Running Into You
folder
Original - Misc › -Slash - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
3
Views:
1,931
Reviews:
12
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Original - Misc › -Slash - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
3
Views:
1,931
Reviews:
12
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
Running Into You
Another muse…yeah, anyways it’s a bit clichéd and unrealistic, but won’t leave me alone.
Running Into You: Chapter 1
xxxxxx
Ryan was running in the graveyard, as usual.
Feet pounding the pavement as he ran along the curving paths with the wind rustling through the trees and into his hair. The crows cawing and the squirrels scampering around the trees, everything else quiet. Ryan liked the solemn peacefulness that a cemetery possesses. He usually was fairly alone when he ran there, only seeing other occasional walkers or someone who had come to pay their respects to the dead.
It never ceased to shock Ryan how few people he actually saw there. It was a large cemetery, Ryan guessing it to be a few miles in circumference, so one could assume that there would be a fair amount of activity there. But in reality there were only a few regulars, people that Ryan would see more than once.
There was one regular, a man, that Ryan would see every Sunday morning. He always came with a dog, a large black german shepard. He was a tall man with short black hair. He looked to be about 30 years old and, from what Ryan could tell from a distance, had an attractive face. He would stand, hands in his pockets, looking sorrowfully at the grave he was visiting.
Ryan was so intrigued, that one weekday when the man wasn’t there, he stopped by that particular grave. It read: Here lies Lisa Clayton, beloved wife and mother May 24, 1981-June 4, 2005. Calculating from her birth and death dates, Ryan figured out her age to be 24 years old when she died. There was also a spot for a daughter, Rose, who had only lived to be a year old. Discovering this, made Ryan’s heart clench hard in his chest in sympathy. That must be the husband and father who he would see. He must have loved them so much to keep coming each week for almost 5 years.
So this particular Sunday, Ryan wasn’t surprised to see the regular. What he was surprised to see, instead of the usual cold, quiet demeanor, was the man on his knees, head in his hands, sobbing uncontrollably. He looked so distraught that Ryan slowed to a walk when he came closer. The man’s shoulders were heaving and he looked almost tortured.
Ryan found himself automatically veering off the path and approaching the man. He touched a hand to the man’s back and immediately regretted it.
The man jerked away bolting to his feet. “What the fuck? Are you crazy? Leave me the fuck alone!”
“I’m sorry,” Ryan whispered, before turning and bolting away.
xxxxxx
Ryan couldn’t stop thinking about the man from the graveyard. He couldn’t focus on his classes.
Ryan was a senior in college, training to be a physical therapist. He had always had an interest in helping people, but it wasn’t until he blew out his knee at a track meet that Ryan had ever thought about becoming a physical therapist. With the surgery and therapies he went through, he realized that he wanted to help people through that experience and give them hope.
Ryan had loved running and after his accident, he had been told that he wouldn’t be able to run track again. But his physical therapist had helped him regain enough strength that now, 4 years later, he was able to at least run a little for himself. He knew he would never be able to compete again, but to be able to run just for himself was enough.
Ryan sighed as his mind kept drifting back to the cemetery. He felt guilty that he had upset the other man and wanted to make it up to him somehow, but he was unsure of what to do.
“Mr. Brown? Am I boring you?” the professor’s voice broke through his train of thought.
“Oh, no, I’m sorry.”
The professor nodded and continued with the discussion.
Ryan’s fried Stacey, nudged his shoulder. He glanced to her. She pointed at his desk where she had put a note.
It said: Are you okay?
He wrote back: I’m fine. Let’s get lunch after this.
She nodded.
xxxxxx
“God, that class seemed to last forever!” Stacey exclaimed as they walked out together. “What are you in the mood for? Want to go to The Spot?”
“Sure,” Ryan agreed. The Spot was a little café on campus that served coffee and sandwiches. It was pretty awesome and usually where he and Stacey ended up for lunch, instead of the dining hall.
“This guy Oliver is working there now. He’s really cute. I think he’s gay, but I can’t tell for sure.”
“So you wanted me to scope out the gay vibes?” Ryan joked.
“No…well, maybe a little. He’s always nice to me, but then last week I saw him talking with Professor Morgan and I thought it seemed like he was flirting with him,” Stacey gossiped. Professor Morgan was one of the ‘hot professors’ on campus, being one of the youngest and fairly attractive. He had a very quiet and almost impersonal personality that put Ryan off.
“So you’re imaging that they’re having some sort of affair now right?” He teased her.
“Well, I can’t fantasize about your sex life since you haven’t been having one.”
Ryan’s face fell, “Stacey, you know why that is,” he said seriously.
She looked mortified. “Oh, sweetie! I didn’t mean it that way! I was just joking. I’m sorry!”
“It’s okay.” He opened the door for her and they went in and found a table to put down their things before they ordered.
When they sat back down, Stacey immediately began to ask concerned questions.
“Are you really okay? You haven’t seemed like yourself the past couple days.”
“I’m okay. Something happened this past weekend and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”
“What happened?”
He proceeded to tell her about the man at the graveyard and their interaction. “I just feel really bad about it.”
“What if you apologized to him? Would that make you feel better?” She suggested.
“I don’t know Stace,” he remembered the anger in the man’s expression, the hurt. “I don’t think I’d get a positive reaction.”
“Well, sweetie, I’m sure that whatever you do will be the right thing.”
xxxxxx
Stacey’s words echoed in his head. He wanted to do the right thing, but he still wasn’t exactly sure what that was, but it was a little late for doubting now.
Especially since he was waiting in the graveyard on a Sunday morning with two cups of coffee. This might not have been the best idea he’d ever had, but he just wanted to stop feeling so guilty for intruding.
It was too late for turning back since the man’s car was parking and he was getting out of it with his dog.
Ryan had never seen the man walk before and noticed that he walked with a slight limp, favoring his right leg.
The dog bounded up to him with a friendly woof, tail wagging as it pressed it’s nose to Ryan’s knee. Well, at least he got a friendly reception from one of them. The man looked wary as he approached. He didn’t seem angry, but his guard was definitely up.
“Are you some sort of stalker?” The man asked.
“No I’m a college student,” Ryan blurted out. “I mean, I wanted to apologize for intruding last week. I brought some coffee.”
The man studied him, his ice-blue eyes seemed like they were seeing into him. “You’re apologizing for intruding by intruding a second time?” The words were harsh, but his tone seemed lighter, almost amused.
“Oh. I guess I didn’t think this through. I just felt bad for upsetting you I just…you looked…” Ryan trailed off, he was feeling heaps of uncomfortable right there.
“Is that coffee black?” the man gestured to the cup in Ryan’s hand.
“Yeah, but I brought some sugars and cream if you want.”
“No, black is good.” He accepted the cup. “Do you want to sit down? There’s a bench a little ways up from here.”
Ryan nodded and followed the man and his dog.
“My name’s Ryan,” He introduced himself.
“Jason. And Lady,” he pointed to the dog.
“Good to meet you.”
Then there was awkward silence. Ryan wasn’t really sure what to say.
“I’ve seen you running here before. Why did you stop last week?” Jason asked, breaking the silence.
“I…you looked so upset. I wanted to help, not that I can do much…” Ryan felt himself starting to ramble and paused. “You must love them very much.”
Jason flinched a little at the words and his jaw visibly clenched tighter, but he didn’t lash out.
“Yes. I loved them very much.”
“You…You don’t need to talk about this with me. I’ve already intruded enough.”
Jason looked him in the eyes. “You are curious. I can talk about it.”
“I…” Ryan couldn’t really deny it. There was just something that was drawing him to the other man and he wanted to know more.
“I was driving home with my wife and our baby. A drunk driver ran a red light and smashed into us. I didn’t even see him, wasn’t looking for him. The loves of my life died on impact. I was in the hospital for a month, but the physical pain I experienced there was nothing compared to the pain of knowing they were gone.”
“Oh.“ Ryan released the breath he didn’t know he was holding. He felt like he was going to start crying any minute. “I-I can’t even imagine…that is so terrible.”
Jason was examining him again. “You do care.” He sounded surprised.
“Yes, who wouldn’t?”
Jason looked away. “I have some friends, they mean well, but they don’t understand. They keep introducing me to women hoping that I’ll date them, but I just can’t. I’ve tried, but I can’t be with another woman.”
“What about a man?” Ryan blurted out.
Jason’s gaze shot back to his.
“I don’t mean…I’m not trying to hit on you,” Ryan awkwardly tried to explain. “I don’t want to be dating right now and neither do you. If we um…pretended to be committed to each other then we’d both be left alone.”
Jason’s expression clearly said that he was weirded out.
“I know we’re strangers, but I just…Never mind,” Ryan felt ashamed.
“I’ll think about it,” Jason abruptly answered. “Next week, we’ll meet here again?”
“Sure. Same time?” Ryan asked.
Jason nodded and they said their goodbyes.
And Ryan was left with more confusing feelings than before.
xxxxxx
Next chapter in Jason’s p-o-v. I think I’m going to alternate. Before you say it, I know it’s kind of unrealistic for Jason to spill his guts like that…but this is fiction and I wanted him to haha. Anyways, Hope you enjoyed!
Running Into You: Chapter 1
xxxxxx
Ryan was running in the graveyard, as usual.
Feet pounding the pavement as he ran along the curving paths with the wind rustling through the trees and into his hair. The crows cawing and the squirrels scampering around the trees, everything else quiet. Ryan liked the solemn peacefulness that a cemetery possesses. He usually was fairly alone when he ran there, only seeing other occasional walkers or someone who had come to pay their respects to the dead.
It never ceased to shock Ryan how few people he actually saw there. It was a large cemetery, Ryan guessing it to be a few miles in circumference, so one could assume that there would be a fair amount of activity there. But in reality there were only a few regulars, people that Ryan would see more than once.
There was one regular, a man, that Ryan would see every Sunday morning. He always came with a dog, a large black german shepard. He was a tall man with short black hair. He looked to be about 30 years old and, from what Ryan could tell from a distance, had an attractive face. He would stand, hands in his pockets, looking sorrowfully at the grave he was visiting.
Ryan was so intrigued, that one weekday when the man wasn’t there, he stopped by that particular grave. It read: Here lies Lisa Clayton, beloved wife and mother May 24, 1981-June 4, 2005. Calculating from her birth and death dates, Ryan figured out her age to be 24 years old when she died. There was also a spot for a daughter, Rose, who had only lived to be a year old. Discovering this, made Ryan’s heart clench hard in his chest in sympathy. That must be the husband and father who he would see. He must have loved them so much to keep coming each week for almost 5 years.
So this particular Sunday, Ryan wasn’t surprised to see the regular. What he was surprised to see, instead of the usual cold, quiet demeanor, was the man on his knees, head in his hands, sobbing uncontrollably. He looked so distraught that Ryan slowed to a walk when he came closer. The man’s shoulders were heaving and he looked almost tortured.
Ryan found himself automatically veering off the path and approaching the man. He touched a hand to the man’s back and immediately regretted it.
The man jerked away bolting to his feet. “What the fuck? Are you crazy? Leave me the fuck alone!”
“I’m sorry,” Ryan whispered, before turning and bolting away.
xxxxxx
Ryan couldn’t stop thinking about the man from the graveyard. He couldn’t focus on his classes.
Ryan was a senior in college, training to be a physical therapist. He had always had an interest in helping people, but it wasn’t until he blew out his knee at a track meet that Ryan had ever thought about becoming a physical therapist. With the surgery and therapies he went through, he realized that he wanted to help people through that experience and give them hope.
Ryan had loved running and after his accident, he had been told that he wouldn’t be able to run track again. But his physical therapist had helped him regain enough strength that now, 4 years later, he was able to at least run a little for himself. He knew he would never be able to compete again, but to be able to run just for himself was enough.
Ryan sighed as his mind kept drifting back to the cemetery. He felt guilty that he had upset the other man and wanted to make it up to him somehow, but he was unsure of what to do.
“Mr. Brown? Am I boring you?” the professor’s voice broke through his train of thought.
“Oh, no, I’m sorry.”
The professor nodded and continued with the discussion.
Ryan’s fried Stacey, nudged his shoulder. He glanced to her. She pointed at his desk where she had put a note.
It said: Are you okay?
He wrote back: I’m fine. Let’s get lunch after this.
She nodded.
xxxxxx
“God, that class seemed to last forever!” Stacey exclaimed as they walked out together. “What are you in the mood for? Want to go to The Spot?”
“Sure,” Ryan agreed. The Spot was a little café on campus that served coffee and sandwiches. It was pretty awesome and usually where he and Stacey ended up for lunch, instead of the dining hall.
“This guy Oliver is working there now. He’s really cute. I think he’s gay, but I can’t tell for sure.”
“So you wanted me to scope out the gay vibes?” Ryan joked.
“No…well, maybe a little. He’s always nice to me, but then last week I saw him talking with Professor Morgan and I thought it seemed like he was flirting with him,” Stacey gossiped. Professor Morgan was one of the ‘hot professors’ on campus, being one of the youngest and fairly attractive. He had a very quiet and almost impersonal personality that put Ryan off.
“So you’re imaging that they’re having some sort of affair now right?” He teased her.
“Well, I can’t fantasize about your sex life since you haven’t been having one.”
Ryan’s face fell, “Stacey, you know why that is,” he said seriously.
She looked mortified. “Oh, sweetie! I didn’t mean it that way! I was just joking. I’m sorry!”
“It’s okay.” He opened the door for her and they went in and found a table to put down their things before they ordered.
When they sat back down, Stacey immediately began to ask concerned questions.
“Are you really okay? You haven’t seemed like yourself the past couple days.”
“I’m okay. Something happened this past weekend and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”
“What happened?”
He proceeded to tell her about the man at the graveyard and their interaction. “I just feel really bad about it.”
“What if you apologized to him? Would that make you feel better?” She suggested.
“I don’t know Stace,” he remembered the anger in the man’s expression, the hurt. “I don’t think I’d get a positive reaction.”
“Well, sweetie, I’m sure that whatever you do will be the right thing.”
xxxxxx
Stacey’s words echoed in his head. He wanted to do the right thing, but he still wasn’t exactly sure what that was, but it was a little late for doubting now.
Especially since he was waiting in the graveyard on a Sunday morning with two cups of coffee. This might not have been the best idea he’d ever had, but he just wanted to stop feeling so guilty for intruding.
It was too late for turning back since the man’s car was parking and he was getting out of it with his dog.
Ryan had never seen the man walk before and noticed that he walked with a slight limp, favoring his right leg.
The dog bounded up to him with a friendly woof, tail wagging as it pressed it’s nose to Ryan’s knee. Well, at least he got a friendly reception from one of them. The man looked wary as he approached. He didn’t seem angry, but his guard was definitely up.
“Are you some sort of stalker?” The man asked.
“No I’m a college student,” Ryan blurted out. “I mean, I wanted to apologize for intruding last week. I brought some coffee.”
The man studied him, his ice-blue eyes seemed like they were seeing into him. “You’re apologizing for intruding by intruding a second time?” The words were harsh, but his tone seemed lighter, almost amused.
“Oh. I guess I didn’t think this through. I just felt bad for upsetting you I just…you looked…” Ryan trailed off, he was feeling heaps of uncomfortable right there.
“Is that coffee black?” the man gestured to the cup in Ryan’s hand.
“Yeah, but I brought some sugars and cream if you want.”
“No, black is good.” He accepted the cup. “Do you want to sit down? There’s a bench a little ways up from here.”
Ryan nodded and followed the man and his dog.
“My name’s Ryan,” He introduced himself.
“Jason. And Lady,” he pointed to the dog.
“Good to meet you.”
Then there was awkward silence. Ryan wasn’t really sure what to say.
“I’ve seen you running here before. Why did you stop last week?” Jason asked, breaking the silence.
“I…you looked so upset. I wanted to help, not that I can do much…” Ryan felt himself starting to ramble and paused. “You must love them very much.”
Jason flinched a little at the words and his jaw visibly clenched tighter, but he didn’t lash out.
“Yes. I loved them very much.”
“You…You don’t need to talk about this with me. I’ve already intruded enough.”
Jason looked him in the eyes. “You are curious. I can talk about it.”
“I…” Ryan couldn’t really deny it. There was just something that was drawing him to the other man and he wanted to know more.
“I was driving home with my wife and our baby. A drunk driver ran a red light and smashed into us. I didn’t even see him, wasn’t looking for him. The loves of my life died on impact. I was in the hospital for a month, but the physical pain I experienced there was nothing compared to the pain of knowing they were gone.”
“Oh.“ Ryan released the breath he didn’t know he was holding. He felt like he was going to start crying any minute. “I-I can’t even imagine…that is so terrible.”
Jason was examining him again. “You do care.” He sounded surprised.
“Yes, who wouldn’t?”
Jason looked away. “I have some friends, they mean well, but they don’t understand. They keep introducing me to women hoping that I’ll date them, but I just can’t. I’ve tried, but I can’t be with another woman.”
“What about a man?” Ryan blurted out.
Jason’s gaze shot back to his.
“I don’t mean…I’m not trying to hit on you,” Ryan awkwardly tried to explain. “I don’t want to be dating right now and neither do you. If we um…pretended to be committed to each other then we’d both be left alone.”
Jason’s expression clearly said that he was weirded out.
“I know we’re strangers, but I just…Never mind,” Ryan felt ashamed.
“I’ll think about it,” Jason abruptly answered. “Next week, we’ll meet here again?”
“Sure. Same time?” Ryan asked.
Jason nodded and they said their goodbyes.
And Ryan was left with more confusing feelings than before.
xxxxxx
Next chapter in Jason’s p-o-v. I think I’m going to alternate. Before you say it, I know it’s kind of unrealistic for Jason to spill his guts like that…but this is fiction and I wanted him to haha. Anyways, Hope you enjoyed!