“Are you not enjoying our date?” Darren asks, face tight with concern.
Jaime drops his fingers and stops in the middle of the street. “May I be honest?”
“Yes?” he replies in a soft, cautious voice.
Jaime licks his lower lip and lowers his head. “You’re too wonderful to me. I feel that I cannot live up to how lovely you are to me. Right now, I’m miserable. I’m incredibly stressed about my exam, the aspirin is wearing off and my sprained ankle is aching, and I’ve been terribly hungry all day. Honestly I just feel so frustrated, I want nothing more than to sit down and throw a tantrum until someone just…takes care of me. I’m trying to focus on our date instead.”
Darren’s face changes. “Why didn’t you tell me you felt so poorly?”
“Because all I want is to spend time with you, but I feel like I’m squandering it,” Jaime replies, quickly brushing a tear off his check.
“Aww Jaime, you’re so tender right now, but you still tried to be so strong for me.” Darren kisses the tear streaming down his cheek, and is pleased to see it got Jaime to smile.
“Your lips…are um, very soft.” Jaime shouldn’t have been surprised that Darren took that as a hint to kiss him properly then, but he’s so stunned and the butterflies are going crazy in his stomach, that he just stands there frozen.
Darren waits for a response, hazel eyes sparkling.
“I feel immensely lighter now,” Jaime whispers.
Darren smiles and hooks his fingers with Jaime’s. “Why don’t we find a cafe, get you a nosh, get you some aspirin, then go back to your place to study?”
Jaime’s eyebrow go up. “Won’t that bore you?”
“The city will be here for other dates in the future. As long as we are spending time together, I’m fine.”
Jaime squeezes Darren’s hand. “You are wonderful. Let’s find a place with good desserts. I’m treating you.”
Darren groans. “Oh first you let me kiss you then ply me with sugar. I am helpless to this.”
Jaime laughs. “Too bad!”
Later, they were sitting in Jaime’s living room, Darren helping him with flashcards for his paramedic’s exam. A box of pastries, half consumed, was opened on the table, surrounded by tea cups. A soft rumble of thunder catches their attention, and the over-cast day becomes a rainy one.
They both looked out the window, then at each-other.
“If you hadn’t suggested we go in, we’d be out in the botanical gardens right now, soaked!”
Jaime blushes a little. “Hooray for my whining?”
“Hooray indeed.” Darren looks pleased with himself. He fingers a flashcard. “I perhaps may like to reward you for it later.”
“Reward me?”
“…Would it be uncouth to ask to spend the night Jaime?”
Jaime turns a fine shade of red. “That would be nice. I’m not sure if um, I’m ready you know…to go all the way…” he muttered, making a circular gesture with his hands.
Darren leaned forward and put a hand on top of Jaime’s foot that was elevated on the arm of the sofa. “Even if you just let me kiss and cuddle you, I’ll be happy.”
Jaime smiles and hides behind his textbook. He was going to let Darren do more than that.
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Captions are fictional.