Da Vinci's muse - Kimibloom
• Friends - Ambrosia
• Ain't that Love - White Andy
• Fools like us - Bloomiecurse
• Last chance on the Stairway - Bloomiecurse

[Edited to add:] Remember to stay under 600 words!

Chapter 9

Complete chapter

Billy was in his 30’s and it was kind of strange to the world that he was still single. So many stories followed his absent of a woman in his life, from the most classic “homosexuality” stories with his best friends, Dom, or Orlando or Elijah; or the most stranger that kept him laughing for a while, stories that talked about him into a strange religious group that the main thing was to be without a woman (or a man in case of women) for the rest or their lives.

But they liked to put everything into a drama story, it was not that complicated! He just hadn’t found the woman for him. See? No complications this time. he just hate the idea of the stress about getting a girl, a girlfriend, getting engaged, getting married AND have children… well, maybe not all the things, but everyone expected him to have at least a girl right now.

And it wasn’t that he didn’t want women. Oh God, he loved them. He loved the way their hair fell in their backs and the softness of their skin or the way they were strong and weak at the same time; he loved the way they need the men in some way and in the same time they were so independent that the men ended needing them. But he still hadn’t found his woman.

He took the letters of his mail box and started going upstairs to his apartment in a building next to the beach at Sta. Monica. He had to admit that Sta. Monica’s beach was such an amazing place to be. He could be able to surf, to lie down and *relax*, in some way, in California you JUST CAN’T relax at any moment, and it was warm. All his life he lived in Scotland; make himself very proud to be a Scottish, but well, who doesn’t love the sun, warm weather and a beach?

Certainly he did.

He opened the door of his pent and started separating his letters in various groups: fan letters (he still was amazed by the way these girls could search him AND find him better than his mom!), work letters, ads letters, friends letters (most of them were from Orlando, who still thought that the e mail was sent by the devil and that the computers bite). He frowned when he found a letter of his agent telling him that it was time for some medical analyses. He hated them. The only idea of getting away part of his blood for the only reason that a doctor put that blood down a microscope and tell him that he was ok, it was insane.
This kind of weird the world was.

He walked to his white kitchen, very neat maybe because he hardly cooked in there, and took out a beer of the fridge. He took some of the fan letters and sat down the chair he had in the balcony.

He closed his eyes and smiled. It was the first time he could be able to just not do a thing in a day. After LOTR, Master and Commander came and all the publicity tours the both movies needed. It was a difficult work, he had to admit it, but to be in a place of another person, just for a second, to pretend to be in love, to be innocent, to be brave, and then to come back to his life, it was precious, in some way it helped him to love more his own life.

[…]

Friends by Ambrosia



Billy smiled to himself. He had the perfect evening planned out. It was finally going to happen, he knew it. He was going to kiss Shye, and no interruptions were going to stop him. Straightening the collar of his shirt, Billy looked at his reflection in the mirror. He frowned slightly as he noticed the tiny lines around his eyes. It made him question what he was about to do. He was thirty-four while Shye was just twenty-four. What if getting involved with her was a huge mistake? He wondered if she ever thought about their age difference or if it was even an issue in her mind. Billy knew that age shouldn’t matter to him, the only thing that mattered was how he felt about her. He was sure on that, he absolutely adored her. Tonight was going to be amazing. Shye didn’t realize that Billy had an entire romantic evening planned, which would end with the perfect opportunity for him to kiss her, and show her how he really felt.

Billy quickly drove to Shye’s apartment with a giddy smile on his lips. Once he arrived, he parked his car, and bounded up the steps. He took a deep breath and knocked on Shye’s door, his mind filled with anticipation over the thought of seeing her.
The door flung open.
“Oh, it’s you,” Billy said dully.
“Well, you certainly aren’t very welcoming to your friend. I haven’t seen you in a couple of weeks,” Dom stated, pretending to be hurt, “Where’s my hug?”

Billy rolled his eyes and pushed past Dom, “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“Came to see Julie,” Dom answered with a smug smile. Billy looked over at him questioningly.
“You gonna fill me in on that later?” Billy asked.
“Sure,” Dom said with a happy grin, “Man, I’m glad you’re here. Shye’s been running around the house like a crazy person trying to get ready. She’s freaking out, like this is a real date or something.”

Billy tried to suppress a grin, at least he knew she wasn’t totally immune to his charms.
“Tell her I’m here, okay,” Billy said to Dom. Nodding his head, Dom walked away to go get Shye. A few minutes later, she entered the room. Billy’s expression softened when he saw her. She looked amazing as always. Shye wore a simple, but elegant black dress. Her hair was swept up and she wore the necklace Billy had given her for her birthday around her neck. Shye nervously fidgeted with her handbag, as she looked up to meet Billy’s gaze.

“You look stunning,” Billy whispered, as he reached out for her hand.
Shye smiled in response, and uttered a quiet thank you.
“Awwww, aren’t you two adorable!” Dom called out in a high-pitched voice, “You kids have fun tonight!” He then began snapping pictures of them with a disposable camera.
“What are you doing?” Shye asked in amusement, “It’s not like we’re going to the prom or something, you don’t have to take our picture!”
“Hey, I had some shots left over on this camera from when I was in New York,” Dom explained, “Just trying to finish the roll.”
“Well, enough already,” Billy said, rubbing his eyes from the camera flash, “We’re going!”

“Have her home by midnight, young man,” Dom called out as the two were walking out the door. Shye slammed it shut behind her.
“He’s a complete and utter moron sometimes,” Shye announced.
“You’re telling me,” Billy said.