Thank you so much for reading this thing and not bailing on me when I took months off. XD So happy I finished this thing! It's still dedicated to Books. Who disappeared a couple months back so it looks like it was gifted to no one. 8D But anyways, thanks for reading! I had a blast writing it and a blast reading and replying to comments and reviews. So here it is! The final chapter! Enjoy!
Welcome to the Jungle
Date number three took place at the Zoo. Zach idly wondered why Owen had chosen the zoo. It didn't have a funny name. But he was still enjoying himself as he followed Owen around. They started in the small aquatic center and Owen explained about training dolphins in the Navy. Then they wandered through the reptile habitat. Owen went into tour guide mode, talking about the differences between bearded dragons and iguanas. And then went on a spiel about dinosaurs and how much he wanted to go visit Jurassic World.
Zach perked up at that idea. His aunt worked there. But Owen had continued on talking, moving on to the next exhibit. A mile a minute, the man talked. Zach never noticed his own lack of voice when Owen was around. Owen just never stopped.
"And now..."
Owen was smiling. A lot. Zach watched him out of the corner of his eyes and wondered what exactly was going on. But he really liked the man's excitement.
"Close your eyes."
Zach blinked at him.
"Gimmie your hand and close your eyes."
Zach rolled said eyes and shook his head. But he closed his eyes anyways and held out his hand. Owen grabbed it and began tugging him forward. Zach concentrated more on the feel of Owen's skin against his than on anything else. Owen was holding his hand... Owen was holding his hand! And fleetingly, Zach hoped he'd never let go.
Zach wasn't really sure how long Owen tugged him along. Or what direction they were going in. Owen was being unusually quiet. Zach wasn't sure if that was a good thing... or not. It felt like a weird thing. Like a really weird thing that Owen's voice wasn't ringing in his ears. He liked when Owen talked. He liked the sound of his voice.
After what seemed like an eternity of silence - even though it wasn't silent as Zach could still hear the goings-on of the zoo around them - Owen broke the odd silence. "Here we are!" He announced loudly, stopping and dropping Zach's hand.
Zach wanted to pout at the lack of contact.
"Open your eyes."
Zach didn't know what he expected. Anything, everything literally would be on the list where Owen was concern. But... it was a sign. 'Welcome to the Jungle.' Zach blinked at it and tilted his head. Why was Owen so excited over the sign?
"Get it?" Owen asked, his voice oddly excited.
Zach glanced at Owen and then back at the sign. He honestly didn't. He wracked his brain, going over every word Owen had said to him, every text. But nothing popped out at him.
"Aw!" Owen whined loudly, his shoulders visibly drooping. "You don't get it! You're too young! Oh god!" He gasped. "I'm too old!"
Zach smiled and shook his head quickly.
Owen sighed and ran a hand through his hair, turning away slightly. "It's not funny if I have to explain it. But like... it's a song... you know... from the '80's. Hair band era."
Both of those things were way before Zach's time.
"Okay. It goes like this." Owen held one arm up beside him and the other at his waist. "Welcome to the jungle, we've got fun 'n' games..." He sang out the first line of the song as he started moving. He mimed like he was strumming a guitar and thrashing his head around. He moved and twisted and danced around, not even caring about the small crowd he was drawing. Then he brought his hand to his mouth like he was holding a microphone as he sang the chorus. "Welcome to the jungle, watch it bring you to your... sha-na-na-na-na knees, knees! Wah, I wanna watch you bleed."
Owen stopped then, just as suddenly, he shrugged and stepped closer to Zach. A few of the people around them clapped. Owen turned to look at them, as if just realizing breaking out into a hand banger ballad in the middle of a zoo would attract people. And it probably just did. He smiled and waved at them. And then completely forgot as he turned back to Zach again.
Zach smiled and shook his head. Owen was amazing. And the song sounded vaguely familiar. He's have to remember to look it up later.
Owen sighed again and shrugged. "Well... it would have been a great joke it you knew the reference." Owen looked at the ground for a moment and kicked at the pavement. "Okay... just forget the last five minutes and let's check out the jungle exhibit."
Zach shook his head. He wanted to tell Owen that he did get it, sort of, and that he liked the little performance. But before he could open his mouth, Owen reached out and grabbed his hand and Zach was rendered speechless once again as Owen tugged him inside.
They wandered around for nearly an hour more. Until Zach was certain they'd seen every single animal in that zoo and he'd listened to Owen talk about every animal in the zoo. And it was great. It was the longest Zach had been around Owen.
Owen slowed and pulled on Zach's hand. Zach turned towards him, smiling. They were standing on a bridge, overlooking the duck pond. Owen stepped back, pulling Zach towards the railing. "I uh... wanted to tell you... uh..." Owen leaned a bit on the railing and looked down at the water.
Zach moved in beside him and leaned beside him. He looked down at the water. A small, blue billed duck was poking it's head into the water.
Owen smiled for a moment, seemingly at the little duck. "Just... wanted... I mean... last night..." Owen glanced over at Zach for a moment. Then back down at the water. "When we were standing outside your building... I kinda wanted to..." Owen sighed loudly and shook his head
Zach frowned and tilted his head as he watched Owen. Once again, he wondered if something was wrong.
"But I didn't..." Owen started and stopped again.
Zach blinked at him. Owen wanted to... what? An idea dawned on Zach. He thought he knew where Owen was going with this. At least he hoped he knew where Owen was going with them. The man seemed nervous and confused or something. It was cute how flustered he was. This man, this god-like entity was a nervous mess. All because of him. Zach smiled, because that meant Owen liked him. Owen actually, really liked him. Before Zach could stop himself or think about what he was doing, he moved closer to Owen. He reached up and stood on his toes and pressed his lips to a stunned, silent Owen.
It was a gentle, soft, chaste kiss. Something Owen clearly wasn't expecting. But he recovered quickly and pulled back. "That!" Owen said, throwing up his arms. "I wanted to kiss you... like a lot." He smiled. "But..." He dipped his head forward. "Seems you beat me to it." He whispered.
Zach reached towards him again. This time, he wrapped his arms around Owen's neck and pulled him down. For the moment, he wasn't interested in Owen's voice. The man's lips on his had felt like magic. Just that first touch and he felt like he was on fire and Owen was just the thing to quench his thirst.
But after an ungodly short amount of time, Owen pulled away from him again. "Wanna get a drink?"
Zach dropped his arms and glared at him.
Owen let out a laugh. "This is nice. And now that I know it's an option, will totally happen a lot more. But how about a lot less public?"
Zach glanced around quickly. He'd much rather stand there... or maybe not. Maybe making out on a bridge at the public zoo wasn't the best idea. Okay. So maybe Owen had a point. Zach let out a sigh.
Owen was smiling again. "Come on. We'll get something to drink and find a place to sit."
A few minutes later, they were sitting at a small table in the shade, taking a little break and sipping on drinks.
Owen leaned forward on the table. "So..." He strung the word out way more than necessary. "Serious, for a moment?" His tone made it sound like a question.
Zach nodded quickly, taking a sip of his drink.
Owen glanced down at the table for a moment. Then took a deep breath and looked back up at Zach. "So like... do you... do... uh... sign language?" He asked slowly.
Zach frowned as he set his cup down. He tilted his head to the side. Sign language? That was a random question.
Owen help up his hands immediately and straightened up in his seat. "I mean, what we got going is fine." He said quickly. "I understand you fine. I just mean... if it would make things easier for you..." He shrugged a bit as he spoke. "I could learn... I looked up a few things... and I ordered a DVD..."
Zach picked his drink up again. He wasn't sure what Owen was talking about. Owen wanted to learn sign language? Or did he want Zach to learn? Why?
But Owen was still talking. "Or do you... not... I uh... I was wondering... you're not... deaf... oh god!" Owen's eyes widened. "Is that offensive to say? It's just... is there a good time to ask? Can I ask? Or is that bad? Is it bad to ask if I can ask? Oh shit! Too much at once." He mumbled, shaking his head. "I'm such an asshole. But I'm dying to know! Were you born... this way... or did something happen?"
Zach blinked. He was so lost and confused. He had no clue what Owen was babbling on about. But Owen looked and sounded flustered and Zach didn't like it. But he was lost! He honestly had no clue what Owen was talking about.
"Have you always been mute?"
Zach still had the straw between his lips. His eyes widened and he sucked in a breath involuntarily. And then chocked on the soda. The bubbles burned the back of his throat.
Owen leaned forward, his eyes wide with concern. "Zach! Hey! You okay?"
Zach coughed and set his drink down. He cleared his throat and nodded his head. "I can talk." He sputtered out, his voice a bit strained around the coughing.
Owen's eyes widened more and his mouth dropped open. "No... you can't..."
Zach frowned again and nodded his head. "Yeah, I can. Perfectly fine."
Owen threw up his arms and leaned back. "Dude!"
Zach tilted his head. "Why did you think I couldn't talk?"
Owen opened his mouth slowly. "Because the entire time I've known you... you've never said a single word!"
"Yes, I have."
Owen shook his head. "Nope."
Zach stilled for a moment. "I had to have..."
Owen pointed to his own face, still looking rather surprised. "Does this look like the face of a guy who thinks his boyfriend can talk?"
Zach smiled and looked down at the tabletop. "Boyfriend?"
"Well... yeah." Owen said. "Thought that was where this was headed."
Zach smiled and pulled his cup towards him again.
Owen watched him fidget a bit and breathed out. "You were stalking me for weeks and I was trying to figure out how to flirt with you. Kept trying to... ordering for you and smiling at you and... I don't know... I was afraid since you were deaf or mute or something, it wasn't being communicated... or you just weren't interested."
"Well... I was interested." Zach said softly. "And I can talk."
"Then why didn't you ever talk?"
Zach shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "I never realized I didn't."
"You didn't realize you didn't talk? Like ever?"
"Nervous, I guess... in the beginning." Zach admitted softly. "But then... you talk all the time! You never shut up!"
"Because you can't talk!" Owen said, throwing up his hands. "I was afraid if it got all silent and awkward, you'd get offended or something. So I just kept talking!" Owen sighed loudly and leaned back in his chair.
Zach's smile slowly fell as something occurred to him.
"What?"
Zach bit his lip and looked down at the table top again. "Did you... did you only ask me out because you thought I was deaf or mute or something?"
That question seemed to catch Owen off guard. "Oh... uh... no. I don't think so."
Zach looked up at him. "You don't think so?"
"Well..." Owen looked away and ran a hand through his hair. "It was kinda cute and endearing, the whole quiet thing..."
"So you're disappointed then?"
Owen shook his head quickly and looked back at Zach. "No! No! This makes it easier! And we can spend more time together now!"
"More?"
"Yeah." Owen nodded his head. "I don't have to run away to text you questions so I can learn more about you and not offend you."
"So you still want... uh... to be boyfriends?" That sounded so lame. But Owen smiled and nodded his head. Zach felt his face heat up and he looked down at the table top.
"So... Can I ask you something else?" Owen asked after a few silent moments.
Zach lifted his head and nodded.
