Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

June, 2013

  Why should I ask you?
Why should I worry?  
You never worry about me .
Why should I need you?
Why don't I let you go?  
And let my heartaches run free …

“You’re going to bore a hole in his back if you keep looking at him like that. Go talk to him, you idiot.” Mark shouted at him over the loud dance music.

Rob laughed and shook his head. Mark was clearly exaggerating. Okay, yeah, he had been looking quite a lot at the gorgeous blond that was nursing a glass of whiskey at the bar. Couldn’t help it. He was an unavoidable distraction. Rob’s plan all along was having fun like any other weekend, any other Saturday. Going out with his friends and ending up in a different club every time was a tradition at this point and honestly, the best part of his week. It was the best way to clear his head after a long week working his boring 9 to 5 at his father’s company. Unwinding from that meant drinking a few drinks, dancing a few songs, and maybe finding some stranger to pass the time. That was always the plan.

Maybe this time the blond could be that helpful stranger, couldn’t he? He had noticed him as soon as he sat on the bar, an hour and a half before. Beautiful body, great ass, broad set of shoulders, lovely face… The guy was a wet dream. Rob’s gaze went to the bar again and again since he found him, half expecting to find the man suddenly accompanied by a group of friends, or maybe someone else, someone luckier than Rob. Maybe at some point he thought the man would abandon the bar in favor of the dance floor. But none of those things had happened yet.

Ninety minutes and many songs after that first time Rob saw him, the guy was still sitting there, whiskey in hand. Or whiskeys, plural, judging by the time he spent sitting there he had to be several drinks in. Rob’s curiosity was poking his proverbial ribs, hard. When he was a kid his mom used to remind him that curiosity killed the cat in hopes he would learn to stop meddling in other people’s business, and yeah, his mom had been right, he had gotten in trouble more than once because he couldn’t contain himself, but this wasn’t one of those times, right? It wasn’t. He told himself so while he considered Mark’s words. There was no harm in going to talk to the guy, right? He seemed to be alone. Or lonely. Maybe he could use the company. Maybe a smile here and a compliment there could give the night a happy ending for the both of them.

It took him less than half a song to make up his mind. “I’ll be right back,” he let Mark know, and absolutely ignoring his best friend’s laughter, he finally fought his way through the dancing bodies, walking towards the bar. It was calmer there, less people, less noise. He sat on an empty stool, right by the gorgeous stranger. He kept his cool for a bit, studying the array of bottles on the wall, standing neatly one beside the other on mirrored shelves that reflected the flashy colored lights from the dance floor. When he chanced a sideways look at the stranger, he had to smile. The dancing lights were doing wonders with his face. He was pretty much breathtaking. Damn. He was wearing a… was that shirt see-through? Oh god… Rob bit his lips, admiring the way the sheen shirt rested on the guy’s shoulders, revealing a bit of his chest where the buttons were undone. He smiled to himself, already imagining how it would feel to reveal the skin below, until the barman finally noticed him.

He flashed a small smile and leant a bit over the bar top. “I’ll have two of whatever he’s having,” he requested with a wink. The barman threw him a small knowing smile and got to work, grabbing clean glasses and a bottle. The stranger wasn’t as distracted as it seemed. Just like Rob expected. He raised his head from whatever was so interesting about the bottom of the glass in his hand, and finally looked at Rob. Oh wow. Rob was met with the deepest bluest eyes in existence. Whatever smooth line he had prepared for that moment was swallowed by the mush his brain became. They were the most amazing eyes he had ever seen, but they looked sad. He frowned, thinking maybe he was imagining that sadness, after all he didn’t even know this man. Maybe it was just the light playing tricks, making him see a tiny frown between those eyebrows. On the other hand, the man had spent the past ninety minutes sat on the same stool, at a gay bar, drinking booze, so…

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” a deep voice informed him. Rob smiled wider, loving the way that voice seemed to make his entire body vibrate. He took a few seconds to imagine that voice whispering dirty things all over his skin. Who could blame him?

Rob moved a bit closer, supporting his upper body weight with one elbow on the bar, facing the stranger. “It’s no problem. It’s just a drink, yeah? I would ask you to dance, but I suspect you’d say no to that.” Mark would scold him for his poor flirting skills, always too forward, always too blunt. It wasn’t his fault cute men turned his thoughts into jelly. And this man was beyond cute. He was gorgeous.

“Your suspicions would prove true,” the guy replied, gifting Rob with a tiny smile that could be considered a small victory. It wasn’t the usual reaction, but he would take it. He knew what he looked like in these situations. He knew how to pick the right outfit to accentuate his body, he knew how to move and how to talk to earn at least an interested look when he flirted with someone. Not this time, though. A smile was going to have to do. It was a beautiful smile after all.

“Not much of a dancer or…?” Rob asked. He was just making small talk. The stranger didn’t seem too bothered after all.

The barman put their drinks on the bar top and Rob took money out of his pocket to pay. The stranger let him, which was nice. Rob hated trying to buy drinks for people and having them want to pay instead. A gift is a gift. This guy just shrugged watching the transaction. It was nice. “Not in the mood,” was his reply after downing what was left in his previous glass, sliding it towards the barman when he finished.

“Bad day?” Rob insisted, grabbing his glass with one hand and lifting it to his lips. Apparently whiskey on the rocks was the blond’s poison of choice. Cheap whiskey, judging by the price and the taste.

The cheap drink should’ve been a warning, an omen. The guy’s shoulders lifted a bit and then fell slowly, giving the impression he was sighing, inaudibly. “Bad couple of years, more like…” was his reply, in a low voice, like he was talking more to himself than Rob. Oh. That explained the ninety minutes boozing up, but it was a clear sign that there was more, it was just a hint of a story. And that was Rob’s downfall, wasn’t it? Because hell would freeze over the day he just walked away from a statement like that one. There was more behind that reply. There was fuel setting his natural curiosity on fire.

At least that was the excuse Rob found to justify his decision of not leaving the guy alone. The way those eyes made him feel had nothing to do with it, no sir. He put his glass back down on the bar and took a second to find an appropriate way to ask what he wanted to know. “Wanna let it out of your chest?” he asked, cocking his head to one side, hoping he would look trustworthy enough.

The guy started slowly spinning his glass around on the bar top with his fingers, watching it intently. “Don’t you prefer dancing and having fun? I’m a bit of a downer today.” he asked, and Rob smirked.

“Not really, I could use a break, I’m tired. Also, judging by the amount of time you spent here drinking by yourself, I suspect you could use someone to talk to, right?” Rob chanced, making himself comfortable on his stool.

The stranger smiled again, this time looking right into Rob’s eyes. There was a little blush high on his cheeks, maybe because he realized Rob basically confessed he had noticed him a long time ago. Oh wow. Rob bit his lip, trying to ignore how cute that was. “Once again, your suspicions are correct,” the guy confirmed, nodding.

Rob smiled his victory smile, which in turn made the guy smile again, wider. A smile that fell as soon as Rob spoke. “I’m listening then.”

The guy sighed again, this time deeply, loudly, unmistakable. His eyes left Rob’s and went back to his glass. “Have you ever…?” he started and then stopped, shaking his head. “You ever been through one of those situations that make you question everything you knew, everything you thought was a fact, everything you based your life on?” Rob just shook his head, even if the question was clearly rhetorical. “I spent the last four years of my life believing a lie. How is that even possible?” Rob frowned. This wasn’t a fun story. Fuck. “I found out the woman I’ve been dating for four years was cheating on me with one of our friends. Been cheating for the past two years. God, I even bought her a ring, how stupid am I?” he asked, letting out a small, sad chuckle. Fuck.

Rob frowned and felt a special kind of anger bubbling up inside him. An anger he knew well. An anger he remembered from when his asshole of a father left his mom for another woman. He could never understand how someone could be so fucking despicable. If you don’t love someone, then leave them, right? Why do you have to cheat? Why do you have to be such a fucking piece of shit? “Hey, no, you’re not stupid,” Rob affirmed sternly, reaching out to grab the guy’s shoulder reassuringly. “Nothing a person does makes them deserving of being cheated on, that’s cowardly and nasty and just… such an awful thing to do, man…” Rob knew he didn’t really know this stranger, much less his ex-girlfriend, but he did know cheating was the lowest thing ever. “You did nothing wrong, you just… You just gave someone your heart and you hoped she would take care of it. And she didn’t. That’s not on you, okay? That doesn’t make you stupid.” The guy seemed skeptical, rolling his eyes, dropping his shoulders.

“Knowing that doesn’t make me feel like I didn’t waste four years of my life. I should’ve seen it. I should’ve have known, I should’ve… I don’t know… I know it’s not my fault but I can’t help thinking about all the things I could’ve done differently to keep her from doing that. Fuck…” Rob bit his bottom lip after hearing that. It was… It was hard. He wished he had the right words to tell this man exactly what he needed to hear. He didn’t even have time to think, because the blond kept going. “I already heard it all, I can’t… I know I’m still young, I know I’ll probably meet someone else, I know it’ll stop hurting one day, but right now… Right now nothing makes sense, I just… I can’t find the strength to let go, to stop feeling, I… I don’t even know what love means anymore, I just… feel like I can’t breathe every time I remember…” he confessed in a jumble of words and half sentences, and Rob felt a dagger twisting in his heart when he saw the stranger’s eyes well up with tears. Oh fuck, no…

It was ridiculous, right? It had to be. Any man in his right mind would slowly walk away from the broken mess this guy was. Rob had no obligation, no responsibility to console him. He should’ve walked away as soon as he realized a one night stand was not a possibility. The thing was he just… couldn’t. He didn’t want to. He felt this overwhelming need of making this blue eyed man smile again, feel good again, be happy again. Anything.

Rob blamed his undying hero complex for what he did next. He just hopped off his stool to stand right next to the guy, draping an arm over his shoulders, his other hand softly landing on his forearm. “Hey, man, it’s---“ the words never got to leave his mouth. The blond moved without warning and all of a sudden the guy’s arms ended up wrapped around Rob’s torso and his face hid in the crook of Rob’s neck. And once again, any man would walk the hell away from this mess, but Rob didn’t even think about that. Not for one second. “It’s okay…” he whispered, wrapping both arms around the other man, hands splayed on his back, holding him. “You’re gonna be okay…” He closed his eyes, saying the words almost like a prayer. Damn, he knew his words meant nothing, he knew probably every one of the guy’s friends told him the same thing already, but he still said them. “You’re gonna heal, okay? You’re gonna be happy again, you’re just… such a lovely person, and I know you’re going to meet someone that’s going to take actual care of your heart, yeah? Someone that’s going to be very aware of how lucky they are, someone that’s going to show you what love really means. You’ll see…” he felt the guy’s chest shake, and Rob closed his eyes tighter, unconsciously moving his thumbs over his back, slowly caressing those little sobs away. God… Rob was… how was this guy even real? How was he so open, so unashamed, so sweet? It didn’t even matter that the guy was probably just drunk, any other person would have told him to fuck off instead of opening up as soon as he started to pry. Yet here they were, holding each other. Rob felt he was holding a treasure in his arms instead of just a regular person and that was kind of overwhelming, it was much more than he expected when he walked up to the bar.

The problem was he just knew this guy was not his to keep; he definitely wasn't in that club looking for any of the things Rob had to offer. Rob wasn’t, like… boyfriend material. He had no hope, and it went beyond knowing sex was out of the question. He was young and stupid, unreliable, he was almost twenty five but he still felt like a teenager most days. Even if this guy paid him any kind of attention, he wasn’t what he needed, right? As the guy slowly untangled himself from their embrace, Rob tried to make peace with that fact. He was most likely never going to see this man again. No reason to feel so attached already, so shaken.

“I’m sorry for that, I just…” the guy apologized, looking embarrassed but not looking away from Rob. “I feel kind of lonely? Most of my friends were also hers and well, for some reason they sided with her, so… sorry I broke down like that,” he shrugged a bit and Rob felt his heart beat so hard it was a miracle his ribs didn’t burst open. Who was this guy?

“Hey, told you, it’s okay, yeah?” he promised, keeping his hand on the blond’s shoulder to emphasize his point. “And I meant what I said. I know it may seem like crazy talk right now, but you seem like such an amazing guy. You’re gonna be okay, I’m sure of it. Just… Try to spend some time loving yourself. Everything will be okay,” Rob winked and smiled, making the guy smile too while he rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.

“Thank you…” the guy said after a deep sigh. “I needed that, I…” he chuckled, shaking his head. “God, you must think I’m crazy, having a breakdown in the middle of a club, crying and all…”

Rob laughed, looking down for a second. If only this guy knew what he was actually feeling… “Not at all, man,” he assured the other guy. “Not crazy, just a little lonely. I’m glad I could help a bit,” he looked back at the blond, smiling.

The stranger held his gaze, the silence between them too loud for a moment in spite of the music. “You’re lovely.” The small confession left the blond’s lips and went straight to Rob’s heart. “I wish I could have met you at a different moment of my life.” Fuck… Rob pressed his lips in a little smile. This was just a conversation between two strangers at a club, why did it feel so poignant, so life altering? Why did everything become so heavy all of a sudden, like the air was charged with electricity?

“Me too…” he replied, not thinking, biting his lower lip. He was not going to kiss the guy. He wasn’t supposed to and he knew it wasn’t right, but dammit, he wanted to. He felt there were words he was never going to be able to find to explain what he was feeling, and maybe a kiss would relay the message perfectly, but the guy said it, right? Not the place, not the time.

“I should go,” the stranger whispered after what felt like an eternity of just watching each other. Rob couldn’t remember the last time he felt a connection like that, couldn’t remember if looking in another person’s eyes ever made him feel like that. Those eyes still looked sad and now they were teary and they still made every one of his bones vibrate. Rob made his best effort to capture that moment, those eyes, that feeling, before the man broke the spell. “Take care, okay? And thank you again,” the guy said before hopping off his stool and walking away in a hurry. Rob was too stunned to do anything. He didn’t even ask him his name.

Chapter Text

June, 2014

  ‘Cause I'm sure, so sure
It's heaven knocking on my door .
Sure, so sure, so baby come on inside .
Need you so much, more and more each time we touch.  
Sure, so sure that it's sweet love I found .

Rob wasn’t really in the mood for dancing, but god, Mark knew how to bribe him. He was pretty tired after a long day at work. His stepfather was like a shark, he definitely smelled blood in the water as soon as Rob decided a few months ago to actually do something with his life. The man decided to give him a huge promotion to help him along, more responsibility, more hours. Yeah, more money too, but it was exhausting. His stepfather said the challenge was going to be perfect for Rob. He went from being a simple low level errand boy to actually helping his stepdad run the business. It made him proud of himself, and damn the man’s brilliant brain, but he had been right. It was exactly what Rob needed.

It took only a few months for the change in his work to start reflecting on the rest of his life. He improved his diet, he started waking up earlier, he became more responsible, smarter. He was even exercising, for fuck’s sake. He was still incredibly single and enjoying the perks of not being tied down, but at least now he felt like he was starting to get the hang of being a proper adult.

And that’s why it took Mark some bribing to drag him out to a club on a Friday night. Not that he was too hard to bribe, the promise of all drinks on Mark was enough to get his tired ass off the couch.

Strangely enough, as soon as their taxi stopped at the club’s entrance, Rob felt like he was walking out of a time machine or something. How stupid was it that he instantly recognized the place? How ridiculous was it that he remembered? It had been just a fifteen minutes long conversation with a stranger, but he still remembered every word. It was a habit of his, clinging to details, to small things. His memory was full of those. He couldn’t remember what he had for breakfast, but he remembered what song was playing at the school dance when he had his first kiss, he remembered what he was wearing when he met Mark, he remembered the sweet smell of the flowers his grandma used to decorate her kitchen with and yes, he remembered every word he shared one year ago with a complete stranger. He even remembered his smile and the exact color of his eyes.

Walking into the same club filled him with this weird anticipation, like he was half expecting to look at the bar and find him there still, shoulders hunched, sipping on bad whiskey. No one cloud blame him for ending up looking for him as soon as they approached the bar. In vain, of course.

He wasn’t really disappointed. He knew he was being silly.  Too sentimental, that’s what his mom used to say. Always attached to little things. He just shrugged it off and after buying a few drinks, he followed Mark to the dancefloor.

Dancing was always the perfect way to relax for Rob. Following a beat, getting lost in the music, moving his body, sweating, singing out loud, being silly… He always refused to spend his life pretending to be someone else, but while he was dancing, he always became the purest version of himself he could be, unashamed, free…

By the time the DJ decided to play his favorite song, he had already lost Mark to some beautiful model looking guy. He didn’t care much, he was having fun anyways. He danced with his eyes closed, enjoying the beat, enjoying the song. He had no idea what made him open his eyes and turn around when the song finished, he just did, and what he found made him question his sanity. There was the blond. It had to be him. He was dancing and talking with two taller guys, maybe friends. He was… He was the same person, but in a way it was like seeing him for the first time. He was smiling, big. Like, huge grin on his face. There was no trace of sadness, no frown between his eyebrows. He was laughing and Rob couldn’t hear the sound but he sure wanted to, so bad.

He had spent long hours wondering what had happened to his beautiful stranger. He always wondered if he had found happiness, if he had found that someone he deserved. Rob forgot all about the world around them, he forgot about dancing and the music, he simply got lost in the guy instead. He was wearing a white tank top, toned arms showing off. Blue jeans hugged his legs (and ass) wonderfully. He was a complete dork dancing, he followed the beat but his moves were all over the place, they were cheesy and fantastic and Rob bit his lower lip, once again fascinated.

The vision that was the stranger dancing like that answered a few of Rob’s questions, didn’t it? He looked happy. Like, really happy, it was like seeing a completely different person. Once again Rob felt the usual pull, the need to know more. His brain provided him a few possible answers to the questions he still wanted to ask, and that was what made him stay in his place instead of maybe approaching the guy. Why did it feel so… bitter? The thought of this man being finally happy with someone else?

He was being an irrational moron. Pissed off with himself, he closed his eyes and kept dancing, ignoring the stranger. After all, the guy was exactly that, right? A stranger. He had to stay a stranger. By the time he opened his eyes again, the guy was gone. Rob swore he would not feel disappointed about that.

A few songs later, however, he decided he needed another drink to help him swallow down that stupid disappointment he was feeling anyways. He turned around again and walked between the sea of people towards the bar. Just as he was about to reach his destination, a hand grabbed his shoulder.

“It is you…” Rob’s heart hit the floor and bounced back into his chest. He would recognize that deep voice anywhere. Another silly detail. He turned around so fast he gave himself whiplash, and effectively, the beautiful man was standing in front of him, smiling wide, most likely not even aware of the effect he was having on Rob’s entire existence.

Rob couldn’t even help smiling. The safest course of action would’ve been to shrug, say he didn’t remember. The problem was he did remember. His body clearly had no intention of hiding that fact. “Hey, stranger…” he greeted, not knowing what to say not to sound like a complete creep. He wasn’t ready to admit to anyone how present this man had been in his mind since that first time they met. A casual hello would have to do.

That worry was good and buried as soon as the man moved, suddenly all up in his space. Oh. Another hug. Rob bit his lower lip, hard. This time it was a full on hug, his chest against the other man’s, strong arms wrapped around his neck. It was short, quick, but it shook him to the core.

“I can’t believe you’re here! I mean, I thought I was never going to see you again,” the guy confessed as soon as he pulled away. Man… Rob could understand being hung up on a stranger he met a year ago, that’s just the way his heart worked, but why did the guy have to remember him too? “I even… Nevermind… How are you?” he asked, and Rob shrugged.

“I’m fine, doing good. You? Better?” he had to ask. He had to. There was no chance he could pass up the opportunity to really know if his assessment had been right.

The stranger laughed and nodded, smile unwavering. “Much better,” he promised, looking proud of that fact. Rob smiled too. He could only imagine what the past year must have been like for a man that saw his entire world crumble in front of him. The fact that he was now standing tall, happy and in one piece, was just… It made Rob feel like he was once again in the presence of a treasure. An invaluable man. “I’m Gary by the way. I never got to introduce myself,” he reminded Rob after a short silence, pulling him away from his thoughts. Like Rob could ever forget he never asked for a name. He spent an embarrassing amount of hours wondering what the guy’s name could be. There was another one of the answers Rob desperately wanted, generously given by his stranger himself. Gary. Not stranger.

“Nice meeting, or, well, officially meeting you, Gary. I’m Rob,” he replied. There was no need for a handshake. There wasn’t really room for it either; the place was packed enough for them to be forced to stand way too close to one another. It wasn’t helping Rob’s clarity.

Gary’s dorky smile was more than enough replacement for a handshake for Rob, though. “Nice meeting you too. Officially.” Now it was Rob’s turn to laugh, and probably blush. Thank god for flashy dancefloor lights.    

“So,” Rob started, words piling up on his tongue, threatening to come out. “You’re… You look good,” he blurted out. Fuck. Fuck Gary for not letting him think clearly. Still, Gary smiled in response, just as Rob thought that maybe he shouldn’t have said anything. He was afraid of the answer. He was irrationally terrified of Gary’s possible answer to that, of the possible explanations and details. He was stupidly afraid of hearing Gary confess he found the one. He knew it was ridiculous. Rob had no claim over Gary. No reason to be jealous. They had only shared a conversation a whole year ago. In that conversation, he had promised Gary he was going to find that one person. Why was he so worried about that promise coming true?

His heart refused to slow down while Gary nodded, barely swaying his body to the beat Rob was already ignoring. “Yeah, I’m very good, man, it’s just… You were right,” Gary informed him, and since when being right felt so bittersweet?

“So, you found that person?” he asked, cautiously. His masochism had to know. It was better this way. He had to know, for his own sake.

Gary laughed again, loud, and Rob bit his lip, hard, needing a distraction from how cute that laugh was. “Oh, no, not yet,” Gary confessed, and Rob’s heart went even faster instead of calming down. Damn. “I mean, you were right about the self-loving thing?” Yeah, Rob remembered that part, so he nodded. “I spent this past year just, paying attention to myself, you know? Finding myself again after the mess that was the break up, working, spending time with my family, healing, making new friends,” Rob nodded again, smiling. He focused on how nice it felt, knowing that all that sadness was finally gone. He adamantly refused to hear the voice in his head screaming at him about how single this marvelous man was this time. “It helped me a lot, you know? The things you said to me? They stayed with me for some reason, and… you helped me so much that night, just… Thank you, really,” he explained, and Rob was flabbergasted. He had spent an entire year feeling like a complete idiot for being so hung up on a stranger that was probably never going to remember him and now here he was, in front of that same stranger again, hearing him confess he remembered him too.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times like a fish out of the water, feeling his heart so full he was having trouble breathing. “I’m… I’m so glad you… I mean, I’m glad I could help. I always wondered what had happened to you, you know, but yeah, I didn’t even know your name, so I couldn’t…” He knew he was babbling, he couldn’t help it.

And he really wanted to think Gary’s blush was a figment of his imagination, but the smile was there, a big smile, a hint of innocence and shyness completely ruined by the way his teeth caught his lower lip. Rob lost track of what he was saying, he just resumed his goldfish act. It was Gary that rescued him from looking like a complete idiot, moving closer to him. Or maybe the crowd pushed him closer, whatever. “That’s so crazy, isn’t it?” Gary asked, tilting his head to one side, making Rob’s heart grow three sizes. “That we met so long ago for only a brief moment but we still remember each other like this?”

How could Rob even begin to explain how accurate the word crazy was to describe what he was feeling? Surely he belonged in the loony bin for remembering Gary like that, for having wondered for an entire year what had happened to him? How insane was he, closing his eyes months after having seen Gary, and still remembering the exact shade of blue his eyes were? What kind of interstellar planetary alignment had happened to make Rob find his stranger again? What kind of ridiculous awful thing had happened to him in a previous life for karma to be gifting him with a Gary that was apparently as insane as he was? He was far from understanding how his silly little insufficient words made his presence stay in Gary’s mind, so he replied with the only thing he could understand. The reason why Gary stayed in his mind. “Well, you… you’re quite unforgettable,” he confessed, not really knowing if such a simple word could encompass everything Gary made him feel that night.

“Oh, shut up…” Gary scolded him, his cheeks turning a deeper shade of lovely pink. “I was just a very sad guy drinking cheap whiskey.” Rob scoffed. ‘Just a very sad guy’ sounded so small and ridiculous.

Gary was amazing. He opened his heart like it didn’t even have a door or a lock to begin with, he let Rob tell him silly words, he was sweet and adorable and so fucking beautiful… “An unforgettable one…” he repeated, making Gary laugh and look at him again.

“Dance with me?” Gary asked all of a sudden, leaving Rob speechless and dizzy. He didn’t even need to reply, Gary moved even closer without waiting for permission. He lifted his arms and wrapped them around Rob’s neck, and before Rob could even process what was happening, they were dancing, slowly, swaying side to side like they were listening to some sweet ballad instead of an upbeat dance song. The whole club became a blur for Rob. The only thing he could see was Gary’s smile, his eyes looking straight into Rob’s. The only thing he could feel was Gary’s body pressed against his own, the warmth spreading through his skin. He moved his hands as soon as he recovered from the shock, linking them behind Gary’s lower back, keeping him in place, close to him.

“This is not at all how I thought this night would go…” Rob confessed, looking into Gary’s blue eyes. He was pretty sure it would be a simple night out, like it used to be. Drinks, dancing, a stranger… Only this wasn’t any stranger, and Rob felt like he was caught in some sort of impossible dream.

Gary laughed, the sound reverberating through Rob’s ribs. “Is that so?” he asked, smirking. “Why is that?”

Rob sighed, wondering how hard he would regret what he was about to say. “I never came back to this club after that night, you know?” he began, shrugging. “For nothing in particular, my friends and I just always choose different places to go every weekend. And tonight I ended up here again, as soon as I recognized this place I couldn’t help wishing…”

“…you could find me here?” Gary finished the thought for him, a hopeful look in his eyes. “Yeah, me too…” he added, and Rob felt his heart beat in his throat.

“Really?” Rob asked. He wasn’t the kind of self-deprecating guy that has a hard time believing good things could happen to him, but this was too much. This felt like he was day-dreaming. This beautiful man in his arms confessing these things was too much.

Gary bit his lip for a second, like he was trying to find words. “Remember how I told you I wished we could have met at a different moment of my life?” he asked. Like Rob could forget that. Like Rob hadn’t wished the very same thing. Like Rob hadn’t fantasized about meeting Gary before that cold bitch broke his heart. He nodded, letting his arms hold Gary tighter.

“I think my wish came true” he confessed, a small smile on his lips. “Hi, I’m Gary. Nice to meet you. Again.” Rob was caught by surprise. For some reason, he never imagined that that different moment Gary talked about could be in the future. He always considered it this missed opportunity fate stole from them in the past, before Gary’s heart got broken. Yet here they were, for the second time, and it was kind of like meeting again, wasn’t it?

It didn’t matter how impossible this looked. It didn’t matter that felt like a scene out of those romantic movies Mark likes to torture himself with. Rob had spent way too much time dreaming about this to simply let it go just because it felt unlikely or ridiculous. “Hi, I’m Rob. Nice meeting you too,” he replied, loving the little giggle Gary gifted him with.

“I’m twenty eight years old, I work at the museum and I play piano in my free time,” Gary explained, and this time Rob giggled like an idiot. “I like chocolate way too much, I speak German and I loathe raisins,” he added, nodding after he was done, encouraging Rob to give it a try.

Rob sighed, already beyond hooked. “I’m twenty six, I work at my stepfather’s company and I love reading. I speak fluent sarcasm, I think raisins are the worst thing mankind ever came up with and I really wanna kiss you right now…”

Gary full on laughed, the sound musical and marvelous and short lived. As Gary’s mouth found Rob’s, the sound died between their lips.