Don't be Shy ✓

9. the date

"You ready, Seb?" his dad asked, sticking his head into the room. 

"Yeah, I think so," Seb said, holding his arms out in a gesture of half-defeat half-hope. 

"You're definitely ready, come on, let's sneak out before your mom finds out."

"You didn't tell her?" Seb asked, not too pleased about the fact that he was sneaking out. Even if it was sanctioned by his dad.

"...'course I didn't, what do you think?" his dad replied, rolling his eyes. Seb chuckled, and his dad smiled and urged him to come with a nod of his head. 

They went downstairs after exchanging a knowing look. Seb's mother was in the kitchen, making a lot of noise with pots and pans. Perfect time to sneak out. They moved stealthily through the house and Seb figured he hadn't had this fun with his dad for a long time. His childhood hero was back. 

The adrenaline didn't die down from the escape, not even after the 20 minute drive to the movie theater. Seb asked his dad to drop him off a block away, not keen on letting Kaiden know he didn't actually have a license yet. That was another one of his mother's ideas. She thought it was too early to get it at 16. 

"Have fun, okay? Don't get home too late, though. You'll have me worried."

"Okay, Dad, I'll be home in a few hours. Thanks for this," he ended, looking his dad in the eyes. He wanted him to understand how much this meant for him. 

"No problem, son. Call if you need me."

"I will. Bye," he said, and got out of the car. That's when he realized: this was happening. His stomach tied up instantly, and nothing he thought of, nothing he did, made it any better. 

He started to walk towards the large sign City Cinema, but every step was like wading through mud. People around him moved a lot faster, but it didn't matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't walk any faster. When he finally stood beneath the sign, he looked around and bit his lip nervously.

Kaiden wasn't there. 

The knot in his stomach turned into a heavy weight. To take his mind off the fact that he was alone, he pulled up his phone. He checked the time. He was one minute early. Perhaps that was the problem. He looked around again, but Kaiden was nowhere to be seen along the streets. 

He felt utterly stupid just standing there, so he walked away. He would come back in two minutes, and hopefully Kaiden would be there. If he wasn't... well, he wouldn't think about that now. 

He tried to get his hands into the pockets of his jeans, where he used to have them, but it was impossible. They were far too tight, and unfortunately that only turned into another point of concern. Were they too tight? What would Kaiden think...if he came.

He peered across the street and saw a small bookstore. Perhaps he could hide in there for a moment and see when Kaiden came. The idea calmed him down a little, and he took a few steps towards it. 

"Hey, watch out!" someone called behind him, tugging him back into a hard chest. A car swerved past, much too fast, and much too close. He would have been hit... His heart was running like it never had before. Panic. 

"Calm down, cutie!" the guy whispered in his ear. Kaiden.

Seb looked up over his shoulder. There he was! Seb stared wide-eyed at Kaiden, still in shock. 

"You gave me quite a scare there, didn't your mom tell you to look out for cars?" Kaiden said, staring back into Seb's eyes. However, Kaiden's smile gave him away. He wasn't angry. Seb relaxed a little and as he came back to his senses he realized how they were standing. He had his back locked towards Kaiden's chest. His head rested against Kaiden's shoulder and their faces were incredibly close. Kaiden's breaths fanned across his face, and Seb blushed bright red. Kaiden's arms were still hugging around him, and...

Kaiden smiled and loosened his hold. "Why don't we go inside, check out what they're showing. Or do you know what you want to see?" Kaiden said, letting Seb step away. 

Seb instantly grew a lot colder, missing the contact of Kaiden's body against his own. He was still blushing, but after some silent debate with himself he met Kaiden's eyes. He had no clue of what he wanted to see. He rarely went to the movies. In fact, he hadn't been there since he was a kid and his parents took him. Going to a movie wasn't exactly something you did on your own, and before Dylan and Tyra, friends had been very scarce. 

"I don't know, you can choose if you want," he said, trying not to smile goofily at the guy in front of him. 

"They're showing a new X-men movie, you up for that?" Kaiden asked. Seb nodded. As long as it wasn't a scary movie, he was fine with it. "Great!" Kaiden beamed and took his hand, dragging him inside the theater. His hand suddenly turned into the most sensitive part of his body, and he prayed to whatever was out there that his hand wouldn't start to sweat. He glanced up at Kaiden, who was a great deal taller, and braved a small smile. Kaiden seemed to feel it, because he met Seb's eyes, chuckled lightly and intertwined their fingers. That was enough to get Seb's butterflies to erupt in a wild dance inside of him. 

"Thanks for saying yes, Seb."

Seb's eyes sparkled, he relaxed his shoulders, and was finally able to reply with a full sentence. "Thank you for asking me, and for saving me from that car."

"No problem," Kaiden replied and grinned wide before stepping up to the cashier. "Two tickets to X-men, please."

A few minutes later they settled into a pair of plush red chairs. The theater was full of people, but they got neat places. Kaiden was still holding his hand even though it was pretty inconvenient. They had to place the popcorn so that they both could reach it with their other hands, but all in all it was perfect.

As the lights faded, and the speakers blasted out the last commercial, Kaiden leaned into his ear and whispered: "I'm happy I finally had the courage to ask for your number..."

He gasped, and swerved his head so that he was looking into Kaiden's eyes. Kaiden only smiled, and touched Seb's lips with his. It was over in a second, the soft touch, the spark of electricity. "Let's watch the movie," Kaiden finished, and turned his eyes towards the large screen, squeezing around Seb's fingers once more.