Title: Concrete Hearts

World: AU

Rated: M (Mature)

Genre(s): Romance/Angst

Pair(s): Phil/Beth, Chris/Jessica, Chris/Phil, etc.

Summary: Chris and Phil are both heartbroken souls looking for a connection. When they find it in each other, the whole world conspires to keep them apart.

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone.

Warning: Slash, Het, etc.

Part: 1/? – Introduction

OOOO

"…you don't want me, maybe you never did. I just don't know, Phil, because you don't let me in. You never let anyone in. All we see is what you want us to see, but I want to know more. You hold the world at a distance because you're afraid you'll be hurt. You don't really live. You hide. And I refuse to be with a coward…"

A coward? Phil scoffed at that. As if he hadn't heard that mantra a thousand-and-one times. His father had called him a coward, the school bullies had called him a coward, and now Beth could be counted amidst their ranks. Truthfully, Phil never believed that Beth would turn out to be such a bitch. At first, he had seen her as the ideal woman. Blonde hair, blue eyes, tall and curvaceous, and New York bred. What more could he have asked for? They had only been an item for nine months, but Phil had been so sure that she was the one. That was, of course, until she blew off his baby sister's rehearsal dinner to blow all of his money at the mall.

Not that Phil was down in the actual church, either. No, the tattooed ravenette sat on the floor of one of the Sunday School rooms on the second floor of the church. The truth was: he didn't really want to be here. He couldn't stand the little brat that Selene had decided to make her husband, and, as far as he could tell, the brat would rather he rot in hell. And while they would act civil (or try to act civil) whenever Selene was around, any other time they would rather be on different planets… preferably in different solar systems. Phil loved his little sister to death, but she had the worst taste in men since their mother had married their alcoholic father.

There was a short knock on the door. Phil didn't tell them to come in, because it wasn't his room. The door creaked obnoxiously as it opened, before his baby sister walked inside. "Phil? Why are you up here all by yourself?"

Phil shook his head. "Apparently, when Beth went to the mall today, she found a new man willing to let her bleed him dry. She called to let me know that it was over."

"Oh, Phil…" Selene fell down to her knees beside her older brother, not caring that it dirtied her white stockings. Now, her brother's welfare was all that mattered. "I'm so sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry, Selene. I'm not upset about it." Phil denied.

Selene smirked. "I can see that. Is that why your eyes are filled with tears?"

Shocked, Phil raised a hand to his face. Almost as if they had been cued, hot, crystalline tears started to trace down his reddened cheeks. Frantically, he scrubbed at the tears with the back of his hand. When he started to irritate the skin to the point where it blistered, Selene reached out and took hold of his wrist. Wide olive eyes turned to her uncertainly as she tenderly lowered his hand to his side. And then she took a handkerchief out of her pocket and dabbed at the slowly flowing tears. Selene had a much steadier hand then he did, and her touch comforted him. Soon, the tears stilled entirely.

"I'm sorry." Phil said as he looked down at his hands. "This is your day. You shouldn't have to worry about your older brother. Go back downstairs and have fun with Mike."

Selene smirked. "You don't have to pretend like you like him, Phil." Phil looked shocked for a minute, before he relaxed considerably. "And you're allowed to be upset about it, Phil. You really loved her."

"Yeah." Phil looked down so that Selene couldn't see the look on his face. "I did."

"C'mon." Selene smacked his shoulder carefully. "How about we head over to Blockbuster and rent The Dark Knight? I know about your secret mancrush on Heath Ledger…" Selene taunted.

Phil pretended to be hurt. "Who couldn't love that man? He was drop-dead gorgeous, especially when he was blowing shit sky-high. But, you know, you can't watch that movie without ice-cream."

"Rocky Road?" Selene offered.

"You know it."

OOOO

Chris Irvine walked around Blockbuster looking for the ever elusive Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses. He had his three children for the week and he had promised that he would watch all of the Barbie movies… and Cars movies… and just about every show on Disney and Nickelodeon. Their week was so packed that he wasn't sure that they would have time to sleep. And Jessica would just love that. Another item to add to the list of reasons why he was a horrible father. He knew that she was just waiting for the day when she could file for full custody of the children and move as far away from him as she could…

He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't see the slightly smaller man come around the corner, and in the end, crashed into him full force. The man let out a surprised little noise as he stumbled back and fell flat on his rump. Shaking his head to clear his mind, Chris looked down and his heart flew up into his throat. A clearly agitated ravenette looked at him through narrowed olive eyes. Colorful tattoos peeked out from the lowered collar of the man's white button down shirt, and the silver curve of a lip ring was visible when he tilted his head back. Quite simply put, the man was drop-dead gorgeous.

"I'm so sorry." Chris extended his hand to the smaller man, but he shook it off.

"It's fine." Phil said as he climbed to his feet. "Just… watch where you're going next time, okay?"

And with that, the ravenette walked away.

OOOO

A/N: The People's Choice Summer Fic! I hope you enjoyed and please take the time to review. Special thanks to LadyDragonsblood for plot inspiration.