Page 11 of Between Brothers

I squeezed her hand lightly and murmured, “Just because I’m not afraid of heights doesn’t mean you’re not needed…”

She swallowed hard, her eyes a little wide and said softly, “I like it, too.” The tension in her shoulders told me that she was as nervous as I was. We were being so awkward around each other with how careful we were being while still attempting to remain honest. The line moved up and we were now first, the car gently swinging empty before us. I felt a surge of something, adrenaline maybe, over being so close to her.

I couldn’t help but smile and let her get into the car first. I took my seat beside her and the ride was snug, the width of my shoulders making things crowded, so I laid my arm behind her, curving my hand around her shoulder, twining my fingers from my free hand through hers, my palm resting along the back of her hand.

“Thank you,” I said suddenly and Hayley looked at me sharply.

“For what?”

“For walking with me, and talking with me… I know I can be awkward in my silence. I’m just not very good at talking with people.”

“Is that why you’re always with him?” Her voice was timid, uncertain, and I couldn’t take offense to the question. I knew how Cell was. It wasn’t the first time I’d been asked by someone why I hung with him.

I shook my head, “Cell is my best friend. He’s a good man deep down inside despite his outward facing flaws.” I didn’t want to let on that he and I were much more than just friends, despite his rampant homophobia. I didn’t want to scare her away, not yet, that pain could possibly come much later when I’d gotten my hopes up past where they should be.

Her gaze dropped down to him as we moved up some more and she murmured, “Is he always so intense and frightening?”

I smiled then and answered that one truthfully, “Yes, but not so much the more you get to understanding him. Best way I could describe it is yes, he’s always that intense, but no, he’s not always so scary. I wish you would give us both a chance, get to know us, maybe even date us for a time. I think you’d be surprised.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. I mean, as friends of course I’d love to get to know you better… but dating two men at once?”

Cell had blown any form of subtly moving into things out of the water one of the first times we’d been around Hayley at the diner. Flirting his best, at his most frank, it had been the wrong approach then and had damaged things pretty much irreparably. Convincing her was going to take far more work. It was unconventional especially here in the land of super judgmental Christians who were pretty much anything but. Still, I could see the curiosity in her deep brown eyes.

“You guys really do everything together?”

“Yes.”

She shifted against my body and I held very, very still staring at her, memorizing every line of her face, thrilled to just be this close to her. She turned her gaze away from me and out over the fairgrounds which was pretty much a quick setup job in a farmer’s vacant field. Her eyes unfocused and she quickly changed the subject.

“This certainly beats the diner, doesn’t it?”

I smiled, unable to take my eyes off of her, “It certainly does,” I murmured and she turned back to me, tipping her head to the side. The curiosity in her eyes intensified and I wished, so much, that she would ask her questions while simultaneously wishing that she not.

“Why me?” she asked finally and I could appreciate her willingness to cut through the bullshit. It was definitely a quality she shared with Cell.

“Truthfully, a feeling…”

“A feeling?”

“Yeah, I have a feeling, about you, and about us, and I want us to explore it.” She stared at me and I grew self-conscious, finally I swallowed hard and said, “How long were you planning on being here?”

“I don’t have any place to be,” she murmured. “If that’s what you’re asking.”

“Sort of… spend some time with us here, and if at the end you want to see us again, we’ll make that happen. If you don’t…”

She rolled her lips together, her eyes far away and she finally nodded. I would give anything to be inside her head, listening to her thoughts.

“Okay,” she reluctantly agreed and I had to smile. I gave her a slight squeeze, a one armed hug, and she smiled, a genuine smile, and I almost couldn’t wait to tell Cell. I also couldn’t wait to tell him to behave him-fucking-self.

---