Would You Believe Me If I Said I Didn't Need You?

"Jesus, you took a long time," Cameron impassively remarked as Asher stiffly shuffled down the hall and emerged in the waiting room. He'd spent close to seven hours cooped up in that stuffy, horrible room. He ignored Cameron in favour of trying to work the kinks out of his neck. Dr. Philips had already taken his completed forms and vanished somewhere, presumably to inform their new female matches that they'd been paired. He felt a strange pang of disappointment at the thought of those women.

"When'd you finish?" Asher asked, popping his neck then working on cracking each individual finger.

"Two hours ago."

After five minutes of worried pacing Asher was abruptly stopped by a loud bang as Cameron slammed down the magazine he'd been reading.

"Stop. Pacing."

"But-" Asher began, wary of the angry look Cameron shot him.

"Come here," Cameron demanded, uncrossing his ankles and leaning forward in his seat. Asher gave the young man a skeptical look. "I'm not going to hurt you,"

Cameron sighed heavily. "Just come here. Please."

He surrendered and stepped close enough so that Cameron could grab his wrist. He was tugged to the carpet where Cameron directed him to sit between his legs, his back towards the brunette. Firm hands descended upon his shoulders, expertly kneading and massaging tense muscle.

The massage was fantastic. Asher leaned into the touch, his eyes drifting shut as nimble fingers worked the knots out of his muscles and left a pile of jelly in their wake. Any previous uncertainty he'd had evaporated as Cameron's hands traveled across his shoulders and down his back then up to his neck. He groaned as a particularly deep knot was massaged away. The hands ventured forward, skilfully working at the muscles of his upper chest. Asher had no idea that tension could be massaged away from pectoral muscles, but Cameron's fingers soothed the muscle and the pull on his shoulders lessened then disappeared.

He had sunk into a deep state of relaxation when he felt Cameron's fingers brush over his chest. He gasped when Cameron repeated the gesture, his mind too foggy to register anything besides the pleasurable sensation. He could feel Cameron's warm breath against the shell of his ear, and in that moment he felt as if he had found his match. Right after the thought struck him, he felt uneasy. Cameron couldn't be his match.

His eyes flashed open. What am I doing? Asher surged forward, knocking Cameron's hands from his shoulders and escaping that tingling breath against his ear. He desperately crawled forward then used the low magazine table to push himself up until he was standing. Asher glanced back at Cameron, heart racing as he tried to decipher the expression on the other's face. Did he look disappointed, or was it all in Asher's head?

"What were you doing?" Asher hissed, trying to ignore the dissipating traces of pleasure still cursing through his body.

"Giving you a massage," Cameron snapped, clearly annoyed at him. He leaned back in his chair and glared at Asher, arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"Dr. Philips could've returned any moment! And that wasn't a massage... That was–that was..." Asher sputtered angrily, not quite sure what he felt about the massage. Those hands elicited feelings from him that he'd never felt before. Erotic feelings.

Unacceptable feelings.

He took a calming breath before turning to face Cameron fully. "Look, I know you were trying to help and I appreciate it, but Dr. Philips is probably finding out who our matches are and I can't have you touching me like... Like that. I'm sure he'll be back any minute."

"Whatever," Cameron growled, looking away.

Asher felt a mix of frustration and anger, both feelings held in check by a peculiar sense of unbridled desire. He was beyond confused, so he did the only thing that felt appropriate for him to be doing; he sat down in one of the chairs and waited.

He glanced over at Cameron who appeared to be sulking behind a magazine. Asher was sure that when Cameron's true match arrived he'd snap out of his foul mood. Pretty sure, at least. Dr. Philips couldn't return fast enough.

Finally the doctor reappeared, his expression grim. Asher tried to look around the man to see if his match was standing behind the doctor, but the man was obviously alone.

"You two. Come with me," Dr. Philips commanded. He turned on his heel and began walking down the hallway, not looking back to see if the two boys were following. Asher was forced to trot to catch up. Did this man ever walk at a normal pace?
The hallways were like a labyrinth, and at every turn they made Asher felt increasingly lost.
"Where are we going?" he finally asked the back of Dr. Philips' head.

"You're going to see Dr. Reynolds," was the curt response. Asher grumbled in frustration. It wasn't like he'd know who Dr. Reynolds was.

"Who is that?" Dr. Philips abruptly stopped and Asher nearly ploughed into him.

"The world's leading expert on the algorithm."

Asher was startled. He was going to meet the one man who was close to figuring out the algorithm? The algorithm? It wasn't like it needed any further explanation. Everyone knew about the algorithm—that elusive mathematical code David Waters had invented all those years ago. Dr. Philips hastily knocked on the unmarked door he stood beside.

"Come in," a muffled voice beckoned. Dr. Philips opened the door marginally and stuck his head inside. Asher tried to peer around the man but to no avail. He glanced back to Cameron, who was standing behind him, scowling. Cheerful guy...

"The two boys who were matched are here," Dr. Philips informed his colleague.

"Send them right in," the voice, now far less muffled, said. Dr. Philips stood back and pushed the door open fully. He looked to Asher and Cameron, clearly impatient as the duo stood hesitantly in the hallway.

It was Cameron who shoved forward first, knocking Asher out of the way as he entered the doctor's office. Asher followed, wincing when Dr. Philips practically slammed the door shut directly behind him. The office was large and impressive, but the most striking feature was the mess of papers that dominated the room. Stacks upon stacks of loose leaf paper were piled around the floor. The desk was covered in paper, and all four walls had numerous pages pinned to them; so many, in fact, that Asher couldn't have guessed the wall colour beneath them. He even noticed two or three papers tacked onto the ceiling.

"I have a system," Dr. Reynolds commented, then laughed heartily as he witnessed the awed expression on Asher's face. The man was old. Probably the oldest person Asher had ever met. His hair was pure white, but clipped short and neatly styled despite the receding hair line. His face was immensely wrinkled and age spots dotted his cheeks. The large bags under the old man's his eyes drooped heavily but the blue eyes themselves were bright and sparkling with life.

"I'm Dr. Reynolds, but please call me Ryan," the doctor said, smiling at the young men before gesturing to the two chairs situated before his desk. "Please, sit, then tell me about this peculiar match."

They had to remove a few papers from the offered chairs before they could sit down. Asher was stupefied when he happened to glance at one of the sheets, his brain practically whimpering at the complex looking symbols and mathematical equations crammed onto the paper.

At last they were seated and Ryan stared expectantly between the two, the fingers of both hands pressed together under his chin. The silence stretched on awkwardly as the man continued to stare with an expression that was friendly but curious.
Cameron cleared his throat and the doctor seemed to snap out of whatever thoughts he'd been entertaining.

"Oh, yes, the matching... I have your forms here, and... You're both probably very confused... Matching is an interesting process, you see..." Ryan was staring at the ceiling as he jumped from topic to topic, gesturing slightly with his hands as he tried to explain the situation to them but failed miserably. Suddenly the old man looked at the two young men, his hands dropping to his desk. "This has happened before, you know."

"What?" Asher almost leapt out of his seat. "When?"

"Oh, my, it must have been sixty years ago. I was just starting my work on the algorithm back then. That's what sparked my interest in the field initially, to be honest," Ryan got a distant look in his eyes and a grin spread across his face.

"So what happened?" Cameron prodded, glancing over at Asher.

"It caused quite the uproar back then, as you boys can imagine. Two males matched? It was unthinkable. The researchers at the time told the media it was human error—that the boys had simply filled out their forms wrong. The hubbub around the incident went away quickly enough after that. According to the public's knowledge the computer's record was still unblemished," the doctor shot them both a guarded look then licked his thin lips, leaning forward as if he were about to tell them something important.

"But it was a lie," he continued, his voice lowering dramatically. "The boys filled out their forms time and time again, and every time the computer matched them together. The researchers didn't understand what was going on, but they most certainly did not want to cause widespread panic. Everything was covered up. The boys were told to live unmatched and were forced to sign documents that prevented their disclosure of the incident. It was forgotten, lost to history. But now..." Ryan's eyes lit up like an overjoyed child in a candy shop. "Now that you two are matched, I can compare my own algorithm with your form data and see if it produces the same result. This match is one in millions, if I can replicate it..." the old man's eyes grew distant yet again, but the smile never left his lips.

"Glad we could help," Cameron quipped, "but where does that leave us? Unmatched?"

Asher whipped his head towards Cameron, eyes gone wide at that possibility. He couldn't be unmatched! What would his parents think? Asher was late getting home as it was—he should've been home by now, introducing his parents to a nice girl and planning wedding arrangements. How was he going to explain that he'd ended up unmatched? His father was going to kill him, or kick him out of the house at least.

"Calm down, calm down," Dr. Reynolds chided. "I've still got to run some more tests before we jump to any sort of hasty conclusion. Besides, times have changed," the doctor smiled reassuringly and picked up a sheet of paper from his desk. The page looked suspiciously like-

"Your form indicates you have never been intimate with a woman, Asher."
Asher cringed and felt his cheeks redden with embarrassment. The doctor was going to go over his form? In front of Cameron? He shot the young man a glance, squirming uncomfortably in his seat when he realised the brunette was smirking at him.

"Well, no..."

"Are you homosexual, by any chance?" the doctor continued, unaware of Asher's discomfort.

Asher felt like crawling under his chair and dying. He'd never really thought about his sexuality before. He didn't need to. He had always assumed the matching process would pair him with the perfect woman and as a result he'd feel sexually attracted towards her. It was true he'd never made out with or even kissed other girls before, let alone had sex with any of them. The opportunity had presented itself on a few occasions and every time he'd managed to come up with some sort of excuse to justify his decision to remain abstinent. Then there'd been Cody Bergrahm; tall and lean with gorgeous green eyes. But that hadn't been sexual attraction, couldn't have been. It had been more like admiration. Certainly he wasn't gay.

"No..." Asher responded, his voice small and uncertain. Cameron snorted loudly and both Asher and Dr. Reynolds turned to him.

"Oh come on," Cameron said after a moment, waving a hand towards Asher. "He's clearly a fag."

"Interesting..." the doctor mumbled, jotting something down on Asher's form.

"How would you know?" Asher glared at Cameron. The boy couldn't just accuse him of being gay, it was a groundless accusation.

"I'm not an idiot," Cameron continued. "You were checking me out earlier, and I know you enjoyed the massage I gave you. You're so damn transparent. I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet," he rolled his eyes at Asher's shocked look. The doctor was frantically writing notes.

"So you're homosexual, Mr. Harrison?" Dr. Reynolds looked thrilled at the possibility that the two boys had been correctly matched. Asher wanted to kill him.

"Yes," Cameron answered crisply, watching Asher out of the corner of his vision. "The computer made the right match and there was no human error. I knew when I saw him that he was my soul mate."

Asher felt his mouth go dry at those words. Cameron was his soul mate?

"Yes..." the doctor murmured, unknowingly confirming Asher's thoughts. "Somehow the computer knew it couldn't pair you with a woman. There's something in the algorithm that sums your traits... It doesn't just read them individually; it merges them and forms a picture of each person as a whole. Amazing!"

Asher buried his face in his hands. He couldn't believe this. What was he going to tell his parents? Not only would he have to come out as gay, but he'd have to introduce them to his newly acquired... Boyfriend? Fiancé? They couldn’t hate him, right? It was fate.

"I need to think about this," the doctor suddenly declared. "I want you two to stay in the facility; Dr. Philips will find you a suitable room. I need time to contemplate this new approach to the algorithm," with that said, the doctor stood and Asher realised they were being dismissed.

"I can't just stay here," Asher protested as he and Cameron rose from their seats.

"Your parents will be contacted and told an appropriate falsity. Clothes and necessary supplies will be brought for you. Now, please, leave me to my thoughts," the doctor pointed to the door, his tone verging on desperation.

Asher looked to Cameron, who shrugged in response and led the way out of the office and into the hall.

"I'm not gay," Asher hissed as the door closed. Cameron turned towards him, his gaze unwavering as he studied the shorter boy with determination. He took pleasure in looking over the nearly feminine features Asher possessed. Thick blonde hair was endearingly mussed and the long strands fell into pale blue eyes that were framed with long dark lashes. Before he knew what he was doing, Cameron had stepped closer to the young man before him, quickly closing the distance that separated the two and causing Asher to back up into the wall behind him.

"You're not?" Cameron purred, watching Asher swallow hard and turn his head to the side to avoid looking at him.

"Kiss me," Cameron demanded suddenly.

"What?" Asher side-glanced up at Cameron, slightly panicked at the command.

"Kiss me. If you don't like it it'll prove you're not gay and I'll leave you alone."

Asher bit his lower lip, contemplating his options. If he went through with it then Cameron might leave him be. But that meant he'd have to kiss the brunette. His heart fluttered unexpectedly. What if he enjoyed it? No... That wouldn't happen. Would it?
The decision was made for him as Cameron stepped forward, pressing his body against Asher's. His wrists were grabbed and held loosely at his sides as Cameron leaned forward, soft lips brushing ever so lightly against his own. Asher didn't pull away and that was all the incentive Cameron needed to deepen the kiss.
It felt as if the brunette was trying to conquer his mouth. The kiss was powerful and sensual. Asher's knees were weak as he breathlessly tried to reciprocate the caress. He felt passion like he'd never felt it before. Lust traveled through his veins and he felt himself flush hotly when Cameron worked a leg between his thighs, holding him up. Emotions poured out of his heart: desire, want, need, and love. But above all was an overwhelming sense of it being right, of Cameron being right. He let out an involuntary throaty moan, swimming in the new sensations.

It was almost more than Cameron could take. He wanted to ravish Asher completely, to take him in the middle of the hallway. He knew he'd have to wait, though. With effort he finally pulled away, releasing Asher's wrists in the process.
Asher remained pressed against the wall, eyes closed tightly while Cameron watched and waited.

Finally Asher let out a shaky breath, gaze downcast. "I'm gay," he whispered, nearly in tears.

"It's okay," Cameron pulled Asher into his arms, embracing him tenderly. He knew all too well the dreadful feeling of discovering one's sexual identity differed from the vast majority.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you. Forever.”