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Syd’s first instinct when he saw Atticus Finch was to freeze, right there in the middle of the store he had been browsing with Egan. Just stop, stock still. Luckily, Egan was quick to catch on, immediately stopping his lengthy speech on what kind of aesthetic he was going for (‘somewhere between, you know, classic punk, and like gross hipster shit’) and following Syd’s glance. Despite the fact Syd was staring at Atticus and 100 percent not paying any attention to his friend, it wasn’t hard to see how Egan’s face immediately became cold.
Ever since Syd had been forced out of the proverbial closet with a string of leaked text messages, many of which concerned Atticus Finch himself, Atticus had made Syd’s life hard. Well, harder than it already was. The last thing Syd wanted to do was have to deal with him here. In a crowded store in the mall with plenty of people around to hear the bullshit Atticus would throw about Syd being gay. Egan, being his closest and only friend and all, had already gone up to bat against Atticus— and it seemed he was getting ready for another fight.
Syd didn’t really want that. But, mostly, what he didn’t want is for Atticus Finch to start his usual tirade against him now. It was Saturday, his day off from dealing with this particular brand of bullshit. Syd could stick up for himself just fine, but this was something he didn’t want to deal with today.
He could feel Egan coiling for a fight beside him.
“Don’t,” Syd said in close to a whisper, despite the fact Atticus was facing away from them all the way across the store “It’s fine I’ll just-“ he paused, looking for somewhere to hide or slip out of the store, but there was only one exit and Egan had dragged him to one of those new minimalist hipster stores where they apparently didn’t believe in clothes racks. As his mind was spiraling through all the different ways he could get caught and how ridiculous he would look, Egan gave him a sharp push.
It caught him off guard, made him stumble—making himself reach out for the first thing he saw to try and regain his balance. His near fall made more noise than the pseudo-dubstep that was playing from the store’s speakers could cover as he awkwardly half crouched/half stood holding on to the checkout counter for dear life.
“Get down!” Egan stage whispered, trying to look casual as he leaned against the counter top Syd had grabbed. Syd immediately let go of what he had been using to keep himself up, and crouched behind the checkout counter, moving to make sure he was completely hidden.
“I’ll take care of this.” Egan whispered again, and despite the fact that he wasn’t facing him, Syd could see the carnivorous smile Egan wore when he was going to fuck something up. He nearly groaned, but scooted a little further in anyway. Egan ‘dealing’ with Atticus wasn’t really a good plan, and Syd didn’t like just sitting here, literally hiding, but he knew Egan. If anyone could piss someone off to the point they forgot what they had been doing, it would be him.
Still, he was in the middle of considering whether or not to go out there and stick up for himself when, a shadow fell over him, making Syd’s breath catch in his throat. He looked up, preparing for…well, anything. He let it out shakily as he looked up to see someone who was definitely not Atticus Finch.
The man looked to be about Syd’s age, with close cropped ginger hair, bright watery blue eyes, and prominent freckles over what looked like to be a healing nose. He also had a name tag which stated the name ‘Liam’ in clean silver capitals. He looked down at Syd with narrowed eyes and a questioning eyebrow.
Syd felt the embarrassment pool. He swallowed.
“I’m hiding,” he said, hoping it didn’t sound as childish and stupid to the store clerk as it did to his own ears.
The man—Liam, he guessed—looked a little less confused but his mouth pulled down a bit at the corners for a second. “Who?” He asked as he casually leaned against the counter top a little bit away from Syd, the word slipping past as if it was as natural as exhaling.
It took Syd a moment to catch up. “Blond, male, attractive, green eyes,” The words were out without Syd examining them too closely. Syd bit his tongue in frustration, he wasn’t really comfortable letting people know that he was gay. He had always sort of seen it as a private thing, something that wasn’t really a secret, but also wasn’t really anyone’s business, but this recent stuff at school had made him feel more guarded about it and for a moment he regretted the possible slip.
The man didn’t react though, just shifting a bit to be better able to hide the fact he was talking to Syd.
“The one that’s currently having a pissing contest with the leggy hipster you came in with?” He asked, his face and tone neutral, despite the fact Syd felt like there was some humor in there somewhere.
“Fuck. Is that what’s happening?” Syd asked back, worried, fighting the impulse to look over the edge. Egan didn’t deserve to get fucked over just because Syd didn’t want to have to deal with Atticus Finch’s bullshit.
“It’s fine. I think your friend is holding his own.” There was definitely some amusement there this time. “He is your friend right?” The man asked, giving Syd a measuring look.
“The hipster? Yeah.” Syd replied, fidgeting a bit. He didn’t like just sitting here.
“I’m Liam, by the way” The man added, not moving and Syd noticed he was keeping a watchful eye on the store, presumably trying to measure the whole Egan and Atticus situation.
“I know” Syd said, before he could catch himself “…I saw your name badge” he explained after a pause that Liam didn’t seem to notice. “Um..I’m Syd” He added, after he realized he hadn’t introduced himself.
The man’s mouth twitched upwards slightly, or at least seemed to from what Syd could see looking up from the floor. The only thing he really had a clear view of from here was the man’s faded close fitted blue jeans and his ratty converse.
“Ex-boyfriend?” The man asked all of a sudden, breaking the pause in the conversation.
Syd stumbled over the words in his mouth “Who? Atticus?” The words came out a little sharper than intended. Liam looked down to raise an eyebrow
“Is that the blond one?”
“...Yeah” Syd replied, before correcting himself “I mean— No. Not an ex-boyfriend, but yes, the blond one”
“He seems like a dick” Liam replied “I’m going to go ask him to leave.”
Liam, pushed away from the counter, facing Syd. Suddenly he blushed, obviously nervous, and met Syd’s eyes. It was such a change from his overly casual demeanor that Syd had to blink to make sure he wasn’t just seeing thing.
He seemed to pause for a moment, unsure whether or not to say anything. “And then maybe I can ask you out for coffee or something?”
Syd would have probably thought it was ridiculous, a joke— he probably would have laughed. Him crouching behind a checkout counter to hide from Atticus Finch and being asked out for coffee by the store clerk who was keeping him hidden. It was funny, really, but Syd wasn’t laughing.
He blinked a little, still caught off guard, before giving Liam a smile, or at least the closest he could manage, “Yeah I’d like that.”