I sat at the table rolling the drumstick back and forth as we waited for our food. Usually, this place was pretty quick, but I think most of the club crowd ended up here for breakfast. Every table was full and there were still people waiting to be seated. I was thankful at this point that we left as soon as we did. If we had to wait for a table, I probably would have felt bad later after I walked right back out the door. Especially since Jess was overly excited about going to this diner the entire walk here.

As I fiddled with the drumstick and slowly drank my coffee, Jess didn't stop talking about how great that band was. I just nodded back at her and gave her one-word answers when speaking was necessary. Truth be told, I was extremely tired and done with being around people for the night. At this point, I was ready to bypass my couch time and go directly shower followed by bed. Another waitress stopped by our table offering refills on our coffee which I quickly accepted. I added some cream and sugar to the mug before sipping the hot liquid.

I continued to tolerate Jess's rambling to the best of my ability until our food appeared. As the plates were placed on the table before us, I placed my napkin across my lap. The waitress apologized for the wait while she put our plates in front of us. I had ordered my eggs scrambled, but they came out over hard. At this point though, it was easier to just eat them rather than sending them back to the kitchen. I just wanted to eat our food and get out of this place. While I worked on my eggs and bacon, Jess went to town on her pancakes. As if she wasn't already hyper enough, the sugar in the syrup was only going to make her worse.

I was putting the jelly on my toast while Jess finished the rest of her breakfast when the waitress came over to check on us. Knowing how busy she was, I just asked for the check. She nodded back at me before going back on her merry way. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize how much she hated her job. Besides, the onslaught of customers in here had to be way more than she was accustomed to dealing with. Hopefully, her tips from the night would make it worth it for her in the end.

By the time that my coffee mug was just about empty, the waitress came back through and handed me the check. Luckily, I had enough cash on me to cover both of our meals and still leave a decent tip. If it took that long just to bring the check to the table, I would need two more cups of coffee while she ran my card. As I laid the check back down on the table with the money on top of it, Jess put her hand on top of mine.

She said, "Wait, Tyler I can pay for my own."

"It's okay Jess, I got it. You paid for the tickets anyways."

Jess replied, "Thank you, Tyler. I'm sorry that you're going back to your apartment alone."

"Jess, I wasn't expecting to just hook up with someone anyway."

"I know," she said, "but, it might have happened. You had more of a chance tonight than you would have alone in your apartment."

I failed to see the truth in that statement, but I decided to ignore it. "Are you ready to get out of here? I'm more than ready for this night to be over."

Jess responded, "Sure, as long as you're going to walk me home first."

"You know that I will."

Standing up from our table, I grabbed the drumstick still laying on it. Jess followed me as we navigated the packed tables towards the door. As we walked through, I was jolted by someone grabbing onto my wrist. I could tell that it wasn't Jess just by the feel of the hand on my arm. It had a lot more grasp and more of a rugged texture than Jess's little hand. The roughness of the palm pulled at the hairs on my forearm. The hold that it created was enough to stop me in my tracks, pulling me backward. I could feel Jess bump into my backside, but was too put off by the hand on my arm to care.

I turned to see who had the audacity to grab my arm in a public restaurant like this. My eyes fell upon a guy that appeared to be in my age range. He had blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. Eyes that seemed to be glued right onto me. Under any other circumstances, I would have considered him to be rather good looking for a guy anyway. However, right now I just wanted to get out of this place and away from this weirdo.

"Excuse me, would you let go of my arm please?"

He replied, "Hey, wait a sec. Is that the other drumstick from the concert a few blocks away."

I glanced down and noticed a drumstick laying on the table. It appeared to be identical to the one that I was holding in my hand. "Um, probably."

"What do you want for it?"

The drumstick didn't really hold any value to me. In fact, I could have cared less what happened to it. My friend Jess, on the other hand, seemed to have a different perspective on this whole situation than I did. She grabbed onto his wrist in a way that made his face wince as he released my arm from his grasp.

"Nobody," Jess quietly said in a tone that I didn't hear too often, "lays a finger on him. Now I would suggest that you back off unless you want to make a scene."

He put his hands up in the air on both sides of his shoulders. "Fine, my apologies. Have a good night."

Jess replied, "You too."

And with that, I led the way again as Jess followed me out the door.

...

After dropping Jess off at her place, I made it back to my apartment. As soon as the door was closed, I rested my back against it. The events from tonight kept racing through my mind especially the scene that took place in the diner. I just couldn't seem to get the image of him out of my mind. The gleam in his eyes as he gazed at me. The way his shaggy blonde hair fell across his forehead. The way his pink lips moved as he spoke to me. Even the way his palm felt against my skin.

I shook my head as I tried desperately to get those thoughts out of my head. I wasn't into guys, I was always after girls. At least, I had only ever been with girls. Even if it was only for my usual two to three-month relationships before getting dumped. It was always the same lame excuse every time, 'we just don't seem to work together.' Or, some other variation of that statement. Maybe I had been going about this the wrong way all along.

Trying not to think about it any more than I already was, I kicked my shoes off and walked down the hall to my bedroom. Once inside, I laid the drumstick on my dresser and started to take my clothes off. After they had joined the rest of my laundry in the hamper, I headed straight for the shower. It was going to take a long hot shower to wash this night away.

The hot spray washed over my body my mind kept flashing back. As I leaned against the stall, the events kept replaying over and over. Only now, there seemed to be more clarity each time. I know that the whole thing was at the most 30 seconds and I wasn't really paying that much attention. But, I was now finding myself watching the scene in slow motion. Watching his bicep flex and pecs ripple under the thin red t-shirt. The way his eyelashes fluttered when he blinked his eyes. The way his slender nose looked as it pointed up at my face.

There had to be something wrong with me, but I couldn't get him out of my head. I put my hands on my face as my back slid down the shower wall. After pulling my thighs tight against my chest, I wrapped my arms around them and rested my chin on top of my knees. As the shower sprayed on the top of my head and down my shoulders, I tried to think of anything that I could. Anything besides him.

...

I woke up to cold water now washing over me. I knew that I was tired, but I didn't think that I was tired enough to fall asleep in the shower. After all of the hot showers that I had taken, I had to be out for a while for the hot water to run out. Reaching up from where I had passed out, I grabbed the handle and turned off the frigid water. Now thoroughly frozen, I dried off before leaving the bathroom.

With only the light from the table lamp that I usually left on, I walked around the bed before crawling under the covers. Laying on my stomach, I glanced at the clock sitting on the nightstand. It was almost five in the morning and I was just now going to bed. Full well knowing that I wasn't going to get a decent night's rest, I reached out and turned off the lamp. As my arms draped each side of my pillow, I tried to sleep off the last few hours of the night before the morning sun rose.