It's so nice to see you,
Can we sit and talk for a while?

It had been months since they'd seen each other. Orlando had been busy filming, and so had Elijah. Their lives were busy, busier now that they were in the midst of press junkets for Return of the King. Elijah had mostly been shuttled off with Sean or "the Hobbits" as a group. It was a whirlwind that had sucked them up in Wellington five years earlier and had not let up even now. Orlando was exhausted, unusual for him, and he had snuck out of yet another round of the endless interrogations that journalists were so fond of doing. There were only so many different questions that one could ask about the trilogy as a whole, and this time, he'd heard all of the same questions three times at least, each one phrased more creatively than the last. As he stepped out of the building, he almost walked straight into Elijah, who had left the maddening crowd for a smoke.

All it took was an exchange of glances. A cheeky twinkle lit the impossible blue of Elijah's eyes, and Orlando's lips had curled into a smirk. Elijah stubbed out his cigarette, and they both ambled off down the road, easily avoiding the crowd that had gathered in front of the hotel where they were supposed to be giving interviews.

"So, I hear you've been gathering more fangirls this year... "

I have searched for you forever
I can't imagine anything better

He felt as if he had been searching all his life for something. What, he didn't know, but it was something. It was something that would... "click." That was the only way he could think of defining it. It was just the sort of thing that made his mother roll her eyes at him. Who would have thought that that indefinable something was a someone? How could he even have dreamed that it would take a journey half way around the world for him to find that person? Both of them were torn from all that they were familiar with, placed in an environment so unlike the home that they had known.

He remembered how he knew. It had taken just that first glance, that first look, eye to eye. That was when he felt the almost audible click. It was when he knew, when they both knew. It was as if the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle had finally fallen into place. It felt right, good. It felt perfect. It was perfect, and he knew it. They both did.

Kids upon the stairway
Couples on the sidewalk squares

The first weeks were a joy. They took the piss out of each other, hung out with the rest of the cast and crew. Some days, they'd go out to the pub and get sloshed, just be one of the lads. It was an innocent time. They were just two young lads out on the town, having a good time. A great time. Everything seemed to lead from there to more. There was always that hint of... more, of something else they were missing. It was the undercurrent of their relationship. It was there, yet neither one of them acknowledged it. Both were in denial.

Until that day, when out of the blue, Billy said, "Funny, isn't it, how scared some people are to acknowledge a good thing? Funny, isn't it, how it takes losing something precious before its true value is understood?"

That was the first day they held hands.

That was the first day they acknowledged that it was more than a friendship.

If I get to your heart soon,
I'll call a perfect afternoon.

Orlando knew the exact moment that Elijah had captured his heart. It was his birthday, his first one there, and he had gone off to be by himself. That was the day he had felt so homesick, he wanted to quit filming. He wanted to abandon everything he had worked so hard for, just to see his mum and Sammie again. He had decided to take the first flight out of Wellington when Elijah appeared and simply crawled into his lap and gathered him into a hug.

He sat there, his back against the rough bark of a tree, Elijah in his lap, holding him, an idyllic New Zealand summer afternoon blossoming around them. It was the perfect day for a birthday. It was also the perfect day for a kiss, their first kiss, soft, lingering, sweet.

Won't you call my number?
Don't push back, but don't hesitate

"Why the fuck didn't you call me, ya bastard?"

Orlando rolled his eyes as they strolled down the street, adding distance between them and the hotel. "What? I wasn't the only one with a cell, ya cunt."

"I called you once! And it was international to boot. Fucker." Elijah's voice was affectionate.

"Once! Orlando grinned. "I'm a right bastard, what can I say?"

"Damn straight, y'are."

Wake me from this slumber
Rush me but leave time to wait.

Kiss merged into kiss. Breath soaked into breath. Lips pressed against lips. Velvet skin stretched languourously across silken sheets. Limbs were tangled upon the bed. A light breeze drifted in through the open window. The room was musky with the scent of sweat and sex and each other. Two tousled heads rested side by side, making indentations in the pillows. Arms were looped around each other, their chests rising in sync.

The heady rush of adrenaline had slowed to the thickly sweet flow of molasses, heavy and rich. Both lay there, flushed with sleep and love as the soft breath of the wind licked their perspiration off them.

Checkmate on my shoulder
I'm tired of this win or lose

He sat on the steps of his trailer. It was 6am in the morning, and the sun was rising in the Eastern sky. His hobbit feet were on, and he was in costume. Damn J.R.R. Tolkien for his fondness of hairy feet. His heart was heavy in his chest, his head rang with remembered arguments of yester-night. Raised voices, accusations, one thing after another, each one more vicious, more hurting than the last. He only wanted to turn back time. He wanted to go back.

He wanted to return to a time when things made sense. He wanted to return to a time when they were both still friends, still lovers, still soulmates.

Well, I'm no knight in shining armor
But I'm no pair of dancin' shoes
I'm no pair of dancin' shoes

It frightened him, terrified him, paralyzed him. It was just a short, one-syllable word. And what a word it was. It was a word that stared him in the face and dared him to run as far and as fast as he could. In truth, he wanted to run, but his feet refused to move, and his brain had rebelled against firing off the neural messages that would make them move.

He had hurt him. It was unintentional, of course, but who could forget the hurt that bled across those eyes? Perhaps that was what terrified him the most; if he could crush Elijah's happiness so easily,how could their relationship last? How had it lasted for so long? Perhaps he should end it, treat it as a fling, a little mistake, if you will.

But his heart screamed.

My patience ran away
Take me with you
You keep me holding on

He couldn't wait any longer. He had to do it, had to face him. It had been weeks of avoiding each other, of looking the other way, weeks of trying to hide from the knowing glances being cast their way. He would hear out Orlando's decision, but he would not let him go. He would dig in with tooth and nail and hold on tight, because he had to. He had no choice.

He would cling like a barnacle to the one thing in his life that made any sense. He would follow him to the ends of the world if e could. He spun around to face Orlando, emotions flitting across his face. "I love you, do you hear me? I love you, and you're going to have to deal with it."

Nothin's understood
You're so confusing
Tell it to me straight

"I'm scared."

"What?"

"I'm sorry I yelled, I was scared."

"Don't be."

"Of what? This? Us?"

"I love you."

"I know, and that's what frightens me."

"Do you love me?"

"I... "

"You don't have to, you know. I'll understand."

"I... "

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes. Yes, I do. ... and I love you too."

"Then everything will be all right."

Rush me, but leave me time to wait.
I got nothin' left to lose
But I'm no pair of dancin' shoes

"It's been quite a ride, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah it has."

They ambled on, past shops and the busy day time traffic of the city. Each mused silently over the events of the previous five years, over how their lives had changed, collided into each others and merged. They lived one life now, one life separated by their work, but unified by their love.

"I love you, ya cunt."

"And I love you, too, motherfucker."