Dusk (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 35 - Rumors

In the silence that followed, my eyes studied the restaurant we'd parked in front of. The lighting inside had a dark orange glow, and the bulbs looked like bubbles hanging from the ceiling. There was a beautiful small oak tree in front of the building, with fairy lights wrapped around the branches. It's leaves seemed unwilling to drop, as half of them still clung to the oak though it was the middle of winter.

This is a fancy restaurant...

Rowan's hands were still holding mine, and I gently withdrew my left hand to wipe away the traces of tears that were left.

"Do you still wanna go in?" Rowan's tone had changed, and I could tell we were done talking about his father. I was relieved.

"Uh, sure," I pulled down the sun visor above me to look at the small mirror. My eyes weren't puffy yet, but they were a bit more red than I would've preferred. "Shit," I whispered quietly at my appearance.

"What's wrong?" Rowan asked, and I quickly flipped the visor back up.

"Nothing, I just look like trash." I muttered quickly, reaching down to zip up my jacket.

"No," Rowan's fingers tilted my head back up towards him, before leaning forward and planting a soft kiss against my lips. His were warm against mine, but it was short-lived as he pulled away and said, "you look amazing."

I sat back as my heart pounded madly, too stunned to find anything to say, surprised that Rowan risked the possibility of someone seeing us- seeing him kissing a boy. "Ready?" He asked. I quickly nodded, knowing my face was blushing furiously as I was unable to hide the smile that'd spread across it.

I walked next to him on the way in, feeling safe that he was next to me, but more self-conscious at the same time. Attention followed him everywhere in this town, and I wondered how he put up with it all.

The host sat us at a table in the back of the restaurant, so luckily we weren't front and center for the whole world to see.

My face was still warm after the kiss, and I distracted myself by staring intently at the menu, while not really taking in any information.

Is this a date?

No, it couldn't be. I'd know if I were on a date. Then again it was a very fancy restaurant, and Rowan had kissed me in the car like it was nothing...

"The garlic bread is really good here," Rowan said, and I looked up to see him watching me with interest. His menu remained closed, and I realized I must've looked ridiculous hunched over the menu with my unmoving eyes glued to the words.

"Oh," I hadn't said a word since he'd kissed me. "Uh, what are you gonna order?"

"Chicken piccata. You?"

I hadn't the faintest clue what I wanted to eat, so I closed my eyes and pointed to a random spot on the menu.

"Looks like I'm getting penne with pink vodka sauce."

"Wow," Rowan's eyes were gleaming with amusement as he held back a laugh. "You got your fake id on you?"

"Oh, ha ha." I closed my menu, feeling my nerves settle a bit at the sight of Rowan's smile. "Yes I'll be sure to pull out a fake over some pasta sauce."

After the waiter came by and took our orders, Rowan sat back, looking as nonchalant as ever. I wondered how he did it, how he was always so comfortable in any setting no matter what.

He's normal, you're fucked up.

I adjusted in my seat, looking around the restaurant. It was a slightly older crowd. There was a group of men in suits at one table, likely conducting business. There were well-dressed couples at other tables, some lost in each other's eyes, others distracted on their phones.