It Was Always You ~ A Call Me By Your Name Fan Fiction~

Chapter Seven

Elio and Oliver stumbled through the doorway of their hotel room at 1 AM that morning, both slightly drunk having been too enraptured with each other's company to pay any mind to how much they were drinking. Elio tipsily made his way to the edge of the bed and collapsed onto it. A moment later, Oliver joined him. Elio turned his head towards the man lying next to him.

"Thank you," he said softly with his eyelids fluttering in an attempt to stay awake.

"For what?" Oliver asked him, equally as softly.
He heard Elio mutter something but couldn't quite make out what he had said.

"Hmm?" he questioned.

"For this," Elio replied, "for taking me here, for coming back."

Oliver turned towards Elio's face, already turned towards him.

"Did you ever actually think I wouldn't come back?" Oliver asked him.

"I don't know", Elio murmured, "I was just a kid, Oliver. I felt like an idiot."

"Every day," Oliver said, so quietly Elio couldn't make out what he had said.

"What?"

"Every day," Oliver replied, "every day since I left to go back to America I thought about you. I thought about calling you so many times."

"Then why didn't you?" Elio asked him.

"Truthfully," Oliver said, "I don't know. I guess you weren't the only one who felt like an idiot. I know I should've called or gotten in touch with you, but I didn't want to risk hurting you more than I knew I already had."

There was silence for a few moments before Elio finally broke it.

"You know," he began, "you're not the only one who was bad at giving signs."

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked, puzzled"

"Like when I played Bach on the piano but changed it," Elio answered, "I told you you should've given me more signs but the truth is you gave me plenty, I just refused to acknowledge them."

He heard Oliver let out a laugh beside him.

"I think I got the message by the time I saw the peach," he said.

Elio let out a grown and covered his face, rubbing his eyes.

"I had hoped you had forgotten about that," he said, his voice muffled by his hands.

Oliver continued laughing.

"The point is," Oliver said at last, "the only person who's at fault is me. I'm the one who left. I'm the one who called you over the damn phone to tell you I was engaged."

"Oliver," Elio interrupted, "I've had three long years to think about all of that. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't bring myself to hate you. Sure, I was confused and upset and mad at you, but I never for one second hated you. I think even if I didn't realize it, I understood why you did what you did. I wasn't happy about it, but I knew. If I despised you for leaving, do you really think I'd be lying on this bed in this hotel room in this city with you?"

Oliver sat up and looked down at Elio.

"I'll never forgive myself for leaving you," he said.
"It's okay," Elio said, "you came back."