Page 20 of Haunted Mediation
“Did you—” Leon started to say, narrowly dodging around a chair that came screeching across the floor. “Want to talk about it?”
James pursed his lips and gazed up at him, and Leon had to pull him out of the way of a ball that eerily bounced across the floor to them.
“About…freaking out back there?” James asked, avoiding looking at Leon.
He definitely wouldn’t have put it like that, no.
“I meant more about what you said. It sounded like that room struck a nerve for you?”
James jumped nearly a foot in the air when a lifesize—and very creepy looking—baby doll popped out of a box.
“Okay, fuck this room,” Leon said.
He charged ahead, pulling James behind him as they ducked, dodged, and at one point, jumped over several more obstacles that came their way.
When they reached the end of the room, there was a little bit of hallway connecting this room to the next. He pressed his back up against the wall and guided James to stand in front of him.
James squinted, as if trying to see what new horrors lay ahead. Maybe Leon shouldn’t be asking him to dig up the horrors they’d already faced, but he felt like if he didn’t, no one would.
“You don’t have to talk about it,” he said slowly, and James’ shoulders curved forward defensively. “But, if you want to, and you’re done with this whole thing, we can safe word our way out of the rest of the house, or I can try and find a fire alarm to pull?—”
“That’s illegal if there isn’t actually a fire,” James said, his dimple making a guest appearance in his left cheek as his lips curved up.
“Alright, my little mensch,” Leon said, shaking his head. “Then I’ll find a fire escape for us to climb out of.”
“So heroic. Maybe you should have worn a superhero costume.”
Leon narrowed his eyes, but James was on a roll now.
“Did you bring the drumsticks so you could defend us with them? That would be so bad boy aesthetic, I would have to tell all my minions. Your street cred would be safe for at least the rest of the year, if not more so.”
Leon raised a very unimpressed eyebrow. “You finished?”
“Do you think if you tell the next ghoul that we did accidental couples therapy, they’ll be too busy laughing at us to try and scare us?” James said, his dimple disappearing as his smile turned sardonic.
Leon wasn’t taking the bait, even though he so badly wanted to. “You don’t have to do that,” Leon said softly.
“Tell them our deep, dark secret?”
Leon wanted to turn James around, press him up against the wall, and sharehisdeepest, darkest secret: that underneath the sarcasm and tightly crafted façade, he had seen the real James…and he liked him. He liked him a whole hell of a lot.
So much so that he poured every ounce of sincerity he possessed into his next words. “You don’t have to deflect with me. Not anymore. We used to do that shit ‘cause we didn’t knowhow to talk to each other, but I would hope you know that I mean it when I say you can talk to me now.”
James' eyes widened, and he took in a sharp breath. A flush was slowly crawling across his cheeks, turning them the same color as his lips, which were chewed raw on the side he bit when he was uncomfortable or nervous.
His canine, just barely visible, was still crooked, his hair was messed up in the front, and he was still wearing that ridiculous costume. Despite all of that, or maybe because of it, he was so goddamn beautiful, Leon could barely stand it.
“Leon, I…” James said, his eyes slowly travelling down Leon’s body, past his ripped shirt and ridiculous belt to look at their joined hands hanging solidly between them.
James squeezed his hand, almost experimentally, and Leon squeezed right back.
Leon wasn’t sure if he did it on purpose, but James took a step forward until they were almost chest to chest. There were less than two inches of height difference between them, but it was just enough that James had to tilt his head back a touch to look into Leon’s eyes. They were so close, Leon could count each one of his dark eyelashes.
Friends didn’t stand this close together.
Friends didn’t stare into each other's eyes, like maybe, just maybe, they’d be able to find some sort of answer to all their unasked questions there.
“Thank you,” James said, his breath ghosting across Leon’s lips. “That…means a lot to me. I don’t think I’m quite ready to talk about it yet. I want to give it a little more thought and then…maybe we can talk about it later?”
