City Sidewalks Chapter Five

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A week or so passed… or was it months? It seemed like longer than it was for both men, but somehow they ended up back in the same bookstore at the same time. Brian had been stocking the fiction section and was muttering to himself as he tried to find a home for the book in his hand. His shoulder collided with someone’s and he had to bite his lip to hold back a curse as he glanced up.2

“Sorry,” he said with a somewhat false smile that turned into one not so fake as he found himself looking into those… magical golden eyes again. “Hey…” His face broke into a genuine smile this time.3

“Hi!” James replied with a crooked grin of his own, brushing his hair off his face as he closed the book he’d been looking at, pulling it to his chest as if to protect it somehow. “How-how’ve you been?”4

Watching James brush his hair away caused Brian to compulsively do it himself, shrugging a little with a slight grin. “I’ve been all right,” he said, though he wouldn’t admit that this enigma had been in his thoughts more than anyone had in a very long time. “You?”5

“Lonely, bored, but hey, that’s what books are for, right?” James replied with a slight grin as he tilted his head to the side a little. “I must have read Pride and Prejudice twenty times since you got it for me. But now I kind of want something else.”6

“Well, what’re you looking for?” Brian inquired with a slight tilt of his head, shifting the books that were in his arms. James shrugged and passed his tongue over his bottom lip, running his hand through his hair.7

“I kind of want something with mystery, romance, you know, that kind of thing,” he explained, and Brian grinned a little.8

“Let me finish putting these away, and I think I’ve got the perfect book for you,” he replied with a nod, which James mimicked, watching Brian put the books in their appropriate spots. Once he was finished, the longhaired man came over with a grin. “All right, come with me.”9

“Okay,” James replied obediently, and followed as Brian led him to the fantasy section. He watched long fingers linger over a book with a movie cover, Stardust, but then they opted to go for the copy without the movie cover, snatching it off the shelf and holding it.10

“This book is really awesome,” he said, turning and holding it out to James, who took it with a quizzical look. “I liked the movie, but it’s one of those things where you have to separate the two and appreciate them as completely different works. The book is really a lot better; they left a lot out from the book, as they normally do.”11

“What else has he written?” James asked with a slight tilt to his head, tracing over the author name, ‘Neil Gaiman.’12

“Did you ever read those comics, Sandman, when you were younger?” Brian asked, rocking back on his heels as he brushed his hair from his face. James looked up with a small smile and a nod. “Well, he did those as well.”13

“Oh, wow, I didn’t know he wrote novels too,” James murmured reverently, smiling a bit as he turned the book over and began to read the back. “Wow, this sounds perfect.” His voice was rapturous as he looked up with a wide grin.14

“It really is perfect; it’s another one of those troubled roads to lead to perfect happiness things,” Brian assured with a small smile, crossing his arms over his chest lazily. “Words, once they are printed, have a life of their own.”15

James looked up, brows furrowing a little in curiosity. “Where’s that from?” he inquired, and Brian chuckled a little, looking down to the floor as he tried to remember who had said the quote.16

“I think it was Carol Burnett that said that,” he replied with a small smile as he looked back up, deep brown eyes glittering. “I don’t know anything else about her, but that quote alone made me love her.”17

James sighed a bit and smiled wider. “Me too,” he said softly, though it was a little less than obvious that he wasn’t talking about Carol Burnett, especially the way his eyes glittered as he looked upon Brian.18

“I love quotes,” Brian continued, possibly to maneuver away from the subject. The look on James’ face was making his heart flutter all too heatedly, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away, nor could he get the quirky little smile off his face as it tugged harder at the corner of his lips.19

“Yeah? Spout me off one,” James challenged good-naturedly and Brian laughed, running his hand through his hair and licking over his lips. 20

“Well, give me a subject,” Brian insisted, and it was James’ turn to laugh as he tilted his head a bit, pulling the copy of Stardust closer to his chest, almost as if to protect himself.21

“Chance,” James replied with a small smile, and Brian’s eyebrows rose a bit, but the smile widened nonetheless as he got a contemplative look on his face, his hand moving up to rub the back of his neck.22

“Well, there’s ‘Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. That’s, uh, William Jennings Bryan,” Brian said with a slight grin, tucking his hair behind his ear, and James smiled in return, nodding a little.23

“I’ve never heard that one,” the pink-haired man admitted with a slight laugh. “I like it.”24

“Me too,” Brian replied, glancing around and biting on his lower lip lightly as he heard a gruff shout from Alex. “Um, I… should probably get back to work.” A slight frown made its way onto his thin lips, and it was slightly reciprocated by James. “Come on, I’ll ring you up for that,” he offered with a slight grin.25

“Okay,” James said with a soft smile, licking over his lips and sighing once Brian had turned his back, and he followed him to the counter, only to find him frozen in his tracks. 26

It took Brian a moment to process what he saw. “H-hey, Chelle,” he said with a small smile, walking over to his girlfriend, who was leaning over the counter chatting with Alex, wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing her cheek. She moved her head to catch his lips in a short but deep kiss. James flushed and looked down as he hung back.27

He was straight. How could he have been straight?!