Birds are chirping in the back and a gentle breeze rouses a sleeping man from his slumber. Short curly brown locks rustle as he struggles to open his eyes to the sunlight that penetrates the room. He moves to turn his back and sees an empty space in the bed beside him, sighing, he tries his best to get up to a sitting position from his bed. His hands move through his hair and he chuckles and thinks to himself "has it been that long or does my hair really grow that fast?". The picture frame of a past loved one on his bedside table reminds him it really has been that long.
A ginger cat jumps up on the bed and greets him, he scratches the feline's ears and pats her on the head. In the distant part of the home a song starts to play, he hears someone rustling with cutlery in the kitchen. Charles sees his chair set up near him and he brings himself to sit, the cat places herself on his lap and comes along with him. Rolling to see who is making noise in the kitchen he sees the stereo and turns up the music. Erik's busy cooking something to notice Charles rolling in; from the side, cutlery float into place on the table and a lone spoon seems to be stirring itself in a mug of hot coffee. "You know, I never pegged you as the type to enjoy music like this" Charles says to catch Erik's attention. The man who cooks remains his posture but the smile lines that appear on the side of his face give away the ruse. Erik turns around as the pan floats mid-air continuing to cook the eggs, he walks over to Charles and gives him a chaste kiss on the lips. Two feeding bowls on the ground grab the attention of the cat as she takes off for it.
"Good morning" Erik whispers as he rubs his temple against Charles. The pan starts hovering to the table and lays down the eggs on their plates as they settle on the table to start breakfast. Charles' hand intertwines with Erik's, a matching pair of gold bands on their fingers glimmer as rays of sunlight hit it. They eat happily when sudden barking interrupts their meal, "I'll get him, he seems to be done with his morning routine" Erik huffs as he gets up from the table. In an instant a yellow labrador attacks Charles with his slobber. "Hey, hey!" the man in the chair yelps in surprise as he gets attacked, it's not long after that the dog sees the full bowl of food and diverts its attention to it. Erik comes back and soon they return to their meals.
They clean up soon after and the pets are off to wherever and whatever they were doing, the stereo continues to play music in the background. Charles places himself in front of their open window, the sound of the stereo mixes with crashing waves on the beach. He places his hand on his back and feels for a scar that was placed there so long ago, memories come flooding back in until another hand stops him from continuing to feel it. "There's no use for reminiscing what happened before" Erik says as he kneels down beside Charles.
"I know, but on days like these, I can't help but imagine if we could have had this sooner if I had done things differently", there's pain in the tone of the man's voice as he says it. "You don't need to, what's important now is that we finally have it" Erik replies with softness he thought he never had, before Charles had found him. The years of pain and suffering leave their marks on the two men's faces but the smiles they have plastered on seems to erase everything the world made them deal with. Tears start falling down from Erik's eyes and Charles wipes them away, "All those years wasted fighting each other, Erik, now I finally have you back" Charles replies happily. Both men laugh happily at each other, the stereo switches to another song and it catches Charles attentions.
"Day after day, I must face a world of strangers. Where I don't belong, I'm not that strong. It's nice to know that there's someone I can turn to, Who will always care, you're always there"
"I love this song" Charles tells Erik
"When there's no gettin' over that rainbow, When my smallest of dreams won't come true. I can take all the madness the world has to give, But I won't last a day without you"
Erik looks at Charles and gives out his hand, "would you have this dance with me?". "As long as you can carry me" Charles challenges.
"So many times when the city seems to be, Without a friendly face, a lonely place. It's nice to know that you'll be there if I need you, And you'll always smile, it's all worthwhile"
Charles loops his arms around Erik's neck as he gets lifted up, his feet skitter on the floor but there's no feeling to it.
"When there's no gettin' over that rainbow, When my smallest of dreams won't come true. I can take all the madness the world has to give, But I won't last a day without you"
The familiar one two step is set in motion and Charles feels like he's back in his youth, back when he first met Erik.
"Touch me and I end up singing. Trouble seems to up and disappear. You touch me with the love you're bringing,I can't really lose when you're near. When you're near, my love"
Erik looks directly into Charles eyes and smiles with content. They press their foreheads together as Erik leads the waltz.
"If all my friends have forgotten half their promises they're not unkind, just hard to find. One look at you and I know that I couldn't learn to live without the rest. I've found the best"
Suddenly their dog joins in and jumps along beside them. The room is filled with laughter and the glow of sunlight warms the air around them.
"When there's no gettin' over that rainbow. When my smallest of dreams won't come true. I can take all the madness the world has to give, but I won't last a day without you"
Charles sings the last chorus to Erik and everything feels like it's in place. The creaking of the floorboards and the hearty laughs of two old lovers echo in the air. And as the song ends with its piano solo, they know they're at peace now. They spin around one last time before sharing a deep kiss as the music ends with a note.
Erik finally has Charles by his side,
and Charles finally has his Erik.