****
It was good we had to start by riding the bikes to school, because it really had been years since I'd been on one. For once the old saying was true, though, and it came back fast. The only thing I had to practice was my balance with a loaded backpack. When last bell came that afternoon, we were ready.
Justin set out in the same direction, heading into the city, his strides fast and even. We followed at a distance, but he never looked back. Haley pulled up beside me at a light, her eyes on Justin still running easily down the next block. “Damn, the guy's in shape,” she muttered.
“Yeah.” I was torn between pride and not wanting Haley looking at my brother that way. Then the light turned green and we set off again.
We ended up in a somewhat grotty part of town. Not really scary-looking but made up mostly of small, run-down businesses and low brick apartments separated by narrow alleys. Justin finally slowed and then stopped, looking around. Haley and I pulled over in the parking lot of a vacuum repair store a hundred yards away.
“What do you think he's doing here?” Haley breathed.
“No clue.”
Justin walked in small circles as if cooling down from his run. Periodically he'd look up, his head cocked like he was listening for something. About ten minutes later there was the light rumble of a scooter.
Haley and I turned away, trying to act as if we were looking in the dusty picture window of the store. Although why two teen girls would be staring at vacuum-hose attachments was a question I'd have been hard put to answer. The scooter passed behind us and glided up to Justin. If I angled myself right, I could see him in the reflection. The guy on the scooter was about Justin's age, with dark hair and a geeky band T-shirt. He settled the scooter and got off. He was a little taller than Justin, and probably skinnier, although under the loose shirt it was hard to tell. He and Justin talked for a moment, and then Justin led the way back into the maze of buildings behind him. The other guy gave his scooter a doubtful look but followed him.
“Come on,” Haley whispered, leaning her bike against the shop wall and heading after them.
“Wait!” I said, but she was already ahead of me and I didn't want to call loudly enough to attract the guys' attention.
I followed her around the corner and then stopped in the shadow of a doorway. The unfamiliar guy was standing there in a narrow space between two buildings, watching Justin with his mouth open. In the bigger courtyard in front of him, Justin ran three steps toward a wall and then kept on going up the side of the wall, like something out of a cartoon. Just when it seemed impossible to go on, he pushed off the wall in a back flip, landing on the pavement lightly. He came right out of the landing into a jump that launched him upwards, his hands reaching for a drainpipe. With a chin-up move that showed my brother had more muscle than even I knew, Justin propelled his inverted body upward into almost a hand-stand, and hooked a foot into an overhanging railing. Another seemingly impossible move put him on the flat roof of the one-story building.
Justin grinned down at the other boy. Something in his expression was fierce and proud and oddly tender, and it made me feel like an intruder. But I didn't dare leave. We were hidden in this patch of darkness, but if we moved, Justin was sure to notice from up there. Suddenly Justin launched himself off the roof. I bit my tongue to hold back a scream, as Justin flipped in mid-air and landed safely, rebounded, ran two steps toward where the other guy stood and propelled himself impossibly fast up the chimney created by the two brick walls of the narrow alleyway.
I saw the other guy look up, one hand reaching skyward, as if drawn inexorably toward Justin. Three stories up, Justin stopped, parked between the walls on braced legs, looking as unruffled and comfortable as a kid on a park bench. The dark guy dropped his hand and called up, “What the hell is that?”
“Parkour.”
“Is that another word for insanity?”
Justin laughed in apparent delight. “I've heard that before. It's free running. Urban gymnastics, sort of.”
“Where did you learn it?”
“A friend. And one of the local gyms had a class. Then I've practiced on my own.”
The other guy began to smile. “So all those bruises and the scrapes...”
Justin grinned back down at him, that same private look. “I told you not to worry, Vic. I told you it was just me being clumsy.”
“Yeah, well, excuse me if I couldn't imagine the level of clumsiness it would take to do all that damage. If you'd said you were trying to imitate Spiderman, then maybe.”
“I wanted to show you. I wanted to be good enough to show you something convincing.”
“I'm convinced. Any chance you might come down now?”
“But I like it here.”
“I'd make it worth your while.”
“Oh yeah?” Justin began walking down between the walls, his hands and legs braced so easily it seemed almost natural. A few feet above Vic's head he paused. “What are you offering?”
“Come closer and see.”
I couldn't help watching as Justin moved those two feet lower, as he braced neatly on the brick and bent towards Vic's upturned face. Their mouths met, and this was clearly not their first kiss. There was an ease about them, the way they fitted together. Male lips brushed lips and then pressed home, faces angled to deepen the kiss. Slowly Vic raised an arm, sliding his hand over Justin's muscular calf below his shorts, and then moving to curl his fingers around Justin's neck. Justin's eyes closed, and then Vic laughed and yanked him downward. Justin's hands gave way, but Vic caught him, blocking his fall and pulling him into a full embrace. Justin came up laughing too.
“Bastard.”
“Just don't want you climbing out of reach again.”
“Never.”
I whispered to Haley, “Come on. While they're kissing.” But before we could move the guys had broken apart.
Vic reached out to run his fingers over the fading bruise on Justin's elbow. “It's a relief to find out the guy I'm falling for isn't hiding abuse, just a death wish. At least, I think it's a relief.” He cupped Justin's cheek with his palm.
“Falling for?” Justin's voice was small and uncertain.
“I think so. Is that all right with you?”
“Very all right.” Justin leaned in for another kiss, short and sweet. “And I don't have a death wish.”
“Even for a parkourer you seem rather battered.”
“The guys who do the sport are called traceurs. And part of this is Patrick.”
Vic frowned. “He did hit you?”
“No. No! I mean, he's the one with a death wish. Seriously, following him over obstacles took the idea of no limits almost too far. But I could hardly let him go alone.”
“And now? Do you still run with him?”
“I haven't since I met you. Not for over a week now.” Justin wrapped his fingers around Vic's wrist, pressing Vic's palm against his face. “Patrick was my first. But he's so screwed up. I wasn't allowed to talk about him to anyone, couldn't even mention parkour for fear of someone connecting me to him, since he's well known in the group. We couldn't touch in public. He hated for me to even look at him too long. And all that fear, all that self-hatred seemed to come out when he ran. It wasn't just freedom anymore, it was scary. I couldn't stand it, and I told him so. I can't live like that.”
“What did he say?”
“Good-bye?”
“Oh shit.” Vic pulled Justin in against him. “I'm sorry, but then I'm not, because you're here and you're single.”
“Am I? Single?”
“Not anymore. Not unless you want to be.”
“Nope.”
Vic kissed him hard, and Justin melted into his embrace, arms wrapped tight around Vic's back. If it hadn't been my brother, I'd have called it sweet. But as it was, I dropped my eyes to the toes of my sneakers. “So will I see you later?” I heard Vic ask.
“Sure. Give me an hour to practice and I'll be there. Promise.”
“All right. Is it okay if I worry about you?”
“I know what I'm doing.” There was an indulgent tone in Justin's voice.
“You still want to keep doing this crazy stuff?”
I glanced up, wondering what Justin would say. He was looking into Vic's eyes.
“Yes, I do. It's like nothing else, like setting myself free, just me and my body and what I can do with it, stretching myself to my limit and then moving that limit up a notch.” When Vic kept frowning at him, Justin smiled. “But I'll be more careful, I swear. Now that I have someone to be careful for.”
After another long moment, Vic let go. “All right. You do that. I'll see you at my place.”
They stepped back from each other. Vic's hands trailed down Justin's forearms as if reluctant to lose touch. Then Vic turned toward his scooter, and Justin ran back up the brick chimney, like a squirrel up a tree, pulled himself over the parapet of the nearest roof and was gone. Vic sighed, rubbed his eyes, and headed back past us. He gave us a questioning look when he caught sight of us in the shaded doorway, hesitated for a moment, and then walked on by. I let out my breath. At least Vic had no clue who we were, and I guess we didn't look like a threat. Behind us the scooter purred to life, revved once and then rumbled away.
Haley looked at me. “Wow. That was... unexpected. But good.”
“Yeah.” I went past her, over to that narrow brick alley. How had Justin done that? I could stretch my arms out and touch the brick on either side. I put a little pressure on my hands and tried to raise my feet. Nope, not like that.
Behind me Haley said, “Did you know he was gay? Your brother?”
I didn't turn around. “No. But I thought he might be.” After a moment I had to ask, “Are you disappointed?”
“Why should I be?” Haley came past me and leaned on the brick, looking at me. “That was hot, though.”
“What was?”
“All of it. The climbing. The way they kissed.”
I leaned my back on the opposite wall and raised a leg, pressing my sneaker to the bricks. With that leverage, I could lift the other leg off the ground, but I couldn't figure out how Justin got higher. “It didn't bother you? To see two guys kissing?”
“Are you kidding? You know, I'd kiss someone too if they climbed a brick wall for me.”
“A guy?” I raised the other foot, but when I tried to push upward I could feel the roughness rasping over my back, against the shirt Haley had picked out for me. I lowered my foot again.
Haley moved to where she could catch my eyes. “I'd rather kiss a girl.”
Just like that, I felt like I could float up that wall. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“I can try.” I set myself again, pushing upward. And then I squeaked in alarm as a fast-moving body dropped down the narrow space and swept me to the ground, rolling me on my back in the dirt.
Justin's eyes bored into mine. “What the hell are you doing here, Bri?”
I pushed him off roughly and squirmed out from under the knee he was pinning me with. “Trying to climb the damned wall. And thanks for wrecking my favorite shirt.” Well, starting today it was my favorite shirt.
Justin looked less angry and more puzzled. “What do you mean, trying to climb?”
I got to my feet, dusting off my jeans, and pointed. “Me. Wall. Up.”
“It's not your thing. Anyway...”
Haley interrupted, “I promised to kiss her if she did it.”
Justin stared over his shoulder at her, and then turned back to me. “She did?”
“Yeah. So get out of the way, monkey boy, unless you want to give me pointers.”
Justin put a heavy hand on my shoulder. “Maybe I will, in a minute. But you didn't just happen to be here in my part of town to climb a wall. You followed me.”
“Yeah, okay, we did.” I shrugged off his grip. “I was worried about you. So sue me.”
“What were you thinking?”
Haley said, “We were thinking if someone was hassling you we could take pictures, give you some evidence to make them back off or to take to the cops.” She hefted the camera on her chest.
Justin dropped his hands. “That's... pretty smart, actually. If it had been something like that, and if I was the kind of person who needed protection.”
“I should have known you were fine,” I said crossly.
“Yeah. You should. But I'll forgive you, since my own boyfriend thought the same thing.”
For a long moment we eyed each other, each of us maybe seeing someone unfamiliar in sibling's clothing. “He seems nice,” I said feebly after a while.
“He's awesome.” Justin glanced at Haley. “Is she your... girlfriend?”
I let myself look toward her too. Her wicked grin was giving me ideas, but I didn't want to go too far. “I'd like her to be,” I said, still looking over his shoulder, watching her face.
“First you have to climb the wall,” Haley told me.
“How high?” Justin asked.
“Like you did when you kissed what's-his-name. Shoulder height.” She tilted her head at me and pursed those gorgeous lips. “Make it convenient.”
“That's not dangerous,” Justin agreed. “Okay, come on Bri. Like this.”
It took a couple of tries, with Justin showing me where to put my feet and hands, before I could inch my way up the wall. Once I got the hang of it, it wasn't too hard.
“That's far enough,” my brother told me. “Trust me, you don't want to be hanging upside down to kiss someone and end up falling on their face.”
“Right.” I braced myself more securely and looked at Haley. “So. Does this work for you?”
She grinned up at me. “It's a new angle all right. Can you hold that until your brother leaves?”
“Probably.” There wasn't much strain yet, although I was shorter than Justin so my leg was braced pretty much straight.
Justin looked from me to her. “You guys have a way to get home?”
“Bikes,” Haley said.
“Don't linger too long. This neighborhood gets rough after dark.”
“Yes, grandpa,” I said. “Are you leaving now?”
“Maybe when we both get home later we'll talk.” Justin looked at me with that old open smile, like before the walls went up between us. Then his smile became a smirk. “Enjoy your kiss. Don't fall on Haley's face.”
He jumped and braced between the brick walls beside me, climbed past me in a rush, and disappeared over the roof-line again.
“Show-off,” I muttered after him. I looked back at Haley. She was standing there, just a few inches away, her curls tousled and an expression I'd never seen before in her dark eyes. Her lips parted just a little.
“I don't think I can move much,” I said.
“I can.” She shifted closer, slowly, until her mouth was within reach of mine.
However hot my brother's kiss with Vic may have been, it didn't hold a candle to ours.
####
Blind Sights
~Picture prompt: In a suburban kitchen, two young men kiss, eyes closed and focused on each other, while next to them, a slightly younger guy covers his eyes. You can almost hear his long-suffering sigh.