Hey.. Cori here, to tell you that this is the end. I mean, stuff's going to happen after this, but you won't see it. Frankly, that's good. Tristan doesn't mind writing sex scenes, but I get a little uncomfortable (seehorny) during them. And then I have to go have sex with Tristan, and then there's more sex, and it's a vicious cycle.
So, what did happen? Well, Tristan and I got married, and after a wild night in Hawaii, he got pregnant and gave birth to twins. Well, not really.. but I've seen weirder stories. Guys pregnant.. just.. shouldn't happen. Makes me want to slip a birth control pill in Tristan's breakfast just to make sure.
Here's what really happened:
Tristan graduated high school with no problem, but chose not to go on to college for a while. It pissed his father off, which I think was a major factor in his decision. Since he came out to his dad, he's been trying to push the envelope as far as possible – kissing me whenever his parents come to visit – he even put his hand down my pants. So now his parents think I'm a pervert who corrupted their son. Either that, or they think I have such a huge penis that he's addicted…. Hm. That's pretty true, actually. I give great head, too. But anyway..
I was at work on a new account – I made partner, by the way – and Tristan phoned me to tell me that his dad invited us for a fancy dinner, and that he'd send a limousine to pick us up at seven. Well. I was a little wary of going, but Tristan was adamant that he could piss his parents off enough that they'd leave us alone.. I had a horrible vision of him yanking my pants off and riding me at the dinner table, crying 'Pass the salt! Yes!' After a little begging on his part, he got me to agree to going.
I still didn't want to, but I figured we'd have sex when we got home. Don't get me wrong.. We're not all about sex, which is what it must sound like. We honestly love each other. (I must be gay – I just started humming the Olivia Newton-John song.) The sex is just so fantastic that it's one of the easiest ways to express our love. I mean, with Tristan, it's amazing. He's just so gorgeous.. I should stop now, because I'm at work right now, it's still an hour until noon. I can wait.
Back to that night – We were all dressed up in our fineries – Can we call them fineries? It sounds fancier than tuxes. We weren't wearing gowns or anything.. eh. We were all dressed up in our suits – Tristan tried to get me to wear a tuxedo, but I refused. I hated looking like a penguin.
The limo arrived, and Tristan bounded out to it. I heard a 'YES!', and figured the back must've been stocked with alcohol or something. As we were leaving, however, I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach. Butterflies wearing tuxedos were flying around there, pinging off the walls of my stomach.
It didn't take long before Tristan had my pants off in the backseat of the limo.. I felt like such a slut.. or a virgin on prom night. "Be gentle." I mumbled. "It's my first time."
"Nn?" Tristan looked up, in the midst of yanking my boxers down with his teeth. I'll be completely honest with you – I almost lost it and pounced on him right there. He just has the most amazingly beautiful eyes in the world. I could just stare into them all day, but then I'd probably lose my job and end up living in a refrigerator box holding out a sign that says 'Will Create Ad Campaign for Food'.
"..Nothing." I pulled him up and kissed him, and I could only watch as Tristan pulled some lube out of his suit pocket. "…. Do you carry lube with you everywhere?"
"Mmhm." He nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. That's my Tristan.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could've sworn that I saw the little window between us and the driver lower, but I was too busy with my boy to care at all. That's not proper limo driver etiquette, though; I'm sure about that. I couldn't blame him. We're a damn sexy couple.
Now, as far as I knew, we were going straight (heh) to the restaurant and meeting Tristan's parents there. I'm sure the governor had more than one limo. So we had enough time to have a quickie in the backseat of the limo – I'll just say we took full advantage of that time.. I don't much like writing sex scenes.. I feel dirty when I'm done.
(Tristan: I'll clean you off.)
You had your chance – I'm writing this now.
So when I felt the limo slowing down, I freaked out and yanked my pants back on. Luckily, Tristan was doing the same. When the door opened, I was just yanking up the zipper, and I had this horrible vision about getting my you-know-what stuck. I'll tell you, I thanked every God I knew when that didn't happen.
I kissed him on the lips and went to pull back when I heard the door open. Tristan's parents were in their fineries too, and looking at us as if we had two heads. (For a moment, we had two backs. ::rimshot:: )
"… Having fun?" His father gave me a look. I smiled weakly at them and moved aside so they could get in. Tristan smirked at his father and snuggled up closer to me, and I winced inwardly. I really didn't want his father to hate me – especially considering what I had to do tonight.
Getting my nerve up, I wrapped my arm around Tristan's shoulder and tried to look confident. "It's good to see you again, sir. Ma'am."
She gave me the same weak smile. It was obvious that she was trying to accept it, but it was just a little hard for her. I could understand. Tristan was her baby boy, and some horny old man came along and perverted him. I was just hoping she could see how happy we were. We'd been together three years, for God's sake.. No sex could be that good. (I think.)
If you've never been in a truly awkward moment, let me sum it up for you and give you some idea what I was going through. Imagine you're in a small space with your very horny boyfriend who you've just finished having sex with moments before.. So the post-orgasmic bliss is starting to wear off. He keeps cuddling you and all but has his hand down your pants. Across from you is his very stuffy, very conservative parents who think your name is Corky.
And during all of this, you're trying to think of something to talk about.
".. Nice weather, isn't it?" I said.
…….Oh, bra-vo.
They nodded, and it was quiet in the car again. I fidgeted uncomfortably. I hated silences like this, and I always broke them before someone could say something like –
"So, you're still… homosexual, Tristan?"
…Like that.
Tristan gave his father an annoyed look. "It's not something that goes away, Dad. Even if it did, I'd gay back up when I saw Cori's coc—"
I cut him off. "So, how's the campaign trail?"
And to think, when I met Tristan, he was still vaguely closeted. In the last little while, he's all but lit the closet on fire and danced around it in rainbow spandex. (Now –there's- an image) I really –am- a bad influence on him. Or a good one, if you look at it psychologically. I've noticed such a change in him since we started going out.. I don't mean to sound cocky, but if you're not looking at the fact that he seems to be sex-obsessed (in his defense, he's only twenty. I was still like that when I was that age.) (Oh god, I'm old.)
"It's going well." His father said, still watching me warily. "We're focusing on the real issues this term."
"Like same sex marriage?" Tristan said sarcastically. I felt my heart stop beating, and my eyes flicked to his father's face nervously. Silently, I begged Tristan to stop prodding him, but I knew he couldn't hear me.
God, how long could one car ride be?
I should've been relieved to feel the car stop, but I knew what was coming. Or I thought I did, anyway. When the car door opened, I heard the clicking of shutters, and exchanged a look with Tristan, who looked confused and irritated. ".. Dad, what the hell is this?"
"Oh, just a dinner. Don't worry." He left with his wife, and reporters started talking to him. Tristan groaned and climbed out, dragging me behind him, and I was blinded by a flash right in my face.
"What the fu…"
"Governor St. Claire, are you proud of your son?"
"." He put his arm around Tristan while I was still stumbling blindly behind them. Tristan forced a smile and held on tightly to my hand.
"I swear I didn't know, Cori." He murmured into my ear.
"I know you didn't, baby." I whispered back, giving it a squeeze. "What the hell is this?"
"… It's .. a gay dinner." He replied, blinking.
"………..What?"
Apparently, a LGBT charity was giving Tristan's father an award for his strides in making equal rights for gay couples. And what better way to look like he cared than to drag his gay son and his gay son's gay boyfriend along to the dinner? Of course, this shot my plans all to hell.
They seated us near the front, and the entire time, I was too lost in my own thoughts to be paying attention to the speech. When it was finally over, I approached him to the side of the room. "Sir, may I speak to you for a moment?"
".. All right. What is it?"
"I just need to ask you something… It's important."
Skip ahead, skip ahead, skip ahead. I'm not ruining the ending yet. I kind of did in the first paragraph, but lets not quibble over semantics.
The ride home seemed to go even faster than the ride there – that's not just because we had sex again, but time always seems to go faster when you're nervous about an upcoming event.
"Happy Valentine's Day." I nuzzled his cheek. He smiled at me and lay his head on my shoulder.
"Mm. We can rent a cheesy romance and just snuggle on the couch for the rest of the night. Thanks for putting up with my parents."
"They're worth it to make you happy."
"Oh.. I was watching this lame show on TLC.. and this guy bought out every rose in this town, took his girlfriend out to dinner and had all his friends putting roses and candles everywhere while they were gone.."
The blood rushed from my face. ".. O.. Oh?"
"And when they got back, he proposed to her. It was so stupid. She was all 'Oh, baby! Of course I will! ' and crying."
I forced a smile. "That sounds pretty lame."
"I'm glad we're never getting married. Too many clichés."
Well, it was too late to call Darren and Jeremy, and too late to throw myself out of the moving car, so I'd just have to suck it up and go through with it. ".. Yeah."
The limo stopped in front of our house, and I was glad that Jeremy and Darren were out of there, at least. "Eh, fuck. I gotta pee." Tristan exited the limo first and opened the front door. The two of them had done a good job, and the roses and candles looked great.
Tristan stopped in the front door and stared. I swallowed and knelt in the front lobby. I could feel my hands shaking as I pulled out the ring from my coat pocket.
"… Oh. Shit." Tristan said and turned to look at me.
I lost the ability to speak for a minute. ".. T.. Tristan.. "
"… Oh. Shit."
This was not doing wonders for my confidence.
"… You're the best thing to happen to me.. I . .. I love holding you, and kissing you, and making love to you.. I love your eyes, your smile.. everything I could possibly love about you, I do. I.. I know you.. you might not want to .. but.. I.. I really want to marry you, Tristan.. "
He just stared at me. "… kay."
… Was that a yes? ".. Is that a yes?" I asked. He nodded, and I hugged him tightly, kissing him.
"Can we kiss after? I gotta pee."
I reluctantly pulled away and when he got back, he pretty much launched himself into my arms and kissed me. I caught him – because the romance would've died if I had dropped him on his ass. "I love you."
"I love you too." He paused. ".. I'm not wearing white."
"Me either."
"Just clearing it up." He Eskimo-kissed me and lay his head on my shoulder. "Wait til I tell my parents."
".. They already know. I asked your dad for permission.." I ran my fingers through his hair, feeling giddy. I told my mom that I was proposing to Tristan, but I still needed to tell her he said yes. Well, he said '.. kay', but.. that's close enough.
"… Oh. Well, I gotta tell them I'm getting married to you." He hopped out of my arms and ran into the kitchen while I went around blowing out the candles.
That was our Valentine's Day. There was more sex, but I won't get into that. That was two years ago, and we're just as happy as ever. The wedding was really nice – Tristan's parents even showed up.
And now we're talking about adoption. A dog, not a kid. Please. We don't need to be sinking into clichés again, do we?
I have to get going. My husband (!) awaits. Thanks for listening.
Author's Note: Well, that's it. Over and done with. I had to end it here, or it would go on forever ( trust me, I had another storyline going on after this, with Darren and Jeremy). Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to read and review, it meant a lot to me. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me throughout this – you know who you are. The story's title came from a song I was listening to while I was writing it; it's a really nice song, check it out if you can. If you want, send me fanfiction or fanart, I would absolutely love it. Thank you again!
-Beautiful Midnight, February 14, 2005
Chapter Meanings:
Chapter One – Gloxinia: Love at First Sight
Chapter Two – White Violet: Let's Take a Chance
Chapter Three – Tulip: Perfect lover
Chapter Four – Jonquil: Love Me, Affection Returned, Desire, Sympathy, Desire for Affection Returned
Chapter Five – Gardenia: You're lovely, secret love
Chapter Six – Ambrosia: Your Love is reciprocated
Chapter Seven – Red Camilla: You're a Flame in My Heart
Chapter Eight – Zinnia: Thinking (or In Memory) of an Absent Friend
Chapter Nine – Sweet Pea: Good-bye, Departure, Blissful Pleasure, Thank You for a Lovely Time
Chapter Ten – Forget Me Not : True Love, Memories
Chapter Eleven – Marigold: Cruelty, Grief, and Jealousy
Chapter Twelve – Bittersweet: Truth
Chapter Thirteen – Acadia: Concealed Love, Beauty in Retirement, Chaste Love
Chapter Fourteen – Striped Carnation: No, Refusal, Sorry I Can't Be With You, Wish I Could Be With You
Chapter Fifteen – Nasturtium: Conquest, Victory in Battle
Chapter Sixteen – Daisy: Innocence, Loyal Love, I'll Never Tell, Purity
Chapter Seventeen – Yellow Tulip: There's Sunshine in Your Smile
Chapter Eighteen – Geranium: Stupidity, Folly
Chapter Nineteen – Petunia: Resentment, Anger, Your Presence Sooths Me
Chapter Twenty – Purple Hyacinth: I'm sorry, Please Forgive Me
Chapter Twenty-One – Primrose: I can't live without you
Chapter Twenty-Two – Roses: Happy Love
Chapter Twenty-Three – Poinsettia: (Not on the list, I used it because it was Christmas)
Chapter Twenty-Four – Dandelion: Faithfulness, happiness
Chapter Twenty-Five – Mistletoe: Kiss me, Affection, To Surmount Difficulties
Epilogue – Orange Blossom: Innocence, Eternal Love, Marriage and Fruitfulness
Music listened to during the writing of the finale: Queer as Folk Soundtrack – Season Two, Rufus Wainwright – Want Two, Matthew Good – Avalanche, Matthew Good – White Light Rock and Roll Review, The Killers – Hot Fuss