Resplendent

By Angelfirenze

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Mutant Enemy, College Hill Pictures, Inc , Wonderland Sound and Vision, Hypnotic (season 1), Warner Bros. Television, and all involved are the geniuses behind these characters. I just borrow them at times to manipulate them, much like action figures, before returning them slightly abused but generally in good shape. Death Cab for Cutie. "Transatlanticism.". Barsuk, 2003. Lord Huron. "Lonesome Dreams.". Iamsound, 2012. Fall Out Boy. "American Beauty/American Psycho.". Island, 2015. Blink-182. "Neighborhoods". DGC/Interscope, 2011.

Summary: "Yeah," Connor sighed, himself, bending so Seth could clamber back onto his back and up to his shoulders as he walked. "I didn’t want that, either. I just want you."

Author’s Note: Let’s say the Orlon Window was broken in Connor’s senior year instead of when he’d already started Stanford.

Resplendent

...So when you ask is something wrong, I think ’you’re damned right there is, but we can’t talk about it now...

"Seth’s women." "Seth Cohen?" - Ryan Atwood, Sanford Cohen, ‘The Heights’. ep. 1x09

Summer grabbed Tracy’s hand and ran out of the dance hall, determination written on her face. She had an idea where Seth and Connor had gone and she wanted to make sure. She all but dragged Tracy over to the limo they had all rented and threw open the door to find Seth and Connor half out of their tuxedos, hands roaming over each other.

"I knew it!" she yelled and they broke apart, lurching away from one another. Tracy broke down in tears as Connor scrambled to redress and exit the limousine to go after her as she turned and ran away.

"Tracy, wait!" he yelled, glad for his preternatural speed as he easily caught up to her.

"You lied to me this whole time!" she hissed, shoving him, angry that he didn’t go toppling to the ground. "You really are gay, Connor! So what am I, your beard?"

"I’m not - look, that doesn’t matter. I’m sorry, Tracy, I didn’t mean to hurt you."

"Why the hell are you so calm!" she screamed, shoving him again, angered even more when he still didn’t fall over. "What the hell are you, Connor?"

Connor ran his hand through his hair and glanced back at Seth having finally gotten himself dressed again and stumbled out of the limousine, gesticulating at Summer as she screamed at him that he never really cared about her.

"I’m..."

"A liar? A cheater?" Tracy turned and stormed away from her, but Connor easily caught up to her and gently took hold of her hand.

"I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I really do like you, Tracy, I’m serious."

Tracy scoffed, "But not as much as you like Seth Cohen, of all people! I should have remembered you were the same kind of loser when we got together!"

Connor froze, his breath catching in his throat. Then a wave of anger passed through him. "You know what? Yeah, I do like him. He’s not like the rest of you Newpsies, obsessed with stupid status and material crap! There are bigger things going on!"

"Bigger than you being faithful to me, Connor? Good to know! Stay away from me!" Tracy stormed off and Connor didn’t follow her, running his hair through his hair again. He turned back away to see Summer doing the same to Seth, who was still trying to keep her with him.

Connor walked back over, drained of energy now, "Seth, there’s no point. They’re done with us."

"You got that right," Summer sneered, taking off her shoe and hurling it at Seth, shocked when Connor ducked in front of him, grabbed the shoe out of the air and held it.

"What the hell?" Summer asked, paling.

"I know you’re mad," Connor misdirected, reaching out to return Summer’s shoe to her. She snatched it back, sneering again. "We never meant to hurt either of you. I mean, look what happened to Luke and his dad. We didn’t want more isolation than we already have. Ryan’s the only reason you’re even talking to Seth in the first place. ‘Ew’, remember?"

Resentment began to simmer inside Connor, but he tamped it down in favor of just going home. Seth was quietly buttoning his shirt before reaching into the limousine and finding his bow tie and re-knotting it slowly. He should have known this would happen, how could have he been so blind? Everyone in this town hated the two of them, even Ryan couldn’t rewrite history.

"Come on, Seth," Connor sighed, "We might as well go home."

...You are the song stuck in my head, every song that I’ve ever loved...

Seth nodded morosely, unexpectedly warmed as Ryan and Marissa came rushing outside to meet them. Marissa smacked both of them on the shoulders, but Ryan stopped her from going any further. "They’re screwed," he told her, wrapping his hands around her wrists. But Marissa wasn’t finished, "They’re as bad as Luke!"

"They’re not, but at least Summer and Tracy know the truth now. Please, just let them go home. They can’t stay here, you know that."

"You knew?" Marissa gasped, stepping back and gesturing toward Seth and Connor, who were once again fully dressed.

"No, but I had a suspicion," Ryan sighed, glancing back at Seth, who stared miserably back at him and Connor, who had an unexpectedly dark look on his face. "Let them just go home, Marissa."

"Yeah, sure," Marissa agreed, irritably. "Get out of my sight, both of you."

Connor grabbed Seth’s arm and pulled him toward the parking lot exit. "Yeah, fine. Let’s go, Seth."

...Wayfarin’ strangers and all kinds of danger...Please don’t say I’m going alone...

Once they’d gotten to a tree-lined area, Connor picked Seth up in a piggy-back ride and proceeded to continue walking.

"I keep forgetting how strong you are," Seth sighed, reaching down to stroke Connor’s hair fondly. "So our lives are ruined, what’re we doing now?"

"You forget I’ve been through way worse than this. This wasn’t so bad."

"I...forgot," Seth whispered, knowing Connor heard him. He slid down off Connor’s shoulders and stepped into his footpath, forcing him to stop. "Everything’s hazy. Where’re we going?"

"I don’t know yet," Connor admitted, gently turning Seth back around and wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "You should get back up, it’s a long walk to...anywhere, hence the limo."

"We’re in the middle of nowhere," Seth noted, "How are we supposed to find our way?"

"I’ve tracked a lot further for days," Connor reminded him, resisting the urge to pick Seth up and bodily set him on his back or shoulders. "I had to carry Holtz a few times. I shook a vending machine. You’re not heavy."

"Who’s Holtz? Your feet won’t hurt?" Seth queried, glancing down at the dress shoes Connor was still wearing. "A vending machine?"

"No. Yes. Will it make you feel any better if I go barefoot?"

Seth gulped quietly and sighed, "Shoulders, it is. You can keep the shoes on as long as it won’t hurt. Speaking of which, we really hurt the girls tonight."

"Yeah," Connor sighed, himself, bending so Seth could clamber back onto his back and up to his shoulders as he walked. "I didn’t want that, either. I just want you."

"I want you, too," Seth said, rubbing his hand into Connor’s hair. "I just wish..."

"We hadn’t hurt anyone," Connor finished and sighed, wrapping his hands around Seth’s ankles before instead using his arms to press Seth’s legs into his chest. "I wish that, too. Come on, there’s a car coming."

He moved off the street into the forest lining the road. The limousine passed and one of their classmates leaned out of a window, screaming epithets at them.

"Guess we know everyone knows now," Connor sighed, letting Seth slide back down before leaning against a tree, reaching up to once again undo his bow tie.

"Joy," Seth sniped, running his hands through his own hair. "Because this is exactly how I wanted senior year to end."

"At least there aren’t any vampires or demons in Newport," Connor muttered and Seth looked up, his eyes wide again.

"You’re serious?"

"It’d be pretty obvious. No one dies around here except of natural causes."

Seth blew out a breath, "You’ve led the craziest life."

"You have no idea," Connor said, moving closer and pulling Seth further into the forest, taking his face in his hands. "This really isn’t that bad, like I said, and my family - my other family already knows about us. My maman and papa know about us, too. Since you left for Tahiti, that’s when I came out." Connor scowled, "You never told me you were even leaving."

"I know, I’m sorry. I’m still sorry." Seth tried to wrap his arms around Connor’s neck but wasn’t really surprised when Connor pulled away. "You still don’t like people touching your neck."

Connor scowled, "I wish I did, for you. I love you."

"You...love me?" Seth asked, his hands coming up to cover Connor’s and clutching them desperately.

"I would have thought that was obvious," Connor all but yelped, throwing Seth’s hands down and turning away. Seth reached out and grabbed his shoulder, shrieking when Connor started to hurl him into a different tree, but caught himself at the last moment. Instead, he held Seth over his head for a moment before setting him back on his feet.

"Sorry. Reflexes."

"Reflexes?" Seth retorted incredulously.

"My parents were vampires, Seth," Connor sighed. "I don’t really know what I am."

Seth laughed nervously, "Right, like Blade."

"No," Connor tried not to snap. "Not like Blade. I...watch this."

Seth then winced as Connor punched himself in the face. "You’re the only person aside from Holtz who’s ever seen my face. Not even my dad has."

Seth gaped at Connor, rendered speechless as he once again punched himself in the face, making the face disappear.

"Where’d the scars come from?" he asked quietly and Connor found himself suddenly fighting back tears.

"Can we not talk about that tonight? Please?"

Seth sensed pain radiating off Connor in waves and while he still had a million questions, he forced himself to bite his lips and keep them to himself. "Okay. So, we’re in a forest."

"I know that," Connor rolled his eyes. "I still love you."

Seth tilted his head, walking back up to Connor and gently tracing his brow. "I love you, too, dhampir."

"Don’t call me that," Connor griped, scowling, but Seth quieted any other protests by sealing his mouth back over Connor’s and taking the chance to lick his teeth. He reached down and slowly pressed a hand against Connor’s cock through his dress pants, massaging slowly.

"This night," Connor gasped, leaning back against another nearby tree and pulling Seth with him. "Has been a total disaster."

"It...doesn’t...have...to...be..." Seth moaned in Connor’s ear. "Remember...last year...at Comic Con?"

"You really are a nerd," Connor chuckled, pressing into Seth’s hand before stopping him. "We’re outside on prom night, in a forest. The last time I had sex, there was fire raining outside."

"Fire?" Seth asked, backing up slightly. "I thought..."

"You don’t remember how we met?"

"Yeah, at Comic Con," Seth said confusedly. "I had no idea you went to our school until you told me."

"You don’t remember," Connor wilted, pulling Seth’s hand away and turning away to stare mournfully at his own once-again erect cock. "You don’t remember."

"So tell me," Seth pleaded, but then he froze. "I taught you how to jerk off."

"You remember?" Connor turned around, no longer hiding his arousal.

"I...yeah, I...what the hell?"

"My parents said they...never mind. It’s magic, though. I don’t really trust magic, but you remember? You met my family and everything. My real family. I had no idea what Tahiti was until..."

"Our memories were changed?" Seth asked, aghast. "Who the hell did that?"

"It was more like my family’s memories were changed. I think it has to do with me. I...I don’t know what I am, am I made of magic? I don’t know. That’s what kills me inside. I don’t know who I am. Why did you know about...you said you forgot."

"It’s like holding onto a dream, you know?" Seth asked, quietly. "But I remember how much I love you."

"But, in truth, we barely know each other. Not really. You went home here and I went back to my real...birth family."

Seth frowned resolutely, "Well, we just threw our social lives away, so do you really care how we met?"

"Yes!" Connor snapped, and turned to grip the lapels of Seth’s tuxedo again. "It’s so important to me that you know who I am!"

"Okay, okay," Seth said consolingly. "I’m sorry. Like I said, I forgot. It’s like flashes in my head. I don’t have all of it like you do."

Connor gripped Seth desperately, "That took weeks. Yeah, it was like a dream. A nightmare and a dream."

"Weeks?" Seth asked, once again aghast. "We’ll be in college by then! We’ll be apart!"

"I know," Connor agreed bitterly. "I wish you’d been my first...in so many things..."

Seth softened, glancing down at Connor’s cock, "Well, that’s what I remember, so can’t we just pick up where that left off?"

"I...I don’t know. I...You’ll leave if you know everything."

"I just threw away my social life for you, you ass!" Seth yelled, throwing his arms out to the side. "You know how long we were alone at that fucking school!"

"You gave me mixes," Connor managed to smile. "I still have all of them."

"I love you, you dick," Seth snapped, flinging a hand toward Connor’s cock. "You were my first! Isn’t that important?"

"Of course," Connor snapped back. "I’m just saying, we haven’t really, really known each other since last year. We actually met a few years ago. I carried the Summer Dream after you crashed it. That’s why I wanted to know if you remembered. You weren’t my first, I was...forget it."

Seth’s face crumpled in concern at the tears that once again filled Connor’s eyes. "What happened?"

"She had...she was possessed. I didn’t know that at the time. And Sunny died. She OD’ed right in the bathroom where we were. My dad was worried she’d shot me up. I punched him and made him show me his own other face. His face for..."

Seth was absolutely gaping at him now. "Are you saying you were...?"

Connor sniffled, swiping at his eyes. "I believe the technical term for it is statutory rape. Or is it legal term?"

Seth slowly inched up to him and wrapped his arms around Connor’s waist. "I’m so sorry."

"It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault I’m such a fuck up," Connor whispered, letting his face fall onto Seth’s shoulder. "You really love me? For real?"

"Yes," Seth breathed, tightening his hold on Connor’s waist. "For real. And not just because Summer just dumped me."

"Tracy just dumped me, too, remember?"

"Yeah. I still love you."

"I still love...what about Anna?"

"She’s the one who told me to go after you," Seth laughed slightly. "She said I deserve to be happy. Funny how gay means happy."

Connor leaned back so Seth could see him roll his eyes. "Really?"

"Hey, it’s what I’m good at," Seth quipped. "So you never got my starter pack?"

"It’s in my room at home," Connor answered, chuckling quietly. "I put the DVDs next to my television and the t-shirts are in my dresser."

"Which home?"

"The one here. My maman and papa said nothing changed."

"Hey, I forgot you’re part French or something."

"My dad never told me about my mom," Connor shook his head. "I’ve just never had the feeling to call them anything else. I call Angel my dad. You thought he was my brother, but he’s my dad."

Seth nodded like this wasn’t new information to him, "Right, vampires. Um, we can’t walk down the road with our dicks hanging out, you know."

"Some Newpsie would call the cops," Connor agreed. "Still love me?"

"This again?" Seth griped and Connor frowned. "Yes, I still love you. That hasn’t changed in ten minutes, now can we finish making out and jacking off, please?"

"Only if you don’t touch my neck," Connor said as he closed the space that had grown between them. This time, it was him who stroked Seth’s cock. "You always say you’ll be inventive."

"And I mean it," Seth affirmed, pulling Connor’s bottom lip into his mouth momentarily. "I still mean it."

"Thank you," Connor said sincerely as they fell back against yet another tree. "It’s not your fault."

"Not yours either," Seth muttered, unzipping Connor’s dress pants and reaching into his boxers again. The downy hair there sent a thrill through his entire body. "God, you feel amazing," he moaned.

"We’re not even fucking," Connor muttered, running his hands down Seth’s now bare chest.

"Still don’t care," Seth moaned, taking Connor’s dick out and dropping to his knees. Stroking hard, Seth licked the tip and was rewarded with a taste of pre-cum.

"Oh, God," Connor whispered, thrusting into Seth’s fingers, "I’m gonna..."

"Hey, wait," Seth complained, taking Connor’s cock into his mouth and swirling his tongue around it, chuckling as Connor indeed ejaculated into his throat.

"I...couldn’t..." Connor sighed, slipping out of Seth’s mouth and pulling him into an upright position. "Now it’s your turn."

"No, it’s okay. I wanted something to be good for you for once."

"But..."

"It’s fine," Seth assured, pushing Connor away from him and into a sitting position on the ground. "Just watch."

With that, Seth took hold of his own cock and stroked languidly, smiling at his unofficial boyfriend. It felt weird, thinking that. Boyfriend. Seth felt his balls tighten and he came onto the ground in front of him. Connor moaned, stroking himself again, but didn’t become hard once more. "Sorry."

"You don’t have to apologize to me," Seth smiled, running a thumb over the tip of his cock and carefully avoided the small puddle in front of him to slowly place it in Connor’s mouth. Connor sucked his thumb and grinned. "Good. I love you."

"Good to hear. Let’s go."

They both stood and Connor once again got both their clothes sorted before abruptly lifting Seth onto his back and walking out of the forest.

"Sorry about Tahiti," Seth said, wrapping his arms around Connor’s shoulders. "I should have told you."

"Yes, you should have, but since we actually met after that, I will try to let it go."

"Thank you," Seth lay his face on top of Connor’s head.

"You don’t have to thank me," Connor said quietly and Seth smiled, squeezing Connor’s arms.

"So what happens at school tomorrow?"

"Well, we’ll still have Ryan, but everyone else is toast. But I have you and you have me."

"For how long?" Connor asked in a voice full of unexpressed pain.

"Forever," Seth whispered and crossed his legs against Connor’s stomach. "Not just prom night. Graduation night. Whenever night. You have me forever."

After a long pause, he heard, "Th...okay."

...We’ll stagger home after midnight, sleep on and on in the stairwell...

END