An Tús Don Stoirm (complete)

Author: Simarillion

Archive: Daunting Byron

Pairing: Colin/Orli, Marton/Craig, Sean B/Viggo

Rating: G

Warning: This story is RPS which means Real Person Slash. It has Homo-erotic content (m/m) and everybody not comfortable with this topic should not read any further.

Summary: The Farrell's, an Irish family living in the States move to Santa Monica. where the father has a new job. There Colin meets a beautiful stranger who turns his worl upside down.

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. They are all their own persons and I don't claim to know anything of their sexual preferences or habits. Also I want to make clear that all of this is invented and not used to make profit.

Notes: This story is an AU and therefore the age and also the professions of the characters have been changed to accommodate the plot. The idea of this story came up when I thought about what to write with an Colin/Orli pairing. Rotschopf asked me on the Archives Tag board when there would be something to read from me. Well, here it is. Unfortunately I couldn't come up with anything in Real World but somehow I thought about this story.

A thousand thanks to darkbotticelli who betaes the series for me.

Chapter One


Colin looked out of the window and watched the landscape pass by
blurring into a mixture of greens, browns and blues. They were driving
to their new home. Well, rather to what would become their new home,
because right now the unknown place they were heading for didn't feel
like home at all to Colin. Somehow it was like leaving your safe haven
and moving to unknown dangerous territory.


After Colin's father had stopped playing football, he begun working
for an insurance agency and now Eamon had been promoted. This was the
reason why the Farrell family had sold their house in Greenleaf and
was currently on their way to their new home in Santa Monica.
Catherine was exited about moving to the big city but Colin feared the
change. He wasn't normally somebody to be afraid of anything. In fact
he was known for his recklessness but for some reason this newest
development didn't feel right. He knew something was about to happen.
Something bad.


"Oh, come on. Cheer up, Colin! You're all doom and gloom." Catherine
hugged her little brother and ruffled his already spiky hair. She knew
how he felt about Santa Monica but she had hoped that in the two
months they had been preparing to move he would have come to terms
with the inevitable. "It's not like somebody has to die or somethin'."


Even if he wanted to, Colin wouldn't have been able to laugh. "Yeah,
sure." He kept staring out of the car and ignored his sister's
attempts at cheering him up. He didn't feel like it being happy at the
moment. The green of the fields and meadows outside sl tur turned into
the beige of sand and ripe corn. It was high summer and soon they
would be harvested.


"Now com on, there has to be something a sixteen-year-old bloke like
you likes about Santa Monica!" She let go of him and turned to look
out of her own window the girl magazine in her lap forgotten, brooding
about her brother's sadness. "I really don't understand why you make
all this fuss about it."


"Catherine darling, leave it be, hmm?" Rita turned in her seat to look
at her children sitting in the back of the car and smiled at her son.
She knew that nothing they would say could change Colin's mind. "I am
sure Colin will do well in our new home and he'll feel better in no
time at all."


Colin just wished they would stop talking and leave him alone. It was
bad enough that he Eamon checking on him every five minutes in the
mirror, but he really didn't need his mother getting excited and
worked up as well. "Sure, it will be terrific there," Even to his own
ears his voice sounded bored and uninterested.


"Colin, please try to at least pretend that you can stand moving."
Eamon glared at him through the rear-view mirror, and from the look
of it he had been bottling up all his anger and annoyance at his son's
behavior. Eyes sparkling dangerously and his hands clenching the
steering wheel he looked like a predator ready to attack.


Turning his head away from the window Colin looked into his father's
mirrored eyes and sighed. "I'd prefer it if you kept your eyes on the
road instead of me. " Frowning he watched his father sending him
another death glare before returning his eyes to the road ahead. Colin
glanced at his mother and forced himself to smile weakly. "I'm okay
mum, really. You don't have to worry about me." Rita smiled
encouragingly at him and turned back around until she sat again in her
seat returning to reading the newest book by Isabella Allende. Colin
stared ahead listlessly and thought about everything he had had to
leave behind. It was not only that he missed the familiar house and
the neighborhood, he missed his friends.


He had promised Shaun and Craig to invite them for a week once they
had got settled in but he wished he hadn't had to leave them in the
first place. Colin didn't have a lot of friends. He'd go along with
people easily enough but he didn't trust others and there were only
two people that had managed to reach him and really befriend him. They
were the most precious people in his life beside his family.


Shaun was two years older and would finish school this year. He had
lived next door to them and the earliest memory he had of him was a
nervous boy standing in front of his sand box asking him if it was
true that Colin's father played football. The seven-year old boy
stared at him with sparkling emerald eyes as Colin told him about his
father's job. Soon after that the golden-haired boy was visiting him
again but this time he had a small photo camera with him and asked him
shyly if he would be allowed to take a photo of his father. Colin
promised him that he could come to his father's next match if Shaun's
parents agreed and from then on the two boys had been as good as glued
together. Nothing or no-one could separate them.


In the third year of elementary school they got a new pupil. His name
was Craig and he had moved to Greenleaf with his family from Fidji in
New Zealand. The sepia-haired boy was very shy and soon was the punch
bag of his stronger classmates. When Colin found the small boy one day
shivering and beaten up sitting under the teacher's table he decided
to take him under his wings. Craig had been eternally grateful for
Colin's help who in turn had nothing to fear because Shaun was always
there to help him out.


Soon the three of them were best friends and caused havoc and mischief
whereever they went. They even refused to spend the holidays withothe the other two so whenever one of them left on a holiday the others
would be taken with them.


It had come as quite a shock to all three of them when Colin's father
had got promoted and told them that Colin would leave Greenleaf and
move to Santa Monica. Craig had cried his eyes out. He looked even
more miserable than the day Colin had found him under the teacher's
desk all those years ago. Colin had promised to write them, invite
them and visit them as often as possible but all three of them knew
that these times would be rare. On his last evening in Greenleaf Shaun
and Craig had invited him to Craig's and they had spent the evening
planning the two other's stay once Colin's family had moved in and
unpacked.


This visit was like a light at the end of the tunnel for Colin. He was
clinging onto the happiness of meeting friends again and endured
silently the happenings around him.


-~o0*0o~-


It was already dark outside when they finally arrived at their house
on 2nd street. The air was warm but fresh from the nearby ocean and it
was filled with music from the bars and restaurants on the Third
Street Promenade.


The Mitsubishi Space Waggon stopped in front of a white house and one
after the other the four doors of the car opened and the members of
the Farrell family got out. Colin stopped in the driveway and looked
at the house warily. He really did not want to go in there. The white
building consisted of two floors and a cellar. It had a porch in the
front and a terrace in the back. The garden was not as big as the one
they had had in Greenleaf but it was big enough for them. There were
was a huge palm tree next to two other trees next to the sidewalk and
some potted flowers on the porch.


"Wow, dad that looks great." Catherine happily bounded up to the front
door and dance around the porch. Her eyes gleaming with joy she
laughed excited. "I love it already."


Colin scowled and helped his father heave their luggage out of the
trunk while Catherine and Rita inspected the garden at the front and
the porch. "Eamon, you have to park the car in the driveway." Colin's
mother took the keys out of her pocked and unlocked the door. She
opened it and entered after an enthusiastic Catherine who was already
running upstairs to search out the most beautiful room for herself.


Eamon rolled his eyes upon hearing his wife's advice about the car and
carried the first two suitcases inside. Colin watched his father's
bent back and thought about what how he felt now that they had arrived
here. He breathed in the salty air and had to admit that living so
close to the sea was promising. Still he was unsure about what to
expect from their new life here. Still deep in his thoughts he took
two other suitcased drd dragged them over and into the house.


The stairs of the porch were a little crooked and squeaked lightly
when somebody stepped on them but the whole thing was clean and
smelled of dried wood. Entering the house he stood in the entrance
hall and looked around. There was a staircase ahead, which led to the
upper floor. Next to it was a corridor to the back and the living
room. On Colin's right was the door to the dining room and on his left
was his father's working room. With another long sigh Colin carried
the heavy suitcases upstairs to the bedrooms.


Catherine squealed with joy as she danced around her new room and
Colin could hear his mother laughing happily, telling his father how
much she approved of the house. After taking a look at the nametag on
the suitcases, Colin carried on of them to his ecstatic sister and the
other on to his parents.


The first room on the right of the staircase was the to be the bedroom
of his parents and the room exactly opposite the staircase was
Catherine's which only left the one on the left and right next to the
bathroom for Colin. Slowly and uncertain he approached the door of it.
He pushed down the handle of the door, swung the door open and stepped
inside. Turning on the light he scanned the interior of the room and
decided that it definitely looked better than he had feared it would
be like. The room was spacious with white painted unadorned walls.
There was a big window looking out over the garden and you could see
glimpses of the beach and the sea from it. The furniture was a little
sparse but it had been decided that they would buy new things anyway.
Walking around Colin took a closer look at everything and stopped in
front of the window to look out.


Checking out the room had captured his attention and so Colin didn't
realised that the noises of his family had died out and there was
silence in the house. After staring at the garden for a couple of
minutes he turned round only to be confronted with his family standing
in the door and looking at him expectantly. He almost laughed out loud
upon seeing their nervous faces. "I like the room. Not much furniture
yet, but it's quite big and has a great view." Colin swore he heard a
collective sigh of relief. He smiled at them and stepped closer.
"Let's finish dragging our stuff inside. I want to shower and change
my clothes. I feel dirty."


"Oh, no! Mum! I want to be the first in the shower!" Catherine wailed
and whined upon hearing her brother's words. "I want to go and check
out the beach and the promenade."


Her mother shook her head and turned away walking back to her and her
husband's bedroom to start unpacking the suitcases. Colin followed his
father downstairs and helped him carry the rest of the luggage inside.


He had promised Catherine to let her shower first if he was allowed to
come with her to the beach. He was not really interested in seeing the
promenade but couldn't wait to get to the beach. Colin opened the
first of three suitcases and put his clothes on bed. In this one were
all his shirts and pullovers. Searching for a place to put his clothes
he decided to put them on the desk. Laying out the shirts and the
pullovers he found his favourite blue 'fishermans excuse shirt' and
put it on his bed to wear it later to the beach. The second suitcase
had the shoes and the coats and jackets in it, which meant that the
third was the one with the trousers and the underwear.


Colin was putting the rest of the clothes on the desk when his sister
peeked inside. "Finished. It's your turn." She walked away to her
room. "We go in half an hour."


Colin grabbed a pair of bleached jeans, his shirt and boxer shorts and
sauntered over to the bathroom. Laying the clean clothes on the floor
he stripped out of the dirty ones he was wearing and dropped them in a
corner where already Catherines's clothes were lying and got into the
shower. The warm water felt like heaven and Colin started to scrub off
the grime and sweat from the long drive. He soaped his body and washed
his hair with his sister's coconut shampoo. After ten more minutes
under the relaxing and cleansing spray Colin turned it off and stepped
out of the shower cubicle. He grabbed a big towel and toweled himself
dry, tousling his hair in the process. He dressed and headed for his
room where he chose a pair of light blue flip-flops and walked
downstairs.


"Finished already?" Rita sat in the living room and rested her feet on
a chair. She smiled tiredly at her son. "Your Dad and I are going to
go and buy something for dinner. Should we get something for the two
of you or would you prefer we give you some money to get something of
your own?"


Before Colin even got the chance to respond to his mother's question
his sister said, "We'll buy something of our own." She breezed past
him in a turquoise summer dress and brown sandals. She pocketed the
money and hugged Rita. "Till later mum!"


"Have fun you two!" Rita watched her children leave and sighed
tiredly. She sat back on her chair and closed her eyes.

-~o0*0o~-

Catherine had chatted up two tanned blonde beach boys and left Colin
on his own almost straight away, not that he minded. It meant that he
could do whatever he pleased. He had no money but at least nobody told
him what to do.


He walked down the beach away from the noise and the bright lights to
a more quiet area. The sand was still warm and very soft, his
flip-flops sunk into it and filling with the pale grains. Colin saw
out on the water a group of people on their surfboards waiting for the
next good wave to come in. Sighing he walked on and thought about what
he would do now that he was in a city where everything resolved about
surfing and the sea. He knew how to ride a horse but nobody had ever
thought him how to ride a wave.
The waves lapping at the shore and the distant sounds of music were
very soothing and calming. Colin strolled further down the beach to
where no houses could be seen anymore and plopped down on the sand.
Closing his eyes he held his breath counting to thirty until his head
started to swim and his lungs to burn. Taking a deep breath Colin
opened his eyes again and stared at the starry sky above. He wished he
could return back to Greenleaf and to Shaun and Craig.


He heard laughing and jumped up as somebody almost stepped onto him.
Angry he turned to the person only to stare at him open-mouthed as he
came face to face with the most beautiful man he had ever seen. Okay,
so maybe he wasn't a man. In fact he looked to be about the same age
as Colin. He had dark brown silky curls framing a dramatic face, all
angular cheekbones and olive skin. Equally dark big eyes sparkled in
the moonlight and his full lips were curled in a smile.


When Colin had himself enough under control to tear his eyes away from
these luscious lips and close his gaping mouth he cleared his throat
and looked into the other's eyes. The amusement dancing in them
suddenly annoyed Colin and he turned his back to the intruder walking
swiftly back to the direction he had come from.
He ignored the laughter behind him and quickened his pace.


Colin almost ran the rest of the way to where he had left his sister.
As he had expected Catherine had already left and now he found himself
alone on the dark and deserted beach. He turned his back to the sandy
dunes and walked up Santa Monica Bvd to 2nd Street.


Crickets chirped and the noise of the cafes and bars of the Third
Street Promenade wafted up to his ears. Sighing Colin strolled up to
the white house they were now living in and saw that all the lights
were off. So his parents weren't home yet. Cursing under his breath
Colin sat down on the stairs of to the porch and waited for his family
to come home. He watched the people walking to and from the Promenade
and sighed. This could take some time. Catherine was out trying to get
acquainted with the local teenager population and his parents were out
eating. Unfortunately he was the only one without keys because
Catherine had the second one, until they had one cut for him.


Looking to his right Colin held his breath as he spotted him again.
Well, he didn't have to spot him. The gorgeous guy from the beach was
walking up to their house, heading for Colin. The lights of the light
of the moon and the street lamps and porch lights of the street
shimmered softly in the silky hair and gave the olive skin a subtle
golden gleam. Nervously Colin dug his fingers into the wooden planks
of the stairs, tiny splinters burying in his skin.


Just as Colin thought that the mysterious one would walk up to the
porch he passed Colin by and carried on further down the street.
Apparently returning home from a long day at the beach. The lean but
muscled body moved down to the end of the street and turned right
disappearing around the corner and leaving Colin alone, his heart
beating fast in his chest.


He could almost feel the tension knotting his muscles as he clenched
his teeth together hard. "Geez, get a grip," Colin reprimanded
himself. Rubbing his tired eyes he yawned and let all the tension and
the nervousness leave him, his tired and exhausted frame all that was
left behind. "Hope that they'll be here soon." Leaning against the
railing of the stairs he closed the heavy lids of his eyes and drifted
off to sleep his last thoughts about the beautiful stranger.