Letting Go * Top 10 #SYTYCW15 * (LGBT BxB)

Part Three - Trying

I discarded the towel as I pulled on a pair of old track pants and a t-shirt. Inside the apartment I wasn't Jace, the drummer for going nowhere. I was just Jace. Comfort was key, here I didn't need to impress anyone.

When I walked back into the now dimly lit living room Ben was still looking at his computer, although he looked a little conflicted. I sat down beside him, and focused on what had his attention. He looked amazing. Isla really knew her shit.

"I look like a try hard." He mumbled scrolling through the photos one by one. I ignored the annoyance I felt at his continued self-doubt and smiled. There was no way he looked like a try hard, in fact as I had guessed he looked like a goddamn model. They were all amazing shots, but there was one that really stood out to me, more than the others and I found myself saying "stop" in a desperate voice.

Ben stopped. I leaned across him, for a moment my hand rest against his leg as I took control of the mouse and scrolled back two photos. I held back an audible gasp, the picture was pure perfection. He had been leaning against the wall with one leg up, his jeans were low slung and his dark blue shirt was pulled up slightly by his hand, showing just a smidgen of his hipbone. The pose was amazing, but it was his face that had really caught my attention. His blue eyes jumped out of the screen and sunk right down deep in to the cavities of my soul. He had the hint of a smile on his face, he looked playful and cheeky and it was nice to see. They were after all things Ben usually was, but hadn't been for some time.

"That one." I murmured leaning back. I didn't look away from it, I couldn't.

"That one what?"

"That's your new profile picture."

"You sure. I mean, maybe I could just go with the status quo..." He sounded unsure and self-conscious, as self-conscious as I had been when I'd been standing next to him without a shirt on. Except he was unfounded in his worry, his current photo was nothing compared to this. I turned to look at Ben, my eyes narrowed. "Ben. Isla took photos, 100% better than that old thing. Bite the bullet. Live a little." He looked back at me. His face softened a little, but I could see the insecurity still present.

"You promise you will too?" He whispered after a quick pause "You'll make a profile."

"Yes. I promise Ben." And I meant it, I had to take my own advice, or I was just being a hypocrite.

He let out an over dramatic sigh and clicked on the photo. Once it was uploaded to the profile he removed his old photo. "There." He huffed. "Done."

"Hardly." I laughed as I pulled the laptop from him. He didn't stop me, but I could feel his eyes stab at me like daggers. I turned to look at him, his entire face was dark. "Bro, I'm insulted. You're my best friend. I'm not going to be a jerk okay. Truth is I know you better than most people, probably better than you know yourself."

"Fine. Whatever. I'm going to have a shower. Go for your life Jace." He huffed as he pushed himself up off the couch and walked across the apartment to the bathroom. I sighed, he'd obviously climbed out of the wrong side of bed this morning, because it almost seemed like he'd been angry with me all day.

Once he was gone and I could hear the shower water running I started giving his profile a much needed makeover.

Job: Tour Manager for major record label

Age: 24

Likes: Singing, Having junk food laced movie marathons, hanging out with my friends, Traveling and Wine.

Dislikes: Cheaters, Arrogance, people with no sense of humor, and stale cake.

Blurb: I'm a great guy with a great sense of humor. If you don't like to laugh then click away right now. Life is too short to stuff it with seriousness 24/7. Hit me up if you want to meet for coffee or a movie and we can talk.