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“What the hell is this?” Ben remarked, looking towards the seats in front of them.
That afternoon, he’d been sitting back in the car lot with his feet up going over some invoices, when Jay had come in the office, bringing him a cup of coffee and an iced bun. That was his first clue that something was wrong. Jay only ever bought him food when he wanted something, and he certainly didn’t deliver it to his desk.
There was a new film out, some formulaic action rubbish that Jay had wanted to see. Lola wasn’t interested at all, and she was having a girly night in with Lexi anyway. Ben had a meeting late this afternoon, and the last thing he wanted to do after that was sit in a darkened cinema watching a movie he had no interest in seeing. After a good five minutes of Jay begging, reminding Ben of every time he’d helped him out of a jam and promising to buy him dinner afterwards, he had finally given in.
“It’s called a Snuggle Seat,” Jay replied, sitting down and making himself comfortable in his own large, single armchair style seat. “This is a brand new screen, they’ve really gone all out on comfort. They’ve got a few of those in here. They’re for couples who want to come watch a film and get a bit closer without having an arm rest getting in the way.”
“Shouldn’t they all be on the back row?” Ben asked, still looking down at the chair with disgust. “How you meant to focus on the film if there’s two people copping off with each other in front of your nose?”
Jay tutted in his direction. “They ain’t designed for you to get your leg over during a Pixar movie!” he exclaimed. “Not everything is an opportunity for you to have a shag, Ben. It’s for couples that want to have a little cuddle, ain’t it?”
Ben looked at him expectantly due to the fact the important part of his question hadn’t been answered. “That’s all fine and dandy, but why am I sitting on one on my todd?” he asked gesturing to the double seat in front of him that matched the number on his ticket.
“Well, we booked late, didn’t we?” Jay explained, wedging his drink into the holder, as the lights started to dim slightly. “They only had three seats left. This single one and the two in the snuggle seat.”
“Can we not just call it a sofa, please?” Ben said, reluctantly sitting down and glaring at the woman in front who kept turning around and raising her eyebrows at the noise he was making. “Alright, fine, but why not book the couch seat for both of us?”
“Are you having a laugh?” Jay replied, rolling his eyes towards his friend. “I sit next to you too many times on the sofa at the home. I spend too much of my time putting up with you hogging most of it, I ain’t gonna pay for that privilege!”
“You sit on the bloody thing then and then I’ll take your chair!” Ben replied loudly, and the lady in front tutted loudly. “Oh pipe down love, would you? The film ain’t even started yet.”
“I paid for the seats,” Jay reminded him. “I get to choose where I sit! That was your rule for driving here, weren’t it? ‘It’s my sodding car, Jay. I ain’t having you scrape the paintwork. If you want to drive, then get your own car.’ Those were your words, weren’t they? Besides, you should be happy at having a Snu-, sorry a ‘sofa’ to yourself. More space, ain’t it?”
“That’s fine until some old bird comes along any minute, plonks herself down and starts trying to rest her feet up on my knees,” Ben replied with a sneer of disgust. “I’ve then got to spend the whole film watching her pull her nylons up as the waft of her rose petal perfume makes me want to gag.”
Jay gave a sigh of exasperation, as he opened his bag of sweets with his teeth. “The films’s gonna start soon, and there’s no one there yet,” he said, spitting out a bit of plastic. “Besides, who’d want to book that seat if they knew someone were already there.”
Ben gave a grumble of concession, and sat back, stretching his legs out in front of him. The lights were dimmed even further now, as the trailers for upcoming films were coming to an end. His focus was so distracted by the previews, that at first he didn’t realise that there was a figure coming closer towards him in the dark.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ben was vaguely aware of someone stumbling along, trying to squeeze through the rows of seats, muttering apologies as they went. He audibly groaned. The only spare seat in the whole cinema was right next to him. He was going to kill Jay for this.
Facing forward, he chose not to look at the person as they approached the other side of the seat. He hoped they’d just sit down, as far on to the other side as possible and they could both pretend they weren’t sitting in a chair made for cuddling up with someone. He’d forgotten that his legs, with very dark jeans and black boots were stretched across the now lightless floor until he felt something hit them.
The next thing he knew his face was being pelted with tiny shards of something, while a larger figure was quickly appearing closer to his view. Looking up, he saw a man struggling to hold a popcorn container in one hand, while the other hand was resting on the seat of the sofa close to Ben’s head, as he was trying to regain his balance and not fall any further. As a beam of light from the screen momentarily lit the room, Ben was met with the most beautiful blue eyes he had ever seen.
“Oh god, I’m so sorry,” the man said, righting himself and perching on the seat next to Ben. He carefully leaned his box of popcorn on the back of the seat and started to brush the loose popcorn off the chair. “Made a right state.”
Ben took in the sight of the man next to him, as he was trying his best to clear the seat, bits of popcorn now flying down the aisle in his vigour to clear it off quickly. He was already taking up a large amount of the two seater, even though he wasn’t fully leaning back, meaning he was tall. His hair was carefully quiffed back, though a small strand was threatening to fall across his forehead. Ben was almost hypnotised by it, but resisted the urge to stroke it back into place.
If he was honest, not much could surprise him. He took comfort with the fact that he couldn’t be put on the back foot by anyone. However for some reason, this tall, attractive stranger who had just tipped half a box of popcorn over him was rendering him speechless. Anyone else and Ben would either have them by the collar or delivered a few well placed withering comments in their direction.
Instead, he found himself holding out his hand to the man, his heart racing in his chest. “Ben,” he offered, hoping that the tremble he felt in his throat wasn’t evident in his voice.
The man stopped his clearing up for a second and looked at Ben with those eyes again. That gaze which Ben felt would be put as the cause of death on the doctor’s certificate when he collapsed in a heap under its intensity. The stranger gave a quick quirk of his lips, revealing dimples in his cheeks, and grasped firmly back with his hand.
“Callum,” he replied, as his lips flew into a full blown grin and his eyes started twinkling. Ben knew he held the handshake too long, but the warmth and pressure was exhilarating, and he didn’t want that to end. Eventually, their fingers dropped and Ben felt the loss immediately, though he still couldn’t look away from those bewitching eyes. The move was taken out of his hands when Callum’s eyes slipped down to Ben’s body with a frown. “I’ve got it all over you, look.”
Before Ben knew what was happening, Callum had started to brush his hand roughly down Ben’s thigh, trying to remove the stray bits of popcorn. Ben felt the air stick in his throat, and his chest seemed to lose the ability to breath, stunned into silence. Every touch of Callum’s hand against his denim jeans seemed to ricochet through his body and jolt to his heart which responded with an electric thump.
This wasn’t supposed to happen to him. If a gorgeous guy so much as ran his eyes over him, there he’d be with a salacious comment or a sexy quip back in their direction. Certainly, if it got to the point of even a cautious touch, then Ben knew how to react, how to encourage and show his attraction. What he’d never done before was jump up out his seat, almost tripping over his own feet, and having to grab on to the chair in front to support his unsteady legs which seemed to be trembling more than a nun at a penguin shoot. Ignoring the snort of laughter coming from Jay behind him, Ben started to brush the rest of the popcorn off with his own hands, giving a quick smile in Callum’s direction to show he wasn’t offended. “No harm done,” Ben offered, feeling that his voice was a little more secure now. “I’ve had worse things splattered over me.”
The woman in the row in front, now turned around and gave an audible shush for them to be quiet. “Oh give it a rest, will you?” Ben hissed back, giving himself a final brush down. “It’s just an advert to switch your mobile off, love. You ain’t missing a crucial plot point by not hearing what the dancing cartoon phone is singing about!”
Ben slung himself back on the seat and rested his arm along the back of the chair. He felt like he got his bearings a little now, though his pulse was still noticeable in his head and butterfly wings twitched anxiously in his stomach. Callum had leaned back in the seat now, and Ben was slightly disappointed that there was still a sliver of space between their sets of legs. His fingers twitched at the proximity to the back of Callum’s neck, wanting to take matters into their own hands and brush the soft hair there.
“I missed the previews,” Callum remarked, looking in his direction with soft eyes. “I hate that. I like seeing what’s coming up, even if they do show all the best bits from the film. It’s part of coming to the cinema. It’d be like going to a restaurant and not looking at the menu. Even if you know what you want to order, you still give it a browse. Do you know what I mean?”
Ben gave a nod of agreement, slightly mesmerised by the friendly rant from someone he had only met a few minutes previously. He was animated when he talked and his hands gestured with conviction. Ben couldn’t believe how charming he found it and almost groaned at the realisation. He was well and truly fucked.
There was a tap on his arm, and Jay leaned over from his chair to whisper in his ear. “Mate, I’ve been a bit unfair,” he said with a sly smirk. “It was my idea to come see the film. Let’s switch seats shall we?”
“You ain’t half as funny as you think you are,” Ben responded with gritted teeth, as Jay dissolved into giggles. “Shut the fuck up and eat your gummy bears.”
Jay continued to laugh to himself. “Alright, but let me know if the smell of his rose petal perfume gets a bit too much,” he snorted out, shoving a handful of sweets into his mouth. “I’m sure you’ll struggle through; I’ve noticed you eyeing up his nylons!”
Ben gave him another glare, before leaning back into his seat. He noticed that Callum had put the popcorn box between them, and that made his stomach drop slightly. He’d been so caught up with what he thought about the other man, he hadn’t even considered the fact that maybe Callum was disappointed that he had to be stuck with Ben for the next couple of hours. He was just a guy coming to see a movie, he may not even have spoken to Ben if he hadn’t dropped his snacks all over him. Perhaps he was just being polite as a means of apology.
“You can have some if you like,” Callum said suddenly, and then turned back towards Ben with a warm smile, nodding towards the popcorn. “As I dropped half of it on you! He can have some as well…your friend?”
Following the direction of Callum’s gaze, Ben realised he was talking about Jay and the insinuation clicked. “Oh that’s my mate, well brother really,” Ben explained, trying to make the familial relationship clear from the outset. “His girlfriend didn’t want to come see this, so I got dragged along instead.”
Ben hoped that spelt it out clear enough. He didn’t think it was quite the right time to mention that Jay’s girlfriend also wasn’t here because she was looking after her daughter which also happened to belong to Ben. That might confuse matters even further. By the way that Callum turned slightly towards him and seemed to shuffle closer a little, he seemed to have got the message. Ben was happy he didn’t have to go to his back up plan of scrawling Straighty McStraight on Jay’s forehead with a Sharpie, while spelling out ‘I fancy you’ in left over popcorn kernals in front of Callum. That would possibly be a little too on the nose.
“I work most nights, but if I do have an evening off it’ll be on a Wednesday and I usually come here,” Callum started to explain. “I don’t know the rota till late though, which is why I always book at the last minute. There ain’t often much left. I was lucky I got this seat.”
“Yeah,” Ben replied softly, before clearing his throat and shuffling up in his seat, trying to feel a bit more confident. “Sitting next to me in the dark for a few hours. You are a lucky boy.”
As the lights dimmed to signal the film was about to start, Ben thought he saw a blush appear in Callum’s cheeks. He settled back in his seat as music started to blare through the speakers, tilting his head towards the screen. Every few seconds though, he couldn’t help but dart his eyes across to Callum, like he was pulling at his attention without even realising.
A few minutes into the film, Ben remembered Callum’s offer and leaned his hand over to take a small handful of popcorn from the box. Having something to chew on was helpful actually, settling his body back down and helping to concentrate a little on the film.
The next time he reached over to grab some more popcorn his fingers brushed warm skin, and he soon realised that Callum was moving his hand into the box at the same time. With the darkness around them, just the sense of touch made the feeling overwhelmingly heightened, and it felt like every nerve ending flashed awake from the brief contact.
Out the corner of his eye, he kept looking for movement, trying to notice when Callum would reach in again. As soon as Ben noticed an arm heading closer, he moved his own fingers towards the box, making the brushing contact more deliberate this time. He thought he felt Callum’s fingers still for just a second, and was worried he’d gone too far. The other man didn’t move his hand away though; it lingered against Ben for a second more than was necessary.
They carried on that way in silence for a few minutes, their hand brushing when they both reached for the popcorn at the same time. There was a quiet intimacy to it, something that felt different to Ben. This wasn’t how he’d act with some random guy he’d been eyeing up in a bar, and certainly not someone he’d arranged to meet on the app.
After another few minutes, Callum leaned over to him. “This guy’s chasing the baddies through the carriages of a commuter train during rush hour, but none of the aisles are blocked,” he remarked pointing at the screen, and Ben’s arms prickled when he felt his warm breath flutter his eyelashes. “How come he can get through so easily? There’s no one on the train during the busiest time! Can you imagine doing that on the early morning service from London Bridge?”
“It’s gonna slow down the pacing of the film a bit, ain’t it?” Ben responded, keeping his head close to Callum’s and shuffling as close to him as he could. “He ain’t gonna catch them if he’s got to try and push his way through a train full of businessmen with bad B.O and their Starbucks orders swirling around every time they pull into a station.”
Callum seemed to accept his answer and leaned a little bit back over to his side. Ben tried to get a little closer, but the popcorn box was in the way. Peering in, he saw it was almost empty. He scooped up the final few edible kernels and then placed the box on the floor. “Sorry, I’ve eaten the rest,” he whispered in apology to Callum.
“That’s alright, don’t matter,” he replied shyly, as if he was suddenly aware of the small slither of space between them that stood out. Ben wanted to automatically move over, so their thighs were touching, so he could get that feeling, from when their hands touched, racing through his entire body. Something stopped him though. There was perhaps a little doubt lingering on his mind. He wasn’t sure if it’s because he picked up some uncertainty from Callum, or if it was his own brain that stopped him.
He knew that Jay was probably sniggering at the scene that was playing out next to him. Bold and arrogant Ben Mitchell, having kittens over deciding whether to move an inch closer to a boy he fancied the pants off. Maybe that was the problem though; this guy in front of him was gorgeous, sweet and funny. Why would he want Ben?
With the doubts over Callum’s feelings in his mind, he settled back down and tried to pay attention to the film. In truth, he didn’t know anything about this guy, and he could have been misinterpreting the signs that had been there so far.
A large explosion sounded on the screen as the hero hung off the edge of the bridge, breaking him out of his thoughts with a shock. As the noise sounded, most of the cinema jumped a little in their seats, and Ben couldn’t fail to notice Callum’s hand gripping on to his thigh. He must have grabbed on to Ben when the bang happened, but he hadn’t yet let go, his fingers still digging insistently into his jeans. There really was no misinterpreting that.
After another few seconds, Callum loosened his grip and moved his hand back away as the action on screen became less tense. Ben let himself move a little closer, not so their bodies were touching, but so that the gap between them was so small that there was only room to fit Ben’s hand in. The scenes on screen had slowed down now, as the hero was having a quiet conversation with his love interest. Ben was sure that the whole place would hear his heart beating over the hushed dialogue, it was pounding so quickly.
While trying to calm his body down, he almost shook his head to himself. He felt like a schoolboy with a crush. They’d barely touched yet he was feeling a hundred times more turned on than the last ten guys he’d had sex with put altogether. There was something special about this, but the dark part of his mind, the bit that warned him that nothing could ever work or that he would never be good enough, was sounding its alarms.
He suddenly noticed a brush to his little finger. As if sensing the negative thoughts that were plaguing him, Callum had moved his own hand down, so now his pinkie was softly and hesitantly brushing against Ben’s. The little movement flooded Ben’s mind, drowning out any darker thoughts, and he moved his finger too, his strokes a little firmer than Callum’s, to make sure the other man was aware that this wasn’t an accident.
They sat that way for a few minutes, just delicately brushing their smallest fingers against each other, sending a fluttering to Ben’s heart. Then, Callum hooked his finger round Ben’s and kept it there, his hand resting slightly on top. It wasn’t quite holding hands, but the connection seemed just as strong and there was no denying the action as anything else. They remained that way for the last part of the film, neither shifting even slightly or wanting to pull back from the intimacy.
When the credits finally started to roll, the lights started to flicker up, and Callum pulled his hand away. Ben felt its loss immediately. It was like finding the final part of a jigsaw puzzle, only for it to disappear. He felt strange now, as if something was missing.
They both started to stand up, not quite looking each other in the eyes, but sharing a knowing shy smile. In the light of the room, Ben could now get a better look at Callum and he wasn’t disappointed.
“I can’t believe that bird was in on it all along,” Jay said, smashing the moment, and breaking the bubble where it just seemed that Callum and he were the only two people around. “You’d thought he’d notice he was shagging an undercover agent wouldn’t you? There must have been spy equipment hanging around her gaff. We off then?”
Ben opened his mouth to reply, but wasn’t sure what to do next. Callum was still standing in front of him, with his hands in his pockets, looking towards him expectantly. Ben knew that if anything was to happen now then it would be down to him, the other man didn’t seem quite like he knew what to do.
“You got plans?” Callum asked, and it surprised Ben a little that he’d given this little opening. This opportunity for Ben to take the next step.
“We’re going out for a bit of dinner,” he replied, and he inwardly cursed himself at how that sounded like a brush off. He just wasn’t prepared for the question, and for once in his life his ridiculous brain thought that telling the truth was the best option to present.
Ben could see the disappointment on Callum’s face. He knew his answer must have sounded like a rejection to Callum’s ears. His mind was scrolling through things to say, to reassure him that he did want to see him again, that he wanted to take him out now and get to know everything about him. He wanted to hold his hand, properly this time, and sit some in a place where there wouldn’t be any space between them. That was more important to him right now, and he’d leave Jay on the side of the road if he had to.
None of those words came out his mouth though, the dark part of his brain seemingly blocking them from escaping. Callum gave a nod to them both. “Well, I better get going,” he replied. “I don’t want to miss the last bus back. It was nice to meet you both.”
With that, he shuffled past them both and started to head towards the exit. Ben’s feet felt frozen to the floor as he realised the opportunity that was disappearing out the door. He didn’t know anything about the other man apart from his first name. London was huge; he’d never see him again.
Jay stepped forward and gave him a punch in the stomach that was a little too harsh to be considered affectionate. “What you playing at?” he demanded, glaring towards Ben. “You just gonna let him go after you been playing out a rom com for the last two hours?”
“You noticed that?” Ben enquired, thinking maybe his and Callum’s actions were so subtle that no one else would have picked up on them.
“Most of the cinema was watching you two rather than the film, mate!” he explained, rubbing his head with his hand. “I thought the woman behind you was going to choke on her peanuts with unconstrained joy when you started to hold his hand.”
Ben spluttered a little at the revelation. “We’ve barely said two words to each other,” he replied with a sigh. “You know me, Jay. I barely stay with a bloke long enough to remember his name. You think I can do hand holding and heart eyes with someone?”
“I know you can,” Jay replied softly, giving Ben a comforting pat on the arm. “And so do you. That’s what you’re so scared of. So, what you gonna do?”
Ben took a deep breath, the buttery, nutty smell of the popcorn, that was still littered around him, hitting his palate. He could still taste it; the sweetness, tinged with just a little note of bitter from a couple of burnt kernels. This sensation would stay with him forever. He wouldn’t be able to taste popcorn again, to walk into a cinema, without reminding him of this evening. Reminding him of Callum. This was a memory he wanted to keep and he hadn’t had many of those in his life.
“Thanks mate,” Ben said with a smile, as he pulled his car keys out of his jacket and threw them in Jay’s direction.
Without stopping to think, Ben ran towards the door, with hope. He didn’t know what this was, but he knew he couldn’t let it escape.