Title: The Beginning of Us - 24/25
Author:

dylan_dufresne
Pairing: BB/DM
Rating: PG-14
Summary: Part 24. Billy wants answers, and Dom can’t wait any longer.
Feedback: Would be greatly appreciated. Many, many thanks to

frojane and

uisinger for their faboo beta skills.
Disclaimer: Not at all true in reality. *sigh* Damn.
Previous Parts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
A/N: Here you go. The update you’ve been patiently waiting for. Next part will be posted on Wednesday.

Part 24 - Confessions

So many gates in life are open, waiting for us to walk through them.

Looking up from his half empty dinner plate, Billy looks around the room and frowns. His special occasion linen is on the table, white taper candles are burning merrily in the newly polished, silver candlestick holders, and an expensive bottle of wine has been chilled. There’s definitely something going on, but so far, Dom hasn’t said a word about it.

“Earlier, when I came home for lunch, you were telling Evey that you needed to talk to me about something,” Billy says carefully, watching Dom’s face closely.

Dom’s eyes widen. “You heard that?”

“Yeah.”

Guiltily, Dom looks away, fidgeting with his fork and biting down on his lower lip. “Oh.”

“What’s going on, Dommie?” Billy asks, brow furrowed. “What do you need to tell me?”

“I’m sorry, Bills.” Sighing, Dom drops his fork onto the plate with a sharp thunk. “I was planning on talking to you about it after dessert.”

“You’re not breaking up with me, are you?” Billy asks bluntly, terrified beyond words that the last few days have been a long, drawn out goodbye. Months apart have taken their toll, on both of them, and perhaps Dom just can’t do it anymore.

“What?” Dom asks, eyes wide with disbelief. “Never, Bills. I love you. I couldn’t do that to-”

“Are you sick?” The words slip out of Billy’s mouth in a strained whisper, eyes filled with fear and desperation. “Is that why-”

“No!” Dom exclaims. “No, baby. I’m fine. I swear.” Reaching across the table, he takes Billy’s hand. “Allergies aren’t even bothering me too much these days. ”

“Then what is it?” Billy asks, unable to stop the trembling in his limbs.

“I don’t want to talk about this at the table. Let’s go sit down on the couch.”

Pulling Billy to his feet, Dom realizes that his hands are cold, almost freezing, and notices that despite his best efforts, Billy is unable to hide the panic in his eyes. After settling Billy on the slightly worn couch, Dom sits down beside him and covers Billy’s small hands with his own. Exhaling nervously, he swallows and tries to slow his pounding heart.

“Dommie, you’re scaring me,” Billy whispers. “Tell me what’s going on. What’s wrong?”

“I’m leaving the show,” Dom says softly, staring at the floor.

“What?” Billy exclaims, eyes wide with shock. “You’ve been sacked?”

Shaking his head, Dom looks up and replies, “No. I’m going to ask JJ to write me out. Have Charlie disappear or something. Whatever he wants to do.”

Completely confused, Billy pulls one hand free and lays it on Dom’s thigh, squeezing gently. “Why?”

“Because it’s not what I want anymore.”

“Dommie, that doesn’t make any sense. Since I’ve known you, this has been your dream,” Billy tells him. “Back in New Zealand you and Lij used to talk about it almost every single day in the Feet trailer. I lost count the number of times you said you were going to go to Hollywood. You said it was more than your dream, it was your destiny.”

“Things change,” Dom says, shrugging noncommittally. “Priorities shift. My dreams are different than what they were in New Zealand.”

“What?” Billy asks, running his fingers through his hair and scrubbing his hand over his face for a moment. “How have things changed?”

“I thought it was what I wanted,” Dom explains slowly, choosing his words carefully. “But now, things are different. There are other things I want to do with my life, things I want to pursue, that I can’t if I’m in Hawaii almost ten months a year.”

“What about when the show goes on hiatus?” Billy says. “Can’t you do both?”

“No. It won’t work.” Ducking his head, Dom blinks rapidly to clear the excess moisture gathering in his eyes. “I’ve tried.”

“What is so important that you’re willing to give up the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to you?” Billy asks, shaking his head in disbelief. “I mean, if this is what you really, really want, then okay. Of course, I’m behind you one hundred percent, but honestly, Dom, I just don’t understand how things have changed that much. I’ve seen how this show lights you up inside. You love playing Charlie. You love Hawaii. All the new friends you’ve made. Surfing in paradise.”

“You’re wrong about it being the most amazing thing,” Dom replies softly, pausing to gnaw on his lower lip. “That spot was already taken.”

“Huh?”

“When we met in New Zealand,” Dom says simply, his eyes shining. “When we fell in love.”

Softening, Billy gazes lovingly into his eyes. “Dommie-”

“It’s been fun, don’t get me wrong. I’m not denying that I love Hawaii and the people I’ve been working with. I admit, I’m going to miss them, a lot, but some things are just way more important,” Dom continues releasing Billy’s other hand so he can shove his fingers through his long, blonde hair and draw it off his face. “I’ve been thinking about it for quite a while now, and I have to do this. I don’t want to look back in ten years and have regrets. Life is too fucking short and I’m already regretting the time I’ve wasted, putting this off for too long. Letting fear hold me back.”

“So what are you going to do?” Billy asks, brow furrowed in confusion and concern. “Where are you going to go? Back to LA? New York?”

“No.”

“Then where?”

“Scotland.”

Billy’s jaw drops. “What?”

“I want to move to Glasgow,” Dom says, voice wavering, clearly very nervous. “I was hoping that I could live here. With you.”

“Dommie, of course you’re welcome here,” Billy says with a gentle smile, hand cupping his cheek. “This is your home, too. But-”

“But?”

“Are you leaving the show for me?” Billy asks, holding Dom’s chin firmly so their eyes lock and Dom can’t hide from him. “Because that’s what it sounds like.”

“There were a lot of factors, and yes, you were definitely at the top of the list when I was considering the pros and cons,” Dom admits. “It only makes sense that you’d be part of it. You’re a part of me.”

“But Dom-”

“There is a condition.”

“Huh?”

Taking Billy’s hands again, Dom swallows hard. “There something I need you to do for me.”

“What, love?”

Sliding off the couch, Dom sinks to his knees between Billy’s feet, looks up into beautiful green eyes and smiles, thumbs stroking the palms of Billy’s hands. For a long moment they both stare at the new word written on the back of Dom’s left hand, only one of them fully understanding its meaning. ‘Follow.’

“I love you, Billy Boyd,” Dom says, eyes filled with emotion. “I’ve loved you for so long, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t.”

“I love you too, Dommie.”

“You’re my best mate, and you know me better than anyone I’ve ever met.” Unable to stop himself, Dom grins. “Sometimes you know me better than I know myself.”

Touched by Dom’s words, Billy smiles. “We’ve known each other a long time, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Gnawing on his lower lip for a moment, Dom sighs. “I had this romantic night planned, with candles and music and dancing, but here we are and I can’t wait anymore. Not one more day. Not one more minute. I’ve waited too long as it is. I should’ve done this months ago, in Hawaii. Before you left. The day you arrived.” Dom smiles sweetly, head tilting to one side. “There’s something I need, and only you can give it to me.”

“What?” Billy asks in a whisper.

“Will you marry me?”

Stunned, Billy can only stare, wide-eyed and openmouthed as the world slows from a spin to a slow crawl. Milliseconds feel like hours, the room a blur of shape and color, all fading away, with the exception of Dom.

“Did you hear me?” Dom asks a long moment later, brow furrowing, nervously gnawing at his lower lip for a moment.

Billy nods, inhaling sharply. “Uh huh.”

“Look, you don’t have to answer me right away,” Dom continues, words spilling out in a mad rush of nerves. “Take your time. Think about it. I’m here for a while so-”

“How long?” Billy interrupts.

“How long am I here?”

Again, Billy nods when words fail him.

“It’s about bloody time you asked,” Dom says with a rueful smile. “I figured you’d want to know right away. Never thought you’d wait this long.”

“Afraid that it was just for a couple of days,” Billy explains.

“Two weeks, baby,” Dom tells him. “My schedule is going to be Hell when I get back to Hawaii and make up the shooting time for the finale, but Evey and the crew wanted us to have every minute we could together.”

“Two weeks,” Billy breathes. “You’re all mine for two whole weeks.”

“Yes,” Dom says, letting go of Billy’s hands to rise and sit on the couch again.

Another long pause stretches between them, the silence deafening, the clock over the mantle ticking loudly.

“So, think about it,” Dom says softly, staring at the floor. “Please?”

“You are an utter and complete daftie, do you know that?” Billy asks, the volume of his voice surprising Dom.

“What?”

“You really believe that I need time to think about this?”

“Don’t you?” Dom asks in a small voice, scared and confused by Billy’s words. The mere idea that Billy could say no is utterly devastating, that he might not feel the same way, feel the same pain when they’re apart for miserable weeks, or want to make such a serious commitment. Vowing to be together until death.

“It isn’t legal, Dommie,” Billy says carefully. “Not here in Scotland, or in Hawaii. The law says-”

“Marriage, civil union, whatever,” Dom interrupts, his back stiffening. “And I don’t give a fuck what the law says. It’s not about what people think, or what’s written on a bloody piece of paper.” Softening, Dom lays his hand on Billy’s knee and gives it a comforting squeeze as his eyes fill. “It’s about us. You and me, and a promise to each another. That’s all I need. Your promise.”

“Have you got a ring for me?” Billy asks, his face solemn, not wanting Dom to think for a moment that he’s taking the piss about something so incredibly important. When their eyes meet, he cups Dom’s cheek in the palm of his hand and smiles reassuringly. “Or do I have to wait until the ceremony to see it?”

Eyes flashing wide, Dom leaps off the couch.

“Don’t move.”

Nearly running down the hall to the bedroom, Dom skids to a stop in front of his luggage and drops to his knees. Frantically, he digs into his carryon bag, searching for the small box and the object inside that has been filling his thoughts since the moment he’d first laid eyes on it, all those months ago in the small shop in Hawaii. When he finally finds it, he rises quickly, clutching it tightly in his hand before turning back around. Then, he gasps.

“Bills?” he whispers, shock overwhelming his already hyper stimulated senses.

To his surprise, Billy has followed him into the bedroom, and even more surprising, he is cradling a small velvet box in his hands. It’s a ring box, just like the one wrapped up in Dom’s long fingers.

“I had this great plan,” Billy begins quietly, a tiny smile gracing his perfect, bow shaped lips. “I was going to pick you up at the airport and bring you home to a perfect, candlelit dinner. I’ve been trying out recipes on Maggie, like the ones you made for me when I was in Hawaii. Didn’t want to make something for you that tasted like shite.” Thinking for a moment, he smiles. “The song we danced to at the pub that night was going to be playing on the stereo, and I even got the King to hunt down and send me a bottle of that wine that we had on New Year’s Eve.”

“Bills-”

“Let me finish,” Billy requests. “Please?”

“Okay.”

“I was going to hold you, kiss you, dance with you.” Pausing, Billy inhales sharply, trying to slow his uneven breath and pounding heart. “Then I was going to ask you to spend every New Year’s Eve with me for the rest of our lives. And every day in-between.”

“Guess I kinda bolloxed up that plan, didn’t I?” Dom asks ruefully. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Gazing at Dom, eyes filled with love and devotion, Billy smiles. “I don’t know if I could’ve made it another three weeks without you, love.”

“Oh, baby-”

“I love you, Dominic Monaghan. More than I ever thought was possible,” Billy says, cupping Dom’s face with one trembling hand, their eyes locking. “Dommie. My beautiful, beautiful Dommie. You are my whole life. You’re the first person I think about in the morning when I open my eyes and you’re the last person I think about at night as I fall asleep. When you’re not in my arms, I ache. It hurts, knowing that you’re so far away from me, that I can’t hold you.”

“Me too,” Dom whispers, emotions overwhelming him, eyes filling with tears. “I’ve been so lost without you.”

Both have to smile when they realize Dom’s choice of words.

“Will you marry me, Dommie?” Billy asks, brushing his thumb over Dom’s lower lip. “Be my ocean? Forever?”

“I-”

“Before you answer, there is a condition.”

“What?” Surprised, Dom frowns.

“You can’t give up the show. I won’t let you do that.”

Dom’s eyes glisten brightly. “But Billy, I can’t be apart from you. It hurts too much. Everything is just empty and hollow. I can’t live without you, baby. Every day that I’m not with you-”

“I know, love. I really, really do,” Billy croons, drawing the younger man into his arms and holding him tight.

“How can we be together if you’re in Scotland and I’m in Hawaii?” Dom asks, breath hitching and shoulders shaking. “Half a fucking world away when I need you. In my arms. Today. Tomorrow. Fifty years from now.”

“You will, but only if you stay in Hawaii, because that’s where I’m going to be,” Billy says, kissing Dom’s hair. “As much as I possibly can, anyways.”

Pulling back, Dom stares, crooked jaw hanging open in shock.

“What?”

“I can’t tell you how much it means to me, love, that you’re willing to give up your dream to be with me. The fact that you were going to leave everything you’ve worked so hard for behind, and make a life with me takes my breath away, Dommie.” Leaning in, Billy brushes his lips over Dom’s in a feathery caress. “Few people in this world would be willing to make that kind of sacrifice for love. But the truth of it, is that I was planning on coming back with you,” Billy says simply with a tiny shrug of his shoulders. “For good.”

“But Bills, you can’t leave Scotland,” Dom protests. “This is your- I mean- You’ve always said-”

“You said it yourself, Dommie,” Billy interjects, laying a finger over Dom’s lips to quiet him. “Things change. Hawaii is where you need to be right now. I can’t ask you to give that up, no matter how much I need you.”

“You’re not asking, I’m offering,” Dom insists.

Billy shakes his head. “I can’t let you do that, love.”

“You can’t give up your life here, Bills. What about your career?” Sighing, Dom scrubs a hand over his face and through his hair, leaving it in a chaotic tangle. “What about the plays you do here? How can I ask you-”

“I’m not giving up acting, Dommie, or the theatre,” Billy says with a smile. “I’m just changing my home base.”

“What?”

“I’ve been approached by a theatre company in New York,” Billy explains, guiding Dom over to the bed and sitting down. “They want me for a summer production, with an option for filming, and that would be in LA. I’ve spent the last few months getting a permit issued so I can work in the States. Peter’s talking to Russell about another Master and Commander, which would be filming in Mexico. He mentioned they might be shooting two of them, back to back, and he’d want me for both of them.”

Stunned, Dom’s jaw drops open. “Bills, that’s fantastic!”

“Now, the New York production will be during your summer hiatus, for the most part,” Billy says with a smile. “So if you wanted, you could come with me. We could be together.”

“Of course,” Dom replies happily, eyes lighting up. “Try and stop me.” Tracing the word he’d written on the back of his hand, Dom smiles. “You have my heart, Bills. Wherever you go, I will follow.”

“It’ll still mean flying back and forth, but it’s a start,” Billy finishes, cupping one of Dom’s cheek for a moment. “We’ll have a lot more days together this way. And it’s a lot closer than Scotland. Less time zones.”

“You’re not going to give up your house here, are you?” Dom asks, looking around, already mourning the loss. “You can’t leave Scotland completely. It’s your home, baby. It’s a part of you.”

“No. I’m keeping it,” Billy reassures him. “And as soon as you sign the papers I’ve had drawn up, it’ll be our house. Not just the house itself, but everything in it as well. Everything I own. What’s mine is yours, love.”

Touched, Dom snuggles into his lover’s side, hand resting on Billy’s thigh. “Aww, Bills.”

Billy gnaws on his lower lip for a moment. “I was also hoping that we could spend some of your hiatus breaks here.”

“That goes without saying, baby.” Leaning closer, Dom kisses Billy’s nose. “So, can I see my ring now?” he asks impishly.

“Cheeky bugger.”

“You love it.”

Billy grins. “Yeah, I do.”

After exhaling a nervous breath, Billy opens the black velvet box cradled in his palm and offers it to his lover. To his surprise, Dom doesn’t reach for it, and put it on. Instead, he just stares, mouth open ever so slightly.

“Oh my God,” he whispers, voice cracking with emotion. “It was you.”

“What?”

Looking up, Dom laughs and blinks back happy tears. “It was you, and Ana didn’t tell me.”

“What are you talking about?” Billy asks, utterly confused.

Silently, Dom watches Billy take the platinum band out of the box with trembling hands and slip it onto Dom’s slender finger. Not surprised in the least that it fits perfectly, Dom smiles. “You bought this in Hawaii, a few days before Christmas. The day before Lij arrived.”

Billy’s jaw drops. “How did you-”

“I found this little shop a couple of weeks after I moved to Oahu,” Dom explains, breath hitching a little as he stares at the ring on his finger. “Was just looking around, and then I saw these two rings. I thought they were so amazingly beautiful, and the owner told me that he’d made them. Original design. Only two in the world. I must have gone back there twenty-five bloody times, just to look at those rings. I couldn’t get them out of my head.”

When Dom’s eyes fill with tears again, Billy shifts closer, one hand resting on his shoulder. “Dommie-”

“Let me finish,” Dom requests. “Please?”

“Alright.”

“And then one day, his wife, Ana, called me and said that someone had bought one of them.” Dom looks down for a moment, shaking his head. “I kicked myself for not buying them both when I had the chance, because they were meant for you and me. I knew it in my heart. I knew it, but because I was a stupid arse and didn’t just buy them, I’d lost one of them.”

“It’s okay, Dommie,” Billy croons, hand sliding up to stroke Dom’s neck as the younger man struggles to control his emotions, blue-grey eyes glistening. “It’s okay.”

“I couldn’t bear the idea of leaving the other one behind, so I bought it,” Dom continues. “It wasn’t the same, because someone else in the world would have the other, but every time I looked at that ring I could see us together. Forever.”

Billy’s breath catches when Dom opens his own velvet box, revealing a beautiful platinum ring, identical to the one on his finger.

“Only two in the whole world?” Billy asks softly, his own eyes filling. “And we found them?”

“I guess it was meant to be,” Dom replies as he slides the band onto Billy’s finger, smiling through his tears.

“Just like you and me,” Billy adds before gathering Dom in his arms and bringing their lips together in a passionate kiss.

Hungrily returning Billy’s affection, laughter bubbles up in Dom’s throat, and his eyes sparkle with a joy that Billy hasn’t seen in a long time. Too long.

“I guess that only leaves one question,” Dom says between the hot, wet kisses trailing down Billy’s neck as he nudges Billy down to the mattress, his fingers working busily at Billy’s shirt to expose the warm, pale skin beneath.

“What’s that, love?” Billy asks huskily, his own hands sliding under Dom’s shirt to touch and caress.

“At the wedding, who’s wearing the dress?” Dom asks, shoulders shaking with amusement.

Laughing, Billy cuddles Dom in his arms, leg winding around him to bring their bodies close. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll handle that part if you wear white.”

“I’ll wear anything you want, baby,” Dom replies softly, eyes serious, long, lean fingers sliding up and down through the soft hair covering Billy’s bare chest. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

“I know. And whatever you wear will be perfect, love,” Billy says with a smile, cupping Dom’s face in his hand and rubbing his bearded chin. “Because on that day, you’ll finally be mine.”

“Oh, Bills. You’re wrong about that,” Dom corrects, holding Billy’s ringed hand over his heart. “I was yours the day we met.”

Kissing Dom’s cheek wetly, Billy ruffles his hair fondly. “Romantic bastard.”

“You love it,” Dom fires back with a grin.

“Yeah,” Billy says, bringing their mouths together for a soft kiss. “I do.”

“I do,” Dom repeats, murmuring against Billy’s lips. “I really like the sound of that.”

“You know what I like better?” Billy asks huskily, fingertip tracing Dom’s sensitive belly button before dipping beneath the waistband of his low slung jeans.

“What?” Dom asks, groaning when Billy’s small hand wraps around his arousal.

“Knowing that very soon I’ll be able to call you my husband,” Billy murmurs, pressing soft kisses to Dom’s neck. “My partner, for life.”

“We’re getting married,” Dom whispers, eyes bright with a fresh layer of joyful tears. “We’ll be together.”

“Forever,” Billy finishes softly before covering Dom’s body with his own.

* * *

25-Forever

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Date: 2005-08-22 08:17 pm (UTC)

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