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Miles was completely exhausted. He wasn’t quite sure why he had accepted to come to this ‘little’ get together in the first place.Okay, well, maybe it was connected with the fact that Alex, his best mate who he hadn’t been able to see for a couple months now because of the incredibly long monkeys tour, was the -recently heartbroken- organizer of such reunion.‘Mi you ‘ave to be there or else I’ll bloody go get you meself, your apartment is just two blocks away!’ Alex had said in a high pitched fashion, which made the sentence struck Miles as a whiny plea rather than a threat- the latter being probably Alex’s intention.‘Alright, I’ll be there love.’ Miles had replied instantly but now that he was standing there he was regretting that hasted decision by the minute. The reason? Well, the pub was crowded- really crowded for a Sheffield pub. There must’ve been around 500 people in there -300 of which were fans and groupies- all because somehow their intended private reunion had been ‘accidentally posted’ on Facebook by ‘someone’. Nobody seemed to be bothered by this though, not even ‘shy’ and ‘heartbroken’ Alex who apparently saw the throng of people as the perfect opportunity to hook up with some fit birds.Yeah, birds. That curvy brunette just steps away from where he stood was the fourth Miles saw him kissing in the span of an hour. But that’s okay; at any rate, Alex seemed to be having a blast, and he truly deserved it: breaking up is never easy, and hell Alex was in too deep with Lexie. Miles knew he was getting the exact details of what happened later but now, seeing as there was little for him to do in that place, Miles decided he would call it a night after drinking another shot of tequila. The burning sensation in his throat, that he craved for, a perfect mimicry of his insides every time he saw Alex lay his eyes on his prey, how his pupils dilated and his teeth formed a perfect smirk as he swaggered to meet her. He would kill for have Alex looking at him like that, at least once.‘But that’s just not happening, not tonight.’ Miles bitterly whispered to himself as he finally gulped the tequila down. Then, setting down the little glass cup, he motioned to leave and would have done so were it not for the fact that he couldn’t resist catching just one more glance of Alex- which wasn’t an easy task with so many people dancing around in such a confined space. When he finally did, though, he was positively surprised to say the least. There he was, Al, in a rather dark corner with a tall blond guy who was way too close to him, resting one hand in Alex’s shoulder while whispering in his ear something that had Al laughing and wriggling like a foolish schoolgirl.“What. The. Fook.” Miles said to nobody in particular as he let himself fall in a stool. He could have sworn he felt his heart skip a beat when the blond lad suddenly kissed Alex in the lips pulling him into a tight embrace.
Only…
Only Alex wasn’t hugging him. In fact, he had his two hands on this guy's chest like he was trying to push him away. Okay, maybe it was Miles’ hopes distorting reality... but what if not? The guy had a marked muscular body and seemed, therefore, considerably stronger than twiggy Alex. Hence, with his firm hands cupped on Alex’s face he could be well forcing him. Unsettled by that possibility, Miles made his way through the mass of sweating bodies as quickly as he could to the spot where the scene was taking place.Dark it was indeed.He wasn’t able to locate Alex at first but when he did it all became crystal clear. The blond dickhead now had one hand around Alex’s neck -kind of strangling him- while the other was groping him in spite of Al’s hands futile attempts to prevent it -his precious chocolate eyes moving slow, probably because of the alcohol, trying to follow the guy’s hands in vain. Alex didn’t look in his direction yet Miles could all the same see terror written all over his delicate face.“ ’ver me dead body” Miles growled as a punch flew straight to the bloke’s jaw. As he wasn’t expecting it, he abruptly tumbled to the side. “You take your hands off Alex ” Miles added sternly as he heard a subtle sigh of relief? surprise? escape Al’s mouth.“The fook, mate?” The startled bloke shouted with a snarl looking sharply at Miles.People around them turned to look at the scene and started whispering but, honestly, Miles could not care less. Actually, it had a pretty good effect on the blond dickhead who, all of the sudden, seemed all too eager to back off.“ ’k I get it” He said retreating calmly with his palms up. “Coulda’ve told ye got a jealous boyfriend ‘round honey.” He dared not only address but scold Alex.Miles turned to look at Alex. He looked disgusted and worryingly withdrawn, his gaze fixed on the floor. It took everything in Miles not to go and fill Al’s crown with kisses as he assured him that it was all over.“You forced me…” Alex emphasised in a faltering voice but Miles needed hear no more. He went outright after the twat as he tried to somehow disappear in the crowd but Miles managed to grab him by the shirt, pushed him into the loo nearby and, once the floor, set to hit him repeatedly on the face while, with his right kne, he roughly crushed the guy’s balls - what obviously had him wincing in pain.“Oh why that face mate? I thought you were all in for forcefulness.” Miles snarled as the image of Alex’s panicking doe eyes as this very prick had his way with him replayed vividly in his mind.On hearing that, the bloke did try to aim some blows at Miles’ face but he dodged them easily; adrenaline pumping in his veins fast mixed with the rage he felt burning in the pit of his stomach, Miles felt capable of ripping this guy’s head off with his own hands if he had to.“Yea’ I got it, you don’t like being the overpowered one, right? “Miles spitted in disgust as he imagined how Alex must have felt when he realised what this guy’s intentions were. A chill ran down Miles spine.“Fuc-k…YOU” The guy shouted as Miles applied some more pressure on his balls.“Too bad your mummy isn’t ‘ere to…” Miles started but was interrupted by a group of policemen that came in abruptly, escorting a dreary Alex. “That’s ‘im.”Al stated plainly, no emotion whatsoever in his voice, as he pointed at the body on the floor.As soon as he spoke a taut police officer pushed Miles away and proceeded to restrain the blonde guy with handcuffs as she announced what his rights were. Miles was dumbfounded as the scene happened before him. Meanwhile, another officer asked him to accompany them to the station so as to give his personal account of what happened.
A haze.
Miles hardly remembers walking out of the pub, let alone testifying. All he remembers was that he couldn’t refrain himself from asking where Alex was and expressing his desire to see him. Eventually, he was let free and from there it all becomes as clear as water.Alex was smoking outside in a park just opposite the police station, sitting in a wooden bench alone, looking miserably sad. Miles doubted how to approach him. He wanted to comfort him but wasn’t sure how.Miles simply wanted to pull that fragile skinny body close to his own and kiss away the tears he could see were flooding Alex’s dreamy eyes, threatening to slip down his pale cheeks any minute now.“Friends.” Miles reminded himself breathing in slowly and letting out a silent sigh, trying to compose himself as he crossed the street.“Al.” He greeted with the warmest smile he could put on.“Hey, free at last huh?” Alex replied bitterly, catching a fast glance of Miles before looking down at the floor again and taking a drag from his cigarette.Miles sat down, a little farther than he would usually do, respecting for once Alex’s personal space.“I’m so sorry Al. I mean having such an experience must have been…when I saw your scared expression I… God what an asshole that…I” Miles panted, feeling at a loss of words for expressing his inner turmoil of feelings.“Mi, ‘anks…I don’t even wanna think what’d ‘ve ‘appened if you ‘and’t shown up. I was so bloody ‘amn wasted! And it was so gloomy there…as soon as I realized what I ‘ad got meself into I…’ow on earth did you find me? It was a chaos, the pub, so many people!
So many…” Alex uttered frantically, trying to explain himself by moving his hands. When out of words, he stared at Miles intensely, with a expectant expression on his face.“I…Well I just saw you were… I mean, it was a strange situation … you didn’t seem comfortable so I decided to ‘ave a closer look and well I… I realised what was going on and…well” Miles stammered.“It was the gay area of the pub. What were you doing there Miles?” Alex questioned in a barely audible whisper, his eyes still glimmering with the remnant of tears. He bit his lip slowly, waiting for an answer. Miles knew that was a nervous tick of his best mate, he wasn’t trying to be seductive. But damn he was.Back to the question, it came like a bucket of cold water to Miles. Alex was right; that area was said to be exclusively for gay people. He had absolutely forgotten tonight. He had been so deeply immersed in analyzing his feelings for Alex, and drunk too, that he totally overview the fact that he followed him there without a second thought.‘Should I tell him?’ Miles pondered in silence.“I was drunk Al.” Miles sighed, not feeling able to confess the real extent of his feelings.“You didn’t seem the least pissed when you punched bloody John, you know.” Alex pointed out tilting his head a bit. Next, closing the gap between them, he smoothly slid over the bench to position himself right next to Miles and took a last puff from his cigarette before putting it out.Feeling Alex’s body sent a jolt through Miles body, who felt, all of the sudden, overwhelmed by his chaotic feelings.‘This is not the right moment you idiot, not at all! You should be comforting him.’ Miles argued with himself internally.He wanted Al to know. He feared he was just going to push him away.'Alex’s straight’ He repeated in his mind. But then again, if so: why did he consciously go to the gay area of the bar? “Al, I love you” Miles blurted out, surprising himself as he heard his voice utter such thing. The words he had planned to conceal most escaped his mouth precipitously.That was it, there was no turning back.Warily, Miles straightened up and dared look at Alex. He looked motionless, a perfect statue there looking straight at him in a way that made Miles feel awfully exposed like if, somehow, Al was performing a thorough scan with those dark pearls he had for eyes, like he could read his every thought and discover his every feeling just by staring.“I see. I’ve seen it.” Al nodded with a shy smile. “It has been written all over your face for some time now Mi. Those skype calls at 4 in the morning while I was on tour, the stupid gifts you sent me all the bloody time. Alexa…she dumped me because of the last bouquet of flowers, you know? She didn’t get the joke at all. For worse, I kept them and she went mad, said it was her or you and I… I chose you…I have feelings for you Mi. Strong feelings indeed. I saw you…following me around. Tonight. I was so dumb. I’m so sorry, I just wanted to make some sort of statement I didn’t dare do any other way. I wanted you to know that you could have me, that I liked guys too. I like you. Instead, it just turned out awful; bloody John was a maniac. He seemed nice at first, a funny guy but then…Damn ‘im! He wouldn’t take no for an answer.” Alex spitted out and proceeded to curl up over his knees, face on his palms trying to hide his mild whimpers.‘He likes…me?’ Miles thought, trying to let the implications of Alex's words sink in.Wow… it was a lot to process, really.Miles felt an impulse to hug Alex tightly, and now that he knew Al wasn’t going to run away he did so, softly locking his own hands around Alex’s waist as he dragged his chest closer to Al’s rib and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek.“It’s okay now. It’s not everyday you fall in love with your supposedly straight best friend.” Miles purred soothingly and rested his head on Alex’s shoulder, taking in his trademark scent: smoke and lavender. Miles knows Alex’s dream of rusticate, when old, in some large lavender field. ‘Imagine what it’d be like Mi, waking up to that fragance’ Miles recall him saying excitedly. He’s definitely crazy about that aroma. A silly smile spread across Miles' face.As for Alex, he felt himself gradually relax in the embrace. All tension leaving him, he felt utterly comfortable and safe. It was going to be okay. Now Miles knows how he truly feels. Now they can both stop pretending. Overall, he felt relieved and happy, yes, in spite of what happened earlier all he could think of was of Miles heat against his cold skin.
There wasn’t anywhere else he’d rather be.