50 Sentences - carleton97

#03 - Beginning
Once upon a time...

#43 - Summer
The heat and humidity of August settled into every corner of the Empire until everything from the staff to the jewel cases seemed to wilt a little under the weight of the season.

#10 - Duty
Lucas opened the store every morning because Joe asked him to do it, because it was his job, and because he loved the store nearly as much as Joe did.

#09 - Drink
juniperandquinineanddancingmarkjumpinghappywarmandclosemouthtonguelipssofttooloudtoobrightspinningspinningdizzy

#28 - New
He tried not to, but he sometimes treated this thing with Mark like a baby bird, like it was wholly composed of feathers and hollow bones and a frantically beating heart.

#42 - Strange
It took him longer than he really wanted to get used to being touched all the time.

#44 - Taboo
It was a thick slide of heat inside of him, somewhere no one had ever been before and it hurt, god it hurt, but please, Mark, don't stop.

#36 - Secret
There was a point in time where private smiles acquired more weight than they could carry and Lucas wished he could figure out how discretion became shame.

#21 - Head
He argued with himself constantly, trying to figure out how to fix this, fix them.

#46 - War
After living with his crazy mom and less-crazy-but-still-crazy Joe, after a certain point, Lucas didn't know how to fight with someone without hurting, without drawing blood.

#47 - Water
Boys didn't cry, of course, but everyone knew it wasn't really crying if it happened in the shower.

#05 - Coffee
Lucas was no stranger to failure, but nothing in his past had prepared him for the dark, bitter taste of waking up alone.

#13 - Fall
The weather turned overnight, covering the landscape with hoarfrost and sending the city scrambling for sweaters and scarves and any sort of warmth they could find.

#33 - Rain
Lucas' bike froze to the ground overnight and he had to walk to work; he didn't notice when his hair froze too.

#45 - Ugly
Joe knew something was wrong between him and Mark and he refrained from asking, but Lucas knew he had to have heard some of the meaner speculation floating around the employee's lounge.

#17 - Food
Thanksgiving with Jane's family had been weird and stilted and he totally felt like the fifth wheel on Joe and Jane's holiday fun car.

#37 - Snakes
Lucas wasn't exactly sure what Mark told Deb and Gina, but during the holiday craziness they both tried to turn him to stone with their eyes so it was probably the truth.

#07 - Despair
Mark was avoiding him.

#29 - Old
For the first time ever, Lucas felt the encroaching winter in his joints and bones and he thought twenty-two was too young to start dying.

#50 - Wood
His desire, his love for Mark still smoldered in him.

#04 - Bugs
Everything was running beneath his skin, skittering and pinching and totally invisible.

#31 - Poison
He thought maybe they needed to lance the quiet bitterness that had grown up between them, that maybe then they could reclaim some sort of friendship out of the ruins he had created.

#02 - Apples
It didn't matter that he was the one to break it off, that he was the one who had started to feel stifled by the secrecy, everything he wanted was wrapped up in Mark, was Mark.

#26 - Lost
He was alone with Mark for the first time in weeks and he struggled to breathe normally, panic thrumming in his chest and mind completely blank.

#49 - Winter
There was something ugly about winter in the city and the way everything turned brownish-grey.

#19 - Grave
Lucas didn't think he'd ever seen Mark look so serious, as if he hadn't smiled or laughed in years.

#34 - Regret
He tried to live his life in the Now, to live without the weight of the past dragging him down, but if he could change this, he would.

#18 - Foot
"It wasn't you, it was - Well, no, that's not - It was the whole -I've never felt - I'm saying this all wrong."

#08 - Doors
Mark had stayed by the apartment door and let him stumble through his inchoate explanation for what felt like hours before he stepped into his personal space and whispered, "If you ever do that again, I'll let Deb and Gina have you."

#06 - Dark
They didn't bother to turn on a light as they stumbled into Mark's tiny bedroom, falling onto the bed in a tangle of limbs and desperate relief.

#14 - Fire
It was in his blood, blooms of heat and sensation popping and fizzing everytime Mark touched him.

#22 - Hollow
Ignoring the aching, empty space inside of him had become second nature but it wasn't an easy thing to do and the relief when it was filled again was staggering.

#48 - Welcome
It surprised him, how easily his own body made room for Mark.

#15 - Flexible
"As soon as I can move again, you're doing that to me."

#01 - Air
It was cold in the apartment, but curled together under the gentle weight of down, it was all warmth and softness.

#30 - Peace
Lucas finally slept.

#38 - Snow
Throughout the night, it snowed, blanketing the entire city in a pristine, new coat of white.

#40 - Spring
Spring in the city was slushy sand and grit and the smell of garbage and urine and Lucas loved it.

#23 - Honor
At work the day after their reconciliation, when Lucas was leaving for the day, he kissed Mark goodbye and pretended he didn't see Joe's amused smile.

#39 - Solid
Mark wasn't heavy, but the feel of his body sprawled bonelessly in sleep was reassuring.

#24 - Hope
Mark kissed him gently, almost carefully, as if his hands weren't pinning Lucas' to the bed.

#20 - Green
Love, Lucas thought, was holding someone when they puked up a river of St. Patrick's Day beer.

#25 - Light
They spent one whole Saturday playing Skeeball and when they got home, they closed the curtains and made dirty stick figures with all of the glow-in-the-dark necklaces they had bought with their tickets.

#11 - Earth
They let Deb drag them to some sort of rally for Earth Day but all the hippies were worth the look on Mark's face when Lucas held his hand as they wandered through the crowd.

#35 - Roses
Lucas knew Mark was truly happy again when he forced the band into performing a metal version of The Rose.

#16 - Flying
Lucas had always thought people who said they passed out during sex were complete liars until the first time Mark rimmed him.

#41 - Stable
Neither of their apartments was big enough for another person, so when Lucas' lease expired in May, they moved into a slightly larger unit three blocks closer to the Empire.

#32 - Pretty
Rosa-the-landlord would only refer to Mark as su amor bonito.

#27 - Metal
They started wearing rings the year after Mark turned twenty-five.

#12 - End
And they lived happily ever after.

The End

disclaimer: Empire Records isn't mine, but sometimes I like to pretend it is.