worth the wait

After high school ended, Dimitri had stayed in America while Lake finished his last year of school. Sadly, before that year came to a close, he was forced to go back to Russia and leave the young man behind. They kept in touch, but as the years went by their lives seemed to move on and they drifted apart. By four years, Lake was nothing more than a memory he would never forget. Then one day, completely out of the blue, there was an email sitting in his inbox from a FBIAgentDale@hotmail.com. Dimitri felt his heart skip a beat when he saw it. Waisting no time, he clicked it open to read its contents.

'Hey, Dimmy! How're you doing? I feel absolutely terrible about letting you fall into the shadows. I let my work take hold of me. It's been so long since we talked, even if it was just voice chat and webcams. I had a Russian model the other day and it made me think of you and how much I miss that voice of yours. You still smoking? I know I used to make fun of it back in high school, but it did give you a slightly sexy quality. I sound so stupid, don't I?'

Dimitri paused his reading to let out a chuckle. Gaze drifted to the cigarette held in his hand, burning away. Looking back to the screen, Dimitri gave a verbal reply to the text. “You never sound stupid to me.” Slipping the cigarette between his lips, he continued to read.

'Anywho, I thought that since I was thinking of you, I'd let you know how my life was going. OH! Before we get to me, Juliet is an aunt! Her name is Belle, and she is the most adorable thing I've ever seen. I don't know if you heard, but Juliet is recovering from anorexia. Her agent was a horribly twisted woman, and poor Juliet suffered because of it. When I found out, I told the woman she was never going to work in the modeling world ever again. I ruined her career. I heard Nathanael and Theodore ruined her life. Juliet is back on the mend. Do you read any fashion magazines? There was a huge feature about her in one of them. Didn't read it myself, but I took the photos. I'm mentioned too – because I'm Juliet's agent. She was such an inspiration to me in high school. The magazine wanted to feature me more, but I said it was about Juliet, not her gay agent with his flailing love life and lack of action for weeks. I bet you've moved on from me. There's bound to be loads of hot Russian geeks out there in Russia for you to pick from. We lost touch, so I tried. You're really hard to get over. I did like being under you too much I supposed. Heehee.'

Even if it was text on a laptop screen, Dimitri could feel a blush on his cheeks. Lake had been quite reserved when they first met. It seemed Dimitri had awoken some kind of beast within the male.

'I have no idea where I'm going with this. We never really broke up, so does that mean we're still together? Oh gosh, I hope you don't think I'm cheating on you! My feelings for you have never gone away; I guess thats why I can't seem to form any kind of relationship with anyone else. I miss you. When you're next in New York you should stop by. Let me know how you're doing. Lake xxx'

There was an address typed at the end of the email. Sitting back in his chair, Dimitri crushed out his cigarette and reached for his phone.

................

It had been four years since Dimitri had seen Lake in person.

And now, standing outside his door, Dimitri wondered if he still looked the same.

Swallowing the lump that formed in his throat, one hand in his pocket toying with his loose change, the other rose to knock at the door to the apartment Lake had given at the end of his email. His heart skipped a beat as he heard it open.

It hit the floor when gaze fell onto the person who appeared on the other side.

She was probably in her mid-twenties. Jet black hair with streaks of bright purple. It was wet, hanging in damp curls either side of her face. Blue eyes and a sweet smile. She was short, possibly around five foot four and wore an over-sized grey t-shirt that hung over her like a dress and a pair of black cutoff pants. What shocked Dimitri the most was the swollen stomach. Whoever this woman was, she was pregnant. Very pregnant.

She arched a brow at Dimitri. “Can I help you?”

“I'm looking for a Lake Dale,” he replied, scratching the back of his neck nervously. In the email Lake never mentioned living with anyone. He certainly didn't mention anything about pregnant women. “He does live here, doesn't he?”

“What do you want with Lake? If you want to meet with him you'll have to make an appointment. Wait here, I'll go and get his card.” She made to move away, closing the door, but Dimitri shot out his hand, holding the door open.

“I'm not a model,” he told her. “I just want to see him. To tell him how I'm doing.”

“You can do that by phone,” she retorted.

“I want to see him. Please?” He hoped that pulling the sad puppy face would get the woman to let him in. “I haven't seen him in so long.”

Tilting her head, blue eyes looked up and down him. “You're not the Russian with the big cock are you? Big. D.?”

That caused him to blush. “Lake says that about me?”

She shrugged, moving aside to grant Dimitri entrance. “Now and again you crop up. Usually when he's whining like a love-sick teenage girl.” Heading deeper into the apartment, she padded about in a pair of cream slippers.

The apartment had been designed with a minimalist theme in mind. The idea of having little clutter and everything in its right place had been completely discarded. The plain white painted walls were decorated with posters and pictures of family and friends. Some were obviously Lake's, but there were some he didn't recognize. The large flat screen television was playing some home cooking channel, and on the floor infront of it lay discarded game and DVD boxes. The black leather couch, shaped with such perfect angles had a variety of pillows in pinks and purples scattered over it, as well as a thick blanket – which the girl wrapped herself up in when she sat down. There was a bright red bean bag chair near the TV, and the coffee table had clutter. There was a fire place, complete with fake fire. The mantel shelf was lined with figurines from various animes and video games.

“Lake's in the shower,” she said, settling into the blanket, fingers curled around an Eeyore mug. “He usually takes about an hour. Make yourself comfortable. Sorry about the mess, we haven't really had time to do much cleaning.”

Dimitri nodded, sitting on the edge of the couch. “You haven't told me your name yet.”

She rubbed her face in embarrassment. “Oh Hell, I'm so sorry.” She shifted around, offering her hand to Dimitri. “I'm Noelle. I'm Lake's room mate.”

“And the pregnant part?” he asked, extremely curious.

Noelle laughed. “It's not Lake's before you get worried. Ever since I met him he's been one of those 'Eeeww, heterosexual sex' type of gays. Lake's just the only person that seems to care about me, because the baby's father sure ain't interested. I'm a photographer like Lake, only I deal with theater and current events rather than models. We met one day purely by coincidence and became friends within seconds. He bought me a bagel.” She smiled sweetly while sipping at her tea. “Whenever he's apologizing for something he's done wrong, even if I don't know about it, he'll buy me a bagel. Lightly toasted with cream cheese.” She looked up at him. “So what brings you here? Lake said you were in Russia. In fact, Lake whined, complained and had pathetic moaning and whimpering sessions about you being in Russia. Anyone would think he was a puppy who missed his master.”

Hearing the description of Lake made him chuckle. “Lake brings me here. Four years is a long time. Not a day went by when I didn't think of him. I missed his graduation, his first day at college, even his first day at work all because my father wanted me to go back to Russia. I never wanted to leave him.”

“I take it you're only here for a short while?”

Dimitri nodded. “I may stay longer; if I have a reason to.”

Noelle nodded, humming softly and mainly to herself as she sipped at her tea. Gaze returned to the television screen and the pair fell into silence. Several minutes later, a voice drifted in from one of the adjoining rooms.

“El, have you seen my pants?”

“Which pants?” Noelle called back.

“The black ones with the buckles down the sides. The tight ones.”

Just hearing the description had Dimitri imaging the male wearing them. Even if he couldn't see him, Lake still sounded much the same as he had in high school, if a little deeper.

“Last time I saw those they were in a heap on the dining room floor, Lake. When Ian stayed the night.”

A dusty blond head appeared at the doorway, the locks of golden brown wet from his shower. The sides were trimmed short, leaving the top in a mohawk style where the strands were longer, growing down the back of Lake's neck where they curled at the nape of his neck. Half naked, with a towel around his shoulders, it was obvious he wasn't expecting company. When his eyes fell upon the male seated next to his room mate on the couch his mouth fell open.

“Dimitri..?”

“So who's Ian?” Dimitri asked, trying not to let jealousy show, nor the fact that Lake had grown since he had last set eyes on him. The thin and gangly teenager had broadened somewhat and gaze fell to the bare torso, noting that Lake had not put on weight but instead gained a little muscle. He still had beads of water trailing down his skin.

Lake blushed. “Heh...heh...Well, Ian is...” He looked to Noelle for support. She merely grinned at him and snuggled deeper into her blanket. “Just some guy who stayed the night a few times. You were in Russia, and well, er, uhm, you know, he wasn't and...urm...and we, you know, but it's not like we're...er...ah...” Lake trailed off embarrassedly.

Pushing himself up from the couch, Dimitri stalked over to where Lake was standing in the doorway. Lake was still shorter than him, and the male tilted his head down and away, not wanting to look at Dimitri's face. Lifting a hand, fingers curled beneath Lake's chin, lifting his head to look up at him.

“I missed you,” Lake said softly. There were tears forming in his eyes and he chewed on his lower lip. “I missed you so much.”

“Oh just kiss already. You're worse than some of the soap operas I watch,” Noelle said from her spot on the couch. “I know you both want to, so just hurry up and do it. Hopefully before my baby is born.”

It was Lake that kissed him. Rising to his tiptoes and throwing his arms around Dimitri's neck to pull him down to his level. Lips met with force, heat and passion. Dimitri's own hands wove around his back, pulling him closer.

..........

Lake never did find those pants of his, although he didn't bother looking since he had something better to do instead of searching his apartment for clothes. Climbing out of bed, leaving a jet lagged Dimitri sleeping, he padded barefoot into the lounge where Noelle was cleaning up some of the mess and clutter. As she tossed an empty Chinese take-away box into the garbage bag, she looked up and smiled at her friend. “Well look who's finally decided on getting dressed. Well mostly dressed. Is that his shirt?”

Lake grinned, running his fingers over the button-down dress shirt that Dimitri had been wearing earlier. Other than the dark red shirt, he was wearing a pair of sweat pants. “You shouldn't be cleaning, you should be resting,” he told her, taking the bag from her hands.

“I'm nesting,” she replied. “And as such, I must make my nest the perfect place to have my baby.”

“What did you tell Dimitri about the baby?”

She sighed softly, running her hands over her hair that was now tied up. “That the father wants nothing to do with it and that you're the only person who seems to care about me the way I need to be cared about.” Hands fell to her bump, smoothing over it lovingly. “The same thing I tell everyone that asks, really.”

Lake placed the rubbish bag on the floor and wrapped his arms around Noelle. “Dimitri said that he's going to try and stay in New York. Permanently. I think he deserves to hear the truth, because I know he'll want to be a part of it.”

She looked up at him. “We haven't even told your best friend the truth yet – how do you think we're going to be able to tell your old boyfriend?”

“Because it's Dimitri and he'll understand. The chance to be a father; I know he'd love to do it. After all, I'm doing it. Just because the baby isn't biologically related to either of us doesn't mean we can't be a father to it,” Lake replied.

“So you're staying with Dimitri? What about Stewart? You have – had – a date with him tomorrow.”

Lake pressed a kiss to Noelle's forehead. “I never stopped loving Dimitri. Andrew, Ian, even Stewart. They're just me trying to replace something I know deep inside I don't want to get rid of. It's just like all the things we talked about. I'm gay and I'm raising some other guy's child as my own. Sooner or later I'm going to find someone who'll end up being a secondary father figure. It just happened before the baby was even born.”

“What do you think he'll say? The whole 'Oh, by the way, since you're going to be getting back together with Lake you're also going to be a father because he's adopting my baby to be their legal guardian since the baby's real father doesn't even care in the slightest', is not what he was expecting, I'm certain.”

Lake smiled. “Dimitri will understand.”