This Time

Chapter 1: Chance Encounter

"Oof, I'm sorry. I was watching the...Bruce?!" Wayne stammered in surprise when he recognized the man he bumped into while staring at a digital billboard showing an ad about his upcoming birthday sponsored by his fans from the region.

"Wayne!? What a wonderful surprise! I never expected to bump into you here," Bruce scratched his nape in embarrassment at being caught off guard while gawking at Wayne's pretty face plastered on one of the huge digital billboards along Times Square. He never expected to bump into the man in the billboard clad in his shabby, everyday wear on his way to the subway.

"I was just visiting some relatives while conducting research for a new launch," Wayne absently held on to Bruce's bicep when he saw the man struggling to keep his balance with all the equipment he was carrying.

"Wow! You have become such a big shot now! What do I call you, a dessert magnate?" Bruce mumbled awkwardly, conveniently forgetting that Wayne never liked being complimented for his social and economic status. But Wayne didn't even notice the transgression as he was busy paying attention to the other man's appearance. He lost a lot of weight, has dark circles under his eyes and his cheeks have sunk. Pity and longing filled his heart in an instant and before he could stop himself, he was pulling the other man in a bone-crushing embrace.

"I'm really happy to see you," Wayne muttered as tears pricked the back of his eyelids. Bruce was both shocked at the gesture but since he was holding his guitar case and a tripod in each hand, he couldn't even hug back properly.

"Yeah, me too!" Bruce exclaimed a tad too loud that Wayne suddenly pulled back from the embrace and released the other man as if he were burned.

"So, how have you been? I haven't heard of you since..." Wayne cleared his throat as he subtly put some distance between their bodies when he did not feel his gesture reciprocated.

"Yeah...pretty embarrassing, right?" Bruce gently nudged Wayne with the guitar case to let the younger man know they were standing in the middle of the street. Wayne immediately understood and after glancing around for somewhere to sit down for a bit, he decided to just proceed to Bryant Park which is ideally located between Grand Central and Times Square with Bruce wordlessly on his heels. Just as before, they needed no words to let the other know what they wanted to say. It had always been like that until THAT happened.

"You didn't deserve all that hate, especially coming from our countrymen," Wayne intimated as they found a bench to sit on. Bruce made sure to keep his guitar case at arms-length as he sat down beside Wayne with less than a foot between them. He wanted to sit closer but was still scared to push his luck. He is quite convinced that his luck ran out when he chose to turn his back on his best partner for reasons beyond his control.

"I fucked up...big time...and at the most crucial time of my career," Bruce sighed remorsefully as he instinctively draped his arm on the backrest behind Wayne. He used to do this when he wanted to put an arm around the other man but couldn't because of where they are and who are around them. It's a habit he never grew out of. He fixed his stare on the people who walked past, not daring to look at Wayne who was just sitting beside him.

"You could have reached out to me, I was only waiting..." Wayne began but stopped mid-sentence after what Bruce did but didn't comment on the other man's arm on his backrest. Even if the arm didn't touch his shoulders, the warmth of its presence comforted him the way it did when things were good between them.

"I was actually waiting for you to reach out, Wayne," Bruce explained in a sad tone before withdrawing his arm and choosing to fumble with the lapels of his branded trench coat. He was lucky the brand he used to be an ambassador for allowed him to keep some of the clothes he wore on pictorials or fashion events even after they prematurely terminated his contract in response to the backlash that surrounded a less-than-stellar performance in an anticipated musical event.