The Morning Storm (MxM)

2.

"Hey, are you okay?" A soft gravelly voice spoke, a seemingly older voice.

Everett turned around and faced the voice. It was an older man. He looked like he was in his late thirties, maybe early 40s? He had a pair of glasses on, a stubbly beard, and a grey ranchers hat on. He was dressed very casually, wearing a Jean jacket, a blue flannel, and some slim-fit black jeans. Everett backed away in his chair nervously and looked at the man. "Yeah...What do you want?" He said, stumbling over his words.

The man just gave him a friendly smile. "I'm not here to hurt you. My name is Pete." He held out a hand for Everett to shake.

Everett slowly reached out and held it, still nervous from the random encounter. "I'm....uh- Everett."

Pete gave him a gracious smile. "Nice to meet you Everett. Now I noticed you looked a little anxious over here in this corner. Is there anything I can do to help?"

His voice had a hint of a southern accent. The guy seemed friendly, but it's kind of odd that some stranger would show up out of nowhere to comfort him? Let alone say hi. "I'm... I'm okay. Thank you." Everett said, still nervous.

Pete looked down at him, his height taking over. "Are you sure? You're shaking." He said politely, motioning towards Everett's hand, which was indeed shaking a good amount.

"Oh...Sorry-" Everett said, before getting cut off.

"Let me go grab you some water. Please I insist." Pete said, concern tracing his voice.

"You really don't have to. I'm okay." Everett said, confused about this whole situation.

Pete let out a sigh. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure. Thank you, sir." Everett said as politely as possible, coming off as a little rude.

Pete only nodded and walked away, leaving Everett alone again. "What the hell..." He mumbled to himself quietly.

The hotel employee from earlier came back out with a pair of earplugs in her hands, in which a smile came across Everett's face. The lady walked up to him and handed the plugs to him, and smiled. "Here you go, sir! We have a couple more in the back if you need them." She said, super politely. 

"Thank you so much," Everett said, a smile crossing his face. "I really appreciate it."

The lady only smiled, before walking away, presumably back to the front desk to finish her business. Everett put the earplugs in his ears and let them expand, making everything go quiet. The feeling was so nice, almost like a drug. He couldn't feel or hear anything, which he very much appreciated. Although the storm was an interesting sight, Everett couldn't stop thinking about the man who had talked to him earlier. What was his name again? Pete? That man gave him some off vibes. Sure, maybe he was just trying to be nice. But that has never happened to him before. It made him question what that situation was even in the first place. And for some reason, it was bothering him a ton.

As Everett continued to peacefully watch the rain, another tap on the shoulder alerted him. This time, Everett wasn't as frightened, but he still tensed up. Everett turned around and was again faced with the man from earlier. Everett took out his earplug and looked at him, this time not trying to be rude. "Hey, I brought you this," Pete said quietly, pulling out a water bottle.

Everett looked at him for a moment and smiled, which caused Pete to smile. Pete's smile was something else. It was a toothy little grin, which lifted Everett's spirits a little. "Thank you, you really didn't have to do that sir," Everett said politely, taking the water bottle out of his hand.

Their hands grazed a little, which made Everett surprisingly do a flip in his stomach. His hands were incredibly warm and soft. Probably the temperature. It is super fricking cold in here. Everett thought to himself. "Please, call me Pete. And it was no problem."

Everett's smile faded again as he realized how awkward this situation was. A literal stranger just went and bought him water. And he had no idea why. Pete looked at him with another smile and walked in front of Everett's view, motioning towards the chair in front of him. "May I...sit down?" He said quietly, sounding a bit nervous.

Everett looked at him for a moment and contemplated, before deciding to be nice to the stranger. "Um....yeah sure. Go ahead." He said with a  fake smile.

Pete made himself comfortable in the chair in front of Everett and laid his elbows against the table. He leaned and made eye contact with Everett, and for the first time, Everett noticed Pete's eyes. They were a very vibrant and bright emerald green. They reminded him a lot of one of his ex-girlfriends. You could get lost in their beauty without even realizing it. And that is exactly what happened. Everett completely avoided anything Pete was saying and looked straight into his eyes. For a  moment, Everett contemplated getting closer, just to get a better view.

Pete only gave him a confused look, before politely snapping him out of this trance. "Uh...Is everything okay?" Pete asked, making Everett finally snap out of the little trance.

"Oh! Yeah, everything is uh-fine. Sorry." Everett started, his face turning a bright pink from embarrassment.

Pete giggled and gave a small laugh. Everett tried to laugh with him, but no sound came out of his mouth, for it had dried up at the sight of Pete. For the first time, Everett got a true glance at Pete and was shocked. The man couldn't have been a day over 35. He was incredibly polite and a little goofy, in a cute way..... What the hell am I even thinking? This is literally a stranger. A kind of creepy one at that. Snap out of it.

Everett scanned Pete and gave him an odd look. "Now...was there something you wanted sir- um...Pete? I appreciate the kind gesture, I really do, and I'm not trying to be rude." Everett started, his nerves starting to get the best of him again.

"Oh goodness. Please forgive me, I must be coming off as a complete lunatic right now," Pete said, which warranted a nod from Everett. "It's just that I saw you alone and I noticed you were shaking. I kind of got a gut feeling to come over here. Is there something wrong?" 

Everett's heart dropped.

Thank you for reading!!!