Just Another Crazy Coincidence

Chapter 18:

Sean is just getting out of his car across the road from the garage when Joey walks out. His arms and shirt are covered in grease, there is even a smear across his right cheek, but his hands are clean, Sean can almost see the line where water came to when he was washing them.

'Hey,' Joey greets him with a smile, he isn't sure if he should hug Sean or kiss him, so he stops moving a few paces short of Sean to see what he will do.

Sean is just as cautious, if not more cautious than Joey and so he hesitates too. For a moment it is awkward, but only for a moment. On instinct, when they reach each other, Sean grabs Joey's hand. He turns back to the car, pulling his date with him. Joey let's himself be towed by the man in front of him, not minding at all that their fingers are laced tightly together. He feels his chest bursting with excitement, and again comes the thought that maybe this could be something more – something real. He doesn't know that Joey's thoughts are mimicking his own. He doesn't know exactly why he took Joey's hand, but Sean is glad that he did. He likes the way Joey's rough hands feel in his own soft one. He likes a lot of things about Joey, actually. He likes the way that he fiddles with his own fingers when he's nervous, and the way he runs his hands through his hair and over his face, flexing all the muscles in his arms when he does. He likes the way that Joey is hesitant to make contact but when they are touching he always seems to want more. He likes the way Joey has kept coming back despite how hot and cold Sean has been. He likes the way Joey opens up to him and makes him laugh and hates greasy take-out foods like KFC but would never pass up a real burger. He likes Joey.

'Where are we going?' Joey reluctantly pulls his hand from Sean's as they go to separate sides of the car.

'My favourite lunch spot' Sean tells him.

Actually, Sean doesn't really have a favourite lunch spot, but he thinks this will quickly become one. It is one of the only places he never went with Anthony – a place that only opened a few months ago – and so he doesn't fill with painful memories whenever he walks in there, he hopes that maybe it can be a place he goes regularly with Joey. Maybe it is silly, but he wants something between them to build from, something that has no attachment to Sean's past.

It's not even five minutes later when Sean pulls up in the main street, he could have tried to get a park closer, but it's always busy this time of day so he snagged the first space he could see. They only have to walk a block. When they are out of the car, Sean wants to take Joey's hand again. He liked the feeling of it, and for once it wasn't accompanied by guilt – but Joey is walking just a little too far away from him and so Sean keeps the urge down, but he can't keep his fingers from twitching.

He has been thinking about the way that Joey came to him last night, how something major happened in his life and Sean was the one he wanted to share it with. He had been thinking about the nights they had spent together, what they meant, and what expectations it left. There was a reason that Sean asked Joey to have lunch with him today – he needs to tell him where he stands, how he feels, and about Anthony. If this is going to work, they need to be honest with each other.

'How have your classes been this morning?' Joey shoves his hands in his pockets as he walks, not liking the empty feeling they are giving him.

'Good, actually. I feel like I have been really out of it the past couple of weeks, but today was good. We were talking about the biology side of things – that's my favourite part.'

'Why?'

Sean frowns because he'd never really thought about it. It just was. He liked that the subject matter was straight forward, that it was solid evidence not just theorising. It was interesting to know how much was going on all at once in such a small space and to understand the immense affect it had.