Title: Reach Out and Touch
Author: Leela (leela_cat)
Pairing/Characters: Adam/Tommy
Rating: PG
Word Count: 11x100
Content/Warning(s): AU
Author's notes: Written for glam_100, prompt #068: taste. Many thanks to aislinntlc for the preread. The gorgeous banner with Adam, Tommy, and my lovely Leo is by moodwriter, who is all kinds of wonderful.

This continues from last week's drabble-set, Rockin' the Real Job.




Traffic is crawling along the streets between the studio in Burbank and Adam's place up in the hills. Forcing himself not to white-knuckle the steering wheel, Tommy tries to focus on the traffic and not Adam.

"God damn it. Watch where you're fucking going." He slams on the brakes as an asshole in a pimped-up ride, shitty rap blaring from his overburdened speakers, almost takes off his front bumper.

Adam, thank fuck, doesn't attempt to hit the imaginary passenger-side brakes or clutch the door handle. He just says, "So I'm thinking we should talk when we get to my place."

.o0O0o.

The light changes, and Tommy uses that as an excuse not to respond to Adam. He can't distract his brain though, and it tosses out some truly insane stuff that Adam might want to talk to him about. None of them have shit-all to do with what's really going on though.

"Music?" Adam asks.

Strangling the urge to kiss Adam for changing the subject in his brain, Tommy says, "Got Pantera in the stereo. Rest of the CDs are in the glove box."

Adam flips through a stack of CDs, ending up with Violator, Ziggy Stardust, and Hoodoo Man Blues.

.o0O0o.

"Interesting taste you've got. I'm guessing pop's not your thing."

Tommy snorts and flips off a grandma who honks at him as she zooms up the hill on the wrong side of the double-yellow line. He floors the gas, getting a bit more speed out of his car, and says, "Good music's my thing."

"Mine too." Adam slots Violator into the stereo and spins down the volume when "World in my Eyes" blasts out. He sings along. "Let me take you on a trip. Around the world and back."

"Yeah," Tommy murmurs, rapping out the beat on the steering wheel.

.o0O0o.

Gahan and Adam are singing "Flesh and bone by the telephone" when Tommy pulls up to a gated entrance.

It feels almost criminal to interrupt "Personal Jesus" but he turns the music off before opening his window. The last words he hears, "You need to confess," echo through his mind as Adam talks with the guard, and all the way to visitor parking.

Even worse, Tommy's brain kicks into gear when Adam places a hand on Tommy's lower back to usher him into the elevator. Adam's palm is like a brand against Tommy's skin, right through Tommy's t-shirt and hoodie.

.o0O0o.

Adam's living room has floor to ceiling windows. Tommy gives them a sour glance before sitting on the couch with his back against the arm, facing away from the probably spectacular view.

"So," he says when Adam comes out in ripped jeans, a well-worn t-shirt, and bare feet. He licks his lips, which have suddenly become dry, and tastes the remnants of his lip-gloss.

"So," Adam repeats, handing Tommy a glass of wine. He sits opposite Tommy, one leg curled under him and the other foot flat on the floor.

Taking a sip of his wine, Tommy asks, "This thing?"

.o0O0o.

"I don't... I can't—" Adam sighs, staring down at his glass, tapping a ring against it. It chimes like the crystal Tommy's mom's uses on holidays. He stops just when it gets annoying enough for Tommy to contemplate smashing the glass, and looks up.

"I didn't mean to upset you," Adam says, then gulps some of his wine.

Shocked, Tommy blinks at him. "Upset me?" He goes back over everything that's happened between them, coming up blank. "Huh?"

"I wouldn't have kissed you if I'd known you had a girlfriend."

"Leo?" Tommy inhales his own spit and chokes on it.

.o0O0o.

By the time Tommy stops coughing, he's red-faced and embarrassed as all hell. He drinks the water Adam offers him and then more wine. When Adam sits down, Tommy says, "Leo's a friend, totally not my girlfriend. She's like the best big sister ever."

Saying that feels like a betrayal of his own sister, but that doesn't make it a lie. Tommy doesn't love Lisa any less, but she didn't help him when he needed it. She hasn't tried calling in months.

"Sister." Adam says the word slowly, rolling it around in his mouth as if he's tasting it. "Oh."

.o0O0o.

"Besides, Leo wouldn't be interested in me unless I had an unexpected sex change." Tommy shudders. "And hell to the no on that."

Adam doesn't smile the way Tommy expects. Instead he looks unhappier. He tings his ring against the glass again, just once, then reaches up to play with his earrings. He turns the spacer in his left ear around and around as he talks.

"This thing between us, I don't think I'm imagining it. You have to be feeling it too."

Tommy wants to answer, but his tongue feels like it's stuck to the roof of his mouth.

.o0O0o.

"At least I thought you were, but then you ran." Adam drinks the rest of his wine, puts the glass down on the table, and begins to turn his ring around his finger. "I didn't mean to force you, didn't mean to make you think that you didn't have a choice."

"No," Tommy says, but Adam continues as if he hadn't said anything.

"Just tell me no, and I'll let you go. As long as you still play for me, because that's got nothing to do with anything else. And be my friend, because this thing could easily become that."

.o0O0o.

"No," Tommy repeats, and this time, Adam looks up at him, his eyes wide.

"Okay." Adam nods. "Fine."

Tommy's heart sinks into his stomach, and he drops his glass on the floor so he can move forward enough to lay his hand on top of Adam's. "I'm a fucking idiot, okay? I didn't mean 'no, let me go'. I meant 'no, I don't want you as a friend'."

"But you'll still play for me?"

If there'd been a wall nearby, Tommy would have banged his head against it. Instead he grabs onto Adam's hands to stop him from pulling away.

.o0O0o.

"Stop fucking jumping to conclusions," Tommy says, "and, like, give me a chance to finish."

Adam nods and turns his hands around, threading their fingers together and holding on. Curling his fingers, Tommy does the same thing.

Tommy's heart feels like it's about to burst out of his chest. All he can taste is his own fear. But he swallows it down and forces himself to speak.

"No, I don't want you to be my friend. I want to give this thing between us a chance. But I'm pretty fucked up." He bites his lip. "You probably shouldn't want me."

Promises in Purple Ink continues in Falling.


.