Erik scowled at the clothes he had to wear for the night while he ironed them. There was a fancy black pant, long-sleeved white shirt and a vest to go on top if it; the perfect look for the behaved waiter of the 'Fancier Buffet' who would be serving the high society during a party.
Not that it could be called a party on Erik's point of view. It consisted of old people trying to show their wealth while eating finger-food and sipping on the most expensive champagne. The conversation was always about money and things they owned, an endless competition to find out who was best. They all looked at their servers the same way; a quick glance up and down, a press of their lips into a thin line and one expression of disgust.
Erik wasn't complaining about it, though. A job was a job and he needed all he could get if he wanted to save up enough for college. He had a steady position at 'Ludi's diner' during the week, - also as a waiter - and worked small things when he was free, hence why he was submitting himself to the torture he would endure later at night.
There was a fleeting thought on his head that if he still lived with his mama he wouldn't need to iron his own clothes, but ever since she re-married it had become impossible to be under the same roof as the happy couple and he had burned his savings to move to his own flat. He didn't regret it, but it had caused a small obstacle on his dream to go to college and become an architect.
Finishing up his clothes, Erik went to his kitchen and opened the fridge to find it was almost completely empty. He sighed and decided for scrambled eggs, knowing he would be around food he couldn't taste later. He should take something else to eat there at his break, but he wasn't on a position to afford anything that wasn't extremely necessary so Erik barely entertained the thought.
After a quick nap so he would have enough energy to go through his entire shift, he got dressed up on the stuffy clothes and mounted the same old motorcycle he had owned ever since he turned sixteen.
"Charles? Have you taken your medication?", his mother asked, as he put his tie around his neck. He glanced at the three pills on his desk and sighed, knowing that he would feel tired after taking those. "Can't I take them after uncle Harry's birthday party?"
A moment later his mother stood in the door and looked at him with stern eyes. She was already dressed up for the buffet, with a cocktail dress and high heels. Charles finished his tie quickly and looked at himself in the mirror, eyeing the suit he was wearing.
"Honey, you know they're important if you go out", Sharon said and Charles nodded, knowing he didn't really have a chance to argue with his mother. He collected the three pills and put them all together in his mouth, swallowing them with a glass of water. Sharon smiled at him and combed her fingers through his hair, so much love and pain in her eyes.
"Okay, I'm ready, we can go", Charles said and they walked to his father, who was already waiting in the car.
An hour later, Charles was drawn into many conversations of people he'd never met, but who claimed to know him from when he was little. He tried to smile his way through the conversations - being polite was the first thing his mother had taught him. But soon enough he felt exhausted from the medication earlier and excused himself to sit down at a table.
"Um, excuse me", he asked a young waiter passing him by, "could you bring me a glass of water?".
Erik stopped on his way to the kitchen, having heard someone talking to him. He looked at the man, - boy? He seemed so young - and nodded promptly "Right away, sir", making a curt nod with his head as a sign of respect.
He went to the kitchen and grabbed more food, along with the requested glass of water, making his way back to the table with the young man. Erik placed the glass in front of him and was just about to step away when he saw the weary expression on his face.
"Are you alright, sir?", Erik asked worriedly. The young man shook his head and made a dismissive hand gesture, - to Erik or the situation, he didn't know. Of course he would be just as pompous and superior as the others, Erik huffed internally.
But then, the man said "I'm just tired. No need to worry", grabbing the glass and taking a long gulp. "Can I get you anything else?" - "No, my friend, it's alright", he answered, making Erik frown.
Okay, so he definitely wasn't like the rich young boys if he would call Erik his friend as easily as that. Not that he was under the impression it meant something, but he was usually referred to as 'the help'.
"Let me know if you need anything", Erik said, for once meaning it and went around the room, offering the food he was holding. He found himself keeping his eyes glued to the tired boy, intrigued by him.
Charles felt the eyes of the waiter on him more than once and it made him blush whenever he caught him looking. It did also make him watch the waiter in return, as he was walking through the crowd and offering his food. He seemed younger than the other waiters, but around Charles' age, maybe a bit older.
At some point, the waiter was passing Charles again and smiled at him, which Charles returned. But then he was giving his tablet to a waitress and walked towards the kitchen doors and Charles feared he would be going home already.
He jumped off of his seat and quickly followed the waiter, ignoring the aching pain in his chest at the sudden movement. "Hey, um wait."
The waiter turned around with a frown that disappeared when he saw him. He was taller than Charles and had a slimmer body - actually, he only had a very narrow waist.
"Yeah?", the waiter asked in a friendly tone, professional smile on his lips. "Um, are you leaving?", Charles asked, suddenly feeling uncomfortable for his question.
Why was he asking anyways? It wasn't like they were friends for sharing a few smiles during the evening. But the party was boring and Charles honestly just wanted somebody to talk about something else than politics.
"I'm off to have my break now", the waiter explained and Charles blushed, not knowing what to answer to that.
"Oh, okay. Well, I don't wanna bother then, have fun", he stuttered and gave the waiter one last smile, before turning around and walking back to the table he'd been sitting at.
Erik watched the young boy go with a curious expression on his face. He seemed so… interesting and for some reason, Erik found himself fascinated. He didn't have any rules about his break, except he wasn't supposed to leave and he thought it would be a nice change to find someone to talk to, which was why, he followed him.
The other one was already sitting down when Erik reached him, and he looked up startled. "Would you like to accompany me on my break?", he asked out of pure impulse; he had never done this before, nor been friendly towards any person on these fancy parties. But the young man gave him such a breathtaking smile that Erik felt his world turning upside down and back into place again. It felt like something had changed drastically only with one smile and Erik had no clue what it was.
"Yeah, okay", he answered with a nod and got up, smoothing down his expensive tie "Over here", Erik cocked his head and started guiding the way. He had already worked on other events at that same place and he knew exactly where he wanted to go; there was this door for a stairway that lead to the roof and it was the most quiet, beautiful place.
The boy was following him close behind and his eyes were darting out to the people on the party, as if to check if some of them were paying attention to them, but Erik knew they were all busy with their own asses to care. He pushed the door open and there was a small hitch on the young man's breath when the stairs were revealed.
"Are you too tired to go up there?", Erik teased friendly and waited for the other one to go in so he could close the door. The stairs were poorly lit but enough so they wouldn't trip and Erik started going up, chuckling softly at the tired boy "It's not that much, I'm sure you can do it", he said giving him a daring look over his shoulder.
Charles swallowed around a lump in his throat as he eyed the stairs in front of him. There were at least two stairways of them and walking up there would probably wear him out a lot.
But the waiter's challenging look touched something inside of Charles, some teenage rebellion. He put his teeth together and started following the waiter upstairs. The first two staircases he managed relatively fine, but then his chest started aching and he had to stop to catch his breath. The waiter had already reached the top and was calling for him, though, so Charles continued his climb. He fleetingly thought, that his mother would probably get a heart attack if she saw him climbing those stairs and he would have laughed over the thought, if he had any air in him left.
When he reached the top, he felt dizzy as he could barely draw any air into his aching lungs. He desperately tried to breathe, which only earned a chuckle from the waiter next to him.
"You don't do much sports, do you?", the waiter laughed and Charles shook his head, thankful for a small roof to sit on. The waiter sat down next to him, while Charles still tried to regulate his breath. Maybe he had just killed himself with those stairs, would go into shock when his lungs finally gave in. Was he that suicidal to follow a stranger up to the rooftop of a building?
"Are you alright?", the waiter asked, sounding a bit more concerned now. Charles nodded and pressed his palm against his chest, trying to regulate the burn in it.
"Yeah.. fine", he choked out and drew in as much fresh air as possible. "Hey man, if you not al-"
"Charles", he cut the stranger off and earned a confused frown, "what?"
"My name is Charles", he said again and finally catched his breath, the pain lessening a little.
Erik was seriously worried he had injured that boy - Charles! - somehow, by making him go up the stairs. But it had been only an invitation that could have been refused at any point and right now it seemed like he was getting better.
"I'm Erik", he answered, glad he had a name now "It's nice to meet you", Charles said just as politely as he seemed to be "Likewise".
They sat there for a while, looking up at the sky that seemed a lot closer to them where they were, the stars shining bright. There was a light breeze that was moving Charles' hair and the other man looked quite gorgeous under the moonlight, - not that he didn't before.
"You look very young", Erik commented, trying to make conversation even if he was a little bit of socially awkward. "I guess. I am eighteen", his companion answered and Erik's eyes widened a little.
"You look… younger", he said which caused Charles to chuckle a little "Thanks? How old are you?" - "Nineteen" - "That's young too. Why are you working here?", he asked.
The look on Erik's face must have been enough to make him back down though, seeing that he wasn't used to be asked blunt questions like this. Charles blushed and stuttered to apologise "Sorry, I didn't mean to be intrusive".
Erik nodded at him and after a moment of silence, he said "I'm saving up for college", in a lower tone. Charles hummed and just when Erik thought he wouldn't say anything, he added "That's nice. What do you want to be?" - "An architect", Erik answered looking up at the sky.
"Why are you at this party? Don't get me wrong but.. You are different than the others", he finally asked what had been nagging him.
"Different, hm?", Charles grinned, but actually wondered what Erik had meant with that. Was it something positive or negative? "It's my uncle's birthday party", he then explained with a shrug.
"Oh", Erik said and Charles could tell the wheels behind his eyes turning. It wasn't hard to put one and one together and tell, that Charles belonged to the rich kids. Not that he ever took much value in money - what did it matter, if you would die anyways?
"So, does different mean good or bad?", Charles asked again, trying to keep Erik's mind from jumping to conclusions. He didn't want to be associated with most of his relatives, who only talked about their newest purchasement.
"Well, you don't seem as self-loving as the other people in there. You didn't treat me like just a waiter", Erik shrugged. Charles understood well, knowing how some of his relatives had already talked about the waiters when they had accidentally shattered a glass, like they weren't humans who could make mistakes. He pulled a face at that thought and nodded.
"Some of them tend to forget that you guys are no machines- oh god, I'm sorry, it's your break! Have I held you back from eating?", Charles interrupted himself and looked at Erik, who was eyeing him with a grin.
"No, it's fine. I brought a sandwich", he said and got out two toast with some butter in between. Charles stared at the snack for a moment and then looked up to stare at Erik instead.
"Pardon me, I don't wanna sound like a snob, but this cannot be very tasteful", he said after a moment and pointed at the sandwich with his chin. Erik looked down and shrugged again, the explanation 'I didn't have something else' hanging in the air between them.
"How about you run downstairs and grab something from the buffet? If someone asks, tell them you get food for me, believe me, they will understand. Just.. don't tell them where I am", Charles offered with a half smile, hoping Erik wouldn't take his suggestion as an act of pity.
Erik shook his head in refusal and said after he swallowed his first bite "It's fine, thanks", since he had his pride and he worked for the things he earned. This was the sandwich he could afford without his salary, so this was the sandwich he was going to eat.
"Don't be stubborn, I'm sure there's something more tasty there", the young man said and Erik bared his teeth at him in a way that wasn't a real smile "This is tasty enough, I don't need your food".
He wasn't in need of any sort of charity if that's what Charles thought. And if that was what he thought, then he was not as different as Erik had believed in first place. "I didn't mean it like that, Erik. I'm just saying… There's plenty food they won't eat and I thought you would enjoy some. You strikes me as someone who would like to break the rules", he shrugged with a glint on his eyes that was just as challenging as his had been on the stairs.
They stared at each other for a moment and then Erik murmured "For fuck's sake!", getting up and making his way downstairs again. He heard Charles' carefree laugh and it made him smile, actually enjoying the other man's company, - the fact he was really easy to look at only helped.
On the kitchen, he had to explain he was getting food during his break because of a guest who had asked for it and since he was a good worker, no one suspected he was getting it for himself. Saying Charles' name also worked like magic.
When Erik came back with a pile of food, Charles grinned more to himself than to his company. Erik settled down next to him again and pushed the plate between them, for both to reach. It was a silent offer and Charles wasn't one to say no, so he grabbed some of the carrot salad and ate it.
"I used to love eating carrots as a kid, but at some point I ate too many and my tongue burned. Took me years to try a carrot again", Charles chuckled at his anecdote, looking at the sky.
Erik shuffled next to him, probably to get something from the food and then the movements stopped again. Charles almost thought he would get the silent treatment for having said something wrong before, but Erik finally answered "I had the same experience with pineapple", making Charles laugh.
"Did you know that you can make your sperm taste better with eating pineapple?", Charles chuckled, but when no obvious laugh came from Erik, he quickly turned to look at the stranger. God, had he just crossed the line by joking about sperm? Shit. He didn't have much friends in his life so far, so he didn't know-
"You serious? I never heard of that", Erik finally laughed, changing his expression from serious to friendly. Charles joined his laughter and nodded, because it was true, he had read it in a book.
"I am! Don't laugh, it's true", Charles giggled and Erik laughed while taking a bite of some pastry.
"So you always take a bite of a pineapple before you let your girlfriend blow you?", Erik grinned, showing all his teeth and just as quickly as the ice had been broken, Charles felt awkward again.
"I uh.. no, I don't have a girlfriend. But I guess it would be effective", he shrugged, blushing a little. "Boyfriend then?", Erik simply asked and Charles shook his head again, blushing more.
Erik didn't manage to figure out if Charles was straight, gay or bi but he was at least glad to know the other man was single. He was beautiful with his round face, bluest eyes and reddest mouth Erik had ever seen. His floppy hair seemed soft to the touch and his pale skin was scattered with golden freckles which made him very attractive.
If he had a problem with the question of having a boyfriend, he didn't show and Erik thought he actually had a shot with him, and he really wouldn't mind other nights like this in the company of Charles. After the other one had blurted out a fact about sperm, Erik knew he was lost.
Charles didn't ask the question back though and Erik thought that was a bad sign. He should up his game or something if he wanted to see the other man again. "Why don't we play a game?", he asked with a grin and picked another small food, putting it on his mouth at once; his tasteless sandwich already forgotten on the floor next to him.
"What kind of game?", Charles asked, sounding curious "I'll say a word and you say the first thing that comes to your mind" - "Okay, that seems… easy" - "It is. It has to be fast though and if you say something that doesn't make sense or is longer than a word, then I get to ask you anything", he explained and the other man nodded, looking like he was focused now.
"I'll go easy on you at first" - "Just go, Erik", Charles laughed. "Sky" - "Stars", Erik said and Charles answered quickly. They both smiled at each other and Erik nodded approvingly, seeing that Charles would keep it up alright.
"Heart" - "Love" - "Grass" - "Green" - "Water" - "Wet" - "Pineapple" - "Sperm". Charles' last answer was enough to crack both of them up, and Erik found himself having a lot of fun with the other man. It was only around his tenth word, that Charles stuttered a little "Lungs" - "Uh- hmm.." - "Seriously? Air? Breathing?", Erik teased and the other man blushed.
"I get to ask something then", he stated and Charles nodded "Go ahead", a little less energetic than before. "What's your favorite place to be?".
"Um, that would be the library in my house. I love reading books", Charles smiled and Erik eyed him with a serious question mark on his face. The smile on Charles' face faltered a little and he felt a pull in his chest, just like he had felt it when Erik had mentioned lungs and Charles was close to saying cancer.
He got it, though. Reading wasn't really the thing people would assume to be a teenage boy's favourite hobby. Erik surely had expected him to mention a party or some kind of park, where he would meet with friends. Charles was sure, that he seemed rather boring now, but he couldn't and wouldn't take it back.
"I thought it would be some fancy pool or something", Erik said and Charles nodded, having expected such answer, "but the library seems cool. What's your favourite book?"
Charles looked up at that, definitely not having expected that answer. But Erik seemed totally fine with him reading a lot, actually thinking it was cool. It gave him back some of his confidence and he grinned, while saying "only one question was allowed. Go on."
"Hmm, Window" - "Glass" - "Mirror" - "reflection" - "stairs" - "exhausting." Erik chuckled at that again and then said "You're clearly a rationalist."
"Why do you think that?", Charles asked, cocking his head to one side and looking at Erik with a puzzled expression. Erik only laughed again and shrugged.
"Window could mean a chance, or maybe hope? Stairs could also be a metaphor, but you always went with the usage of those words, or their description."
Charles wondered if that made him a rationalist, but didn't want to argue about something, they couldn't explain now.
A shiver ran through his body, when a cold wind caught him off guard and he realised, he hadn't brought his jacket with him. Sharon would kill him just for that, seeing how easy it would be to catch pneumonia. Charles simply crossed his arms to hug himself and smiled at Erik. "I like that game. Go on then."
This would be the moment Erik would offer Charles a jacket to protect him from the biting wind but that item wasn't part of his uniform and it left him empty handed. He was happy though, that Charles was enjoying the game and they played one more round where the other man didn't stutter once and time just passed by them until Erik's wristwatch started beeping.
"What does it mean?", Charles asked and his expression was one he hoped was sad, since he seemed to already know the answer to his question. "Break's over", Erik said regretfully, not really wanting to leave the safety of the rooftop for work and snob people. "I didn't get to ask any questions", Charles pointed out which was true.
"Well then, now you have a reason to see me again", Erik grinned to which Charles snorted "We'll see each other downstairs all the time", and that wasn't the positive answer he was hoping for. It made Erik lose his nerve to ask for Charles' phone number at that moment, but the other man had a point and they would still see each other downstairs and he could work himself up until the end of the night. It just wasn't easy to ask something like that to someone who was clearly out of his league even if they seemed to have a good time together.
"Let's go before someone finds us then", he said seeing that Charles didn't want people to know where he was hiding when Erik went to find food. "Yeah, that sounds good. It's quite cold up here", he said and Erik nodded, resisting this surprising urge to run his palms up and down the other man's arms in order to heat him up.
They made their ways down the stairs slowly. Erik worried he would be late to come back, but Charles' pace was one of a tired person like it had been to come up and he couldn't bring himself to either ask him to go fast or just leave him there.
When they finally reached the door, Erik asked "See you on the other side?", and Charles nodded "Yeah".
As soon as he appeared on the banquet again, his mother spotted him and rushed over with a worried expression on her face. Charles realised, that he had probably gone missing for fifteen or twenty minutes, so there was a good reason for his mother's worry.
"Where have you been? Are you alright?", she fussed over him, examining him. Charles glanced towards his new won friend with a slight blush and brushed his mother's hands off of him. "I'm fine, mum."
Sharon didn't look convinced, but at least Erik was leaving to get a full tablet of food, so Charles relaxed a little more. She tugged him in and kissed his head once, making him cringe and want to pull away - he was a teenager after all.
"It's fine, really." - "But you're so cold! If you don't feel good, we can leave, honey. Your uncle wouldn't be upset."
Charles sighed and shook his head, but already knew that his mum had set up her mind. She was calling Brian over and told him to bid their goodbyes. Charles thought for a long time if he should give Erik a number or another way to contact, maybe his Facebook. But then he thought better of himself - he didn't want anybody to get attached to him, friendly or romantically. He would just end up hurting that person when it was time, and Erik really deserved better than him.
"Are you good to go?", Brian asked him and Charles nodded, looking around to see if Erik was somewhere to be seen. With a silly thought, he left a piece of pineapple on his plate, hoping Erik would find it and associate it with him. But then again, it would just remain a dirty plate with some food on it.
They said goodbye to uncle Harry and then left the place, ordering their personal driver to the door to drive them back home. Home, a place that felt more like a cage than a safe place to Charles.
When Erik came out of the kitchen with a tray full of food, he had calmed down enough to realise he had been foolish and would ask for Charles' number right away. If nothing came out of it, well… He could use a friend.
The problem was that he couldn't find Charles anywhere and the woman that had been fussing over him was gone as well. Erik kept this silly hope that the other man had just gone somewhere he wasn't supposed to cover and would be back soon, but as he watched one of his colleagues clean up the dirty plates of Charles' table, he knew it was stupid.
Charles had gone home and that was it. One chance meeting where Erik had wasted his chance and now they weren't going to see each other again.
He finished his shift even more moody than he had started it and went home full of regret. There was just something about Charles that made Erik actually feel young again, carefree and with no responsibilities.
Later, when he was home eating his sandwich made of toasts and butter, he tasted the party's finger food and heard Charles' laughter clear as day. It was stupid he had let the man made such an impression on him, but Erik couldn't stop beating himself for that short moment he had hesitated on the rooftop.