Planting Seeds Of Dates

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The movie ended, and Victor somehow disappeared, along with Sebastian. James was clueless about what they were talking about or what they were doing. It could've been about painting; it could've been about the most traumatic events in Victor's life. The uncertainty killed James. He ached to know, but he was aware it was none of his business.


He lay on the floor in Oliver's room, surrounded by plushies and odd posters. His boyfriend crawled on top of him. James hugged him and started playing with his hair. Ollie's hair was puffy and curly. It was the most beautiful shade of strawberry blonde he had ever seen. But he thought about that all the time when it came to Oliver. Then he thought about Victor. Each time they were close, he wanted nothing more than to reach towards him and embrace him. He wanted to press his lips against the side of his neck.


"What am I going to do?" James asked. "Am I really being unfair? Overprotective? Nagging?"

"A little." Ollie was drawing small circles on his chest with his finger.

"But what am I going to do? We should ask him out."

Oliver stopped doodling imaginary shapes on him and lifted his head. James was unsure about what kind of feelings were flashing in his eyes. Concern? Maybe. Or maybe Oliver figured how much of a complete fool he was and started reevaluating his choices in men.

"I love you," Ollie started, which James correlated with you're an idiot, "but your timing isn't the best. He's angry at us, he'll say no. You'll cry. I'll cry. And I told you, I'm not pretty when I cry."

"No crying." James pinched his cheeks. "When do you think we could? I'm not really... well - I know we agreed on waiting for therapy and all that, but he won't do it soon."

Ollie signed. "He'll think we only want him to get better because we want to date him. And this is the sole reason we hang out with him."

"Ah, shit," James dropped his arm over his eyes. Ollie was right. Of course, he was right.


Yet, he couldn't stand the tension anymore, the constant need to be around Victor. James knew how utterly selfish that was. So he took those feelings, those burning, scorching, vivid images he had wandering around in his head, wrapped them into a neat package and shoved them deep within himself. They were going to manifest into some weird dreams. He was sure of that.

James' phone buzzed in his pocket. He had enough wits figure out who it was. Dread washed over him. He didn't want to talk to his mother again and hear the accusation in her voice. He wasn't prepared for yelling. James took the device out of his pocket, looked at the screen, and confirmed his suspicions. He rejected the call.

"Your mom?" Ollie asked.

James nodded.

"Don't you think you should talk -"

"No." James' voice came out harsher than he had intended.

"But what if it's impor-"

"Drop it." James cut in.

"Ok." Ollie signed. James heard the defeat in his voice. He kissed his head and hugged him tighter.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap."


The door opened, and Victor stopped mid-step, carrying Freckle in his arms. James had to take a moment to admire the cat. He had never seen a cat with such round eyes, or such a round head, or such a round body. It was adorable.

He waved at Victor.

"Join us," Ollie said.

"No, I'd rather not ruin my back just yet." Victor sat on the edge of the bed. Freckle was attempting to climb on his shoulder.

"Did you paint?" James asked, craving to know at least something about what happened.

"Yeah," Victor shrugged, "I think I like it. I think I'm going to continue."

James smiled widely. His heart felt tight.

"I'll go grab some snacks," James' said, rolling Oliver off of him like he was a little whining tube. Oliver pouted at him as he got up.

"It's for the greater good." James shrugged.

Victor had been ignoring them, more or less, his attention captivated by Freckle.

"Your cat has thumbs!" Victor was excited by this new discovery.

"Oh yeah!" Ollie got up from the floor and sat next to him.

James left the room. The kitchen light was on, and Sebastian was sitting at the table, working on his laptop. James couldn't get over how big the kitchen was. He had lived in an apartment all his life, and the only downstairs he knew was the outside world. A thought crossed his mind; he probably wouldn't have been caught by his parents if he lived in a house.

He didn't resent that anymore, though. It was through this misfortune that he ended up meeting Oliver and Victor.


"Uhm, hi?" James said, awkwardly making his way to the countertop, where the mountain of snacks waited.

"Hey." Sebastian looked up from his laptop and smiled, "Came hunting for some unhealthy alternatives to fruit?"

"Yeah," James said. His phone started vibrating again. He turned it off this time, trying to keep his anger in check. He wanted to toss it across the room.

"Is everything ok?" Sebastian asked, the tone almost the same as Oliver's.

"Yes, no, I think? It's um, my parents keep calling me just to shout at me for not being my brother." He shrugged, opening a bag of chips.

"Of course you're not your brother. You're you, and that's great."

"Thanks, Ollie's dad."

"Ollie's dad is still better than sir!"

"I'm sorry, it still feels weird calling you by your name."

"That's ok. You'll get the hang of it soon." Sebastian turned towards him. "Just so you know, it's not your responsibility to mend your parents' feelings. It's their responsibility to take care of you. You're a good kid."

"Thanks, thank you..." He scratched the back of his head, not knowing what else he could possibly say. He wasn't good with compliments. Was this even a compliment? It sounded like one.

"No need to thank me, James," Sebastian said.

James grabbed a few more bags of chips before making his way out of the kitchen.

"Ok, but thank you anyway."


James' ears were burning. When he returned to Oliver's room, he found him glued to Victor's side, looking into his Switch. Calming music was coming out of the console. He was probably playing Animal Crossing again.

James smiled and dropped all the snacks on the bed.

Oliver reached over and grabbed one, ate a chip, then held one next to Victor's mouth.

Victor was focused on his game, he didn't put in the effort to look up from his console, but he did eat the treat Ollie offered.

James wanted to ask him out. James wanted to ask him out more than anything. James was going to ask him out.

Victor wanted to make his own decision, so he was going to give him at least that. 



Author's note<3: 

It seems that James is going to go for it soon. Asking Vic out sounds difficult! How should he do it?Should he even do it? What's for lunch? So many questions!

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