A Grown-Up Love Story

Recipient: kaydeefalls
Author: tuuli1109
Pairing: Dominic/Elijah
Rating: R


---

I'm so much older than I can take.

-- The Killers: All These Things That I've Done

~*~*~

Being seventeen had been frustrating as fuck, Dom remembered. At seventeen, you were between worlds. You were nowhere near being a child, but you surely weren't considered an adult, either. The world of children, the bright-eyed naivety, the unshakable faith in the world, it was all gone. Yet there was nothing to replace it.

Seventeen was the most frustrating age, because you weren't a child, but you weren't allowed to take part in the world of grown-ups, either. According to the law, it was all or nothing ® eighteen was all, seventeen was nothing.

Being eighteen had been much, much better. It was amazing how much clearer the world got once you were allowed to make all your own decisions. Once you were allowed to buy your own beer. At the age of eighteen, Dom had been happier. Ready to face the world. Ready to build himself a life.

A few weeks after his nineteenth birthday, however, he'd had a small epiphany.

He'd never be seventeen years old again.

Seventeen wasn't difficult or frustrating to everyone. To some people, seventeen had been a painful, nearly tragic experience. Some people weren't ready to grow up yet. Some people had tales to tell of being seventeen, of tragedy and pain and loss and confusion. Some people had lived it to the fullest, had enjoyed themselves, enjoyed their last year of childhood. Had felt sheltered for the last time, and enjoyed it, enjoyed knowing their lives were about to change into something completely different. All Dom could remember of being seventeen years old, was sneaking out on Friday nights to get drunk with friends older than himself, and being frustrated a lot.

And now seventeen was gone, and Dom would never have it back again. He'd never be able to make it memorable.

It was the first time ever that Dom felt old.

~*~*~

Billy's eyes were tinted with a concerned shade of green. "Dom," he said with some alarm, some urgency. His eyes asked, are you sure?

"Billy," Dom shot back, with conviction, ignoring the question in the eyes.

Billy sighed. "I'm just worried," he said.

The corner of Dom's mouth curled downwards in a dark grimace. "Don't be." For a brief moment, there was a shadow over his face, making him look far older than his 22 years.

There was something in the air, an unspoken tension hanging above them. The lack of light-hearted teasing and the quietness in Dom's eyes were sure signs of the seriousness of the situation.

Billy rubbed at his forehead with the heel of his hand. "Eighteen years old, Dom," he said in exasperation.

Dom gave him a dark look. "And he's got a longer resumé than you and I put together."

~*~*~

No matter how hard he tried, however, Dom wasn't able to put the conversation he'd had with Billy behind him. It seemed Billy's concern was contagious. Or maybe Dom was touched in the head. Or both.

Dom had to give it to him, though. Elijah was 18 years old, and he looked every bit as young. Even more so. He was tiny, too, short and skinny, with big eyes and a wide smile, and a body that was constantly in motion. The description, when put so bluntly, could've fit a number of 7-year-olds. On the outside, Elijah was a boy.

"Are you even fucking listening?" Elijah seemed amused. He stood there, leaning on the door of his trailer, completely relaxed even though he was fully aware Dom had been staring at him for the last five minutes.

"Course," Dom said immediately.

Could it be, then? He knew for a fact he was falling for Elijah, falling for him hard. Had his growing infatuation anything to do with the fact that Elijah was so young? Was he only interested because Elijah made him feel young?

Elijah rolled his eyes, which didn't make him look any more mature. "Right," he said, sounding like he didn't believe it for a second, but continued chattering on nevertheless.

They only had four years between them. Four years was nothing, if one was 46 and the other 42. But Elijah was eighteen, and Dom...he wanted to be eighteen again. He'd never got over growing out of his teens.

There's nothing worse, nothing more boring than being a responsible adult. Dom misses the life of a young adult, misses the crushes and those first loves that left him intoxicated, even if they never lasted.

What Dom and Elijah have is intense, and it's not easy on Dom. It's not easy on him, because when he was Elijah's age, all his love affairs were intense. And very, very short.

~*~*~

At night, Dom watched Elijah sleep, watched as his eyelashes fluttered in dreams, watched his chest rise and fall in time with quiet, even breaths. Elijah's cheeks were smooth and his nails were bitten, and the moonlight made him look even younger than usual.

Dom sighed softly, but couldn't bring himself to stop looking.

Elijah hadn't looked so young half an hour earlier, when he'd been writhing beneath Dom, his legs wrapped around Dom's waist, letting out pleasure-filled gasps and sucking in air through clenched teeth. He never looked young when he was on his knees in front of Dom, looking up with dark, passionate, wicked eyes.

Dom couldn't resist the temptation to touch him, so he brought up a hand and brushed his knuckles against Elijah's cheek. Elijah stirred, turning his head away from the irritating touch. He blinked in the dim room, taking in Dom's open eyes and somber expression. He rolled over, wrapping an arm and a leg over Dom's body and murmuring affectionately, "Go to sleep, you moron." Within seconds, he'd fallen back asleep.

Dom grinned stupidly at the ceiling, and finally allowed exhaustion to claim him.

~*~*~

Cigarettes and coffee and swear words. Pieces of the adult world. Signs of a youngster trying to appear cool. Signs of a youngster trying to appear older.

Dom watched Elijah, who had a cigarette in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, and who was talking to Orlando a mile a minute, every other word some sort of curse.

Unconsciously, Dom gritted his teeth.

Elijah spotted Dom and his eyes lit up in a way that always made butterflies appear in the pit of Dom's stomach, and gave him a cheerful wave with the hand that was holding the cigarette.

Dom found himself drawn to Elijah, just like that.

~*~*~

Something had changed. Dom could tell that immediately. Billy's eyes, even though they still looked vaguely concerned, were no longer full of urgency or alarm.

"Lij says," Billy started slowly, "that even before you two got involved, you were his favourite person on set."

Dom raises an eyebrow, waits for continuation. That's certainly not a surprise. They'd have little business being together if they weren't each other's favourite people.

"He says," Billy continued, "that he liked you best because you never treated him as a child, and always as an equal."

"He's not a child," Dom said in a voice that had a distinct edge of 'I told you so' to it.

"He says he's never felt like this before," Billy said, sounding like he'd feel more awkward discussing this if it weren't so important. "He says he's never been in love like this.

Inwardly, Dom cringed just a little, remembering his own first love. It had lasted all of three months.

Billy tilted his head to one side, a touch of awe creeping into his eyes, replacing the concern there. "He may be young, Dom, but as they say, he's got an old soul."

And Dom knew, immediately. Elijah was ready for this. Elijah was, in some ways, older than him, more mature than him. Elijah was, at the age of 18, ready for something that Dom hadn't been ready until now.

An adult relationship.

A lasting relationship.

~*~*~

Cigarettes, coffee and swear words were part of the adult world, even if youngsters had taken to imitating them.

It was different when Elijah looked a bit guilty pulling a cigarette out of the pack. When he seemed annoyed with his addiction because Dom refused to kiss him, saying he tasted too much like cigarettes. When it stopped being a sign of young rebellion and became merely a reminder of it.

It was different when coffee was the only thing that had Elijah up at five am., so that he could work incredibly hard all day, harder than most others.

It was different when Elijah had his head thrown back in ecstacy, clawing at Dom's back, whispering, "Fuck," under his breath time and again.

In all the ways that it mattered, Elijah was very much an adult. In some ways, he was more mature than Dom.

At least, Dom mused as Elijah efficiently wrapped himself around Dom and fell asleep, trapping Dom firmly in place, Elijah knew exactly what he wanted and wasn't about to let some childish, unimportant worries get in the way of getting it.

 


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