Infinity: Chapter 4

[sunshine_173]

Title: Infinity
Author: sunshine_173 
Rating: PG
Pairing: BellDom/Original character(s)
Summary: Matt is a piano protégé. Dom is a painter who excels passed many his age. They meet at a young age and strike up an instant friendship. From friends to lovers, this is their story, spanning over a course of over two decades.
Feedback: I'm a comment whore. Every time I read one, my heart goes *tingle*
Disclaimer: I don't own Muse, Matt or Dom. If I did, unspeakable acts would be committed.
Warning: Nothing really going on here. 'Cept some minorrrr languaage.
Note: I am like, so sorry it took so long to update this. Seriously, I feel awful. So to make it up, I give you a ridiculously long chapter, with another installment of C&C coming ASAP. Also this isn't beta'd, so pardon any errors you find. I will never be able to thank lalalive23  enough for her awesomeness. I send you a bombardment of sexy men. And when I say sexy men, I mainly mean DT. That's right, I'm keeping Mathias to myself. And everyone who comments, I love you with the intensity of a thousand exploding stars. yeah.

 

17 January 1993

 

It seemed, as if for a moment, that everything was sideways.

The air was weighted, heavy, as if the hundred thousand million air particles drifting slowly by were bloated. Dusky light illuminated glass and reflected a spectrum of color. Grey eyes fluttered closed for a millisecond, opening again to trace abstract patterns in the cream walls before him. Howling, the wind blew and racked the limbs of an old oak outside his window, causing them to scrape and scratch against the window. Shadows and light danced against the walls, the creaking branches emitting a woeful song. Sighing, he willed his mind to stop thinking, to be devoid of all rational thought processes, and to just exist.

Rolling onto his back, he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He was distraught, to say the least. It had been nearly two weeks since he’d buckled into the backseat of his father’s small, white car and waved goodbye to his grandparents, to the dreariness of the English seaside. Since he’d said goodbye to Matthew. He couldn’t decide what he missed the most, or why he even missed it to begin with. London was his home, his life. Everyone, everything, he knew was here with him. And yet, the moment he stood in his yard, in front of the home he’d known his whole life, he felt empty.

“Mum. Mum, wake up.” The bleary-eyed blonde shook the shoulder of his snoring mum. “Muuumm!”

Whining, he jabbed his finger at her shoulder, poking and shaking her till the rhythm of her sleep became choppy. “W-wuh, what is it, Dom?” Her eyes were shut; a limp arm flopped across her face as she hid herself from the light that was pouring into the room from the hallway. It was Christmas day – early Christmas day– and Dominic was the first to wake. At 6AM.

“Mum, it’s time to get up!” He jumped in place, his broad smile shining despite the early hour.

Groaning, his father turned in his sleep, his head burrowing under the pillow to escape from his son’s loud outbursts. His mum reached out, blindly feeling around the top of the small table at her side. Her hand landed on a round, metal clock and she flopped onto her side, lazily tugging the covers down and away from her head as she glanced at the time.

“Dominic, honey, it’s six in the morning.” Her sleep-roughened voice complained as she drowsily rubbed her eyes. “We don’t unwrap presents till nine.”

“I know! It’s Christmas, mum! We have to do something.” Dominic replied cheerily.

Mrs. Howard sighed, sat up, swung her legs over the side of the bed. Dragging a hand down her face, she looked up to stare at her son. “What do we have to do?”

Dominic smiled to himself at the sudden memory of Christmas morning. He hadn’t slept at all that night, instead strategizing a plan that had popped into his head at random: to wake up, get his mum to drive him to Mrs. Bellamy’s home, and to surprise Matthew with his gift.

“I…I got you something, too.” The ebony haired boy’s face was beet red, his nervousness shining in the reflection of shimmering twin blue.

Dominic was shocked at this statement. Standing in the threshold of a door, the older boy stared incredulously into the wide eyes of Matthew, sitting several feet away on a bench in front of his piano. The gift Dominic gave him was on his lap, his long fingers clutching the book tightly.

“When we were at that bookstore and you were talking to your mum, I got my grandma’s attention and nodded at something that I’d seen when we walked into the place. She bought it when we were getting our coats on.” He said this all in one go, and was breathless by the end of his explanation.

Jumping up from his seat, he walked quickly towards and passed Dominic, his head downturned and a determined expression on his face. The blonde noticed unconsciously that the boy was so thin he didn’t have to move for him to pass.

Before Dominic could turn his head to follow where he had gone, he had already returned, his hands behind his back and nervous eyes furrowed. Biting his lip, he seemed to gain a sudden bout of confidence. Raising his eyes slowly to meet Dominic’s, his hands came out from behind his back at the same time he let a toothy grin light up his face.

He held a tightly wrapped red package in his hands, and, beaming, let out a quiet, “Merry Christmas, Dom.”

The thick book on abstract painters sat on Dominic’s bedside table, several pages already dog-eared, and the blonde found himself unconsciously reaching out to pick it up. A wave of loneliness seemed to wash over him at that moment, as it did every time he thought of his vacation in Teignmouth. He sighed and flipped open the cover, running his forefinger over the scrawled inscription on the first page.

“Dominic!” A sudden shout snapped him out of his short reverie, and he set the book down to the side of his hip. Mrs. Howard knocked twice on his shut door before she opened it and poked her head in.  “What are you doing?”

“Nothing.” He answered honestly.

His mother raised an eyebrow but didn’t further ask. “You have a friend at the door.” She smiled when she said this, and as she turned away, Dominic felt his heart race.

Dominic sat on the island counter of his grandmother’s kitchen, his legs swinging as he intently watched her go about cooking their Christmas dinner. Various scents permeated the air around him, filling the small room with a potpourri of spices and flavor. The sun was shining dully through the window, its piercing rays seeming so determined to break through the bleak veil of winter clouds.

He smiled when his grandmother started to hum a cheerful tune, and he found himself swaying to the melody. Quietly, he began to whistle along, earning an amused grin from the silvery haired woman.

A trio of rapid fire knocks and a trailing staccato rhythm interrupted the duo, two heads simultaneously turning towards the archway leading into the kitchen. When his mum appeared, her serene face quietly entertained, her slate eyes dancing, his grandmother resumed her chopping and humming and he quirked his head at his mother.

“Dominic, you have someone at the door.”

He furrowed his brow. “Who?” He glanced out the window and noted the beginning of snow.

Mrs. Howard’s lips twitched upwards. “Matthew.”

Dominic jumped up, his feet hitting the ground a second before he quickly walked towards the foyer, a large smile breaking out across his face.

Walking quickly, the curious blonde headed towards the front of his house, nerves pulsing. A sudden and decidedly vain hope filtered into his veins, spreading and racing throughout his body. He knew it was unrealistic to believe that Matthew’s grandmother would agree to drive nearly four hours to visit him, and even more hard to imagine that Matthew would care enough to do so.

But he didn’t care. When he saw the faded silhouette of a small bodied person on the other side of the frosted glass front door, he swore he saw stars sparkling around the edges of his vision. With a heaving breath and the beginnings of a massive grin, he reached out to grasp hold of the brass doorknob, turning it quickly and wrenching the door open.

His smile didn’t falter, but the spark in his eyes dwindled. The bespectacled face of his gangly friend Tom stared panting at him, his body hunched over and his hands on his knees. His dark hair was floppy and windblown, his eyes of matching shade twinkling with excitement. In the distance, he could see his shorter, more stocky friend Morgan running down the street to his house.

He stared confusedly at his friend, Morgan bounding up his yard and falling to sit on the steps leading up to the door. “What in the w-”

“We…I was talkin’ with Ri-Richard Cooper’s sister…” Tom gasped out, still attempting to catch his breath. Dominic’s eyes widened, bemusedly whipping his head back and forth between the two boys. “And…and Richard came up, the twat, w-with his stupid gang…and-”

“Thomas Kirk, do you speak to your mother with that mouth?” The sudden voice of Mrs. Howard sounded out, the three friends turning quickly to look at her.

Tom snapped up, his posture straight, and all signs of previous breathlessness vanished. “No, ma’am.” He said, his eyes wide and nervous.

“I thought not.” She stood a meter or two behind her son, examining the boys before her. Her stern disposition cracked though, and she let a small chuckle escape before continuing her way down the hall.

The brunette waited until the sounds of footsteps were gone, his posture slackening some. “Blimey,” he said, whistling. “Your mum frightens me, y’know.”

Giggling, Morgan nodded at this while he scratched the top of his head. “We need to stay clear of Blackfriar’s Bridge for a couple days. Cooper’s cronies are prolly gonna be hangin’ ‘round there to catch us. He right hates Tom’s guts now.”

Dominic snorted. “Like he didn’t before? Swear the moment that bloke’s sister became cute he turned into an arse.”

Morgan nodded in agreement, turning around and nervously looking down the street. Tom began to speak when he noticed the book in Dominic’s hand.

“What’re you doing with a book, Dommykins?” Tom asked with faux curiosity, staring down at Dominic’s hands.

Dominic guffawed nervously, his eyes rolling at the silly name and mindlessly moved the book behind his back and out of site. “Nothin’. Was picking it up for my mum.”

“Mhmm, you sure about that?” Tom began to tease, a pronounced smirk resting on his full lips.

“Isn’t anything wrong with reading sometimes, just in case you’re wondering.” Dominic said, defensively, starting to back further into his home.

Morgan now was watching the interaction amusedly. “Aww, has Dommy gone a bit soft on us? Is it a romance novel?” He started making kissing noises and Tom broke out laughing.

Dominic’s face flushed deep red, and he looked at his feet before quietly saying, “It was a present, ‘kay?”

“Oooh, from a girl!?” Morgan squealed, excitingly looking at him with bright eyes.

“How’d you find girls in that village?” Tom asked, his laughter dying down some before picking up again.

“I-It wasn’t-” Dominic started to protest.

“Pshh Dom, we’re just taking the piss, y’know.” Tom said, reaching out and ruffling Dominic’s blonde hair.

“Ha, right. Yeah. I’m gonna go get my coat.” Dominic forcefully laughed out, his mind thinking of the company he wished he had.

“Hurry up with it, we told Chris we’d meet him at that one field down the street.” Tom stuffed his hands deep into his pockets after gesturing for Dominic to shoo along.

“Right, right.” Dominic turned around, hurriedly walking to his bedroom.

Once there, he located his coat, shrugging it on and grabbing his cap and gloves. He stared down at his book resting at the foot of his bed, and reached out to flip open the cover, once more reading the inscription scribbled in dark blue ink before he ran out to meet his friends.

Dom,

you’re the nicest friend ive ever had. hope you have a fantastic xmas. enjoy the book, i thought you’d like it.

Matt

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

“Oi! What the bloody hell was that for!?” Cracked out the voice of a tall and strongly built boy.

Dominic broke out laughing at the site of his friend Chris’ sopping wet face, snow hanging on the ends of his long, curly hair. Simultaneously, two more snowballs came racing through the air, each pummeling the older boy in the chest, Tom and Morgan cackling a few meters away.

“Did Chrissy’s voice just crack a wittle bit?” Tom snickered out, quickly making another snowball.

“Piss off!” Chris shouted, the grin on his face contradicting his yell.

The four friends had been “battling” for over an hour, Dom and Chris on one team and Morgan and Tom on the other. Their faces were chapped from the wind and the cold, their clothes covered with melting snow. Dominic shook his head, his hair flinging icy droplets of water in every direction.

“Man, I’m winded.” Dominic giggled out, wiping his running nose with the heel of his hand.

“Same. Good game, children, good game.” Chris said, wiping mud off his jeans. Chris was Dominic’s longest known friend. Their mothers had met at the daycare they went to and started a quick friendship, which led to the boys spending more and more time together. By the time Dominic was five, and Chris eight, they were practically inseparable. Dominic had met Tom when he started his first year at the City of London School, and with Tom came Morgan. The four boys had all struck a close companionship, and had stayed together since.

“Oh, bugger off, Chris.” Tom laughed, plopping onto a tree stump and pulling his hat further down onto his head. Morgan fell to the ground, flipping onto his back and laying spread eagle. He began to movie his arms and legs back and forth on the ground, the beginning of a snow angel showing.

Tom giggled mischievously and began to pelt him with small, powdery white handfuls, Morgan shouting out how cold it was when it fell down his shirt. He jumped up and the two wrestled for a moment, oblivious to Dominic staring blankly ahead.

He swiftly walked down the short hall, practically vibrating with excitement at the prospect of company and not having to sit through dinner by himself. Reaching the door, he swung it open, but froze before his greeting left his mouth.

Matthew was laying flat on the ground in a pile of snow, more of it falling down heavily. His dark hair was plastered to his face and his arms and legs were furiously moving at an attempt to make a snow angel before it was covered up by more snow. His eyes were shut and on his lips rested a soft smile. If it wasn’t for the wetness and the near-blizzard surrounding him, he would’ve looked sound asleep.

Dominic stood still, watching the small boy happily plow away through the snow, seemingly unaware of everything around him. It wasn’t until his mum shouted out for him to shut the door, that he was letting in cold air, that he realized he should probably alert Matthew to come inside.

“Matt!” He shouted, but at the sight of him jumping nearly a foot in the air, he started giggling uncontrollably. “Matt, you crazy, get in here!”

Matthew’s face split into a massive grin, pushing himself off the ground and gaining his footing as he bounded towards Dominic. Reaching the door, he shook himself off before stepping inside.

“Do you need another change of clothes?” Dominic looked him up and down, but, surprisingly, didn’t find his clothes to be dripping wet and in need of drying.

“Nah, I’m waterproof.” Matthew said this with a cheesy smile, wiping his pallid face with a shivering hand.

Dominic snorted. “What were you doing out there? You could’ve gotten sick or somethin’.”

Matthew shrugged, reaching up to ruffle his own hair, ultimately spraying Dominic with icy droplets in the face.

“Oi, watch it!” Dominic giggled. “So uh, what’re you doing here?”

Matthew’s smile fell infinitesimally, his stance becoming suddenly nervous. “Oh, er…I dunno. My gran had to drop off a few gifts to some friends of hers and they only live a couple houses away. She told me which house was your gran’s so…dunno, I felt like saying hi. If that’s, okay, of course. I didn’t think of you being busy, with it being Christmas. I’m sorry, I should’ve cal-”

“Hey, hey,” the blonde interrupted. “It’s cool. I was dying for someone to talk to, honestly.”

A sparkling set of blue eyes brightened even more at this. “Yeah?”

Dominic nodded, reaching out and poking Matthew in the side.

“Hey, uh. Dom? You okay, mate?” Tom asked, waving a hand quickly in front of Dominic’s face.

“C’mon, snap out of it, you’re weirding us out.” Morgan joined in, cocking his head at his friend’s strange behavior.

Dominic shook his head quickly, his memory fading away as quickly as it had come. He felt yet another wave of loneliness wash over him, but this time he was confused. What did he have to be lonely about? He was surrounded by his best friends.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. Dunno what happened there. I think my awesome short-circuited for a second.” He swiftly replied, attempting a smile despite his cold feeling inside.

Tom and Morgan laughed, resuming their previous mini-snowball fight. Dominic shook his head again, rubbing his fingers at his right temple. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and when he turned his head he saw Chris standing behind him, a vacant expression on his face.

“Are you okay, Dom?” His voice was low, serious, and he suddenly looked much older than he was.

Dominic smiled tightly, nodding despite his desire to speak to his closest friend. He didn’t understand why he felt like Chris wouldn’t understand, even though during their friendship he’d always try to no matter what the subject. “I’m fine, just a little headache.”

Chris pursed his lips but nodded his head slowly. “If you say so.” Turning around, he put on a smile. “Alright, you two cut it out, let’s get out of here. I’m freezing my balls off.”

“I’ll talk to you later, yeah?” Dominic asked nervously, unused to craving someone’s company as much as he was that moment.

Matthew nodded and smiled, holding onto the door with one hand and bracing the other against the wall. “I’ll give you a ring later. When do you have to leave for London?”

Dominic’s smile left his face almost as soon as it arrived. “A few days. The 28^th.”

The younger boy reflected his expression. “Ah, that’s a right shame. We’ll have to keep in touch.”

Dominic nodded enthusiastically. “I’ll see you later.” Waving, he turned around and started walking towards his mother who sat in the driver’s seat, fighting sleep.

“Hey Dom?”

The blonde turned automatically at the sound of Matthew’s voice, his eyes wide. “Yeah?”

“Are you okay?” Genuine curiosity swam in Matthew’s eyes.

Dominic quirked his eyebrow at the randomness of the question. “…Yeah. I’m fine.”

“No, something’s wrong. I can see it in your eyes.” Matthew let go of the door and folded his arms in front of him, cocking his head to the side.

Once again, Dominic was caught off guard by Matthew. It seemed that was happening more and more often, as of late. Matthew may have been two years younger than him, but he seemed three times his senior. Dominic had heard of the term “old soul”, but never once had he met someone who fit its definition. Until Matthew. It seemed as if Atlas had mercilessly dropped the anguishes of the world onto his shoulders. When Matthew turned that inquisitive and all-knowing gaze towards him, he felt as if he could never escape from their snare.

“I’m…I’m fine.” But the more he looked into his eyes, the more he wanted to stop denying that something inside of him was changing, growing older than his years and adapting a strength that could possibly destroy or glorify him.

Matthew squint his eyes at him but nodded, giving one last wave before turning around and shutting the door.

Hanging his coat up, Dominic smiled at the all consuming warmth that met his shivering frame as he shut the door.

“Dom, honey, is that you?” He heard his mum shout out from upstairs.

“Yes!”

Walking to his room, he stripped of his clothes and threw them into his dirty clothes hamper, fishing for dry sweatpants in his dresser drawers. He sighed, getting dressed and stepping into his bathroom to grab a towel and dry his hair some.

The house was eerily quiet while he headed towards the kitchen, and he wondered for a moment if his parents had left and he’d imagine his mother’s question. He decided to not think about it grabbed a kettle to fill with water, having had the desire to try lemon tea ever since Matthew had mentioned it once. Dominic had plagued his mother into buying him some at the store but he refused to disclose why, and he’d yet to have the time to try it since he’d gone back to school and had an overload of homework.

Leaning against the countertop, he placed his head in his palm and closed his eyes, humming.

“Dom? Where are you?” His mother’s voice sounds out again.

“In the kitchen!” He replies, not moving from his position.

He hears her walk into the kitchen, the heel of her shoes tapping hard against the tile of the floor. “Did you have a nice time with the boys?”

“Yeah.”

“What’d you all do?”

“We met Chris at that field down the street and had a snowball fight.”

She smiled and went to start putting up clean dishes. “I haven’t seen Chris in awhile.”

“He’s got a girlfriend.” The kettle started whistling and Dominic went to turn it off. He bent to rummage through a cabinet, successfully retrieving a packet of tea.

“Does he now? What’s her name?” Mrs. Howard leaned across her son, closing the cabinet door that he forgot to.

“Dunno. Kelly or Crystal or something like that.”

“What’s that tone? Do you not like her?” She leaned her hip against the counter and crossed her arms, waiting for her son’s reply.

“Nah, I don’t really know her. He hasn’t introduced us yet.” Dominic went to rinse out the kettle before setting it on the countertop.

“That’s not ordinary of him. You’re the first to know everything.”

“Guess not.”

Mrs. Howard grabbed the kettle and replaced it, putting up the rest of the dishes. A moment passed before she spoke up again.

“Dom, are you alright?”

Dominic paused on his way out of the kitchen and rolled his eyes. He didn’t understand why suddenly everyone was worried about him. “I’m lovely, mum.”

“You’ve seemed put off lately.”        

“Nope. I’m fine.” He sighed, taking a sip of his tea. It was good, surprisingly, once he got over the burn from the heat of it.

“Would you tell me if something was bothering you?”

“’Course, mum. Love you.” He gave a small wave.

“Love you, too.”

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Lying on his bed, Dominic flipped through the pages of his book on painters. It was interesting, more so than he thought a book would ever be, and he sent a silent thanks to Matthew. 

He heard a knock at his door and his mother opened it a second later.

“Darling?”

“I’m alive, mum.”

“Watch it, you. Your father and I are going out tonight. I made dinner already and it’s on a plate wrapped in the fridge. Will you be alright by yourself or will I need to call someo-”

“I’ll be fine, go ahead and go.”

Mrs. Howard watched him for a moment. “I love you and I’ll see you in a few hours.” She walked towards him and pecked his forehead.

“It’s a shame that you have to leave so soon.” Matthew said, a small pout gracing his face, his bottom lip puckering out.

Dominic felt sad. More sad than he thought he would’ve ever. He nodded in reply.

“Dom! C’mon, we need to hurry so we don’t hit traffic!”

He spun around and saw his father gesturing at him, and he turned back to Matthew, his expression torn.

“I’ll ring you sometime?”

Matthew nodded.

They both stood staring at each other.

Neither of them knew the proper etiquette for saying goodbye.

“Er.”

Dominic’s arm went out but he withdrew it, assuming a sidehug would still be too weird. But Matthew had already reached his arm out as well. They met in an awkward high five, and Matthew started giggling. “I’ll see you.”

“Yeah.”

Dominic turned and ran towards his parents, his stomach dropping.

The blonde stood in front of the microwave, watching the plate of spaghetti turn round and round. Humming to himself, he became immersed in the rotations.

A sudden ring of the telephone caught Dominic off guard, and he jumped up, spinning around in search of it. Finding that it wasn’t in its holder, he ran towards the sound. He slid into the living room, seeing a flashing light under a pillow on the couch. Diving towards the phone, he grabbed the phone and pressed the TALK button.

Breathlessly, he answered, “Hullo?”

A quiet sniffle was the reply. “Dom?”