A Chance Encounter (Chris Hemsworth X OMC)

Ice Cream and Wine

"I really needed this," Wyatt sighed as he sat on the outdoor couch on his balcony and looked up at the night sky.

Elizabeth, who was sitting on his right, took the wine glass from him and promptly topped it off with the box wine on the table beside her. "Well, I'm glad we could be of service."

"Thanks," Wyatt said as he accepted the glass. His buzz had hung around since leaving the restaurant and he'd continued to nurse it in the company of his oldest and closest friends.

"I really am sorry that Brian was lying to you," Elizabeth offered. "I know you liked him."

Wyatt shook his head. "Actually, no. I didn't like him?" he said, phrasing it like a question.

Elizabeth stayed quiet and watched him, waiting patiently for him to elaborate.

"I mean, he was attractive and funny and charismatic. But it was all surface-level. I knew our relationship didn't really have longevity. And, if I'm being honest, I always knew something was wrong about him." He took a gulp from his wine and sighed. "I saw what I wanted to see because it was easier than facing the truth. Classic."

"Human," Elizabeth corrected him.

"What's human?" Darren asked as he opened the sliding glass door and walked out onto the deck with Opal cradled in his arms.

"Wyatt had a breakthrough," Elizabeth said.

"Damn, I missed it," Darren muttered playfully as he sat down on the other side of Wyatt.

"I was just admitting to myself that I didn't really like Brian all that much and that I was just seeing what I wanted instead of what was," Wyatt explained. He went quiet for a few seconds and looked at the city lights. "Anyway, Allie better hurry up. She left to get ice cream forever ago."

As if conjured by his words, Allie's emerged from the apartment with four containers of ice cream and some spoons. She handed them out- rocky road for Darren, butter pecan for Elizabeth, cookies and cream for herself, and lemon sorbet for Wyatt. Then, wrapped in blankets to fend off the chill of the night, the four of them settled into a silent but comfortable state as they drank wine, ate ice cream, and listened to music.

Their soundtrack had existed since the earliest days of their friendship, growing as the years went by. It had started out as mix CDs that they would make for each other and was now a shared playlist. The songs were eclectic, but there was one group that made multiple appearances- Abba. Just thinking about any of the group's songs brought instant memories to mind. Wyatt would never be able to listen to Mamma Mia without remembering their first road trip when they'd sang it to the top of their lungs. Or The Winner Takes It All, which they always sang together at karaoke.

As they sat and lost themselves in conversation, Wyatt felt like he was back in high school, but in the good way. If he closed his eyes, he could see the past like it was yesterday. The four of them were camp counselors at Camp Spirit Head over the summer before their senior year. They were sitting out under the stars, each of them talking about what they wanted out of their lives. As befits the general ebb and flow of life, some of their dreams had been realized while some had been crushed. And among those realized dreams, some had been found to be less shiny and splendid than they imagined them to be. But there was one dream they all shared that had been realized and remained shiny and splendid as it stood the test of time- that they would remain friends.

"I'm so glad we're all still friends," Allie said, voicing Wyatt's thoughts.

"Me too," Wyatt agreed. "I'm not sure what I'd do if you guys weren't around."

"Well, you probably would have remained a shut-in and passed away, only to be discovered days later," Darren said in a matter-of-fact voice. "With Opal eating your face."

Wyatt gave an authentic laugh. "You're an asshole," he sighed. He gazed down at his watch. "And it is way past my bedtime."

"Same," Allie agreed. "When did we get so fucking old?"

Having gotten more drunk as the night progressed, Darren, Elizabeth and Allie stayed over rather than drive home. Wyatt lay awake for a while despite his fatigue and allowed feelings of gratitude and familiar comfort to wash over him. He could hear Darren's familiar snoring from down the hall. He could see Elizabeth, ear plugs inserted and eye mask equipped. And he knew, just as surely as he knew Allie herself, that she was sleeping with her head at the foot of the bed the way she always did. He knew that when morning came they would eat pancakes and probably find something ridiculous to laugh about until their sides hurt. His best friends were with him. And wasn't that the most important thing?

The friendships they shared were an integral part of Wyatt's life. Since childhood, they had been there for each other through the highs, the lows, and the in-betweens. When Darren's dad passed away from cancer, the other had been right there beside him. When Allie passed her exams and became an attorney, the others had been there to celebrate. When Elizabeth passed her driver's test after the third attempt, the others had been there to congratulate her.

And now the others are here with me, cheering me up after I lost my job and found out that my boyfriend is a married man, he thought to himself with a light chuckle.

As he lay in bed and looked out the window and into the night sky, he made a promise to himself. He wouldn't give much energy to relationships with men for a while. From this point forward, the relationships he would nurture would be the ones with his friends and family and himself. He wouldn't seek out love; he'd let it find him.

And maybe he'd have some fun along the way.

But just thinking about that made him immediately reject the notion. To say his confidence had been shaken wasn't too far off base. Because, although he had always known things wouldn't go far with Brian, there had been that wish that maybe he was wrong. Now that there had been some space and time, however, he wondered why he ever wished it in the first place.

"Stop being dramatic," he told himself as he flipped his pillow over to the cool side and snuggled up. It was just another experience to be had. He'd had it, and he'd survived it, learned from it. Although he wouldn't go as far as to say he was thankful for what Brian did, he could say that he was thankful he experienced it. It could only make him stronger, he theorized as he fell into a deep, satisfied sleep.

While Wyatt and his friends were fast asleep, he stood in the darkness and stared up at the balcony of the apartment. It was too bad Wyatt's friends had stayed over. He'd hoped he'd be able to sneak into the apartment and watch Wyatt sleep.

As he had done on many, many occasions.