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Work had thoroughly kicked Nate in the ass all week and he was tired. Okay, tired was an understatement. He was shattered. His body felt like it was on the verge of giving up altogether and making him drop where he stood. Despite that, he couldn’t even sleep he was so tired and that really wasn’t helping matters. This wasn’t what he had signed up for when he had accepted the lucrative job offer at the accounting firm, not in the slightest. He was good at maths, good at finance, it should have all been easy work for him and yet here he was, too exhausted to even sleep. God, he was a mess.
Finally abandoning his attempt at sleep after staring wide-eyed at the ceiling for a good forty-five minutes, the raven-haired male made himself a cup of coffee and shambled through the living room of his apartment to the small balcony. His new job was the only thing that allowed him to afford a nice place like this and there was no way he was giving it up, even with the levels of exhaustion his job cost him. It was expensive to live without a roommate but Nate had always enjoyed his own company and two years of living with Chuck and Carter had proven that he really wasn’t cut out for dealing with other people’s crap. At least Carter had made a conscious effort to clean his shit up. Chuck… well the less said the better. He might as well live in a dumpster as far as Nate was concerned.
Feeling the sun heat his face as he stepped out onto his balcony, he closed his eyes and let out a brief sigh. He couldn’t possibly be more thankful that he didn’t work weekends in this new job because at least he had a few days to try and catch up on the sleep he’d been deprived of throughout his first week on the job. He knew it would get easier, it always did, but Joel was a hard taskmaster and Nate really wanted to impress him. He didn’t like being average, he never had. Even back in school he’d sacrificed having a social life in order to focus more on his studies. A little tragic, sure, but it had gotten him a well-paid job so in the long run it had paid off, even if he’d been left a little socially stunted thanks to his time as the school punching bag. He had never exactly been a friend magnet, plus he had to throw in the fact he was gay in a town full of homophobic kids.
Thankfully that was all a whole life away now and Nate thought he was doing a lot better for himself, even if a boyfriend felt more like a concept than an actual reality. He’d only ever been on one date before and it had been a blind date set up by Blair with a skinny French dude called Louis. He was nice enough but not really Nate's type. He needed a guy with a bit more strength, so to speak.
Okay, maybe he was just thirsty enough to crave being pinned against the wall and kissed until he couldn’t breathe anymore. Could anybody really blame him for that? He’d never even been kissed before. He was the most disastrous living being for miles, it was true.
“But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?” a voice from below him called out, snapping Nate out of his own self-deprecating thoughts. “It is the east and he is the sun,” it continued, drawing Nate's attention down to the street level two floors below where a handsome man stood staring up at him. Late twenties, stubble and those arms. Christ, he was feeling weak at the knees already. There was no way on earth that this was the guy who’d been calling out, was there? And if so, it couldn’t possibly be aimed at him either even if the man was grinning right at him.
“Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon who is already sick and pale with grief that thou her son art far more fair than she,” the man continued in his rich, deep voice that sent a shiver down Nate’s spine. The man’s gaze didn’t falter from him once, not even with the other pedestrians glancing at him strangely as they past.
“I have no idea what you’re saying,” Nate admitted, feeling his cheeks flush with heat. His voice was unsteady and probably too quiet because what the hell was happening? Seriously, had he passed out before he could even make it to the balcony and this was all part of a crazy dream or something? It certainly made more sense than this being a reality.
Despite the confession, the man didn’t seem deterred at all. In fact he seemed to smile wider at his words. “He speaks!” the man declared loudly, attracting even more attention than he had done, “O speak again, bright angel, for thou art as glorious to this night being o’er my head as is a winged messenger of heaven.” The man seemed so sure of every strange word that left his mouth that he had to be quoting something. Nate's brain was far too slow to work out exactly what though so instead he just furrowed his brow and waited to see if there was any more. Unfortunately, all he was met with was the expectant smile on the man’s face and it made him feel strangely guilty for not responding as the man clearly expected. It was that guilt that forced his brain into working and suddenly he felt like the world’s biggest idiot for not realizing it sooner.
“Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou… Romeo?” he cried in response, second-guessing himself with every word. He’d always preferred math over literature classes and Shakespeare had left him feeling a little numb in the head but how hadn’t he grasped the quote sooner? He was on a balcony for crying out loud.
Nate wasn’t sure it was possible for the man to become any more attractive than he already was but the playful chuckle that left his lips made his heart skip a beat. Seriously, who was this crazy Shakespeare-quoting romantic and why was he bothering to waste his time with him? “Shall I speak more, or shall I speak at this?” the man asked.
“Please, speak. I’m all out of quotes,” Nate confessed, feeling a little sheepish as the scarlet blush of his cheeks deepened. He couldn't help it, he'd never been good at hiding his thoughts and emotions. “Big Shakespeare fan, huh?”
“Big theatre fan,” the man corrected him with a casual shrug. “The opportunity seemed too good to pass up. Thanks for playing along. Have a good day!” Without much more than a nod of his head, the mystery man began to walk away and Nate found himself unexpectedly seized with more urgency and confidence than he was sure he’d ever had in his entire life.
“Hey Romeo, you think you could quote some more theatre at me over coffee some time?” he called out before he could hesitate and let the man get too far out of earshot. There were so many ways this could go wrong and his brain was considering every single one of them but he was trying his best to block them all out and focus on the positives for once in his life.
Much to his surprise, the man was smiling again when he turned around. “That sounds manageable,” he laughed before adding, “I promise I’ll come at you with something more exciting than Shakespeare next time though.”
Nate couldn’t hide the grin from his face. “Tomorrow at two?” he suggested, earning a nod from the man. “Do you have a name?”
“Dan,” the man introduced himself. “But Romeo works too, if you want.” He winked for good measure and Nate was lucky that his legs didn’t give way beneath him because please. Was this really happening to him? “And yourself, fair saint?”
Never in his life had Nate been called ‘fair saint’ or ‘bright angel’ and even if they were nothing but quotes, it was still a bizarre experience. The closest he got to anything like that was Jeremy calling him ‘fetusface’ and that was hardly meant as a compliment. Jeremy was an asshole like that. “Nate,” he called out in response, “But keep the ‘fair saints’ coming. It’s charming and-- well, very flattering.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow then, Nate. Let’s leave the balcony out of it next time, yeah?” Dan suggested, causing the younger man to laugh. He smiled and politely waved the man off, pretending that he wasn’t checking the guy’s ass out on those ridiculously tight jeans as he walked away. Seriously, whoever this Dan guy was he was already too damn good for him.
It took a few more minutes for Nate to realize that he no longer felt very tired after all.