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therumjournalsTitle: 46th and Pine: A West Philadelphia Love Story
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
therumjournals
Word Count: Epilogue - 700 (Total - 35,500)
Previous: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5
(Header details at the Master Post)
Chris locked his bike to the bike rack and squinted into the early evening light until he spotted Zach's familiar form on the other side of Franklin Square. He jogged toward him, watched his face light up as he spotted Chris, and let himself sag happily into Zach's embrace.
"Hey, hottie," Zach said, kissing him on the cheek. "How was your day?"
"It was okay," Chris said, trying and failing to contain his excitement.
"What, what? Tell me, come on, what are you so happy about?"
Chris beamed, clutched Zach by his shoulders. "How do you feel about the intersection of 12th and Lehigh?"
Zach thought about it and frowned. "I feel terrible about it. North Philly, right? Isn't that, like, a really shitty neighborhood?"
"Uh huh, well, that may be true, but there's an elementary school there with a big ugly wall just waiting to be beautified - say, you don't happen to know any artists who might fucking flip their shit at the chance to work with that kind of canvas, do you?
"Shut up." Zach's jaw dropped a little.
Chris grinned. "I talked to the mural coordinator today. I may have suggested a certain local artist who would love the opportunity to 'light up young faces and old places'."
"Are you quoting marketing materials to me?"
"I made that one up. You like it?"
"Chris, don't fuck with me, are you serious?"
"Nothing's set in stone yet, but yeah. They are looking for an artist and I did give them your name. They asked if you'd like to come into the office next week to talk about your vision and some place-based design concepts and - yeah, you know, I kinda lost them after that, but I know you should do it. You'll do it, right?"
"Fuck yeah, I will. Oh my god, Chris, that is amazing," Zach said, wrapping his arms around Chris's waist and attempting unsuccessfully to spin him through the air.
"Better work on those arm muscles, Quinto. You're gonna be working with bigger brushes soon," Chris said, laughing.
"Whatever. You're heavy."
"Sorry, but someone keeps feeding me delicious pasta on a nightly basis."
"We need it to keep our stamina up!"
"Everything comes back to sex with you, doesn't it? Speaking of which, I'm starving." He grabbed Zach by the hand and dragged him across the square to the burger stand. They sat on a picnic bench as Chris ate.
"Give me a bite," Zach said, nudging his shoulder.
"Hell no," Chris said through a mouthful of burger.
"Come on," Zach whined. "It smells good."
"No." Chris wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I don’t want to be a bad influence on you. And I don’t want to deal with the consequences.”
Zach rolled his eyes and took a sip of Chris’s milkshake instead. He played with the straw for a few seconds. “Summer’s moving out,” he said, finally.
Chris looked at him in surprise. “Really? Damn. Where’s she going? To live in a giant redwood or something?”
“Close,” Zach said, laughing. “You know that show, Whale Wars?”
Chris’s mouth dropped open. “You’re shitting me.”
Zach shook his head. “Nope.”
“So should we start collecting her bail money now?”
“I know, right?” Zach laughed.
Chris noticed his expression turning serious. “What?”
“So, I was thinking, since Lily and Cho have moved in….and since Cho is now an actual contributing member of society, we were thinking…instead of getting another roommate, maybe you and I could move into the front room. I could keep the third floor as my studio. And maybe we could even get-“
“No…” Chris said, a smile starting on his face as he realized what was coming.
“Yeah. A real bed.”
Chris threw his arms around Zach and faked a sniffle. “Zach. You’re all grown up.”
Zach smiled and shook him off. “Shut it, you.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too, asshole. Now come on. All these adult decisions are making my head spin, and I need to seriously kick your ass in mini-golf.”
“Wanna make it interesting?” Chris asked, standing up from the bench.
Zach shook his head as Chris took his hand. “You’re getting sexual favors either way.”
Chris grinned. “Then I will totally let you win.”
THE END
Author’s Notes:
First of all, thanks so much to everyone for reading, and thanks to everyone for encouraging me and for bearing with me as I taunted you throughout the writing process.
Most of the places mentioned in this fic are real. Fuego is a real place with a fake name where I spent many drunken Thursday nights when I was 24 and 25 (and yes, Citywide Specials are real too…unfortunately, they’re not actually city-wide). There are lots of localisms and references throughout the story, so let me know if there's anything that makes you go "huh?!" :-) And if you ever visit Philly, let me know, and I'll take you on the grand tour (Chris and Zach not included).
Author:
therumjournalsWord Count: Epilogue - 700 (Total - 35,500)
Previous: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5
(Header details at the Master Post)
Chris locked his bike to the bike rack and squinted into the early evening light until he spotted Zach's familiar form on the other side of Franklin Square. He jogged toward him, watched his face light up as he spotted Chris, and let himself sag happily into Zach's embrace.
"Hey, hottie," Zach said, kissing him on the cheek. "How was your day?"
"It was okay," Chris said, trying and failing to contain his excitement.
"What, what? Tell me, come on, what are you so happy about?"
Chris beamed, clutched Zach by his shoulders. "How do you feel about the intersection of 12th and Lehigh?"
Zach thought about it and frowned. "I feel terrible about it. North Philly, right? Isn't that, like, a really shitty neighborhood?"
"Uh huh, well, that may be true, but there's an elementary school there with a big ugly wall just waiting to be beautified - say, you don't happen to know any artists who might fucking flip their shit at the chance to work with that kind of canvas, do you?
"Shut up." Zach's jaw dropped a little.
Chris grinned. "I talked to the mural coordinator today. I may have suggested a certain local artist who would love the opportunity to 'light up young faces and old places'."
"Are you quoting marketing materials to me?"
"I made that one up. You like it?"
"Chris, don't fuck with me, are you serious?"
"Nothing's set in stone yet, but yeah. They are looking for an artist and I did give them your name. They asked if you'd like to come into the office next week to talk about your vision and some place-based design concepts and - yeah, you know, I kinda lost them after that, but I know you should do it. You'll do it, right?"
"Fuck yeah, I will. Oh my god, Chris, that is amazing," Zach said, wrapping his arms around Chris's waist and attempting unsuccessfully to spin him through the air.
"Better work on those arm muscles, Quinto. You're gonna be working with bigger brushes soon," Chris said, laughing.
"Whatever. You're heavy."
"Sorry, but someone keeps feeding me delicious pasta on a nightly basis."
"We need it to keep our stamina up!"
"Everything comes back to sex with you, doesn't it? Speaking of which, I'm starving." He grabbed Zach by the hand and dragged him across the square to the burger stand. They sat on a picnic bench as Chris ate.
"Give me a bite," Zach said, nudging his shoulder.
"Hell no," Chris said through a mouthful of burger.
"Come on," Zach whined. "It smells good."
"No." Chris wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I don’t want to be a bad influence on you. And I don’t want to deal with the consequences.”
Zach rolled his eyes and took a sip of Chris’s milkshake instead. He played with the straw for a few seconds. “Summer’s moving out,” he said, finally.
Chris looked at him in surprise. “Really? Damn. Where’s she going? To live in a giant redwood or something?”
“Close,” Zach said, laughing. “You know that show, Whale Wars?”
Chris’s mouth dropped open. “You’re shitting me.”
Zach shook his head. “Nope.”
“So should we start collecting her bail money now?”
“I know, right?” Zach laughed.
Chris noticed his expression turning serious. “What?”
“So, I was thinking, since Lily and Cho have moved in….and since Cho is now an actual contributing member of society, we were thinking…instead of getting another roommate, maybe you and I could move into the front room. I could keep the third floor as my studio. And maybe we could even get-“
“No…” Chris said, a smile starting on his face as he realized what was coming.
“Yeah. A real bed.”
Chris threw his arms around Zach and faked a sniffle. “Zach. You’re all grown up.”
Zach smiled and shook him off. “Shut it, you.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too, asshole. Now come on. All these adult decisions are making my head spin, and I need to seriously kick your ass in mini-golf.”
“Wanna make it interesting?” Chris asked, standing up from the bench.
Zach shook his head as Chris took his hand. “You’re getting sexual favors either way.”
Chris grinned. “Then I will totally let you win.”
Author’s Notes:
First of all, thanks so much to everyone for reading, and thanks to everyone for encouraging me and for bearing with me as I taunted you throughout the writing process.
Most of the places mentioned in this fic are real. Fuego is a real place with a fake name where I spent many drunken Thursday nights when I was 24 and 25 (and yes, Citywide Specials are real too…unfortunately, they’re not actually city-wide). There are lots of localisms and references throughout the story, so let me know if there's anything that makes you go "huh?!" :-) And if you ever visit Philly, let me know, and I'll take you on the grand tour (Chris and Zach not included).
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Where do I start?
Date: 2010-07-08 02:11 pm (UTC)You have so much in there that reminds me of home, college & grad school. South St., cheesesteaks,Russian finals (my college bf did really badly in it because of me).
Also, "How the fuck am I supposed to know how many light bulbs there are in New York City?" made me crack up! It brought back horrid memories of b-school job interviews, esp. the urban myth that circulated about one interviewer who asked the interviewees to open a window, which was nailed shut unbeknownst to them, just to see how they would handle the situation! Plus "going down the shore"...oh my, that phrase definitely hits the mark!
I guess I should also mention how much I loved the story itself. After a week of mourning my mil's death, I really needed some schmoop, and you came through big time! Thanks for helping to start my day off the right way, bb! :)
Re: Where do I start?
Date: 2010-07-10 11:05 pm (UTC)my sympathies for your loss :-( but i'm glad i could help. thanks so much for reading!