Part Two

Pairing: Reed/William
Category: Hurt/comfort
Implements: none (yet)
Type: pre-slash
Series: Navigating the World and Relationships
Warnings: none

Meeting Again

Reed was lost in thought as he stared at the phone. He was remembering how well
the O&M lessons with William had gone a couple of weeks back. William followed
his instructions and quickly learned how to hold his long cane in his hand while
gripping the crutches with his under arm. William was correct in stating that
he knew how to use his cane, he just needed some pointers on how to hold the
cane while on crutches. That did not stop Reed from going back over the basics,
such as listening to the rhythm of traffic when crossing 4 way stops, and NOT
crossing in the middle of the street where traffic was uncontrolled. Reed just
hoped William wouldn't go back to his unsafe ways, once he no longer had an O&M
instructor following him around.


`What that boy needs is a Top', Reed thought to himself. Well, it had been a
couple of weeks since the end of the lessons and Reed was gathering his courage
to call William and ask him out to dinner. He was sure that William felt the
chemistry that Reed could sense between the two of them. A couple of times when
Reed had been standing behind William to help him hold the cane, his body had
reacted naturally to the slim body and William had not pulled away. Rather
subconsciously, William had snuggled his behind into Reed's hardening front. 
Reed always quietly moved away, reminding himself that William was a client and
he would not jeopardize his career or William's safety. But that had been
several weeks ago, he could now call William for personal reasons instead of
professional ones.



"Hello, William, this is Reed," Reed said into the phone when William answered.

"Reed?!" William exclaimed. "I thought the lessons were over. I have my cast
off, I don't need any more O&M."

"No, no, I am not calling about O&M lessons," Reed assured the young man. "I was
calling to see how you were doing and to ask if you would like to go out for
dinner with me. As in a date."

"Oh," Reed heard the young man replied softly.

"But I don't eat out."

"Why ever not?" asked Reed baffled.

"Because, I'm blind!" William stated the obvious.

"So, that doesn't stop you from eating!"

"But, but," William stuttered.

"But what?" Reed questioned, truly not understanding why William would not go
out to eat.

"Ok, to use O&M terms, so that you understand, restaurants are unfamiliar
environments and I don't navigate unfamiliar environments well," William
snapped.

"Hey, do not talk to me in that tone and I am calling for a date not an O&M
lesson," Reed said in a firm voice that he hoped would calm William. "So use
your own words, not the technical terms."

"I just don't like eating in restaurants. I am nervous that I will run into a
waiter or someone." William replied. "And someone ALWAYS asks about my cane."

"So, tell them you are blind and a cane helps you get around. William, people
don't ask to be mean, most people truly do not know what the cane is used for. 
They just need to be educated" Reed said gently but firmly.

"Listen, I will pick you up on Friday evening at 6 o'clock, that will give you
time to get home from work. And I will take you to this nice Italian café I go
to. You will love it," he said, hoping his confidence would rub off on the
nervous young man.

"Ok, but don't act like an O&M. Ok?" Reed smiled to himself as he heard Williams
reply.

"No, I definitely will not act like an O&M. How about I act like a man that is
interested in an attractive young man?" He teased.

"Umm, ok, that sounds good. I mean…" William stumbled to a stop.

"I know what you mean," Reed laughed. "I will see you on Friday."



William had worked himself into a full blown panic by the time Friday came.

`Damn it!' he thought angrily. `Why did I agree to go out with him? He is an
O&M! I just bet he will be judging EVERYTHING I do, just so he can tell me how
to do it better! Why did Reed even ask him to an Italian café? Reed knew that
pasta was one of the hardest things for a blind person to eat! The pasta is so
light you can't feel it on the spoon. I will spill it all over me or I will put
the spoon in my mouth and there will be nothing on it. And Reed will just be
laughing at me!' William raged on. Finally he decided he just wouldn't go.


`When Reed gets here, I will be in my pajamas and tell him that I refuse to go
with him, refuse to be the butt of his little joke!' William jumped as the door
bell rang.

`Damn it, he's early.'

"You're early," he snarled as he opened the door.

"Well, hello to you too," Reed said with a small laugh.

"Yeah, hello, I am not going, so you can just leave," William said in one
breath.

"Can I at least come in?" Reed asked with amusement still in his voice.

"Why?" William whined. "Why do you need to come in? I am not going to be the
butt of your joke, so you can just leave!"

"William, I am NOT going to have a conversation with you in the hallway."

"Fine, just so you know I do know what you are up to!" William pushed the door
wider.

"All right, William," he said as he shut the door. "Wait!" Reed said as William
opened his mouth to speak.

"Let's talk as civilized human beings! First, I am not early. It is six and I
told you I would be here at six."


"See, you are already acting like an O&M!" screeched William. "I knew it, you
are going to sit there and judge me all night! You are going to tell me
everything I do wrong. Then you are going to laugh at me! You're an O&M! You
know how hard pasta is for a blind person! You just want to laugh at me!"


"STOP!" William felt himself freeze at Reed's voice.

"You think I asked you out as a joke?"

"I, I ," William stammered.

"You what? Come on, William you had plenty to say a few minutes ago!" Reed
continued in an icy voice. "I said we were going to talk like civilized human
beings, NOT like two year old children having a temper tantrum!"

"Listen! Before we go any further, I want you to calm down! Sit down at your
table, NOW." William quickly sat.

William was confused, Reed wasn't acting the way most people did when he threw a
tantrum. Everyone, from his parents to other O&M's, even people at work,
usually tried to calm him down with soft voices, or they left him alone. No one
had ever talked to William in such a strong, firm voice.

"I want you to sit there for a few minutes and gather yourself." Reed told
William. "Then we will get to the figure out just what is the problem."

William felt himself calm down as he sat at the table. He couldn't understand
how Reed just taking control of the situation made him feel better, but it did.

"Ok, William, talk to me. What was that all about?"

"I was scared," William said quietly.

"Of me?" Reed asked startled.

"Yes, well, no. Not of YOU but of a date with you."

"What scared you?" William heard Reed ask, his voice gentle but still firm.

"I don't date much. And I thought that since you were an O&M you would see
everything I did wrong. And why did you suggest Italian when you know how hard
it is to eat pasta when you are blind?" William could feel himself getting upset
again.

"Stop," Reed said again firmly. "Let's take it one at a time. So you got
nervous because you don't date much, right?"

"Yes," William quietly replied.

"And it makes you nervous to go on a date with me because I am an O&M?" Reed
asked, stressing the word me.

"Yes," William said with an even quieter voice.

"I thought we agreed that this date was just going to be a man attracted to
another man. Not an O&M. Isn't that what we agreed to on the phone?" Reed
continued.

William just nodded.

"Nothing's changed, William. I am just a man attracted to you as another man. 
I just want to take you out for dinner and get to know you for you. Not as an
O&M to a client. But as a man to a young attractive man."

"But why did you suggest the café, the Italian café?" William asked softly.

"Well, they have the best pizza there than any other place I've been to," Reed
chuckled then turned serious as he asked. "Did you really think I'd treat you
as a joke? William, I like you, I would like to get to know you better. So
what do you say, want to go out for pizza?"

"Yeah, that would be good," William replied shyly. "Let me get changed, I am
still in my work clothes."

"You look fine the way you are and I am hungry. Let's just go." Reed said
quickly enough that William didn't have enough time to panic again.


William tried not to tense as they walked to the café. Café's were usually
small and crowded, not easy to navigate when you held a cane at least 4 feet in
front of you. He tried to push these thoughts away and listen to what Reed was
talking about.

"I saw the Grisham novel sitting on your table, have you finished it?" Reed
asked.

"No," William replied. "I'm about half way through. It is very different to
his usual style of writing. I'm sure you've already read it. Wolfner library
usually is about a year behind with new releases in Braille. I could get the
new releases in the DAISY digital format as soon as they come out. But I work
with computers so much, I like to give my ears a break."

"As a matter of fact, I haven't read that one. You say it is different, he
usually writes law type books, what is this one about?"

The conversation flowed easily as they walked towards the restaurant. By the
time they had reached the café, William had forgotten about being nervous.

"Since it is such a nice night, I thought we would eat at a sidewalk table,"
Reed said.

"That would be great!" William was relieved. Sidewalk seating was usually more
spacious and had only one or two waiters roaming about. He could navigate
through this with no problem.

"They have an amazing sundried tomato and artichoke pizza here! You game to
split it with me?" Reed asked.

"Sure," William replied hesitantly. "I usually only get pepperoni and I get it
delivered to my apartment."

"Hate to eat out alone?"

"Yes, and you know," William drifted off as they came to a table.

"You know, what?" Reed asked.

"You know, I'm blind." William said as he folded his cane.

"You said that before. Why can't you go out to eat? And don't tell me because
you are blind. Blind people eat, I am sure of it!" Reed said.

William was trying not to take offense at Reed's words. "Yes, blind people eat!
But it is hard to go to a restaurant. You should know all this! You are an
O&M!"

"Remember our agreement? I am not an O&M right now. And I want you to tell me.
I want to know what you think and feel about things. It's called getting to
know each other." As Reed turned to give their order to the waiter.

"So," Reed said, turning back to William. "Why is it hard to go to a
restaurant?"

"Restaurants never have Braille menus. Well, except for McDonald's and I hate
McDonald's! Growing up my O&M instructors always took me to McDonald's so that
I could practice my Braille reading and learn how to manage money. I haven't
been back to good old Mickey D's since." William shuddered at the memory.

"Yeah, McDonald's isn't my favorite place either," Reed agreed. "They have no
variety."

"I eat the same things all the time," William said. "And before you ask, it's
just easier to organize my cupboards if I just have the simple things. Like
soup, I only have chicken noodle, or ordering pizza. I know every pizza place
has pepperoni. Sometimes menus change but they always keep the basics."

"Well, this place has the basics but I think you will like the sundried tomato
and artichoke pizza. Maybe you be able to mix up your order a bit, the next
time you call for delivery." Reed encouraged.

William had to admit to himself that Reed was right. The pizza was amazing, the
brick oven crust was slightly crunch and the vegetables were fresh. The night
air was cool but not cold and the conversation flowed easily as they ate their
dinner.


As they walked back to his apartment, side by side, the tap of the cane on the
sidewalk the only noise, William was surprised to find that he had really
enjoyed himself. The beginning of the date had been such a disaster, he was
sure that Reed wouldn't want to see him again.

`This is why I don't date,' he thought to himself. `I get so out of control, I
can't calm myself down. No one wants to deal with the drama I create.'

"Thanks for dinner," William said, turning toward Reed as they stood in front of
the apartment building. "I really liked the pizza."

"I wondered, you only had six slices," Reed chuckled.

"It was good," William laughed back, then abruptly stopped as he felt Reed's
hands on his arms pulling him closer. William quickly brought the cane flush to
his body, so he wouldn't trip Reed.

"I would like to do this again," Reed said.

"Oh," was all William could think to reply. He was so sure that Reed wouldn't
want to see him again, he didn't know what to say.

"And I would like to kiss you goodnight," Reed said.

William could feel Reed's breath on his face as he stood frozen to
the spot.

"Umm, ok," William really didn't know what to do at this point. His few
previous dates had never asked for a kiss. They typically ran in the other
direction as soon as they were at William's door.

William didn't have time to get nervous as he felt Reed's lips press firmly to
his own. It was a quick kiss but it packed quite a punch to William's nether
region. He pulled back fast.

"Thanks for dinner," William said again.

"You already said that," Reed teased and William felt himself pulled back for
another quick kiss.

"How about we do this again on Wednesday?" Reed asked. "We could try the Greek
pizza. Broaden your eating habits a bit."

"Sure, sounds good." William replied.

After the date was set and William was inside his apartment, he couldn't help
but grin to himself as he thought of the next time he would see Reed. He would
be calm and not flip out again, he promised himself.

End part 2.