Car Fic. | Bluespartanz

2

The car trunk swung open and the smell of coffee filled the air as Henry climbed onto the flattened chairs to join Brandon. They were supposed to go star watching (or alien hunting, as Henry preferred it) but after going through all the work of filling the car up with sleeping bags, snacks, extra snacks, flashlights, batteries, and other essentials they had managed to forget the map. Which of course, they didn't notice until they had already driven for ten minutes. Henry dramatically facepalmed, groaned, and wordlessly made a U-turn towards the house. But now that seemed too far away.

"Isn't it kinda a waste to re-drive when we had already driven so far?" Brandon asked.  "No, Brandon, following your instincts is only going to get us more lost," Henry said flatly. Geez. An argument was exactly what they needed right now.

Somehow, they ended up at a mall parking lot, just as it was closing. "What are we doing here?" Brandon looked over to Henry who was undoing his seatbelt. Henry ignored Brandon's question and instead just said "Kwite will help us solve this," then taking his phone out to call Kwite

When Kwite was consulted to decide on who was right and who was wrong, he merely sighed, covered the mouthpiece and checked his email while Henry complained about gas prices and how it was easy for Brandon to believe that they should drive around aimlessly looking for "the perfect spot" since he wasn't the one doing the work.

After a few minutes, he lifted the phone back to his ear and cleared his throat to make Henry shut up. "Why don't you two talk about it over coffee?" Henry started whining. that was shitty advice, but he never finished because Kwite had hung up on him.

Maybe there was more to that than it appeared, though. Henry had slammed the door after he had parked (poorly) and made his way into the mall. The brisk walk to the coffee shop inside seemed especially far away, and the employees who were less than pleased to see late customers were too put off by Henry's scowl to give him any attitude. Planting himself on a counter, Henry impatiently waited for the two coffees.

He knew that this wasn't worth being angry about, but it's not like they never argue. Brandon was always there to comfort and listen to him, and to support him. Even when Henry's 'friends' were trying to prevent him from doing what he loved, Brandon just shrugged and said 'do whatever makes you happy. If your friends think that it's lame' or whatever then obviously they aren't real friends." After that, Henry knew when it came to the important stuff, who to fall back on. They just tend to argue over stupid things. But why?

Rubbing his forehead, he puzzled over this. He barely noted the meek, "Hello? Your coffees are done." Absentmindedly, he grabbed a handful of tissues and threw them in the center of the cardboard holder, and made a much slower, thoughtful stroll back to the parking lot.

Stupid arguments like these get them nowhere, nor does it hurt him or Brandon. At least, he doesn't think they hurt Brandon. He assumed that they were both strong, young men who don't stress over pointless crap like this. So why do they argue? If they both agreed to just drop drivel like this, they could save a lot of time and get more done. If they had gone with his plan, then they could just stargaze some other day and watch a DVD tonight or something. It's still a sleepover. What's the big deal? Brandon was adamant about going somewhere-- far away-- and tonight. Henry was uncomfortable with taking risks like that. It's dangerous this late, and they could get seriously lost and not be able to get back. Obviously, Brandon wasn't making any sense.

Maybe it's because they're both guys. It must be a dominance thing. Even though this meaningless argument wasn't going to matter in the long run, he still wanted to be right. Brandon usually relented to his opinion, but this time he had a different idea that he really cares about. So while they could settle this calmly and diplomatically, their position as men was being challenged. Yeah, that's it. It's just a dumb dominance thing.

Abruptly, the lights in the parking lot clicked off. A few hundred steps away, a light came on in the car and he could see that the backseat was lowered. It was cold and dark, but he felt completely calm. Damn, Kwite. Was that what he had meant? Henry approached the car and leaned in. Brandon was laying flat on his stomach, facing the trunk, with a flashlight cradled between his arms. He appeared to be staring blankly at his hands.

He almost looked hurt. Fuck.