Alright, here goes nothing! Sorry again for the wait. Thanks for sticking with it and letting me share this with you all. It's been an amazing experience!!
* * * * THE FINAL CHAPTER * * * *
The days started blending together and slowly transformed into weeks, then months. Dominick thought it would be more painful to give up on Derek, but he was comfortably numb in the whole situation. He was enjoying the warmer weather and the friends he made in California.
Dominick had received some attention from the local guys, but chose to focus on his work and getting back into shape for dance auditions.
Certain songs, movies, and places brought back memories of Derek, but at this point they were more like a dream than a tangible part of Dominick’s history. He suddenly realized it had been three months without a word between them.
As that realization surprised him, his phone rang. It was a blocked number. He normally wouldn’t answer blocked calls, but he was trying to find a second job and didn’t want to risk missing a potential employer.
“Hello?” Dominick answered with curiosity.
“Dominick?” Derek’s voice was like a punch in the stomach. Dominick was too breathless to respond.
“Can we talk?” Derek added.
“Umm… About what?” Dominick replied as he regained his composure.
“Just meet me at the pier, please.” Derek pleaded.
“The pier? What pier?” Dominick asked in disbelief.
“Santa Monica Pier. I’ll be waiting!” Derek answered and hung up before Dominick could decline.
A big part of Dominick was screaming that it was trap and he shouldn’t go. But he was far too curious to ignore it. What was Derek even doing in California?!
It seemed like the weather was playing witness to this dramatic reconnection.
The clouds had gathered and there were strong gusts of winds that blew Dominick’s hair around as he wrapped his jacket tighter around himself. He only lived about two blocks away from the pier, so it was a quick walk. He could see Derek standing against the handrail on the wooden deck as he approached.
“I didn’t think you’d come…” Derek confessed as Dominick closed the distance between them. Derek wrapped his arms around Dominick. It wasn’t their usual shared embrace, though. Dominick stood awkwardly with his arms to his side and his body tensed.
“So um… What’s going on?” Dominick broke the silence.
“Listen, Nicky.” Derek took a deep breath. “I’m not here to ask you to come back.”
“Good.” Dominick interrupted. All the anger and hurt feelings he had bottled up were starting to resurface at once.
Derek looked at the ground for a moment. This was the face he usually made when a situation got difficult. It always resorted in him disconnecting from the conversation.
“But I do want to tell you I’m sorry I didn’t ask you to stay.” Derek finally said, maintaining eye contact.
“I’m sorry. I can’t do this, Derek. Things are good here and I’m settling in and… It’s just too much. I appreciate the sentiment, really.” Dominick interrupted and turned back to return home.
Derek jogged behind him and grabbed his shoulders.
“I understand, Dominick. But please let me talk to you for a minute. Just hear me out. And then if you want to walk away, you can.”
“I don’t mean to sound like a dick, but I can walk away right now just as easily and not lose any sleep over it. I appreciate the effort and what not. But seriously, what’s the point of this?!”
“The point is that I love you, Dominick.”
“You know what? This isn’t fair, Derek. I promised myself I was done with this whole situation the day I left. I waited in the car for at least five minutes before I left just to see if you’d come out the front door because I didn’t want to give up on you.” Dominick’s voice was shaking.
“It’s like my days run together. My weekends are long and lonely. I don’t have any drive at work anymore... You always told me it would take a major loss for me to change. It took me a long time to realize it, but that loss was you.” Derek’s voice was shaking now, too.
“This is the kind of stuff that started all of our problems in the first place. You think you can say things like that to me and I’m not supposed to misinterpret it at all?!” Dominick was pissed, but he knew it was just a mask for the pain that was jabbing him all over.
“You’re not listening, Dominick.” Derek sighed.
Before Dominick could open his mouth to continue defending himself, Derek placed his hand on the back of Dominick’s head and closed the distance between their lips. At first it was an awkward kiss. Dominick didn’t respond for several seconds.
But when Dominick’s lips returned the kiss, it was like fireworks. He placed a hand on Derek’s cheek and surrendered to the moment. Both of their bodies were shaking with every moment they remained connected.
“I’m scared, Derek.” Dominick whispered when their lips parted.
“Don’t be.” Derek whispered back, pulling Dominick in to retry the embrace he pictured them sharing earlier. Dominick responded properly this time, squeezing Derek tightly.
“I said I wasn’t here to ask you to come back, but I do want you back. I put in a transfer to our West Coast office. It’s about a half hour from here.” Derek explained.
“So what does this mean?” Dominick asked firmly.
“It means I’m yours. And hopefully it means you’ll be mine, too.” Derek said nervously.
“I missed you.” Dominick answered and kissed Derek’s lips again. He waited so long for this moment, and it was completely worth it.
“It’s getting pretty nasty out here. Can I drive you home?” Derek asked, gesturing to his car. Dominick had walked right past it on the way down and didn’t even realize it was there. He assumed Derek had flown in.
“Where are you staying right now?” Dominick asked as they made their way back through the sand to the parking area.
“A hotel down the road. I was waiting to see how things would turn out before I started looking for apartments.” Derek answered.
“Well you must have been fairly confident if you transferred to the California branch and brought your car out here.” Dominick smiled.
“Confident, no. Very hopeful, though. Plus, I thought it would take a few tries.” Derek laughed.
“I’d invite you in, but I’m not allowed to have people over while I’m living with Jennifer. House rules.” Dominick explained as the car came to stop in front of Jennifer’s house.
“It’s cool.” Derek smiled.
Dominick leaned across the center console to steal one more kiss before returning to the house. It was just as passionate as their first kiss. Derek twisted in his seat until he was completely facing Dominick. He ran his fingers through Dominick’s hair, starting above his ear and stopping at the back of his head. His hand dropped to Dominick’s neck as he pulled him in closer.
Derek only pulled his soft lips away to fit in a couple stray words.
“You know…. You…. Could stay…. With me tonight…” He finally managed.
“I’ll go get my things.” Dominick answered, forcing himself to break away.
Cool air rushed into the hallway as Derek pushed the door of the hotel room open. Derek was relieved to see there was only one queen-sized bed in the room. He had missed the feeling of Derek’s body in the bed next to him. Not that there was much chance of them spending the night in separate beds anyway.
“I’m gonna hop in the shower.” Derek said as he disappeared into the bathroom.
Dominick distracted himself by channel surfing while he sat on the edge of the bed. He wondered if Derek had brought his body wash with him. He opened a bottle in the store several months ago, but it wasn’t the same in the bottle as it was on Derek’s freshly-showered skin. He had to adjust his pants as he remembered the smell and the sight of Derek wrapped in a towel.
His heart began to race as the shower came to a stop. After a brief period of silence, Derek emerged from the bathroom with his towel wrapped low around his waist. His hair was still dripping wet and his body was glistening with moisture. The towel was clearly just for decoration.
Dominick couldn’t help but stare, and Derek knew it judging by the devilish grin on his face. He walked to the edge of the bed and straddled one of Dominick’s knees. Dominick removed his eyes from Derek’s abs and looked up at him while biting his bottom lip nervously.
“Are you sure about this?” Dominick mumbled.
Derek didn’t answer. He just unraveled the towel and let it drop to the floor at his feet. Dominick’s heart was about to burst out of his chest with excitement.
Dominick placed both hands on Derek’s thighs and slowly ran them up to his abs. He returned them to Derek’s waist as he gently kissed a trail down to Derek’s erection. Dominick hadn’t even touched Derek’s cock, but it was already hard as a rock and throbbing. It was easy to assume that Dominick wasn’t the only one waiting for this moment.
Derek’s entire body shuddered violently as Dominick finally took him into his mouth. His breathing became more rhythmic, but just as heavy as time passed. As he became more relaxed, he placed both hands on the back of Dominick’s head and secured a nice grip on his hair. This was a major turn on for Dominick.
No more than two minutes had passed before Derek started peeling off Dominick’s shirt. Barely missing a beat, Dominick pulled it the rest of the way over his head. Derek pulled away for a moment. He kissed Dominick on the forehead and crossed behind him to lie on the hotel bed.
Dominick stood and removed his pants before following. He kept the momentum going with his hand as he bit and licked Derek’s nipples. His assumption that Derek had a nipple fetish was confirmed by the off-guard moaning and toe-curling.
“Oh God. Stop for a second.” Derek could barely manage.
“What’s wrong?” Dominick almost panicked.
Derek took a few deep breaths before sitting up on his knees. He laid his body on top of Dominick’s and began kissing his neck passionately. Dominick arched his back as the combination of Derek’s warm mouth and cool breath sent chills down his spine in waves.
He reached between them and continued pinching Derek’s nipples. That apparently activated Derek’s dominant side. He quickly grabbed Dominick’s wrists and held them against the pillow above Dominick’s head.
“Right now is about you.” Derek whispered as he returned to kissing his neck.
He made his way very slowly from his neck to his chest and spent what seemed like an hour on Dominick’s nipples. Dominick didn’t even realize his wrists had been freed until Derek began stroking him.
It was like the world disappeared. Dominick almost always had something else on his mind throughout the day, but right now his brain was silent. Between that and the physical pleasure from Derek’s hands and mouth, he thought he might explode.
“Fuck me, Derek.” He blurted.
Derek looked nervous for a moment as he sat up on the bed.
“Or… um…” Dominick mumbled when he realized he had killed the momentum. He wanted to bang his face into his palm once or twice.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stop.” Derek finally managed. He retrieved a condom and lube from the nightstand next to the bed. Dominick giggled as he realized how pre-planned this whole event had been.
Dominick pushed Derek onto his back when he was ready. Derek’s cock hadn’t lost a single percentage of hardness the whole time. He grabbed Derek’s wrists this time and placed them above his head, just as Derek had done moments ago. The devilish grin returned to Derek’s face, and his body gave a corresponding shiver.
It took a minute for Dominick to comfortably lower himself onto Derek’s erection. It didn’t take long after that for him to get lost in the pleasure and release Derek’s wrists, though. He was amazed at the way Derek made him fill full without causing much extra discomfort. It was perfection.
After a few moments at the peak of their momentum, Derek reached up and rolled them both over. Dominick was now on his back and Derek was on his knees between Dominick’s legs. Dominick snuck a pillow under his lower back as Derek guided his leg into the air.
Dominick gasped again as Derek re-entered him. He was slower and gentler now than he had been the whole night. He leaned forward to kiss Dominick, surprised to see that Dominick’s leg easily accommodated the position.
“Wow I can tell you started dancing again.” Derek chuckled as their lips parted. Dominick laughed, too, before stealing another quick kiss.
Derek remained lip-locked with Dominick as he began again. Dominick could tell that he was getting close to finishing because his body tensed and the kiss paused briefly with every thrust.
Derek finally removed himself from the kiss just in time to release a gasping moan. His body shuddered in waves as he came. Just the idea of Derek cumming was enough to push Dominick over the edge, too.
Derek rolled over next to Dominick and they both took a few deep breaths as they came down from the climax.
“That was amazing.” Derek half-whispered. “Why didn’t we do that sooner?”
“Because you’re a dumbass.” Dominick laughed. Derek laughed as well.
“Time for a shower!” Dominick finally said, hopping off the bed.
“I could use another one, too.” Derek answered, following him into the bathroom.
When they emerged from the shower, Dominick retrieved his underwear and Derek pulled a pair of boxers from his bag. They climbed into the bed after Derek stripped the comforter off and Derek turned on the TV.
Coincidentally, there was a marathon of one of the shows they used to watch together. It felt like home even though they were in a hotel room. They both relaxed next to each other until Derek finally broke the silence.
“Why’d you do it? Just out of curiosity, I mean…” He asked.
“What do you mean?” Dominick asked nervously.
“Why did you give me another chance?”
Dominick thought for a moment before responding.
“I guess I’m a bit of a masochist. Everything has been going smoothly over here and fairly stress-free. But I would rather risk the pain with you than settle for the comfort of a risk-free life.”
“I love you.” Derek answered.
“I love you, too.” Dominick responded, snuggling closer.
“Okay my turn… What brought on this whole change?” Dominick asked.
“I told you already that it was because I lost you.” Derek answered.
“Well, I know. But you lost me three months ago. That’s kind of a delayed reaction.” Dominick laughed.
“Well… You probably won’t like this explanation.” Derek warned.
“Never stopped you before!” Dominick smiled. Derek let out a short laugh before continuing.
“After you left, Gina started giving me a hard time for being ‘distant’. One night she finally blew up on me and ended things between us. She said I was a closet case and she could tell there was something between me and you since the night she met you. Then she said I needed to grow a pair and either get you back or get over it.” Derek explained.
“Oh. That’s kind of ironic, actually. Who would have thought Gina would be the one to thank?!”
“I blew it off for a while, but then my family started making similar comments. It wasn’t until Amber started asking about you that I realized how much I really missed you. I guess I wasn’t kidding when I said we’re lifers.”
“I’ve missed you and Amber a lot, too.” Dominick sympathized.
“But that’s all in the past now.” Derek cheered, squeezing Dominick with the arm that was wrapped under his shoulders.
Dominick settled back into Derek’s arm and laid his ear to Derek’s chest. There were a lot of unsettled curiosities and nervousness buried in him, but he was sure of a few things.
They may never be perfect together and things may not last forever. But regardless of what happened in the past and what would come to be in the future, at this very moment in time they loved each other. And to both of them, nothing else mattered.
THE END