Prompt Fic - Our Bench
Chuck sat on his bed, staring at the note that he had found on his pillow the night before.
Meet me at our bench. 7pm. Tomorrow.
He didn’t even need to think about who it was from. He had known the second he’d seen the handwriting.
The question that was running through his head was: why?
Why would Bryce be contacting him? Why would Bryce be contacting him a week after he had left to go after Fulcrum. Why was Bryce contacting him? Surely if he was going to contact anyone, it would’ve been Sarah.
After all, hadn’t Bryce asked Sarah to go with him? That’s what Casey had said anyway.
Sighing, he stood up, pacing up and down, glancing at the note every now and then to see if it was still there.
Picking it up, he folded it and stuck it in his pocket.
Maybe he’d tell Casey and Sarah about it. Ask them whether they thought it was really Bryce. But if he did that, then Bryce might get in trouble and now that he knew the truth, he didn’t want Bryce to get hurt. In truth, he had never wanted Bryce to be hurt; it was one of the things that had annoyed him the most.
Bryce had destroyed his life and he hadn’t been able to hate the other man, not completely. He’d always avoided the thoughts of why that was, ignored the fluttery feeling in his stomach, the ache in his chest.
And so he decided not to tell Casey and Sarah, telling them he had a date that night, and avoiding them for the rest of the day. Knowing that they would know he was lying if he spent too long around them.
So he spent the day avoiding them, trying to concentrate on Morgan and his Anna problem and not thinking about his ex-best friend turn enemy turn friend again.
Somehow he made it through the day and made it to Stanford with no one following him, and none the wiser.
Sitting on the bench, he looked around, smiling at the people who went past, and trying not to think about how stupid he was, how this could be a trap, how he was making a mistake …
“Chuck.”
And just like that, every thought that had been running through his head left, a sense of happiness running through him as he stared up into amused blue eyes.
“Bryce,” Chuck replied, standing up and smiling.
“I didn’t think you’d come,” Bryce said, sticking his hands in his pockets.
“I … why are you here?” Chuck asked, moving closer.
“I needed to … explain some things to you,” Bryce murmured, taking a step closer to him, stopping inside his personal space.
“Oh?” Chuck asked, his heart racing as he looked into the other man’s eyes, breath becoming shallower.
“It’d probably be easier if I just showed you,” Bryce replied, hand coming up to cup Chuck’s cheek, his thumb rubbing back and forth, sending thrills through him.
“Oh?” he said again, voice barely louder then a whisper.
Bryce simply smiled, leaning forward and slanting his mouth over his. Chuck couldn’t help but groan as Bryce’s tongue lapped at his lips, pulling Bryce even closer as he opened his mouth, letting Bryce’s tongue explore it.
Pulling away, he could feel the goofy grin on his face as Bryce stared at him.
“I just … needed to let you know,” Bryce whispered, the smile on his face almost stealing Chuck’s breath away.
“I thought,” Chuck said, shaking his head, his thoughts turning to the week before, when Bryce had come back, and what the other man had said to Sarah. “Sarah?”
“It wasn’t what you think, Chuck,” Bryce replied, hands running up and down Chuck’s back. “I knew Sarah wanted to go after Fulcrum, I was giving her an opportunity to do so, she knew it was over between us.”
Nodding, Chuck knew that he should be asking more questions, should be wondering about the fact that he’d just kissed another man, but the only thing he could think about was how soft Bryce’s lips had felt, how warm he felt pushed up against him, the happy feeling that had run through him.
“Now what?” Chuck asked, pulling the other man closer to him again, leaning down and kissing him softly.
“I still have to go after Fulcrum,” Bryce murmured against his lips.
“Now?” Chuck asked, pulling him into a hug, not wanting to let go.
“Tomorrow morning,” Bryce replied, turning his head, Chuck feeling a soft kiss given to his neck.
“Come home with me?” Chuck whispered into his hair, closing his eyes, heart racing as he waited for the answer, not sure what he was doing, but knowing that this felt right.
“Yes.”
END
Sequel - Home Sweet Home