Monaboyd - 2013
Juxtaposition
Pairing - BB/DM/Ali
Rating - PG13
An AU post production of LOTR, but before Billy became a father.
Disclaimer - all fiction for Monaboyd Month 2013 - once again I admit I am lovingly playing with other people's lives to the fullest extent. I've always been curious about who would 'win' in this situation - no disrespect intended by the supposition.
Dominic fixed his eyes on a hastily brewed cup of tea as though the steaming liquid could provide him with much needed solutions. He didn't relish secrecy as a general rule, but he understood the necessity for compassion in current circumstances. Several things were immediately at stake, not least among them Billy's sometimes fragile personal sense of chivalry. As complicated as things had suddenly become, a number of other elements were also now vividly clear.
He looked up just as the kitchen door squeaked open, a wide eyed Alison peeking cautiously at him from the other side. Neither spoke as they stared at one another for several long moments, Dominic somehow understanding the extent of Billy's claim on him still evident even now in the morning light. Maybe it was most accurate to say his own emotions were too exposed as well, but Billy's personal imprint was as palpable as his currently borrowed clothing. Any attempt to disguise the true situation would be ostensibly pointless, and Dom readied himself as much as he could for a good measure of potentially significant discomfort.
Billy and Ali had been talking quietly in the front room for only a few minutes while Dom waited in the kitchen in an attempt to give them some privacy. No one had expected her home quite so soon, but no one had planned on what had actually happened either. Dominic was not embarrassed, but he was profoundly disappointed Billy had been thrust into such a sudden and difficult situation. He wished that fact alone to be different, but the overall triangular tension had been brewing for too long, and it was inevitable something would ultimately come undone.
"I've always known, Dom," she whispered suddenly from the doorway, keeping her eyes level but focused with his. "Really, this isn't anyone's fault," she added carefully. "I've always known how much he loves you."
She attempted a weak smile, yet Dom could only nod, a frown crossing his face as he struggled to accept her explanation and simple honesty. Ironically, he thought, it was all truly more than he could say about himself.
Dom swallowed uncomfortably, and they both waited then, a certain yet somehow calm understanding moving between them. When he offered nothing more, she backed away silently leaving him alone once again. When he heard the front door of the flat open and close a few moments later, he concluded she was gone.
The kitchen door creaked open once again and Billy entered the room, his green eyes looking distant and misty. He sighed heavily as he reached for another chair, scrubbing his face with both hands in exasperation before sitting down.
"Well, I'm not proud of myself," he admitted, looking expectantly at Dom, "but there shouldn't be any real questions now in at least one regard."
Unable to smile, Dom returned his gaze, his mind grappling for words or explanation before simply saying, "I'm so sorry, Billy," he said, his voice nearly quivering.
"No, I won't let you be," he responded firmly. "She actually did say it best, ya know. I couldn't hide how I feel about you, and I shouldn't have tried. I've shite for brains for even attempting it, Dom, and I won't be acting my way out of this one."
They had been in the living room for only a short time when the front door opened and Alison unexpectedly entered the room as well as the situation. Nothing would have seemed even unusual, save for the fact that neither of them were clothed where they lay wrapped up together on the sofa. Dom's spiky blonde hair was standing on end in multiple directions, his smoky eyeliner smudged, sexy, and still clinging to the corners of his eyes from the night before. Bedroom eyes notwithstanding, his skin the color of honey from recent long hours under the sun, he looked every bit as sultry in the morning light as when Billy had taken him to bed the night before. Alison, too, recognized what she had seen - all that Dom was, all she could not compete with, and all of him that was unmistakeably irresistible to Billy.
They were all so simultaneously startled that no one could react immediately. Although Dom had felt Billy's arms tightened around him, it was the only discernible change for several seconds before Alison backtracked, closing the door almost as quickly as it had opened. Dom looked helplessly at Billy then, searching for some hint of immediate guidance, though neither of them could move for several long moments. When at last the initial shock had worn off and a few thought processes returned, Billy took a long, deep breath, kissed him on the forehead, and whispered simply, "get dressed."
He had put on the first pair of jeans and a tee his hands could locate as he stood up, not noticing until he had been sitting in the kitchen minutes later both items actually belonged to Billy. That would mean the only thing left to wear in the living room would have been his clothes, and sure enough, Billy was wearing his own hastily discarded jeans and shirt when next he walked back into the kitchen.
"Perfect, Monaghan," he thought, as he imagined Alison absorbing that as well. "Let's just see if we can make all of this even more difficult," he scolded himself.
Billy reached for him with sudden purpose, breaking through his line of thought and drawing his hand to his lips to leave a trail of perfect kisses across each knuckle. It was a pure and simple gesture, his way to convey that decisions had been made, and things long postponed were now complete.
"I should have done something sooner," he said in dismay. "I know she said otherwise, but it's my fault really," he added. "I just didn't know how to tell her I couldn't be without you."
Dom leaped up then, dragging Billy with him and enfolding him in his arms.
"No more your fault than mine," he insisted, hugging him tightly. "I was more than willing to participate, and I should have been thinking about both of you more than myself. I'm sorry for that."
They were momentarily silent then, clinging to each other in search of the intense comfort they both needed.
"Yeah," Billy sighed eventually, pulling back just enough to see his eyes, "can't even blame any of it on too much drink or pure lust. She knows better than that, too."
Dom tried to smile then, the effort not quite reaching his eyes.
"I'm still sorry," he repeated, "so sorry."
"And you're too hard on yourself," he soothed, raising one hand to his face. Ali's upset, but not as much as all that, Dom. You've done nothing you shouldn't have, and nothing I didn't want you to," he added. "She's absolutely right - she's always known. I care about her, and I'll miss her, but I cannot MAKE it without you."
Unable to meet Billy's eyes any longer he looked at the floor instead, the full weight of Billy's words nearly taking his breath away. He was all too familiar with the same predicament, well caught up and spinning along through the same impossible circle, he had learned a long time ago he could share Billy if he he had to, but he could not possibly survive without him.
"Well," Dom hesitated, his voice clear but unusually quiet. "Be careful what you wish for I guess, Billy, 'cause it seems you just might have gotten it - hope you won't be disappointed."
Billy stared at him for several seconds, deep in thought, a slow but confident smile extending itself to the corners of his lips.
"I say I know exactly what I have here," he clarified, confident and enunciating carefully. "And I do want my jeans back," he added with mock sternness, hooking one finger through a belt loop to pull him closer, "but I expect other things first, and then we'll negotiate for the jeans."