Cameraman, Swing the Focus

Chapter 38

Brendon woke up, feeling around the bed with his eyes shut and failing to find another body there. He cracked his eyes open, looking around the empty room and seeing the bedroom door had been left open. 

He crawled out of bed, dragging the blanket with him as he went out to explore Dallon's apartment. The living room was also empty, but he could hear faint music and noise coming from behind one of the doors. He hesitated in front of it, not sure if it was Dallon, or possibly a roommate he didn't know about. 

Brendon knocked on the door, making sure to do it loud enough so that he could be heard by whoever was inside. "Come in," was shouted from the other side, and he was pretty confident it was Dallon's voice. He twisted the handle and froze in his steps as he took in the room he'd just walked into. 

Dallon was in the middle of the floor, pumping out some push ups, sweat gathering on his neck and back. Brendon barely paid him any attention though, as he couldn't tear his eyes off the walls which were covered in hooks holding sex toys and other paraphernalia.  

He didn't know what he could possibly say about that. Walking into Dallon's apparent sex dungeon with no warning left him speechless, and the fact that he was only dressed in a blanket was increasing the discomfort that was crawling up his spine.

"Hey, good morning," Dallon greeted, a little short of breath as he finished a few more push ups and rested on his knees. 

"Uhh, this is..." Brendon couldn't think up a single adjective apart from terrifying. He smiled tightly at Dallon and pointed back over his shoulder. "I think I'm going to go."

Dallon looked disappointed but not surprised as Brendon darted back to the bedroom and started throwing his clothes back on. 

"I know it's a lot. We'd never do anything you're not comfortable with." Brendon twisted around to see Dallon leaning against the door frame of the bed room. 

He exhaled deeply before speaking. "It's not that. Well, it's not just that. We only just met, and I slept here, and you have a sex dungeon!" His voice raised in pitch, cracking slightly on the last word. 

Dallon flinched almost imperceptibly. "I understand." He didn't move, or say anything more as Brendon gathered the rest of his things and went to leave. He stopped with his hand on the door knob, forcing himself to turn around and say something more to the man. Leaving it like that didn't feel acceptable. 

"I had a really great time with you. Maybe under different circumstances I wouldn't feel like this, but I just don't think I can see a future with us." 

Dallon laughed, and it surprised Brendon that he sounded amused, and not hurt. "For the record, I wasn't really looking for someone to build a future with." Brendon furrowed his brow, watching as Dallon grabbed the notepad on the table and scribbled his number down.

"If you ever want a hook up, I'm game." Dallon put the paper in his hand, staring down at him as his fingers closed around the paper. Brendon felt himself nod, not fully in control of his actions as he pulled the door open and went off down the hall. He had no reason to think Dallon was watching him walk away, but he got the feeling that was happening nonetheless.

Brendon got down to the street, breathing deeply and holding the scrunched up paper in his hand, now in the shape of a ball from where he'd closed his fist tightly around it. He briefly considered keeping it, just in case he changed his mind down at some point in the future. 

Ultimately, his gut told him what to do, and he threw the paper into a trashcan as he walked past, trying to determine how to get home.

Brendon never saw Dallon again. To go back to your previous choice, go to chapter 14.

To restart the story, go to chapter 1.