You Are Amazing

Pairing(s): Viggo/Orlando, Sean B./Elijah
Summary: Orlando trusts Elijah with a secret and is confused with Viggo’s behaviour. And why is Sean being so nice all of a sudden?
Feedback: Please feed me. laeglass_freak@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Bean, Elijah Wood and generally everyone mentioned in this story belong to themselves. I know nothing about their personal lives and/or sexual preferences. This never happened; I am making it all up.


Part four

Orlando’s POV


Elijah followed me into the living room, slumping down ungracefully on one of the sofas. He looked at me curiously and nodded in encouragement. “So, you wanted to speak with me about something?” He ventured, looking at me with those large blue eyes of his.

I inhaled deep, nodding uncertainly. How was I going to bring this subject up? It wasn’t actually something that is often discussed between practical strangers but I needed someone to confide in. I already knew that Sean didn’t think too highly of me; I didn’t want Elijah to despise me also. “Yeah. I didn’t want to talk in front of Vig and Sean”, I admitted, sitting on the same sofa.

“What is it? You look like it’s something serious”, Lij said, frowning a bit and leaned his elbows on his knees, looking at me expectantly. “I take it that this is something you don’t want Vig to know, isn’t it.” It wasn’t as much a question as a statement.

I nodded again. ‘Stop being such a ninny, Bloom!’ I told myself. ‘What’s the worst he can do? Call you a slut and tell Sean?’ The thing was, I knew that Lij wasn’t like that and that was the reason why I wanted to confide in him and ask for his advice. Right now he was looking at me with a concerned expression on his face and I realised that I should just start talking.

“Right”, I said and cleared my throat somewhat awkwardly. “The thing is that… I really must get tested, as soon as possible. I’m afraid that I might have something.”

Lij’s face blanched and he instinctively leaned closer to me. “Something – as in HIV? Why would you think that? Look, if you’re worried about Vig, you can stop right now. The guy’s been practically celibate for a pretty long time and I know that he got tested before he left to Europe.”

Worried about Vig? Fuck, I was worried about Vig, just not like Lij seemed to think. I smiled wryly and shook my head. “Nah, it’s not about Vig. It’s about me. I have done some… pretty stupid things and I don’t want him to pay the price.”

“What are you talking about?” Elijah asked, frowning a bit.

“I know that you and Sean both think that I’m some inexperienced little schoolboy and Vig seduced me, or something along those lines. But the truth is that… when I met Vig I was living with this guy, Mark, and pretty much shagging everything that moved. And Mark wasn’t that keen on using condoms; he always asked them if they were clean, and most claimed to be. Some wanted to use condoms since they thought that I wasn’t. And… I haven’t been tested for five months and I’m afraid that I might have something”, I confessed. I couldn’t meet Elijah’s eyes; I was sure that he would look at me in disgust, in horror. Shit, I should have kept my mouth shut. Fucking hell, Bloom! Why don’t you go and alienate the only friend you’ve got?

Elijah looked shocked. “Well that sucks, man, big time. Why didn’t you just take a hike if the guy was treating you bad?”

“It wasn’t that simple”, I said a bit defensively. “What I had with Mark wasn’t a conventional relationship. Meaning that we weren’t in love. He and I met when I was only fourteen, and he took me to live with him.”

Lij’s eyes were round and shocked. “Jesus Orlando, you were still a child back then. That’s sick.”

The corners of my mouth twitched. “It wasn’t that bad a deal, actually. At least I didn’t have to shag those guys outside in the parks or some alleyways.” At Lij’s inquiring gaze I nodded. “If I didn’t do what Mark wanted he would have kicked me out. And who would have hired a fourteen-year-old school drop-out? No-one. I would have ended doing the exactly same thing as I did at Mark’s, except that he wouldn’t have been there to keep an eye on me.”

This had bothered me for a long time, but I hadn’t brought it up with Viggo since I didn’t want him to worry. If I did have something… Fuck, I didn’t even want to think about that alternative. “I don’t want to endanger Vig’s health, and I really should get tested, and I don’t know LA at all and where I should go.”

Elijah nodded thoughtfully; his earlier shock had vanished and he looked like he was lost in thoughts. He then looked at me kindly and smiled a bit. “Shit Orli, I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been treated that bad, but you’re not the only one who has had to deal with STD shit. Hell, I had to get tested like four times a year, before I met Sean. Tell you what, I’ll take you to a clinic some day next week, and we’ll both get tested. You will surely be negative and then you can forget all about it.”

“You would do that, really?” I asked relieved. To tell the truth, that was exactly what I had been hoping for; I just hadn’t felt comfortable asking that kind of favour. “I really don’t want Vig to worry over me… He’s overly protective as it is”, I said, trying to lighten up a bit. It wasn’t easy to talk about my past even with Viggo, let alone someone I had known only for one day, but I sensed that Elijah was trustworthy and wouldn’t spill our secret.

“Yeah, Sean’s a bit like that, too”, Elijah said and grinned. “And don’t worry, I won’t tell Sean anything. Or Vig. Whatever you tell me is confidential and will remain between you and me”, he promised and looked at me seriously. I had to smile. I felt that I had already found a new friend.

“Thanks, I really appreciate this”, I said honestly. “Figured that it wouldn’t be a good idea to head to LA downtown by myself, yeah?”

Elijah laughed and stood up. “You got that right. A pansy British boy like you would get lost in no time.”

I laughed, too and punched his arm lightly. “Shut up, I’m not a pansy!”

We returned to the kitchen, I feeling very relieved. I smiled at Viggo who was sitting at the table, but frowned as I saw that he was nursing a scotch. What the hell, mate? “Hey, what’s this?” I asked loudly, stealing the glass from my lover and earning a glare in the process. “No drinking this early, luv, ‘s not good for you. Why don’t I prepare you a nice cup of tea? Providing that you have some.” I started opening the doors of his cupboards, searching for something I could use.

Sean grinned and pulled Lij to sit on his lap, nuzzling his boyfriend’s cheek with his nose. “He should have something worth drinking in there; at least when I last looked there was. It took ten years of nagging but I guess Vig has learned to buy proper tea. These Americans wouldn’t know good tea if they were hit by it; that’s what we Brits are for.”

To say that I was surprised to hear him speak to me this kindly would be an understatement. “It’s probably in the British gene pool, yeah?” I replied, giving Sean a small smile in return. Fuck, I hadn’t forgotten his cruel words from the previous day but if he was willing to act nicely then so was I. “Ha!” I exclaimed, finding a package that obviously contained tea leaves. I sniffed the contents and frowned questioningly. “What tea is this, Vig? Smells nice.”

This was the first time my lover actually looked at me. His expression was guarded but he smiled a little as he saw my curious expression. “That’s chai tea, it’s Indian black tea spiced with vanilla, cocoa and chile. You’re supposed to drink it with milk and sugar, I’ve heard.”

“Indian tea, well fuck me”, I exclaimed and sniffed the tea leaves again. It actually smelled very pleasant, but I personally I preferred something like PG Tips or even Lipton Earl Grey. “What’s happened to good ole British tea?”

“Love, you know that Great Britain doesn’t produce tea, you Brits just drink it”, Viggo said patiently. “Besides that chai tea is just fine, I just don’t know if I have any milk left. Henry may have emptied the last carton for his Cheerios.”

“And I’m a vegetarian anyway”, I said cheerily, grabbing a kettle from one of the cupboards and filling it with cold water. “But that’s not the point and this tea’s not for me but for you. To keep you from becoming an utter drunk before you turn forty-one.”

Elijah laughed and winked at Viggo who was blushing. “Sounds like someone’s determined to take care of you, Vig. Good for you; you’re totally hopeless in doing that yourself.”

“That’s it”, Vig growled and stood up. “Someone said something about cleaning. Well I’m going to take care of the living room. You can do whatever you want.” With that said he strolled out of the kitchen and left the three of us looking after him in bewilderment. ‘What the fuck is this shit?’ I thought, annoyed, and was just about to follow him when Sean grabbed my arm.

“Let him be. He’s just stressed over this shit with Henry and stuff. Just let him blow off some steam and he’ll be fine.”

I hesitated, looking at the door Vig had just walked out of. “But shouldn’t I check on him? He was acting really weird, man.” I ran my fingers through my curls, swearing mildly as they got caught in some tangles. I really should take better care of my hair; I couldn’t remember when I had brushed it last. Bollocks.

“So, either of you interested in a cup of tea?” I asked when the water boiled a couple of minutes later. I looked at the couple over my shoulder, lifting the tea box in inquiry. Elijah was biting his thumb, looking at Sean uncertainly. When he met my eyes he nodded quickly, flashing me a smile. “Sure, why not. Chai tea sounds nice.”

Beanie shook his head, lifting his coffee mug to his lips. “Nah, I’m fine. Black coffee’s a killer when you’re hung-over. But thanks.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Suit yourself, mate. Lij, could you be a doll and check if there’s any milk in the fridge? I’ll try and find some sugar.” One thing I have to say about Vig; he doesn’t keep his kitchen cupboards in too good an order. I made a mental note to arrange them later. I spied small bags of sugar, probably from an airplane, behind a can of tuna. Figured.

Elijah helpfully provided the mugs and a half-full carton of milk. “Now where’s the tea ball? He has one, doesn’t he?” I asked, looking around. For some reason it was important for me to be able to brew some tea, to make myself useful. Shit, if I wasn’t allowed to follow my man I would try and do something that got my thoughts from the matter if only for a little while. Sean got up with a loud sigh and searched it among some kitchenware. At my surprised look he grinned widely and returned to his chair at the table.

“Been here a couple of times. I’m slowly starting to remember where everything is”, he replied, taking a sip of his coffee. “Things rarely change here at Viggo’s. You moving here to live with him is a huge change for him, too. Adding that to his worry for Henry and you…” He shrugged again and leaned his elbows on the table. “Vig is a very solitary kind of person. He feels cornered if he doesn’t get enough personal space. Don’t frown at me, I’m just telling you how things are, mate.”

I nodded uncertainly, packing the infuser with tea leaves and putting it into one of the mugs that was already filled with boiled water. “So I should just let him brood alone? Something’s bothering him, I can tell. And when something’s bugging him it bugs me, too, ya know?”

Lij gave me a small plate and I placed it on top of the mug so that the water wouldn’t cool down. He smiled at me and squeezed my shoulder briefly. “Don’t worry, Vig is like that sometimes. It’s the artist’s temper, I guess. Better let him work it out himself. Don’t want him to lash out on you, yeah?”

“Guess not.” I waited for the three minutes that black tea requires to steep properly and then fished the ball out of the liquid, handing the mug to Elijah. “There ya go. And here’s the sugar.”

I then prepared myself another mug of tea in similar fashion and leaned on the counter, sipping it slowly. It wasn’t that great, but then again I wasn’t drinking it with milk as instructed. Note to self: buy soy milk. “So, what were you boys discussing earlier?” Beanie asked conversationally, looking first at Elijah and then me. I stiffened in alarm and quickly searched Lij’s eyes.

“Nothing special… Just thought that I should buy some clothes. And who’s better in giving me advice on finding some nice clothing shop than a young gay man, yeah?” I smiled with what I hoped was an innocent expression. Bean looked at Elijah, obviously not believing a word I said. Lij nodded in affirmative.

“And I promised to show him around a bit, you know? LA is quite a scary place for a young bloke like Orlando here. Needs a proper guide, like me.”

“Quit talking British, Lij”, Sean said, smiling amusedly. “Just because you’re shagging a Brit it doesn’t mean that you have to talk like him.”

“Quit being a bitch, Sean”, Lij shot back and grinned. He then leaned in to kiss the tip of his boyfriend’s nose. “You’re rubbing off on me, I can’t help it.”

I snorted and almost choked on my tea. Those two were even worse than me and Vig. At the thought of my fiancé I frowned again thoughtfully, feeling worried and annoyed at the same time. What had happened between Beanie and Viggo while I was away speaking with Lij? Had Sean said something unpleasant about me, and Viggo had gotten upset? Somehow I didn’t think that was the case, considering that Sean was being nice to me right now and didn’t seem upset in the slightest.

Lij emptied his mug first and placed it on the kitchen counter. “That was decent, thanks Orlando. Now, what if I go and clean the patio?” I nodded and handed him a couple of plastic bags and a cleaning rag from under the sink. Lij left after giving Sean a quick kiss, leaving me and Sean alone.

“Orlando”, Beanie said when I turned to put the mugs in the sink. There was something in his voice that made me turn around and face him.

“Yeah?”

“About yesterday… I guess I was being a downright bastard. I just don’t want Vig to get hurt. He’s had some bad experiences and I can’t help feeling a bit protective of him, you know?”

I smiled. That wasn’t exactly an apology but coming from Sean it meant quite a lot to me. “Yeah, I do. I don’t want him to get hurt, either. I don’t make it a habit of playing with other people’s feelings.”

Sean nodded, standing up and handing me his mug which I also put in the sink. “That’s good to know. Well, I guess we should drag our lazy arses out of the kitchen and help with the cleaning. Which room are you going to take?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hours later, after seeing Lij and Sean off and thanking them for their help I searched for my lover and found him in his studio, going through some of his photographs. “Hey”, I said quietly, wrapping my arms around his waist from behind, pressing my face against his broad back. Viggo stiffened momentarily and I feared that he would snap at me and tell me to leave him alone. Luckily, he didn’t do anything like that but sighed deeply and turned around in my embrace.

“Hey”, he said and looked at me seriously in the eyes before leaning in and kissing me lightly in the lips. The kiss was short and he was leaning away from my touch almost immediately. I didn’t let go, though, but held him close and lay my head on his shoulder. After a tense moment he wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me tightly against his chest. In this position I could feel that his heartbeat was quicker than normal, and he was obviously shivering. What the hell was going on? I could swear that Vig’s eyes had been a bit swollen and red; had he been crying? We held each other for what felt like hours; shit, it could have been hours. I was worried about him and didn’t want to let go; he was clinging to me, almost as he was afraid of relinquishing his hold of me.

“Everything okay?” I finally asked, stroking his back with my hand. “Something happened to Henry?” Hell, I hoped not. Granted, I wasn’t his favourite person and he wasn’t mine, but I knew that it would crush Vig if anything bad happened to his son. Vig shook his head.

“Nothing’s wrong with Henry and everything’s okay”, he said, but the tightening of his hold of me belied his words. “I am just… being emotional again over some old pictures. Nothing for you to worry about, angel.”

I wasn’t buying that. Shit, Vig had been acting strange ever since I returned with Lij to the kitchen. I wasn’t going to pretend that everything was okay when it was so damn clear that something was wrong. “Stop it, luv. It’s me. You can tell me anything, yeah? That’s what I’m here for.”

Vig disentangled from my arms and wiped his cheeks with his right hand palm, frowning slightly. “It is so stupid, really. I don’t know what to say, except that it’s not your problem. I will handle it, okay?”

This time it was my turn to frown. “No, it’s not okay. Bloody hell, mate! Stop being so fucking stubborn and talk to me!” Patience has never been one of my virtues. Hell, I wasn’t going to stand here and watch Viggo fall apart, him wanting to nobly suffer in silence. Fat chance; he was going to talk to me. “Is it something that Sean said?”

Viggo chuckled wryly and put the photos away. “Kind of. Or rather what Sean told me. Are you sure you want to hear this, angel?”

I nodded firmly. “Yeah.”

“Well then”, Viggo let out a long breath and then smiled at me. “Come, let’s go to the living room. It’s clean now; I took care of it myself.”

Once we were seated on one of the plush sofas Vig started talking a bit awkwardly. “About a year ago I met someone. His name was Karl, Karl Urban. He’s a photographer. We met in some exhibition opening, were introduced by my agent. Karl told me that he had always admired my works and I… Well, I guess I was very flattered. He was young and good-looking and looked up to me, it was one hell of an ego boost. By the end of that night we were in my hotel suite.”

I blinked; an old lover? Now this was something I hadn’t expected to hear. I felt a sudden flare of jealousy before I determinedly stomped it down. Concentrate, you bloody git, Vig’s telling you something important here. “Were you together long?”

“About seven months. Karl was very ambitious; he wanted to become famous, like me, to have exhibitions all over the world. And… he wasn’t exactly what you would call a faithful lover. Monogamy wasn’t all that important to him.”

“So… you left him because of his infidelity?” I asked carefully, trying to interpret his expression. He shook his head, looking down at his hands.

“No, I didn’t. I guess I tried to ignore it, pretend that it never happened. That he didn’t come to meet me smelling of someone else. I could live with that; and he swore that he would never do it again, and I believed him. Not because he was so convincing but because I wanted to believe that he could change. Well, he didn’t.” Viggo squeezed his eyes shut and I could see his fists clench. “Fuck, I don’t understand why it still hurts! That was ages ago; I should have gotten over it already. Anyway, I could forgive him cheating on me, since sex is just… sex. It doesn’t have to be personal and I knew that in Karl’s case it wasn’t. It was always casual with him.” He sighed and looked at me tiredly. “I only kicked him out after I found out that he was trying to steal from me.”

“Steal? As in money?” I asked. Bloody fucking hell, I already hated this Karl guy. Anyone who treated Vig like shit made it to the top of my hate list. My man’s the kindest person I’ve ever met, and just the thought of someone abusing his trust and hurting him made me want to hunt this Karl down and do something extremely bad and illegal.

“Not money, that would have been forgivable, I guess. He tried to steal my photographs, my art, for fuck’s sake. Tried to steal something that was purely mine, a product of my work and my talent. He betrayed my trust in the worst way possible… so I broke up with him. Shit, it got ugly”, Viggo said and grimaced. “Karl accused me of being a… sugardaddy for him, for trying to absorb his youth and his talent… He told me to fuck off, and never speak to him again. Which, for the record, I haven’t done ever since.” He glanced at me and tried to smile, but his eyes were glistening and I could see that he still hurt.

“Were you… in love with him?” I eventually asked, not knowing why. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know that.

Viggo sighed and rubbed his eyes. “I don’t know; I think I could have loved him, but there was always so much shit to deal with and… I don’t know. I never introduced him to Henry, though. I guess I knew somewhere deep down that it just wasn’t meant to be. Didn’t want to mess up Henry’s head in the process.”

I smiled faintly, feeling oddly relieved at hearing that. I was here, wasn’t I? I was introduced to Henry and Vig’s friends… and I wasn’t going to fuck things up with Vig. “What made you think about him now, luv? Was it those pictures in your studio?” I asked, tracing his jaw line with my fingers. His jaw was still tense and I leaned in to plant a little kiss on his cheek.

“No… and yes. Beanie told me that Karl had tried to contact me while I was in Europe. Seems that the bastard wants to talk with me; dunno why, we haven’t kept in contact and I for one have nothing to say to him. I guess those photos just brought back the bad memories that I’ve tried to forget”, Vig said, leaning into my touch. “It still hurts, ya know? To know that he was just using me, trying to benefit from my work to boost his own career. Fucking bastard!”

“Sounds like a fucking bastard to me, too”, I said, running my fingers soothingly through his hair. “He isn’t worth your pain, luv. Let it go. He can’t hurt you anymore ‘cause you won’t let him. I wont let him. If he’s up to something he’s gonna deal with me, yeah? And I’ll kick his sorry arse to the next decade and even further.”

Vig chuckled and pulled my left hand to his lips, kissing my knuckles lightly. “Hell hath no fury like Orli scorned, huh?”

“Exactly.” We exchanged a long, loving kiss, but I leaned away when Vig tried to take it further. Now, I’m a strong believer in healing sex, but I just knew that sex wasn’t what my lover needed right now. He needed cuddling, closeness and kisses, but sex should wait. It could wait. “Mmm, this is nice”, I murmured, leaning my head on his shoulder and stroking his chest with my fingers. Viggo laughed a little and made a small affirming noise in his throat.

”Sorry if I scared you there, angel”, he murmured softly, pressing little kisses on the top of my head. “’S just so hard to get over something like that.””

“I’m sure it is. But I’m not like him, Vig. I’ll never be like him”, I said with conviction, raising my head to meet his eyes. “I love you, Vig.”

“You too, angel.”

Our peaceful moment was interrupted by a phone ringing. I groaned and clung to my man. “Let it ring”, I suggested, giving him my best puppy-eyed look. I was far too comfortable sitting here, hell, practically lying all over my lover in his comfy sofa. Didn’t want him to get up and answer the bloody telephone which, of course, had to be in the hallway. Vig smiled and kissed the tip of my nose before getting up.

“I have to answer that, it’s Henry”, he said apologetically over his shoulder and answered the phone. “Hi there, sonny boy. Been nice to mom?”

I just had to smile at the obvious love in his voice. I guess he sounds like that with me, too, except that with Henry it’s even more prominent. I glanced at him, briefly, and noticed that his smile had vanished and his eyes had turned cold. “Karl. What do I owe the pleasure?” He gritted out, the muscles in his jaw clenched tightly. “Really. Fine… that’s just fine. Okay, bye.” Vig hung up and inhaled shakily.

I pulled my legs up on the sofa, wrapping my arms around them, looking at Vig with uncertainty. He stood still in the hallway, his eyes closed and his breathing irregular. “Fucking shit!” He growled, turning look at me. “Bastard wants to meet me tomorrow. Fucking great.”

“Should I come with you?” I asked when it was obvious that he was done talking. He glanced at me briefly and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Naw, you don’t need to. Can get ugly; don’t want you to get in the middle of it.”

“Well you’re not going to meet that fucker alone, you hear me?” I said, getting angry for some reason I didn’t really understand. Was I jealous? That was so fucked. I, too, got up of the sofa and walked to Vig, wrapping an arm around his waist. “I’m coming, and that’s final. What concerns you concerns me, too. A team, remember?”

Vig’s eyes searched mine, his gaze clearly irritated. “Stay out of this, Orli. I will handle Karl.” The warning was obvious and I decided to heed it. For now.

“Fine then. C’mere, luv”, I said and we hugged each other close, enjoying the intimacy of this simple act, the irritation and anger dissolving in the background. Hell, no-one was going to come between us. Not Karl, not anyone. I fleetingly thought about the STD tests but banished the thought immediately; I would worry over that after I had the results, not sooner. And when it came to Karl… I know that everyone thinks that I’m a little more than a small and furry kitten, but kittens have claws, too. And teeth that can bite if provoked. Grr.


~ tbc ~


A/N: Watched a Sean Bean movie a few days ago and realised that the man has a lovely voice. Therefore this chapter is dedicated to Sean and his soft British accent. Oh, and I would appreciate feedback, cheers!