Watch Your Back

.:Chapter Two:.

   Brian sauntered into the warm coffee shop, taking in a deep breath as he smelled the delightful scent of fresh coffee being brewed. He gave a sideways glance to the hazel-eyed man that sat alone in a booth, seeming to be occupied with his phone as he scrolled through it with his thumb. He chuckled softly at the sight before he walked up to the counter, ordering a peppermint mocha with an extra shot of espresso and no whipped cream. As he was waiting for his coffee to be done, he leaned up against the counter, watching Zacky in the reflection of the glass that encased the different sandwiches and treats that were on display.
   "Here's your coffee, sir." The young girl sat Brian's coffee down on the counter next to him with a flirty smile, and after he winked at her and she walked away with a giggle, he picked up his cup and bravely sauntered over to the table where the hazel-eyed man was sitting alone, too focused on his phone to realize there was someone next to him.
   "Excuse me," He murmured nervously, finally catching Zacky's attention. "W-would you mind if I sat down? You look like you could use some company."
   "O-oh, not at all! Go right ahead." The hazel-eyed man flashed a brilliant, somewhat anxious smile, nodding to the seat in the booth across from him. Brian nodded gratefully, sliding into the seat across from Zacky and taking a sip of his coffee.
   "Thanks. So.. You're a Megadeth fan?" Brian gestured towards the other man's shirt, his brows raised in curiosity.
   "Yeah.. What about you? Are you a Megadeth fan?" He asked, his voice soft and shy as he pocketed his phone. He took a small sip of his coffee, cringing as he realized it was now cold.
   "More of a Metallica guy myself." Brian admitted, chuckling softly as he took a sip of his coffee. "What other kinds of bands do you like?"
   "Well.." Zacky picked at his nails for a moment. "I'm pretty interested in punk, ska, alternative.. Things like that. I've always been interested in music that nobody else really likes.. Kind of an against-the-flow guy, y'know?"
   "Gotcha.. I like Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax, Motley Crue, stuff like that." The brown-eyed man smiled as he listed his favorite bands, fondly remembering his first Metallica concert when he was younger. Zacky nodded, his cheeks flushing a very faint red color as he gazed at Brian's wide, dazzling smile. He's gorgeous.. Surely someone paid him to talk to me.. He thought to himself, biting the inside of his pierced bottom lip.
   "Okay, I have to ask," The hazel-eyed man blurted, shocking Brian out of his memory of the Metallica concert. "Did someone pay you to talk to me? Like, did one of my friends pay you to talk to me?" In a way.. The brown-eyed man thought, but he simply chuckled and shook his head, looking down at the table in a shy manner.
   "No, actually, um.." He chuckled again. "I thought you looked pretty cool, and.. Well, I just moved here, so I kinda need some friends.. And a job, if you know where I could get one." He picked at his nails nervously, careful not to chip any of the black nail polish that he was wearing.
   "Oh.. Sorry, I just.. Not very many people just come up to me and start talking.. Especially not.." Zacky cleared his throat. "Never mind. You said you just moved here, right? Where are you from?" Brian took a sip of his coffee, trying to buy time as he thought of a small back story. He had actually lived in town for several years, but he rarely went out anywhere.
   "Little town in the middle of nowhere in Arizona. I got into a fight with my girl, and.. Well, she kicked my ass to the curb. I wanted to get pretty far away from her, so I moved here." It was true, he did want to get far away from someone, but it wasn't an ex girlfriend. "What about you? How long have you lived here?" He wanted to get the subject off of himself; he didn't particularly like discussing himself, especially not with his targets.
   "Oh, my whole life, basically.." Zacky smiled. "My parents moved here when I was about six years old, and ever since then, I've never wanted to leave. Well, not until recently, but that's a different story." His hazel eyes were suddenly tinted with fear, as though he was seeing something distant, some sort of painful memory he never wanted to think about. "Anyways. What kind of job are you looking for? I'm a retail manager at Hot Topic at the mall, so.. I could probably get you in there, if you want."
   "That sounds perfect." Brian grinned, taking a big gulp of his coffee. "Earlier, you were saying something about not many people coming to talk to you, and you said especially not.. But then you didn't finish your sentence. What were you gonna say?" He murmured curiously, slightly tilting his head as he spoke.
   "Oh, it's.. It's not important." The hazel-eyed man chuckled shyly, his cheeks turning red once more.
   "If you're turning red, it is." Brian replied smoothly, cocking a brow upwards as he took another drink of his coffee. Zacky hadn't seemed to touch his for several minutes now.
   "I was just gonna say.. Especially not people like.. You." He blushed more now, letting his gaze lock on anything other than Brian.
   "Like me?" The brown-eyed man raised his brows.
   "Yeah, y'know.. Cool, charming, attractive." Zacky admitted, still not looking up at the other man. "Oh, shit, I don't even think I've told you my name.. I'm Zacky." He smiled, finally having the courage to let their eyes lock together.
   "Hm.. Cute. Is that your real name or is it a nickname?" Brian smirked, and after Zacky giggled the words 'it's a nickname' while looking at the table, the brown-eyed man chuckled. "Well, anyways, I'm Brian."
   "Well, it's nice to meet you, Brian." The hazel-eyed man smiled bravely, his cheeks still painted a very faint red. "Are you sure one of my friends didn't put you up to this?" He teased, one perfectly shaped brow cocked upwards.
   "Pretty sure.. Unless you're friends with my brain." Brian cackled, resting his head on the table to hide his face as he continued cackling. "Oh, man, I crack myself up. How could you even be friends with a brain?!" He cried through his laughter.
   "Well, maybe if you were a brain surgeon.." Zacky snickered, catching the contagious laughter from the gorgeous being that sat across from him. "How would that even work?! 'Hey, Brain, I think you're a really nice person!' Oh my God!"
   "What if the brain thought the surgeon was flirting, and just told him he wanted to be friends?!" Brian howled, slamming his fist on the table a few times. Why was he laughing so hard at that? "Jesus Christ, it's been a while since I laughed like that." He admitted, throwing his head back dramatically and wiping his eyes, ridding himself of the tears that had formed while he was laughing.
   "I have a feeling we're going to be really good friends." Zacky giggled, wiping his own eyes as he looked over at Brian.
   "Me too. You seem to have my twisted sense of humor." The brown-eyed man chuckled, taking one last sip of his coffee before he threw it in the trash bin. "Can I get your number? I'd really like to hang out with you, if that's okay. You seem like my type." Brian came off as intentionally flirty, hoping that he wasn't going too far with Eli's request to get close to Zacky.
   "Sure! Hold on," Zacky hopped out of the booth and grabbed a pen off of the counter, grabbing a napkin as well so that he could write on it. "I have unlimited texting and calling, so don't worry about running my minutes up or anything." He muttered as he scribbled his number down onto the white napkin, handing it to Brian once he was done.
   "Thanks. I'm gonna go ahead and get out of here, I've got some errands to run today, so.. I'll text you in a little bit, okay?" Brian smiled, standing up out of the booth. The hazel-eyed man followed his example, his cheeks dusted a light red color as he stared up at the tan man that stood before him.
   "Okay! Oh, um.. Thanks for being nice to me." Zacky smiled nervously.
   "No need to thank me. I don't see how anyone could be mean to you. You're so small and cute, like a little bunny." The brown-eyed man smirked, watching as the shorter man's cheeks turned blood red at his comment. "See ya later." He said, leaving the coffee shop without giving Zacky a chance to stop him. He climbed into his car and then pulled out of the parking lot, ready to make the short drive home and let Eli know what had happened today.

   Brian plopped down on his couch, heaving a sigh as he grabbed his remote and flipped on the TV, but he quickly placed it on mute as he pressed the call button next to Eli's contact name. Once the other man answered the phone, Brian began to speak rapidly. "Yeah, I ran into him at the coffee shop today. We talked about bands, he asked if someone paid me to talk to him, he called me attractive, we exchanged numbers. He said something about living here since he was a kid and never wanting to move except for here lately. I've got kind of a feeling that may be about you."
   "Well, I don't blame him for wanting to get away. I'd want to run if I ruined someone's life, too." Eli grumbled on the other line, earning a deep chuckle from Brian.
   "Right. Well, I'm gonna go, see if I can't schedule another meeting with this kid. I'll let you know what's up." Before Eli had a chance to reply, Brian hung up the phone. He opened up his text messages and quickly sent a text to the number Zacky had written down on the napkin.
   >Hey, this is Brian from the coffee shop.
   It wasn't long before Brian got a reply.
   >Hey! How are you?  
   Brian smiled widely, letting his fingers tap away at the screen to create a reply. He and Zacky talked for a while, setting up a meeting at the same park that the brown-eyed man had first watched him at. They decided to meet three days later, and after they established the exact time they'd be there, Brian took the TV off of mute and decided to turn his phone off to let himself unwind before heading to bed.