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Alex and Brian headed up to the old abandoned hospital. Alex really wanted to show Brian the place. He had gotten some good locations out of it. He was excited to show Brian. He brought his camera with him.
They walked together, just talking for a while. They talked about all sorts of stuff. Tim and Jay were a popular subject in the conversation. Brian was genuinely astonished that they’d been dating for that long without anyone finding out.
“Dude. When are we gonna get there?” Brian whined. He was very impatient. Alex only laughed. “It's a bit of a walk. It's just past Rosswood. I have some water if you need any.”
“Thanks,” Brian smiled to himself. Alex was always so sweet to him. He loved it. And as much as he didn't want to admit it… He loved Alex. That… Would never surface though. He could press it down and make it go away. Just like everything else that was wrong with him.
As he thought more about it, Brian’s smile faded. He'd thought really hard about it over the last few weeks. If Brian had a dollar for every night he'd lie awake thinking about his relationship and feelings for Alex, he'd be rich. Well… He'd be able to afford a day’s worth of meals… If he just went to fast food places.
His thoughts were pulled from him as Alex spoke up. “Have you talked to Tim in the last couple days?” Brian thought for a moment. “Not in person. I've called him a couple times. Why?” Alex hesitated before responding. “Do you think he's still mad at me?” Brian looked at him, completely incredulous. “Alex, buddy, you slapped his boyfriend, got in a fight with him, and gave him a black eye. Of course he's still mad at you,” Brian paused, “but give him time. He'll come around.”
“Right…” Alex mumbled. “Watch out for fallen branches, thorn bushes, vines, and poison ivy. The last one’s not as common but still. Just look out for it.”
Brian nodded in response, his eyes drifting to the ground. He lagged behind Alex, letting him lead. He stole a few glances at him, beginning to get lost in thought again. They walked in… Definitely silence. It was comfortable for Brian, though it was uncomfortable for Alex. Brian had his own thoughts to accompany him.
“So, after this, what do you wanna do? Do you wanna come to my house? Do you want me to come over to yours…?” Alex trailed off, looking back at Brian. Alex found Brian he was staring at him. “You good, Bri?”
“Yeah. I'm good… What did you say?” He asked, blinking back to reality. “What do you wanna do after? You wanna come to my house or yours?” Alex repeated. “Mine works. Your roommates are over… I'd rather just hang out with you.”
Alex laughed. “You're too kind. But alright. That works,” he paused. “We're almost there,” as Brian nodded, a silence fell between them again. Brian was acutely aware of the crunching of the leaves and sticks. He heard the soft songs of birds from far away. He wouldn't say it was comforting, but it eased his anxiety just a little bit.
“Here we are. If you want, we can explore for a bit before we do anything,” Alex offered. When Brian agreed, Alex led him into the abandoned building. Brian followed close behind him. “I'm thinking we can use this bit for filming. There's a few rooms I want to check out, but I'm not sure if the doors would shut or lock behind us,” Alex explained.
Brian listened intently, providing input every now and then. “What if we got something to hold doors open? I mean just for today, I can hold doors while you explore… But we could always bring a bunch of door stoppers.”
Alex shrugged. “That's true. I think that'll work. Here… Down this hallway, there's a room I thought looked good when I first looked at this place,” he avoided any rubble on the ground. He quickly headed to a room and used all his strength to open the door. “Here, hold this,” as Brian held the door, Alex walked into the room and looked around. He pointed his camera at the walls, ceiling, floor, everything.
Watching Alex, Brian took a couple steps forward so he could get a better hold on the door. Unfortunately for him, the piles of broken down walls and ceilings had other plans.
Brian tripped over a piece of fallen ceiling tile and stumbled into the room. As he did, the door creaked and slammed shut behind him. Alex looked back at him. “Seriously?” He groaned. Brian looked guilty. He headed back over to the door and tried to push it open.
It wouldn't budge.
He shoved his entire body against it… But to no avail.
Alex pointed his camera at the door. He sighed. “Great,” his tone reflected sarcasm. Brian sighed and headed over to a wall. Leaning against it, he slowly lowered himself to sit on the floor. After a moment, Alex set his camera down on some rubble and headed over to Brian. He sat down next to him.
“How long do you think we'll be in here?” Alex asked. Brian shrugged. “I can call Tim to see if he can get us out of here with a crowbar or something. But he's still at work right now… So it might be a while.”
Alex agreed to that plan. As Brian called and spoke to Tim, Alex looked around, trying to see if there was something to do. He sighed and resulted in messing with his hands. It's not like there was anything else there.
Brian hesitated before looking over to Alex. He didn't say anything. He just kind of… Watched. Brian enjoyed Alex’s company. He always liked hanging out with him… Sometimes he felt like he liked it too much. He began to question some of his feelings. He looked down at his hands. Did he… Really love Alex? He began to blush at the thought. He was bewildered at himself. He couldn't love Alex… But… He was so sweet to him all the time. The nights he would spend awake definitely confirmed his feelings for him.
He couldn't help how he felt. He looked back over to Alex and found that he was looking back at him. “Are you okay?” He asked. “Yeah. I think so.”
“Hey, it's not your fault we're stuck in here. It's not like you knew the door would jam like that,” Alex shrugged. “I admire your support, but that's not what I'm thinking about,” Brian gently laughed. “Then what's troubling you, Bri?”
Leaning his head back on the wall, Brian sighed. He hesitated for a long time. He didn't want Alex to know about this… He knew he had liked him for a long time… But he was just beginning to accept it. He was actually thinking about it. Coming to terms with it.
“It's complicated,” Brian finally landed on. “Well, we certainly have time,” Alex laughed. Brian glanced over to Alex. “Yeah… We do,” Brian looked at the wall in front of him. His face grew hot as he thought about the feelings. He couldn't just… Confess. What if Alex thought it was weird? He wouldn't find it weird. Brian thought. Alex is cool with everything. Why would he not be fine with Brian liking guys?
Because the guy I like is Alex… Brian thought. I can't tell him.
“I like this… Person ,” Brian started. Alex immediately cut him off. “Oh my god! Who? Do I know her?” Her. Brian visibly cringed. He shrugged. “Yeah… I guess you could say that.”
“But it's really complicated, Alex,” Brian tried avoiding the subject. He knew it was futile. He knew Alex would drag it on until he spilled everything. “Come on,” Alex groaned, “tell me about her! Why's it complicated?”
Brian paused. “Well… It's complicated because I don't want to ruin the friendship we already have. I don't know how… They feel about me at all,” Brian didn't dare look at Alex. “We're already really close and I don't want to make it weird. So… I don't really want to say anything… Or bring it up. It feels… Wrong… To like this person. I feel like I should make these… Feelings go away,” Brian explained. His face got more and more red the more he spoke. Alex listened. He had a slight pensive look on his face.
“You shouldn't make feelings just… Go away like that. It sounds like you really like her,” Alex tried. Alex you oblivious idiot… Brian thought. “Yeah but… He's so amazing! I don't-” Brian’s eyes suddenly widened. He slowly looked over at Alex, who's expression reflected shock. “Alex…” Brian started.
“He?” Alex repeated, quizzically. Brian didn't respond for a moment. “There's no way I could play this off, is there?” Brian looked down at the floor. “No,” Alex shook his head. “Look, Alex, I didn't keep it from you… This is the first guy I’ve liked-” Alex quickly cut him off. “I understand, don't worry. I lashed out at Jay, but I learned my lesson.”
Brian slowly nodded. He didn't say anything else for a while. So Alex filled the silence. “Who is he?” Alex asked, smiling gently. Brian looked over at him for a moment. “I'm not really comfortable sharing,” he mumbled. Alex only nodded. “This day can't get any more surreal, can it?” Alex joked. Brian laughed. “Nope. We're trapped in a room in an abandoned hospital, and I accidentally just outed myself. I don't think it could get any worse.”
“Worse?” Alex asked, looking over to him. “I wouldn't say it's all too bad. I'd much rather be stuck in here with you than anyone else,” Alex calmly stated. Brian only blushed. “So… What about you? How are things with Amy?” That question broke him. His heart fell into a million pieces. Why did he ask that?
Alex sighed. “I broke up with her… Sorta. I asked for a break but I don't think I'll call her back,” Brian looked up at him. “What made you do that?” He asked, putting aside his feelings for a second to see if Alex was okay. “I dunno. We've been getting into arguments and stuff. Long distance isn't going well. I planned on moving closer to her… But I have a lot more here than I do there. And she… Just didn't understand that.”
Brian nodded softly. “Girls are… Strange,” he huffed. Alex just shrugged. “Have you talked to Jay at all since…?” Brian trailed off. Alex got the message. “A bit. After I apologized, we haven't really set aside time to hang out. Just saying hi to each other every now and then.”
“Huh,” Brian looked back down at the floor for a second. Barely a minute went by before Alex spoke up again. He suggested some word game. Brian had no idea what it was about. They spent about half an hour on it before they inevitably got bored of it.
“So this guy you like…” Alex spoke softly. “What's… What's he like?” He didn't look at Brian. He stared at his hands. Brian suddenly flushed in the face. “Oh, y’know…” He mumbled. “Not like any other guy I've ever met.”
Alex listened as Brian began talking about this mysterious guy. He was beginning to get carried away. “He's just… Really nice. It's a really good change from how everyone else treats me.”
“Does he know?” Alex looked over at him. Brian didn't look back at him. “Yeah, I mean… I'd say he knows,” Alex’s eyebrows furrowed. “How'd he find out?”
Brian’s eyebrows also furrowed. He considered for a moment. He looked up at Alex. “He found out because I just told him,” Brian’s eyes reflected a bit of fear. A deep anxiety rooted in him. He watched as Alex’s eyes widened and his cheeks became a rosey pink.
“Sorry… I… I don't know why I told you… I'm-” Alex cut him off. “No, I'm glad you told me,” Alex gently touched his hand to Brian’s. Alex let his hand rest on Brian’s. They sat in silence for a minute.
“Can… Can I… Kiss you?” Alex spoke gently. He saw Brian’s face heat up significantly. He blinked. “Yeah…” at the confirmation, he leaned in.
As Alex closed the distance between them, Brian felt a shockwave race through him. He gladly returned the kiss, leaning into Alex. Their lips seemed to dance against each other gracefully. It wasn't the neatest kiss… But it wasn't too bad either. Alex gently rested his free hand on Brian’s cheek.
When they separated, Brian just stared at Alex for a moment. “So you… Like me… Then?” Brian paused between his words. Alex hummed in response. “Kiss me again, then we'll see,” he shrugged. Brian only smiled. They both leaned in again, sending a wave of emotion over both of them.
Brian’s lips were soft… Alex couldn't think of anything else. It was all just… Brian. This was his confirmation. He did like Brian. He wasn't gonna run from it anymore. Everything about this second kiss was perfect. French kissing aside, it was so… Delicate. Brian melted into Alex, falling deeper and deeper in love with him.
After a moment, Brian’s free hand drifted to the back of Alex’s head. He pulled him closer than he already was. The kiss was intoxicating. It seemed to go on forever, yet when they separated, it didn't seem long enough.
There were no words to describe what each of them were feeling. Happiness was so far from what it was. Bliss may have been closer… It was just… Perfect. Brian slowly opened his eyes. Alex’s mouth hung slightly open, just like his own. Each of their breaths were unsteady and unpredictable. Brian couldn't get the feeling of Alex’s tongue on his own out of his head. The warmth that coursed through him was amazing.
“I definitely like you,” Alex huffed. Brian grinned. There wasn't a single moment where he felt his face cool off. The redness on his cheeks felt like a permanent after effect of this new feeling.
“Wow…” Brian got out between breaths. “You're… An amazing kisser,” Alex laughed at the comment. “Is that another way of saying you want to kiss again?” Alex asked, his hand now firmly in Brian’s. “It can be,” Brian stared at him.
Snickering, Alex leaned in again and kissed him. It didn't last nearly as long as the last, but it was nice. “How about a date?” Alex suggested. “Dinner, maybe?” Brian smiled. “Just name a time and place.”
As Alex smiled, they heard footsteps from the hallway. They both jumped up. Alex grabbed the camera from the pile of rubble. “Tim?” Brian called out. “Yeah… Just push on the door, I'll get it open,” Tim sounded a little annoyed. He didn't want to be there… He'd do anything to help Brian… But the hospital wasn't a place he'd usually go so willingly.
They eventually got out. They decided that they wouldn't explore anymore that day, so they all just left.
As they walked through the forest, Brian and Alex spoke in hushed whispers, not daring to talk about what just happened in front of Tim. They seemed to walk for ages. Brian was able to make small talk with Tim. Alex just walked in silence. The image of Brian’s blushing face burned into his memory. The way his tongue hung half way out of his mouth… His shoulders had been tense. He'd do anything to see that again. He might do anything for it.
They eventually got out of the woods. While Tim lingered in the parking lot, Brian and Alex said goodbye to him. Brian talked to Tim for just a moment before going to the car. All the while, Alex still couldn't get the way Brian looked at him out of his head. He had looked at him like he was a piece of perfect art. Brian had looked at him in a way that Amy never did, nor did he ever look at her that way.
Once the pair got in the car, they began talking about potential date locations. They eventually settled on some restaurant that wasn't too expensive. Alex dropped Brian off at his house, deciding that they would just hang out the next day. Driving home, he glanced over at the camera. What would he do with the tape…
He blushed thinking about it. If anyone saw that tape… He didn't want to worry about it. He'd just bury it in his room somewhere. He wouldn't label it, he would just hide it somewhere. He didn't need anyone knowing what happened.
It was going to be between him and Brian.
He liked that idea.
He liked Brian.