Chapter Text
“Rhett, honey hurry up now. We don’t got that much time.”
Rhett looked up from the dirty white floor. Light browns and greys smudged into the floor, stickiness embedded in the floor, years of foot traffic ensuring their permanence. His eyes panned from the floor upwards and settled on the stark contrasting shiny black shoes before him. They engulfed pale white feet, a slight heel providing a bump in the top of the foot as an arch is forced. His eyes panned further up, a flowy olive-green skirt covering the long legs in front of him. Craning his neck now, he pans over the cream coloured shirt covering the woman’s torso. Her hands in fists, propped up on her hips. Craning his head further still, the back of his head pressed deeply against the top of his back, staring at an almost 90-degree angle, barely managing to keep from toppling over, he sees her face.
It’s his mother. But her face is so far from Rhett’s, he can barely recognise it. The bright LED lights hanging from the roof blind him briefly as he stares up at his mother. Blinking sharply, white and black dots fill his vision, a distorted black spot in the shape of the light remains in the centre of his sight for a couple of seconds before slowly fading away, back to his normal clear sight.
“We need to get back home Rhett, Pastor John is coming past the house later for dinner, and I need to get started on the cooking. So, hurry up and pick a candy.”
Staring up at the woman as she speaks, the words flowing from her are coated in his mothers’ familiar voice, but he can’t see her mouth move. Her whole face is blurred now, looking off to the side, never at Rhett as she tells him what to do. He looks over to the side, a large shelf, packed to the brim with assorted candies towers over him. Hundreds upon hundreds of different candies, sweets, chocolates and other sugary confectionary are laid out before him.
His eyes search across the shelves, trying to eye all his options. There are so many, too many, he feels anxiety building up in his chest. How can he choose, how is he supposed to choose when there are so many options? He begins feeling nauseous, when his gaze gets caught by two perfectly wrapped candy bars just to his left. A grey-silver wrapper lined with pink trim lies on the right. He picks it up and reads the bright, bold pink lettering on the wrapper; THE RIGHT CHOICE! Every man’s go to Chocolate bar!
Rhett turns the bar over in his hands a couple times, before looking back at the bar that was sitting next to this one. It’s bright blue, almost blindingly blue. The edges of the wrapper are smooth and shimmer in the light. A gleam reflects off the wrapper and soft shades of blues, purples, greens and yellows glitter before Rhett’s eyes. A soft haze fills his vision as he feels an ethereal desire for the light blue candy.
Rhett drops the silver and pink chocolate bar in his hand, to the ground. The contact as it hits the dirty floor creates a deafening, pounding sound as each side of the bar bounces against the floor before eventually landing face down. Reaching forward, Rhett’s fingers twitch as they near the delectable object of his desire. The wrapper shimmering with flecks of silver as his hand lingers over it. The few inches of air between the wrapper and the sensitive skin of his palm are on fire. Lightning shoots in short bursts between them, electrifying energy flows through him, and Rhett swears he could actually feel the electrons and protons connecting, smashing together violently as sparks radiate from the small space caught between them.
Suddenly a tight grasp around his wrist is pulling Rhett backwards. His shoulder twists around violently as long fingers topped with sharp nails dig deep into his skin. A terrifying sound, painfully loud and laced with the sharp tones of his mothers’ voice, screeches at Rhett.
“NO! YOU ALREADY PICKED THE RIGHT ONE, NOW STICK WITH IT!”
His skin crawls as a distorted version of his mother looms over him. Staring down at him, black holes taking the place of her eyes. Her long nails cut deep into him, Rhett’s not sure whether they break the skin, but the pain is unbearable. Tears start streaming down his cheeks as the overwhelming darkness hovers above him. Terrified, he begins screaming, his voice is ragged and cutting as loud cries leave his mouth.
“That’s the wrong one, Rhett! Put it back now!”
Looking over to his left, Rhett sees his father and brother staring down at him now too. Their bodies are stretched out over him, long and rough at the edges, the top of their heads fading into blackness. His fathers mouth stretches open, threatening to consume Rhett whole. The three formidable figures stare down at Rhett through pitch black eyes. The sight silences Rhett, fear coating him in a sense of impending doom, at which no words, screams or shouts can save him from.
A gentle presence takes hold of his shoulder, a soft and delicate hand pressing down onto it, lightly. As he slowly turns around, afraid for what may be waiting behind him, a soft glow radiates around him. The light wading through the dark, bright blue eyes break through the silence that had overcome Rhett.
“Hey Buddy. What’s wrong?”
The softness of his voice lulled and softened Rhett’s hardened exterior. The hairs on the back of his neck, and the tops of his arms relaxed. The tight grip, strangling around the coil of his gut, released. He let out a large, shaky breath, he had apparently been holding, and looked deeply into the welcoming cerulean blue eyes.
“They want me to choose, but… but I don’t want to. I want the blue one.”
The words struggle to leave his mouth as small whimpers and sobs are released between them. He stifles a sob and clenches his eyes shut, willing the uncontrollable tears away. The gentle hand rubs softly against his shoulder, the thumb moving in circles up the nape of his neck. The face is slightly blurred, in a soft haze and glowing. The features indistinguishable, except for the eyes, their strikingly blue gaze penetrate deeply into Rhett. They’re familiar and elicit a warmth In Rhett’s chest. A warmth that radiates from the person before him, himself. An overwhelming sense of calm and comfort takes over Rhett. His senses calm entirely, and he stares longingly at the eyes before him.
“That’s OK. Here.”
The other gentle hand stretches out toward Rhett. In the palm of the soft hand, Is the light blue candy.
“If this is the one you want, then you can take it Rhett.”
Rhett hesitantly reaches his hand out to the candy, the palm of his hand hovering over it once again. The electricity building up in the small space, this time the familiar, gentle hand holding the candy is a part of the lightning.
“But… If you take this, if you make this choice, you have to stick with it, Rhett. You have to be strong and stick with your decision. Even if other people don’t agree. You have to be brave. For me… please.”
Rhett gulped at the ominous words from the man before him. He looked down at the object of his desire, then up at the sparkling eyes before him, then back down at the candy. He pushed his hand down onto the candy and wrapped his fingers firmly around it. Sparks of electricity shot out from the touch, his hand suddenly intertwined with the one below it. The candy nowhere to be seen. His fingers slotted in perfectly between the kind fingers belonging to the blue-eyed man. Looking up now in amazement, the kind man’s features were clear and obvious, his name placed gently on the tip of Rhett’s tongue.
“Link.”
Rhett suddenly blurted out in to the darkness of his room. Awoken by a heavy weight suddenly pressing down on the edge of his bed.
Rhett squinted his eyes in the dark, trying to make out the figure sitting on the end of his bed. As his eyes adjusted he slowly began to recognise the fluffy black hair, the broad shoulders, protruding Adams apple and soft lips, accompanied by electrifying blue eyes staring down at him. Link was sitting on the edge of Rhett’s bed. Sitting like a statue, frozen and silent.
“Link? What are you doing?”
Rhett rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up. Propping his arm back, behind him, and leaning down on the palm of his hand. He yawned and looked over at the alarm clock beside his bed, the time showed it to be 3:00 am.
“Link… hellooo?”
“Hey brother.” Link slurred.
Rhett cleared his throat, slight irritation brewing in his stomach at the slur In Links voice.
“What are you doing, man? It’s 3am, and you smell like a liquor store.”
Rhett nudged Links back with his foot, hoping to urge him to get off his bed. Instead he leaned back, his arms arching over Rhett’s legs, boxing him in, as he leaned on the palms of his hands.
“I went out… met a re-really nice guymmm. His names… uhm… Dang… whaats his name again?”
“Good for you. Now get off my bed.”
Rhett yanked the duvet cover and rolled over, his back now turned to Link. Anger rose in his chest, a hot, red fire burning in his gut. Wake me up at 3am, only to tell me you met a guy. Jackass.
“I’m gonna see him, I’m gonna… tomorrow.”
“I don’t care.”
Rhett was just about ready to kick Link off his bed, he didn’t care if he hurt him. But before he even manged to lift his leg, a hushed sob suddenly came from Link. Rhett turned his head and lifted his chin. Looking down the bridge of his nose, he watched as Link pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes. Rubbing and wiping at the tears streaming down his cheeks, small sobs and sniffs escaping him, and filling the quiet of their room.
“Why Rhett? Why are y-you so cruel?”
The words came out between strangled sobs. Hiccups interjecting between syllables. Rhett slowly lifted himself up again. Sitting fully upright now, he looked down at his friend, as he released a room full of tears and sobs. Just as Rhett was about to speak, Link was suddenly grabbing at his shirt, pulling the materiel into his bundled fists.
“Can’t you see!? You want to be with me Rhett! So why? Why can’t we be together!?”
The drunken slur had left, Links words now came out strong and loud. Determined and clear. Shock had taken over Rhett, as he was pulled forward by Links strong grip on his shirt. Link was practically shouting at Rhett, his tone was harsh, angry, and sad. So sad. Rhett watched the pain engulf Link, and he felt it enter his body too. His whole chest filled with the suffocating pain.
“We just can’t Link… we can’t. We'll never be accepted. My family will disown me. It’s just…”
A deep pain echoed throughout Rhett’s chest, as Link pounded his fists against Rhett’s sternum and Ribs. He pounded them once, twice, three times. The pounding was deafening, bouncing off his chest and onto the walls around them. Rhett’s’ eyes began to sting, tears forming in the edges of his eyes as the words came tumbling out of Links mouth. They came crashing down, one word after the other, smashing to the ground, like a rockfall.
“I don’t fucking care Rhett! It has nothing to do with anyone but us! And You want me, you know you do! You fucking know it! So just be a man and admit it!”
Tears started streaming down Rhett’s cheeks, burning with heat as they slid down.
“God! I can’t take this anymore Rhett! I can’t. It hurts too much… it hurts… too much.”
The words leaving Links mouth began to slow. They were more breathy and softer, as if he was running out of air. His grip in Rhett’s shirt loosened slightly, and he hung his head down between his and Rhett’s chests. Rhett still sat silent, mouth gaping as he cried, staring down at the broken man before him.
“You have to make up your mind Rhett. You either own up to the fact that you want me and stick with it. Or I’m going to see that guy tomorrow. I’m going for good. Cause I can’t handle this anymore. My heart can’t take it.”
Links words shocked Rhett to the core, an ultimatum is Links offer. Rhett felt like he was staring down the barrel of a gun. The choices laid before him were cruel and unfair.
“No Link. Don’t make me choose. That’s not fair, please.”
The words were coated in fear. Rhett gripped at Links waist, his hands reaching and clawing, begging for Link to stay.
“You have to choose Rhett.”
“Don’t make me choose.”
“You have to.”
Their voices were raspy and broken, their throats burning and raw.
“You’re drunk Link. You don’t mean that.”
“I do. I’m not that drunk.”
“Link… please…”
Link leans in close, so close his forehead presses against Rhett’s. They breath each others air for a few seconds. Rhett feels his life force connected to Links. His soul floating between the two of them. A soft whisper leaves Links mouth, his breath tickles Rhett’s cheeks as he speaks.
“Please Rhett, be brave. Just take control of your desires. Take control and make the choice. Please.”
Rhett’s eyes close as the whispered words circulate his brain. A small shiver resonates through his body as the image of his mother intrudes his mind. Her eyes are black holes, her long talon-like hands reaching out toward him. Her voice screeches at him as he feels Links grip loosen, his body shifting away from him, the weight on the bed lighten as Link begins to stand up.
Wait.
Rhett pulls Link back to him. His hands digging into his waist as he pulls him down onto the bed, twisting him to face towards him. Their mouths crash together. Rhett’s right hand pulling Links head down against his. His fingers gripping and entangling themselves in Links long black hair. Their eyes are closed, but Rhett swears he can see lightning dancing around the room. His tongue presses against the seem of Links lips, begging to explore the inside of his mouth. Link opens for him, and they deepen the kiss. Hungry and desperate for the taste of each other.
Rhett lifts Link up briefly, and twists him around, maintaining their joined mouths. He slides Link down, back against the bed now, Rhett leaning down over him on his hands and knees. One knee placed on the outside of Links thigh, his other placed between Links thighs. His left hand is propping him up, pushed firmly into the bed, beside Links shoulder. His right hand still caught in Links soft hair.
This is it.
Rhett feels desperate for Link, like without him, he won’t be able to breath. Like they share one life force. Like every time he looks into the stunning blue eyes, his soul burns brighter, his energy pulses stronger. He can’t deny how afraid he is, but he’s made his choice. He needs to stick with it.
Need to be brave, like Link.
Links hands tickle Rhett’s skin as they flutter over every inch of him. They pull at the hem of Rhett’s boxers, and the heat building in Rhett’s abdomen pulls him back to reality.
“Wait Link don’t.”
“What?”
Rhett can hear the anger edged on Links voice, as he assumes Rhett is backing out yet again.
“Not like this… Not when you’re drunk, okay?”
Rhett stares down into Links imploring eyes. They stay like that, in silence for a few seconds, before Links hands drop down to his chest, and he finally speaks.
“But when I’m sober?”
Rhett smiles down at Link. He takes in all his beauty, takes in the intensity if his decision, the ultimatum he gave him. His smile turns to a frown, a stern look of determination. His voice strong and definite as he speaks.
“Don’t go see that guy tomorrow. Don’t see… anybody… but me. Okay?”
“Okay.”