Capítulo 24: Chapter 24
Before they knew it, Joshua Lore and Henry Reyes had been given the honour of being kicked onto the street.
The taxi whizzed off almost immediately.
Now that Gin was gone, the two men felt a little calmer, less awkward. While neither of them could remember much of their nights, both were well aware that they had gotten on very well. Well enough to wing for each other once they had come to the horrible decision of chasing after girls. It only reinforced the past thought: they could definitely be friends.
With nothing else to do, Henry offered for them to go up to his apartment. Joshua had left his valuables there overnight; he had learnt the hard way to only keep necessities on a night out with Gin but had not reduced his wallet before rendezvousing with the other men. Another factor for the invite was that if they stayed stood on the street any longer people were going to start getting suspicious.
Even if Henry could not deny that Joshua still had his famed, beautiful looks, the man looked a mess. His delicate features and clear skin had not changed, and the slightly bleary look in his eyes and chapped looks were not harming his features either. However, his hair was a damp bird's nest, clothes crumpled with drink stains, even his stance was messy and tired, the man not standing as straight as he usually would. At a glance, it was not the man's beauty that would stand out, it would be his shabby demeanour.
If the second Lore son looked like that, Henry could only imagine what he looked like himself. It was definitely for the best to get them indoors.
The younger man was not wrong about his appearance. The was in a similar ratty state as Joshua. His clothes were askew – in fact his shirt was inside out and the man was yet to notice – jacket more worn than it should be, a new tear in his jeans. His blond hair was drying at odd angles, half his face covered by it. What he hadn't realised was that the corner of his lip was cut after his small escapade the night before, as well as faded hand marks at the base of his neck, he had ended up with a more-than-wild partner.
Henry also had some lingering redness from the sheer amount of alcohol he had consumer the night before around the edge of his eyes and at the apple of his cheeks, dusting him a light pink hue. It made him look younger.
Looking younger than his age was nothing new, his youthfulness being one of his most redeeming features, however after his eventful night, the man looked more like a teenage boy when looking at just his face. It even took the receptionist of a second extra to recognise the famous duo.
All she could do was marvel at how exciting a night an engaged couple could have together.
It was as she was thinking so, struggling to tear her eyes off the two dishevelled yet beautiful men, that both Henry's and Joshua's phones chimed at the same time.
And then again.
And again.
And again.
The chiming did not stop, only getting more rapid, making both men freeze and look at each other.
They had made a terrible mistake.
Behind Joshua was a clock mounted on the wall of the lobby, which caught the other man's eyes.
It read 10:45.
"The family brunch…" Henry let out in a shocked murmur as his eyes grew in horror. Joshua came to a realisation what had suddenly felt wrong. "We are supposed to meeting in 10 minutes… oh, shit!"
Joshua could not help but think the younger man had phrased it perfectly. Their eyes met again before the rush really set in. The two men had 10 minutes to make it the restaurant, the restaurant that was half an hour away on a good day with no traffic.
"Go?" Henry asked. He received a quick nod in return.
"Go!"
Henry ran the short distance to the reception desk, slapping into the countertop as he said in a panicked voice, "My spare car keys! Please. Room 1306."
The surprised receptionist took a second to snap out of it and getting to her job. In a split second she reached down to the bottom filing cabinet draw, flicking through the numbered folders to find the right flat.
"And a bottle of water, thanks."
Without looking, the efficient lady opened the cooler to her left with her foot just as she found 1306, reaching into the folder to pull out and envelope. She then reached over to her left to grab two bottles of water, at the same time, tearing the envelope open with her mouth. As she closed the cooler, she tipped out the contents of the envelope as well as holding out the two water bottles. This was quickly followed by her handing over one of the two identical car keys that had fallen onto her desk.
She watched the two men run off for the carpark entrance before falling back in her seat to catch a breath. That was not what she had been expecting for her second day on the job.
It was only once the two men were already on the road, Henry behind the wheel as Joshua enters the address into the navigation system, that the two could truly appreciate the marvel they had just witnessed. For the amount the receptionist had done, it had only taken her a staggering 15 seconds. Watching her work, Joshua could not help but think of her performance comparable to the amazing work he had witnessed from the Reyes family unit during the hack at the beginning of the week.
"That girl needs a raise."
"She absolutely needs a raise. I need to remember to look up her name when I get back. She only started yesterday."
Joshua thought back a second before coming up with what was written on the name tag he hadn't had the time to pay attention too. "Claire." He was immediately answered with a confused look. "I have photographic memory and perfect recall."
Henry could not help but wonder if the man next to him could get any more perfect.
Somehow the drive was completed in 20 minutes, meaning they were still late, but not horribly. During that time, the two had drained their waters down their throat and fixed their hair, most of it down to Joshua as Henry was quite obviously busy driving unless being held at a red light.
It was only when they had parked the car that Henry looked down at himself and cringed. He then looked at himself in the rear view mirror and held back a gag. He looked worse than he could have imagined.
This was not true. The blond man's complexion looked a little haggard but nowhere near as Henry thought. His clothes were another matter.
At the same time, Joshua had discovered the multiple stains down the side of his jacket. He was starting to wonder if it would be better to just ditch the meal altogether. However, as quickly as the thought entered him mind, it was shot down. There was a reason he had been avoiding his phone, he did not want to face his parents any more than he did when he was supposed to say no to the engagement. What made this time worse was that his parents had something to fault him for.
"You don't happen to have a spare jacket?" It was a long shot, but Joshua thought it was worth the ask. He would most likely have to leave it in the car and go in just his t-shirt.
The question reminded Henry of the discarded cardigan from the day when he had been shopping. He turned and found the beige knitwear thankfully still on his backseat. But it would be too big to lend to Joshua. While the two men were overall the same size, Henry was more built, meaning he was on the larger margin of the clothing size. The cardigan had been bought for comfort, so it was a couple sizes bigger. While it seemed just oversized on Henry, it would swallow up Joshua. It was not that the man would look bad, it just was not brunch appropriate, not that either of them particularly were.
An idea sparked in Henry's mind. He sniffed the collar of his own jacket, holding back a recoil. This was probably the best they could manage.
Taking off his bomber jacket, he inspected it for stains, thankfully finding it clean. "Glove compartment. Hand me the deodorant and aftershave." Joshua did not question the strange instructions, doing as told. While the glove compartment was still open, Henry threw his wallet in there before taking the deodorant. "You can leave your things in there too. And take your jacket off."
With that, the man released his seatbelt and turned, holding the jacket out in the back of the car before spraying it down with the deodorant. He then replaced the can with the bottle on Joshua's lap as the other man took his jacket off. Henry then proceeded to douse the jacket in aftershave before shaking the garment out and handing it to Joshua. "At least it doesn't smell of vodka and vomit anymore."
Joshua gratefully accepted the jacket. Henry reached back and grabbed his cardigan, which had now also been sprayed with his aftershave. Making sure the glove compartment was closed and they both had their phones, as well as Henry's car keys, the two men exited the vehicle, standing in front of each other as they both put on their new outerwear. The older man pulled out a Chapstick, coating his dry lips.
"Lip balm?" Joshua offered, Henry graciously accepting. As he watched the younger man apply the balm, he realised Henry's hair had been affected by the headrest. Joshua quickly brushed his own out before reaching forward and combing Henry's blond strands flat.
Henry sent him a grateful smile as the other man stepped back, accepting the outheld lip balm.
They looked over each other once before deciding they had done enough.
"Cameras." It was at that moment, as Joshua muttered, they remembered that there were photographers that knew they were coming. What little colour was in their face after their eventful night quickly drained away.
There were two other things they had been unaware of, well, three if they were being specific.
The first and second was the marks on their respective bodies. The hand mark at the base of Henry's neck was slowly getting darker as it started to bruise. Down Joshua's neck and chest, there was a trail of small but prominent kiss marks, only standing out more because of his porcelain skin. Neither of them seemed to have taken notice of the other's marks so, of course, they were yet unaware of their own.
The last thing they did not know was that their families were sat relatively close to the window, and they could see everything from where they sat.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
Aeriya0411
Aeriya0411 I JUST REALISED THE FIRST SECTON OF CHAPTER 17 WAS MISSING (AN EXTREMELY CUTE PART) SO PLEASE GO AND REREAD THE CHAPTER
Apparently I suddenly know what I want to write and have the time to write it. 4 chapters in a week have to be a dream, right?
Not much of a cute interaction between them, but they still have the brunch to attend, so who know... ??
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