Fic: Unmasked
Fic: Unmasked
Author: Krissypoo21
Words: 1800
Characters: Kris and Adam
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I own nothing, unfortunately
Author comments: Written for the kiss fest at kradam_kiss. I used a prompt from Jerakeen (I have a thing for kisses on the palm, and the neck, and the wrist) plus one I read somewhere for kisses in the rain.
Summary: It’s time they let down their guard.
Adam’s cryptic on the phone. “I really need you to help me with something. Can you squeeze a couple hours out of your schedule?”
That’s the reason why Kris is punching an unfamiliar address into his GPS and heading outside LA on an overcast, windy morning in early December. He’s glad for the feel of being on the road, driving himself somewhere that’s not for a meeting or an interview or a PR gig - just Kris, alone with his thoughts. Thoughts about Adam.
He isn’t sure why his breathing is quickened, why his heart is aching. He supposes it’s because, deep down, he’s so lonely and he’s afraid he’ll say or do something he’ll regret, something that might ruin this friendship that means so much to him. Who else does he have but Adam now? He has friends he’s grown apart from because of the directions their lives have taken. He has a wife - he still can’t think of her as his “ex” - who’s also changed, who he no longer has anything in common with. He has family two thousand miles away. He has band members he’s just getting to know, except for Cale - who spends all this free time with the new girlfriend.
Then there’s Adam. If two people could have crazier, more hectic schedules than he and Adam have, he’s never met them. In the ten weeks since they said goodbye in Detroit and began their solo careers, he’s seen Adam all of three times: once for coffee, twice at the studio. Yet that doesn’t matter. Somehow they’ve managed to text every day and talk on the phone nearly every day, too. Some days, more than once, but that’s usually the days Kris is worrying about Adam, the days when he questions the things Adam lets himself get involved in. Days he knows Adam needs an encouraging word or a kick in the ass. Kris doesn’t mind that Adam’s enjoying the attention he’s getting - Adam was born for this! Even the crazy photo shoot with the naked lady didn’t bother Kris a lot. (Truth be told, Kris had loved the shoot because Adam looked even sexier than usual. Kris chuckles to himself, thinking about his own reaction to the shots, the way he hardly noticed the naked woman.)
What Kris does worry about is that Adam will fall back into the self-destructive patterns he so freely confesses from his past; the drinking, the drugs, the self-hate. Kris intends to keep Adam grounded. He loves Adam too much to let fame ruin him.
He’s also in love with Adam. He’s admitted it to himself, but never to Adam, never to anyone else, even Katy. He knows she knows Adam was one of the reasons they’d grown apart but it wasn’t something they talked about. It was just assumed.
The soothing voice on the GPS tells Kris to turn into an older neighborhood, a place where the houses aren’t cookie-cutter and the yards aren’t all the same size. He pulls in the driveway at one of those houses, a home one could only call “quaint.” Not something you found often in LA, a country-style front porch and a tangle of climbing ivy and flowers gone a bit wild. There’s a realtor sign in the front yard. Kris parks behind the Ford Mustang already there and climbs out of his matching (except for the color) Mustang, one of his few indulgences. Getting that dang Fusion for Katy was a bad decision.
A gust of wind hits him full force as he steps out. He can feel rain coming soon. It smells like rain. Leaves rustle as the wind whistles through, and gray clouds obscure the normally brilliant California sun.
Kris has no need of the sun, really. He’s meeting Adam. Adam’s face shines and his eyes twinkle when Kris strides up to greet him at the front porch, and he holds his arms open wide for Kris to take his familiar place against his strong chest as they wrap their arms around each other. They’ve never worried about extended hugs. It feels so right to be in one another’s arms, always has. There’s something different in this hug, though. Maybe it’s the pounding of Adam’s heart beneath him, a pounding that matches his own. For whatever reason they are here, Adam is nervous.
Adam pulls a set of keys out of his jeans pocket and grins. “I hope you don’t mind, but I really need you to see this house. I think I love it but I’m not sure.”
Kris beams a smile back. “For real! You’re about to make a dream come true!”
“Maybe.” Adam’s grin spreads. “Depends on a few things. One of those things is your opinion.”
Kris isn’t sure why his opinion matters, but he is curious about the house. He’s known Adam for over a year - thought he knew him as well as anybody he’s ever known, maybe even better than anybody else - and he’d never have picked this as something to catch Adam’s eye. Adam’s boots clunk against the wood porch as Adam moves to unlock the door, Kris’s tennis shoes less noisy as he follows. “I’m a little confused, Adam. Don’t realtors usually show houses? How come you have a key?”
“Special favor,” Adam responds. “The owners were willing to let me keep a key and come over when I want over the next week until I make my mind up. I think they’re pretty hopeful they have a sale.”
“Wouldn’t most people be thrilled to have someone looking at their house who can outright buy it, no bank financing involved?”
“Probably their thinking,” Adam says as the door swings open on hinges that creak only a little. Kris is a bit taken back when he steps over the threshold. He isn’t sure if Adam catches his surprised release of air, but this is too freaky. It looks like his grandparent’s house except larger. A cozy entryway serves to welcome visitors, with the main part of the house tucked behind the sitting area, and an old-fashioned staircase leading to the sleeping areas above, Kris guesses because of the familiarity.
Adam takes him on the full tour. There’s a combination kitchen/breakfast nook plus a full dining room and a large, comfortable looking family room, walls and soft carpets in rich earth tones. Upstairs has four large bedrooms, the master with a recently remodeled, freshly-painted bathroom holding a combination shower and luxuriously-sized tub. The second bath still has older-style fixtures but everything is neat and clean. Adam keeps glancing at Kris as he looks the place over, apparently watching for the things that draw his eyes.
They head back downstairs, Adam insisting that the best part of the house is still to come. They step out through the family room door into the back yard and Kris catches his breath. Someone was still taking good care of this place. The privacy fence surrounds a lush, landscaped marvel. A small pond is the centerpiece, water continuously refreshed with an underground fountain that makes the water bubble up and spill over the rocks. Trees line the walkway through the yard. Well manicured, deep green grass calls to Kris. He resists the urge to kick off his shoes and walk barefoot through it.
Adam nods off to the left and tugs Kris by the arm to an honest-to-goodness, old-fashioned, two-seater swing, suspended from a sturdy oak. They sit together in silence for a while, legs pressed up against each other, rocking gently, soaking in the serenity. Though the place is away from the craziness of the beachfront areas, the sound of the ocean waves slapping up against land can still be heard here, a mile away. Kris can’t get enough of that sound. He drinks it in. Finally Adam asks, “What do you think?”
Kris isn’t sure how to respond. This house calls to him, but he’s confused. “Ummmm, this isn’t exactly Rock God Avenue, is it?”
Adam laughs, a deep, rich laugh. “Believe it or not, I think I’m already fed up with Rock God Avenue, and it’s only just beginning.”
Kris nods. “This would be a great place to get away from it all.”
Adam’s beaming with pleasure, and Kris asks what he’s wanted to ask all along. “Why does it matter what I think, though?”
Adam leans back for a moment, eyes closed. He seems to be wrestling with himself. A deep sigh escapes from his lips, and he’s playing with his rings and picking at his nail polish. Kris grabs Adam’s hands to still them and Adam catches his breath. Oh. Oh, really? Kris thinks. This is interesting.
Adam plunges on. “I really care about what you think, and I’m wondering. Could you ever see….could you ever see…. me…. living here?” Adam’s looking in Kris’s eyes, pleading. Adam can’t say it. He’s too afraid to say it.
Kris smiles, takes one of Adam’s hands and pulls it up, pressing his lips against Adam’s palm. Adam moans at his touch and Adam’s soul is naked, exposed. He curls Adam’s fingers up, kissing at his knuckles, tonguing his wrist, never breaking contact with Adam’s eyes. God, there’s deep want in those eyes. Kris has always wanted to see Adam unmasked and vulnerable, letting down the guard he puts up whenever they get too close. It’s time for them both to be unmasked.
A gust of wind blows through the trees and leaves flutter down on them as the clouds let loose their moisture. Kris ignores the rain. “I think what you meant to ask was, ‘could I ever see us living here.’ Isn’t that what you wanted to ask?” Kris threads the fingers of his left hand through Adam’s right, loving the indulgence of that simple, forbidden act between “just friends.”
Adam responds how Kris hopes, and Kris memorizes the moment when Adam reaches to stroke at his neck and pull him in close, when Adam’s lips part and his eyes close and Kris reciprocates, mouth finding exactly what he wants, exactly what he needs, in Adam’s unabashed passion. They move together, softly at first, moist mouths pressing; Kris lets go of Adam’s hand so they can wrap both arms around each other, lips parting, tongues darting out for a caress, mouths become erogenous zones. Adam tastes like salty tears and raindrops and they lick the wetness from each other, more and more urgent and reckless, rain coming harder now, drenching them. The loneliness Kris has felt for days, the deep ache that wouldn’t leave him, has been washed away in a moment of pure honesty.
Adam pulls back, gazes into Kris’s eyes with awe, trails the back of his hand down Kris’s cheek. “Yeah, Kris. That’s what I wanted to ask.”
Kris leans in, glides his fingers into Adam’s dripping hair, presses their foreheads together. “I think you have your answer.”