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"Hey there, handsome." Robby picks his head up and smiles as his boyfriend walks toward him. "You guys enjoying yourselves?"
"Yeah, but I missed you." Eli grins back at him and sits down in the sand beside Robby's towel.
"You're so stupid." Robby shakes his head and laughs. Eli leans down and gives him a quick saltwater flavored kiss. When he pulls away, Robby reaches out and drags his knuckles and then fingers across Eli's damp ribcage.
Eli squints into the sun and then turns to Robby again.
"So, Miguel just mentioned that your dad and Carmen are going to start looking for a house when the baby comes."
Robby doesn't say anything, just keeps dragging his fingertips over Eli's damp skin.
"What do you think you're going to do? Live with them?"
Robby groans and drops his hand back at his side.
"I dunno. Maybe?" He scratches at his nose under his sunglasses and sighs, a little irritated. "Do we have to talk about this right now?"
Eli looks away from him.
"Why don't you ever want to talk about the future?" Eli pouts down at the sand, tracing a line in it idly.
"Maybe because I don't have anything exciting planned for the future." Robby shrugs. "Not like you do."
"What are you talking about?" Eli scoffs. "You just finished your classes, and you're gonna get your GED next month. Not to mention you're turning 18 in a week. You can do whatever you want now. That's pretty fucking exciting in my opinion."
Robby sits up on his blanket onto his elbows and gives Eli a weak smile.
"Yeah, but like… I'm not going to college or anything, I'll probably just get a slightly less shitty job or finally accept Mr. LaRusso's offer to come back to the dealership."
"If that's what you want, then okay." Eli leans forward and kisses Robby sweetly, lingering afterwards and kissing him on the nose too.
Robby's smile is a little more honest then, but not by much.
"It just feels so lame." Robby huffs. "There's no way you really think working at an auto dealership is cool ."
Eli frowns, a grumpy look that Robby has seen many times before, but rarely at him these past few months. Eli sighs and looks away.
"I thought we talked about this."
Robby grits his teeth. He shakes his head.
"I know , I just… I don't know why I keep worrying you'll discover something about me that will make you realize I'm not what you signed up for." Robby trails off and looks at Eli with a twinge of pain at how sad his boyfriend suddenly looks. "I don't know how to believe that being with someone can just be this easy. But you make it feel so easy, I feel like I have to be bracing for the other shoe to drop."
"Robby, we've been friends for a while." Eli is still frowning down at the sand. "I already know a lot about you. And that's the stuff that makes me like you so much. You're exactly what I signed up for, just the way you are."
Robby feels awful about bringing his boyfriend's mood down. He reaches out and circles his fingers around Eli's wrist, and the still damp-haired man looks up at him.
"Lay down with me for a bit." Robby smiles warmly this time, tugging lightly at Eli's arm.
Eli huffs but he smiles and goes easily. He lies half on top of Robby, pressed together from head to toe.
"You're so warm." Eli laughs, tightening the arm he has slung across Robby's stomach.
"And you're cold. And wet. And sandy."
"Hey, you wanted this." Eli bites at Robby's shoulder playfully and then presses an apology kiss there. "You don't like going in the ocean?"
"Not when it's fucking winter , I don't." Robby laughs loudly.
"In what world does 87 degree heat still count as winter?" Eli scoffs.
"The water is colder in January and you know it." Robby closes his eyes and lets himself enjoy the barely there weight of his boyfriend on top of him.
They stay like that, listening to the waves crash and their friends shouting, playing in the surf. Robby is almost lulled to sleep by it, only coming to alertness again when Eli shifts up onto his elbow and looks down at him.
"I should move before you get a weird tan."
"Mmm, I don't care. Feels good having you lie down on me."
"Well how bout you stay over tonight and I will do exactly that."
Robby furrows his brow and then remembers that earlier in the week Eli was saying something about his parents going out of the country.
"Oh, yeah? I finally get to see your room?" Robby arches an eyebrow and gives his boyfriend a teasing smile. "I've been dying to see what kind of nerdy stuff you're hiding from me."
Robby had wondered for the past few weeks when Eli would invite him over. They've been dating for almost a month and Eli always comes to Robby's, which makes sense because Robby essentially lives alone. Robby hasn't really wanted to push, because he knows that Eli doesn't have the warmest relationship with his parents, but he's been wondering when he'd be invited over.
"Very funny." Eli flicks at Robby's sternum playfully. "But yeah, I want you to come stay over this weekend. If you want to, I mean."
"Sure, babe." Robby reaches up and holds the side of Eli's neck, tracing his thumb along his sharp jaw. "You gonna make me dinner? Woo me?"
"Oh I'm still wooing you? I thought I had succeeded already."
Eli leans down for another kiss which is interrupted when a shadow falls over them followed by cold droplets of water hitting them all over.
" Hey !" Robby whines, and Eli laughs and tries to shield him from Moon and Sam's attack as the girls continue shaking the water off their hair above them. Robby laughs when he sees Eli protecting him. "Aw, babe, thanks."
"You guys are gross." Sam gags and takes a seat on her towel.
"They're adorable, Sam!" Moon corrects her friend, taking the other half of the towel and reaching for her purse to get a bag of chips. The girls share it happily as Eli moves himself off of his boyfriend to sit in the sand where he had been earlier. "Are you two coming to Bert's movie night later?"
"Oh shit, I forgot about that." Eli winces and scratches his head.
"Probably not." Robby answers for him, easily, holding out his hand for a chip. "We'll see if we can make it, but we kind of have plans."
"Ooooh." Sam wags her eyebrows. "Sounds romantic."
"You should know I'm not really the romantic type." Robby snorts.
" Wow , is it weird that I forgot you guys dated?" Miguel says, walking up with Chris, both of them dropping their wake boards they borrowed from Eli onto the sand. "That was like… a year and a half ago."
"Considering that our worlds all blew up because of it, yeah that's weird. But I'll admit… It feels like a lifetime ago." Robby laughs as Sam holds out the bag of chips for him again.
"Man, Robby, sounds like everyone wants to date you." Chris jokes as he grabs a Gatorade from their cooler. "Dibs next if you ever dump that dweeb."
Eli smirks up at his friend and nods his head before jumping to his feet.
"Oh, you wanna go?"
"Let's go, pretty boy. I'll take you any day." Chris gets in a fighting stance and makes a come at me motion.
"Oh it's on." Eli cackles and they're moving over to the side to spar.
"Guys!" Moon cries out. "Can we have one day without karate?"
Eli and Chris call it a draw after Eli gets sand in his eye. After that the group slowly packs up to go home and get ready for Bert's later. On the drive to Eli's he asks if Robby needs anything from home, but the younger teen shakes his head. He's always got his travel toothbrush in his bag, out of habit more than anything, and he already had a change of clothes packed because of the beach.
They pull up at the end of a short cul-de-sac at the older, yet modern home, perfectly painted in soft white with stained wood accents. Robby had been surprised the first time he'd found out that Eli lives so close to the LaRussos, just a half mile away through the winding roads, right on the other side of Hayvenhurst.
The home is much different than the LaRusso mini family villa. Starting with the lack of warmth in the drab halls and continuing to the much larger yard with a drop off view of the valley that Robby knows means the home is worth at least a couple million more, just on that aspect alone.
"So… I know we don't talk about your parents much, but…" Robby trails off as they enter the house. He looks around the front room with its antique-y looking furniture and decor for the second time ever and Eli shuts the door behind them.
"Let me guess." Eli sounds amused as he sets down his bag and toes off his sneakers. "You wanna know what they do for a living."
"Yeah, I mean. I know Yasmine's parents are like real estate and investment banking super millionaires or whatever, but your house has gotta be worth just as much with that view."
Robby sets down his bag and takes his shoes off as well.
"Yeah no, I'm not Yasmine rich. But my dad is an executive director with Scuderia Ferrari." Eli smirks. "You are officially the only person besides Demetri and probably Yasmine, who knows that about me. Miguel doesn't even know. You can tell him though. It's not like… a secret."
Robby furrows his brow deeply and shakes his head.
"I'm… you're gonna have to fill me in here. Is that like… Ferrari, the car brand?"
"It's the F1 racing team for Ferrari cars, yeah." Eli nods and gestures for Robby to follow him to the kitchen. "He doesn't live here most of the year. He lives in Italy, which is where my parents went. He took the job when I was in junior high, and my mom and I didn't want to uproot our lives to move, so…"
" Wow ." Robby slides onto a kitchen island stool and Eli starts rummaging through the fridge. Robby relaxes a little at the rustic, lived in feeling of this part of the house. "Wow, that sounds tough."
"We weren't really all that close anyway." Eli shrugs. "Yeah, he's my dad and I love him… I've got good memories of him, but I dunno. I just didn't ever really have much in common with him once he got busier with work and I started playing video games."
"And your mom?" Robby asks.
"She's a literary editor." Eli shrugs. "Not sure who she's working for right now, but she makes a lot of money too, I'm sure. She's worked for pretty big magazines in the past."
"Well, I'm glad you didn't move to Italy before I could meet you." Robby grins as Eli shuts the fridge and turns to face him across the counter. "You'd probably be dating some hot Italian model instead."
Eli laughs and leans his hip on the counter.
"Yeah right."
"You would be." Robby insists and hops off the stool. "Now show me your room. I wanna see."
"Fine, fine."
Eli drags Robby past the stairs that lead down to the den and over to a curved staircase that leads up to the second story. Robby's eyes widen at the view out the floor to ceiling windows that line the hall and then he is ushered into a bedroom that, if you include the spacious balcony, is over half the size of his Mom's old apartment. The ensuite alone is bigger than the shared bathroom from that place.
The alabaster walls are decorated with posters of various Spiderman movies and video games or comics Robby has never heard of. There's a computer desk with a two screen setup with shelves behind and above that, lined with figurines still in their boxes.
"I know. Just a bunch of nerd shit." Eli chuckles softly as Robby takes in the decor. "But! I just got a new bed for my birthday. My dad couldn't be here so he bought me a bigger bed and frame, since 'I'm a man now' or whatever. Which seemed unnecessary at the time, but now I have someone to share it with."
"Oh yeah?" Robby turns around and Eli pulls him into a kiss immediately.
The kiss gets heady, fast. Robby goes easily when Eli lays him out on the bed and keeps kissing him, slow but needy, like it's building up to something. Robby isn't opposed to that at all, the fire inside him that burns when Eli touches him is irresistible and he wants more of Eli all of the time these days.
"Wanna make you feel good." Eli mumbles against his lips.
"Everything you do makes me feel good." Robby grins in between kisses.
"Don't be obtuse." Eli smirks and then nips at Robby's chin.
"Yeah, alright I think we can make some time for that before dinner." Robby concedes but stops Eli before he can tug off his shirt. "But not without a shower. We're all sandy."
"Oh." Eli sits up and realizes he's still in his board shorts. He pouts for a moment and then looks at Robby with big excited eyes. "My shower is huge ."
Robby laughs loudly and nods his okay even as the laughter is slow to subside. Eli fist pumps and drags him happily by the hand toward the ensuite shower.
They predictably take far too long getting clean, staying under the spray til the water starts to run cold.
Robby slips into the sweats he's borrowing for the night and watches his boyfriend pull on clean clothes. He's so loose limbed and relaxed now, that he's about to try to convince Eli to just lie down with him and cuddle, but his stomach rumbles loudly, betraying his heart's desires.
"Alright, I get it." Eli laughs softly. He turns and looks at Robby. "I'll feed you, don't worry."
"I wasn't worried." Robby shakes his head and smiles. "What can I do to help?"
"Just come keep me company." Eli pulls Robby close and kisses him sweet and slow before releasing him to start for the kitchen. "You like curry?"
"Love it." Robby answers, following him happily, hands stuffed in his pockets.
When Robby settles down onto his stool, he watches Eli's back, his strong, lean shoulders and tapered waist. He eyes the line of his long neck as Eli walks around the kitchen with familiarity, grabbing spices in between chopping veggies. Robby admires the concentration on his face as he focuses on what looks like very practiced motions. He wonders how often Eli cooks for himself or him and his mom maybe. He clearly has learned a lot more than Robby ever had.
"Who taught you to cook?"
The words are out before Robby knows he's asking them.
"My dad." Eli answers simply. "My mom is actually a better cook, but when I was little, making breakfast was one of the things I always did with my dad. We'd make pancakes from scratch every weekend. This was something he called Hurry Curry. It doesn't take very long, like normal curry."
"That sounds nice. Maybe you can help me get better at cooking some day." Robby nods. He wonders if Eli misses his dad, ever. But he doesn't ask. He wouldn't want to answer a question like that either.
They continue to exist in the quiet din of a sizzling pan and the overhead fan.
When Eli runs to grab something from the garage, he stops to kiss Robby on the way out and he does it again on the way back in.
Robby's heart swells and he looks around the kitchen, finding himself wishing that this was his life. The two of them, living together, eating dinner together, trading kisses whenever they feel like it. Making love in the night and falling asleep in each other's arms.
Robby is suddenly struck with the fact that he's in love.
He doesn't know what makes this so different from the way he felt for Sam or Tory, but he just feels it . He looks at Eli with wide eyes, panic making his throat close around the temptation to tell the other man how he feels.
"Almost ready." Eli interrupts Robby's thoughts with his update. He hunches over the pan, tasting his food before switching off the stove. He readies two plates of rice and curry and turns to set them on the island. "You good with eating here?"
"Yeah, yeah that's fine. Smells good." Robby smiles in thanks as Eli nods and turns to get them a couple glasses of water.
Robby swallows down the lump in his throat and sits up straight. He can do this. He can handle not panicking over something so silly.
He takes a bite of a red bell pepper in the curry sauce and tries not to ask Eli to marry him on the spot.
"Good?" Eli asks as he takes the stool next to Robby.
Robby looks at his hopeful, puppy dog eyes and the panic melts away into fondness, easy as that. He leans in and kisses Eli on the corner of his mouth.
"Perfect."