AN: Uh. This is actually pretty different from most things I write. Oh, and Jake is 21 for the sake of this fic.
Warnings: m/m, and adultery (well, not technically) will be a part of this story, so if you're offended already, please look back.
I disclaim. RE will never be mine. D: wah
oOo
A woman could only repeat herself so many times.
She reached out, cupping the left side of her fiance's face.
"Jill, I–"
"Sh, sh, sh," she smiled, hushing him softly with her index finger. "I told you, it's fine. Me and the girls have our own plans, and I'm letting you have yours, just the same. It's only fair, honey, isn't it?"
Chris nodded, albeit reluctantly, swallowing away any further objections as he stared into his soon-to-be-wife's beautifully colored eyes.
"I'm sure the boys will take good care of you," she grinned, reaching for a kiss. "Besides, this isn't the first time Jake has insisted on getting your mind off of work, right? Cut the kid some slack. We both know you need it."
Chris nodded again, watching Jill carefully. He had absolutely no intention of going through with this if he didn't feel as though Jill seemed one hundred and two percent fine with everything and anything. She'd been his world for the past several years, friends throughout the ages, partners at work for several long years, and he wasn't ready to risk any of that for the sake of a bachelor party that he would more than happily be willing to pass up in a heartbeat.
He lent, fetching her by the waist before spinning her around in his arms, digging his face into the nape of her neck.
Jill always smelled nice. Like flowers. A woman with flare and with short brown hair long enough to reach her shoulders. Spirited, fierce, and awfully independent.
Chris was proud to consider himself one helluva lucky dude. And he swore to himself every day that he wouldn't ever have it any other way. Despite their problems, fights, arguments, or anything else that came with the promise of marriage and eternal commitment, he was absolutely certain that this was everything he would ever need in life, after so many years of having not seen what had been right in front of him the entire time.
"I'll miss you," he whispered, pressing her against him. "Don't have too much fun without me."
She chuckled, wiggling away. "Oh, I will, trust me."
And with that, Chris watched as Jill fetched her bags, slipped on her jacket, and popped a stick of gum into her mouth. She stopped momentarily at the door, before spinning on her heel, looking at him.
Yep.
She sure looked amazing in those jeans and in that blue, long-sleeved blouse with the three top buttons missing. Chris grinned to himself, knowing the full story behind it.
"See ya, hun," she called out, blowing him a kiss. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"
Chris hardly had the chance to react before the door was locked shut, leaving him standing in the middle of the livingroom with a very strange feeling twining inside his chest.
It had been a long while since he and Jill Valentine had been separated in this way. Relationship, or not.
Chris felt empty all of a sudden.
He sighed and made his way upstairs, hoping a nice, long shower would pep him up a little.
Knowing that Jill would be having a fabulous time with her friends, safe and in good hands, should be more than enough to keep him assured, Chris told himself. He, himself, was never really much of a party-goer, nor the big social butterfly he used to be in his younger days. Now, he preferred a good book or a long, solitary night at the gym over most things.
..But, hey, he'd be getting married in a few weeks, for fuck's sake. So, sure, he was up for a crazy weekend.
oOo
They all met up at Chris' place.
Jake was the first to welcome himself in, naturally.
Leon turned up a few minutes later with his cell in one hand and soda in the other.
Leon and his cellphone were practically inseparable. Jake blamed it on the guy's most recent fling, one who had him dangling on to a string and shackled tightly on a leash.. with no hand holding at the end of said leash.
"Still talkin' to that one crazy Chinese lady?" Jake asked, fiddling with his keys.
"Sort of yeah," Leon said to his phone, putting it away. "And Sherry?"
"Eh, we're on 'break' again as she puts it," Jake said, turning to stare at a very silent and immobile Chris. "Used to it, though. Kinda hard to care at this point, to be honest."
"She's special. And she's smart, too. I'd say you should try a little harder, considering the fact that she works at the very top with your father. Speaking of which–"
"Yeah yeah, enough about Birkin and my old man." Jake turned towards Chris, a thin eyebrow risen high. He'd expect a little more excitement for this trip from a man who was about to tie the knot on that little nightmare called 'monogamy'. Jake shuddered at the thought. "You okay, old man? You look like you're about to keel over dead, or something."
Chris blinked, turning towards Jake. "Yeah. Just.. Worried, I guess."
"About what? You're about to experience fun for the first and last time in your life– It's Vegas, baby!"
Chris attempted to smile, especially since the kid he used to babysit back in the day looked so ridiculously happy, but couldn't. Instead, he coughed awkwardly on the back of his hand, pretending to look at the time. Leon caught this, and took it as a sign of impatience.
"We should probably get going.. If we leave now, we'll have a chance to make it there before midnight."
"Then what the hell are we waiting for, people?"
Jake stood, leading the way.
The other two shrugged at one another before following behind.
oOo
Chris didn't know which was worse at this point: Jake's mouth or Leon's driving.
It should be a federal crime allowing Leon to take the wheel, ever.
But then again, Jake's constant yelling in the backseat should also be a classified felony. The guy had the energy of a toddler and the mouth of a sailor; the complete opposite of his refined, business-obsessed, and terribly uptight father.
Chris' head was just about to burst. He wouldn't last much longer like this.
"This is the tenth time we've almost crashed, man!" Jake shouted, "Remind me never to let you near my car again."
Leon chuckled, taking a sharp (and very messy) turn. "And remind me why a ten year-old is allowed to have a car again?"
"Fuck you, dude," Jake bit, slumping into his seat. "You crash this thing, you're the one who'll be dealing with my old man, cuz I ain't goin' through any 'license suspension for the next month due to your incompetence, Jacob Muller' bullshit again."
A few more lines were exchanged between them until Jake miraculously plugged in his earphones and settled in the backseat.. quietly. Chris sighed, rubbing his temples in sweet relief. Leon wasn't the best driver, but Chris honestly preferred this over Jake's reckless driving habits. If the kid had a dime for every speeding ticket he'd ever received, he'd be richer than his father.
"So, how's Jill?"
Chris turned, taking out a smoke from his pocket. "She's fine. Off to Hawaii, she said."
"Nice. With Rebecca and Sherry, I'm guessing?"
"Claire, too," Chris pointed out. "This whole thing was partially her idea, to begin with. Put her and Muller together in the same room and all hell breaks loose."
"That sister of yours never changes, eh?"
"Seems that way."
Chris wasn't sure what Jake had planned for the next three days, to be perfectly honest. Hell, even Leon (big FBI agent who investigated shit for a living) had minimal intel on the situation, but what they both did know, was that Jake had an intimidatingly creative mind when it came to partying and/or celebrating big events like this, most of which were, in some way or the other, borderline illegal.
Because, when it came down to putting a smile on Chris' face, Jake went all out.
It was sort of really endearing, and Leon didn't blame the kid. If you asked him, Chris had been the older brother Jake had always secretly needed (and probably wanted) in his life, no matter how much he passionately denied it. Someone to look up to, someone who acknowledged his existence, someone who just.. cared.
The hours passed, and Jake had eventually fallen asleep in the backseat. Chris seemed lost in his own thoughts, and Leon tried his best not to tragically end everyone's lives that night.
They had just started passing signs for their final exit when the hour hit 4am, way past their expected arrival to the big city. Leon and Chris struggled with directions for a few minutes until they finally found the designated hotel Jake had scribbled somewhere on Leon's hand, one that was dangerously attached to a very big and flashy casino.
The parking lot was large and insanely packed, but it was a nice place with a great reputation (according to yelp dot com, anyway), so neither Chris or Leon seemed too overly mortified. The lights in the rooms above them glowed brightly, beckoning Chris to want to head on up there in order to find out just how comfy the beds were.
"Should've known."
"Well, it's too late to turn back now," Leon said, maneuvering carefully into an empty parking spot. "So, you wake him, or I wake hi–"
"It's about damn time, bitches!"
Jake was out of the car in a heartbeat, proceeding to be very vocal in his excitement as he flailed around in the crowded lot, looking very much out of his mind.
Chris shook his head, letting himself smile for the first time in a long time.
oOo
Chris would have his own room.
Leon and Jake would share theirs, and make use of the awesomeness that came with a double bed.
You know, an extra hour or two of partying whenever Chris decided to go prude-ing around way too soon. Jokes, and some good laughs, too. Shit, maybe even attempt to stay up all through the nights making a shit ton of noise, something both Jake and Leon knew Chris wasn't a very big fan of.
Besides, Jake had brought his Ps3 with him (unsurprisingly, since the guy could barely detach himself from it on a daily basis) and Leon was a proud gamer himself, so that was a bonus all in itself, right there.
Yep, because Jake and Leon were like bread and butter.
Of course, all of this had been decided on the spot when Leon realized he'd completely forgotten his wallet, and therefore a third room would be way too much to ask on Chris' generous behalf.
After getting lost several times and mazing around in the confusing, fancy hallways of the hotel, all three guys met up in Chris' room to temporarily drop off their things. They were panting by the end of it. Leon had brought some serious amount of luggage with him, and Jake had been forced against his will to lend a hand.
Deeming a short round of non-alcoholic drinks and conversation with the future groom would be a better way to end the night, they all picked a spot and lounged around the large room, catching their breaths. Chris was quick to claim the bed. After a brief minute of exchanging glances, Leon sighed and took it upon himself to pour the drinks. Needles to say, no soul was safe from Leon's knock-knock jokes for the next innumerable amount of minutes.
"Who the hell forgets their wallet on a trip like this, anyway?" Jake muttered out of nowhere, interrupting.
"Anyway, I'll take out some cash tomorrow morning," Leon told Chris, ignoring Jake. "There's no way I'm not paying you back for what you did back there."
"Don't sweat it. We're all friends here."
Finishing his drink, Jake put down his glass and stood up, yawning. "Well, I'm gonna go drop off my shit in the other room, then I'm gonna hit the hay. I hear there's a kick-ass magic show happening tomorrow night, and I'll be pissed if any of you two make me miss that thing."
Leon nodded. "Sounds good. It's already six, so maybe sleeping in's a good idea for right now." He stood, stretching. "I say a nice good ol' fashioned dinner after Jake's magic show would be great, eh, Chris?"
Jake scoffed, "You kidding, Covergirl? It's Vegas! Where's the gambling in that?"
"It's a two-day holiday, kid, so calm yourself. There's plenty of time."
Chris just shook his head, an etch of a grimace tracing on the corner of his lips as he watched Jake and Leon go at it again. If Jill were there, she'd be rolling her eyes right there with him.
Damn, Chris missed her. Of course he did.
But then again, deep down inside somewhere, he felt a sense of freedom override him. A weight, maybe. The air felt lighter, and the open space around him.. well, let's just say he could take a deep breath and actually feel it.
Not having to share a bed for the night felt oddly.. relieving.
But Chris would never admit any of that to even himself that night.
oOo
They all planned to start the night pretty early.
Six o'clock, Jake had said.
Chris ended up sleeping through his alarm, of course, so he turned up an hour late. Jake and Leon hardly noticed this, however, as they were having the time of their lives at one of the ping-pong tables. Chris joined in after a while, and ended up owning both of them in less than a few rounds. Jake threw a tantrum by the end of it, and swore never to play ping-pong with Chris again because 'fuck you, that's why'.
Leon was complacent with just laughing his ass off.
The magic show was actually pretty impressive for the two hours that it was worth. Chris hadn't ever been to anything like it before, mostly because he didn't believe in stuff of that sort. Being a hardened war veteran and former drill sergeant did things to you. Made you see the world in only black and white, with hardly any gray in between. Just cold, hard reality and more and more responsibilities.
Chris tried not to think about it, though. This was his night, after all. And his two best friends had worked hard for all of this. Getting him here, convincing him, etc.
So he tried to crack a smile here and there, tried to talk, and just tried to live a little, as Jake had modestly put it.
oOo
The restaurant was beyond Chris' expectations, but the casino right outside was loud as hell.
There was a lot of cheering and hooting going on. Chris deemed there was a lot of luck in the house that night. He was actually tempted at one point to just skip dinner altogether and go and play a round or two of blackjack. His stomach growled in protest, however. He was positively starving right off his ass.
Leon found them a nice booth in the corner of the dining room.
"Damn, this place is fucking awesome," Jake commented, looking around with a perpetual amazement in his sharp, blue eyes, "Remind me why I don't crash these types of places way more often?"
"Uh, maybe because you just recently turned twenty-one?" Leon shot, his brow risen in amusement.
"Whatever, Covergirl. Way more mature than you'll ever be."
"Excuse m–"
"Guys," Chris interjected, "Seriously."
Picking up the menu, Chris started looking through it, immediately skipping to the steak section. Jake and Leon were busy bickering in the background, which gave Chris some time to drown out the noise and think about.. well, to think about life.
Claire had always told him how excited she was about finally becoming an auntie someday. How great of a dad Chris would be, and how happy he would be to finally settle down and have a family with his best friend. Because Jill was his best friend. Always had been. Through hell and back. And for one reason or the other, it had taken Chris a long time to realize that she was the one he needed to marry all along.
Why it took him so long? He did not know.
What he did know was that Claire was actually the reason why Chris thought about having a family so much. About having kids, and maybe just finally putting down his gun. He wanted the brightness and the happiness that flashed through every man's eyes on tv when they looked at their daughter or son. He wanted to feel that mythical fulfillment that Barry always spoke of when he talked about his girls. He wanted to smile like they did in the movies when a man kissed his wife on the cheek every morning.
He wanted, ached, to feel complete. To have his old passion for life back, to feel alive.
To be happy.
And Jill was a promise for all of that. That's why he was going to marry her. Chris truly felt, without a single doubt in his reasoning, that Jill was going to give him all of those feelings once they married. That things would get better. That he wouldn't feel empty and irrevocably depressed like he did every single morning of his life.
Jill was lovely. Jill was beautiful. Jill was everything Chris would look for in a woman if he ever cared to. He couldn't possibly be luckier. He didn't possibly deserve her. But there she was, in love with him and more than willing to take his hand in marriage, open to the idea of bearing his children.
Leon noticed Chris' sudden silence and looked over at him, smiling. "Thinking about the bride?"
"Typical old guy who's finally getting married," Jake laughed. "Don't blame'im, though. Jill girl's alright-looking."
"She's amazing you guys," Chris said to the table as he sipped into his glass, still partially in thought.
"Isn't this supposed to be the time in your relationship, or whatever, where you're over-thinking and second-guessing all of this marriage business? That's what the tv tells me, anyway."
Leon rolled his eyes.
Chris just stared at his reflection on the table. "I guess I just know that she's the one, Jake."
"Grooms don't second-guess themselves unless something's very wrong," Leon said as a matter-of-factly, mentally deciding on a garden salad with two rounds of desert. "So can it, Muller."
"You know what they say, though, Covergirl," Jake said anyway, relaxing into his seat, "If everything is perfect, something is wrong."
Jake joked. Jake always joked, and rarely him or anyone else took anything he said seriously.
In this instance, however, Chris felt himself suddenly tense up, now incredibly heedful of Jake's words, serious or not. Leon noticed the sudden change in mood, and immediately reached for Chris' shoulder, shooting Jake one of his personal death glares. Jake shrugged, but honestly began to feel a teensy bit guilty for having opened his mouth about the whole thing. Chris seemed to really be in a very sensitive point in his life, after all.. Whatever that even meant.
"Chris, he didn't mean i–"
But then a waiter walked up and everything changed.
oOo
Chris made out with Jake's father, Albert Wesker–
Once.
But. They were both significantly drunk and nothing ever came of it aside from a mutual hand-job and an intense awkwardness between them that lasted for the next several years, up until now.
Jake didn't know about it, though. Oh, hell no. But, Leon most certainly did.
Leon, himself, was also young once – thank you very much – and considered himself entirely open to the possibility of both sexes. Leon also knew instant attraction between two people when he saw it, as his countless years in the investigative service educated him in the ways of social interactions and physical, sub-cognitive external reactions between two, or several people.
In other words, he didn't miss the way Chris' eyes had lit right up when that waiter had walked up to their table.
He also didn't miss the waiter's lingering stare and shying glances towards Chris' direction whenever he thought nobody was looking.
Leon never once saw any of these.. flirtations, happen between Chris and Jill, however. Never since he met both of them many years ago. Even now, they hardly looked a couple, if not for the awkward hand-holding that Chris would sometimes initiate when in public.
Leon knew something was up. He had his suspicions. He felt as though, somehow someway, this wasn't exactly the best time for Chris to get married. Leon never once opened his mouth about it, though. He was the kind of guy who minded his own business (unlike Jake), and hated to interfere in the lives or personal affairs of others.
If Chris wanted to talk about it, he would.
But Chris didn't talk about it, and so Leon respected that and would continue to do so.
The waiter had short brown hair, perked up a little right on the front. He had an awfully clean, olive complexion. Broad jaw and hazel eyes. Very much masculine, yet somewhat boyish, in his overall features. Tall, built, but nowhere as much as Chris. A little more like his own size, Leon decided, just much younger. Around Jake's age. In his early twenties, maybe? He wore a bow-tie and a black matching vest, a silver plate balanced on one hand as he passed out glasses of water with the other.
Leon could feel Chris' thigh suddenly begin to shake from underneath the table.
"Good evening," the waiter began rather tensely, never once looking at Chris again and instead concentrating more-so towards Jake's and Leon's general direction, "I'm Piers. I will be your waiter for the evening. Can I start you guys with any drinks?"
"Get us a bottle of your oldest scotch and three glasses, little guy," Jake smirked, tossing the menu to the side. "And, uh, some biscuits. You guys have biscuits around here, right?"
The waiter paused, eyes hardening towards Jake. Leon huffed, shaking his head.
"What.. kind of biscuits, sir?"
"I dunno, man. Like bread or something. You know, something fancy like they do in England or whatever," Jake laughed. "Anyway, can you do that for me, little guy?"
"It's Piers, sir."
"Yeah, okay, Piers, that's my order. Them biscuits. Now, my man right here is about to get married to some chick he met in high school and he requires the feast of a champion before he marches off to his untimely death in a few weeks," Jake reached to slap Chris on the shoulder, squeezing hard. Chris nearly jumped out of his seat at the action, suddenly looking very uncomfortable. Leon grimaced, wishing he could help. "Your turn, baby cakes. Tell.. Piers, here, what you want. My treat."
"Um, I'll have a garden salad with two plates of the desert special, please," Leon quickly said, bravely reverting the hellish amount of awkwardness towards his direction. He could practically taste Chris' relief. "A glass of, uh, orange juice sounds nice. Is it fresh?"
"Yes, sir.. It's freshly squeezed."
And then Jake seemed to have suddenly choked on something.. or something. Because he began to violently worm in his seat, practically sobbing in a fit of muffled laughter before collapsing onto Leon's shoulder, shaking uncontrollably.
Leon tried his best to keep a straight face at that point, ignoring Jake for the sake of everyone's sanity. "Well, I'll have one of that, then, thank you. Chris?"
Jake slumped back into his seat, out of breath and his face completely red, making obscene 'squeezing' gestures at the waiter who, for his part, tried his best to seem professional. Leon nudged Jake on the shoulder, whispering something sharply into his ear as if he were a child.
Jesus, that kid could be such a royal pain in the ass sometimes.
"I'll have a medium-rare steak with a side of fresh vegetables," Chris said, not looking anywhere but the table.
"Of course. I'll be back with your orders in a few minutes."
And when the waiter was gone, so was the faint color on Chris' cheeks.
It took a minute for it all to really kick in, but then Jake suddenly had a huge grin marked all over his face.
Leon sighed warily to himself, rubbing his head.
oOo
The moment their food was served, and the waiter disappeared in a hurry without a word, Jake stood up, straightening his shirt.
Again, Leon could never understand the whole suspender thing the guy had going on, just like he couldn't understand most things Jake Muller wore/did/said.
"I'll be right back, guys."
Jake said it with a smile.
That smile.
Damn that smile.
"Don't do anything you'll regret later, Peach-Fuzz," Leon warned.
Jake froze at the nickname, suddenly very conscious of his hair, glaring. "Excuse me, Covergirl?"
"Yeah, you heard me."
Jake laughed smugly. Like he knew something the rest of the world didn't, and walked right out of sight.
"We are officially doomed, Chris," Leon murmured, taking a mouthful of his salad.
"Doomed?" Chris asked, blissfully oblivious and already set on his steak as if nothing at all had just transpired in the last thirty minutes of his life. "Why?"
"We'll just have to wait and see."
oOo
Jake took an awfully long time getting back.
When he had, Leon was already taking the last few fork-fulls of his Chocolate Volcano Cake, while Chris was just sitting there looking like a zombie.
You could always count on Jake to lighten the mood, though. Guy had an enormous smile on his face, unable to stop himself from constantly snickering for no apparent reason every few seconds. Leon didn't even want to ask.
"You okay there?" Chris asked, brow risen subtly in question.
"Yeah, man. Anyway, what do you two old-timers say we drink this here nice bottle of scotch that good ol' puppy dog brought us and then head off to the blackjack tables? Maybe spin a few slots? The night is young, man! It's, like, what? Three in the morning?"
"I don't know about tha–"
"Sh sh, hush, little Redfield. It's just for tonight. Bachelor party, remember? Only once in a lifetime!"
Leon, for his part, didn't need much convincing. He liked his scotch old, cold, and with a table-full of friends (young and annoying as they may be). He popped the bottle open and filled all three glasses. They toasted several times, mostly in regards to Chris and his future, and began drinking away, telling stories and joking and eating a few of the tortilla chips in between.
Chris was actually laughing by the end of it. Actually smiling, actually looking happy, alive, and looking less and less like a lifeless zombie.
And, then, suddenly, Jill wasn't on his mind anymore, and neither was the idea of marriage. Kids, or anything else.
Just there, in that moment, with two of the closest people in his life, having a hell of a good time.
It felt nice. It felt great.
Once the room started to spin, they moved their three-man party into the casino, ready to gamble their money away. Jake was naturally hilarious. Handsome and loud, and soon the buzz of the whole place within the breadth of an hour, having somehow attained a large flock of women already lined up just to ask him his name. Leon was complacent with just texting Ada now and then, and Chris was doing just fine at the blackjack table, taking a few wins of his own with Leon there to root for him.
Once the world started to shift at odd angles, however, and walking in a straight line became a little more and more challenging, all three guys wandered back upstairs to their suites, bumping into each other through the twining hallways.
"That was great," Chris let out. "I think I might of actually made a profit out of that poker table, to be perfectly honest."
"Yeah?" Leon smirked, "How much?"
Chris dug the chips out of his pocket and counted them out, "Six dollars." Jake and Leon laughed long and hard. "Well, shit, how much did you two make?"
"Negative five hundred," Leon said through hiccups.
"Two thousand over here. I'm telling you, first thing I'm gonna do when I get back is inform pops on my new chosen career."
All three men chuckled at the notion, finally reaching the door to their rooms.
That's when the air cleared and Jake opened his mouth to speak, that same, toothy smile from before suddenly overwriting his features.
oOo
Nothing could ever brace Chris, in all of his thirty-nine years of life, for what came next.
"Alright, Redfield. You ready to do this thing the old-fashioned way?"
No, honestly he wasn't.
Chris was tired and tipsy, and fully aware now that he was probably in danger of getting an extreme hangover the next morning. "I thought we still had tomorrow?"
Leon groaned his agreement, pinching the bridge of his nose as a way to maybe stop himself from seeing double. He was feeling pretty damn exhausted, too, all of a sudden.
Jake ignored them both and clicked the door of his room open. "I give you," he grinned. "Heaven!"
And then Chris couldn't have been more shocked, taken back, or betrayed even if Jake had spat directly in his face, because Jill – or rather him, really – had one simple rule:
No hookers. No strippers. No other women of any kind, whatsoever.
As it was, there was about three or four of them in skimpy little outfits. Leon froze, completely speechless.
"And don't even think for one second that these are hookers," Jake said, walking in as he wrapped an arm around one of the girls, pulling her close as if he knew her quite well. "These are friends, connections, and they're just here to dance."
Chris couldn't really bare to stand there for a second longer the moment Leon was taken away by the arm, albeit reluctantly. Jake had really gone way too far this time.
"I'm going to bed." But then Jake walked back towards Chris and stopped him, a very mischievous smirk on his face that left Chris feeling a little fucking frustrated and violent, to say the least. "I'm not going in there, so don't even–"
"Sorry, big guy, but these lovely ladies are for us, not you."
Chris narrowed his eyes, anger, confusion, curiosity, and exhaustion all in one piece.
"Your present is waiting just down this hall, in your room, and I promise you won't hate it, or me."
Chris glared and shoved away from Jake, brushing hard onto his shoulder.
Maybe this whole fucking thing really was a mistake to begin with.
oOo
When Chris stepped inside his room, he'd already expected somebody to be there.
Probably partially naked, probably completely naked, most likely a woman, either way.
What Chris didn't think to see in his room was a guy. The last guy he'd ever think to see again in his life.
The waiter from earlier that day, to put it more accurately.
There, in his room, awkwardly admiring the paint on the walls while still dressed in his work clothes.
Chris completely froze, the lone click of the door closing behind him informing the younger man that somebody had just entered the room. The waiter turned, suddenly looking very nervous, but not entirely surprised.
"Hi," he said. "Your friend said you wanted to talk..?"
Chris swore, despite himself, that he felt his heart begin to thaw from far beneath his chest at the sound of that voice, the look on that face.
"Uh.."
And then Chris didn't know what the hell else to think or say.
oOo
Hate it? Dig it? Let me know, cuz I'm not even so sure at this point myself, quite honestly. xD xx