with nothing left to gain
“I’LL JUMP!”
Dave drops his slushie, as he stares wide-eyed at the kid clinging onto the lamppost, and he tears forward, stumbling slightly in his haste. He spares a millisecond of attention onto the passing cars as they drove past, praying one of them would stop and intervene before the kid plummets to his death over the bridge. His hopes are dashed, and he begins running even faster, thanking god for all the laps he’s had to do for football.
“WAIT, NO, STOP!”
The kid looks over at him, and dangles a foot out, over the water.
“DAMMIT, I SAID NO!” Dave skids to a halt in front of the kid and raises both of his hands in a sign of surrender. “Alright, look kid-“
“I’m NOT A KID. I’M 22!”
“Well you’re not acting like it!” Dave snaps back, before reigning in his anger. “Look, this is just stupid, so if you’d just,” Dave motions for the guy to step forward, “I’ll uh-treat you to McDs?”
The kid stares at him, then tilts backwards.
-
“GAH!”
David finally crawled onto shore, dragging the man’s body with him. He flips him over, so that he’s facing upwards. He shakes his head to get rid of all the water, and hears the guy’s shallow breathing, as his chests heaves up and down.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! Dave doesn’t know who to be angry at more-this moron for thinking it’s a great idea to drag him into playing the goddamn Batman or himself for going along with it. He could’ve fucking died, swan-diving into the Hudson River just to save this idiot.
“Blaine.”
Dave turns around, looking down at him, “What?”
“My name. It’s Blaine.” He gropes for Dave’s jacket and hoists himself upward, wobbling precariously as he sits up too fast, leaning against Dave. “I kind of think I love you.”
Dave screws up his face and he scoots away from Blaine. “What?”
“You just have so much courage-“
“Hey,” Dave warns, “I just didn’t want to be scarred for life by watching someone off themselves-”
“You know what I did?” Blaine cuts him off rather rudely, “I ‘kidnapped’ myself and sent my old man a ransom note. Just a litmus test to see how much I’m worth. You know what he responded?”
“He told his secretary to email that I was better off dead!” Blaine laughs, like it’s the best joke in the world, and threw his arms around Dave’s shoulders. “Let’s elope. We can live in the Caribbean. I’ve got a personal island down there.”
Dave tries to wriggle his way out, but their wet clothes are only helping Blaine’s leechiness. He grits his teeth.
Great. Just fucking great. A rich kid with daddy issues. What could be better?
--
“And what did you drag back this time?”
“Shut up, Alice,” Dave huffs, opening the door to his 7-11 with his foot as he leans forward, careful not to bump the kid’s head on the doorway. The door sensor chimes cheerfully as he makes his way in, and the girl at the counter looks over from the rolling hot dog stand, smiling as her boss strides across the floor towards the back room where there’s a small couch. Dave clears the cluttered mess on the sofa with a big swipe of his arm, and deposits Blaine on it, draping his Giants sweatshirt over him. He’s fidgeting, wondering if he should get him out of those wet clothes-that would be kind of awkward. Or maybe blow drying him-that would probably wake him up-or…
Shit! Why was he making such a big deal out of this? He stomps out of the back room and takes his place behind the counter, ringing up a girl who’s buying way too much monster drinks for this time of night.
“So instead of lost, adorable cute animals, you’ve moved onto cute boys?”
“Fuck off,” he mumbles half-heartedly, not even going to engage in Alice’s futile attempts to get him laid somehow so he’d stop getting on her case when the coffee counter isn’t immaculately clean. Still, she whips out her phone and shows him the pictures of all the hot guys that strolled in when he wasn’t in, and gabbed on about their probability of coming back in as regulars.
Dave drops his slushie, as he stares wide-eyed at the kid clinging onto the lamppost, and he tears forward, stumbling slightly in his haste. He spares a millisecond of attention onto the passing cars as they drove past, praying one of them would stop and intervene before the kid plummets to his death over the bridge. His hopes are dashed, and he begins running even faster, thanking god for all the laps he’s had to do for football.
“WAIT, NO, STOP!”
The kid looks over at him, and dangles a foot out, over the water.
“DAMMIT, I SAID NO!” Dave skids to a halt in front of the kid and raises both of his hands in a sign of surrender. “Alright, look kid-“
“I’m NOT A KID. I’M 22!”
“Well you’re not acting like it!” Dave snaps back, before reigning in his anger. “Look, this is just stupid, so if you’d just,” Dave motions for the guy to step forward, “I’ll uh-treat you to McDs?”
The kid stares at him, then tilts backwards.
-
“GAH!”
David finally crawled onto shore, dragging the man’s body with him. He flips him over, so that he’s facing upwards. He shakes his head to get rid of all the water, and hears the guy’s shallow breathing, as his chests heaves up and down.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! Dave doesn’t know who to be angry at more-this moron for thinking it’s a great idea to drag him into playing the goddamn Batman or himself for going along with it. He could’ve fucking died, swan-diving into the Hudson River just to save this idiot.
“Blaine.”
Dave turns around, looking down at him, “What?”
“My name. It’s Blaine.” He gropes for Dave’s jacket and hoists himself upward, wobbling precariously as he sits up too fast, leaning against Dave. “I kind of think I love you.”
Dave screws up his face and he scoots away from Blaine. “What?”
“You just have so much courage-“
“Hey,” Dave warns, “I just didn’t want to be scarred for life by watching someone off themselves-”
“You know what I did?” Blaine cuts him off rather rudely, “I ‘kidnapped’ myself and sent my old man a ransom note. Just a litmus test to see how much I’m worth. You know what he responded?”
“He told his secretary to email that I was better off dead!” Blaine laughs, like it’s the best joke in the world, and threw his arms around Dave’s shoulders. “Let’s elope. We can live in the Caribbean. I’ve got a personal island down there.”
Dave tries to wriggle his way out, but their wet clothes are only helping Blaine’s leechiness. He grits his teeth.
Great. Just fucking great. A rich kid with daddy issues. What could be better?
--
“And what did you drag back this time?”
“Shut up, Alice,” Dave huffs, opening the door to his 7-11 with his foot as he leans forward, careful not to bump the kid’s head on the doorway. The door sensor chimes cheerfully as he makes his way in, and the girl at the counter looks over from the rolling hot dog stand, smiling as her boss strides across the floor towards the back room where there’s a small couch. Dave clears the cluttered mess on the sofa with a big swipe of his arm, and deposits Blaine on it, draping his Giants sweatshirt over him. He’s fidgeting, wondering if he should get him out of those wet clothes-that would be kind of awkward. Or maybe blow drying him-that would probably wake him up-or…
Shit! Why was he making such a big deal out of this? He stomps out of the back room and takes his place behind the counter, ringing up a girl who’s buying way too much monster drinks for this time of night.
“So instead of lost, adorable cute animals, you’ve moved onto cute boys?”
“Fuck off,” he mumbles half-heartedly, not even going to engage in Alice’s futile attempts to get him laid somehow so he’d stop getting on her case when the coffee counter isn’t immaculately clean. Still, she whips out her phone and shows him the pictures of all the hot guys that strolled in when he wasn’t in, and gabbed on about their probability of coming back in as regulars.