Chapter 4 – Always

It was exactly two hours, 25 minutes and 36 seconds until Buzz was due to meet Woody at The Harvester. 32...31...30…

Buzz threw his hands up into the air with annoyance. He just couldn't wait that long to see the man that had already changed his life so much. He had gone from an over working space researcher to a person who just can't wait to get out of work. He also got rid of the irritating habit of getting up early at the crack of dawn to sleeping in, dreaming of chocolate eyes, cowboy boots and a soft, velvety voice, accent included.

Buzz had already laid out the clothes he was planning to wear out on his bed, along with the right aftershave, hair gel and shiny black shoes.

Closing his eyes, he walked into the kitchen, and made himself a strong cup of coffee before slumping down onto his leather sofa and flicking over the channels on the TV continuously, hope to speed up the snail pace that time was traveling at. Little did he know that Woody was in the same dilemma.

***WPBL***

Woody thought of himself as an over-protective workaholic, who is tortured every night and day from the demons of his frightful past. But when he steps out of the house, he sets his mind onto one thing. Helping others.

That is the main reason why he became a lawyer, including the fact that the job needed all his time and energy. Many men or women would be fed up of this job by the end of the week, and then tried to get away with doing as less as possible. But with Woody, his work was up to a standard that the boss couldn't beat. He needed the job for a reason. Not for the fact of the good pay, but to keep him sane. Without it, he knew without a doubt that he would be put in a mental hospital in no less than half hour.

And yet, at this particular time of day, he would have been sat at his desk, writing up the argument for his next subject for work.

But instead, he was pacing around in his bedroom, brown hair wet from the shower he just had and bare feet scuffing against the wooden floor, making a soft 'thump' against it. He was fiddling nervously with the buttons of his new shirt, tucking it and untucking it endlessly into the hem of his skinny jeans.

He walked over to the mirror on one of his walls, and stared at his complexion with disgust. He really looked terrible. His skin was so pale that it was almost transparent, and the bags under his eyes were more noticeable than ever.

Last night was the worst night he had ever experienced. His dead girlfriend had haunted him as soon as he closed his eyes, asking over and over again why he had betrayed her by going out with Buzz. Telling him continuously that he killed her and their unborn baby on purpose, that it was his entire fault… his fault...

Woody shuddered and placed his pounding forehead against the cool glass, immediately feeling relief spreading through him as the icy glass soothed his headache.

Just two more hours, and he will get to see him, get to feel alive, to act like a normal person.

***WPBL***

Buzz was relieved when the time finally came to go to the restaurant. With one last look in the mirror, he headed towards his front door, grabbing his car keys before walking out. Locking it behind him, he walked to the black Volvo and unlocked it, sliding into the seat.

He arrived at The Harvester just before 6.00pm, the time when they were supposed to meet up. After parking the car, he waited by the entrance, nervous yet impatient to see Woody again.

Finally, after an agonizing time of two minutes, a silver BMW arrived, parking in a nearby space close to the door. Buzz, who felt the need to see who it was, stood on tip toe to try and see clearly. When he saw a familiar head of brown hair, he rolled onto the balls of his feet, straightening out his black jacket and smoothing out his collar of his white shirt. But something made him pause. He looked over at the approaching figure, noticing the tension in the body by the way the head was bowed, hands stuffed in pockets. He saw two brown eyes look up at him, and unlike the times before, they didn't light up with joy. They were full of pain and sadness.

Buzz felt the need to run up to the saddened man, and help free him from whatever was troubling him. But he forced himself not to.

By now, Woody was climbing up the stairs, head still down and hands still stuffed in the pockets.

'Hey'. He mumbled when he got to Buzz, lifting his head up enough to look at Buzz in the face.

Instead of getting a greeting back, Buzz placed a hand on Woody's shoulder.

'What's the matter, cowboy?' he asked, his brow furrowing to create the tiny crinkle, and voice full of curiousness and concern.

Woody perked up some when he felt the warmness spread through his body at the one simple touch from Buzz, and answered, 'tough night.'

Buzz wasn't buying it. 'Woody, you look more exhausted then you did before. You're hiding something from me, and if you don't tell someone soon, it's going to tear you apart until nothing's left.'

Woody's eyes widened considerately. 'I... I can't Buzz… I will tell you, I swear, but not today. I just can't…' brown eyes locked onto ice blue, not stopping the flood of emotions crowding them.

Buzz hid his worry for the other man by smiling comforting at him. 'It doesn't matter, Woody. You can tell me when you're ready, okay?' he placed both hands onto Woody's shoulders and pulled him into a hug, kissing him softly on his forehead.

Woody wrapped his arms around Buzz, hugging him back fiercely. He had never felt as calm, relaxed and happy in anybody else's arms, comforted by the strong scent of aftershave and warmth. After a few minutes that seemed like seconds to the two men, Buzz regrettably broke the hug.

'Come on,' he prompted, holding out his hand.

Woody smiled, lighting up his whole face, before entwining his long fingers with Buzz's, feeling his thumb run over the back of his own hand. Together, they walked hand in hand to the front door, not letting go until the waitress showed them to their table.

It was a small table that only fitted two, but it was perfect for them. Sitting at opposite sides, they could study each other whilst the other weren't looking, only to be caught and blush. The light was a warm glow, coming from two candle sticks in the middle of the table, next to two menus. Woody pulled them out of the silver holder, and handed one to Buzz, who took it gratefully, thanking him with a soft smile. The taller man watched as Buzz opened his menu, his eyebrows crinkling and the tip of his tongue sticking out between rosy lips. He smiled before opening his own.

They were interrupted from their thoughts when a waitress with black hair and a heavily made up face came over to place their orders.

'Ready to order, boys?' she said in what she thought was a sexy voice, but was quite the opposite. She took Woody's order first, and then asked for Buzz's, licking her red lips with her tongue and blinking her black eyes incessantly.

Woody felt the anger boil into his bloodstream, and could see that Buzz felt the same.

'Is there something in your eye, Miss?' Woody asked innocently, big brown eyes boring into her ugly black ones.

She threw a dirty look at Woody before huffing and turning around on the spot, wiggling her bum and head held high as she stormed over to a different table.

Buzz snorted into his beer, and Woody let out a chuckle.

'You get them all the time?' Woody asked, placing his chin on top of a supported hand.

'Always,' Buzz answered honestly, rolling his eyes. 'It's repetitively the same type of girls too. Old-ish, caked with make-up and desperate, and they never seem to take no for an answer, even if it hits them in the face.'

Woody nodded agreeably.

'You ever had a girl?' Buzz questioned, inwardly wincing at how stupid he was.

But he was surprised with the reaction he got. Woody sat up in his seat so fast that he almost fell off it, his long fingers clutched the edge of the table in an iron like grip, and skin went instantly white.

'I…I can't tell you, B-Buzz… I'm s-sorry,'

Buzz looked down in thought. So it was a girl who made Woody like this. It was like taking two steps forward and one step back.

He leaned over and unstuck Woody's fingers from the dented wood. He pulled it over until it was in the middle of the table, and started to caress it with his thumb, running it over the knuckles and the bottom of the fingers.

'You can tell me anything, Woody. You know that?' Buzz whispered, concentrating on caressing the other man's hand. 'I am not going to judge you because of your past, I just want you to be happy, and not live with the demons of your memory. You can always trust me, Woody. I promise.'

Woody looked up uncertainly, staring into the timeless ice blue eyes that seem to show all his emotions, and could tell that Buzz was telling the truth.

He took a deep, shaky breath, closing his eyes, trying to slow down his heart rate.

'We met at a ranch that taught children to ride horses,' he started in a near whisper, one hand over his eyes while the other was being stroked softly by Buzz. 'She was a teacher that they all fought over, as she was the prettiest, funniest, and calmest person there, and she did care dearly for the children.

'But the day when I visited to check up, her horse went out of control, trying to throw her of its back. And then suddenly I was there, no other thoughts apart from that I had to save her. So I walked carefully up to the spooked horse, bringing out an apple to try to calm it down whilst grabbing the rains to stop its bucking. It calmed down, and I started to stroke his nose and whisper to him, and finally followed me to the stables. Then I helped her down. For the split second that our eyes met, we knew that we would have something special.'

Buzz listened carefully, knowing that if he interrupted him, he wouldn't carry on.

'From that day on, me and Emma was together for every moment, never leaving each other's side. We were together for two years, and she got pregnant.' He paused, taking in a shaky breath. 'But then, on Christmas Eve last year, I suggested that we should go out for a meal, to celebrate our new family on Christmas Eve. Little did we know there would be a huge, raging storm waiting for us by the time we would be leaving. The rain pelted against the windows, making them fog up. Emma's fear of storms didn't help, either. We were driving down a narrow country road, and a deer jumped into the road… I swerved, trying to miss the poor animal, but I didn't see the oak tree that I was driving towards. I tried to turn again, but I hit the tree on the corner. I heard a scream, but the rest was a blur, until I lifted my head from the airbag and saw… saw her with her head a-against the s-shattered window, b-blood flowing h-heavily from her forehead and… and…' Woody was violently shaking now, breathing hard, and trying to stop the tears from falling from his eyes behind his pale, trembling hand.

Buzz was next to him in a flash, thanking anyone that would listen that they were in a private seating area. 'It's ok, cowboy,' he whispered soothingly. 'You don't have to carry on, ok? How about we go back to mine, have hot chocolate, and watch movies?'

Woody nodded numbly against Buzz's shoulder, and forced himself to stand, getting out his wallet and placing the money for their drinks onto the table. Buzz went to protest, but Woody stopped him.

'Let me. It's the least I could do.' He smiled painfully.

Buzz smiled back, taking the brunettes hand and walked out of the cozy restaurant, looking forward to their evening snuggled up on the sofa next to a roaring fire, just able to enjoy each other's company.

***WPBL***

Omg I am soo sorry for the long wait! I had real bad writers block when I got to the point of their date, as I have no idea how a real date goes, let alone one with two men! So I seized the opportunity to let Woody tell his terrible secret to a willing Buzz, so the next chapter will be sweet and full of love and fluff – I hope. I also would like to thank everyone who had reviewed or faved my story – it means so much!

Please R&R!

Vanillla Twilight xx