N/A: TALK ABOUT AN HIATUS. Thank you so much for all your patience! Good news is that I have the next few chapters planned out heehee. A lot of you seem to hate Adrian. Is he a good guy? A bad guy? We'll find out! Oh, and please leave reviews and let me know if you guys are still reading!
Adrian was quite the charmer. He was funny, very down-to-Earth and relaxed. He was a fan of traveling and had traveled to enough places to have an endless pool of interesting stories to tell. He was also an avid lover of cars, which had the two engaged in a passionate discussion about their dream cars and upcoming models. Peter also learned that Adrian was quite a foodie and didn't mind splurging in fine dining. All in all, they got along quite well, and before they knew it, they were going on what could be classified as a date.
A little over a week later, Peter decided that it was time to tell Gwen about Adrian, considering that they had been on three dates already. Adrian was fine with Peter's lack of dating experience was being quite a gentleman about it, which Peter appreciated. And Adrian liked to spoil him by taking him out to fancy restaurants with entrees that Peter could hardly pronounce.
"You're telling me this now, why," Gwen asked with a huff, pretending to kick her friend who was sitting on the floor.
"Um. I wanted to make sure?" Peter asked, dodging the kick.
"Peter!" Gwen chastised with her hands on her hips. "OK you owe me a lot of details. Pictures first."
"What pictures?"
"What do you think, Peter. Of you two together! I need a visual to go with the stories."
"That's weird."
"Just show me the picture."
"I don't have a picture of him."
"You guys didn't take a picture together?"
"Uh. Nope."
"Ugh. Fine, what does he look like."
"Blonde, blue-eyes."
"I'm starting to see a pattern here."
"Really, Gwen?"
"Go on."
"He kinda looks like Patrick Jane."
"Who's Patrick Jane?"
"You know, from The Mentalist?"
"Never watched it."
"Google him later. Anyway, he's fun. He's in marketing...what else..he's 26. Um, we went out on three dates. I think he speaks French too, because he can pronounce things off the menu all professionally."
The two stared at each other quietly.
"He's a bit old, isn't he?" Gwen broke the silence with a frown on her face. 26 seemed awfully old for someone their age, eventhough she personally had a thing for older men.
"I don't know, I guess? Not really? Oh, and he's from California."
"How serious are you guys?"
"It's not like anything's official yet."
"So you like him?"
Peter's brows furrowed, trying to come up with an answer to that question. The three dates they had were nice, and Adrian seemed like the kind of guy people would love to date. Sure, Harry's face flashed across his mind every once in a while, even when he was with Adrian, but he could ignore that, right? He was bound to get over this sort of, semi-crush on his straight friend, right?
"..yeah, I think so."
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Harry was fairly sure that Peter was avoiding him.
Peter still texted him. Still sent funny pictures. But it seemed as if Peter never had time for him anymore. They did run into each other right outside the company building a couple of days ago, but Peter had excused himself, claiming that he had a dinner appointment. And when Harry mustered up enough courage to ask Peter if they wanted to hang out, Peter had said that he had a busy weekend.
And it had Harry moping.
For hours.
Alone at home.
Harry wasn't used to people ignoring him. He was used to people waiting on their hands and knees and begging for his attention, but Peter. Peter was deliberately avoiding him, and it made him angry. He thought they were friends, and a good one at that too. He thought that finally, for the first time in his life, that he had found a true friend, but apparently that was not the case.
He almost wished that Peter would stop sending him those little texts, because they were just confusing him now. It seemed that Peter still wanted to be his friend, but just not a very good one. What the hell.
Beneath all the hurt and anger, Harry missed Peter. Harry had forgotten what a lonely life he had been leading, but Peter had come into his life and made him see that his life was simply better with the goofy intern in it. Then Peter just...walks out of his life like this, and it just...hurt. He wanted the companionship again, eventhough his pride made it impossible for him to accept that.
He was about to just crawl into bed and mope, but he got a text from Peter asking him what he was doing. Christ, Peter was out to make his life miserable.
Harry contemplated ignoring the text, but texted back that he wasn't doing much. It was always like this with Peter, and like an idiot, Harry was agreeing to hang out. And like a complete moron, Harry was standing in front of the mirror, trying on different outfits. Why the hell did he care what he wore to hang out with a friend. Why was he being all self-conscious?
He was no longer sure if Peter was good for him or not.
Harry arrived at the pizza place, the same one with Mike in it, and as soon as he got off the cab, he could spot Peter standing near the entrance, bobbing his head to some music. Peter spotted him as well and flashed him one of his trademark dorky grin. And like that, Harry didn't even feel angry anymore. Like that, Harry forgot about how Peter had ignored him for the past few days, leaving him to mope in misery. Like that, with that one simple, dorky grin.
"How are you, man?" Peter greeted as they entered the building.
"Nothing much."
"Did you see the...the fair? I don' know what to call it. That thing that's going on over there?"
"What?"
"You know, the tiny amusement park they set up with merry-go-rounds and stuff?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"What! You've never been to the thing? They set it up twice a year and you've never been to it? That's unacceptable. Nuh uh, we're going to fix it. We're going to grab some pizza, eat it, and then head on right over, and no, you have no say in the matter," Peter finished with a toothy grin. Harry rolled his eyes but smiled softly to himself anyway.
The fair was already booming with people. Harry could spot the ferris wheel from a distance away, and he could see the merry-go-round Peter was talking about. There were food stands and other small rides as well, with lights installed in a way that was almost...whimsical. Harry had never been to a place like this. His parents never took him to amusement parks as a child and had told him that such places were beneath him.
But here, as he stood in the middle of the fair, surrounded by people laughing and talking animatedly, he began to resent his father's words.
"Harry?"
The young CEO jumped at his name and turned to look at Peter, who was watching him with a strange look on his face.
"You OK?"
"Yeah. I'm fine."
"OK, so the rule is, ferris wheels go last, because, it's the ferris wheel."
Harry shook his head and laughed.
"Let's go for the merry-go-round."
"Aren't we too big for that?"
"Are you kidding me? Nobody's too big or old for a merry-go-round. Come on, let's go," Peter urged and took Harry's wrist. Harry inhaled sharply at the contact. The touch sent a tingling sensation all through his arm, all the way through to his spine, but Harry did his best to ignore it.
Once they arrived at the ride, they took a horse each and exchanged a goofy look just as the ride began moving. Harry had to admit that he enjoyed the small rush of wind that continued to brush against him. He hadn't even realized that he was smiling until he spotted Peter watching him with a lopsided grin.
"Pretty good, huh?" Peter asked, leaning his head against the pole.
"Yeah, not bad," Harry replied with a soft smile.
And it was now Peter's turn to inhale sharply. Harry's smile was, for the lack of a better word, beautiful. It was like a soft wave against pure, white sand. It was like leaves rustling in the wind. It was subtle, yet with a sense of beauty that was mesmerizing. Peter couldn't help but stare. Stare at the way Harry's lips were turned upward ever so slightly, the way Harry's pale blue eyes almost shone under the light.
God, he was beautiful, and Peter couldn't even bring himself to deny it.
Once the ride was over, they were at an ice cream stand. They had a long debate between cotton candy and ice cream but Harry's strong argument won over in the end. Now they were standing with an ice cream cone each, walking side by side.
Now, Harry knew that Peter was a sloppy eater. That much was obvious the first time they ate together. But when it came to ice cream, it was a whole 'nother level of messy eating. Ice cream was all over the intern's face, from the tip of his nose to the tip of his chin, and the best part was that Peter seemed completely oblivious to it.
"You got a little something over..well, everywhere," Harry began, stifling a laughter.
"Huh?" Peter asked before taking another lick.
"Why don't you just finish the ice cream first and we'll go from there," the young CEO continued with a grin as he looked around for napkins. He was going to need a lot of it. He made his way towards the nearest stand and grabbed a few and headed back. Peter was finishing the last of his cone, while Harry had thrown the half eaten cone away.
"Here," Harry handed the napkins to his friend. Peter took it graciously and began wiping away, making a bigger mess than before. Harry barked out a laughter and stopped Peter.
"Let me do it. You're really bad at this," Harry took the napkins out and began dabbing at Peter's face, making sure to wipe away every last bit. It was only until Peter's face was completely clean that Harry realized what he was doing. Harry's hand lingered, not knowing where to go. Peter's eyes were gazing intensely into his, and Harry was sure he was no longer breathing.
How was it that he never noticed how strong Peter's eyes were. He had always perceived them as gentle and kind, but right now, the very depth and strength in Peter's eyes had Harry speechless. Harry dropped his hand slowly as his eyes traveled to Peter's lips.
The young CEO coughed nervously and crumpled the napkins into a small ball, just as Peter looked away as well. There was a tense silence between two and they knew it.
Peter, for one thing, knew he was in trouble. There was no point denying that he was into Harry. There was a level of attraction that he couldn't ignore. The pull was strong, always renewing itself and growing.
Guilt quickly accompanied the notion. He wasn't supposed to feel this way. Harry was his friend, and he had Adrian. Well, sort of had Adrian.
"I've been seeing someone," Peter blurted out before he could stop himself. Peter instinctively knew that he shouldn't have done that, but it was too late. It was the only defense mechanism he could come up with. The only way he knew that would keep him emotionally away from Harry.
The young CEO stared at the other with his mouth agape. Did he hear those words correctly?
"You've been seeing someone?" Harry repeated slowly, hoping that he was hearing things. He wasn't sure why, but the words made it hard to breathe. What was the lump in his chest? He should be happy that his friend was finally seeing someone, but he wasn't. Not even the slightest.
"Yeah, just this guy."
Harry swallowed hard. So Peter was seeing someone, and it made him uncomfortable. He didn't want to be here right now. He wanted to go get away from the crowd and get some fresh air.
He felt sick.
"Congrats, Pete," Harry replied softly, his lips stretched awkwardly into a forced smile.
"Thanks. He's kinda cool. Maybe we should all hang out sometime, if you're OK with that," Peter continued slowly, his voice uncertain.
"Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good."
Harry felt really sick now. His stomach was turning, and he was sure that he was going to throw up in front of Peter.
"But um," Harry continued slowly. "I think I got something. Not feeling too well," he finished as he looked away from his friend, his face pale and his palms sweaty.
"Oh," Peter begin, looking mildly hurt, but Peter couldn't deal with that right now. He needed to go home. "Yeah, are you OK? Do you need to go see a doc?"
"No, just gonna go home, pop some pills and get some sleep."
"Here, let me take you home."
"No. It's fine," Harry replied firmly. "I'll grab a cab." And with those words, he rushed out of the fair, leaving a very baffled and hurt Peter behind.
Peter didn't understand.
Actually, he couldn't believe it.
He thought Harry was cool with him being gay. He was sure that there was no way that Harry could be homophobic, but the moment Peter told him about his potential relationship, Harry was rushing out looking sick.
Peter couldn't believe it. He couldn't handle the level of hurt that built inside him. He thought Harry accepted him for who he was and never showed any signs that he would be any less than that. He trusted Harry with the information and had expected a genuine congratulation from his friend...but this. This was just...
Peter bit his lower lip and turned on his heels.
He had to go home. Now.
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