What measures must one take to get the attention of another.?

Zakuyoe

For the Attention of Another

This story was written for a very close friend of mine. I hope you like it

A/N: I chaptered them so that it says 'J:' or 'C:' before the chapter name. This indicates the view of the story. But yes: this chapter doesn't have either at the front! I'll just indicate so as the story goes along. Also, the story does rewind a little, so in case you see a discrepancy, this might be why.

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J U S T I N

"Five fifty," Justin muttered as he took off the shirt he wore to school, replacing it with a black Linkin Park shirt. He had promised to Charles that he would be at the park by six, and by the clock he knew he would be late. He quickly grabbed a watch and hopped onto his bicycle He speeded away from his house, occasionally glancing at his watch for the time.

He found himself fifteen minutes late, and as he quickly stationed his bike, noticed the other boy pacing along the perimeters of the basketball court. "He's just as nervous as I am," he told himself. "Should I really tell him?" He walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hi."

"Hi." He glanced to a bench, "Let's sit down." Agreeing, I followed him to the bench. "Listen. You can't hurt yourself like you do. It's- not right, not healthy. Why do you do it to yourself?"

"I-" Why did he do it to himself? Was it in the fact that he could never have the boy he wanted? Was it because no one could understand him? The mixed thoughts became too confusing for him, and this only brought memories of him and Charles 'Damn Sea World,' he thought. He wanted to cry so much now, but what would Charles think of him? 'Don't cry,' he told himself. He cried anyways.

Justin felt the comforting hand of Charles rest upon his shoulder. It somehow seemed to soothe him a little. "Justin, what?" The moment Justin had been dreading came. Justin turned slowly to look at Charles, but never quite met him in the eyes.

"I- can't." Justin paused, "I can't be your friend."

"But why?" asked Charles, "I'm your friend, aren't I?"

"Yes, but- Okay. I can't be your friend because I'm-" At this he leaned towards the other boy's ear, hesitating whether or not to finish that statement. "I'm gay. And I like you. That's why we can't be friends. You'll hate me for being that." He stood up abruptly. "I have to go now."

Justin got up from his position and headed back to his bike. He could distinctively hear Charles say, "Justin I-" but never bothered to hear the rest of his statement. He slowly began to pedal away from the scene.

"It's time," Justin said as he left the park, "It's time that I suffered this no more." But as he thought these, more questions filled up in his head. "Chop my head off with a knife? Drink poison? Drown myself?" It was odd how once suicide was set in his mind he couldn't think how to do it.

"I'll drown myself," he decided as he unlocked the front door, closing the door behind him, and then running upstairs while kicking the shoes off his feet, "No one's home. There's no one stopping me now."

The keys were left dangling on the door.

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C H A R L E S

"Please don't do it," muttered the blond boy as he pedaled on his bike, "Don't do it, don't do it."

But the thought of this only made him worry further. Soon Charles reached the house, and began to bang on his door. "It's locked," he muttered. "Justin, I know you are in there! Open up the door!" Furious, he slammed his fist into the door; his hand collided into something that he knew wasn't usually there.

"He left the keys," he noted. He frantically unlocked the front door and shoved it open, not even bothering to take off his shoes as he ran up the steps. "Justin? JUSTIN?" The quiet atmosphere began to worry him.

But he knew that Justin was not yet dead. He heard the distant sound of flowing water, probably coming out of a faucet. Charles knew where to look. He slowly approached the bathroom door and placed his ear to the door.

"He probably hates me," he heard Justin mutter from the other side. This made Charles stop and think. 'What would make me mad at him?' the boy asked himself. Then he heard Justin say something else. "I knew I shouldn't have told him." It was now clear to Charles; Justin thought that he was mad at him because Justin had a crush on him. The blond boy pounded on the door. He noticed how quickly Justin changed his tone of voice.

"Who's there? I'm taking a shower!"

"Open up!" Charles yelled, "I want to talk to you."

"You actually want to talk to me?" Justin asked him. "After what I told you?"

"What you told me serves no reason to not talk to you," Charles yelled through the door, "nor does it give me a reason to hate you."

"Y-You heard that?" Justin stuttered. Charles nodded, although Justin did not see this.

"Open up so I can talk to you without the door in the way." Charles heard the sound of water being moved within the bathtub, and soon enough, the bathroom door unlocked. Charles stepped into the steamy room, locking the door shut behind him.

"You needed to talk?" Justin was supporting the towel that he had placed around his waist. His hair was pressed flat to his forehead, due to his submersion into the water. Water droplets had formed on parts of his chest and his neck.

"Yes I did," Charles muttered, pulling out a folded sheet of notebook paper from his back pocket. It was the note that Justin had given to him at school. "What's the meaning of this?"

"Meaning of what?"

"This note?"

"What note?" Charles sighed; Justin was trying to avoid the subject, again. He read it out loud, but loud enough only so that Justin could hear.

"Charles. Please don't hate me for this. But I have to do this now. I won't see you tomorrow. Remember me of the boy who was once your friend. Don't try to stop me. I'll remember you always. Justin." He paused for a moment, refolding the paper, and then looked at Justin. "What's this mean?"

"I-" But Justin was speechless. Charles could not understand it. He only wanted to understand the other boy, to help him through, but Justin made it all confusing to him. Charles also noticed that Justin was avoiding his eyes.

"Justin. Look at me." Justin continued to stare down at the blond boy's feet. "Justin, look at me. Look at me!" But Justin never made the slightest movement of turning his head. A little aggravated, Charles got up and approached Justin, adjusting his head so that their eyes met.

But what he saw saddened him, somewhat. There was something missing there that should've been there. His facial expression showed no sign of happiness, and all Charles could see was sadness. Something was eating him, and suddenly he knew that this wasn't the same boy that he had once known. He let go of Justin's face, letting it drop back down to its downward gaze. Charles had no clue on what to do.

"Now do you know?" Justin muttered almost expressionless. Charles sighed.

"Get dressed."

"What?"

"Get dressed. I'll help you do it."

"Why?"

"I'm going to take you somewhere. Somewhere I'm hoping you will enjoy." Slowly Justin nodded. Charles extended his arm, and Justin took it. Charles guided him to the other boy's room, turning on the light in his closet. He let Justin go to find clothes while he waited patiently against the wall.

Justin found his clothes after some time, and gave them to Charles to dress. Charles undid the towel that covered Justin's waist, and let it drop to the floor. He paused for a second, staring at the now naked boy in front of him. Justin noticed this, and although he liked the fact that the boy he liked was admiring him, Justin didn't want to make it obvious. He cleared his throat, letting Charles resume his work. He slipped on a pair of denim jean shorts. Charles helped him with a Quiksilver shirt as well.

Soon the two were ready to leave. The two got on their bikes and left, first Charles left, and then Justin. The lead boy looked back occasionally, just to make sure that he was still there.

It was about a thirty minute bike ride to this 'place' that they were going to. When the blond stopped in his ride, they found themselves at a park. It was oddly familiar, but Justin could not place a name upon it.

"Where is this?" Justin asked. The other boy smiled.

"Lettuce Park."

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J U S T I N

Those three words had an odd impact on him, though he did not know why. It brought back- something: Something that probably meant something to him, something that he would probably want to remember.

But what was this?

"Lettuce Park?" Justin questioned. Charles nodded. He took a look around him. What was this place? Why did Charles say it would make him happy? He caught glance of a high watchtower that stood above the trees. Suddenly he remembered something.

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Flashback

"Number 14," Justin said as he walked along a hiking trial, "What marker number is the watchtower?"

"759," said a boy. His appearance seemed somewhat familiar.

"Thanks," Justin said with a smile, writing it down on his worksheet.

"No problem."

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End Flashback

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"That tower," muttered Justin, "I think I've seen it somewhere." He then spotted an oddly bent tree. It hung really low, almost as if you could swing on it.

"Yeah, you should know this," Charles muttered.

"And that tree over there-"

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Flashback

"Hey look!" yelled the boy from his last flashback, "How odd can this park get?"

"How so?" Justin asked.

"You could hang from these trees! Watch!" The boy jumped up and clasped one hand along the branch, but couldn't seem to place the other one on it. Soon enough, the imbalance caused him to fall, but Justin was there to catch him. The two fell on the ground on a heap.

"You're lucky I was there."

"Thanks."

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End Flashback

"Someone was swinging on it," Justin muttered, "He fell, and I caught him."

"Yeah, I remember that."

"You saw it too? I don't remember you anywhere near me or that kid." Charles chuckled.

"Justin. That boy you caught from the branch. That boy you caught was- me." A silence followed this, Justin getting some time to take in this thought. Another memory came to him.

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Flashback

"Thanks for the help back there," said Charles as he munched on a hamburger.

"No problem. It was the least I could do for the answer you gave me."

"I don't think that one answer makes up for catching me from a fall, Justin." Justin laughed, and Charles joined him.

"You're right, it doesn't. Now you owe me something."

"How about a dollar or two?"

"Nah, I can't take money from rescuing you. It doesn't level out." There was a pause as Charles began to think.

"How about we become friends?"

"Friends?"

"Yeah, friends, friends for life. I guess I owe you something, don't I?"

"Then it's a deal." The two shook hands before turning to the pavilion, where the rest of their class was.

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End Flashback

"This park was where we became friends," Charles explained, "I hadn't forgotten. And I mean to keep that promise."

"P-Promise? W-What promise?"

"Justin, I'm going to be your friend for life, even if you become a thief and go to jail for it. I'll be your friend even if you or I have to move to the other side of the world. I'm being your friend not by what you show, but what you are inside. And maybe perhaps there will be times where I don't seem like your friend anymore. But remember that I still am. Justin, being gay doesn't give me a valid reason to hate you or ignore you. I'm still your friend, and I brought you here to prove it."

"But the rest of the world-"

"Screw the rest of the world." Charles said with a smile, "If they hurt you, I'll be there to defend you. Just don't kill yourself because people hate you. There are people who do care for you, and it'd hurt their hearts, my heart, if you went away." Charles noticed that Justin still wasn't looking at him.

"Okay," Justin said, staring at his face, "You said you brought me to prove it. How're you going to do that?"

"First, Justin, look at me." And then at last, Justin met Charles in the face. "You look much cuter when you're happy."

"Huh?" Justin cleaned his ears; he could have sworn he heard Charles say something about him being cute or something like it.

"You look cuter when you're happy." Justin considered something. Did Charles mean what he was saying? Or was he just playing with him? But the boy would never do that to him. He forced himself to smile, and then gave a playful laugh.

And it felt good. Smiling seemed to come easy to him now. "Like this?"

"Yeah. You look better now." Justin smiled, but his expression suddenly changed to a curious one, as Charles stepped closer to him. "I wanted to tell you this at the park, but you, um- left. When you told me that you liked me, I began to say something, but you left." Justin nodded, remembering the 'Justin I-' that he heard as he left.

"Yeah, I know."

"And I wanted to tell you something then, but you left. So now I want you to know this. Justin- I like you too." Justin could never have felt any happier than there and then. Something he wanted had finally come to him, Charles, and that to him- was better than anything else that anyone could ever give to him.

Nothing could have been better for the two of them.

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F I N I T E

A very long chapter, I must say (six pages on Microsoft Word). Perhaps there will be an epilogue, perhaps there won't be. What do you think I should do with the story? Keep it like this? Write a prologue? How about an epilogue? I'll leave that up to you guys. R/R!!