If These Guys Keep Falling From the Sky

Tony spent most of his free time at his friend Jaime’s house since he started living on his own. He liked having time to himself but playing video games alone just wasn't the same. He and Jaime had been friends since he could remember. Their friendship was as surprising to them as it was to everyone else, given that their personalities were complete opposites. Somehow, they managed to make it work. The only downside to hanging out with Jaime was that he was constantly asking him whether he’d found a guy yet. Jaime was lucky, he met his boyfriend Josh three years ago and they were totally in love with each other. Tony had barely managed a relationship longer than a month.

It was a beautiful sunny day in August and Tony and Jaime were inside, drinking beers and playing Halo. Predictably, it was only a matter of time before Jaime brought up the boyfriend situation.
“So…seen anyone you like recently Tony?”
“Ugh Jaime you know I would've told you if I had. Most of the time I think you want me to get a boyfriend more than I do!”
“I want you to be happy dude. I’m only trying to help”
“I know Hime I just don’t know how to talk to guys” Tony sighed.
“Well staying in all the time playing Halo with me probably doesn’t help the situation”
“Well maybe I’d rather stay in and play video games than go out and meet guys”
“Tony man you’ve gotta put yourself out there! You can’t just expect the right person to fall out of the sky!”

Shortly after Tony left Jaime’s, the right person fell out of the sky.

Tony turned onto his street and shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked. He knew Jaime was right but it wasn't that easy for Tony. It was easy for Jaime, he talked to whoever he wanted whenever he wanted. He had no idea what it was like to so afraid of rejection.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by a loud screech coming from above him. He looked up just in time to see a man falling off of the scaffolding of a building, heading straight for Tony. He managed to galvanize himself into action just in time to put his arms out and attempt to catch the falling man. Tony managed to break most of the man’s fall, falling onto his back with the guy in his arms. Pain shot through his back but it could’ve been worse, if he hadn’t put his arms out it would have ended in much more than a bruised back.

“Oh my god” the guy tried to stand up but fell back down onto Tony again. “I’m so sorry...I don’t really know what just happened”
“Um, me neither” Tony laughed nervously. The guy managed to finally stand up and offered Tony a hand.
“Oh my goodness Vic are you alright? What happened?” a voice shouted from the top of the scaffolding.
“I’m fine pa, someone caught me! Don’t worry” Vic shouted back.
“I’m Vic as you just heard. I, er, still don’t understand what happened in the past two minutes” Vic said with a smile.
“Tony” Tony stuck out his hand for Vic to shake it. “I feel like a handshake is a little redundant after you just literally fell on me”
“Well thank you Tony, I honestly don’t know if I would even have legs to stand up on if you hadn’t caught me”
“I wouldn’t say I caught you so much as I acted as a buffer between you and the ground but you’re welcome” Tony chuckled. Tony was surprised at how easily he could talk to Vic but they had gotten past that first awkward stage immediately, because of the fact that Vic had pretty much made more bodily contact with him than most of his previous boyfriends had after one month of dating.
At this point both guys were stood up facing each other, each one with an amused smile on his face.

“So…what were you actually doing up there?” Tony asked Vic gesturing to the scaffolding above them.
“My dad’s working on that building there and he left something at home so I went to take it up to him. He told me not to come up onto the scaffolding but you know, when do you ever listen to what your parents say?” Vic laughed. “I don’t know I was stood there and then my foot slipped and then I was on you and…yeah”
Tony laughed but didn’t really know what to do next. What do you do after someone falls on you? Luckily Vic broke the silence.
“Listen, this might be weird but I feel like we can’t just walk away from each other and forget this ever happened. There’s obviously some kind of bond between us now” Vic smiled. “Do you want to maybe get a coffee or something?”
“Yeah that sounds good!”
“Great! I know a great place”

They walked side by side in a comfortable silence. Vic kept glancing at Tony out of the corner of his eye and smiling, wondering how he managed to get lucky enough to fall on a guy like that. Not only did someone actually catch him, that someone was extremely cute.
“You don’t talk that much do you?” Vic suddenly asked. Tony just shrugged. Vic grinned at him. “I like it”
“Really? Most people think I’m either boring or rude” Tony said, a little sadly.
“It’s nice you know, I like people who are ok with silence”. The two guys smiled at each other warmly. They reached the coffee shop within a few minutes and sat down facing each other on a table by the large window. “Pick whatever you like, I’m paying” Vic said as he handed Tony a menu.
“Oh, no I couldn’t let you do that”
“Dude you literally broke my fall from a four-storey building. I’d buy you a car if you asked for it”
“Well, now you mention it” Tony smiled mischievously.

After they’d ordered their drinks, Vic just sat and watched Tony for a while. He noticed his little mannerisms like how he held one of his hands with the other and how he played with the hem of his shirt. Tony looked up and saw Vic watching him, an embarrassed smile playing across his lips.
“Tell me about yourself Tony” Vic said “I get the feeling that you’re the kind of guy who doesn’t really like to tell other people about himself but I really wanna get to know you”
“Er, I don’t know where to start” Tony said softly.
“Ok, how about this: we each ask the other person a question at a time about something we want to know. Sound good?”
“Um, ok” Tony mumbled.
“I’ll go first. Let’s start easy – favourite film?”
“Definitely any of the Star Wars films but I’ve gotta go with Revenge of the Sith as my absolute favourite. Um, favourite band?” Tony asked.

The two went on in the same manner for another hour, long after their drinks had been finished. Over the hour both had become much more comfortable with each other, feeling like they’d known each other much longer than an hour and a half.
“Ok final question. What’s your phone number?” Vic grinned. Tony smiled widely back.
“Hand me your phone I’ll put it in”. Just as Tony was handed Vic’s phone his own began to vibrate on the table. He put Vic’s phone down and picked up his, reading the name flashing up on the screen.
“It’s my friend Jaime, do you mind if I take this quickly?” Tony asked.
“Not at all, go ahead” Tony quickly stood up walked out of the shop and stood in front of the window as he answered the call.
“Hey Jaime what’s up?”
“I’m bored and I wanna do something. Where are you?”
“I’m, er, actually out with a guy believe it or not”
“Really? How’s it going? What’s his name? Do you like him? Do you think he likes you?” Jaime burbled down the phone.
“Well his name’s Vic and yeah I do kinda like him”
“Where did you meet him?”
“It’s a funny story actually…”