Miles & Bobby, Saturday afternoon
May. 12th, 2018 04:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsMiles and Bobby have a heart-to-heart to work through their issues . . . which ends in lips to lips.
It was with a steely resolve that Miles pulled into the Salem Center Five Guys parking lot, stepped out of his car, and entered the building. He had been through hell, literally, and now he was back and had time to process, so it was time for action.
After the three people in line in front of him were served.
Once he got to the front, he looked the cashier straight in the eyes and said, "I'll have a bacon cheeseburger with lettuce, pickles, onions, tomatoes, mustard, and hot sauce, and a large soda and large fries, and also I want to talk with you right goddamn now."
Bobby hadn't been looking up any more than absolutely necessary as he took each person's order, taking their money and then getting ready to take the next one, occasionally calling out when people's orders were ready for pick-up. His heart just wasn't in his job today; not that it was most days, but sometimes he'd do the little extra things, like adding extra napkins to the bag or chilling the drinks just a little bit more. He was proud that he saw online somewhere that their store had the coldest sodas in town.
When Miles came in and ordered, however, he didn't look away. He blinked a lot, and waited for him to finish before saying anything. Then he sighed as he punched in the order, perhaps a little harder than was strictly necessary.
"Can't talk now, sir, working. That'll be $9.25. Will that be cash, debit, or credit?"
Miles handed him a twenty, but did not let go when Bobby reached to take it. "You got a break coming up? Bro, I'm not leaving. I'll stay 'til your shift ends if I have to. You know I will. I ain't playing. I'm that stubborn."
He knew that was true, without a doubt. There was no use in trying to avoid Miles at this point, he realized. Bobby looked at the clock to his right then turned back to Miles. "I get a fifteen minute break in, like, ten minutes. Or whenever Brad gets back from his smoke break, whichever comes first." That'd give Miles enough time to eat his food anyway, and for Bobby to try and prepare for whatever conversation was about to take place.
Satisfied with the response, Miles let go of the bill and pocketed the change he received. The place was not busy, so he got his order in no time, and quickly chowed down, staring at his phone the whole time. He did not even unlock it, he was just watching the clock, literally counting ten minutes since he had spoken with Bobby. He was so nervous that by the time he finished his burger, he still had five-and-a-half minutes left. Fries took another 82 seconds. And even with all that food, he could not satisfy whatever was gnawing away at his gut. Maybe another burger would soothe his nerves, but before he could get up to order, he saw another guy about his age walk in from the back door. Miles stood up so fast he nearly knocked over his chair.
Brad came back a lot quicker than Bobby had anticipated. Or maybe he'd just been hoping that his co-worker would've been longer. Either way, he was back now, and Bobby had no more excuses not to go over and talk to Miles. Unless...
"Drake, I'm back, go take your fifteen."
He sighed. Nope, no excuses at all.
Taking his hat off - the symbol that he was off-duty, to him anyway - Bobby sauntered out from behind the counter and headed for the thankfully empty corner of the store where Miles stood. He played with his hat, holding it in front of him and running his fingers along the back of it.
"So do you wanna stay in here or..." he trailed off.
It was still cold as hell outside, but this was a private conversation and it would not do for Bobby's coworkers or the other patrons to overhear what would be said. "Um, there a break room or something? If I'm allowed to go in there. Or I guess my car. Front seat." Miles could have smacked himself for making that quip. As if this were not awkward and uncomfortable enough.
"Yeah, follow me." He nodded to one of the other guys as he headed back behind the counter with Miles. "It's cool, he's with me." It was probably for the best that they went somewhere more private, if they were going to talk about what Bobby figured they were going to talk about. Because what else would they have to talk about, after all?
The break room was a small enclosed space, complete with an old couch and a few beat up old chairs around a wooden table. There was a fridge for staff lunches and whatnot in one corner, and a solitary calendar hung from one wall, otherwise it was pretty barren.
Bobby plopped down on the couch, which squeaked audibly in protest. "So... what's up, dude?" He managed a small grin that was not at all natural, which was probably more than obvious to Miles.
Miles took one of the chairs, but found he could not sit down comfortably. He blamed the crappy chair and not the tremors running through his body. "Okay, mira," he started, standing back up. "I've been thinking a lot since the party, you know? Like, a lot. And . . . I owe you an apology. A really big one. I crossed a line and made you uncomfortable, and I'm sorry."
"The party, the party..." Bobby rubbed his chin as he tried to recall exactly what Miles was talking about, knowing that neither of them were buying it. "Oh. Oh, yeah, that one." He waved a hand at Miles, leaning back further into the couch. "Nah, no apology needed, man. It was just, y'know." He shrugged as if it were no big deal, but wasn't quite making eye contact with his former roomie. "Stuff happened."
The faux casualness, inability to keep eye contact, and atypically high voice tone all made it obvious to Miles that Bobby did not actually believe what he said. He was still distressed, Miles concluded, so clearly his apology, however genuine, was not accepted. Miles frowned and continued. "No, I . . . Stuff happened 'cuz I wasn't thinking. If I was thinking then I'd've realized I . . . Jesus, I thought this would be easier to say. It was so easy when I talked to Gabo about it."
"None of us were thinking, not about... that kinda stuff." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, dude. It's a typical thing that happens at these parties, the whole bottle stuff, we just didn't plan to, y'know." Bobby looked around to see if anyone else had come into or near the break room before continuing. "The whole lip thing. It's fine, honestly." He really didn't blame Miles for it happening, he was just having a hell of a time wrestling with himself over what it meant, and the kind of thoughts it had him thinking.
"It was a good kiss." Miles's gaze fell to the floor and he sat down listlessly, feeling the energy drain out of him as he made this confession. "I liked kissing you."
Bobby didn't know what to say to that, especially the second part. He'd been wondering how Miles felt about the whole thing, and now he knew. That didn't make it any easier; if anything, it made it about a billion times more difficult, truth be told. His mind strayed to math classes of yore, to examples of trying to solve both sides of an equation, simplifying here and canceling things out there. He couldn't follow the calculus back then and he sure as hell couldn't follow it now. Miles may have solved one side of the equation, but Bobby was feeling hopelessly lost with his part right about now.
He had to answer though, had to say something.
"I..." he stammered. "I... didn't hate it," finished Bobby nervously. "It's all a little strange, I guess. I don't know." He gave another noncommittal shrug and opened his mouth to say more, then closed it just as abruptly.
It may have been a trite comic book cliche, but right now, Miles wished he were facing Doctor Octopus or stuck back in Limbo. He could manage that sort of danger. Any fool can take a stand against villainy, mundane or super. That did not require the kind of bravery he needed for what he would say next. The courage to be honest about oneself, especially to someone so cherished, was something entirely different.
Miles took a deep breath, held it for a second, and let it out before looking up at his friend. "Bobby, I'm bisexual."
"Does that mean what I think it does?" asked Bobby after a few seconds of silence. He was pretty sure he knew but this was all coming at him a little too fast. His usual approach in life of cracking wise or making a joke wasn't going to work here, which made things a little harder to handle too, but he knew this was important.
"Which... if you're... that, and if you liked... that... then..." Even basic relationship arithmetic was stumping him at the moment, it seemed.
The threat of cerebral meltdown would have been funny if this encounter were not so urgent to Miles. He finally found the one thing that stopped Bobby's seemingly never-ending stream of dad jokes and bad puns. And all it took was admitting "I like girls and guys, too. I . . . like you." Miles almost could not believe he finally said that out loud. But that finally broke the dam and more words spilled forth uncontrollably. "I didn't think so at first, I thought it's just, you know, I haven't had a girlfriend in a while and we were drunk and having a fun time but then I thought about it more and it's not just like crossed wires in my brain. I like hanging out with you. I feel good around you. I think you're good looking. More than that, actually. And I know, I know it's just me and you don't think that and it's fine. It's really fine. There's girls I liked who didn't like me back so it's not new. But I have to be honest with you, you know what I mean? I lied to you before and it was terrible and I don't wanna make that mistake again. So . . ."
"So..." Bobby took a deep breath and tried to process all of that. Some of it got through, other parts were gonna take a bit longer to parse. "I mean... dude, I like you too. You're a cool dude, I like hanging out with you, and you're..." This was where it got more difficult. "...you're a guy, and I know I like girls, but guys, I... it's not something I've been into before," he said, studying the back of his fingers on his right hand. "Maybe I do too, you were the first one I ever did... stuff with." He was trying hard not to keep saying 'you know' and just trailing off, so Bobby hoped that 'stuff' was an improvement, "And I don't think a guy has ever liked me before, not that I know of, so all of this is pretty new in, like, a bajillion ways." Which didn't make it bad, but it damn well made it confusing. He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled loudly, finally looking up at Miles for the first time in a while.
That was not the rejection for which Miles had steeled himself. That was not a rejection at all. He had started to tune out, expecting Bobby to let him down and toxic hetero-masculinity (thanks for the vocab, Gabo) to end their friendship because a straight guy could not just be friends with a queer. But when Bobby said "Maybe I do too," Miles snapped back to reality. He almost pinched himself to confirm he was in the real world. There was no flash of light this time signaling his abduction to an alien world, and his spider-sense was quiet as to be expected at a Five Guys. This was reality.
"This is . . . okay, this is not what I expected, not gonna lie," he confessed. He laughed a little, though the mirth did not quite reach his eyes, darting around the room to check for any hidden cameras recording him being punked or something. "So I don't actually have a response to that."
"Oh," was all Bobby managed. He didn't really know what else to say either. A quick glance at the clock showed that he had to get back on the floor soon, so he got to his feet and stretched out his arms. "Well... I have to get back to it, but... do you, like, want some free food to take home?" He was going to eat during his break but since they'd spent it talking someone else might as well take advantage of the free food. Miles had just eaten but they were growing young men, after all; he was sure his former roomie would find room for it.
"And maybe... I'm off tomorrow if you wanna, like." Bobby shrugged, still not doing well with the whole words thing. "Hang out or somethin'?" They hadn't just hung out for a long time now, so maybe that'd be a good place to start.
A place Miles was overjoyed to go to. He nodded, and the smile he wore this time was brighter, more hopeful. "Yeah. Um, I dunno if you wanna come down to the city or I can come up here? Maybe we could grab a bite. Something not patties of ground meat."
"I can come down to meet you, s'only fair since you came here today and all." That made sense to him at least, and making sense was a good thing, Bobby reckoned. "I'll text you when I'm up and about, and we can just go from there." He went over to a smaller freezer the employees kept in there and removed a small box of patties to give Miles.
He realized that he wasn't entirely sure what to do next as he stood there, frozen food in hand. They were both standing now, so Bobby moved closer to give him a bro hug. That morphed into a regular hug, however, and then, before he could think about it any further, he closed his eyes and kissed Miles. It wasn't a long, deep kiss, but it was a kiss, and holy shit. He wasn't scared or nervous about the kiss itself, because it felt right, but he had butterflies just the same.
So he pulled back and held out the box of frozen patties for Miles, a wry smile and raised eyebrows accompanying the gesture. "Is that ok?"
Miles was not expecting a box of free burgers. But he was really not expecting what followed. His brain started yelling at him, cheering him on while simultaneously second guessing the kiss and what it could mean and was Bobby just making fun of him and . . . If his brain had a face, he would punch it to shut it up so he could just enjoy the moment. It ended too soon for Miles's taste, and he lingered there for a second after Bobby pulled away.
Once he was back in reality, he processed what Bobby said and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that's a lot more than OK. I'll, uh, meet you at the train station?"
"Ok, yeah. Cool." Bobby grinned, then, unsure of what to do again and not wanting to make it awkward with another kiss, just kinda... clapped Miles on the shoulder. "Be seein' ya. Milesy." Ok, that was weird too but it was all he had, sadly.
Kind of a mixed signal, but after that kiss, Miles let it slide. Especially because that one implied the possibility of more kisses in the future. So he just nodded, and stepped back to let Bobby lead him out of the break room. He left the restaurant and got into his car, and it wasn't until he hit 95 that he realized he'd been grinning the whole time.
It was with a steely resolve that Miles pulled into the Salem Center Five Guys parking lot, stepped out of his car, and entered the building. He had been through hell, literally, and now he was back and had time to process, so it was time for action.
After the three people in line in front of him were served.
Once he got to the front, he looked the cashier straight in the eyes and said, "I'll have a bacon cheeseburger with lettuce, pickles, onions, tomatoes, mustard, and hot sauce, and a large soda and large fries, and also I want to talk with you right goddamn now."
Bobby hadn't been looking up any more than absolutely necessary as he took each person's order, taking their money and then getting ready to take the next one, occasionally calling out when people's orders were ready for pick-up. His heart just wasn't in his job today; not that it was most days, but sometimes he'd do the little extra things, like adding extra napkins to the bag or chilling the drinks just a little bit more. He was proud that he saw online somewhere that their store had the coldest sodas in town.
When Miles came in and ordered, however, he didn't look away. He blinked a lot, and waited for him to finish before saying anything. Then he sighed as he punched in the order, perhaps a little harder than was strictly necessary.
"Can't talk now, sir, working. That'll be $9.25. Will that be cash, debit, or credit?"
Miles handed him a twenty, but did not let go when Bobby reached to take it. "You got a break coming up? Bro, I'm not leaving. I'll stay 'til your shift ends if I have to. You know I will. I ain't playing. I'm that stubborn."
He knew that was true, without a doubt. There was no use in trying to avoid Miles at this point, he realized. Bobby looked at the clock to his right then turned back to Miles. "I get a fifteen minute break in, like, ten minutes. Or whenever Brad gets back from his smoke break, whichever comes first." That'd give Miles enough time to eat his food anyway, and for Bobby to try and prepare for whatever conversation was about to take place.
Satisfied with the response, Miles let go of the bill and pocketed the change he received. The place was not busy, so he got his order in no time, and quickly chowed down, staring at his phone the whole time. He did not even unlock it, he was just watching the clock, literally counting ten minutes since he had spoken with Bobby. He was so nervous that by the time he finished his burger, he still had five-and-a-half minutes left. Fries took another 82 seconds. And even with all that food, he could not satisfy whatever was gnawing away at his gut. Maybe another burger would soothe his nerves, but before he could get up to order, he saw another guy about his age walk in from the back door. Miles stood up so fast he nearly knocked over his chair.
Brad came back a lot quicker than Bobby had anticipated. Or maybe he'd just been hoping that his co-worker would've been longer. Either way, he was back now, and Bobby had no more excuses not to go over and talk to Miles. Unless...
"Drake, I'm back, go take your fifteen."
He sighed. Nope, no excuses at all.
Taking his hat off - the symbol that he was off-duty, to him anyway - Bobby sauntered out from behind the counter and headed for the thankfully empty corner of the store where Miles stood. He played with his hat, holding it in front of him and running his fingers along the back of it.
"So do you wanna stay in here or..." he trailed off.
It was still cold as hell outside, but this was a private conversation and it would not do for Bobby's coworkers or the other patrons to overhear what would be said. "Um, there a break room or something? If I'm allowed to go in there. Or I guess my car. Front seat." Miles could have smacked himself for making that quip. As if this were not awkward and uncomfortable enough.
"Yeah, follow me." He nodded to one of the other guys as he headed back behind the counter with Miles. "It's cool, he's with me." It was probably for the best that they went somewhere more private, if they were going to talk about what Bobby figured they were going to talk about. Because what else would they have to talk about, after all?
The break room was a small enclosed space, complete with an old couch and a few beat up old chairs around a wooden table. There was a fridge for staff lunches and whatnot in one corner, and a solitary calendar hung from one wall, otherwise it was pretty barren.
Bobby plopped down on the couch, which squeaked audibly in protest. "So... what's up, dude?" He managed a small grin that was not at all natural, which was probably more than obvious to Miles.
Miles took one of the chairs, but found he could not sit down comfortably. He blamed the crappy chair and not the tremors running through his body. "Okay, mira," he started, standing back up. "I've been thinking a lot since the party, you know? Like, a lot. And . . . I owe you an apology. A really big one. I crossed a line and made you uncomfortable, and I'm sorry."
"The party, the party..." Bobby rubbed his chin as he tried to recall exactly what Miles was talking about, knowing that neither of them were buying it. "Oh. Oh, yeah, that one." He waved a hand at Miles, leaning back further into the couch. "Nah, no apology needed, man. It was just, y'know." He shrugged as if it were no big deal, but wasn't quite making eye contact with his former roomie. "Stuff happened."
The faux casualness, inability to keep eye contact, and atypically high voice tone all made it obvious to Miles that Bobby did not actually believe what he said. He was still distressed, Miles concluded, so clearly his apology, however genuine, was not accepted. Miles frowned and continued. "No, I . . . Stuff happened 'cuz I wasn't thinking. If I was thinking then I'd've realized I . . . Jesus, I thought this would be easier to say. It was so easy when I talked to Gabo about it."
"None of us were thinking, not about... that kinda stuff." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, dude. It's a typical thing that happens at these parties, the whole bottle stuff, we just didn't plan to, y'know." Bobby looked around to see if anyone else had come into or near the break room before continuing. "The whole lip thing. It's fine, honestly." He really didn't blame Miles for it happening, he was just having a hell of a time wrestling with himself over what it meant, and the kind of thoughts it had him thinking.
"It was a good kiss." Miles's gaze fell to the floor and he sat down listlessly, feeling the energy drain out of him as he made this confession. "I liked kissing you."
Bobby didn't know what to say to that, especially the second part. He'd been wondering how Miles felt about the whole thing, and now he knew. That didn't make it any easier; if anything, it made it about a billion times more difficult, truth be told. His mind strayed to math classes of yore, to examples of trying to solve both sides of an equation, simplifying here and canceling things out there. He couldn't follow the calculus back then and he sure as hell couldn't follow it now. Miles may have solved one side of the equation, but Bobby was feeling hopelessly lost with his part right about now.
He had to answer though, had to say something.
"I..." he stammered. "I... didn't hate it," finished Bobby nervously. "It's all a little strange, I guess. I don't know." He gave another noncommittal shrug and opened his mouth to say more, then closed it just as abruptly.
It may have been a trite comic book cliche, but right now, Miles wished he were facing Doctor Octopus or stuck back in Limbo. He could manage that sort of danger. Any fool can take a stand against villainy, mundane or super. That did not require the kind of bravery he needed for what he would say next. The courage to be honest about oneself, especially to someone so cherished, was something entirely different.
Miles took a deep breath, held it for a second, and let it out before looking up at his friend. "Bobby, I'm bisexual."
"Does that mean what I think it does?" asked Bobby after a few seconds of silence. He was pretty sure he knew but this was all coming at him a little too fast. His usual approach in life of cracking wise or making a joke wasn't going to work here, which made things a little harder to handle too, but he knew this was important.
"Which... if you're... that, and if you liked... that... then..." Even basic relationship arithmetic was stumping him at the moment, it seemed.
The threat of cerebral meltdown would have been funny if this encounter were not so urgent to Miles. He finally found the one thing that stopped Bobby's seemingly never-ending stream of dad jokes and bad puns. And all it took was admitting "I like girls and guys, too. I . . . like you." Miles almost could not believe he finally said that out loud. But that finally broke the dam and more words spilled forth uncontrollably. "I didn't think so at first, I thought it's just, you know, I haven't had a girlfriend in a while and we were drunk and having a fun time but then I thought about it more and it's not just like crossed wires in my brain. I like hanging out with you. I feel good around you. I think you're good looking. More than that, actually. And I know, I know it's just me and you don't think that and it's fine. It's really fine. There's girls I liked who didn't like me back so it's not new. But I have to be honest with you, you know what I mean? I lied to you before and it was terrible and I don't wanna make that mistake again. So . . ."
"So..." Bobby took a deep breath and tried to process all of that. Some of it got through, other parts were gonna take a bit longer to parse. "I mean... dude, I like you too. You're a cool dude, I like hanging out with you, and you're..." This was where it got more difficult. "...you're a guy, and I know I like girls, but guys, I... it's not something I've been into before," he said, studying the back of his fingers on his right hand. "Maybe I do too, you were the first one I ever did... stuff with." He was trying hard not to keep saying 'you know' and just trailing off, so Bobby hoped that 'stuff' was an improvement, "And I don't think a guy has ever liked me before, not that I know of, so all of this is pretty new in, like, a bajillion ways." Which didn't make it bad, but it damn well made it confusing. He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled loudly, finally looking up at Miles for the first time in a while.
That was not the rejection for which Miles had steeled himself. That was not a rejection at all. He had started to tune out, expecting Bobby to let him down and toxic hetero-masculinity (thanks for the vocab, Gabo) to end their friendship because a straight guy could not just be friends with a queer. But when Bobby said "Maybe I do too," Miles snapped back to reality. He almost pinched himself to confirm he was in the real world. There was no flash of light this time signaling his abduction to an alien world, and his spider-sense was quiet as to be expected at a Five Guys. This was reality.
"This is . . . okay, this is not what I expected, not gonna lie," he confessed. He laughed a little, though the mirth did not quite reach his eyes, darting around the room to check for any hidden cameras recording him being punked or something. "So I don't actually have a response to that."
"Oh," was all Bobby managed. He didn't really know what else to say either. A quick glance at the clock showed that he had to get back on the floor soon, so he got to his feet and stretched out his arms. "Well... I have to get back to it, but... do you, like, want some free food to take home?" He was going to eat during his break but since they'd spent it talking someone else might as well take advantage of the free food. Miles had just eaten but they were growing young men, after all; he was sure his former roomie would find room for it.
"And maybe... I'm off tomorrow if you wanna, like." Bobby shrugged, still not doing well with the whole words thing. "Hang out or somethin'?" They hadn't just hung out for a long time now, so maybe that'd be a good place to start.
A place Miles was overjoyed to go to. He nodded, and the smile he wore this time was brighter, more hopeful. "Yeah. Um, I dunno if you wanna come down to the city or I can come up here? Maybe we could grab a bite. Something not patties of ground meat."
"I can come down to meet you, s'only fair since you came here today and all." That made sense to him at least, and making sense was a good thing, Bobby reckoned. "I'll text you when I'm up and about, and we can just go from there." He went over to a smaller freezer the employees kept in there and removed a small box of patties to give Miles.
He realized that he wasn't entirely sure what to do next as he stood there, frozen food in hand. They were both standing now, so Bobby moved closer to give him a bro hug. That morphed into a regular hug, however, and then, before he could think about it any further, he closed his eyes and kissed Miles. It wasn't a long, deep kiss, but it was a kiss, and holy shit. He wasn't scared or nervous about the kiss itself, because it felt right, but he had butterflies just the same.
So he pulled back and held out the box of frozen patties for Miles, a wry smile and raised eyebrows accompanying the gesture. "Is that ok?"
Miles was not expecting a box of free burgers. But he was really not expecting what followed. His brain started yelling at him, cheering him on while simultaneously second guessing the kiss and what it could mean and was Bobby just making fun of him and . . . If his brain had a face, he would punch it to shut it up so he could just enjoy the moment. It ended too soon for Miles's taste, and he lingered there for a second after Bobby pulled away.
Once he was back in reality, he processed what Bobby said and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that's a lot more than OK. I'll, uh, meet you at the train station?"
"Ok, yeah. Cool." Bobby grinned, then, unsure of what to do again and not wanting to make it awkward with another kiss, just kinda... clapped Miles on the shoulder. "Be seein' ya. Milesy." Ok, that was weird too but it was all he had, sadly.
Kind of a mixed signal, but after that kiss, Miles let it slide. Especially because that one implied the possibility of more kisses in the future. So he just nodded, and stepped back to let Bobby lead him out of the break room. He left the restaurant and got into his car, and it wasn't until he hit 95 that he realized he'd been grinning the whole time.
