Author's Note:
Billy had not meant to snoop. It was just that sometimes it was kind of hard to know which of the stuff on his living room floor was his and which was Dom's.
Billy was not quite sure when Dom had ended up spending at least two nights every week in his spare bedroom. It just seemed convenient when Billy drove them back from the shoot or the pub and their wake-up call was only a couple of hours away. So Dom started taking along a change of clothes, a CD he was listening to, or a book he was reading and forgot to take them back to his place, while Billy freed part of his bathroom shelf for Dom's shampoo and shaving cream and started buying Dom's brand of beer and his favorite TV magazine.
The only drawback in their arrangement was the fact that Dom was messy. Not in an annoying, making-you-trip-on-your-way-to-the-bathroom kind, but he had the habit of making small piles of stuff on Billy's living room floor. He claimed that it was much easier to find things this way.
And sometimes those piles also contained stuff that belonged to Billy, because Dom was being 'helpful'. So, all things considered, it was all Dom's fault that Billy had mistaken Dom's journal for one of his own notebooks, had opened it at a bookmark, and had read this:
I love the sound of your voice. You could read the phone book and I'd be there. Funny -- I've never been able to puzzle out what you Scots say, but it's like you're speaking right into my head, saying everything that I've always wanted to hear.
He was still staring at Dom's messy handwriting when he heard Dom come in. The confusion in his mind was instantly wiped away to make room for deep embarrassment and guilt. He could hardly look Dom into the eyes, because after all he was kneeling on the floor reading Dom's most private thoughts -- about him.
"Sorry," he mumbled, hastily closing the book, trapping his finger, which had been tracing the words on the page. "I... I was just cleaning and... I didn't mean to snoop, I just..." His nervous ramblings petered off as he finally looked up. Dom was standing there, arms crossed, and eyes dancing with amusement, obviously waiting for Billy to continue. Billy looked down at the book in his hands again, noticing for the first time that it was, in fact, wrapped in a sleeve just like the one around Billy's notebook.
He looked up once more, a smile warming his face. "Or was I?" He stood and approached Dom slowly, who licked his lips in nervous anticipation. Billy's smile got wider as he stopped right in front of Dom. "Was I meant to snoop, Dom?"
Billy took Dom's face in both hands, and the journal fell forgotten to the floor, destroying one of Dom's neat piles.
42 Comments