The Shapes of Love

Tiny Dancer Pt.1

"Grindr is as romantic as it gets!", Jacob exclaimed as he finished his ballet routine.
A very skeptical looking Alec stretched in front of the mirror. "Yeah, well fine. It's not romantic at all but at least you get some action alright?" Admitted Jacob who wiped his sweat with a towel.
The American School of Ballet only accepted the best dancers and Jacob as well as Alec were about as hard-working as it got.
It was almost 11pm and they were still dancing in the studio under fluorescent lights.
Alec's feet ached and he bet if he'd be quiet enough they might have started to scream.
"I thought you wanted to go on dates. Come on, Tinder is just a bunch of nonsensical back and forth. Men on Grindr get to the point and maybe that's just what you need right now. How long has it been since you had a good time?" Jacob was still poking at Alec. Who really shouldn't have complained about his non-existent dating life. Alec loved reading romance novels, listening to the cheesiest of love songs like "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys and "Love of my Life" by Queen. Most of his friends made fun of his endless search for romantic love in a City like New York where they'd constantly get called slurs if they ever stepped foot out of the West Village.
Yeah, they were just a bunch of Ballet Dancing Queers and even in 2023 that still irked some men who usually lingered on the street all day to cat-call after innocent women and were now watching loud gay men with make-up and heels block their view.
Alec loved it. Ever since he'd moved away from home, New York had only strengthened his identity and yet he lacked a relationship. If Paris was the City of Love, New York was the City of Drunken Hook-ups. It wasn't Alec's style.
"It's been a while", Alec remembered to answer Jacob who had already stolen his phone and was now downloading Grindr. "See, so this is going to be fun. Just be safe and make sure your hook-up isn't some kind of psycho..." "How do I tell?"
Jacob interrupted his frantic typing on the phone to look at Alec with a candid look of contemplation on his face. "You honestly don't..." "That's reassuring", mumbled Alec who fumbled with a blonde curl on his forehead as he was watching Jacob pick out pictures for his profile. "So usually the pictures people put on here are more..." "Dickish-ly centered?", Alec assumed which earned him a pat on the shoulder from Jacob. "Correct... I know you're too innocent for that but I had to warn you about what is about to come."

Alec was massaging his toes as he sat on the bench in the changing room. Jacob had hurried off to wherever he always was rushing to. Usually Alec opted for a shower after training but now he was stuck on his phone scrolling through Grindr. There sure was a lot of nude going on. Then suddenly a message. "Hi". How very interesting. Simon, 24, 0.5 miles away. That sure wasn't a long way though. Alec started swiping through Simon's pictures. His abs were phenomenal and he was taller than Alec, which wasn't much of an achievement since he only stood to about 5 feet 6 tall.
Simon's dark hair and eyes were sort of hypnotizing. Fair enough. "Hey, how are you?", Alec replied. Simon was typing. "Are you up to something tonight? Want to come over and watch Netflix?" Alec sat his phone down on the bench and stared at the screen. He knew that this was the way it usually went on that App but it was surely not an "Unchained Love" kind of vibe. Alec blew out a breath and got up to finish changing, collecting his thoughts.
"I can't believe I'm doing this", Alec mumbled to himself as he typed "What's your adress?"

"So this is my apartment", Simon gave a lazy wave with his arm as Alec stumbled into the living room. It looked very clean and smelled nice too. Either Simon indeed was a psychopath or had a female roommate. Alec tried not to judge people like that but his past few experiences with single gay men and those of his friends had simply taught him some things to expect and this wasn't it. There was a Saxophone standing in the corner of the room. Neatly propped up on a metal stand. "You're a musician?", Alec asked feeling a smile broadening on his mouth. "No, my roommate plays", Simon shot him down with a quick reply and then took his hand to show Alec into his bedroom. Now this definitely was different. "What's that smell?", Alec mumbled and look around to locate the source of that monstrosity. It smelled like some rotten egg was jumping around the corners. "Your profile said, you're bendy", Simon completely ignored Alec's question and laid down on the bed which didn't even have coverings. "Yeah, I do ballet... uhm", Alec now realised that he hadn't checked up on what Jacob had written in his profile.
Before Alec could comment on the leftovers on the bedside table he was already being pulled onto Simon's lap and felt his lips on his own.
For a moment, Alec let himself indulge in this scenario. After all this was what he had agreed to right? Even though the stench in this room made him want to throw up. Simon had meanwhile moved onto removing Alec's shirt and threw it onto the floor - that definitely had to be washed throughroughly. Simon let his glance wander approvingly over Alec's abdomen. Of course he had abs, ballet was an extremely demanding sport.
Alec had really wanted to figure out what to do next or if continuing this was even an option when the door to the room flung open and a startled cry filled the room.
"I can't believe you!" A girl's voice. Alec was flung from Simon's lap and ended up on the carpeted floor. Now he definitely needed a throughrough wash too. "Anisa!", Simon was already rushing out of the bedroom after his supposed girlfriend.
"Are you kidding me", Alec began to laugh and flung his head back. "This is so fucking clichée", he talked to himself as he tried to comprehend what had just happened.
"You won't believe how often this happens", a soft dark voice from the doorway. Alec almost screamed at the surprise of yet another person in this apartment. "How many people are in here?!", he gasped and scrambled to get his t-shirt before he caught another glance of the stranger in the hallway.
Dark curls adorned his head, an undercut framed its sides. A neatly shaven stubble on his dark skin. "Sorry... I should have knocked", the stranger said with a smirk to the open door. "My name is Sam. I'm the roommate", he introduced himself and came into the room to help Alec to his feet. "Alec", he mumbled, star-struck, still holding onto Sam's hand.
"Do you want a drink?", Sam offered and patted Alec's hand with his other one. "Sorry!", Alec immediately let go and laughed it off very awkwardly. "Yes... a drink would be good."

"So do you always take care of your roommate's hook-ups after he leaves?", Alec grinned over at Sam who was standing in the kitchen pouring them both a beer. "Not really. I usually try to avoid those conversations but your laugh...well- I thought I'd better go check out the maniac that is hysterically laughing after his Grindr Date's girlfriend  just caught them having sex."
"Actually weren't there yet but- I guess it was good that you checked up on me. Who knows, maybe I would have gone all maniac and destroyed the apartment." Alec smirked and took the beer from Sam's hand, making sure to touch it lightly. He was a hopeless romantic, but he wasn't as innocent as his friends always wanted to make him out to be. "You?", Sam let his gaze wander over Alec. He had a small frame. People never assumed that Alec was strong. "So you're the saxophone player?", Alec remembered the instrument in the corner. "Yes, I play Jazz. We actually have a Gig later on tonight. What do you do aside from hooking up with strangers?" Sam gave a cheeky grin and Alec slapped his arm. "That was actually my first Grindr Date and I am seriously doubting the longevitiy of this experiment...anyways: I am a Ballet Dancer. I am in the company of the School of American Ballet." "Wow", Sam's eyes lit up. That wasn't a reaction Alec was used to. Men in ballet weren't well received by most of society. "Isn't it really hard to get into a company like that? I mean that's like the top school here in New York. You must be really good then." "I suppose I am. Yes I am good..."

After their third beer, they'd arrived at the topic of relationships. Alec had recounted his single life in New York so far which was why his third beer was particularly fast emptied. "I just got out of a longterm relationship", Sam admitted as he watched Alec pour another glass. The blonde in front of him was intruiging. He had never met someone so positive then again he looked like an angel. It would be weird if he was anything other than positive. His presence radiated optimism. "You did? Sorry to hear that." Alec smiled genuinely. Now that was a rare sight. New York was full of smiling people but they barely ever genuinely meant it. "He's actually the pianist of our band", Sam chuckled and received a laugh from Alec. "That...is unfortunate. Hey wait didn't you say your Gig was tonight?" Sam felt a jolt go through his spine as he looked at the clock. "Shit! I have to go. Like now, as of thirty minutes ago. I missed sound-check already!" Sam sprung from his chair and started collecting his things in a frantic manner while Alec leaned back in his chair and watched him scramble around the place.

Five minutes later, Alec and Sam had arrived outside of the apartment complex. Sam turned to Alec after closing the door and gave a winded smile. "Uhm...thanks for- the talk. It was really nice." "It was", Alec agreed and was already reaching for his phone. He needed this guys phone number or Instagram - urgently. "Bye, Alec." Sam was already on his way down the street in the direction of the subway. Alec's mouth fell wide open as he watched him descend down the steps.
Just when he'd believed to have formed some kind of connection with a normal guy. This was just perfect. Another story to tell his friends: "Hey, I met my dream guy after a failed Grindr Hook-up but he ran off into the sunset." Alec managed to pull his eyes from the sight of Sam having long gone and made his way in the opposite direction.

Sam was clinging onto his backpack in the subway. Had he really just done that? He'd left that cute blonde guy on the steps of his home and ran away. Sam gave a warning look to the guy that always wandered this subway station to try and put his fingers in people's ears and returned to his thoughts after the stranger had wandered off with a weird grunt "next time." New York City...
Getting into a new relationship just three weeks after having broken up with Jean was wrong and he wasn't ready for it. There was no way he was going to pick up some guy now.
Only... Alec hadn't been some guy. They had talked for 3 hours and yet it had felt like 5 minutes. It hadn't been enough. Sam wanted to soak in Alec's presence. The words coming out of his mouth feeling like they'd bathed Sam in honey. All he could think about was that Alec might have proved him wrong on his long defended statement that "there is absolutely nothing like love at first sight. A relationship takes hard work." It sure had been like that with Jean and now they were separated. Sam wanted to slap himself but now there was a Gig to take care of...

-to be continued-