The Kiss

Notes: Inspired by the short film Trail of Broken Hearts. It stars Allan Hyde, most known for his role as Godric in True Blood; and Emma Bell, most known as Amy in The Walking Dead. You can watch the short film on Youtube.

Pacing back and forth in the park Ian released an exasperated sigh. He didn't know why he called his brother; Lip was probably the last person to be giving anyone relationship advice. It also didn't help that deep in his gut Ian felt like Lip was actually right about this - as if Lip was ever wrong about anything.

"Ian, listen, he lied to you. You're wasting your time. You need to move on," Lip said on the other end of the receiver.

"C'mon, don't say that. I know it's pathetic. I really hope, y'know, he's gonna call me in a minute and let me know how he feels, give me his final answer." Ian scraped the leaves beneath his feet in apprehension. "I mean, that's how just how Adam is. He changes his mind all the time."

"Ian, it's not worth it-"

"Alright, Adam's gonna call," Ian interrupted.

"Ian! Look, Adam's a fucking as-" Lip's final words were cut off when Ian hung up on him. There was something hanging high in the trees that distracted Ian. He moved to get a closer look when suddenly there was a loud crunch. He had stepped on a branch, which set off some sort of trap that some kids probably arranged. Next thing Ian knew he was hanging a few feet off the ground ensnared by a mesh net and yelling for help.

This was the exact moment Ian's phone began to ring. And because the gods never favored him, his phone was lying on the ground with Adam's name displayed as the caller. Ian swore under his breath and tried desperately to reach for his phone. His phone continued to ring several times as Ian futilely attempted to grab it through the holes of the net. It was no use. He couldn't reach it, and after a few more rings his phone stayed silent.

A brief moment passed when Ian was struck with an idea. He dug out his car keys from his pocket and began trying to cut at the rope with them. It was the best he could do under the circumstances.

"Hello?" he heard a voice ask.

Ian tried to turn and look at who was there but it was difficult to move around in the net. "Hello, I- I'm up here! I'm, uh, I'm over here!"

"Oh, my god. What happened?"

"I, uh, I have no idea," Ian answered. "I just, uh… where are you?"

"Hold on a sec, looking for something to cut the rope. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I was, uh, just taking a walk. Needed to clear my head and then I stepped on a…" Ian trailed off when he saw that the guy who found him was attempting to cut the rope with a rock. "Is that a stone?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Y'know, that's gonna take forever, right? Maybe you could just call for some help."

"I don't have a phone," the man replied.

"Mine is right there," Ian said, pointing downward to where his phone lied. "Just call the last number dialed. It's Lip, he's my brother."

"It's dead."

"What?"

"Yeah."

Ian sighed irately again. "Great, now he definitely won't call me back."

"Who?" the man asked, finally coming into proper view.

When Ian saw him Ian almost forgot how to breathe. He took in the man's appearance. Short dark hair, pale skin, lips stained pink as if he'd just eaten some type of red fruit, and eyes as blue as the ocean. "Uh… my boyfriend, er, ex-boyfriend," Ian stammered. "I'm, uh, I'm not quite sure. That's what he's supposed to call me about, to tell me if we're still on."

The guy smirked at Ian. "Trail of broken hearts."

"What?" Ian asked.

"Oh, it's just a lot of heartbroken people come here strolling. You didn't know that?" the man asked, smirk growing ever wider. "Unofficially it's called the trail of broken hearts."

"Um, okay…" Ian said, smiling cautiously.

"Listen, I'm gonna get you some help," the man said as he disappeared from sight.

"Wait, hold on," Ian called out. "Before you go, do you have some water, or something?" Ian's throat was dry from yelling for help before, and the appearance of a cute guy wasn't helping him any. "My throat feels like sandpaper. I'm, like, ten seconds away from dehydration, maybe five." The man didn't respond but Ian could hear something being poured into a cup. "Hello?"

"Yeah, just a minute," the man answered. He reappeared with a glass of wine.

"Where'd you get that?"

"I brought it."

"You didn't bring your phone but you brought red wine?"

"Yeah, it's a long story," the man said. "I'm kinda waiting for someone."

"Okay," Ian replied slowly, taking the glass. "Thanks."

"You hungry?" the man asked as he magically produced a vine of green grapes.

A little over an hour passed and Ian and the man, who he learned was named Mickey, were engaged in deep laughter. Ian was still stuck in the net, which Mickey was now gently pushing him in as a makeshift swing, as Ian told him about the first time he went to the hairdresser.

"C'mon, I'm not kidding! C'mon, stop laughing, Mickey!" Ian managed to get out. "It was my first time there. I didn't know how to sit in that weird chair or that sink. It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie!"

"Oh, my god," Mickey gasped, gaping and still laughing at Ian.

"So, I got on my knees-"

"You washed your own hair at the hairdresser?" Mickey exclaimed.

"Look, Fiona always cut my hair before then."

"Your sister cut your hair for fifteen years?"

"Shut up," Ian said, laughing along with Mickey despite himself. "What about you? What's your most embarrassing moment?"

Mickey's laughter steadily died down. "Uh, well… it must've been in the fourth grade," he began. "There was this boy, Eric, and I kinda, sorta had a crush on him. So I wrote him this letter, couple pages long actually, and handwritten. And he returned the letter to me and it said 'meet me in the park for a kiss'. So I went to the park, chewing on my third stick of Trident gum after I brushed my teeth twice in a row, ready for my first kiss. And I saw Eric standing under this tree, leaning his back against it, and he looked so fucking good. He told me to step closer and pucker my lips. So I closed my eyes and suddenly there was this flash of light. And when I opened my eyes Eric was holding a polaroid camera in one hand, and a piece of dog shit on a plate in front of my lips with the other. Then there was all this noise, and all our classmates came pilling out of the bushes dying of laughter."

Mickey had stopped pushing Ian for some time now, and Ian just hung there listening to Mickey tell this awful story he wished wasn't true. Ian tried to move around and Mickey turned the net so Ian could look up at him.

"Jesus Christ, Mick," Ian murmured.

"From that point on, until the rest of high school everyone called me 'Puckering Poo-poo'. Didn't help either when my dad heard about it and ended up beating the crap outta me for being gay." Mickey released a staggering sigh. "Yeah, so that was my most embarrassing moment."

"That's not embarrassing, Mickey. That's menacing."

"It's ok," Mickey said, even though it really wasn't.

"Must have been hard to kiss after that," Ian commented.

"I haven't," Mickey confessed.

"What?"

"Kissed," Mickey said, laughing ruefully. "I never tried after that."

"You're kidding," Ian said in disbelief. "Never?"

Mickey shook his head, casting his eyes to the ground.

"But you're… I mean, you're beautiful," Ian said, to which Mickey chuckled again. "How come?"

"I just… didn't dare. I was afraid of the polaroid, and potentially getting my ass kicked again."

"I don't have a polaroid camera on me," Ian informed. "And I'm fresh out of dog shit."

Mickey grinned widely at Ian before he burst into laughter.

"I promise I won't tell anyone."

Mickey didn't reply, and seemed to weigh his options briefly. Slowly, carefully, he bent down to meet Ian's lips passed the gaps of the net. They were only a mere centimeters apart when Ian's phone began to ring. Mickey gasped and abruptly pulled away from Ian.

"I thought you said my phone was dead?" Ian asked.

"I'm sorry."

"You lied to me? Why would you do that?"

"I thought you were the one."

"The one?" Ian asked. "This isn't a date, this is… this is a trap. You set this up," he realized. "Just let me down, please."

"Fuck," Mickey swore under his breath, running a hand through his hair. "Ian, I'm so sorry. I know how this looks. It's just that I- I thought that I might be able to meet someone someday on this trail, y'know? Someone who was kinda like me. I've been waiting so long, for the one, someone I could trust."

Ian had now turned around again in the net, facing away from Mickey. "Just let me down."

Mickey paused momentarily behind Ian but did as he was told. There was a low thud as Ian fell down to the ground. Ian flailed in the net for a few seconds before he was finally free. He rose from the ground and turned towards Mickey but remained a safe distance from him. Even now, he couldn't help but to still think Mickey beautiful, and he appreciated the differences in their height.

"You should probably call him back," Mickey said, holding Ian's phone out to him.

Ian took his phone without a word and barely glanced up at Mickey before he turned on his heel to leave. As he walked away he dialed Adam's number.

"Ian?" came Adam's voice after a few rings.

"Hi, yeah."

"Are you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Ok, because you weren't there a second ago."

"I just-" Ian was distracted again by the object that was hanging in the trees. It fell down suddenly, fluttering with the leaves. "I didn't have any signal."

"Well, you told me to call you back so I called you back."

Ian bent down to pick up the object that fell. It was a picture, a polaroid. He turned it around in his hand and saw what must have been Mickey at the age of nine or ten. His eyes big and blue, lips pressed together, eager for a kiss. It was the picture Mickey told him about. He suddenly felt incredibly sad for Mickey, but he decided he wasn't going to kiss him because he felt sorry for him, or because he felt guilty. You need to move on. Lip's words reverberated through Ian's head. He figured if this was supposed to be a sign, it was a pretty fucked up one. But then again, the gods never did favor Ian, or maybe they just liked to mess with him.

"Ian!" Adam yelled. "What the… are you there?"

Ian was no longer paying any attention to whatever Adam was yelling through the line. He steadily lowered his phone away from his ear and let the polaroid fall from his other hand. He hung up and tucked the phone away into his pocket as he stared ahead at nothing in particular, green eyes wide with hope.

"Mickey?" Ian called out before turning around once more. He gradually paced his way up to Mickey. Before Mickey could comprehend what Ian was up to Ian captured Mickey's lips with his own. Mickey gasped into Ian's mouth with surprise, but was quick to shut his eyes and return the kiss.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but it felt eternal to both Ian and Mickey. When they pulled apart they looked into each other's eyes and smiled ever so slightly.