The Year of Us

January

Lex sat on his stool not three feet from the bed. He still had to put his clothes on. So he sat there naked, a pallet that was a swirling kaleidoscope of pastel colours in one hand and a paint brush delicately stroking the canvas in the other.

Jordan lay on his side in the bed watching him, his head propped up by his arm. The sheets were draped over his waist, providing no warmth but it's not like he needed it during this godforsaken heat wave.

"Whatcha doin'?" he asked lowly, his voice still coarse from sleep, although he'd been watching Lex work for about twenty minutes now.

Lex stopped his work abruptly and rested his paint brush on his thigh. It was a bad habit of his that had ruined more than a few pains of jeans, but this time the shiny blue paste left nothing but a mere smudge on the pale, creamy skin of his thigh.

"What are you doing up?"

"Watching you work."

"Why?"

"Because it beautiful."

Lex tore his eyes from Jordan's and looked down, his ears and cheeks flushing a lovely shade of red. Jordan smiled, how could he not. Lex looked magnificent when he worked. It was like he was a work of art himself, nevermind the piece he was creating.

Jordan them sat up, crawling to the edge of the bed, leaving the covers behind. He wrapped his arms around Lex's lean form, resting his chin on the pale shoulder of the boy he loved so much. Before him on the canvas he saw yet another piece of incredible work painted by Lex's skilled hands. It was a park, the trees in a full emerald bloom and the sky a clear cerulean, not a single blemish of cloud. A stream flowed clearly over the rocks, the precise brush strokes giving it a lifelike image and the silhouettes of people walked back and forth over the footpath. Flowers tainted the carpet of grass with their bright petals of reds, yellows and purples.

Jordan's mouth opened involuntarily out of awe. "It's beautiful," he whispered.

He could literally hear his blonde lover's smile. "You say that about all my painting."

Jordan kissed Lex's shoulder delicately. "Because I mean it everytime," he mumbled against the the pale skin, softer than silk.

He felt Lex's arm come up to softly stroke his forearm that lay draped across his chest. He then grabbed Jordan's hand, kissing it ever so softly, nothing but a featherlight graze of his lips, and held it up, leaving it resting against his cheek. "Do you know where this is?"

Jordan nodded softly, his chin running against the skin of Lex's shoulder. "It's the park on the other side of town."

Lex smiled and kissed the other man's hand again. "Do you know when it is?"

Jordan let his head loll to the side so that is was now resting against Lex's. He shook his head gently.

"It's the very first day I met you," Lex said. "I remember I went to the park thinking it was the most beautiful day I'd ever seen. But nothing compared to how beautiful you were when I saw you that very first time... You're still just as incredibly breath taking now."

Jordan blushed a deep red and his his face in Lex's neck. "Shut up," he mumbled, like a six year old in a strop. He turned his head again to look at his lovers masterpiece. "Things have changed so much since then."

Lex nodded. "Yes, they really have... I'm glad they did, though. I'm glad things aren't the way they were back then."

Jordan reached down to hold Lex's other hand tightly. "Me too, baby. Me too."