Missing Pieces

Puddles

Note: this one-shot is unedited from the original posting. If you've read Fanboy you now know this never actually happened but is just a dream Adam had.

"One year," Adam shook his head as he looked out over the beach.

"I hate to say it, but I never thought we'd get here," Eli kissed his shoulder.

"I know what you mean," Adam turned to face him. They were standing on the deck of their luxury bungalow in the Tahitian islands. "I've never been so torn in my life. I wanted you, this life, but letting go of Cole seemed like it would end me," he'd finally reached a point where saying his name didn't hurt anymore.

"I never wished him gone," Eli said. He'd said it before but Adam never stopped him from repeating it. "Sometimes I wished he would recover, so you could have the life you wanted with him. I wished you and I hadn't gotten close so I wouldn't know what I was missing."

"I can't tell you how glad I am to have you," Adam pulled him close. "You saved me, Eli. I lost so much of myself with Cole-"

"You didn't, you just put yourself aside," Eli insisted. "Don't say it like that."

"You brought me back," Adam kissed him. "I feel like I'm more myself with you than I've been in a very long time."

"I know exactly what you mean," Eli smiled. Inside their bungalow his phone buzzed. "So I know we said no presents but I might have broken the rules."

"Of course you did," Adam knew Eli couldn't let their anniversary go without doing something. He'd packed a present of his own, though it wasn't really a present and had little to do with their anniversary.

"I didn't spend any money though, so it's not really against the rules," Eli insisted. "And um," he suddenly looked nervous. "I'm not really sure how you'll feel about it but we talked about doing, um, something like this a few times and you always say you don't need it but I always got the feeling maybe you missed it."

"Oh, no," Adam felt his heart drop. "Eli, you didn't get us a hooker did you?"

"No," Eli shook his head. "But I-"

"Babe, I love you," Adam pulled him back into his arms. "We've talked about this, just like you said. I promise, I don't want to have sex with other people. Just you. It was fun, and I had to get used to there never being other people, but at this point I'm over it. I only want you."

"I know that," Eli said, pulling away. "I believe you. But I also know it's fun to do something different every now and then and it doesn't have to be a normal thing. Just that crazy thing that happened once."

"So you did get us a hooker?" Adam asked.

"Okay, I know I'm not a saint but stop calling me that," A very familiar voice rang out.

"Maddox?" Adam squinted down into the darkness below the deck. "Please tell me you're joking."

"Are you mad?" Eli asked. "We don't have to if you don't want to, but I thought maybe," he shrugged. Eli always looked adorable when he was nervous. "This isn't the end of our private time either, they have their own-"

"They?" Adam repeated.

"Um, yeah," Eli bit his lip. "I didn't think it was okay to just ask Maddox, that seemed weird."

"Weirder than asking our best friends to a foursome?" Adam raised his eyebrows.

"Oh my god, you hate it," Eli looked crushed. "I can't believe I got it so wrong, I'm so sorry Adam, I never would have-"

"Shh," Adam grinned and shook his head. "I love it. Just this once, just because it's them, and just because I love you."

"I love you too," Eli said. "So you're not mad?"