Chapter Text
Adam wasn't quite sure why he agreed to let his best friend, and mortal enemy, Scott Tibbs drag him to a beach to go swimming of all things. Maybe it was the potential to get some good shots for his freelance gig, or maybe it was the chance to imagine that he isn't in debt and unable to pay rent and can just relax in the sand a little. It was probably the second one, though he tried to convince himself it was the first one.
Now, he was in a pair of thrifted plain back swim shorts as he walked with Scott who was in a near identical pair of swim shorts. The only difference between the two friends attire was that Scott was wearing black Converse and Adam was wearing boots... in summer. He didn't care that wearing boots in this weather wasn't practical. It wasn't like he had the money to get 'summer shoes'.
Soon enough, they arrived at the crowded beach. It didn't take long for the two men to kick off their shoes and for Adam to set his camera down on the sand before rushing into the refreshing water. Adam supposed he could excuse Scott holding his head under the water as mindless fun for now.
"Dude! you're gonna drown me!" Adam giggled and splashed water at his companion.
"Maybe if you weren't such a puss you wouldn't get drowned, princess." The other man responded teasingly. Splashing water back at Adam in retort.
They continued the cycle of childlike activity for a while. Splashing water at each other and tossing wet sand at the other like snowballs. Laughing all the while. Adam was surprised he actually felt so gleeful for once. Normally the only happiness he got were from drowning himself in cheap beer and smashing the glass to hurt himself, but right now all he could think about was how silly Scott looked in the water in front of him with wet sand falling off his chest. He only laughed more picturing what he looked like in the moment.
For Lawrence Gordon, the beach day with his wife and daughter was a bit more of a bittersweet gesture than anything. He and Alison had an argument the night before that poor Diana had been listening to, so this was his weak apology. He decided to sit on the beach in his plain light blue swim shorts and people watch rather than actually get in the water. He was starting to get a little too old for this, he thought. He sighed to himself as the hot sand hurt his palms as he tried to rest them down besides himself.
Adam and Scott ran up onto the beach with the genius idea to make a sandcastle. As they briskly continued forward, Lawrence noticed them from where he was sitting but didn't pay much mind to the two younger men. If Alison saw him staring at guys she might get a bad idea. She might get another bad idea. It was bad enough that he occasionally snuck around with other men without a soul knowing, he couldn't be seen looking a guy like that in public while on a family outing.
After a few minutes of sandcastle building, Adam had suggested running to the small store a block or so away from the beach to get beer. Scott had accepted the offer while blissfully unaware that Adam had pickpocketed him on the way to the beach for the money.
While walking in the general direction of where the store was after slipping his boots back on, Adam's eyes caught Lawrence's. The eyes staring back at his were similar to his own, but not in color, in the pain hidden behind them. Sure Adam didn't try to hide his intense emotions when the bubbled out, but he could tell the man whose stare he had caught wasn't the same. It was held back and carefully hidden in a very dark corner. He quickly shook himself out of the small trance and kept walking.
Lawrence had been entranced by the younger man. It was someone who he'd normally call a bottom feeder or a waste of time, but something was just different about him. Good different. He watched Adam as he walked away before going back to watching his wife and daughter. He was filled with guilt as he looked at his family. He had thought some random man was more attractive than the woman he had a child with. He swallowed hard and ran a hand over his face with a sigh. He really was a deadbeat.
Adam hummed to himself as he walked to the convenience store, thinking about the blonde he'd seen a couple minutes prior. He was attractive, he couldn't lie... but he was near a woman and her daughter than he could safely assume were the mans family. It's not like he'd have a huge chance at actually being with the man anyway. He was a man, and so was he. It's not the most socially accepted thing on earth.
For the majority of the rest of his time spent there, Adam tried not to pay too much attention to the older man and his family. He got caught staring by Scott and was relentlessly made fun of by said friend and called a homewrecker so he tried to drink as much beer as he could as to not focus on the blonde anymore than he already had. It was bad enough the guy was clearly older than him and had a family on top of that, but he also now had the picture of the man on top of him engraved into his corneas. Despite this he insisted that he and Scott stay to see the sunset so he could take pictures of it and maybe make a buck off it. Magazines like sunset pictures because it draws in tourists, it isn't an unrealistic idea.
The sun had begun to set and Scott was laid back on the warm sand that would soon start to become cold while Adam captured the sunset from the shore line. Adam had also snuck a couple pictures of the blonde man he'd seen before in doing so. What could he say, The man was photogenic.
Lawrence could've sworn he'd seen that black haired man taking a picture of him, but he'd rather not risk humiliating himself at a beach full of people by confronting him about it. Even though he did really want an excuse to at least know the guys name, he couldn't do it. He couldn't risk it.
Notes:
My last story Familiar Ceilings actually got a little traction and it motivated me to write MORE! so I hope you enjoyed because I will definitely be writing more! Even though the last story I mentioned didn't become like a global overnight sensation or anything, it still motivated me a lot! I really am glad at least people like my dumb drabbles. FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED!!!!!! I will be writing more of this tonight so please stay tuned. :3
also my IG is _adammayfi3ld if you wanna follow me or whatever (said shyly while tapping fingers together)
Chapter 2: Bottom Feeder
Summary:
Lawrence goes to a bar only to see a very familiar stranger. He then sees him again, and again, and again.
TW: stalking, voyeurism, implied alcoholism
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Lawrence had once again used the excuse of work to do anything but have dinner with his family. Sure, he wants to be in Diana's life, but it's hard considering he'd need Alison to be a part of his life to have that. He couldn't keep pretending to love the woman, he knew that. For tonight he was just going to drink and forget.
Lawrence went to a small bar downtown where he knew nobody he knew would be. Sitting on a stool at the bar counter he order a glass of whiskey and started the ritual of drinking until he forgot about his issues.
Peering around the bar he noticed a face that he recognized. For a minute he couldn't remember exactly why he knew the man until he thought back to the beach day he had with Alison and Diana just about a week ago. That was the hopelessly attractive man he'd seen. How was he supposed to focus on anything with someone like that there?
Adam was sitting at the other end of the bar drinking a cheap bar alone. He ditched one of Scotts endless concerts after taking the pictures that he'd asked for, he couldn't stand those concerts so he was more than happy to bail to go drink. Then he saw and immediately recognized a head of blonde hair he'd seen not very long ago. He'd been secretly hoping to run into the man again ever since they'd first locked eyes at the beach. He doesn't want to admit how much he'd been looking at the pictures he caught of the older man once they developed.
Despite desperately wanting to go talk to the blonde, he couldn't muster up the courage to do it. He'd been practicing this in his head for days and yet he still couldn't find the bravery to walk up to a sexy stranger and ask for his number.
The night went with them both occasionally glancing at each other every now and then and Lawrence drinking in a way he hasn't since he was in medical school. Adam left before he did, however, and the man who was still in the bar got to take a moment to finally catch his breath. Though, he could've sworn the lights flashed a little, though nobody else seemed to notice. Maybe he was seeing things?
During the rest of the week the doctor could never shake the feeling he was being watched. Maybe he was overthinking things, or maybe it was the guilt of not being able to stop thinking about a stranger who looked liked he lived on the very bottom of the social pyramid, but he couldn't stop it.
Lawrence saw the man again next at a coffee shop near the hospital he worked at, then he saw him walking down the sidewalk near his house when he was leaving for work early one morning. The cycle of seeing the young man only continued for another two weeks.
It was late one night and Lawrence was walking home from another bar, he'd gone to a different one this time in an attempt to avoid the man, the bartender had taken his car keys to keep him from driving in his state of intoxication. Then, he heard a camera shutter and saw a flash of light. His head snapped towards where he heard the shutter, and there Adam was. He was standing behind a light post with his camera in his hands.
They looked at each other for what felt like centuries, just... staring at each other with unspoken tension lingering in the cool night air.
Adam swallowed hard and took a step back, letting his camera hang by the strap around his neck as he prepared to bolt away. Although, the second Adam moved, Lawrence had very swiftly gone over to him and grabbed him by the collar of his black tee shirt and backed him up against the light post.
"H-hey man! I'm-I'm sure we can talk this out, right? No hard feelings?" Adam stuttered out in fear that he was about to be strangled for following an attractive man that he hasn't even formally met.
"No hard feelings? I thought I was going crazy, but as it turns out some... some 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘳 has been following me and taking my picture everywhere I go!" Lawrence exclaimed, disbelief and anger flickering on his face.
Adam scowled at the words used against him and tried to wiggle out of Lawrence's grip to no avail.
"I don't even know your name or who you really are, and you have been stalking me, and you think I'm just gonna let you go?"
The younger man groaned and rolled his eyes at Lawrence.
"Stalking is a strong word-"
"Am I wrong?"
"... Adam."
"What?"
"My name is Adam. Don't bother telling me yours, I already know."
Lawrence stared at Adam for a few long moments before reluctantly letting him go, he didn't move away at all though.
"Why have you been following me? I can't even think of an excuse you could have, but please, humor me."
Adam stared at him, trying to think of anything to say but the truth. He squinted at Lawrence before defiantly crossing his arms and looking away. The blonde, still intoxicated and upset, grabbed adams chin roughly and turned it back towards him. The younger man squeaked in surprise and almost pulled away, though he realized the last thing Lawrence was about to do was let him go. He tried to ignore the spark of excitement as he also came to a realize the position they were both currently in.
Lawrence looked at him expectantly, waiting impatiently for Adam to speak up. Adam peered down at the sidewalk before looking back up at the other man and deciding to speak up.
"I.. I thought you were really hot the first time I saw you, so when I saw you at the bar I waited for you to leave and followed you home. I've just kinda followed you since then." Adam admitted nervously
Lawrence looked at the man with with wide eyes as he processed his words. Once he did, his face flushed red at the compliment and he immediately let Adam free of his grasp.
The young man didn't know whether to kill himself to preserve his last ounce of dignity or to violently kiss Lawrence on the mouth, so he just stood there awkwardly and kept his arms crossed very firmly against his chest while he turned his head down towards the ground.
"I can burn the pictures I took of you when I get back to my apartment. Ok? I'll leave you alone and you'll never see me again." Adam murmured.
Lawrence nodded and took a step back from him so the other man could walk away if he so pleased. While Adam started walking down the sidewalk, Lawrence got an idea and started following after him, which Adam immediately noticed.
The black haired man looked back at the blonde with a confused expression. He didn't know what he could possibly want, but he was a little scared of being murdered in the middle of a rich neighborhood in the middle of the night, so he started to take a few steps away.
"Need something else?" He said as he stood in place, now comfortable being at least ten feet away from Lawrence.
"How am I supposed to believe you'll keep your word? Take me with you so I know you'll actually do it."
"You wanna come to my apartment to watch me burn pictures of your face?"
"Yes."
Adam considered his words with a suspicious look, but he eventually nodded and motioned for Lawrence to follow him.
Notes:
Tried to make this chapter a little longer. Sorry if it took a while to come out, I've been sick and busy. I hope you liked this one! :3
ALSOO thank you thank you THANK YOU for the attention on the first chapter!!!!!!! AUGHHH!!!! go read my other story or whatever if you want 😸
They're LITERALLY the blonde by Tv Girl and black hair by Alex G you gotta trust me on this guys.
EthanAmbrose on Chapter 1 Fri 04 Apr 2025 02:43AM UTC
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