A Walk In The Park

1 - The Guy From The Park

"Come on, boy. I'm sorry you've been shut up in here so much lately. Just a few more weeks, I promise," I tell my 60 pound fur baby as I unlock his kennel. In a split second, he attacks me with the pent up energy he's had to contain for the past seven hours that I've been in class. I'm left lying on the floor under him. He's crushing my chest and leaving wet kisses all over my face. It's gross, but I love him so much that I tolerate his overzealous displays of affection.

"Okay, okay, Harley. You have to get off of me if you wanna go to the park."

I finally manage to push the black furry creature away from me and escape. He runs downstairs to the door, where he turns in circles over and over, anxious to go outside. I attach the leash to his collar, grab my keys, and we're on our way.

This is the evening part of my routine as of late. I get home around 4:30, take a walk in the park with Harley, eat, study, sleep about six hours, feed and walk Harley, go to school, rinse and repeat. I've never been much of one to go out or hang with friends or anything. But, damn, it's getting monotonous. I want and need a distraction so badly, if only for a few hours, but I don't exactly have friends to distract me here. They're all busy with college and jobs, just as I am. It is what it is, at least until graduation in five weeks, three days, and two hours. Not that I'm counting or anything.

Harley seems to be in more of a hurry than usual, and I find out why as soon as we reach the first patch of grass right outside the door. Poor thing had to go. Wait. Poor me. I'm the one who has to clean the shit up. Literally. I do so and deposit it in the trash can.

Harley may have already taken care of his business, but he has no intentions of cutting his outdoor time short. He pulls on the leash, insisting that we cross the street like we normally do. I don't resist, because I'd been looking forward to the walk, too. Like Harley, I'm not nearly ready to go back inside after being cooped up all day.

The park is merely a block away from my townhouse, so we get there in no time. It's been a gorgeous day, not too hot for an early April evening in Texas. It makes me forget about the homework that's hanging over my head. And I forget about everything, including my own name, when I see what has to be the most perfect specimen of a man that I've ever seen or imagined in my entire life. I don't know him, but I see him just about every time I take Harley for a walk after school. He's jogging toward me and I try my best to not stare at his shirtless, sweaty, tan torso. God help me, he's beautiful.

He seems to slow his pace a little, or perhaps I'm imagining that, and he looks at Harley and smiles. Even his teeth are perfect. I've seen him do this a few times before, so I figure he must be a dog person, like me. Too bad he's probably straighter than a honeymoon dick. Great, now I'm thinking of dicks. Judging by the rest of his physique, I imagine Mystery Man has a great one. Fuck. Did he just? Yes, he did. He just made eye contact and nodded a "wassup" at me when he passed. He. Acknowledged. Me. Holy shit.

I was so distracted by what his penis may look like that I didn't even realize what had happened until it was too late. I didn't even smile at him, dammit. After I pick my jaw up off of the ground, I risk turning around to watch him run, and I'm blessed with a spectacular view. I'm legit checking out his ass when he turns his head around and catches me. We make eye contact again for about a millisecond before he turns back around and continues on his merry way. I swear he smirked at me. Or maybe it was a look of disgust. I'm completely humiliated now. Oh well. It's not like he knows me or anything. I'll just steer clear of his path from now on. I'll stay on the opposite side of the park or something. Or find another park to walk in. Or move to a different city. Or leave the country. Fuck my life.

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A/N: I'm dedicating this story to my friend, MJHood5SOS. I've promised him a story for a long time. I hope this makes it worth the wait. Check out his stories because they're great.

For the record, I'm heterosexual and probably wrote some silly stuff that I'm ignorant about. But gay, straight, whatever, I just wanted it to be a sweet love story. Please point out if I should change something.

Also, in case you've stumbled across this story and have no idea who 5 Seconds Of Summer is, no worries. Though I guess this is technically fanfiction (though it's AU and doesn't involve a band at all), one really doesn't have to know anything about the band members to follow the story.

Alright, that's it. I hope it's okay. Please let me know what you think. Your comments seriously make my day.