Reach the Top
Who: Kyle and Adam Setting: The Surface
Adam was exhausted, but that hardly mattered. What mattered was getting to his boys. He followed Blake, assuming everyone would be together and he left Blake with Ethan outside, pushing into the place looking around until he heard a shout. “Dad!”
He'd barely turned towards it before Riley smacked into the side of him, arms around his knees. Adam ducked to scoop Riley up, holding him against him tightly. “I'm here, bud,” he promised. “Came to get you.”
Kyle followed on behind Riley, a knowing smile on his face at the moniker the child had given to Adam. Not that he was saying anything, but the look on his face said it all.
Adam gave Kyle his own look over Riley’s shoulder, not sure he wanted to go into that. It was still a new thing and he wasn't sure it was going to stick. Still, he held out and arm for Kyle to pull him into the hug with them.
Kyle stepped forward, into Adam’s arms. “He’s been a really brave boy,” Kyle said, resting his forehead against Adam’s shoulder and not mentioning how he’d not said a word to Riley about Adam’s ascent, not knowing how to cope with even the idea that he might not make it.
“Always was,” Adam said, smacking a kiss against Riley’s cheek who squealed and wiggled to be let down. Adam set him down and wrapped his arms around Kyle, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “I was so worried about you.”
“About me? I wasn’t the one doing the impossible,” Kyle said, making light of it. “Which… I know I should tell you never to do anything like that again, but - I’m glad you’re here.” His words were simple, but he held Adam tightly, not willing to let him go yet. Right now, he wasn’t sure he’d ever be ready to let him go.
“You know I'll always do the impossible for you.” Adam kissed at Kyle's hairline again. “And I'm glad I'm here too. I couldn't think with you two out of reach.” He wasn't going to lose them again, not ever.
“Well, you are here,” Kyle agreed. “I mean, on this island as well as being here-here,” he corrected, colouring a little. He glanced back toward the restaurant. “We’ve kinda got a camp all set up - you must be exhausted. And starving. Riley and found a pile of table cloths and set up kind of a blanket fort in one corner. Then he and I might have gone round and appropriated most of the biggest stuffed animals we could find because there weren’t any pillows…”
“We built a den!” Riley said, proudly, tugging on Adam’s hand.
“Yes, we built a den,” Kyle agreed, glancing down at Riley and then back at Adam. “It’s more private than most - maybe we could get you and Riley settled in there and I could go and rustle us up some dinner?” he suggested.
“He's never going to want to leave,” Adam pointed out, leaning in to kiss Kyle even as Riley pulled at him. “Don't wander off yet. I'm not ready to let you out of my sight.” He took Kyle's hand let Riley drag him to their fort, making sure Kyle was with them. He was exhausted and probably hungry, but he couldn't think about those things just yet. Later. Right this second the important things are Kyle and Riley and being close to them.
Kyle returned the kiss, though kept it PG due to the audience. “Let me take care of you,” he requested, as he got Adam and Riley settled into a weirdly comfortable mix of white linen and brightly coloured stuffed animals.
“I don't need taking care of. Just a break before I go and look at the monorail to see if we can get it going.” Adam did sit though, pulling his backpack off his back to pull out Riley’s things, the toy he'd been obsessed with lately and the stuffed dog he slept with most nights.
Kyle’s heart melted when he saw the toy and Riley’s reaction to it. The helpless smile grew on his face as he looked down at the two. “I never said you needed to be taking care of. Just that you let me. I’m gonna go, real quick, to get you some food and a drink and I will be right back,” he said, disappearing before Adam could say anything at all.
Adam reached out to stop Kyle, but he was gone too quick. With Kyle gone he focused on Riley, listening to him chatter until Riley eventually settled in his lap, resting against his chest and holding the stuffed dog in his arms. Adam leaned back, running his fingers through Riley's curls and feeling like the kid belonged to him for the first time. Like maybe he could be a dad, Riley's dad. Riley’s fingers were doing the same, running along Adam's arm while they sat quietly, like it was what they both needed.
When Kyle came back, it was with a tray piled high with sandwiches he’d just made, and a bottle of water for each of them. He pushed his way inside the blanket fort, managing to gracefully sit down and let the flaps of the little tent-like structure fall closed behind him without spilling anything at all. “It’s not much,” he said, as he handed Adam a smaller plate and loaded it with a towering chicken and bacon salad sandwich that looked more like it had come straight from a deli. “But I didn’t want to be away for long. I made sure that Riley ate earlier,” he added, wanting Adam to know he’d taken good care of the child. That he could be responsible, even if he did get them trapped up here.
Adam blinked up at Kyle, not realizing he'd been lost in his own little world. “This is more than enough. Not much would have been crackers you goof.” He kissed Riley’s head then shifted him to grab the sandwich. “I figured.” He could tell Riley was well taken care of and never once doubted what Kyle would do for him. Kyle was probably better at it than Adam was.
“Well, you’re worth a little bit more than crackers,” Kyle teased back, setting the tray off to one side. Snagging a bottle of water, he settled down at Adam’s other side from where Riley was mostly leaning. “We missed you,” he said, more quietly.
Adam was still getting used to that, to being worth more. “I missed you too,” he murmured, turning into Kyle to kiss his temple. “I got here as fast as I could. And I'll figure out how to get us home.”
“I have faith that if anyone can work that out, it’ll be you,” Kyle told him, confidently, Riley nodding along. “I didn’t think anyone would be able to make it up here, but here you are.”
“Well, it was Blake's idea. But if Tris can make it, I can make it. Plus, I would have climbed it even if Blake and Tris hadn’t.”
Kyle ran a hand through Adam’s hair, over his head and then down to the back of his neck, leaning in to place a kiss on his bicep. “I know you would have done,” he said, resting his cheek against Adam’s arm. Kyle had known that from the beginning. He had no idea how Adam would make if happen, but he’d known the man would come for them. He nuzzled lightly against the skin and then focused on the tattoo just below. Kyle shifted a little, trying to read the words - he didn’t think he’d really see that tattoo before.
Adam winced when he realized where Kyle was looking. He wanted to pull his arm away, but it was too late now. “It's newer,” he murmured softly.
“You are the smell before rain,” Kyle read, slowly. He stopped and considered that. It felt familiar. It made him smile. “I like that,” he said, tracing his fingers over the ink.
Adam nodded, watching Kyle closely. “It's you.” He glanced at Riley, but Riley was distracted telling a story to his stuffed dog, introducing him to the other stuffed animals around. “I've had it. It's for you. I got it right before we split. I was gonna ask you to leave with me. For real. And then, well…” he shrugged.
Kyle felt like all of the air had left his lungs and he stopped breathing for a moment. Swallowing, he looked up. “You were going to ask me to run away with you? Really run away with you?” he asked, his voice small, as though any kind of volume would spoil something. They’d talked about it, of course, but never seriously. Just as a dream, as something that they could pretend would fix all their problems.
Adam nodded. “There wasn't anything to stay for. We were both unhappy when we weren't together. Why not leave all that behind?” He brushed at Kyle's hair, even though it was perfect.
The money. Kyle didn’t voice that. He knew he’d sound nothing but shallow if he admitted that he’d been too attached to the trappings of his life. He’d only actually left once he had secured them. “You’re so much braver than I am,” he said instead.
Adam shook his head. “Not really. I was running away. It just didn't make sense when you weren't with me.” He didn't have the things Kyle had had. He'd had a lot of nothing and what he did have was wrapped up in a friend who didn't care for him. A friend that betrayed him. Twice.
“You ran away though,” Kyle pointed out. “I didn’t even have… I didn’t even do that. I stayed in a situation that was really just a cage, knowing it would never be able to make me happy. I’m just - I’m glad we found each other again. That we get the chance to try again.”
“Not sure I'd count prison and witness protection as running away, but I get it.” Adam cupped Kyle's cheek and smiled at him. “Me too. I never thought I'd see you again.”
Kyle put a finger to Adam’s lips. “Shh, let’s not talk about the past. I don’t even want to think about it any more. Here is all that matters now. Here and us - all of us.”
Adam watched Kyle for a long moment, catching his hand to kiss his fingertips. “You know I can’t let you do that right?” he said softly. “I can’t...there’s too much we have to deal with. You don’t get to turn it off and shut it away.”
“Why not?” Kyle asked, his voice just this side of a whine, the pout clear on his face. “We’re just getting to a good place. I want to stay there. I don’t want to ever think about what came before again.”
Adam kissed Kyle’s fingers again. “I don’t want you to wake up in the middle of the night screaming about it like I do. Or be with me and think I’m him. Or I’ll hurt you like he did.” He hated talking about it too, but that wasn’t how things got fixed. “You can’t move on if you don’t deal with it Ky.”
Kyle glanced desperately at Riley - who was paying them no attention at all. “I won’t - I won’t do any of that. I promise,” he said, his voice low. As if he could even make that promise, as though he really had any control over it.
Adam shook his head, sadly. “You can’t make that promise, Ky.” His voice was soft, understanding. “I can promise that I’m going to be here for you, no matter what. That we’re going to try again, but we can’t pretend what happened didn’t happen.”
“I just want to forget about it,” Kyle said, not meeting Adam’s eyes. “I...I just don’t want to be someone who let that happen. I never thought I’d be that guy. I thought I was stronger than that.”
Adam tucked a finger under Kyle’s chin, drawing his eyes up to him. “You are not at fault for this. Someone you cared about betrayed you. He hurt you. He’s to blame. You were manipulated and broken down before he ever had a chance to lay a hand on you, but none of it was your fault. Not a bit. It’s all his.”
“It is my fault though,” Kyle insisted. “Because I’ve never been strong enough to break free. I didn’t run away with you. I didn’t stand up to them. I stayed with him. The one and only thing I ever did was walk away from Ethan. Which was easy, because nobody else wanted me to be with him anyway, so that doesn’t even count.”
Adam shook his head. “It is not your fault. What he did? It’s not your fault. It’s not a matter of being strong or not. I never left Jeff and he treated me terribly. Do not blame yourself.”
“I’m just glad I’m here,” Kyle told him, resting against Adam’s shoulder, an arm around him.
Adam leaned into Kyle, nodding against him. “Me too.”