Radio Lovers - (john deacon)

Chapter 4

"What kind of books do you like?" John asked William. 

They were roaming around a tiny little bookstore at the edge of the town center. There was an old woman at the counter reading a novel where the words were barely visible. Her glasses sat at the very tip of her nose; it was almost as if they would slip off her frail face any second. 

"I don't really know. I guess science fiction? I know a lot about old English stuff though. My mom was an English teacher." John plucked a thick book off the shelf and flipped through the pages.

"Have you heard of Oscar Wilde then?" John asked.

William felt his heart jump a little. Of course, William had heard about Oscar Wilde. His mom taught "The Importance of Being Earnest" as one of the novels in her school curriculum. William read The Picture of Dorian Gray when he was 16 years old. He became obsessed with Wilde's works, reading all of his novels in the course of just a few months. When he found out that Oscar was a staple in the gay community (from Jack, a so-called "elder gay," who worked cashier at the gas station by his house), it suddenly made sense as to why William felt such a connection to Oscar. 

"Yes!" William said replied excitedly. He clasped his hand over his mouth to contain himself. "I mean, I really like his stuff." 

John laughed. "Yeah, I can tell. I just started reading that um...the Dorian Gray book. I like it a lot so far.

"No way!" William accidentally screeched. He clamped his hand over his mouth because wanted to keep his voice down since the lady in the store kept eyeing them very suspiciously. He didn't want to cause any trouble. "That's one of my favorite books." 

"Really?" John's eyes lit up. The edge of his mouth curled up as he smiled with excitement. "Well don't spoil anything for me. I hear it has a good ending."

William pretended to zipper his mouth shut and throw away the key. 

"But do talk to me about it after though. I'm dying to talk to someone about it. I've been begging Freddie to take a peek at it, but he's always too busy doing whatever he does." 

"Of course. I wouldn't dare pass up the opportunity."  

"Good...good," John said. He turned his attention back towards the shelf. William did the same, but he wasn't really interested in all the books. 

The bookshop was small. Whatever books weren't packed on the shelves were stacked on the floor, so there wasn't a lot to move around. The two stood shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, scanning the pages and looking at the back of the books for the summaries. 

Every so often, William snuck a peek at John from behind the bangs that covered half his face. Well, he snuck a peek until he caught John staring back at him. He thought that his heart actually stopped for a second. 

"Hey," John said suddenly. William thought that he was going comment on the fact that he was staring at him. He got ready to profusely apologize. "Would you like to get out of here? I mean it's nice and all but I think I want to go walk on the beach."

The beach?  William thought. He hadn't been to the beach in forever. He missed what it was like in America sometimes. 

"Yes. Sure let's go." William smiled. The exited the store and the little chime on the door rang. John lead him across the boardwalk where there were couples holding hands, children playing around, and dogs trotting along with their owners. It was like all of the movies he had seen before. 

Before he knew it, John was leading him down a flight of stairs where they ended up on the beach, under the boardwalk.

"Where are we?" William asked.

"Under the boardwalk. I like it down here. It's nice." John said. William's eyes followed the noise that he heard above him. 

"Don't worry about it, Will. It's just people walking." John said. "They're not gonna crash down on us." John started walking further along the beach. He motioned for Will to come. 

They started strolling under the boardwalk. John was right, it was really nice. He had never done this before.

"You're not from here." John asserted.

"No. From America. Moved here with my best friend. We wanted to do something new. But she moved back a while ago. She met a guy and they started a family." William's hands were in his pockets. He was nervous that he would say something stupid to John. 

"Do you miss it? America? "

"A little. I miss my mom. And my best friend. But I love my job here. I don't think I would leave it for the world." John smiled thinking about all of the good experiences he got when he moved to London. William grew up in a small town and desperately wanted to move away to a big city. He and Sarah, his best friend, decided on London spontaneously. William's mom thought he would seriously regret it, and he did for a while. He regretted the fact that he made the decision so quickly and how expensive the move was. He had no money for food or anything. But it all worked out in the end. He started working at the radio station near him making a livable wage. Sarah worked as a waiter. He even made enough money to start going to college. Things were good. 

"Do you like being in a band?" William asked. 

"I do...I do. I love it. I don't love all the attention all the time though. And I don't particularly like touring. I miss my mum in Leicestershire." John said kicked a bit on the sand. "But I do enjoy making music. Freddie gave me such a great opportunity."

"I've started listening to your stuff. It's wonderful, really." William said. 

"I'm quite offended you haven't listened to us before." John joked. 

"Oh shut it." William rolled his eyes. John laughed at that. "I like it. Really. You are so talented." 

"Thank you," John said quietly. William looked to the side and saw John blushing. 

John spotted a large rock and sat on it. He patted a space next to him so William would sit down. William sat down gingerly.  He winced at the fact that the rock was sopping wet, but he didn't want to say anything. 

They sat there for a while. Just looking at the waves crashing on the shore. Watching the birds strut on the sand. It was beautiful. William soaked it all in, knowing he probably wouldn't ever have time to come back. 

William ended up talking to John for over 2 hours. It was the most fun that William had in a long time. He hadn't laughed as hard as he did when he was with John. He didn't have this sort of gross, raunchy humor that a lot of guys he met did. He was smart and soft. It was something that William admired in John. 

William doubled over laughing at one point. He was rolling in the sand, his arms wrapped around his stomach. 

"Stop! I'm going to pee." William squeked, gasping for air. 

John couldn't stop laughing either. He did the silly face that William was laughing so hard at once again and snorted at William's reaction to it. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." John held his hand out to William to help him get up from the ground. William, filled with adrenaline, decided to pull a stunt. He accepted John's offer to pull him up, but then yanked him down to the ground with him. 

He and John ended up laughing even harder than before. 

When they finally calmed down, William and John were laying on their backs, on the sand. Their eyes were a little teary from having laughed so hard. 

William looked over at John to see John staring at him again. John was smiling softly. 

"What?" William asked. "Why are you looking at me like that." 

John didn't say anything at him. Instead, he rolled on his side and grabbed William's head between his hands and kissed him. John kissed him like he had never kissed anyone before.