Below the Mythical Surface (Completed)

Showers and Kisses

"If I had it to do all over again," Link sighed as they chewed through large buttermilk pancakes and crisp salty bacon, "I think I would of asked you out when we were in college."

Rhett took another sip of his orange juice and placed it back on the side table. The food littered different parts of the large bed around their legs and feet.

"You actin' like I would have just said yes to ya," Rhett smirked. "That I was that smitten for all this time. Other people still turned my head, you know."

"Yeah, but nobody has my eyes," Link cooed back, making sure to bat his long eyelashes for comical effect. "Or my pouty lips." He puckered up like a blow up doll, and Rhett almost choked on the last bite of bacon.

"Got a point, Neal," Rhett agreed, his chuckle subsiding enough to look at such a silly face. "Think you are without a doubt the most gorgeous thing I ever have seen."

"Oh, stop it," he blushed, casting his gaze to the nearly empty plate in front of him. The corner of his lips twitched upward and he busied his fingers with tracing lines on the plushy comforter.

"Hey," Rhett extended his hand and cupped Link's jaw, making sure that he had his full attention. "I'm never gonna stop tellin' you that. Not ever."

Link leaned into his hand, and cupped it with his own. The softness in those same eyes that they were just going over nearly crushed Rhett. So perfect, couldn't have been more so if he tried.

"I love you," Link told him quietly, the twang so thick in his voice that it was as if he'd never left North Carolina. It was times like that, when Link was at his most comfortable, that he allowed his accent to creep back in. And it was times like that, that made Rhett feel so incredibly at home that he could almost smell the clean country air.

"I love you, too."

"I should probably be getting back to my room, huh?" The moment was broken too soon and they both felt the loss of it. But it was okay. One moment in an infinite sea of moments could be passed by. "Hop in the shower. Brush the stank out of my mouth," he chuckled and Rhett rolled his eyes.

"Boy you sure know how to un-romanticize a mornin', don't ya?"

A quick round of loving kisses were exchanged and Link left the room with a single backwards glance and a face splitting smile. As soon as the door was closed behind him, Rhett felt the aloneness. He missed his heat. His laugh. Everything. It was too much distance after so long of being apart that it nearly broke him in half. He couldn't wait. And so with a fresh pair of clean clothes and his own toothbrush, he was gone from his room and into the elevator.

Rhett only knew Link's hotel room number because he was the one who booked their stay and paid for it up front. Link had driven in later in a different car, back when they were still avoiding each other. It only took a small amount of time to be knocking on room 316, and Rhett appreciated the slight surprised look that greeted him once the door was opened.

"Hey, what's up?"

Rhett tilted his long frame into the room and Link backed up slightly at the movement.

"You...err, forgot somethin' when you left," Rhett muttered, and again, he loved how expressive Link's face was as it melted into a mixture of curiosity and confusion.

"Oh, what I forget?"

Rhett took a step inside of the much warmer room and smiled. The blue eyes flickered down to the now visible clothing in the taller man's hands.

"Me," Rhett said simply. "Ya forgot me. Mind if I shower with you? It's kind of cold in my room without you."

Link shook his head at the cheesiness of it all, but he wouldn't change a thing about the man in front of him. The silly pet names he claimed others gave him in high school, the goofy puns, and the way he could get Link's dander up so fast and in the next instant could have Link falling over his own feet to get to Rhett's lips.