The Struggles Of Waiting ✔

FOURTEEN

2075

 A second date, a week later, took the pair to lunch at the cafe they usually went to. Jaden smirked at the waitress Isaac had the hots for behind her back and Alexander smiled at him. "He still hasn't said anything, has he?" he asked.

"Of course not, but are you surprised?" Jaden replied with a shake of his head.

Alex chuckled. "No, not really. He's a bit of an idiot, but I'm sure he'll get there eventually," he said.

"I think we'll have to force him," Jaden said and sipped of his coffee. "Anyway, how have you been?"

Alex shrugged and fiddled with the bottom of his shirt. "Busy," he said. "I've been working non stop for the last few days. I'm tired."

"You look it."

"Wow, thanks."

Jaden laughed and shook his head. "You know what I mean. You should come over some time, you won't have to use the spare bed anymore," he said. "I swear mine is more comfortable, you might actually get a decent night's sleep for once."

Alexander looked at him with wide eyes. "Oh, I didn't realise we were at that stage alre-"

"Wait, no, that's not what I meant!" Jaden interrupted, his cheeks stained a deep red. Alex held back a laugh. "It's a bit too soon for that. I just meant you can share my bed. If you want to anyway." He ran a hand through his neatly combed hair, messing it up. "I suck at this. I'm sorry."

Ignoring the butterflies in his stomach, Alexander reached out and grabbed the other mans hand. "You're usually so confident too," he said with a smile.

"You make me nervous. I have a bad habit of screwing up what I try to say around you," he muttered, looking down at the table between them.

Was that a good thing or a bad thing? He couldn't figure out the answer. "I'm going to take that as a compliment," he said, trying to ignore the wild thoughts in his mind that threw horrible scenarios at him. He smiled when Jaden laughed and felt the feeling in his stomach subside a little at the sound.

"Well, as you can see, I've been a complete mess," Jaden said, running a hand down his face. "Work is stressing me out for once. You'd think it would be simple since I work from home, but it's just been a mess these last few days. This has actually been a welcome break."

"Glad I could be of service," Alexander replied, a smirk pulling at his lips.

Jaden eyed him and for a second Alex thought that he'd said the wrong thing. He tried to ignore the anxiety welling in his gut. "You're a lot more confident now, you know," Jaden said. There was a look on his face that Alex couldn't read. He went to reply when the waitress placed their food on the table with a forced smile.

Jaden tucked in quickly, but Alex pushed his food around with his fork. "I guess you just helped me be more confident. I mean, you forced me out of my shell. This is just what I'm like," he said in a low voice.

Jaden swallowed his food and looked up at him. "Well, I like it," he replied and tucked back into his food. Alex followed suit and the pair ate in comfortable silence. For a while, Alex's wild thoughts were quiet.

Since their first date he hadn't been able to stop thinking. Jaden still didn't know the truth about him, who he was, his age, and Alex wasn't sure if he was ready to tell. He needed to at some point if they were to be anything more than two men who went on dates, but telling him after so long would ruin everything.

He still had no idea what he was going to do and it had been over a week. He'd ask Isaac or anyone else but then he'd be facing the same issue. Despite everything, spending time with Jaden helped to a degree. The other man's cheerful attitude still made him smile and relax.