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Ed and Hank
Part 2: Saturday Morning
By myeyesaintblue
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pairing: Ed & Hank
Rating: PG13, a couple of lines are probably R, I’m not really sure.
Disclaimer: I know somewhere out there is a guy named Ed and a guy named Hank who at some point in their lives met the amazing Ms. Proulx and told them their story. Jack and Ennis belong entirely to Ms. Proulx. Technically, so do Ed and Hank.
Length: 1,784 words, much longer than the first part.
Part 1: Friday Night is here: http://myeyesaintblue.livejournal.com/456.html
Links to all other parts and assorted interludes, postcards, etc, are here:
http://myeyesaintblue.livejournal.com/10082.html
****************************
Saturday Morning
Hank woke up slowly, dozing off and on, enjoying the slight breeze tinged with the smell of new-mown hay that blew over him from the open window. Lucky he wasn’t allergic. Ed suffered terribly this time of year. Ed was already up, had been for quite a while. Hank usually tried to get up when Ed did, but hell, it was the weekend and on the weekends he let himself sleep in. Ed didn’t mind.
Hank stretched, groaning loudly and smiling to himself at the memory of last night. Still doing pretty good for their age, he thought, and those “Jack and Ennis” stories sure helped spice things up a bit. Hank let his thoughts drift idly until they settled gently on one of his favorite memories - The first time he and Ed kissed….So long ago now, but still so fresh in his mind.
That kiss. Damn. That kiss. It didn’t happen exactly how everyone thought it did. Neither did that first night. Hank had told her some of what had happened, but she had filled in or changed the details using her own imagination.
He'd been miserable the entire day - Ed left early to ride up to the sheep without a word or a glance for Hank. No “I’m not no queer” (well, at least not that day), no “one shot thing”, just left Hank alone in camp not knowing how it would go for the rest of the summer, thinking that last night had been the beginning of nothing and the end of everything that might have been.
Hank spent the day desperately trying not to think about the heartache and rejection that might come riding back down that mountain to him. Wood cut, wood stacked, everything straightened, everything cleaned, no campsite before or since ever so organized.
“Shit.” Hank muttered under his breath, “Could’ve won a fuckin' Good Housekeepin’ award.”
Ed was late coming back that night. Each minute Hank waited stretching out like an hour. Late afternoon turned to dusk, dusk turned to night, slowly, oh so slowly. Finally, when he was beginning to think about giving up on Ed ever coming back, Hank thought he heard something.
Suddenly, standing in the glow of the campfire Hank felt uneasy and exposed, realizing that he could be seen clearly while he could see nothing outside the small perimeter of light. He heard Ed’s horse approaching, neighing softly, heard Ed dismount…. Silence.... Then the sound of Ed unbuckling the saddle. Unbuckling the saddle? Hank’s heart leapt. Did that mean Ed was planning to stay the night?
The thought had Hank rooted to the spot, head bowed, eyes on the ground, heart racing. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. Ed walked into the circle of light and set the saddle on the log furthest from the fire. He took off his cowboy hat and hung it from the saddle horn then turned and walked up to Hank, stopping about a foot in front of him. Waiting... Hank slowly raised his eyes and when they finally met Ed’s he got the answer to the question he’d been asking himself all day. Hank let out a jagged sigh of… relief…happiness…desire as they both moved at the same time to close that small space between them.
Their arms wrapped round each other, their bodies pressed tightly together. And then, somehow, he was kissing Ed. And Ed was kissing him back.
Hank knew he had lost himself to Ed with that one kiss. Forever saved and forever damned in that one moment. Every time he thought about that kiss he was amazed at how Ed, his Ed who had had such a mean, hard life, could’ve kissed him so openly, so tenderly, so passionately, his lips chasing away the despair of their silent parting that morning, driving away the misery of that unending day spent waiting…and filling Hank with an undefeatable hope for the future.
Although that kiss had sealed his fate Hank had to admit he was pretty much a goner from that first night forward, hell, maybe even from the first time he saw Ed.
That first night….Hank’s mind drifted to their first night together in the tent.
There had always been something in the air between Ed and Hank, but never so strong as that night, never so heavy in the air. Neither quite knew what to make of it, but both felt it, expressing it in playful shoves, shy glances, hands touching a bit too long as they passed the bottle back and forth, neither nearly as drunk as they were making out to be.
Ed hadn’t stayed outside, slept in the tent from the first to escape the bitter cold, both of them ending up lying close but not quite touching in the bedroll, drifting off to sleep. Then, at different times, each waking to remove their jacket as the small tent and the bedroll warmed considerably from their body heat. A while later Hank woke up not sure where he was at first, lying on his back feeling something heavy draped across him in the darkness.
Gradually, he realized it was Ed’s leg…and Ed’s arm. In his sleep Ed had rolled over and wrapped himself around Hank. Hank could hear his own heart pounding loudly in his chest. He found himself moving against Ed’s leg… then, somehow, willed himself to stop. If Ed woke up all bets were off. He’d know immediately how Hank felt about him.
Slowly, Hank began to turn onto his side, away from Ed, trying not to wake him. He succeeded, only to find himself pulled back close to Ed, Ed’s arm wrapping around him again. Lying there with Ed holding him, feeling his hot breath on his neck, Hank thought he must’ve died and gone to heaven. Then Hank felt something pressing hard against him. Told himself Ed must be dreaming of his girlfriend, not realizing it was Hank he held.
Thinking that Ed would be mortified if he woke up to find himself in this position, Hank started trying to move out from under Ed’s arm. ‘Bout the hardest thing he’d ever done so far in his short life.
Ed tightened his grip again as Hank tried to move away, and then, with one gruffly whispered word everything changed - “Hank”. There was no question in Ed’s voice. There was no confusion as to who he held. There was only want…and need.
“Damn”, Hank smiled to himself, already hard from thinking about that kiss, his dick throbbed at the memory of that night and what had happened next.
In the next instant, Ed was…
“If yer dick's throbbin’ ya should jus’ bring it ta me.”
“SHIT!” Hank jumped at least six inches off his chair, “Dammit, Ed, ya scared the hell outta me! Shouldn’t sneak up on a guy like tha'….”
“Wasn’t sneakin’ up on ya….Saw ya sittin’ at the computer.” Ed could barely get the words out through his laughter, “Asked if ya wanted ta go ta town for some breakfast....Was standin’ right behind ya…..Guess ya didn’ hear me” He finally got control of himself, “Watcha doin’?”
“Tryin’ ma hand at writin’, jus’ like all those other stories, ‘cept tellin’ the truth. Already posted one called ‘Friday Night’, jus’ ‘bout what happened last Friday night.”
“Last Friday night?”
“Here,” Hank handed Ed the story, “read fer yerself.”
Ed read the short printout, his eyes misting over a bit at the end. “Some sweet life”, he whispered, his voice a bit hoarse. But then he couldn’t resist teasing Hank, “Ya gotta lot a misspelt words here Rodeo. ‘N how come ya got us talkin’ so funny?”
“It’s a literary style dumbass. Tryin’ to make it seem more real.”
“Don’ think yer too good at it.”
“Know I ain’t too good at it, ain’t never done it before.”
“Well then maybe ya should stop doin’ it.”
Ed laughed, easily sidestepping the half-hearted punch thrown his way by Hank.
Ed’s laughter turned to a mock frown, “And why ya gotta name me “Ed”? Sounds like yer belchin’ when ya say it. Wasn’t there a talkin’ horse named Ed? Shit, Ed’s worse than Ennis. Dammit, why cain’t I ever pick out m’own name.”
“Thought I was supposed ta be the one bitchin’ all the time. Don’ know why yer so sore ‘bout the name….Hell, I’m the one she killed off.”
Hank immediately knew he had said the wrong thing. He barely heard Ed’s answer, “She killed me off too ya know, even tho' she left me breathin’.”
Hank was up off his chair in an instant, he gathered Ed in his arms and held him tight whispering, “Sorry Cowboy, so sorry. I know she did. I know she did. Didn’ know she was gonna do any of that. Really didn’ know.”
“S’alright Rodeo… s’alright. Know why she did it. Maybe end up doin’ some good in this crazy world. Jus’ hard thinkin’ tha’s wha’ mighta been.”
They held each other close for a minute, then wanting to reclaim the lighter mood, Hank leaned back and smiled at Ed, “So, what name do ya wan’ me ta use?”
“Hmmm, let me think on it.” Ed pondered the question for a minute, then with a glint in his eye said, “Maybe somethin’ romantic - somethin’ that would capture the real me - y’know like… “Heath”.
Hank laughed, “Dream on, old man. Besides, don’ wanna confuse people.”
“Shit. Then guess I’ll jus’ have to live with “Ed”.
.
“Know it’ll be a burden for ya.”
“So, do I getta read it? Jus’ saw tha' one part.” Ed couldn’t help laughing again.
Hank suddenly turned red at the thought of Ed reading what he wrote. For some reason it didn’t bother him if strangers read what he wrote about their first kiss and all….But Ed? He hadn’t even thought about that. “I dunno. Maybe. Gotta warn ya tho, s’kinda scary, full of feelin’s and all.”
Ed, sensing Hank’s discomfort behind the teasing words, let him off the hook, “So, ya gonna keep writin’ ‘bout us?”
“Dunno. Tha' one story already came so damn close to tellin’ it all. Truth is pretty tame compared to the movie ‘n what some a these people been writin’….Jeez, they sure like ta put them boys through the wringer. Don’ know if it would make much of a story. Don’ know if I wanna relive some of it. What you think?”
Ed gazed into Hank’s eyes, “Least it’s gotta happy endin’, Rodeo.”
“Yeah Cowboy,” now Hank’s voice was hoarse, “sure does have a happy endin’”
Ed pulled Hank close again, kissing his neck, then whispering in his ear, “Now, ‘bout that problem ya was havin’ with yer dick….”
Part 2: Saturday Morning
By myeyesaintblue
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pairing: Ed & Hank
Rating: PG13, a couple of lines are probably R, I’m not really sure.
Disclaimer: I know somewhere out there is a guy named Ed and a guy named Hank who at some point in their lives met the amazing Ms. Proulx and told them their story. Jack and Ennis belong entirely to Ms. Proulx. Technically, so do Ed and Hank.
Length: 1,784 words, much longer than the first part.
Part 1: Friday Night is here: http://myeyesaintblue.livejournal.com/456.html
Links to all other parts and assorted interludes, postcards, etc, are here:
http://myeyesaintblue.livejournal.com/10082.html
****************************
Saturday Morning
Hank woke up slowly, dozing off and on, enjoying the slight breeze tinged with the smell of new-mown hay that blew over him from the open window. Lucky he wasn’t allergic. Ed suffered terribly this time of year. Ed was already up, had been for quite a while. Hank usually tried to get up when Ed did, but hell, it was the weekend and on the weekends he let himself sleep in. Ed didn’t mind.
Hank stretched, groaning loudly and smiling to himself at the memory of last night. Still doing pretty good for their age, he thought, and those “Jack and Ennis” stories sure helped spice things up a bit. Hank let his thoughts drift idly until they settled gently on one of his favorite memories - The first time he and Ed kissed….So long ago now, but still so fresh in his mind.
That kiss. Damn. That kiss. It didn’t happen exactly how everyone thought it did. Neither did that first night. Hank had told her some of what had happened, but she had filled in or changed the details using her own imagination.
He'd been miserable the entire day - Ed left early to ride up to the sheep without a word or a glance for Hank. No “I’m not no queer” (well, at least not that day), no “one shot thing”, just left Hank alone in camp not knowing how it would go for the rest of the summer, thinking that last night had been the beginning of nothing and the end of everything that might have been.
Hank spent the day desperately trying not to think about the heartache and rejection that might come riding back down that mountain to him. Wood cut, wood stacked, everything straightened, everything cleaned, no campsite before or since ever so organized.
“Shit.” Hank muttered under his breath, “Could’ve won a fuckin' Good Housekeepin’ award.”
Ed was late coming back that night. Each minute Hank waited stretching out like an hour. Late afternoon turned to dusk, dusk turned to night, slowly, oh so slowly. Finally, when he was beginning to think about giving up on Ed ever coming back, Hank thought he heard something.
Suddenly, standing in the glow of the campfire Hank felt uneasy and exposed, realizing that he could be seen clearly while he could see nothing outside the small perimeter of light. He heard Ed’s horse approaching, neighing softly, heard Ed dismount…. Silence.... Then the sound of Ed unbuckling the saddle. Unbuckling the saddle? Hank’s heart leapt. Did that mean Ed was planning to stay the night?
The thought had Hank rooted to the spot, head bowed, eyes on the ground, heart racing. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. Ed walked into the circle of light and set the saddle on the log furthest from the fire. He took off his cowboy hat and hung it from the saddle horn then turned and walked up to Hank, stopping about a foot in front of him. Waiting... Hank slowly raised his eyes and when they finally met Ed’s he got the answer to the question he’d been asking himself all day. Hank let out a jagged sigh of… relief…happiness…desire as they both moved at the same time to close that small space between them.
Their arms wrapped round each other, their bodies pressed tightly together. And then, somehow, he was kissing Ed. And Ed was kissing him back.
Hank knew he had lost himself to Ed with that one kiss. Forever saved and forever damned in that one moment. Every time he thought about that kiss he was amazed at how Ed, his Ed who had had such a mean, hard life, could’ve kissed him so openly, so tenderly, so passionately, his lips chasing away the despair of their silent parting that morning, driving away the misery of that unending day spent waiting…and filling Hank with an undefeatable hope for the future.
Although that kiss had sealed his fate Hank had to admit he was pretty much a goner from that first night forward, hell, maybe even from the first time he saw Ed.
That first night….Hank’s mind drifted to their first night together in the tent.
There had always been something in the air between Ed and Hank, but never so strong as that night, never so heavy in the air. Neither quite knew what to make of it, but both felt it, expressing it in playful shoves, shy glances, hands touching a bit too long as they passed the bottle back and forth, neither nearly as drunk as they were making out to be.
Ed hadn’t stayed outside, slept in the tent from the first to escape the bitter cold, both of them ending up lying close but not quite touching in the bedroll, drifting off to sleep. Then, at different times, each waking to remove their jacket as the small tent and the bedroll warmed considerably from their body heat. A while later Hank woke up not sure where he was at first, lying on his back feeling something heavy draped across him in the darkness.
Gradually, he realized it was Ed’s leg…and Ed’s arm. In his sleep Ed had rolled over and wrapped himself around Hank. Hank could hear his own heart pounding loudly in his chest. He found himself moving against Ed’s leg… then, somehow, willed himself to stop. If Ed woke up all bets were off. He’d know immediately how Hank felt about him.
Slowly, Hank began to turn onto his side, away from Ed, trying not to wake him. He succeeded, only to find himself pulled back close to Ed, Ed’s arm wrapping around him again. Lying there with Ed holding him, feeling his hot breath on his neck, Hank thought he must’ve died and gone to heaven. Then Hank felt something pressing hard against him. Told himself Ed must be dreaming of his girlfriend, not realizing it was Hank he held.
Thinking that Ed would be mortified if he woke up to find himself in this position, Hank started trying to move out from under Ed’s arm. ‘Bout the hardest thing he’d ever done so far in his short life.
Ed tightened his grip again as Hank tried to move away, and then, with one gruffly whispered word everything changed - “Hank”. There was no question in Ed’s voice. There was no confusion as to who he held. There was only want…and need.
“Damn”, Hank smiled to himself, already hard from thinking about that kiss, his dick throbbed at the memory of that night and what had happened next.
In the next instant, Ed was…
“If yer dick's throbbin’ ya should jus’ bring it ta me.”
“SHIT!” Hank jumped at least six inches off his chair, “Dammit, Ed, ya scared the hell outta me! Shouldn’t sneak up on a guy like tha'….”
“Wasn’t sneakin’ up on ya….Saw ya sittin’ at the computer.” Ed could barely get the words out through his laughter, “Asked if ya wanted ta go ta town for some breakfast....Was standin’ right behind ya…..Guess ya didn’ hear me” He finally got control of himself, “Watcha doin’?”
“Tryin’ ma hand at writin’, jus’ like all those other stories, ‘cept tellin’ the truth. Already posted one called ‘Friday Night’, jus’ ‘bout what happened last Friday night.”
“Last Friday night?”
“Here,” Hank handed Ed the story, “read fer yerself.”
Ed read the short printout, his eyes misting over a bit at the end. “Some sweet life”, he whispered, his voice a bit hoarse. But then he couldn’t resist teasing Hank, “Ya gotta lot a misspelt words here Rodeo. ‘N how come ya got us talkin’ so funny?”
“It’s a literary style dumbass. Tryin’ to make it seem more real.”
“Don’ think yer too good at it.”
“Know I ain’t too good at it, ain’t never done it before.”
“Well then maybe ya should stop doin’ it.”
Ed laughed, easily sidestepping the half-hearted punch thrown his way by Hank.
Ed’s laughter turned to a mock frown, “And why ya gotta name me “Ed”? Sounds like yer belchin’ when ya say it. Wasn’t there a talkin’ horse named Ed? Shit, Ed’s worse than Ennis. Dammit, why cain’t I ever pick out m’own name.”
“Thought I was supposed ta be the one bitchin’ all the time. Don’ know why yer so sore ‘bout the name….Hell, I’m the one she killed off.”
Hank immediately knew he had said the wrong thing. He barely heard Ed’s answer, “She killed me off too ya know, even tho' she left me breathin’.”
Hank was up off his chair in an instant, he gathered Ed in his arms and held him tight whispering, “Sorry Cowboy, so sorry. I know she did. I know she did. Didn’ know she was gonna do any of that. Really didn’ know.”
“S’alright Rodeo… s’alright. Know why she did it. Maybe end up doin’ some good in this crazy world. Jus’ hard thinkin’ tha’s wha’ mighta been.”
They held each other close for a minute, then wanting to reclaim the lighter mood, Hank leaned back and smiled at Ed, “So, what name do ya wan’ me ta use?”
“Hmmm, let me think on it.” Ed pondered the question for a minute, then with a glint in his eye said, “Maybe somethin’ romantic - somethin’ that would capture the real me - y’know like… “Heath”.
Hank laughed, “Dream on, old man. Besides, don’ wanna confuse people.”
“Shit. Then guess I’ll jus’ have to live with “Ed”.
.
“Know it’ll be a burden for ya.”
“So, do I getta read it? Jus’ saw tha' one part.” Ed couldn’t help laughing again.
Hank suddenly turned red at the thought of Ed reading what he wrote. For some reason it didn’t bother him if strangers read what he wrote about their first kiss and all….But Ed? He hadn’t even thought about that. “I dunno. Maybe. Gotta warn ya tho, s’kinda scary, full of feelin’s and all.”
Ed, sensing Hank’s discomfort behind the teasing words, let him off the hook, “So, ya gonna keep writin’ ‘bout us?”
“Dunno. Tha' one story already came so damn close to tellin’ it all. Truth is pretty tame compared to the movie ‘n what some a these people been writin’….Jeez, they sure like ta put them boys through the wringer. Don’ know if it would make much of a story. Don’ know if I wanna relive some of it. What you think?”
Ed gazed into Hank’s eyes, “Least it’s gotta happy endin’, Rodeo.”
“Yeah Cowboy,” now Hank’s voice was hoarse, “sure does have a happy endin’”
Ed pulled Hank close again, kissing his neck, then whispering in his ear, “Now, ‘bout that problem ya was havin’ with yer dick….”