Delicate

Chapter Twenty Seven

"This was so good," Ben said with a groan as he sat back on his chair. He kept a hand on his belly, making Milan chuckle, "can I keep him?"

"Sorry, afraid I'm already taken," Leo replied. He glanced towards Milan, winking at him before finishing his own plate of food.

"Damn, I guess I'll just have to- excuse me," Ben paused as his phone rang. He picked up the call. "Hey... Nah, really sorry, man, I can't make it tonight... I know, I know... Something came up last minute... I know, dude, I'll tell Josh why I couldn't make it... You know I wouldn't skip it if it wasn't something important... Yeah... Yeah, I'll talk to them... Okay... Cool, bye man, sorry again."

"Everything cool?" Milan asked his brother.

"Yeah, it's just a friend's birthday and we had a surprise party of sorts planned but-"

"You don't have to ditch your friends for us," Milan frowned, "it's okay, really. You can go."

"Nah, it's fine. I'm not gonna leave you alone when it's your first time at my place," Ben shook his head.

"Ben, seriously, we'll be fine for a few hours. Besides, I was probably going to hit the sack soon anyway. You should go," Milan insisted.

"Uh," Ben looked a bit unsure, he really wanted to spend time with his brother, but cancelling on prior commitments seemed rude as well, "are you sure?"

"Yep." Milan responded, Ben glanced towards Leo, who simply shrugged. He knew it wasn't his place to give an opinion.

"Alright then," Ben said as he got up from the chair, "I'll be back in a few hours, then. By one, at max. I'll take the keys so you guys won't have to stay up."

"Cool," Milan nodded as he got up as well, and gathered all the plates. Leo helped him do so, and the two went to the kitchen to do the dishes while Ben got ready to leave.

Once Ben left, the two boys plopped on the couch, tired after the long day. Leo kept an arm around Milan's shoulder, pulling him closer. Milan readjusted himself, before laying down on the couch and keeping his head on Leo's lap.

Leo absentmindedly started playing with Milan's hair, as the other boy checked his phone. He had a bunch of texts from Quinn, considering he had been MIA the entire day. He quickly replied, giving them a brief of what happened. Sadly, Quinn was the only person he had messages from. None from his parents.

He sighed as he kept his phone aside, shutting his eyes as he gave in to Leo's gentle touch. He finally opened his eyes, to see that Leo was already looking down at him. Milan lifted himself slightly, and Leo closed the rest of the distance to give him a peck. Milan smiled as he settled back down on Leo's lap.

"Did you mean it?" Milan asked softly.

"Mean what?"

"When you, uh, told Ben that you're my boyfriend," Milan questioned, "if you did it just to avoid questions or whatever then that's fine too. I mean, I know it's a little fast and labels don't matter but-"

"I meant it," Leo said, "I like you, you like me, and if labels don't matter then why not just be boyfriends? That is, if you want to be that? I don't want to rush you into anything."

"Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"I've had a massive crush on you pretty much since the first day you joined the Mathletes," Milan deadpanned, "you're not rushing me into anything."

"Good," Leo gave a small smile as he bent down to kiss Milan's forehead, "I probably should've asked you first before declaring it, though."

"You can ask me now," Milan grinned.