fic: Solace in a Stranger's Arms (oneshot)
"Kris, I can't deal with this right now! Just leave!"
Katy's piercing words still cut into Kris's thoughts, even as he walked, hands in pockets, to the grungy pub down the block. It really had been a stupid fight, he reflected, as he kept his eyes cast downward. Just like the stupid fight before that, and the one before that, Kris bringing up topics as mild as the weather was all it had taken for Katy to start making snippy comments that erupted into full-out shouts.
They always worked it out in the end, but Kris wasn’t sure if he wanted to keep waiting around for the end to happen.
---
Adam liked driving. It didn’t matter if it was raining, if there was a sheet of ice on the roads, if the wind was blowing leaves onto his windshield - he liked driving. It brought him a peace of mind and it calmed him down, especially if his radio was working and he was playing some mellow song quietly in the background.
Tonight, though, he wasn’t sure even driving could stop his hands from shaking from combined depression and fury. He and his boyfriend had just gotten into a major fight - their first fight at all, if teasing each other over the dinner table didn’t count. The more Adam thought about it, the more he could feel his tension build, until he was positive that driving more would just cause him a car accident.
So he pulled over by some random bar and walked in.
---
Kris apprehensively pushed open the door to the bar. He could hear the bar’s music blasting from three buildings away, and he suddenly was having second thoughts about coming here. The last time he had come to a place like this, he had been in college, he had been stupid and gotten drunk and…oh. He had met Katy.
It’ll just be one drink and I’ll go home, he reassured himself, and with that he crossed the threshold into the building and sat at the last vacant seat at the bar.
“Just a beer,” he muttered to the barman. His eyes scanned the place and found mostly balding guys with beer bellies, but he also saw a blonde tattooed girl and a couple of businessmen who were clearly celebrating something. And then, on the opposite side of the curved bar, Kris saw a guy whose black hair was spiked on top but was cut in a way so that it fell into the man’s makeup-smeared eyes. Both of the guy’s ears were decorated with simple black studs and he was dressed down in a black jacket and white T-shirt. Maybe it was this dark appearance, or the way his eyes stared blankly at the cans of beer in front of him, but Kris found it hard to stop looking at him.
The guy picked his head up, his eyes flicking up and landing on Kris, who immediately looked down at the bar, embarrassed.
“Your beer,” the barman grunted, sliding a red cup to Kris. Kris nodded his thanks and gulped half of it down, staring at the guy with the black hair over the top rim of his cup. The guy was talking to the bartender, probably ordering another drink. Kris vaguely wondered if the guy was an alcoholic, or - more likely, judging from the smeared makeup - if he was upset about something, much like Kris.
Just as Kris set his cup down, sloshing a little beer over the cup and onto the bar, the bartender walked up to him, a can of beer in his hand.
“Oh…no thanks, I’m fine,” Kris said, gesturing to his cup.
The barman sneered slightly. “This is from the guy across the bar,” he said, hitching a thumb over his shoulder and slamming the can in front of Kris.
Kris’s eyes landed on the guy with the black hair again, who was now staring at Kris unflinchingly. Kris held up the can and mouthed, “Thanks”, although he was slightly puzzled at this turn of events. Had the guy noticed him staring and gotten the wrong idea?
He was so absorbed in both his thoughts and his beer that he didn’t notice when the black-haired guy took a seat next to him. “Hi.”
Kris sputtered and was pretty sure some beer had landed on his chin and shirt. You idiot, he thought to himself, wiping his chin with the back of his hand. “Uh…hi.”
“I’m Adam,” the guy said, holding out a hand whose fingernails, Kris noticed, were also painted black.
“Kris,” he replied, grasping the hand briefly before letting go. “Uh…thanks for the beer, by the way.”
“I didn’t mean to send it to you, actually,” Adam laughed. “I meant to send it to the hot guy sitting next to you, but the bartender got it all wrong, and then the other guy left, but it’s all good.”
“Ah,” Kris said, sipping the beer that was apparently not supposed to be for him.
“No offense,” Adam said quickly. “I mean, you’re cute too, it’s just the other guy was single, probably.”
Kris frowned. “And how did you know I wasn’t single?” he asked, regretting the question as soon as it had left his mouth. Like he wanted the guy to send a drink to him. Please.
“You have a wedding ring on,” Adam said, nodding at Kris’s finger. Kris frowned; he had forgotten it was there. “So, speaking of that, not to cross any lines or anything, but where’s your wife? Why’re you here by yourself?”
“Uh…” Kris mumbled, sipping again, “We got in a fight.”
Adam cringed sympathetically. “That sucks. Similar story here. I got in a fight with my boyfriend. And we’ve never fought before. It was weird, and it upset me…this was the first place I could think of coming.”
Kris nodded. “Uh…I’m sorry,” he said awkwardly. “My first fight with my wife kind of sucked, too, but we get in fights so often now, I’m almost numb to them.”
“Why do you fight so much?”
Kris shrugged and took another gulp of beer, just to have something to do.
“Wanna go outside?” Adam shouted just then, as a song with a loud beat came on the stereo.
“Yeah, alright,” Kris said, and together they stepped outside, where they could still feel the vibrations of the muffled music.
“So, your boyfriend…” Kris said, just as Adam began to say, “So, your wife…”, and simultaneously they began telling their stories; Kris talked about how he had thought his marriage to Katy had been perfect up until a few months ago when these ridiculous fights had started, and he talked about how he just wanted things to be okay between them again, and he just wanted to feel like Katy loved him again.
And Adam talked too; he found himself spilling his heart out to this stranger, spilling his feelings about his boyfriend and how he had thought nothing could come between them until this fight, a screaming match that had lasted at least fifteen minutes. Adam talked about how shaken he had been and how he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go back to the relationship, because he wasn’t sure if there was a relationship left to go back to.
By now, the two were sitting on a bench a distance away from the bar, and wordlessly, Kris opened his arms and Adam fell into them. Kris marveled at how well his head fit in Adam’s shoulder and tried to avoid how Adam’s mouth was inches away from his neck. And he wasn’t sure how this looked to passersby, if the sight of two grown men embracing each other on a bench was weird, but Kris didn’t care; he felt comfortable and he felt safe in this guy’s arms, and he hadn’t felt this way with Katy in a long time, and it was only with some reluctance that he pulled out of the hug.
“I needed that,” Adam mumbled.
“Me too.”
The two grinned at each other and stood up. They walked their separate ways - Adam to his car, Kris to his house - maybe not entirely okay with their situations, but ready now, ready to face whatever they had to face in order to make their relationships work again, because they had received solace in a stranger’s arms. They walked their separate ways, but not before Kris had turned around and run back to Adam, slipping a phone number into the latter’s hand before walking off once more, in case that solace was ever needed again.
Katy's piercing words still cut into Kris's thoughts, even as he walked, hands in pockets, to the grungy pub down the block. It really had been a stupid fight, he reflected, as he kept his eyes cast downward. Just like the stupid fight before that, and the one before that, Kris bringing up topics as mild as the weather was all it had taken for Katy to start making snippy comments that erupted into full-out shouts.
They always worked it out in the end, but Kris wasn’t sure if he wanted to keep waiting around for the end to happen.
---
Adam liked driving. It didn’t matter if it was raining, if there was a sheet of ice on the roads, if the wind was blowing leaves onto his windshield - he liked driving. It brought him a peace of mind and it calmed him down, especially if his radio was working and he was playing some mellow song quietly in the background.
Tonight, though, he wasn’t sure even driving could stop his hands from shaking from combined depression and fury. He and his boyfriend had just gotten into a major fight - their first fight at all, if teasing each other over the dinner table didn’t count. The more Adam thought about it, the more he could feel his tension build, until he was positive that driving more would just cause him a car accident.
So he pulled over by some random bar and walked in.
---
Kris apprehensively pushed open the door to the bar. He could hear the bar’s music blasting from three buildings away, and he suddenly was having second thoughts about coming here. The last time he had come to a place like this, he had been in college, he had been stupid and gotten drunk and…oh. He had met Katy.
It’ll just be one drink and I’ll go home, he reassured himself, and with that he crossed the threshold into the building and sat at the last vacant seat at the bar.
“Just a beer,” he muttered to the barman. His eyes scanned the place and found mostly balding guys with beer bellies, but he also saw a blonde tattooed girl and a couple of businessmen who were clearly celebrating something. And then, on the opposite side of the curved bar, Kris saw a guy whose black hair was spiked on top but was cut in a way so that it fell into the man’s makeup-smeared eyes. Both of the guy’s ears were decorated with simple black studs and he was dressed down in a black jacket and white T-shirt. Maybe it was this dark appearance, or the way his eyes stared blankly at the cans of beer in front of him, but Kris found it hard to stop looking at him.
The guy picked his head up, his eyes flicking up and landing on Kris, who immediately looked down at the bar, embarrassed.
“Your beer,” the barman grunted, sliding a red cup to Kris. Kris nodded his thanks and gulped half of it down, staring at the guy with the black hair over the top rim of his cup. The guy was talking to the bartender, probably ordering another drink. Kris vaguely wondered if the guy was an alcoholic, or - more likely, judging from the smeared makeup - if he was upset about something, much like Kris.
Just as Kris set his cup down, sloshing a little beer over the cup and onto the bar, the bartender walked up to him, a can of beer in his hand.
“Oh…no thanks, I’m fine,” Kris said, gesturing to his cup.
The barman sneered slightly. “This is from the guy across the bar,” he said, hitching a thumb over his shoulder and slamming the can in front of Kris.
Kris’s eyes landed on the guy with the black hair again, who was now staring at Kris unflinchingly. Kris held up the can and mouthed, “Thanks”, although he was slightly puzzled at this turn of events. Had the guy noticed him staring and gotten the wrong idea?
He was so absorbed in both his thoughts and his beer that he didn’t notice when the black-haired guy took a seat next to him. “Hi.”
Kris sputtered and was pretty sure some beer had landed on his chin and shirt. You idiot, he thought to himself, wiping his chin with the back of his hand. “Uh…hi.”
“I’m Adam,” the guy said, holding out a hand whose fingernails, Kris noticed, were also painted black.
“Kris,” he replied, grasping the hand briefly before letting go. “Uh…thanks for the beer, by the way.”
“I didn’t mean to send it to you, actually,” Adam laughed. “I meant to send it to the hot guy sitting next to you, but the bartender got it all wrong, and then the other guy left, but it’s all good.”
“Ah,” Kris said, sipping the beer that was apparently not supposed to be for him.
“No offense,” Adam said quickly. “I mean, you’re cute too, it’s just the other guy was single, probably.”
Kris frowned. “And how did you know I wasn’t single?” he asked, regretting the question as soon as it had left his mouth. Like he wanted the guy to send a drink to him. Please.
“You have a wedding ring on,” Adam said, nodding at Kris’s finger. Kris frowned; he had forgotten it was there. “So, speaking of that, not to cross any lines or anything, but where’s your wife? Why’re you here by yourself?”
“Uh…” Kris mumbled, sipping again, “We got in a fight.”
Adam cringed sympathetically. “That sucks. Similar story here. I got in a fight with my boyfriend. And we’ve never fought before. It was weird, and it upset me…this was the first place I could think of coming.”
Kris nodded. “Uh…I’m sorry,” he said awkwardly. “My first fight with my wife kind of sucked, too, but we get in fights so often now, I’m almost numb to them.”
“Why do you fight so much?”
Kris shrugged and took another gulp of beer, just to have something to do.
“Wanna go outside?” Adam shouted just then, as a song with a loud beat came on the stereo.
“Yeah, alright,” Kris said, and together they stepped outside, where they could still feel the vibrations of the muffled music.
“So, your boyfriend…” Kris said, just as Adam began to say, “So, your wife…”, and simultaneously they began telling their stories; Kris talked about how he had thought his marriage to Katy had been perfect up until a few months ago when these ridiculous fights had started, and he talked about how he just wanted things to be okay between them again, and he just wanted to feel like Katy loved him again.
And Adam talked too; he found himself spilling his heart out to this stranger, spilling his feelings about his boyfriend and how he had thought nothing could come between them until this fight, a screaming match that had lasted at least fifteen minutes. Adam talked about how shaken he had been and how he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go back to the relationship, because he wasn’t sure if there was a relationship left to go back to.
By now, the two were sitting on a bench a distance away from the bar, and wordlessly, Kris opened his arms and Adam fell into them. Kris marveled at how well his head fit in Adam’s shoulder and tried to avoid how Adam’s mouth was inches away from his neck. And he wasn’t sure how this looked to passersby, if the sight of two grown men embracing each other on a bench was weird, but Kris didn’t care; he felt comfortable and he felt safe in this guy’s arms, and he hadn’t felt this way with Katy in a long time, and it was only with some reluctance that he pulled out of the hug.
“I needed that,” Adam mumbled.
“Me too.”
The two grinned at each other and stood up. They walked their separate ways - Adam to his car, Kris to his house - maybe not entirely okay with their situations, but ready now, ready to face whatever they had to face in order to make their relationships work again, because they had received solace in a stranger’s arms. They walked their separate ways, but not before Kris had turned around and run back to Adam, slipping a phone number into the latter’s hand before walking off once more, in case that solace was ever needed again.