Preying Eyes Chapter 4
Mar. 19th, 2017 09:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
asphaltcowgrrlTitle: Preying Eyes Chapter 4
Fandom: Le sigh
Pairing: Adrien Lupei + Elliot Deacon
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3,025
Summary: Adrien and Elliot run into each other again. Magic happens.
Author’s Note: I’m really happy with how this chapter turned out. I’ve started and restarted it several times, not really finding the right place. Finally, I think I found it.
Continued from here.
Elliot tried to hold back a sigh as he snuck a look at his watch. He was only twenty minutes into the date and already he was looking for a way out. His unplanned dinner with a stranger three months ago had been better than this planned date with an acquaintance. Which reminded him, he’d never heard from Adrien, even after leaving his card with Bella. It made Elliot wonder if she’d been yanking his chain or if she’d simply been wrong about Adrien’s level of interest. Neither was a pleasant option.
He put all thoughts of Adrien out of his mind. What he needed to do was focus on Mark, the guy he was currently having a conversation with. Elliot promised Damon he’d give the guy a chance, but god, Mark was boring. How Garces had ever stumbled into a friendship with an accountant, he’d never know.
“So, I was telling the guy,” Mark said, waving a hand in the air.
Elliot tuned him out. He’d been telling this story about a client who was cheating his partner out of money since they’d first sat down. It was obvious where this was going, the ending as plain as anything, but Mark didn’t seem to care as he kept talking. If Mark wasn’t the one who figured out the partner was embezzling from the other, what was the point of the story? Who brags about the achievements of someone else on a date?
A flash of dark hair caught Elliot’s attention, drawing his eyes away from Mark and towards the bar. Visions of Adrien’s midnight curls flooded his mind. Taking a chance, Elliot looked over his shoulder in an effort to verify whether he’d really seen him or not. Nothing. He saw absolutely nothing. It was official – Elliot was losing his mind and it was all Adrien’s fault.
“Is everything okay,” Mark asked, dragging Elliot’s attention back to him.
“Sorry,” Elliot said, grimacing. “I thought I saw someone I knew, but I was mistaken.”
Mark smiled and gave a slight nod. “That’s the worst, isn’t it? Mistaking a person for someone else, getting your hopes up and then being let down.” He shook his head. “Embarrassing too, when you call out the person’s name only to discover it’s not them.”
He had no idea how disappointing, either. Elliot rested his chin in his hand and tried his best to focus on the words Mark was spewing, which wasn’t easy now that he was thinking of Adrien. Again. Elliot kicked himself mentally for the millionth time since their dinner. He should have gotten the guy’s number but something had kept him from asking. It wasn’t shyness, Elliot hadn’t ever been accused of that. What it had been, however, escaped Elliot’s grasp.
Fuck, but he was bored. Without waiting for commentary on his current story, Mark tied up the loose ends and launched directly into another. There didn’t seem to be much variation in topic either, he noted. Elliot bit the inside of his cheek to keep from screaming shut the hell up at the poor kid. It really wasn’t Mark’s fault. He seemed like he was a decent enough guy. Hell, he had a good job, was educated and good looking but… he was dull as hell.
Damn, but it was going to be a long night.
**
“For the love of God, Adrien, get it together,” he scolded himself.
It had been nearly three months since the incident at the hotel and Adrien still found himself paralyzed anytime he attempted to leave the security of his current residence. Didn’t matter whether he was at home or in a hotel, the panic still set in. After the police had cleared him and he’d done his show, Adrien had gotten on the next plane back to Tennessee and holed up in his house for six weeks. It was the only place he felt safe, where the world didn’t see him as Austin Ricci. At home in Tucker, he was simply Adrien, well-liked local kid. It probably made him the world’s worst celebrity, but he loved that no one freaked out over his presence when he went out when he was here.
Leaving to go back to his tour had been the hardest thing he’d done in a long time. Every time he returned to where he was staying, he expected the worst which only made leaving his actual home more difficult. Adrien reminded himself that he wasn’t in New York or California, he was home – and he was safe from the crazies of the world. His insane stalker had little chance of finding him in this secluded little town in the middle of nowhere, Tennessee.
Scrounging up as much nerve as he could find, Adrien grabbed his keys and forced himself out of the house. He’d been back in Tucker for close to two weeks and hadn’t left once. His mother brought him groceries and there wasn’t much else he needed. His longtime friend, Kelley, however, had started acting concerned for Adrien’s mental health, urging him to get the hell out in the sunshine before he became a hermit.
“Cant’ see how being a recluse is such a bad thing,” Adrien muttered to the quiet interior of his car. But maybe Kelley had a point.
Laughing at his ridiculousness, Adrien pulled out of the drive and headed out in search of dinner. His first instinct was to stop at Mickey’s, knowing that Bella would be working. He figured he’d feel more secure there, trusting Bells and her family to keep him safe and calm. But he’d been blowing off her calls and texts since everything went to hell in Denver. Even though she understood his predicament, he’d been unable to explain to her the absolute horror and panic he’d felt that night. Not in the mood to get into it with her, especially since she had a reputation for being right about most things, Adrien drove past Mickey’s and pulled into the lot of The Rusty Spur, a local bar serving some pretty damn good food.
It took several minutes to gather the courage to get out of his car, but once he was inside, he relaxed. They knew him here, too, although not quite in the same way as they did at Mickey’s. The Spur’s bartender, an older guy named John, had gone to school with Adrien’s mother. On one hand, it was a good thing. It meant that Adrien was treated well and always got the best service. But on the other, he was also often pelted with questions in regards to his mother’s current marital situation. For the record, his mother was single and not looking. Not that Adrien could blame her because his father was a prick.
“Hey John,” Adrien said, sliding onto a barstool. “What’s good tonight?”
“It’s all good,” he said, smiling at Adrien. He leaned an arm against the bar and looked Adrien over, nodding at whatever he saw. “But your favorite burger’s on special if you’re hungry.”
He heard his stomach growl. “Yes, I’m starving, actually. Burger, fries, and a Sprite, please.”
Laughing, John put the order into the register. “I swear, you’re the only idiot that sits at the bar and orders a Sprite, kid.”
“I’m driving,” he said, defending his choice to the only person who might care. “So, I’ll stick with the soda for now.”
“Good choice,” John said. He set a tall glass of Sprite in front of Adrien and leaned on the bar again. “What’s been up with you? Haven’t seen you around lately.”
“I’ve been on the road, as usual,” Adrien said, eyes scanning the room as he spoke.
“Go anywhere interesting this time around?” John straightened and began wiping the top of the bar with a damp towel.
Smiling at the familiar topic of conversation, Adrien started detailing all the places he’d been since the last time he’d seen his old friend. New York City, Los Angeles, Vegas – he talked about them all but Denver. It was too early to even take that one out of the box, so he left it secured in its hidey hole for the time being. If he had his way, Denver wouldn’t ever be up for discussion.
When John broke away to take care of another customer, Adrien let his eyes wander the bar again, looking for a friendly face. He’d been half expecting to see Kelley or another of his friends out tonight having a drink and possibly a bite to eat, but he hadn’t expected to see him. Adrien swallowed hard, trying to breathe around the lump in his throat.
Elliot sat with his chin propped on the heel of his hand, staring blankly at the man across the table. The other guy looked vaguely familiar. It occurred to Adrien that he’d seen the guy around downtown the last time he’d gone to visit his financial advisor. No wonder Elliot was looking so uninterested, guys who worked with numbers for a living tended to be inflexible and unimaginative. But then, Adrien had been told that ‘creative types’ were great partners and yet, not one of his ex’s had bought into the theory. What did he know anyway?
Well, he knew that he wanted more time with the handsome detective.
His eyes landed on Elliot’s profile again and the level of tedium he saw there was intolerable. John strolled by and refilled Adrien’s Sprite. “John, those two over in the front room, how long have they been there?”
John stared in the direction Adrien had indicated and thought for a moment. “Probably an hour or so, why?”
“No reason,” he lied. “But the blond doesn’t look like he’s all that thrilled.”
“Can’t say I blame him,” John chuckled. “Mark McCauley is the most tiresome and stale person I’ve ever met. Do you know the other guy?”
Panic surged through him but Adrien tamped it down. “Not really, but I shared a table with him a few weeks ago at Mickey’s. Bells said he’d been waiting forever to eat.”
The bartender grinned at Adrien. “So she tried to set you up with this guy?”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t exactly like that,” he said, not sure if he was lying or not. “Bella noticed he was a cop and thought she’d do him a favor by putting him at my table.”
“So she was trying to set you up.”
“Maybe,” he said, giving in to the possibility.
“Did it work?” John picked up a glass and started polishing it.
Adrien tapped his fingers on the bar and shrugged. “Not really. I didn’t get his number and he didn’t ask for mine. I figured he wasn’t all that interested.”
“You’re a hell of a lot more interesting than Mark McCauley,” John said. He lifted his chin in the direction of Elliot and his date. “Maybe you can save him from a fate worse than death,” John suggested.
Adrien had to admit, he’d been wondering the same thing. “How do I go over and interrupt their date without making Mark feel like a fool, John?”
“You don’t know Mark very well, do you?” Adrien shook his head no and John’s smile broadened. “Then go over and act like you and this cop are old friends. All ‘oh my god I haven’t seen you in years’ kind of thing. If the guy is half as smart as he looks, he’ll jump on the opportunity to get the hell out.”
It was worth a shot, he supposed. “I don’t know. What if –”
“Go,” John said, waving Adrien off in the direction of his destiny. “I’ll keep your burger on hold until you either come back or I see you leave with the cop.”
The idea of leaving with Elliot warmed his insides. “Thanks, John.”
“It’s nothing,” he said. “Anything to help a guy out. Oh, and tell your mother I said hi.”
**
Holy shit, he hadn’t been imagining things after all. Adrien was headed right towards their table with a determined expression on his face. Elliot blinked to make sure he wasn’t fooling himself and, when Adrien’s handsome face broke into a grin, he knew that he wasn’t just saved from this date from hell, but was getting the second chance he’d been begging for all along.
“Elliot Deacon,” Adrien said, striding up to the side of their table. “Is that really you?”
Standing, Elliot held out his arms in greeting. “As I live and breathe,” he said. “Adrien, how the hell are you?”
Adrien stepped into Elliot’s open arms, wrapping one strong arm around Elliot’s middle. His casual embrace stunned Elliot for a moment, but he recovered quickly, folding both his arms around Adrien’s broad back. He melted into Adrien’s hug, the fresh scent of his skin filling Elliot’s nose. Worried that he might never let go, Elliot gave a hearty clap to Adrien’s back and reluctantly pulled away.
Sapphire colored eyes searched his face, looking for what? Before he could begin to work that out, Adrien spoke. “I’m good, Elliot, really good. I was over having a chat with John and when I saw you here, I knew I had to stop by and say hello.” His eyes flicked to Mark and then back to Elliot. “You’re already with someone, so I’ll go back to my drink at the bar. I don’t want to keep you, but you’ll have to call me sometime so we can get together.”
It was now or never, he thought. “I broke my phone or I’d have called sooner, Adrien. Idiots at the store didn’t transfer my contacts like I’d asked and I lost everything.” Real smooth, he chastised himself. What an idiot he was.
Adrien pulled fully out of Elliot’s hold and reached for his wallet. “Of course,” he said. “Let me give you one of my cards so you’ll have all my info. Cell, home, the works.”
Elliot took the card out of Adrien’s hand and slipped into his pocket. It was torture not to look at it, to absorb this new bit of his dream come true. “I’ll put it all into my phone when I get home.”
“Be sure to save your contacts to the cloud,” Adrien suggested. “Most providers offer that kind of thing now. It’s well worth the effort.” He winked and started to move away from the table. “Have a good night.”
“Wait,” Mark said, holding out a hand in Adrien’s direction. “If it’s been that long, why don’t you two take this table and catch up? We can work out a time and place for another date later, Elliot.”
“Sure,” Elliot said, holding out his hand. Mark took it and gave a hearty shake. “It was nice getting to know you tonight. Damon’s told me so much about you, it was like I already knew you.” Although Damon had left out exactly how tedious the man was. Details, details.
“Same,” Mark said, waving at the both of them. “I’ll see you later, Elliot. Nice meeting you, Adrien.”
“You are such a liar,” Adrien laughed as soon as Mark was out of range.
Elliot turned to him and frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I was over at the bar, watching the two of you for a good ten minutes.” He pointed over towards where John stood watching them. “I have never seen anyone so bored out of their minds in my life.”
Knowing he’d been caught out, Elliot made a face. “Okay, so he was a bit dull, what can I say?”
“Say you’ll come have dinner with me again?” He shot a look over at John before turning back to Elliot. “I have a burger ready to be fired, let me buy you one, too.”
“How can I say no to that,” Elliot asked, shoulder bumping Adrien. “The burgers in this place are amazing.”
“That they are,” Adrien agreed, taking three steps towards the bar. Stopping, he turned back towards Elliot. “Would you think I was insane if I suggested we got the burgers to go and took them back to my place? I – I’m on the road a lot and as happy as I am to see you, all I really want is to be back at my place.”
Elliot felt his heart slide into his stomach, thumping loudly when it hit rock bottom. “If you don’t want company, I –”
“No,” Adrien said, grabbing hold of Elliot’s wrist. “I do want the company. I’m alone way too much. But I want to be home, too. Does that make sense?”
It made perfect sense, so he nodded. “It’s a date,” Elliot said. “Or, rather, a date-like-thing,” he hastily corrected himself.
“Call it what you want, but as long as we have food and good company, it’s good.” Adrien smiled and started towards the bar again.
“Two burgers,” John asked, one eyebrow lifted in question.
“Yes,” Adrien agreed. “To go, please.”
“Anything you say, Adrien.” John nodded, punching in an additional meal into the register. “Sixteen bucks.”
Adrien reached for his wallet and Elliot put a hand out to stop him. “You covered my meal last time so –”
“Bella covered your meal last time,” Adrien corrected.
“Whatever,” Elliot said, smiling. “But you saved me back there. My god, he’s a nice enough guy but –”
“He’s about as exciting as a box of rocks,” John finished for him. “Know the guy well. Too well. Trust me, Adrien’s a thousand times more interesting.”
Elliot fixed his eyes on Adrien, feeling like a lovesick twelve year old. “Yeah, I can’t dispute that,” he said. “Let me buy your dinner for saving me from utter torture all night. Deal?”
An unidentifiable emotion passed quickly over Adrien’s face but, in the end, he nodded. “It’s a deal. And I have drinks at the house so those are on me.”
God, he wished they’d be all over Adrien. But maybe he was jumping the gun a bit. They hardly knew each other, right? Elliot supposed they could hold off on licking beverages from each other’s bodies until at least the second date. Maybe.
Continues here.
Fandom: Le sigh
Pairing: Adrien Lupei + Elliot Deacon
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3,025
Summary: Adrien and Elliot run into each other again. Magic happens.
Author’s Note: I’m really happy with how this chapter turned out. I’ve started and restarted it several times, not really finding the right place. Finally, I think I found it.
Continued from here.
Elliot tried to hold back a sigh as he snuck a look at his watch. He was only twenty minutes into the date and already he was looking for a way out. His unplanned dinner with a stranger three months ago had been better than this planned date with an acquaintance. Which reminded him, he’d never heard from Adrien, even after leaving his card with Bella. It made Elliot wonder if she’d been yanking his chain or if she’d simply been wrong about Adrien’s level of interest. Neither was a pleasant option.
He put all thoughts of Adrien out of his mind. What he needed to do was focus on Mark, the guy he was currently having a conversation with. Elliot promised Damon he’d give the guy a chance, but god, Mark was boring. How Garces had ever stumbled into a friendship with an accountant, he’d never know.
“So, I was telling the guy,” Mark said, waving a hand in the air.
Elliot tuned him out. He’d been telling this story about a client who was cheating his partner out of money since they’d first sat down. It was obvious where this was going, the ending as plain as anything, but Mark didn’t seem to care as he kept talking. If Mark wasn’t the one who figured out the partner was embezzling from the other, what was the point of the story? Who brags about the achievements of someone else on a date?
A flash of dark hair caught Elliot’s attention, drawing his eyes away from Mark and towards the bar. Visions of Adrien’s midnight curls flooded his mind. Taking a chance, Elliot looked over his shoulder in an effort to verify whether he’d really seen him or not. Nothing. He saw absolutely nothing. It was official – Elliot was losing his mind and it was all Adrien’s fault.
“Is everything okay,” Mark asked, dragging Elliot’s attention back to him.
“Sorry,” Elliot said, grimacing. “I thought I saw someone I knew, but I was mistaken.”
Mark smiled and gave a slight nod. “That’s the worst, isn’t it? Mistaking a person for someone else, getting your hopes up and then being let down.” He shook his head. “Embarrassing too, when you call out the person’s name only to discover it’s not them.”
He had no idea how disappointing, either. Elliot rested his chin in his hand and tried his best to focus on the words Mark was spewing, which wasn’t easy now that he was thinking of Adrien. Again. Elliot kicked himself mentally for the millionth time since their dinner. He should have gotten the guy’s number but something had kept him from asking. It wasn’t shyness, Elliot hadn’t ever been accused of that. What it had been, however, escaped Elliot’s grasp.
Fuck, but he was bored. Without waiting for commentary on his current story, Mark tied up the loose ends and launched directly into another. There didn’t seem to be much variation in topic either, he noted. Elliot bit the inside of his cheek to keep from screaming shut the hell up at the poor kid. It really wasn’t Mark’s fault. He seemed like he was a decent enough guy. Hell, he had a good job, was educated and good looking but… he was dull as hell.
Damn, but it was going to be a long night.
**
“For the love of God, Adrien, get it together,” he scolded himself.
It had been nearly three months since the incident at the hotel and Adrien still found himself paralyzed anytime he attempted to leave the security of his current residence. Didn’t matter whether he was at home or in a hotel, the panic still set in. After the police had cleared him and he’d done his show, Adrien had gotten on the next plane back to Tennessee and holed up in his house for six weeks. It was the only place he felt safe, where the world didn’t see him as Austin Ricci. At home in Tucker, he was simply Adrien, well-liked local kid. It probably made him the world’s worst celebrity, but he loved that no one freaked out over his presence when he went out when he was here.
Leaving to go back to his tour had been the hardest thing he’d done in a long time. Every time he returned to where he was staying, he expected the worst which only made leaving his actual home more difficult. Adrien reminded himself that he wasn’t in New York or California, he was home – and he was safe from the crazies of the world. His insane stalker had little chance of finding him in this secluded little town in the middle of nowhere, Tennessee.
Scrounging up as much nerve as he could find, Adrien grabbed his keys and forced himself out of the house. He’d been back in Tucker for close to two weeks and hadn’t left once. His mother brought him groceries and there wasn’t much else he needed. His longtime friend, Kelley, however, had started acting concerned for Adrien’s mental health, urging him to get the hell out in the sunshine before he became a hermit.
“Cant’ see how being a recluse is such a bad thing,” Adrien muttered to the quiet interior of his car. But maybe Kelley had a point.
Laughing at his ridiculousness, Adrien pulled out of the drive and headed out in search of dinner. His first instinct was to stop at Mickey’s, knowing that Bella would be working. He figured he’d feel more secure there, trusting Bells and her family to keep him safe and calm. But he’d been blowing off her calls and texts since everything went to hell in Denver. Even though she understood his predicament, he’d been unable to explain to her the absolute horror and panic he’d felt that night. Not in the mood to get into it with her, especially since she had a reputation for being right about most things, Adrien drove past Mickey’s and pulled into the lot of The Rusty Spur, a local bar serving some pretty damn good food.
It took several minutes to gather the courage to get out of his car, but once he was inside, he relaxed. They knew him here, too, although not quite in the same way as they did at Mickey’s. The Spur’s bartender, an older guy named John, had gone to school with Adrien’s mother. On one hand, it was a good thing. It meant that Adrien was treated well and always got the best service. But on the other, he was also often pelted with questions in regards to his mother’s current marital situation. For the record, his mother was single and not looking. Not that Adrien could blame her because his father was a prick.
“Hey John,” Adrien said, sliding onto a barstool. “What’s good tonight?”
“It’s all good,” he said, smiling at Adrien. He leaned an arm against the bar and looked Adrien over, nodding at whatever he saw. “But your favorite burger’s on special if you’re hungry.”
He heard his stomach growl. “Yes, I’m starving, actually. Burger, fries, and a Sprite, please.”
Laughing, John put the order into the register. “I swear, you’re the only idiot that sits at the bar and orders a Sprite, kid.”
“I’m driving,” he said, defending his choice to the only person who might care. “So, I’ll stick with the soda for now.”
“Good choice,” John said. He set a tall glass of Sprite in front of Adrien and leaned on the bar again. “What’s been up with you? Haven’t seen you around lately.”
“I’ve been on the road, as usual,” Adrien said, eyes scanning the room as he spoke.
“Go anywhere interesting this time around?” John straightened and began wiping the top of the bar with a damp towel.
Smiling at the familiar topic of conversation, Adrien started detailing all the places he’d been since the last time he’d seen his old friend. New York City, Los Angeles, Vegas – he talked about them all but Denver. It was too early to even take that one out of the box, so he left it secured in its hidey hole for the time being. If he had his way, Denver wouldn’t ever be up for discussion.
When John broke away to take care of another customer, Adrien let his eyes wander the bar again, looking for a friendly face. He’d been half expecting to see Kelley or another of his friends out tonight having a drink and possibly a bite to eat, but he hadn’t expected to see him. Adrien swallowed hard, trying to breathe around the lump in his throat.
Elliot sat with his chin propped on the heel of his hand, staring blankly at the man across the table. The other guy looked vaguely familiar. It occurred to Adrien that he’d seen the guy around downtown the last time he’d gone to visit his financial advisor. No wonder Elliot was looking so uninterested, guys who worked with numbers for a living tended to be inflexible and unimaginative. But then, Adrien had been told that ‘creative types’ were great partners and yet, not one of his ex’s had bought into the theory. What did he know anyway?
Well, he knew that he wanted more time with the handsome detective.
His eyes landed on Elliot’s profile again and the level of tedium he saw there was intolerable. John strolled by and refilled Adrien’s Sprite. “John, those two over in the front room, how long have they been there?”
John stared in the direction Adrien had indicated and thought for a moment. “Probably an hour or so, why?”
“No reason,” he lied. “But the blond doesn’t look like he’s all that thrilled.”
“Can’t say I blame him,” John chuckled. “Mark McCauley is the most tiresome and stale person I’ve ever met. Do you know the other guy?”
Panic surged through him but Adrien tamped it down. “Not really, but I shared a table with him a few weeks ago at Mickey’s. Bells said he’d been waiting forever to eat.”
The bartender grinned at Adrien. “So she tried to set you up with this guy?”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t exactly like that,” he said, not sure if he was lying or not. “Bella noticed he was a cop and thought she’d do him a favor by putting him at my table.”
“So she was trying to set you up.”
“Maybe,” he said, giving in to the possibility.
“Did it work?” John picked up a glass and started polishing it.
Adrien tapped his fingers on the bar and shrugged. “Not really. I didn’t get his number and he didn’t ask for mine. I figured he wasn’t all that interested.”
“You’re a hell of a lot more interesting than Mark McCauley,” John said. He lifted his chin in the direction of Elliot and his date. “Maybe you can save him from a fate worse than death,” John suggested.
Adrien had to admit, he’d been wondering the same thing. “How do I go over and interrupt their date without making Mark feel like a fool, John?”
“You don’t know Mark very well, do you?” Adrien shook his head no and John’s smile broadened. “Then go over and act like you and this cop are old friends. All ‘oh my god I haven’t seen you in years’ kind of thing. If the guy is half as smart as he looks, he’ll jump on the opportunity to get the hell out.”
It was worth a shot, he supposed. “I don’t know. What if –”
“Go,” John said, waving Adrien off in the direction of his destiny. “I’ll keep your burger on hold until you either come back or I see you leave with the cop.”
The idea of leaving with Elliot warmed his insides. “Thanks, John.”
“It’s nothing,” he said. “Anything to help a guy out. Oh, and tell your mother I said hi.”
**
Holy shit, he hadn’t been imagining things after all. Adrien was headed right towards their table with a determined expression on his face. Elliot blinked to make sure he wasn’t fooling himself and, when Adrien’s handsome face broke into a grin, he knew that he wasn’t just saved from this date from hell, but was getting the second chance he’d been begging for all along.
“Elliot Deacon,” Adrien said, striding up to the side of their table. “Is that really you?”
Standing, Elliot held out his arms in greeting. “As I live and breathe,” he said. “Adrien, how the hell are you?”
Adrien stepped into Elliot’s open arms, wrapping one strong arm around Elliot’s middle. His casual embrace stunned Elliot for a moment, but he recovered quickly, folding both his arms around Adrien’s broad back. He melted into Adrien’s hug, the fresh scent of his skin filling Elliot’s nose. Worried that he might never let go, Elliot gave a hearty clap to Adrien’s back and reluctantly pulled away.
Sapphire colored eyes searched his face, looking for what? Before he could begin to work that out, Adrien spoke. “I’m good, Elliot, really good. I was over having a chat with John and when I saw you here, I knew I had to stop by and say hello.” His eyes flicked to Mark and then back to Elliot. “You’re already with someone, so I’ll go back to my drink at the bar. I don’t want to keep you, but you’ll have to call me sometime so we can get together.”
It was now or never, he thought. “I broke my phone or I’d have called sooner, Adrien. Idiots at the store didn’t transfer my contacts like I’d asked and I lost everything.” Real smooth, he chastised himself. What an idiot he was.
Adrien pulled fully out of Elliot’s hold and reached for his wallet. “Of course,” he said. “Let me give you one of my cards so you’ll have all my info. Cell, home, the works.”
Elliot took the card out of Adrien’s hand and slipped into his pocket. It was torture not to look at it, to absorb this new bit of his dream come true. “I’ll put it all into my phone when I get home.”
“Be sure to save your contacts to the cloud,” Adrien suggested. “Most providers offer that kind of thing now. It’s well worth the effort.” He winked and started to move away from the table. “Have a good night.”
“Wait,” Mark said, holding out a hand in Adrien’s direction. “If it’s been that long, why don’t you two take this table and catch up? We can work out a time and place for another date later, Elliot.”
“Sure,” Elliot said, holding out his hand. Mark took it and gave a hearty shake. “It was nice getting to know you tonight. Damon’s told me so much about you, it was like I already knew you.” Although Damon had left out exactly how tedious the man was. Details, details.
“Same,” Mark said, waving at the both of them. “I’ll see you later, Elliot. Nice meeting you, Adrien.”
“You are such a liar,” Adrien laughed as soon as Mark was out of range.
Elliot turned to him and frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I was over at the bar, watching the two of you for a good ten minutes.” He pointed over towards where John stood watching them. “I have never seen anyone so bored out of their minds in my life.”
Knowing he’d been caught out, Elliot made a face. “Okay, so he was a bit dull, what can I say?”
“Say you’ll come have dinner with me again?” He shot a look over at John before turning back to Elliot. “I have a burger ready to be fired, let me buy you one, too.”
“How can I say no to that,” Elliot asked, shoulder bumping Adrien. “The burgers in this place are amazing.”
“That they are,” Adrien agreed, taking three steps towards the bar. Stopping, he turned back towards Elliot. “Would you think I was insane if I suggested we got the burgers to go and took them back to my place? I – I’m on the road a lot and as happy as I am to see you, all I really want is to be back at my place.”
Elliot felt his heart slide into his stomach, thumping loudly when it hit rock bottom. “If you don’t want company, I –”
“No,” Adrien said, grabbing hold of Elliot’s wrist. “I do want the company. I’m alone way too much. But I want to be home, too. Does that make sense?”
It made perfect sense, so he nodded. “It’s a date,” Elliot said. “Or, rather, a date-like-thing,” he hastily corrected himself.
“Call it what you want, but as long as we have food and good company, it’s good.” Adrien smiled and started towards the bar again.
“Two burgers,” John asked, one eyebrow lifted in question.
“Yes,” Adrien agreed. “To go, please.”
“Anything you say, Adrien.” John nodded, punching in an additional meal into the register. “Sixteen bucks.”
Adrien reached for his wallet and Elliot put a hand out to stop him. “You covered my meal last time so –”
“Bella covered your meal last time,” Adrien corrected.
“Whatever,” Elliot said, smiling. “But you saved me back there. My god, he’s a nice enough guy but –”
“He’s about as exciting as a box of rocks,” John finished for him. “Know the guy well. Too well. Trust me, Adrien’s a thousand times more interesting.”
Elliot fixed his eyes on Adrien, feeling like a lovesick twelve year old. “Yeah, I can’t dispute that,” he said. “Let me buy your dinner for saving me from utter torture all night. Deal?”
An unidentifiable emotion passed quickly over Adrien’s face but, in the end, he nodded. “It’s a deal. And I have drinks at the house so those are on me.”
God, he wished they’d be all over Adrien. But maybe he was jumping the gun a bit. They hardly knew each other, right? Elliot supposed they could hold off on licking beverages from each other’s bodies until at least the second date. Maybe.
Continues here.
