of bed. He pulled on the nearest pair of jeans and turned around, hands on hips, to glare at his lover. Julian found the look quite amusing.

"I'm being bloody serious"

"What? We'd just leave your friends? Are we coming back?"

"No way. You and me, let's go and never come back"

"I don't understand"

Noel sighed and walked around to the other side of the bed. He sat beside Julian and grabbed his hand to lovingly hold.

"You said it yourself, you can't go back to your life now. You can't live without me, so don't. Don't live without me. Bloody hell. Come with me. We'll ditch those bastards and we can live the life of the rogues together"

"Are you insane?!"

"Fuck off. If I wasn't, you wouldn't love me"

"That's not true"

"Are you in or not?"

"Why would you abandon your friends?"

Noel groaned and stood up. He started pacing down the side of the room. He looked as if he was battling with himself on whether to say something or not.

"They're animals!" He finally grunted, "They wanted to kill ya. I told 'em no way, you're mine, they ain't havin' ya. They didn't care one bit. They said once you get us where we need to go, they have to execute ya. There can't be any witnesses, especially an ex-cop. You could rat us out, they said. Plus you've got money, money we need"

"Oh"

"So, let's go. To hell with them! I want to be with you. I don't want to be with them and I don't want them to kill you. Even if I lived a life without ya, I would still need you to be alive. So, let's leave. We just gotta change our names, our clothes, our hair. Get as far away from this place as possible. We'll take the car and we'll drive off into the sunset!"

"The sunset?"

"Yeah... Ain't that the right expression?"

Julian just grinned from ear to ear. He rushed out of bed and into Noel's arms. He squeezed him so tight, he could've broken his ribs. Noel laughed at the sudden burst of affection and they quickly kissed as if it would seal the deal.

"Let's go" Julian rasped, pushing Noel's hair out of his eyes.

"Yeah, well, get dressed, ya berk"

Now Julian was laughing. He grabbed his clothes from yesterday and Noel grabbed his belongings from the motel room. They made the bed and with a final look, turned the lights off.

They hurried down the steps of the little motel and to Julian's car. They jumped in, shared a quick kiss and drove off into the 'sunset'.