The Stone Knight (gay)✔️

25. Taking the plunge.

Lucas was disappointed when he didn't hear from Dylan in the days following movie night. He had expected a response to his disobedience by leaving without speaking to him. Again, he found that being ignored by Dylan was painful. With love, he would submit to a barrage of uncomfortable questions. Everything was better than this silence.
"So you fell on your own knife," Elaine Brown remarked narrowing her eyes at him.
Frustrated, he had confessed everything to her.
"I have no idea how you come to such a ridiculous conclusion," Lucas grumbled surly. "Haven't you heard what I told you?"
"Oh yes," Elaine nodded. "You regret leaving home."
"I did not say that," Lucas shook violently.
"That's right," Elaine agreed, "but that's absolutely what you meant."
"Bull," Lucas vociferously countered. "With the new path Dylan has planned, I'll be home in five minutes. In the big house," he corrected himself with red cheeks. "That doesn't make up for the lack of being together," Elaine said, ignoring his slip. "You miss your family. Admit it."
"No," he said stubbornly. "I have a good relationship with Noah and Jake. That's enough."

Pursing her lips she decided to change tactics. "How many times, since your newfound independence, have you had sex?"
"Hello," he exclaimed indignantly. "We're working here, yes!"
"Oh, baby," she waved nonchalantly. "Since I'm practically working here in my own time, you might as well answer me." She leaned closer to him. "You can't do it because it feels like cheating, doesn't it?"
His expression told her everything she wanted to know. "That's exactly how I felt after the divorce," she nodded. "I had my physical freedom, but in my head I was still attached to Braden."
"What do you want to hear from me?" said Lucas, shrugging his shoulders. "I told him about my feelings for him. That my departure is directly related to the introduction of Annika." He bit his lower lip. "So far, he hasn't responded."
"Think of it as something positive," she gestured encouragingly. "Dylan has had plenty of time to resolutely turn you down, but so far he hasn't done this."
"Doesn't mean anything!" shook Lucas with a beating heart.
'What if Elaine was right?' He was eagerly looking forward to the upcoming film night and hoped he could keep his bubbling enthusiasm until tomorrow.

Dylan's mood, meanwhile, had sunk to a dramatic low. For the last week, he had seen every shred of paper, tape and photo that where available of the autumn festival that he forgot. He had spent hours and hours looking at footage and no matter how many times he encountered himself, there was nothing to stimulate his memory. There was little left but returning to the source of his unrest. "Can I talk to you tonight?" he sent to Lucas.
"Invite him to dinner at your home," suggested Elaine, who unabashedly read over his shoulder. "This gives you the opportunity to try out some other theories."
Lucas's first reaction was to flat-out refuse, almost immediately replaced by an intense desire to see Dylan. "Dinner. Seven o'clock. My house", he sent back.
Dylan read the answer and felt a wave of satisfaction that appeared strangely familiar to him, but which he could not place. He quickly tapped a response.
"I come under the condition that you don't say anything to my mother. I would never hear the end of it," Lucas read aloud to Elaine.
"Really?" she laughed. "Mr. Frosty is afraid of his mommy? How amazing!" She patted him on the arm. "Go over to the drugstore to buy condoms. You never know!" she winked.
Lucas had laughed away the suggestion and declared it impossible. He couldn't explain why there was a white drugstore bag standing in his bathroom.

He agreed with Dylan's request not to inform Madeleine. Unfortunately, he had to abandon his idea to make a roasted leg of lamb because for this he needed the oven of the big house. Since he could not possibly use the kitchen unseen, he had to be forced to switch to plan B. Disadvantage of this is that this dish took three hours to cook, so he left extra early to get everything ready on time. Ben hadn't felt bothered when he took the afternoon off and openly grinned when he heard the reason. "Dylan is one lucky guy to have someone go through all this trouble just to provide him with a meal."
With abandon, he threw himself into the grocery shopping and preparations. Everything was taken care of to perfection. The house (including bathroom and bedroom) was clean and sparkling. There were fresh flowers on the table and the matching wine was breathing in the decanter he had just purchased.

The door was knocked on at seven on the dot. With Elaine's words in the back of his mind, he opened. "Come in." Lucas inhaled the fresh forest air Dylan brought and took him in with joyous smile. "I don't see a car. Does this mean the path is finished already?"
"Yes, that's right," said Dylan, who took off his coat and hung on the coat rack. Lucas felt nonsensically happy to see Dylan's coat completely covering his own coat. It took him back to a moment when Dylan had freely taken him into his arms.
"I'm glad you wanted to speak to me so soon. I hope I didn't burden you with too much trouble," Dylan said awkwardly looking around at the table.
Looking shyly to the ground, he slid past Dylan and walked to the kitchen.
"I don't regret my decision to live here, but honestly I'd love to eat together more often. All of us," he added, choppily.
Dylan snorted approvingly. Now that Lucas had made a confession first, he didn't feel so encumbered to admit: "I missed your cooking. Feel free to come as often as you want."
"Seriously?" said Lucas so delighted that Dylan smiled involuntarily.
"Seriously," he nodded.

"I would like to go through some material with you before dinner. Is this possible?"
"That's fine," Lucas nodded. "I just checked the dish. It'll be perfect in half an hour." He escorted Dylan to the bank. As friendly as the circumstances allowed, they sat on the couch together. "What did you bring?" he asked curiously moving closer to Dylan as he grabbed his laptop and put it on the coffee table.
"This folder contains all the information I have gathered about the autumn festival." Lucas recorded him with much significance. "What festival are we talking about now?"
Dylan avoided eye contact and tapped the folder. "The one I can't remember," he audibly reluctantly admitted.
Interested, Lucas moved the laptop a little closer. "Looks like you have quite a bit of data. Did it work out?" he asked, hopeful, actually knowing better.
"No," was the short response.
Hiding his disappointment, he veered out of the bank. "I could use a glass of wine. Can I pour something for you?"
"Fine," said Dylan, who took him sharply. Lucas was clearly disappointed that his search had yielded nothing and wine always made him loosen up. While his host poured two glasses in the kitchen, he sent a message to Nils, Magda's son, instructed to remove a box of wine from the cellar and put it at the door of the cottage. That way, they would have enough stock.

On his return, he saw the reluctant look in Lucas's green eyes and knew he had to move on with caution. "I tried to make a reconstruction using the data. That way I hoped to empathize more with the mindset of the time. So far, I haven't come across any specifics." He took a sip of his wine and cleared his throat. "I hope you don't blame me for this, but since your claim that something happened between us, I'm going to ask you to share more details."
Lucas took his glass and leaned back into the couch. "May I inquire about your reason for further investigation?"
Dylan looked at him in a surprised way. "Isn't this what you want?"
"Of course I do," Lucas nodded. He bit his lower lip. "You have no idea how much I want the Dylan from then back. Only I feel like simply telling you what happened between us will backfire."
Dylan frowned. "What do you suggest?" 
In the kitchen, a timer went off. 
"The food is ready. Are you going to sit at the table?" said Lucas, with a rapidly rising heartbeat. "Lucas," Dylan said, grabbing him by the wrist. "I don't want to play games." Without letting him go, he got up. "What are you suggesting?" Gray eyes looked at him seriously.

Lucas took a deep breath and took the plunge. "Go out with me."