by Joe Lechene
…
After we had the groceries all put away, we left the apartment again and walked a couple of blocks to the salon where I got my hair cut. It was kind of a hole in the wall, but it was very nice inside and the owner accepted nothing except perfection. I had called ahead on our way back from the grocery store to make sure that we could get in on such short notice. Luckily, they had a cancellation and were able to pencil Tristan in.
As soon as we walked in the door, the owner came over to greet us. “Ian, it’s good to see you again. And who is your friend here?”
“This is Tristan, he’s the one that I made the appointment for.”
He reached out to shake his hand, which Tristan nervously accepted. “Hello Tristan, my name is Stevie. I’m the owner and primary stylist here. What are you having done today?”
“Well…,” Tristan started to respond.
“Stevie, how close can you get him back to his natural color?”
Stevie ran his hands through Tristan’s hair and looked at his roots. “It’ll be identical or close enough that you won’t be able to tell.”
“Perfect, then if you could just trim his split ends, that would be great.”
Tristan looked like he just saw a ghost when I said that. I put my hand on his shoulder and the color started to come back to his face. “Relax, he isn’t going to take that much off.”
After taking my hand off his shoulder, he followed Stevie and sat down in the chair. Stevie wrapped the cape around Tristan’s neck and he started his work. I sat down on one of the chairs off to the side and watched him. Once the color was on his hair, Stevie put him under the dryer and came over to talk to me.
“So,” Stevie said, “how’s he been doing?”
“Not good. He’s been depressed and I thought that a change might be good for him.”
“Well,” he replied, “this is definitely going to be a shock for him. I can tell that he’s been dying his hair with box color for a long time. If it’s alright, I’d like to do a conditioning treatment on him after the color.”
“Whatever you have to do is fine with me.”
Stevie nodded and went back over to Tristan to check his hair. When he was done, Stevie took him to the sink and washed his color out. I was kind of excited to see how it turned out. Just as he was shampooing his hair, my phone started to ring. Trying not to be rude, I stepped outside the salon and answered it. Luckily, it was just a call from my editor. She usually called at least once a day to clarify some mistake that I made. I was hoping that this would be a quick call, but this time she was really confused.
After almost fifteen minutes on the phone with her, I walked back into the salon. I resumed sitting where I had previously been, but Stevie was between me and Tristan. I watched his back as little snippets of hair slowly fell to the floor. When he was done with the trim, Stevie blew the stray hairs off his shoulders with a hairdryer. He removed the cape from his neck and spun Tristan around to face me.
“Well,” Stevie asked, “what do you think?”
I was completely awestruck by the person sitting across the room from me. The change in hair color was a complete transformation for him. His natural color perfectly complimented his light blue eyes. He was pretty good looking before, but now he was stunning. Stevie only took enough off that his hair was even with the base of his neck. His hair still seemed to flow like it had a life to it. I wasn’t sure if my mouth was hanging open or not, so I covered my mouth with my hand.
“Damn, that looks absolutely amazing. Thank You, Stevie!”
He replied, “You are very welcome. Please let me know if you have any issues with the cut or color.”
Tristan got up from the chair and took a close look at himself in the mirror. A small smile appeared on his face as he turned and looked at Stevie. “I think that I like it, thank you.”
“You’re welcome Tristan,” Stevie replied. “I hope that you’ll come back again. And please, stay away from the boxed color.
Tristan blushed and said, “I will.”
I settled the bill and tipped Stevie before we left the salon. By the time that we started walking back home, the sun had already started to set over the horizon. This was one of my favorite times in the city. The golden glow of the setting sun shown on the buildings and shadows started to cover the streets. It had kind of a serene feel to it.
When we got back to our apartment, Tristan went into his room and came out with a change of clothes. He went into the hallway bathroom, leaving the door open behind him. Tristan was in the shower when I walked by on the way to my office. I sat down at my desk and pulled up the book that I was working on before we left.
I started a new chapter right where I left off. I didn’t stop typing until Tristan walked into the room. He was now wearing a black short sleeve t-shirt with some band that I never heard of on it. A pair of grey basketball shorts also complimented his shirt. Tristan pulled one of my books off the shelf before laying down on the futon. This was the first time that I have ever seen him take interest in one of my works. He was stretched out with his bare feet propped up on the end of the armrest. I smiled and went back to work as he sat in silence, flipping through the pages of one of my novels.
…
‘I smiled as my sleeping lover held me tight against his chest. Even after the ravaging night that we had, he was still sensual with me after. Tomorrow, he would be dumping his girlfriend and I would have him all to myself. This hunk of a man could rock my world without even trying. Even if something were to happen tomorrow, I would wait until the time was right. Until the time came that he could finally make me his. Without the bonds of another holding him back from me.’
IX
The next morning, I slid out from underneath a sleeping Tristan once again. I wasn’t complaining about him sleeping beside me, but he was kind of cramping my sleeping style. Of course, I would do anything for him even if it did mean that I had to wear clothes while sleeping. I went to my bathroom and started the shower. After removing the confining clothes that I slept in, I stepped into the hot shower and started to wash the sleep off me.
Right after getting out and wrapping a towel around myself, Tristan walked into the bathroom. Just as I started brushing my teeth, he stripped down and got into the shower. I tried not to think about it as I finished and walked out of the room. After pulling a pair of boxers on, I laid back down on the bed and started going through my email. By the time that I was done, Tristan came out of the bathroom wearing only a towel and laid down on the bed beside me. He rested his head with his still damp hair on my shoulder. I set my iPhone down on the nightstand and wrapped my other arm around his back.
“Ian?”
“Yeah, Tristan.”
“Do… do you think that things might have ended up differently if we didn’t move in here?”
I sighed with the heavy burden that had been weighing upon me. I had been asking myself that same question for six long months now. “I don’t know, Tristan. I keep trying to tell myself that if I never would have taken you two in, that you’d both be dead by now.”
I could feel myself clamming up and the tears starting to form around my eyes. It was true if I had never asked them to move in with me, there was a chance that Erik might be still alive. As the tears escaped their dams, I felt a thin finger gently wipe them off my cheek. This was the first time that Tristan had to comfort me since the day of the funeral. His touch was gentle and almost soothing. I almost hated to admit it, but having him beside filled a gap in my life as well. Pulling him completely on top of me, I wrapped both arms around him and hugged him tightly.
Whispering into his ear, “Tristan, we’ll never know what might have been. All we can do is move on and help each other along the way. Both of us have to stay strong… for each other.”
“Ian…”
Just then my phone started to ring. Tristan reluctantly rolled off my chest and I grabbed my phone from the nightstand. It was my publisher and if I didn’t answer it, s
he’d keep calling until I did. After sliding my thumb across the screen, I held the phone to my ear and listened as she started to go off on a rampage. The funny thing was, it wasn’t even about one of my books. As I listened to her vent, I got out of bed and went to my office. With my freshly brewed cup of heaven in hand, I sat down at my desk. After enduring ten minutes of listening to my publisher bitch, I finally hung up the phone and sat it down on my desk. I didn’t even notice that Tristan had resumed laying on the futon with one of my novels in his hands.
“Tristan, why all the sudden interest in one of my novels?”
He replied, “I don’t know, something different. Besides, you write some pretty steamy shit.”
“Well don’t get yourself too worked up over there. You have work this afternoon and you need to get some rest.”
“I know, I’m just gonna read for a little bit longer before taking a nap.”
I smiled and returned my attention to my computer. About halfway through the chapter that I was working on, I turned around to check on Tristan. He was passed out on the futon with the book laying on his chest. I got up from my chair and walked over to him. After picking the book up from him and setting it on the table, I pulled a blanket out and covered up his slender frame.
…
Later that night, I waited patiently like I usually did outside the back door of the restaurant. As the cool spring air blew through the alley, I was glad that I decided to wear a hoodie tonight. The air had become brisk and I was not one for freezing. About the time that I became bored playing games on my phone, the back door to the restaurant opened and Tristan came outside. He had a black hoodie on and a bag in his hand. In the past six months, I had never seen him bring anything home from work before. Not that I was complaining, it was just weird. Tristan didn’t say anything as we started walking down the alley and rounded the corner onto the street.
About two blocks from the restaurant I finally asked, “Tristan, whatcha got in the bag?”
“Well,” he said, “since you always cook and I can’t cook, I figured that I’d get us take-out tonight.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know, but I wanted to.”
When we got home, he sat the bag down on the table and went to his room. Tristan re-emerged a few minutes later, minus the hoodie and black dress shirt that he had to wear at work. His black skinny jeans were still hugging his thin legs and a black tank top was covering his chest. I was glad to see that he was keeping up his end of the deal with not covering his arms when he was home.
Tristan came over to the table and took one of the containers out of the bag, placing it before me. He then took the other out for himself. Before he sat down, Tristan walked over to the fridge and returned with a bottle of ketchup. I opened the styrofoam container before me and looked at the food inside.
“I know that it’s not a full course meal,” Tristan said, “but I was kind of hungry for it.”
I grabbed the bottle from the table and drizzled ketchup all over my fries before taking a bite of my burger. After swallowing the food in my mouth, I said, “Thank you, Tristan. It’s delicious.”
“You’re welcome Ian,” he replied. “Actually, this is kind of my way of me thanking you.”
“Really? For what?”
This time I had to wait for Tristan to finish swallowing before he quietly replied, “For everything that you’ve done for me over the past two days. My co-workers have complimented my hair more tonight than they’ve even talked to me since I worked there. I’ve actually been able to sleep at night and on the futon while you were writing. And, I haven’t felt the need to cut since that night.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Tristan. I would do anything that I could for you.”
He blushed and went back to eating his burger. I was actually shocked that he was keeping up with me. Any other time, he would have been eating like a bird.
“Besides, I wanted to thank you for keeping up with your end of our little agreement. It really means a lot to me. I know that some of the changes must be difficult for you.”
“Eh, it hasn’t been that bad.”
I smiled at the emo sitting across the table from me before returning to what was left of his burger. Of course, without his black hair, now he looked more like a gorgeous twink. We finished our meal in silence and I cleaned up when we were done. It was now just a little after midnight and I wasn’t nearly ready for bed yet. And, judging from the look on Tristan’s face, he wasn’t either.
“You want to watch a movie or something for a little bit?”
“Yeah, that sounds good. Can I shower quickly though? I still smell like a restaurant.”
“Alright.”
I started to look through my movie collection while I waited for Tristan to return. I ended up picking ‘Tron: Legacy’ for us to watch. I loved the original and the remake was even better. Plus, Garrett Hedlund was hot as fuck. When Tristan came back into the living room, he was now dressed a lot more casual in his shorts and a loose dark grey tank. I laid down on the couch like I usually did and Tristan laid down on the love seat.
Shortly after the movie started, I realized that this was the first movie we had watched together since Erik passed away. I looked over at Tristan and discovered that he looked absolutely miserable laying on the love seat by himself. Suddenly, I felt a wave of sadness wash over me. It didn’t occur to me how something like this might affect him. Once again, I threw caution out the window. I rolled onto my side and patted the empty spot in front of me.
“Tristan, come over here.”
He rolled off the love seat and landed on the floor on all fours. Tristan basically crawled over to the couch before climbing up and laying on the empty spot on the front. He laid on his side with his thin legs spread out along mine and rested his back against my chest. As I draped my arm around his side, letting my hand rest on his stomach, I could feel his body start to relax. I started to get nervous as we watched the movie and my hand slowly started to rub his firm stomach. Though, it almost felt like it was completely natural. I was starting to worry that I was overstepping my bounds, so I tried to remove my hand until his hand grabbed onto my forearm and held it in place.
And that was how we stayed until the movie was over. After the closing credits finished rolling up the screen, Tristan got up with me following behind him. I turned the tv off and followed Tristan down the hallway. Tristan looked like he was ready to pass out, but I still wasn’t quite ready yet. I stopped when we got to my office and he turned around looking at me.
“I think that I’m gonna work for a little bit yet.”
“That’s fine,” he said. “I’m just gonna head to bed then.”
“Alright Tristan, I’ll try not to wake you up.”
“Nite Ian.”
“Goodnight Tristan.”
He walked into the bedroom and I went to my office. I opened up the book that I was working on and tried to finish the current chapter. Every time I tried to type though, my mind kept wandering to the guy sleeping in my bed. I was trying to keep our relationship purely plutonic, but I couldn’t deny the feelings that I was starting to have for him. It almost felt like I was taking advantage of him though. He had been in a bad place and I was trying to help him get out of it. Still, I guess that both of them always had a special place in my heart.
Eventually, I just gave up and saved the file before getting up. I turned the light out and felt my way into the bedroom. After plugging my phone into the charger and laying it on the nightstand, I crawled under the covers. I don’t think that I was in bed even a minute before Tristan rolled onto my side and wrapped his arm around my chest. Despite my apprehensions, everything about this just felt right. Putting my hand on the small of his back, I held the twink as he lightly snored into my chest. I still didn’t know what to make out of my feelings, but I wasn’t going to make any drastic changes that could affect him.
For the time being, I was just going to go with the flow
. If something were to develop, then we would take it one step at a time. There was no way that I would let my feelings for him come in the way of his wellbeing. Of course, I couldn’t overlook the fact that I was falling for the twink sleeping on my chest.
X
Tristan was still sleeping half on top of me with his arm wrapped around my side. Once again, I slid out from underneath him and went to the bathroom. When the hot water from the shower hit me, I started to wake up. I tried washing the thoughts that I was having away from me, but it wasn’t working. My better half had a mind of its own and I was trying desperately not to give into its needs. After ignoring the situation at hand, I turned the shower off and got out. I dried myself off and wrapped the towel around my waist before walking to my office. Even with the morning light coming in through the window, the only thing helping me wake up was the coffee in my mug. Still shaking off my thoughts from last night, I tried to go back to work on my book.
