[Fanfiction] House MD, H/W - I Remember, Don't You? Chapter Ten (Revised)
Title: I Remember... Don't You?
Author: wolfoflegends
Word Count: 3,738
Pairing: House/Wilson
Summery: After a near death experience and it's following circumstances, Wilson goes to John Hopkins University as a last ditch effort for Med school. There he meets a character like he's never known. Stretches from Med school to beyond Season 4. Slash h/w
NOTE: To rule out some confusion, Med school takes place in 1991.
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CHAPTER TEN: Cold Snow, Ice Cream, and Red Thread
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The next morning it didn’t take long for Greg to remember the events from the night before as he awoke with a very naked James Wilson pressed against his equally naked self. And, oh, if he didn’t feel as proud as a peacock with himself. He had finally managed to get his Jimmy to give in and… well, actually, James was the one who got the whole thing started, in a sense, but that wasn’t important! All that mattered was that Greg got James in that bed and nothing crazy happened to prevent the evening from going as planned.
Maybe he could thank himself for leaving the bathroom door unlocked during lunch.
While he was curled up on his side, James was curled up in his arms. Their legs were tangled together and in messy sweaty sheets as Greg kept his face buried in that sweat stiffened brown hair but he knew better than anyone that a great night didn’t mean a great following morning. He was still surprised that James had finally given in and wondered how the man would act in the painful truth of day. He may have been fine with it last night while it was all going on, that doesn’t mean that he won’t go into some bout of self loathing that could ultimately destroy him.
Needless to say, Greg wasn’t actually looking forward to the moment James woke up. There was absolutely no way of knowing what would happen. Hoping for the best, Greg placed a kiss on the top of James’ hair and rested his chin there as he stared at the curtains covering the sliding glass door to the small balcony.
He laid there quietly for what felt like the longest time in the stillness of morning as he turned his gaze to the red LED of the alarm clock. About twenty minutes went by before James finally woke up. The only thing he could do in that instant was hold his breath. James gave a stretch and when he felt bare skin rub against skin and froze. Greg braced himself for whatever bad was about to come. For him nothing good ever seemed to work, so he didn’t see why this would be any different. But the only thing he received was a soft and modest kiss to his neck.
Feeling he was finally in the clear for the morning; Greg exhaled with all his anxiety going with it.
After four days of no classes, having to get up and go back was a pain. Greg knew not going would only delay the inevitable. He’d have to go eventually to get his degree; he might as well go now. And if the time on the clock had any say in it, it would tell him he had a half hour to get ready and off to class. No shower was out of the question today. The last thing he wanted to do was go to school and work smelling of last night’s sweat and sex. Lucky for him James didn’t have class for another hour, so he didn’t have to worry about taking up the shower.
“You know, we could save time by-”
James quickly cut him off as he pulled on his discarded boxer briefs from the night before. “If your next words include shower together, forget it. Everyone knows that, in fact, does not save time but does the exact opposite.” He grabbed his glasses from the nightstand and slipped them on.
Greg found that there was nothing, dare he say, cuter than a sleepy James Wilson dressed in only a pair of boxer briefs and glasses with his normally perfect hair mussed. He let out a laugh at the sight and made his way into the bathroom. It seemed James was getting very good at reading him as well.
--
Being back at school only affirmed how much it annoyed him. Sure he had to know how to work the math for this, that, and the other, but that sure as hell didn’t mean he had to enjoy it. Work, though… work was okay enough. Seemed there were days when stupid, annoying people took the day off, too. Or at least that was how it felt to Greg.
Something he found he could be pleased about was the weather. Snow still blanketed everything it landed on outside and the weather man promised more to fall over the next few days. There was something about snow that always brought out the kid in him (brought it out more so than normal, that is).
He only had an hour or so to go before he got off of work, and James had suggested that he meet him there after he was done with class, which would be about the same time. He couldn’t wait. Currently, the only thing he wanted to do when he saw that pretty face was nail him with the first snowball. He tried the other day at James’ parents, but it turned out that he had some pretty quick reflexes and was able to shield himself. But not again, he was going to nail him and the war would begin!
Oh, he was going to have some fun.
After a few more tables, a smoothie on the side, and dealing with a near death experience with a hotdog (it was best not to ask), it was finally time to clock out. Greg stretch out at a nearby booth and ordered up another smoothie while he waited for his buddy to show up. The sooner he showed up the sooner he could get this war started.
But when forever went by in the amount of a half hour, Greg was starting to think that James may have forgotten about their rendezvous. Annoyed, he slipped on his coat and made his way out the café. He let out a breath when the cold air from outside rushed at him when he opened the door. He really wished it didn’t have to be so cold out when it snowed. He took a small glance down the sidewalk for any sighs of James but none was found. So with a sigh and a shake of his head, Greg turned to make his way on to the apartment alone, but he didn’t get but a few steps before a tightly packed snowball hit him square on the back of his head with a familiar laugh reaching his ears. Quickly, he turned around to find James with a big triumphant smile. “I’ve been waiting forever for you to walk out here!” he laughed. But the look on Greg’s face told him only one thing.
Run.
And run he did. He took off as fast as his cold legs could take him down the street with Greg hot on his trail. "GET YOU ASS BACK HERE AND TAKE YOU PUNISHMENT LIKE A MAN!!" Greg called after him.
"You think I'm cra-Whaa!!" James yelped back as he hit a particular slippery spot of concrete before he quickly regained his footing and kept running. Seeing James’ slip, Greg simply leapt over the slippery bit.
“WHEN I GET A HOLD OF YOU YOU’RE GONNA WISH YOU DIDN’T START THIS WAR!!” He was almost in reach of James’ long striped scarf, and he was even tempted to snatch it, but the thought of bringing his friend to the ground by chocking him with his scarf didn’t sound as fun as some might think. It looked like he would have to just depend on his legs to take him closer but that turned out to be easier said than done. James was very good and keeping just out of his grasp, and the move he played by jumping up onto a fixed bench and leaping over the back of it was a nice touch. Made it looked like James knew what he was doing. But Greg knew; he knew that James could run and hide but when he got a hold of him he’d get him back. How? Just yet he wasn’t sure, but he’d think of something.
Making sure he had the righter way and that no cars were near, James shot across the street and into the park he frequented before he found something to do on his spare time. Greg knew this could be bad news. There was so much James could use to make himself hidden from view, especially when he knew the place much better than him. For all he knew, when James turns up missing, he could be hiding in the children playground equipment.
He could just imagine James shoving a kid out of one of the small train tunnels to hide himself. And just as he thought; it happened. Darting around a corner, James had managed to hide himself away from Greg’s sights.
Now where the hell did he get off to?
He really didn’t have to worry about the kid’s equipment being that all that was on the other side of the park. James had to be close. Where, thought, he didn’t know. It didn’t take him long to figure out a way to find his hidden enemy when he stumbled onto some footprints in the snow. The park itself was pretty empty, so he was certain these were the tracks of a fleeing James Wilson. He followed the tracks through a small thicket of trees that he wouldn’t have thought to even look for James in, but when he came out the other side he was met by a good sized clearing. With a few more steps there and a couple of glances here he spotted his quarry standing in a small alcove in the tree line near a small pond.
There was something strangely handsome about James as he stood alone staring off at the small somewhat frozen pond. He was sure it had to do with him dressed in that long dark wool coat that clung to his slight figure, the long striped scarf around his neck and the fresh snowflakes that had started falling gracefully from the clouds above landing on his chestnut brown hair.
Greg suddenly put the war on hold as he gawked across the snowy field at his friend.
He didn’t try to get closer or move away, he just watched. There was something about the sight that kept him transfixed. Sure, he could go over there as stealthfully as the crunching snow under his shoes would allow, but Prince Charming wouldn’t look as pretty running away from him as he did standing there taking in his surroundings covered in snow.
And just as if he knew Greg was watching him and thinking about him, James looked up and spotted his pursuer across the field. Seeing that Greg was too busy gawking to pose a threat, he made his way over to him.
“What are you doing standing alone here in the snow?” He held that charming smile that seemed to make Greg a little less harsher than usual.
“I was following your footprints.” He answered frankly as he looked back down with the still falling snow working on coving their tracks. “You look nice.” He complemented awkwardly.
James let out a laugh, “Yeah, I can tell if your ogling was anything to go by.”
“I wasn’t ogling!” he defended playfully, “I was taking in the lovely view.”
“Yeah, by leering.” He was now standing with his hands on his hips with a bright smile on his face.
“It’s the best way to look at something pretty!” Greg pointed out. James only shook his head. Not moving away, James allowed Greg to get close to him and wrap a friendly arm around his shoulder and placed a kiss against that snow speckle hair. But there was something about it all that kept James from putting his guard completely down. And with good reason.
“So, Jimmy, you ready for that punishment?” Before he could get the sentence completely out, James quickly wriggled from his grasp and took off like a shot through the falling snow. “YOU’RE NOT GOING TO GET AWAY THAT EASILY!!” He called with his hands funneled around his mouth to help his voice project better. And with his threat being said, he took off right after his fleeing friend.
When they got out of the park and back on sidewalk Greg knew he could have some kind of advantage. He could hear James trying to be polite as he rushed passed people and tried not to crash into them with pardon me and excuse me being shouted at them. Did he always have to be so polite all the time? It was like he believed the world would cave in on itself if he were to be rude.
And just like the first time James had managed to get out of his sight for just a second and hide. Greg really should have paid more attention. He looked around the street, across the street, the sidewalk and anywhere his eyes could look but it was no use. “Where are you, Jimmy!” he called out. But of course he got no answer. Rather than get himself lost by wandering farther down a street that James obviously didn’t go down, he waited. He knew his kindhearted Jimmy would never abandon him.
While he stood waiting, Greg let out a scoff as he watched a guy walk down the street while eating some ice cream. “What kind of idiot buys ice cream on a snow day?” he said out loud to himself.
“I guess that would be me.” A voice spoke from behind him; emerging from the ice cream shop just in time to hear the comment. Greg quickly made an about-face to see James with a slightly embarrassed smile as he held two ice cream cones. One was a vanilla and strawberry mixture with a pinkish color to it where as the other was a green mint and chocolate concoction. He walked up to him as Greg watched curiously as he worked on the pink vanilla strawberry combination. James held out the green mint cone. “Will you take this before... well, it’s not going to melt in this weather; take it before I get tired of holding it.” Without having to ask twice, Greg took the cone and started eating it. “Does this make you an idiot, too?”
“Nope.”
“But you’re eating ice cream-”
“I said buy not eat. And since I didn’t buy it, I’m not an idiot.” He pointed out. James didn’t say anything, only rolled his eyes but it was the laugh that Greg let out following the cocky statement that told him he was only joking with James giving a smile in return.
For whatever reason they had in their heads, instead of going inside to sit in the heated ice cream parlor, the two opted to sit on the steps outside the door. As expected, the ice cream shop didn’t get much business on such a cold day so the two didn’t have to worry about too much unwanted foot traffic.
It seemed that since their time spent together the night before James had allowed himself to be a little more accepting of the more hidden side of himself and as if to prove this, he didn’t put up any objection to Greg as he sat down right against him as he used the wall he leaned on as a barrier against any wind. “You’re choice in ice cream in unadventurous.” Greg pointed out as he eyed the pinkish white mound of Ice cream that James was currently licking on.
But he didn’t find that fair. “What? I like strawberries.. and vanilla. Just because I’d rather eat that than something more exotic doesn’t mean it’s unadventurous. And besides, mint chocolate swirl is hardly exotic.”
“More so than strawberries.”
“Do you want to try some? It’s good.” He held out his ice cream cone to Greg with him taking a somewhat modest bite in House terms. He had to admit it was good. It wasn’t the fake strawberry stuff that some will try to pass off. No, the strawberries were real enough; he could feel a small seed or two stuck in his teeth but it was good nonetheless.
“Yeah, well… it’s good; I guess.” He took a bite or two from his own mint chocolate before he decided to return the favor. “You want a bite of mine?”
James knew being given the chance to get any food, if even just a bite from Greg was certainly an honorary thing. So, he agreed but with Greg hardly even paying attention to the distance between he and James, managed to get some of the ice cream on his friend’s face and nose. James slipped off his leather glove and wiped the smudge of minty sweetness off his cheek and licked his fingers.
“Sorry.” Greg chuckled at look he had gotten in return before James managed to take a bite of the offered ice cream. It was good. He liked mint ice cream; he just simply wanted vanilla and strawberries.
“It’s good. Thanks.” Maybe it was too cold for him to realize he still had a smudge of green mint ice cream on his nose as he went back to eating his ice cream, but it didn’t go unnoticed to Greg.
He smiled as an idea came to mind. “Hey, Jimmy.” He said man turned to him, brows raised for him to continue as he worked on slipping his glove back on while holding his ice cream cone. “You still have ice cream-” he cut himself off as he leaned forward and with a modest lick or two of his tongue, licked off the bit of ice cream, “-on your nose.” He finished. He watched James with a lazy but kind stare and with a small amused laugh, James leaned his shoulder against Greg’s as he kept eating his ice cream.
--
After they had finished their cold and sweet treats, the sun slowly started to make its way down with dusk taking over. Knowing that no sun meant even more cold the two had decided it was time to get back home. While they were making their way up the stairs to the apartment Greg let James know he had some special planed but when he asked what it was all he got in return was, “I’m sure it’s something you’ll find sickeningly romantic.”
Once inside, James worked on removing his gloves, scarf, coat and all the bulk he had been wearing to protect him from the cold as he curiously watched as Greg reached into one of his jacket's inner pockets and pulled out a long red silk cord. He kept on watching as his friend made his way over to the table, and with a tab bit of difficulty, tied one end of the cord around his ring finger into a bow. “What’s that?” he pointed.
“It’s a silk string I picked up from some Asian shop on my lunch break. Give me your hand.” As curious as ever, he did as he was told with Greg doing the same to him with the other end of the sting and tied a bow around his ring finger.
He rolled the cord between his index finger and thumb as he eyed that soft string. “Okay… so we’re tied together, now what?”
“Have you ever heard of The Red thread of Fate, or The Red String of Destiny?” he shook his head. “Well, it’s an Asian legend that people, who are fated to meet, be together and be, well, be soul mates, are tied together by a red string.” He mumbled to soul mates part, “There’s a saying that goes with it… something about.. shit how did that go?” he thought a moment to himself as James’ eyes followed the cord from his finger and onto the floor through the loops and turns until it went back up and to where it was tied around Greg’s finger. “It says something about how an invisible red thread is connected to those who are destined to meet, no matter the time of place, and… the thread can stretch and get tangled but it will never break.”
“Where’d you hear about that?” James asked with a soft smile. Greg was right; it did have a nice romantic ring to it.
“I heard about it a while back in Japan. It’s more of a Chinese thing, but Japan’s pretty much taken it up as well.”
“You've been to Japan?” This was news to James.
He nodded. “Yeah, I've been to a lot of places. My father was a Marine in the military and got stationed all over the place.”
“Wow, where else have you gone? What places have you seen?” he asked with excitement lining his voice.
“Let’s see, there’s Japan, Egypt- wait, you’ve gotten me off track!” He barked. “No, that’s for another time. But this,” He said as he grabbed the cord with his right hand and held it up, returning back to the left off subject. “I wanted to do this to make up for some things I’m just not good at. I might not give those charming little gifts that people in love give each other or I might not say half the kind or sweet things I should say to you, so I was hoping to use this as one big thing that would possibly make up for all of the things I don’t say or do.”
He could tell by the look on James’ face that he definitely struck the love chord he was hoping to hit.
He started to think a bit more out loud on the subject, “The legend goes on more about how the string is actually tied around the two people’s ankles, but I heard about it being tied around the ring or pinky finger… but I could totally be lying about that. I could be doing this completely wrong, but hey, it’s the thought that counts… right?”
And before he could say anything else, James shot forward and pulled him into a tight loving squeeze of a hug. “I love you, too, Greg.” He said simply.
We’ll be okay. Greg thought as he held onto James in the middle of the apartment with a red silk cord tying them together.
--
NEXT: CHAPTER ELEVEN: Bury Those Painful Memories
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Author: wolfoflegends
Word Count: 3,738
Pairing: House/Wilson
Summery: After a near death experience and it's following circumstances, Wilson goes to John Hopkins University as a last ditch effort for Med school. There he meets a character like he's never known. Stretches from Med school to beyond Season 4. Slash h/w
NOTE: To rule out some confusion, Med school takes place in 1991.
---
CHAPTER TEN: Cold Snow, Ice Cream, and Red Thread
---
The next morning it didn’t take long for Greg to remember the events from the night before as he awoke with a very naked James Wilson pressed against his equally naked self. And, oh, if he didn’t feel as proud as a peacock with himself. He had finally managed to get his Jimmy to give in and… well, actually, James was the one who got the whole thing started, in a sense, but that wasn’t important! All that mattered was that Greg got James in that bed and nothing crazy happened to prevent the evening from going as planned.
Maybe he could thank himself for leaving the bathroom door unlocked during lunch.
While he was curled up on his side, James was curled up in his arms. Their legs were tangled together and in messy sweaty sheets as Greg kept his face buried in that sweat stiffened brown hair but he knew better than anyone that a great night didn’t mean a great following morning. He was still surprised that James had finally given in and wondered how the man would act in the painful truth of day. He may have been fine with it last night while it was all going on, that doesn’t mean that he won’t go into some bout of self loathing that could ultimately destroy him.
Needless to say, Greg wasn’t actually looking forward to the moment James woke up. There was absolutely no way of knowing what would happen. Hoping for the best, Greg placed a kiss on the top of James’ hair and rested his chin there as he stared at the curtains covering the sliding glass door to the small balcony.
He laid there quietly for what felt like the longest time in the stillness of morning as he turned his gaze to the red LED of the alarm clock. About twenty minutes went by before James finally woke up. The only thing he could do in that instant was hold his breath. James gave a stretch and when he felt bare skin rub against skin and froze. Greg braced himself for whatever bad was about to come. For him nothing good ever seemed to work, so he didn’t see why this would be any different. But the only thing he received was a soft and modest kiss to his neck.
Feeling he was finally in the clear for the morning; Greg exhaled with all his anxiety going with it.
After four days of no classes, having to get up and go back was a pain. Greg knew not going would only delay the inevitable. He’d have to go eventually to get his degree; he might as well go now. And if the time on the clock had any say in it, it would tell him he had a half hour to get ready and off to class. No shower was out of the question today. The last thing he wanted to do was go to school and work smelling of last night’s sweat and sex. Lucky for him James didn’t have class for another hour, so he didn’t have to worry about taking up the shower.
“You know, we could save time by-”
James quickly cut him off as he pulled on his discarded boxer briefs from the night before. “If your next words include shower together, forget it. Everyone knows that, in fact, does not save time but does the exact opposite.” He grabbed his glasses from the nightstand and slipped them on.
Greg found that there was nothing, dare he say, cuter than a sleepy James Wilson dressed in only a pair of boxer briefs and glasses with his normally perfect hair mussed. He let out a laugh at the sight and made his way into the bathroom. It seemed James was getting very good at reading him as well.
--
Being back at school only affirmed how much it annoyed him. Sure he had to know how to work the math for this, that, and the other, but that sure as hell didn’t mean he had to enjoy it. Work, though… work was okay enough. Seemed there were days when stupid, annoying people took the day off, too. Or at least that was how it felt to Greg.
Something he found he could be pleased about was the weather. Snow still blanketed everything it landed on outside and the weather man promised more to fall over the next few days. There was something about snow that always brought out the kid in him (brought it out more so than normal, that is).
He only had an hour or so to go before he got off of work, and James had suggested that he meet him there after he was done with class, which would be about the same time. He couldn’t wait. Currently, the only thing he wanted to do when he saw that pretty face was nail him with the first snowball. He tried the other day at James’ parents, but it turned out that he had some pretty quick reflexes and was able to shield himself. But not again, he was going to nail him and the war would begin!
Oh, he was going to have some fun.
After a few more tables, a smoothie on the side, and dealing with a near death experience with a hotdog (it was best not to ask), it was finally time to clock out. Greg stretch out at a nearby booth and ordered up another smoothie while he waited for his buddy to show up. The sooner he showed up the sooner he could get this war started.
But when forever went by in the amount of a half hour, Greg was starting to think that James may have forgotten about their rendezvous. Annoyed, he slipped on his coat and made his way out the café. He let out a breath when the cold air from outside rushed at him when he opened the door. He really wished it didn’t have to be so cold out when it snowed. He took a small glance down the sidewalk for any sighs of James but none was found. So with a sigh and a shake of his head, Greg turned to make his way on to the apartment alone, but he didn’t get but a few steps before a tightly packed snowball hit him square on the back of his head with a familiar laugh reaching his ears. Quickly, he turned around to find James with a big triumphant smile. “I’ve been waiting forever for you to walk out here!” he laughed. But the look on Greg’s face told him only one thing.
Run.
And run he did. He took off as fast as his cold legs could take him down the street with Greg hot on his trail. "GET YOU ASS BACK HERE AND TAKE YOU PUNISHMENT LIKE A MAN!!" Greg called after him.
"You think I'm cra-Whaa!!" James yelped back as he hit a particular slippery spot of concrete before he quickly regained his footing and kept running. Seeing James’ slip, Greg simply leapt over the slippery bit.
“WHEN I GET A HOLD OF YOU YOU’RE GONNA WISH YOU DIDN’T START THIS WAR!!” He was almost in reach of James’ long striped scarf, and he was even tempted to snatch it, but the thought of bringing his friend to the ground by chocking him with his scarf didn’t sound as fun as some might think. It looked like he would have to just depend on his legs to take him closer but that turned out to be easier said than done. James was very good and keeping just out of his grasp, and the move he played by jumping up onto a fixed bench and leaping over the back of it was a nice touch. Made it looked like James knew what he was doing. But Greg knew; he knew that James could run and hide but when he got a hold of him he’d get him back. How? Just yet he wasn’t sure, but he’d think of something.
Making sure he had the righter way and that no cars were near, James shot across the street and into the park he frequented before he found something to do on his spare time. Greg knew this could be bad news. There was so much James could use to make himself hidden from view, especially when he knew the place much better than him. For all he knew, when James turns up missing, he could be hiding in the children playground equipment.
He could just imagine James shoving a kid out of one of the small train tunnels to hide himself. And just as he thought; it happened. Darting around a corner, James had managed to hide himself away from Greg’s sights.
Now where the hell did he get off to?
He really didn’t have to worry about the kid’s equipment being that all that was on the other side of the park. James had to be close. Where, thought, he didn’t know. It didn’t take him long to figure out a way to find his hidden enemy when he stumbled onto some footprints in the snow. The park itself was pretty empty, so he was certain these were the tracks of a fleeing James Wilson. He followed the tracks through a small thicket of trees that he wouldn’t have thought to even look for James in, but when he came out the other side he was met by a good sized clearing. With a few more steps there and a couple of glances here he spotted his quarry standing in a small alcove in the tree line near a small pond.
There was something strangely handsome about James as he stood alone staring off at the small somewhat frozen pond. He was sure it had to do with him dressed in that long dark wool coat that clung to his slight figure, the long striped scarf around his neck and the fresh snowflakes that had started falling gracefully from the clouds above landing on his chestnut brown hair.
Greg suddenly put the war on hold as he gawked across the snowy field at his friend.
He didn’t try to get closer or move away, he just watched. There was something about the sight that kept him transfixed. Sure, he could go over there as stealthfully as the crunching snow under his shoes would allow, but Prince Charming wouldn’t look as pretty running away from him as he did standing there taking in his surroundings covered in snow.
And just as if he knew Greg was watching him and thinking about him, James looked up and spotted his pursuer across the field. Seeing that Greg was too busy gawking to pose a threat, he made his way over to him.
“What are you doing standing alone here in the snow?” He held that charming smile that seemed to make Greg a little less harsher than usual.
“I was following your footprints.” He answered frankly as he looked back down with the still falling snow working on coving their tracks. “You look nice.” He complemented awkwardly.
James let out a laugh, “Yeah, I can tell if your ogling was anything to go by.”
“I wasn’t ogling!” he defended playfully, “I was taking in the lovely view.”
“Yeah, by leering.” He was now standing with his hands on his hips with a bright smile on his face.
“It’s the best way to look at something pretty!” Greg pointed out. James only shook his head. Not moving away, James allowed Greg to get close to him and wrap a friendly arm around his shoulder and placed a kiss against that snow speckle hair. But there was something about it all that kept James from putting his guard completely down. And with good reason.
“So, Jimmy, you ready for that punishment?” Before he could get the sentence completely out, James quickly wriggled from his grasp and took off like a shot through the falling snow. “YOU’RE NOT GOING TO GET AWAY THAT EASILY!!” He called with his hands funneled around his mouth to help his voice project better. And with his threat being said, he took off right after his fleeing friend.
When they got out of the park and back on sidewalk Greg knew he could have some kind of advantage. He could hear James trying to be polite as he rushed passed people and tried not to crash into them with pardon me and excuse me being shouted at them. Did he always have to be so polite all the time? It was like he believed the world would cave in on itself if he were to be rude.
And just like the first time James had managed to get out of his sight for just a second and hide. Greg really should have paid more attention. He looked around the street, across the street, the sidewalk and anywhere his eyes could look but it was no use. “Where are you, Jimmy!” he called out. But of course he got no answer. Rather than get himself lost by wandering farther down a street that James obviously didn’t go down, he waited. He knew his kindhearted Jimmy would never abandon him.
While he stood waiting, Greg let out a scoff as he watched a guy walk down the street while eating some ice cream. “What kind of idiot buys ice cream on a snow day?” he said out loud to himself.
“I guess that would be me.” A voice spoke from behind him; emerging from the ice cream shop just in time to hear the comment. Greg quickly made an about-face to see James with a slightly embarrassed smile as he held two ice cream cones. One was a vanilla and strawberry mixture with a pinkish color to it where as the other was a green mint and chocolate concoction. He walked up to him as Greg watched curiously as he worked on the pink vanilla strawberry combination. James held out the green mint cone. “Will you take this before... well, it’s not going to melt in this weather; take it before I get tired of holding it.” Without having to ask twice, Greg took the cone and started eating it. “Does this make you an idiot, too?”
“Nope.”
“But you’re eating ice cream-”
“I said buy not eat. And since I didn’t buy it, I’m not an idiot.” He pointed out. James didn’t say anything, only rolled his eyes but it was the laugh that Greg let out following the cocky statement that told him he was only joking with James giving a smile in return.
For whatever reason they had in their heads, instead of going inside to sit in the heated ice cream parlor, the two opted to sit on the steps outside the door. As expected, the ice cream shop didn’t get much business on such a cold day so the two didn’t have to worry about too much unwanted foot traffic.
It seemed that since their time spent together the night before James had allowed himself to be a little more accepting of the more hidden side of himself and as if to prove this, he didn’t put up any objection to Greg as he sat down right against him as he used the wall he leaned on as a barrier against any wind. “You’re choice in ice cream in unadventurous.” Greg pointed out as he eyed the pinkish white mound of Ice cream that James was currently licking on.
But he didn’t find that fair. “What? I like strawberries.. and vanilla. Just because I’d rather eat that than something more exotic doesn’t mean it’s unadventurous. And besides, mint chocolate swirl is hardly exotic.”
“More so than strawberries.”
“Do you want to try some? It’s good.” He held out his ice cream cone to Greg with him taking a somewhat modest bite in House terms. He had to admit it was good. It wasn’t the fake strawberry stuff that some will try to pass off. No, the strawberries were real enough; he could feel a small seed or two stuck in his teeth but it was good nonetheless.
“Yeah, well… it’s good; I guess.” He took a bite or two from his own mint chocolate before he decided to return the favor. “You want a bite of mine?”
James knew being given the chance to get any food, if even just a bite from Greg was certainly an honorary thing. So, he agreed but with Greg hardly even paying attention to the distance between he and James, managed to get some of the ice cream on his friend’s face and nose. James slipped off his leather glove and wiped the smudge of minty sweetness off his cheek and licked his fingers.
“Sorry.” Greg chuckled at look he had gotten in return before James managed to take a bite of the offered ice cream. It was good. He liked mint ice cream; he just simply wanted vanilla and strawberries.
“It’s good. Thanks.” Maybe it was too cold for him to realize he still had a smudge of green mint ice cream on his nose as he went back to eating his ice cream, but it didn’t go unnoticed to Greg.
He smiled as an idea came to mind. “Hey, Jimmy.” He said man turned to him, brows raised for him to continue as he worked on slipping his glove back on while holding his ice cream cone. “You still have ice cream-” he cut himself off as he leaned forward and with a modest lick or two of his tongue, licked off the bit of ice cream, “-on your nose.” He finished. He watched James with a lazy but kind stare and with a small amused laugh, James leaned his shoulder against Greg’s as he kept eating his ice cream.
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After they had finished their cold and sweet treats, the sun slowly started to make its way down with dusk taking over. Knowing that no sun meant even more cold the two had decided it was time to get back home. While they were making their way up the stairs to the apartment Greg let James know he had some special planed but when he asked what it was all he got in return was, “I’m sure it’s something you’ll find sickeningly romantic.”
Once inside, James worked on removing his gloves, scarf, coat and all the bulk he had been wearing to protect him from the cold as he curiously watched as Greg reached into one of his jacket's inner pockets and pulled out a long red silk cord. He kept on watching as his friend made his way over to the table, and with a tab bit of difficulty, tied one end of the cord around his ring finger into a bow. “What’s that?” he pointed.
“It’s a silk string I picked up from some Asian shop on my lunch break. Give me your hand.” As curious as ever, he did as he was told with Greg doing the same to him with the other end of the sting and tied a bow around his ring finger.
He rolled the cord between his index finger and thumb as he eyed that soft string. “Okay… so we’re tied together, now what?”
“Have you ever heard of The Red thread of Fate, or The Red String of Destiny?” he shook his head. “Well, it’s an Asian legend that people, who are fated to meet, be together and be, well, be soul mates, are tied together by a red string.” He mumbled to soul mates part, “There’s a saying that goes with it… something about.. shit how did that go?” he thought a moment to himself as James’ eyes followed the cord from his finger and onto the floor through the loops and turns until it went back up and to where it was tied around Greg’s finger. “It says something about how an invisible red thread is connected to those who are destined to meet, no matter the time of place, and… the thread can stretch and get tangled but it will never break.”
“Where’d you hear about that?” James asked with a soft smile. Greg was right; it did have a nice romantic ring to it.
“I heard about it a while back in Japan. It’s more of a Chinese thing, but Japan’s pretty much taken it up as well.”
“You've been to Japan?” This was news to James.
He nodded. “Yeah, I've been to a lot of places. My father was a Marine in the military and got stationed all over the place.”
“Wow, where else have you gone? What places have you seen?” he asked with excitement lining his voice.
“Let’s see, there’s Japan, Egypt- wait, you’ve gotten me off track!” He barked. “No, that’s for another time. But this,” He said as he grabbed the cord with his right hand and held it up, returning back to the left off subject. “I wanted to do this to make up for some things I’m just not good at. I might not give those charming little gifts that people in love give each other or I might not say half the kind or sweet things I should say to you, so I was hoping to use this as one big thing that would possibly make up for all of the things I don’t say or do.”
He could tell by the look on James’ face that he definitely struck the love chord he was hoping to hit.
He started to think a bit more out loud on the subject, “The legend goes on more about how the string is actually tied around the two people’s ankles, but I heard about it being tied around the ring or pinky finger… but I could totally be lying about that. I could be doing this completely wrong, but hey, it’s the thought that counts… right?”
And before he could say anything else, James shot forward and pulled him into a tight loving squeeze of a hug. “I love you, too, Greg.” He said simply.
We’ll be okay. Greg thought as he held onto James in the middle of the apartment with a red silk cord tying them together.
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NEXT: CHAPTER ELEVEN: Bury Those Painful Memories
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