Josh stared blankly into the watery depths of the Seine, the sweet Parisian air wafting through his shoulder length hair. It was a beautiful day. The stone ledge beneath his arms was pleasantly warm, the bridge he was on was almost empty, the river below calm and the sky above serene. In the distance the Eiffel Tower was visible, rising above the other buildings, asserting its importance in a grand way. But all of this went unnoticed by Josh. All he could notice was the ever present nagging emptiness he felt inside himself. Why did I come here, he thought. I don�t feel any better than I did the moment I left New York. I�ve wasted weeks of my time, when I could have been working.

At the thought of work a grimace formed on his lips. Yeah Chasez, like you really miss work. He laughed to himself as he heard a deep voice begin talking behind him.

�Bonjour!�

Josh turned around to see a handsome man speaking to him in French. Before Josh could reply in any way, the man spoke again.

�Comment vous appelez vous?�

Josh just stared at the man in astonishment.

�Etes-vous d�accord?�

Blue eyes widened even more in confusion, and Josh opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off before any sound left his lips.

�Vous parlez fran�ais, n�est-ce pas?�

Josh�s eyes became even wider, and he reached into the messenger bag hanging from his shoulder. The stranger followed Josh�s movements with his eyes. Josh pulled out an English to French dictionary to try to figure out how to tell this nice, very attractive man that he couldn�t speak any French.

But the nice, very attractive man caught on very quickly. �Vous ne parlez pas fran�ais.�

Josh closed the book in defeat and said, �What?�

The stranger chuckled softly and ran a hand through his auburn spikes. �I�m sorry, I thought you were French.�

�You speak English?!�

�Yeah.�

�Then why were you just talking to me in French? Surely not everyone here is French.�

�No, I know. But you see, it�s the off season. So, I just assumed that you weren�t a tourist. And anyway, you don�t look like a tourist. I can see no camera to speak of.� He and Josh shared a smile. It was the first time in weeks, could it even had been years, that Josh smiled a genuine smile.

�Wait�that accent you�re sporting doesn�t sound French.�

The man blushed slightly, �Yeah, I�m not French. I was born in Mississippi.� Josh gave him a strange look and he continued, �I�m studying here in France. On an exchange program. I go to the University at the center of Paris.�

�Oh, sounds interesting.� Josh stared at the man a few seconds more and then stuck out his hand. �My name is Josh.�

�I�m Lance.� Lance took his hand and shook it gingerly. They let their hands linger until if it were any longer it would have been inappropriate. �So, what brings you here without knowing a lick of French?�

Josh smiled at Lance�s subtle playfulness; this man seemed to naturally put him at ease. But his mood changed slightly when he spoke. �I needed to get away from my life.�

�Oh.� Lance stopped there. He itched to ask more, but felt that he would be pushing too far. After all, he had just met Josh.

Josh�s demeanor changed back again just as quickly. �What brings you over here to talk to me?� Josh asked Lance, meeting his gaze. He cocked his head slightly and smirked as he continued, �Or do you always go up to random strangers that you think are French?�

Lance moved to lean against the ledge of the bridge, next to Josh. �No, I don�t come up to people often. It just looked like you could use some company. You looked lonely over here by yourself.�

�Oh, so this is a pity conversation, is it?� Josh asked with a smile.

�Not entirely, I also came over �cause I think that you�re cute.�

Josh was taken aback with surprise. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Lance smiled slightly and shifted his weight before continuing.

�I was on my way to the park, wanna come?�

�Oh, I don�t know�I should probably get back to my hotel.�

�C�mon. Come to the park with me. You can meet some of my friends. They�re waiting for me there.� Lance took his arm, and all Josh could do was smile goofily as he was pulled along.

�Ok.� Josh conceded. He was still lost in the touch on his arm. How could this man�s gentle grasp affect him so much? He didn�t even know who this Lance guy was. But that didn�t really matter, he felt a strange ease with Lance. An ease that he hadn�t felt in long time. So rather than ask himself questions, he decided to go wherever the flow would take him. Then suddenly the warmth was gone, and he snapped out of his small daze.

�I�m so glad that I didn�t offend you.� Lance offered after a few minutes of walking in silence.

�For wanting me to come to the park?� Josh feigned confusion.

�No� For what I said before. Some guys would have run screaming into the Alps.�

�Yeah, I know what you mean.� Josh glanced sideways at Lance. �And besides, I�m not the type of guy to run screaming from another man.�

�I�ve gathered as much.� Lance said with a chuckle. They shared a look and smiled as they walked through the entrance to the park.

Chapter 2

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