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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 25, 2008 22:25:45 GMT -5
"I know," Dare said softly. He felt like he shouldn't feel this way. He was so happy here with Michael, and it felt so good to play again, even if his fingertips stung from the pressure of the strings. But it reminded him of everything that had happened, a year, a moment in his life that had changed everything. He didn't want to think he'd trade knowing Michael to have his mom back, he couldn't give Michael up, and maybe he felt guilty for thinking that.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 25, 2008 22:39:44 GMT -5
Michael pressed a soft kiss to Dare's cheek, a small, simple declaration of his love and support. He didn't want Dare to be in pain, but he knew that it would take a long time for it all to go away, if it all ever did go away. He sighed softly and opened his eyes again, looking down at the guitar in Dare's hands. He hadn't been through the same thing that Dare had, so he felt like he couldn't help, no words came to him to say, so he didn't force it, instead lending silent support and strength.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 25, 2008 22:56:40 GMT -5
Michael's support, strength, and love were all Dare needed. He closed his eyes for a short while, just soaking it in until he calmed again, then his hand loosened against Michael's arm, shifting to smooth against him. "I love you," he said, as though he hadn't said it a hundred times before. Dare turned his head and pressed a kiss to Michael's cheek. He mentally followed Michael's gaze, and after a moment asked, "Do you want me to play something for you?"
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 25, 2008 23:03:16 GMT -5
The truthful answer was a definite yes, Michael wanted to hear Dare's voice and the music from his fingers, but he didn't want Dare to feel like he needed to play if it was going to be painful for him. "You don't have to play anything for me," he said softly, though he knew Dare would see right through his attempt to make it sound like he didn't want it. He loosened his arms around Dare but didn't pull away.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 25, 2008 23:30:30 GMT -5
Dare watched Michael, and he saw the concern in his eyes. He looked down at his guitar again. "But do you want me to?" he asked. He wanted to play more, wanted to work it out, but he wanted Michael's support if he was going to do it. Dare's hand smoothed against Michael's one last time, then found its position against the strings. He needed to do this.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 26, 2008 7:39:39 GMT -5
"Play me something," Michael said after a pause, but before he could convince himself not to ask for a song. He lightly squeezed his arms around Dare's shoulders again before pulling them away to rest along the back of the chair, he assumed it would be uncomfortable to play with someone hanging on him, since he knew it was nearly impossible to do so when playing the piano.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 26, 2008 9:57:27 GMT -5
Dare felt the loss of Michael's touch, but he could still feel his presence behind him. Dare nodded lightly, then dropped his head again, hair swinging down around his face as he began the first plaintive notes, whispering the first words of the song.
(Just listen. The video is unnecessary.)
Dare didn't stop to think about if it revealed too much. He just played, and sang. Lost himself in the music and the emotion all over again.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 26, 2008 13:29:53 GMT -5
Michael barely breathed as he listened to Dare sing and he quickly realized that he wouldn't make it through the song without toughing Dare, so Michael let his arm move carefully over Dare's shoulder and down his chest. He made sure not to bump Dare's arm, but was pleased with the result that he was able to touch him without bothering his arms. He propped his chin on the arm that remained on the back of the chair, watching Dare's movements and letting himself get lost in the music and smooth sound of Dare's voice.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 26, 2008 17:53:13 GMT -5
Dare's eyes squeezed tight then, but he didn't let the song falter. His voice wavered from emotion, from the rush of the music and Michael's touch. His voice grew stronger for the chorus, but the emotion was still there. He meant every word of it for Michael. "Am in too deep? Have I lost my mind? I don't care; you're here tonight." Michael supported him in everything he did, and he'd gladly do the same for Michael. They both had scars, but it didn't matter when they were together.
"I can be...your hero..." he sang, his voice softening, then dying away with the last notes of the guitar. When the music had ended and the spell broke, Dare didn't move beyond resting his arm lightly against the guitar. He didn't know what to say after that. His arm rose from the guitar then and returned to its place against Michael's.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 26, 2008 18:19:20 GMT -5
Michael's other arm came around Dare's shoulders again, tightening as he buried his face in the crook of Dare's neck. "I love you,," he said softly, the words feeling so inadequate when compared to the song and the raw emotion he could feel so strongly in his chest. He closed his eyes tightly as he tried to cope with the power of the emotions he felt, the tightening in his chest that he had never felt with anyone else, didn't think he could ever feel with anyone else.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 26, 2008 18:37:28 GMT -5
Dare's eyes squeezed tighter, his heart constricting at Michael's words, so soft, so almost unbearably heartfelt. "I love you too," Dare whispered. He turned his head, pressing a kiss to Michael's head, then nuzzling lightly against it. He'd been worried as he'd decided on the song that it was too much, but everything in Michael's response, everything in the way he was holding Dare, in the way he'd said those words, told him he'd made the right decision. He'd never felt more exposed, or more loved.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 26, 2008 18:52:10 GMT -5
Michael took in deep breaths, both trying to calm himself and breathe in as much of Dare's scent as he could. He felt like he could stand just as they were until the end of time and still not have been with Dare long enough. His muscles tightened and he shut his eyes tighter as the flood became almost too much to hold in, but what was there to do with it if he let it out? So he said it again, "I love you so much."
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 26, 2008 19:33:46 GMT -5
Dare curled his right hand around around the neck of the guitar and blindly setting it aside, propping it against the side of the chair. Then he caught lightly at Michael's head and lifted it to look at him. He couldn't speak for the moment, but the words were shining in his mossy green eyes. I love you so unbelievably much. He couldn't stop himself from kissing Michael then, and didn't want to, so he brought his lips to Michael's for a kiss that was already intensely emotional.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 26, 2008 19:50:20 GMT -5
Michael had barely opened his eyes when Dare had moved him from fear of how they would look, so he only saw a glimpse of the look in Dare's eyes, but it was enough. He spread his hands out over Dare's chest to take as much contact as possible as he tried to take in and give as much emotion and feeling as he could. He didn't know how to try and show all of what he was feeling, but he tried.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Sept 26, 2008 20:15:20 GMT -5
The kiss was long, intimate, and intensely emotional. By the time Dare's lips parted from Michael's, his eyes were deeply hazed over, and it was all he could do to lift his lashes to look at him. "I love you," he murmured. He pressed one quick, light kiss to Michael's lips, then forced himself to turn and stand, tilting his neck to one side to work out the kink that had formed from arching his neck toward Michael. He hitched up his low-slung sleep pants a bit, then ruffled his already tousled hair before turning back toward Michael, his pants slipping right back down on his hips with the motion.
"Have you ever thought..." Dare began, then dropped his gaze, unable to say the words. They hadn't been together that long, he knew it, but still, the thought was there, and after last night, after this morning, he knew it was something he wanted. Dare blinked and shook his head, his mind working as quickly as it could for a cover-up.
"Um...I was thinking...about my seventeenth, it's coming up at the end of October." Think faster. "What do you think about like, a lip piercing?" Dare lifted his gaze to Michael's again, hoping he wouldn't catch the switch in Dare's train of thought. Dare had been thinking about getting a lip ring, just not today.
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