vallentiro14:

Man, I think my hair is already thinning. Ugh. I feel so gross. I’ve been eating like crap lately. I look half dead. I don’t think this guy is gonna want to put up with me tonight. Probably should just save myself spending all this money, and eat Mac n Cheese instead of expensive bar food and beer. Michael sighed. He walked past the slacks and cardigan he’d tossed on the bed, toward the nightstand, and unplugged his phone from the charging cable. There was a text message waiting for him:
“Hi Michael. I know it’s silly but like I’m so excited for our date tonight. Looking forward to meeting you in person 🙂 I’m heading out soon!”
Michael did not know what to make of that. It was so foreign to him. Aiden’s looking forward to meeting me? He’s excited? Like…why on Earth. Michael’s fingers floated over the keyboard on his screen, trying to figure out what to type. Eating Mac n Cheese in his underwear was going to be a much more dour affair if it was overshadowed by the fact that he’d broken a boy’s heart tonight by cancelling the date. Aiden was cute…and talking to him had been like the only nice thing about his day lately.
“You’re actually excited to meet me?” Michael typed.
“??? Yeah? I mean, I’ve been enjoying talking to you a lot. Like, I don’t want to emotionally dump on you right now, but I’ve been having a bit of a rough time lately and sometimes our conversations just light up my day.”
Michael bit his lip. His finger hovered again. “I kind of feel the same way. Everything sucks lately but talking to you.” He exhaled. Somehow it was just easier to write the truth instead of making up bullshit. “Listen, Aiden. I have to be honest. I’m just not really feeling like I want to be in a crowded, loud bar n grille right now. Do you want to just come over, we can make Mac n Cheese, and hang out? I have Mario Kart…Uno…we could watch a movie maybe?”

Michael watched the “…” appear on his screen to indicate Aiden was typing. Michael was not expecting to feel butterflies in his stomach. The text message came through.
”Omg are you psychic? I have been totally craving mac n cheese lately. I feel you about the crowded bar thing. I’m so worn out from work, hanging out in a quiet apartment sounds so much better. Btw have you ever made Mac n Cheese from scratch? I have the ingredients, it’s totally bomb.”
Michael didn’t realize he was smiling. “You can make it from scratch?? That’s possible?“
“Yeah! It’s not that hard. And super good. My apartment’s next to a deli, I’ll pick up some ham on the way so we can make a meal out of it.” A second message followed. “Also you better be careful about offering to play Mario Kart because I will destroy you.”

Michael sat on the bed and shot back a response. Before he realized it, ten minutes had passed of back-and-forth texting.
Another message from Aiden popped up. “Ok, I think I have everything. I’m gonna head out. I’ll text you when I get there. Looking forward to seeing you!”
“Looking forward to seeing you too.” Michael sent it and lowered his phone. Huh. He looked over at the clothes he laid out. He swapped his khakis for comfortable jeans, and his sweater for a band tee and a favorite zip-up hoodie. Seemed like a much better outfit for cooking mac n cheese from scratch.
Oh shit. Michael suddenly thought of all the dishes in the sink and bolted to the kitchen to get them done. It had to look somewhat decent in here. A cute boy was coming over, after all. 

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Captions are fictional.