The boy who knew too much (BoyxBoy)

chapter 16: Happy on my own

"Are you sure about this?" Alex asked me.

I roll my eyes.

"Yes."

Alex sighs and shakes his head.

"I still don't get why you want to do this. What's the matter with going other places? Why here?"

He gestures to the record store we're standing in front of.

"It just has to be here."

"What happens if you run into William? You know how likely that is, considering this is his brother's place." He asked raising an eyebrow.

I shrug.

"Then I'll deal with it when it happens."

Then I begin walking towards the door. Alex grudgingly follows me.

What he doesn't understand is that the possibility of me running into William is the whole point of coming here. Not because I want to, but because facing William again is something I've been dreading, and I need to deal with this fear or I won't be able to move on completely. I know I can't avoid him forever; sooner or later, I'll have to confront him, and if it happens to be sooner, then so be it.

As we walk into the record store, the man behind the counter looks up from an album he's examining, at us. And with that scruffy, auburn beard of his, there's no mistaking him. It's Rodney, one of William's many siblings, and the owner of the store. I try not to feel too nervous or awkward about not being here with William and after everything that happened.

But it seems that Rodney either doesn't know about it, or doesn't care, because after staring at Alex and me for a few seconds, he grins. I'm suddenly feeling more at ease than I have about this whole thing all day.

"I remember you two. Go right on down." Rodney said.

I smile back at him.

"Thanks."

Rodney salutes us then goes back to examining the record. I glance over at Alex, motioning for him to follow me, and head toward the back to the door that leads below.

The music's audible the moment we open the door and start heading down. With each step, a strange mixture of anxiety and anticipation fill my stomach. It's hard to explain how I feel about doing this, to be perfectly honest. I feel divided, like half of me really wants to let go and just do this, while the other part is scared. I'm honestly terrified of running into William here, because I'm not completely sure if I'll be able to stop myself from doing something stupid. And I really, really don't want to fall into that trap again with him, especially when I'm just beginning to get over it.

Alex and I reach the bottom of the stairs. I look back at him again, my eyes quickly adjusting to the dim light, and see that he's staring at the crowd of people with such an uncertain expression that it almost looks like he's nauseous. It's not a good look on him. I nudge him in the shoulder with my elbow.

"Take that gross look off your face. If anyone should be feeling weird about being here, it's me."

"No, dude. It's...look." Alex said shaking his head.

He jerks his chin forward, gesturing to something in front of us. I look over, and when I see what it is, I immediately understand.

Audrey.

And she's walking, or more like, sauntering, over to us.

"What does she want?" I asked shaking my head.

I look back at Alex, concerned and questioning. I know a part of him still has a thing for her.

"Can you handle this?"