Chương 26: Like Sugar | Chapter Twenty-six
Austin was sitting on the edge of the queen-sized bed adorned with stuffed animals and pillows. It wasn't his bed. It was Yves, and the younger man was walking around the large room like he had something to say. They were both in Yves apartment that Austin rented for him. It was on the top floor of an apartment complex, and you could look down at the city like it was a monopoly town if you stood by one window. That was what Yves was currently doing/ He was holding on to the sides of the window with his legs crossed and lips fixed into a pout. He was wearing one of the many silk robes he had, and a pair of fluffy slippers.
"What's on your mind?" Austin asked, unable to take the silence anymore. Yves had been walking with that pout and a little scowl on his face for over an hour now. What was he thinking so hard about? Austin was completely at home in Yves room, picking one of the many pillows on and holding on to it as he looked at Yves who had his back turned to him. He came here often, mostly when he was done with work like today. It was around seven in the evening now, and Yves had said he had to be somewhere, but he kept pacing around the room, moving to stand at the window from time to time to look out into the city. He was wasting time, and Austin had picked up that there was something on his mind.
"I'm not even sure," Yves sighed, stepping away from the window before walking over to the bed. He took a seat beside Austin, smiling at the man before holding on to his hand and resting his head on his shoulder. "I'm going to miss you," he said in a soft voice, and Austin could feel his throat get clogged up. It had changed from 'I can't wait to leave' to 'I miss you.' Yves' has been saying that for a while now, and it made Austin's heart jump. Yves was leaving soon — he had days left, and Austin could now countdown to his flight day with his fingers.
"Austin," Yves started, squeezing Austin's hand in his grip, "I have something to tell you," he added, making Austin raise a curious brow as he looked over at the man who had pulled his head away from his shoulder.
Yves had given himself enough time to think, and he was sure he had come to a decision now. After talking to Darnell a bit more about drag in the city, he decided that he would like to go into that scene. The problem was that his flight to France was already fixed and he had also sorted out living arrangements and the like. Plus, Yves didn't want to admit it, but deep down over the course of the last month he had been leaning on staying back because of Austin. He had developed a soft spot for the man. He had always liked him, but certain things had hindered a full-blown attraction, but suddenly Austin had cut down on smoking and had moved on to be more endearing about the way he showed his attraction to Yves. Yves would be lying if he said he hadn't been won over.
Austin was a good person. He was blunt and had a slanted humor but so was Yves. They got along for the most part if one ignored the little things that had made Yves wary. Now those things were gone or at worst minimal, and there was really no reason to pretend the attraction wasn't there. Austin pampered Yves, Yves now knew Austin's love for him wasn't based on how he saw him as a status symbol, and to be fair Austin was a good person even though he was rough around the edges. Yves liked him too. Was there a reason not to try being in a relationship with the man?
"It's nothing serious, but I still think you should know," the man continued saying, casting his eyes down to the blue carpet as he hummed. "I'm not going to be in France forever. I see myself coming back once in a while, even if it's for a few weeks at a time," Yves said and Austin just watched him in silence, keeping himself from jumping into conclusions.
"I know I said that I didn't want to renew our contract when this one was over, and I went back to France — I still don't want to renew it..." Yves said, making the frown on Austin's face deepen. What in the world was Yves trying to say? It was like the man would take five steps in one direction, then turn around and walk back like he was changing his mind.
"Well, what I was trying to say is—" he paused, and Austin's eyes widened in surprise. Yves looked flustered. That was a rarity. "I want us to keep in touch, but not in this arrangement," Yves said, looking up at Austin as he smiled a little. "I'm not even sure if I'm making sense," he laughed a bit. His chuckle stained with nervousness and uncertainty.
"I'm thinking of a relationship," he continued when Austin didn't say anything in response. "A long-distance relationship," he clarified letting go of Austin's arm before turning on the bed so that he was looking straight at the man. He took told of Austin's larger hands. Giving them a small squeeze as he sighed. "That's if you're still interested in dating me..." Yves trailed, realizing that at a point Austin had somewhat given up on trying to convince him to get in a relationship with him.
Austin was still silent. The older man blinked, and then he opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He was at loss of words and didn't know where to start in regards to making sense of the buzz in his head. Yves wanted a relationship with him. He had given up and he had just redirected his energy to enjoying the last few days he had in the young man's company, and here he was, saying that he wanted to be with him romantically.
"If you said something it would ease me a bit," Yves said, letting out a nervous laugh. Austin staying quiet was starting to get him worried.
"I—" Austin paused, feeling his throat get choked up by the words that were trying to leave his mouth at the same time. "Of course, I would like to date you. Is that even a question?" Austin said, feeling enthusiasm rush through his whole body. Yves smiled, letting go of the man's hands to cup his cheeks before pulling him into a kiss. The kiss was warm, pleasing and full of passion.
They pulled away, staring at each other's lips until Austin looked away, rubbing his hands together. "I'll come and visit you from time to time. I'm sure the flight tickets aren't that expensive," Austin said, making Yves roll his eyes before getting off the bed.
"It's a trail," Yves said, walking over to his closet. "Let's try it for a few months, and if it doesn't work out, I guess it wasn't meant to be," he muttered. He was trying to be realistic with himself, but his heart did squeeze up a bit at the mere thought of not seeing or talking to Austin again. The old man had grown on him. He shook his head, smiling a bit. He would just have to accept his circumstances.
"We're not going to think about the bad stuff now," Austin said, making Yves hum as he looked through his closet. He had somewhere to be in a few. A friend was going help him make quick trades for all the stuff he couldn't take with him. It was a little sad to be leaving. The condo had belonged to him for about three years now.
Yves was still trying to get into a dress shirt when he felt Austin put his hands around his waist. He sighed, rolling his eyes but he didn't resist, and he let the man give him butterfly kisses from the nape of his neck to the corner of his jaw. He squirmed a bit when the man's hand moved under his shirt, and soon the two of them were laughing. Yves turned his head, kissing the man on the lips, and they stood there snogging and sighing as Yves held on to the hands Austin had on his waist.
They broke the kiss, and Austin slipped away to use the toilet while Yves continued to get ready. He was dressed up when Austin came back. The man was now talking into his phone, and from the words, Yves caught it seemed like he was talking to Jared. He scoffed, rolling his eyes as he went about sorting out his handbag. Jared had been worrying a bit about something he wanted to do for Darnell, and he kept calling and calling, asking his equally oblivious friend for advice. It was endearing, and Yves was sure that things would pan out right. It wasn't as if Darnell would say no to him. They were so in love with each other, and it looked so sweet that Yves started to want something like that.
He looked up from his dresser, holding on to the power bank he wanted to put away as he stared at Austin. The older man was now trying to reassure Jared of something through the phone. Yves chuckled at the frustrated look Austin had too. The lovey-dovey sappy stuff was something he was irritated by if he wasn't the person making a fuzz. He got off the phone soon after, and Yves turned back to his bag.
"What was he calling about?" he asked, zipping up his bag before turning to face the older man.
"Darnell, what else?" Yves laughed at Austin's frustrated tone.
"I don't why he keeps getting worried. It's not like Darnell will say no," Yves muttered. Jared was planning to ask Darnell to move in with him. At first it had just been something he had thought about, but of course, Jared had to go organize some grand gesture. He was freaking out that Darnell might get overwhelmed and say no, but there was a very low chance of that happening.
"I keep telling him that, but he doesn't want to hear any of it. I can't wait for him to get it over with, so I stop getting random calls at eight in the evening." Yves's chuckled and Austin rolled his eyes.
"He also begged me to ask you if you could talk to Darnell a bit. Of course, you're not going to tell him that Jared's going to ask him to move in with him. You should just bring up living together and talk about it a bit. It'll kind of softball him for what Jared will tell him later," Austin said, sighing before running his fingers through his thinning long hair. Yves had offered to show him someone that could help with that maybe a year ago, but Austin refused. He was getting old, and he decided that he would rather look it than look like he was trying to clutch to his youth. Yves was very different in that regard. A little wrinkle? Get a filler. He felt his eyebrow thinning? Hair transplant. He thought one nostril looked a little bigger than the other? Rhinoplasty, and as a result, he ended up looking 'too perfect', and unlike people who fretted about their surgeries being known, Yves owned it and was very blunt about how he modified his body. He called it 'maintenance.'
"Sure, I'll do that," Yves muttered, and Austin's eyes followed his lips.
Maybe once upon a time, Austin would have complained about people who were obsessed with their bodies and plastic surgery, but meeting Yves changed his mind.
"I'm wondering, are your lips real?"
"What do you think? Of course not."
They had exchanged those words on the first night they met up to iron out the details of their contract. Austin had remembered being taken about. A lot of people would have felt insulted by his question, or they'd flush and try to think up some lie.
You could say to an extent Austin was attracted to how rude and blunt Yves was — even when that rudeness was directed at him. Maybe he was a masochist, or maybe he just liked someone who could meet him on his level of snarkiness.
"Why are you smiling like that?" Yves' question made Austin blink before looking over at the man. He shook his head, realizing that he had been smiling at his own thoughts.
"Just remembering how we met."
"Oh," Yves said, with a small frown. He was probably trying to remember what had happened, but he shook his head deciding that he was hurting his head by doing so.
Austin smiles dimmed a bit as he watched Yves move on to checking his bag one last time before looking at the time on his watch. The response had been a little disappointing, but Yves' wasn't very sentimental. He probably couldn't remember the night they met in detail.
"I'm leaving now," he said, walking up to Austin before bending to give the man a kiss on the cheek. He stood up straight, smiling one more time before leaving the room. Austin watched him close the door behind him, and he rested his back on the bed when the sound of the man's footsteps could no longer be heard. He stared at the ceiling, smiling as he thought about all the things that had happened within the past hour.
He had a relationship with Yves now — a 'trial' like Yves put it, but a relationship none the less.
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