Meant to be Broken [boyxboy] [Watty Awards 2012]

Chapter Twenty-Eight

They left the hospital after an hour, and decided to stop at a Denny's just down the road from the hospital for dinner. Ives was reluctant to stop there, because he didn't have much money to spend now that he had given most of it to Tomi for the fundraiser for Seth. He decided he would have to get something small, maybe even just a drink.

"Um, how much money do you have on you?" Tomi asked him quietly as they sat looking over the menu.

Ives glanced over at him. "Uh... about five bucks. Why?"

Tomi sighed. "I didn't expect to stop for lunch. I only have two bucks left after stopping at the grocery store."

Before Ives could say anything, Leigh inserted himself into their conversation. "You don't have any money?" he asked, leaning in across from Tomi.

"We have six or seven bucks combined," Ives clarified. "We can just get milkshakes or something and eat back at Tomi's."

"Nonsense," Leigh replied, waving his hand. "Order what you want, we'll pay. You guys can get the tip."

Tomi shook his head. "Thanks, Leigh, but you really don't have to."

"Yes, we do," Kevin argued, sitting across from Ives in the booth. "We'll pay. It's not a big deal."

Ives sighed. "Fine." He felt Tomi elbow him but he just shook his head at his boyfriend. "We'll pay them back."

"All right," Tomi finally relented.

Despite their dining companions insisting that they order whatever they wanted, Ives and Tomi both settled on appetizers as their meals, and milkshakes.

"You know," Kevin said conversationally, after the bored waitress had taken their orders, "I thought Seth looked pretty good for a guy who just got shot."

"It's been a week," Leigh pointed out. "By the way," he added, looking at Tomi with a smile on his perfect face, "I never asked; how was the prom date?"

Ives glanced at Tomi, who was blushing. "It was good," Tomi answered.

"Apart from the teacher checking everyone in thinking his name was supposed to be 'Tammy'," Ives added.

Leigh and Kevin both laughed, and Leigh asked, "Did you dance at all?"

Tomi fiddled with his rolled-up napkin full of silverware. "Not much. We mostly just watched."

"Any epic after parties?" Kevin questioned.

"Yeah, one where we got soaked to the bone in a sudden downpour," Ives answered, trying to avoid making Tomi any more uncomfortable by talking about the party. "I think the seats in my car are still wet. They'll probably start growing mold soon."

He really hoped that wouldn't happen, though. His fingers were mentally crossed.

"And when Ives drove me home, we were passed by one of the cops going to Eirianna's house," Tomi went on. "It was scary at first because we thought we were getting pulled over. It was even worse once I found out where the cop had been going."

Ives rested a hand on Tomi's knee. "Yeah, to be honest, I almost wish I'd gotten pulled over instead of what really happened."

"As long as you weren't drunk," Kevin threw in.

"I wasn't," Ives assured him. "I wouldn't risk putting Tomi in the hospital by being an idiot."

Tomi rested his hand on Ives' knee, mimicking the gesture Ives had made a moment before. He smiled at Ives and teased, "That's sweet." But Ives had a feeling the teasing was just a cover for a sincere feeling of gratitude.