Scott woke up in a bed that was not his. Crap, he thought, did I really start drinking again last night? He didn't remember anything that had happened the night before- much less how he got here, in Brick's room. Scott quickly located his clothes on the floor, and looked for any sign that Brick had been here at all. After all, he figured, it was entirely possible that he'd just come over for a drink and passed out in Brick's room. Yeah, Scott thought, that's exactly what happened. Scott quickly got up and got dressed.
Brick, already up, was in the kitchen making breakfast. His neck was a bit stiff from sleeping on his couch, but oh well. At least it got me up early. Brick thought. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Scott peaking out from the hallway. "Well good morning," Brick smiled and waved with the spatula he was holding.
"Hey." Scott answered, looking around the room. Brick's house wasn't much different from his own, just way more decorative. There were pictures of family and friends everywhere, potted plants in the windows, throw pillows and rugs in the living room. "What happened?" Scott asked, directing his attention back to Brick.
"Well, Cameron fell through your ceiling-"
"I remember that part," Scott interrupted, "I mean, what happened after that?"
"Oh," Brick answered, "Well you came over, we had a few to drink- you had quite a few to drink- and then we kinda crashed. I slept on the couch, don't worry." Brick winked.
Scott blushed and said, "Well, I should probably call the landlord... and maybe the cops." he quarried, "You think I should let the police know, or will the landlord take care of it?"
"Depends, you wanna press charges?" Brick asked.
"Well," Scott thought about it, "Nah, he'll just pay for it and we'll call it good."
"Okay. Well you want to eat before you go?" Brick asked.
"No," Scott answered, "I gotta run." He began to walk to wards the door, but stopped. "Wait, I forgot something."
"What?" Brick asked.
Scott turned around and kissed Brick on the cheek, then said, "Your eggs are burning."
*LINE*
Cameron caught Scott right outside of his apartment, "Hey." Cameron waved.
"Hey, string bean. It's been a while." Scott answered, reverting to sarcasm. "What ya up to?"
"Oh, nothing..." Cameron said, avoiding eye contact. "Hey, sorry about your, uh, ceiling. I can pay for it."
"I should hope so," Scott answered, "I was just about to call and see about repairs being made, you wanna come inside and, you know, help me out with my story here?"
"Oh, sure, yeah..." Cameron answered, following Scott inside.
It was more of a mess than Cameron even remembered. He thought it must've been the shock of the moment, of falling about eight or nine feet, then seeing two guys he didn't even know very well making out. When Scott got on the phone and started talking, Cameron just watched. He saw Scott's lips move, but didn't hear his words.
After a minute Scott said, "Yeah I have him right here, you wanna talk to him?" Scott listened for a moment, then handed Cameron the phone.
Cameron had to hold the phone away from his head, the man on the other end was yelling so loud. Scott listened as they spoke, "No, it wasn't any dangerous experiments this time... I'm aware I got kicked out of my last place because of that, sir, I was just- granted, but I was only looking for my... pet rat." Scott tried not to laugh, it was fun watching this. Cameron sighed, "Yes I can pay for it." He gave the landlord his credit card number and hung up the phone.
"The door's over there." Scott stated rudely, tossing his head in the direction of the door.
Cameron gave Scott his cell phone back, then apologized once more before leaving.
After Cameron left, Scott sat down on his couch in the living room and laid his head back. "I kissed him." He said quietly.
*LINE*
The next day, Monday, Brick and Scott kept glancing at one another in the office, until they looked at one another at the same time, then the two quickly looked away and stopped looking at each other.
And of course, the voice of doom, devil in Prada- bully Rafi had to show up. He decided to go for Brick first, seeing as when he'd tried picking on Scott he'd nearly been asphyxiated. He came up beside Brick and said, "Aren't you supposed to do inventory with Scott today?"
"We'll get to it." Brick mumbled, not looking up from his computer.
"Aw, are the love birds having a spat?" Rafi teased, smiling in a wickedly amused way.
Scott could practically hear the little angel and little devil on his shoulders arguing- only they weren't mini versions of him. The devil was Rafi and the angel was Jessie. The angle told Scott to come up with a comment and come up with it fast, because Rafi was killing Brick over there. The devil said, "He's a big boy, let 'm figure it out on his own." To which the angel replied, "Shut up, Rafi, no one likes you!"
Brick mumbled under his breath, Scott heard most of what he said- and it was NOT g-rated.
"What was that?" Rafi leaned in closer.
"He said shut the fuck up and leave him alone!" Scott intervened, "Jesus Christ, you're so annoying!"
"I hear that!" some guy in the back of the room shouted. "Dear god, give it a rest!"
"Well fine!" Rafi shouted, "If no one wants me here, I'm clocking out." He turned to Scott with a nasty sneer. "Have fun with your boyfriend, Scotty."
Scott stood up quickly- and angrily -and shouted back, "I will! Have fun getting fired for harassment!"
"I will!" Rafi shot back.
"Well who needs ya?!" Scott sat down just as quickly as he'd stood up, and knocked his head against his desk in pure frustration.
Brick sat there, mouth ajar, eyes wide, and all the color drained from his face. Did he just...?
*LINE*
Rafi stomped out to the parking lot, and unlocked his red sports car with the button on his keys.
"huh. Surprised none of the office morons followed you" a voice came from a few cars away. Rafi chuckled, but didn't look up.
"I know right?" he replied. "You'd think they'd be following me asking me how to tie their shoes" he said scornfully.
The other person laughed, "Do you know what K-D-N-P stands for?" Rafi thinks for a moment. KDNP KDNP KDNP KIDNAP... his heart did a tiny flip.
"Uh, Kidnap?" Rafi guessed. The person laughed again, but this time it was very close by. Rafi whirled around to face the person. The yell almost made it out of his mouth before a sock was shoved into his mouth and a bag was thrown over his head. A large car was heard screaming to a stop behind them and Rafi was thrown in.
His captor slapped on the wall next to Rafi's head and the doors slam. "Let's go!" the voice shouted. The engine screamed again as they tore out of the parking lot.
*LINE*
Scott had his head on his desk for the rest of his shift. Brick had done the inventory that Rafi had insisted they do- alone. Brick had also checked to see if Scott were a) dead, b) in a depression, or c) asleep. C it was. Brick didn't disturb him. All Brick could do was think of what had happened in the past few days, were he and Scott together now? Was the kiss just a fluke on Brick's part? Or was his paranoia just a result of Rafi's constant bullying? All these questions remained in Brick's mind as he tried to work, occasionally glancing over at Scott to make sure he was okay.
Brick, though he seemed to be the emotionally stable one who had himself all figured out (even if he was a wuss when it came to hate from other people), was extremely afraid of how this would all work out. Scott had just pretty much come out of the closet for the both of them, which made Brick think there would be talk around the office- not to mention all the comments there would be from Rafi. On the bright side, though, Scott had also made a comment regarding their (more or less) relationship. Then again, Scott had also made a comment like that before they'd kissed the day before. This argument with himself went on for the remainder of the day, and Brick hardly got a thing done.
When it was time to clock out, Brick gathered his things and went over one cubicle to Scott's workplace. Brick saw a little bit of Scott's face through his arms, on which he was laying his head, Scott looked a lot more comfortable sleeping- more off-guard, peaceful. Cute, even. Brick blushed and pushed his thoughts aside as he gently shook Scott by the shoulder to wake him up.
Scott groaned as he woke up, regaining his ever-present frown. "Is work over yet?" was Scott's first question.
"Yeah." Brick answered. "Time to clock out."
*LINE*
Rafi woke up tied to a folding chair in a small dark room with shadowy corners. His chair was in the middle of the room, and set up against the wall he was facing was a tripod with a small camera on it.
"Oh good," Said a voice from one of the dark corners, then out came a figure, a shorter man- nice build, like a celebrity who overused photoshop -with a black hoodie and a ninja-mask covering his face. "you're awake. Did you sleep well, Rafi?"
"Like a baby." Rafi quipped, his sarcasm reflex kicking in, though his voice quivered.
Chris pressed a button on the camera as he stepped towards Rafi. "Listen, Rafi, I need to ask a favor of you..." Chris waltzed around Rafi casually, "Deliver a message for me."
Rafi, growing more scared by the second, gulped and said, "To whom?"
"Some co-workers of yours." Chris answered, "When you show up with this tape tomorrow," Chris pointed to the camera, "they'll know."
Rafi fought back the urge to scream, to cry for help- not only because of his incessant pride, but also because his capture seemed to mean business. "What will be on this tape?" he asked squeakily.
"You'll see." Chris grinned beneath his mask.
*LINE*
Brick and Scott walked uncomfortably towards their apartment building, both now out of the shock faze of having kissed and one waking up in the other's bedroom, and were now in full-on awkward mode.
"So..." Brick said, trying to spark a conversation, "That Rafi huh?" He tried. Hating on Rafi was always something that got the two of them laughing.
"Right, right." Scott laughed.
"I mean, who does he think he is?" Brick laughed.
Scott shrugged, "I dunno, but it's getting annoying. Obviously he thinks he can take the Scott miester, jerk." Scott chuckled. "You got that right," Brick agreed, "What's his problem?" *LINE* "Please! Let me go!" Rafi pleaded with Chris, his face stained with tears- and his shirt stained with blood. Chris simply grinned and swung the bar of soap within a sock again, hitting him in the chest. Rafi cried out in pain and a huge bruise immediately started forming. "I'll do anything!" he shouted. Chris only laughed, "I need nothing more from you than this video" he said smugly.
