Sun Kissed ✓

three

SINCE their shift had ended, the offensive extent of the sun's fire had burned out and a light breeze swirled through the air, still somewhat warm but cool enough to be refreshing. Earlier, the heat had been the kind of blisteringly uncomfortable where the sidewalk burned your bare feet and you had to peel your clothes off of your back by the time you got home; the kind of sweltering sore that left your skin red and your body heavy and your head spinning.

Now the heat had died down, Austin was actually able to physically bear the walk home that he was expecting to exhaust him. Not to mention, he had no complaints about his company, even if Tanner's radiance did make him look half dead by comparison.

His slightly slouching stature, dark hair and the almost purple rings under his eyes contrasted almost violently, offensively even, with Tanner's halo of short, tousled, golden hair and his bold blue eyes, a cloudless sky, rippling waves in crystalline waters. A soft melody laced itself through his voice, clear and convivial, and every word he spoke was like a new lyric in the song. Apollo himself would blush at his radiance. Even just taking those daring but infrequent glances made Austin feel a little embarrassed. In his mind, every glimpse was flooding with an admiration born from an attraction that could not be helped.

Luckily, Tanner seemed delightfully oblivious to this fruitless crush and that was the only reason that Austin had lasted this long. Truthfully, this was the first time that he and Tanner had been in each other's company outside of work for longer than a ten-second period.

The most Austin saw of him outside of work was in a passing blur in the school hallway or maybe accidental eye contact and an amiable smile at lunch or a bumping of shoulders when leaving school. Now and again, they saw each other chatting and dancing with people who weren't the other at parties or beach bonfires and that seemed to be the extent of it.

It made him feel a little conflicted. On the downside, he rarely ever got to spend any actual time getting to know Tanner. On the upside, maybe that was for the best since, when he was handed an opportunity to get to know Tanner, he didn't quite feel like he was making the most of it.

He wasn't exactly sure why Tanner had even suggested that they walk home together. They'd only be working together for a short while, but he'd never suggested it before, and, now that Austin was so taciturn, he might never suggest it again.

It's not like he was being quiet on purpose; just that he was incredibly worried about saying something ridiculously stupid and scaring Tanner off forever. At the very least, convincing him that Austin was some kind of weirdo who he shouldn't waste his time with. It was much easier to watch the invisible illustrations created by Tanner's hands or the curve of his sweet, pink lips when he smiled (something that he was paying an embarrassing amount of attention to) than it was to actively engage in conversation with him.

Instead, he took a more passive approach of chiming in when he felt it was appropriate or laughing along to a humorous comment, providing a remark that would keep Tanner's words flowing rather than crafting topics of his own. He didn't want to seem uninterested, but he wasn't sure what else he could do to avoid embarrassing himself or stumbling over an awkward response that he would regret as soon as it left his mouth. What if his words got caught in his throat? What if he got distracted and completely forgot what they were talking about?

"End of the road," Tanner said, halting in his tracks and jutting his thumb behind them. "We should walk together more often."

"Totally," Austin agreed, praying it sounded genuine. "I enjoyed the company."

"Me, too," he grinned, pearly and bright. "Even if we don't walk together, we should hang out together sometime."

Hang out? Hanging out was on the table now? Austin felt like he was mishearing things entirely, that maybe his lack of sleep was finally catching up with him and sending him delirious.

But no, apparently not because here was Tanner, standing in front of him and waiting patiently for an answer. For a second, Austin felt a stroke of confidence when he realised his hesitation was making the boy in front of him nervous. His smile fell a little weaker and he rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes glinting in a way that exposed his chest's preparation for a brief, humiliating sting of rejection that would never come.

"I'd love to hang out," Austin said, his burst of assurance bubbling out as soon as Tanner's eyes met his and the bloom of his petal-lipped smile returned.

"Sweet," he said. "See you next shift?"

Austin, feeling a rush of nerves wash over him and flood his stomach, forced a semi-convincing smile, "See you then."

NOTE

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you did please remember to vote and comment as any feedback is greatly appreciated :)

NEXT UPDATE

Monday. 02. August. 2021.