Eli

*11*

TROYE

I looked at myself in the mirror one more time. Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I decided that the tie was too much and pulled it off, tossing it to the side where it landed somewhere on the floor.

A moment later, however, I wanted it again and was about to go and search for it when my doorbell rang. I was out of time. Ditching the tie, I hurried to the front door of my apartment, pulling it open to find Jacob stood on the tiny porch with a smile on his face.

"Hi." He said before leaning close to kiss me. I just let him go, looping my arms around his neck as I kissed him back. We broke apart when I heard someone clearing their throat and I looked over Jacob's shoulder to see my rude old neighbour, Donald Addington, looking at us with a look of disgust on his face.

"The two of you are going to hell." He told us bluntly and I rolled my eyes, opening my mouth to reply but Jacob beat me to it.

"Good. We'll have a little party down there. I hear it's better than Heaven anyway. I heard that it gets so cold up there that the angels' wings freeze so they fall from the sky." Biting my lip, I held in a snigger as Donald stalked off, clearly at a loss for words.

"Thanks for that," I said to Jacob once he was gone, my arms still around his neck. "He's the grumpiest old man. Always making comments like that."

"I couldn't just let it go. I won't let someone talk that way to somebody I care about." He told me, kissing me once more.

I smiled and hugged him tightly before realising something and looking around.

"Where's Elijah?"

"At my apartment with my friend, Harry." He replied as I reached for my phone, wallet and keys from the table inside the door.

"Oh. I thought... I mean, don't you...um..." Tonight was the night I was supposed to finally meet his son for the first time and we'd planned to go out for dinner at Elijah's favourite restaurant.

"Hey, don't stress. It's just that I got caught up in the city and I didn't have enough time to go home and get him before coming to get you so I thought I'd get you first and then at my place we can figure out if we want to actually go out or just order pizza or something." He explained.

"Right. Okay. That makes sense." I nodded, following him to where his car was parked. 

In the three weeks since I'd found out about his son, we'd seen each other at least three times a week, mostly with me going into the diner where he worked during my lunch break. But a few times, he'd taken me out to dinner, telling me stories about his life with Elijah. I still didn't know what the story was with the little boy's mom but I figured Jacob would tell me when he was ready.

We drove the short distance to his apartment block and talked about his day on the way. He'd had to go into the city for a meeting at the magazine he worked for. Apparently, there were new things happening that everyone was really excited for and Jacob was a big part of that. I was excited for him, especially hearing how he talked about everything.

Before I knew it, we were pulling up to what I assumed was his apartment block. My heart started beating a little faster and Jacob must have noticed my anxiety rising and reached over to squeeze my hand.

"You're nervous." It was a statement, not a question.

"A bit. What if he doesn't like me?" It was something I had lost sleep over the last few nights. I cared about Jacob so much and I knew if his son didn't get along with me, it was a deal breaker.

"He will."

"But what about you told me about him being scared you'd forget about him?"

"He got over that. I told you." He touched my cheek gently and I turned to look at him. "He's going to love you."

With that said, he got out of the car, waiting patiently for me on the sidewalk. I knew that tonight, no matter what happened, I had to make sure Elijah knew that I wasn't going to take his dad away from him. When I finally felt ready, I got out too and took hold of Jacob's hand as he led me inside to the elevator bay.

The ride up to the fifth floor was silent and I followed him down the hallway to his apartment. He stopped at the door and turned to me, gently resting his hand against my cheek.

"It'll be fine. " He said, reaching for the door which suddenly flew open and a small human leapt into Jacob's arms. The guy barely had time to react and catch his son but he laughed as the little boy hugged him tightly. "Hey, Flash. Did you miss me today?"

"Yeah. This much." Elijah replied, holding his arms out wide as Jacob held him tightly. I smiled hearing his interaction with his son for the first time, barely noticing the other man appearing in the doorway.

"He's been a tiny ball of energy from the second you left, Jacob." The man, who I assumed was Harry, spoke and Jacob looked at him.

"Yeah, well, that only seems to happen when you watch him. So what does that tell you?" He teased and Harry rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, whatever. Have fun tonight guys. Nice to meet you, Troye." I was surprised that he knew my name but then I realised that Jacob must have talked about me and my heart fluttered a little.

"You too." I smiled and shook his hand when he offered. He said goodbye to Elijah and Jacob before heading down the hall, leaving us stood in the doorway.

"Come on in, Troye," Jacob said, going inside and toeing off his shoes as he put Elijah on the floor again. The little boy scurried off, further into the apartment and Jacob turned to me. "You're quiet."

"Just observing," I replied with a smile, putting my own shoes beside his. "He's cute."

"For now." He laughed as I followed him into what I assumed was the living room. "Elijah Flynn, what have I told you about crayons on the floor?" Jacob slipped into dad-mode when he noticed the coffee table was covered in an array of brightly coloured crayons, some of which had fallen to the floor.

"Sorry, daddy." 

"Are you going to say 'hello' to my friend?" Jacob asked once the crayons were collected in their box again. I was perched on the armrest of a nearby sofa, just watching as Elijah turned to look at me, his head tilted to the side as he considered something.

"Hello."

"Hi there, Elijah. It's really nice to finally meet you." I smiled at the little boy.

"You hurt my daddy." I was frozen in shock at what Jacob's son had just said to me, my eyes wide and my jaw dropped open. Jacob was lost for words too and the apartment fell into silence.