As Tom walks along the streets of New York City, he is reminded of the many times he was here with Robert. February, November, last summer... Ah, last summer. Weeks of Rob and Tom. Tom and Rob. The warm weather and scorching sun of this beautiful April day remind Tom of gorgeous summer days walking around the city with Rob. But Robert isn't here now. He's in Budapest.. If Robert were in the States, he'd be at the screening with Tom. He'd whisper words of encouragement inside the theater. He'd be there even if he had a prior engagement. Even if she called. Robert has always been there for Tom. This will never change.
As he walks the streets alone, Tom passes stores selling thousands and thousands of buttons and beads. The smoky blue-grey beads in the window remind him of how he can never describe the color of Robert's eyes. He remembers the way Rob used to look at him before she came along with her long brown hair and endless legs and soft, soft skin. My skin is just as soft, if not softer, Tom says to himself. He walks inside, unafraid of who may see him. When he's not with Robert, he is practically invisible.
Carefully, he chooses a thin strap of leather. Robert likes leather, he says to himself. Tom doesn't choose a thick band like that monstrosity Robert wore as Edward Cullen that covered his entire wrist. No. Robert has wonderful wrists. The thin leather will only accentuate the wrist upon which he chooses to wear the bracelet.
At the last moment, Tom decides to purchase a handful of clear blue beads along with the smoky ones he had seen in the window.
Instead of having dinner with the cast, Tom sits in his hotel room carefully threading the beads along the leather strap and knotting the ends. It's almost midnight when Tom dashes out of the hotel and to the FedEx office down the street. Ah, New York City. So convenient with your twenty-four hour FedEx locations. With a smile on his face, he drops the bracelet with clear blue beads into an envelope, addressing it to a hotel in faraway Budapest.
He hums a song as he walks back to his hotel. Tomorrow night, when he's at the premiere, he'll wear his bracelet knowing that somewhere hundreds of miles away, Robert is wearing his too. Clear blue beads on Rob's elegant wrist. Will Rob think of Tom's eyes when he first opens the package? Will his heart flutter and will a small smile appear on his lips? Tom can only hope...
Tom thinks of Rob over the next couple of days. They speak on the phone. They rendezvous on Skype. He thanks Tom for the bracelet. A week later, Tom does not expect to see a picture of a jetlagged Kristen Stewart walking around an airport, a familiar-looking bracelet with clear blue beads on her wrist. Tom runs out of his flat and down the busy streets of London until he reaches the Thames. The blue-grey beads that made him think of his best friend's eyes are lost in the murky waters of the ancient river. Like Rob's love for Tom, they are lost.