Don't be Shy ✓

13. next time

"Yeah."

The word trailed away in the air, soft and quiet, until it was replaced by a deafening silence. Seb clasped his hand over his mouth and closed his eyes. A rush of white noise reached his ears and effectively blocked the world out. His heart was racing, his stomach churned. He was panicking. Again. 

He wanted to run away from the table, and he would have, if not for the fact that he couldn't move. He was making a fool out of himself, and he knew it. 

I'm taken, that had to be the worst thing he'd ever blurted out. And now, sitting like an idiot with closed eyes; he wanted to sink through the floor. 

"Seb, what's happening?" Kaiden's voice was muffled, but filled with concern. The words registered, and Seb procressed them as fast as he could. He noted that Kaiden didn't say anything about the bomb he'd just dropped. He didn't know if that was a relief or not. He knew he was supposed to give some sort of reply, and as before there really was only one answer, although he had to say this was a lot more innocent. 

He removed his hand, pried open his eyes, and croaked: "I'm fine."

What came next was totally unexpected. Kaiden grabbed Seb's hands across the table, looked straight into his eyes and smiled. "Seb, I never thought I would dare tell you this to your face, but... you're adorable."

Seb choked on his next breath, staring with wide eyes into Kaiden's soft brown orbs. He didn't know if he liked the word: adorable. To him that would be said to a pet, or a baby, but not really to another guy. He must have scrunched his nose or something because Kaiden suddenly looked very worried. 

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that, it's just that you're so cute when you're embarrassed like that for no reason. I mean, you have nothing to be embarrassed about..."

Seb wanted to fidget with his hands -- like he usually did when he was nervous, twisting them in each other -- but he couldn't as they were locked under Kaiden's hands. He started to tap a foot onto the hard linoleum floor instead, stopping as soon as he noticed. His nerves were wrecking havoc, but he just didn't know what to make of it all. Kaiden wasn't making sense right now. Nothing was. 

He regretted putting himself in this position to begin with. He should have kept his mouth shut. 

"Hey, Seb, you're spacing out on me again." He blinked and stole a glance at Kaiden. It felt impossible to keep looking, even if he wanted to. 

"I'm sorry," he whispered. 

"It's nothing to be sorry about, Seb. I'm just trying to get you back to Earth," Kaiden said, grinning wide. The smile helped. It opened up Kaiden's face so that it felt like Seb knew everything that swirled inside Kaiden's mind, at least for a brief moment. Slowly, it began to sink in: Kaiden didn't mind. Sure, he hadn't said anything in return, but at least he didn't have to run out of here with his proverbial tail between his legs...yet.

"We should probably eat," he managed to say after looking down on the plate before him. It was still untouched, and his stomach kept growling insistently. 

"You're totally right!" Kaiden replied and removed his hands from Seb's. 

Both bit into their burgers, and it didn't take long before laughter passed between them at the mess they both made. Napkins were thrown at each other, strips were gobbled down with gusto and everything that perhaps should have been neat and tidy meal on a date ended up with strewn pieces of salad, sauce on their lips and goofy grins. To Seb's defense, it all started with Kaiden's enthusiastic moan as he took the first bite. He had to give it to him, it was a good burger, so moans were forgiven. 

All in all, the atmosphere was lighter than before, and Seb wondered if Kaiden had done it on purpose. His nerves weren't causing him pain or momentary paralysis anymore so either way he was grateful. 

A ringtone disrupted their laughter as Kaiden reached for his pant pocket. Seb realized he hadn't turned his on after the movie and he became cold all the way from his chest out to his fingers and toes. What if his parents had tried to call? he thought. That would be a disaster!

He reached for his phone just as Kaiden answered his call.

"Hi... yeah mom, I'm sorry, should've called. I know it's getting late...I'll just drive him home, and then I'll be back...okay, see you at home."

Seb didn't notice when Kaiden closed the call. He didn't even hear all of it; he was focusing on getting his phone back into action, and dreading what he would see on the homescreen. It came to life, and he must have paled because Kaiden picked up on his distress again. 

"What is it?"

"Mother's gonna kill me..." he replied. 

"I'll go pay while you call her, tell her I'm bringing you home right away," Kaiden said, trying to soothe the pained expression from Seb's face. Only, it didn't work. The fear of talking to his mother only increased when Kaiden told him to call her. Like it was that easy... "Hey, don't worry, she'll just be happy that you're calling. Be right back!" he finished and rose from his chair. It scraped against the floor, and the sound was like a soundtrack for the feelings that jumbled around inside of him. Perfectly in tune.

He saw that there was a missed call from his dad's phone, so he chose that one instead, pushing the green call button. 

After the second tone, his dad picked up. "Seb, I think you better come home now. Where do you want me to pick you up?" His fathers voice was too calm, and it didn't bode well. His mother was probably throwing a fit at home, or it depended on if the guests had left yet or not. For once he hoped that they guests would stay for a long time so that he could postpone his mother's rage until the morning. 

"Kaiden is taking me home, if that's alright?"

"Yes, that's probably best. The guests are still here, but I'll talk to you when you get home. Say hi to Dylan from me," his dad said and ended the call. 

Seb looked down on the phone in his hand, wondering what his dad meant. Did he say Dylan on purpose? he wondered. He decided that his dad must have lied to his mother. The realization made him smile. His dad was awesome tonight!

"So you weren't in trouble then I guess," Kaiden said as he came back, probably interpreting the smile on Seb's face as a good sign. Seb looked up at him, shrugging his shoulders. He most definitely was in trouble, but he didn't want Kaiden to know. 

"Come on, let's go back to my car and head home."

As they left, Seb remembered something, and just like that he became uncomfortable again. Kaiden had paid for the food. That wasn't meant to happen, and now he was faced with the question if he should try to pay Kaiden for the meal, or if he should say thank you and simply receive the gesture with some grace. He didn't know how it worked on dates. 

He stopped, unsure of what to say, but still set on saying something. He hadn't even thanked Kaiden for anything yet. Not really. 

"uhmm..." he mumbled, trying his best to come up with something to say. "How much was it, I mean... thank you...oh fudge." He made a mental face palm, but refused to move anymore hands towards his face. The hand over his mouth before had been enough. 

Kaiden looked at him curiously, but this time Kaiden didn't say anything to save the situation, not like he had before. At least not for a while, until he arched an eyebrow and said: "Fudge?"

Seb blushed, too embarrassed to answer. 

Kaiden wrapped his arm around Seb's shoulders and started walking again. When they'd taken a couple of steps, Kaiden leaned down and whispered in his ear: "You can pay next time, this one's on me so don't stress about it, okay?"

The relief was instantaneous. It started with his shoulders relaxing; not stopping until the crease on his forehead vanished. 

"Okay, cool," he replied. If he had said those words a second later, they would have come out a lot more strained, as he recalled just what Kaiden had said. Next time...