The road was empty. The sky was clear, and the air felt warm.

And slow music was playing from the radio as the car sputtered one final time before burning out a plume of smoke and dying on the side of an old county road.

River Hayes slammed the steering wheel in frustration, frowning at the empty stretch of road ahead.

There wasn't another car in sight. Not even a tree tall enough to hide in the shade.

"Perfect," he muttered. "Just what I needed."

His phone had already died down to seven percent, and: no signal. After pacing for ten minutes in the morning heat, River grabbed his backpack, locked the car, and began walking. It took him nearly an hour to stumble upon a big rusted welcome sign:

Welcome to Rust Valley – Pop. 2368

"Oh great," he grumbled. Walking down the town square, a quaint, sun-splashed space with an old diner, a general store, a post office that looked abandoned, and a few scattering shops. It was already late afternoon, and the heat was still burning hot and making him regret wearing his sweater that morning.

River stopped in front of the old diner.

"Can I help ya, hon?" asked a woman from a rocking chair outside. She was probably in her sixties, wearing a purple floral apron.

River hesitated. "Uh, yeah. My car broke down up the road. Smoke and all. Any place nearby that could help me out? And maybe a way to charge my phone?"

"That'd be Jesse you're wantin'. Best mechanic in three counties. Smarter than half the lot here and better with engines than the manual I tell ya." A man sitting nearby chimed in. "He's out at Rourke's Garage, just past the post office. Big red building. Can't miss it, son."

River frowned. "Jesse? That doesn't sound promising." Already thinking about the extra money he would need to pay to get it repaired as fast as possible.

"Oh, don't let the name fool ya," the woman laughed.

"That big giant is more than capable, ya'll know him when ya see him."

River sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Let me guess. He's eighty, grumpy, and won't lift a finger without a five-week waitlist."

"Go see for ya'self," she said with a knowing smirk.

The walk to Rourke's Garage was short, and River was standing in front of a large, timeworn barn-like building, painted a bright red sooner than expected.

Inside, the smell of grease, rubber, and metal filled his lungs. It made River think back to the times he tried to fix his tires for the first time with his older brother. And he couldn't help but relax a little from the chaotic morning so far.

A country song hummed low from a radio somewhere.

Then came the sound of footsteps. And when River stepped closer, he froze.

The man walking towards him was not eighty.

He didn't seem grumpy, either.

He was shirtless, tan, and build like someone who used tools for a living. His blonde curls stuck out from beneath a faded ball cap, deep blue eyes like the wide ocean sea. He was wiping his hands on a rag, grease on his biceps and across one cheekbone.

"Can I help ya?" he asked, voice slow and smooth, tinged with a thick country drawl. River blinked, his hands tightening around his bag.

"Uh. You're Jesse?"

"That's what they keep callin' me." he answered with a bright smile.

River swallowed.

"I...Uh..My, my car broke down. Up the road. Bit of smoke. People in town said you were the guy." Jesse grinned.

"They always say that when someone's in trouble. Lucky for you, I like trouble." he said with a wink.

Already gathering a few tools.

River didn't know what stunned him more, how attractive Jesse was, or how casually flirty that last line had sounded to him.

"Name?" Jesse asked while checking different boxes.

"I..I'm River."

"River?" Jesse stepped closer, lifting a brow. "Like a babblin' brook kind of River?"

He flushed. "Yeah, whatever you want- fuck- yes, yeah sure."

"Well, River," Jesse said chuckling and pulling a bag around his broad shoulder, "let's go rescue your city-boy car before it melts into m'road."

River was officially intrigued. And maybe, just maybe, a little doomed.

To be continued... 

While Jesse towed River's car back to the garage, River took up temporary residence in the town's only motel, a crooked little place run by a sweet old man named Burt and his relentlessly chipper wife, Jen.

With nothing to do and Jesse waiting on parts to arrive, River found himself roped into helping the locals.

It started on the second day, when the old lady Miss Edith who helped him yesterday, asked him to help move a few crates in exchange for lunch. Then the general store's bell broke, and he offered to fix it.

River was suddenly delivering pies, stacking feed bags, and repainting the fence around the community park.

And everywhere he went, Jesse was there too. Helping Miss Edith fix the old icebox.

Rewiring lights at an old shop. Adjusting porch steps at the library.

"Do you do everything around town?" River asked one day as they worked in the back of the diner.

Jesse shrugged at that, tightening a bolt.

"I like being useful. And folks here don't have much. Feels good to help ya know?"

That got River feeling bad for adding even more work on his hands with his stupid car, but he shook it off, not wanting to sour the mood.

"You're like the town golden retriever." he said sounding rather charmed.

"I prefer sexy handyman," Jesse teased with a wink.

River scoffed but turned away quickly to hide his blush.

"I would prefer my car fixed and ready to go..." he said quietly.

"Guess our preferences don't match then city-boy." Jesse countered with a soft chuckle.

River felt his face burn even more.

Their banter grew easier. River found himself looking forward to each encounter with the other man.

And when Jesse offered him a ride out to the old lake, to stop thinking for a bit, he agreed.

They drove in Jesse's old pickup, windows down and a cool wind around them.

Jesse's left arm hung out the window, the veins in his forearms catching River's eye way too often.

When they arrived, it was quiet. The water calm and the air humid.

Sitting side by side, Jesse pulled out two sodas and tossed one to River.

"You always bring strangers to this magical reservoir?" River asked.

"Nah. Just the ones who walk around town lookin' all sad n'lost." Jesse answered with a teasing pout.

River rolled his eyes. "I'm not lost."

"You are," Jesse said gently. "Maybe not geographically. But there's something in ya pretty eyes."

That shut River up. The remark hitting more then he wanted to let on.

"I like it here," Jesse added, shifting the tone. "Makes me feel small in a good way. Like metaphorically, not physically of course."

River couldn't help but smile at that, watching the water.

"I used to go to a lake with my dad. Before he left."

"Yeah?" Jesse asked softly.

River nodded. "Yeah, I was younger, didn't really know him anyway, it was just me and my older brother after that. Feels like a lifetime ago." He explained nostalgic.

Jesse's knee brushed his. It lingered. "You don't talk about yourself much I guess?" Jesse teased.

"Neither do you." River answered playfully.

"I'm an open book!" Jesse shot back, throwing his arms wide open.

"You're a worn-out paperback with half the pages missing." River stated as a matter of fact.

Jesse laughed. "And you're trouble with pretty eyes."

They sat closer now, knees touching as they enjoyed the sweet and intimate moment.

"You always flirt this much?" River asked, his voice low. "Nah. Only with one special passerby."

River looked at him, mesmerized by the annoyingly cute freckles around his nose and cheeks.

Jesse looked right back.

Something in the air shifted. A pause full of electricity falling between them.

And for the first time, River didn't want to leave.

To be continued...

With his car in Jesse's hands, River had time and nothing else to do exept wait for Jesse to finish fixing his car.

He had called his brother today and showed him the town, and all the elders he met.

The town was small. Real small. But it wasn't unfriendly.

"River, right?" asked a guy his age stocking crates behind the corner store. "Heard you helped Miss Bonnie with her garden."

"Word travels fast," River muttered.

"Especially when you're the only fresh face in town." he winked.

River kept doing odd tasks, today it was fixing an old lady's laptop, yesterday it was painting a shed and helping at the diner during a rush. Before he knew, a week had already passed.

Jesse was always around, fixing something, driving someone, chatting and laughing like he had everything he wished for in the world.

"You're makin' us look bad," Jesse teased one day as they carried crates together.

"Keep this up and they'll never let ya leave."

River rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and you'd miss having someone around who isn't allergic to your stupid jokes."

Jesse just grinned.

"Nah. I'd miss the way you keep lookin' at me when you think I ain't watchin'." He said with a teasing spark in his eyes. River choked on nothing. "I do not-"

"You do." Jesse winked. "And it's cute."

One evening, Jesse pulled up in his truck.

"Wanna ride out to the lake again? Bonfire tonight. I'll introduce some folks more ya speed."

"Is this your way of finally admitting you're not the only hot guy in town?"

Jesse chuckled. "Depends, but I'm the only one fixin' ya car though."

..

The bonfire was lively, full of laughter and sining, music from someone's guitar, and half a dozen people around: Jesse's cousins, friends in and out of town, even a couple guys from the next county over.

River didn't know what to expect, but he felt oddly welcomed by everyone.

Jesse introduced River to his circle. "This here's my guy, River. Don't let the city smirk fool ya'll. He's alright." River scoffed, bumping Jesse with his shoudler. "Your guy?"

Jesse leaned close. "Unless you're objectin'?"

River flushed but said nothing.

He was quiet at first, taking everything around him in but slowly, with Jesse's arm brushing his, the warmth of the fire and the pull of something undeniable between them, he relaxed.

As the fire dimmed and the crowd tailed off all around, Jesse and River sat shoulder to shoulder.

"You ever think about just...stopping?" River asked, feeling almost sentimental,

"Not running to the next thing. Just staying?"

Jesse looked at him, face lit gold by the flames. "Yeah. I do now Riv,"

River turned, wanting to be even closer to the endlessly gentle and kind man beside him.

And before either could say anything else, Jesse grabbed River's face between his large hands and kissed him. Softly but certain.

...

The drive back to Jesse's place was charged with tension, that had been building for weeks now.

Jesse's hand kept finding River's thigh, squeezing and stroking as they sped down the dark road. River couldn't stop touching Jesse either, fingers through the other man's hair, tracing the strong line of his jaw, brushing over the growing bulge in his jeans.

Trying to get as close as the tiny space of Jesse's old pickup would allow.

"Fuck, Riv," Jesse growled as he pulled into the parking lot.

"I want ya' all over me, feelin' every part..." River groaned at the promise.

"Less talking, more doing baby," he panted, his hands roaming up and down Jesse's thick biceps, as Jesse tried to open his door handle.

They practically fell into the room, clothes flying in their haste to get naked.

-(CUT OUT)-

They collapsed together, a tangle of sated limbs. Trying to catch their breath.

Jesse pressed a tender kiss to River's damp forehead. "You're mine Riv, no matter where you are."

River smiled softly, tracing Jesse's lips with his finger.

The glow in his eyes saying everything that he didn't tell Jesse yet.

To be continued...