Danti One Shots

·Better Late Than Never·

June 16th, 2009

Moments like these would always stay with me. I just knew it. Moments where we were sat on the front porch on hot Arizona nights eating watermelon. Funny how I had a feeling that these memories would forever stay with me. But it was just like that, because I was swatting at mosquitoes, admiring fireflies, and dumping salt onto my watermelon all while sitting next to my favorite person in the world. I wouldn't have it any other way either. You would think my dad, mom, older sibling would be the person I wanted to spend every second of every day with. It wasn't. It was the grocer I had met at a quick run to the store. I was nervously looking around a store in a town and state I hadn't ever heard of. Every person I talked to had an accent I didn't recognize. They wouldn't recognize mine either if they didn't know what an Irishman sounded like. A damn grocer. I wanted to do everything and anything with this grocer. He was charming. I wanted to go to Disney Land with him. He was caring. I wanted my parents to meet him. He was funny. I wanted to show him off to my friends back home. He had an old name, my granny would enjoy his company. Damien was amazing all in all. I was in love with a grocer in a country I was barely familiar with. A grocer who identified as male. I too, identified as male. When I say identified, I mean, we were both biologically born with male reproductive systems, but gender is a social construct. A social construct that caused unequal rights for years for no reason at all. I say to hell with it, be who you want to be. Woman, man, non-binary, we're all human in the end. Except for pedophiles, they're monsters. Funny how I went from talking about hot Arizona nights, to how I fell in love with another man, to what I think about gender. That just goes to show how my brain functions.

"Anthony!"

My whole body jolted as if I had stuck a fork into an electrical outlet. Damien spit out a watermelon seed and patted my shoulder. "Hey man, I said your name about a hundred times. You alright?" He asked, pure concern etched into his features. I blinked before actually processing what he had just said. I chuckled, but it wasn't real. I think he could tell. "Yeah I'm alright, just... Thinking." I rolled my eyes playfully as if making fun of how he was kind enough to check on me. He laughed. A deep chuckle that came up from his chest and into his throat like a deep rumbling purr. I might as well say I practically lived to hear him laugh. Jesus, I sound like a lovesick character in a fanfiction. (Not implying that I had read any fanfiction.) (Because I definitely haven't.) Damien threw the remains of his watermelon slice out into the yard, disrupting a bunch of fireflies, making them scatter into the air, adding to the phenomenal stars that were already shining down on us. I stuffed the rest of my watermelon into my mouth. A few drops of the sweet fruit dribbled out and into my beard. I hate when that happens. I'll trim my beard tonight maybe. I don't want to end up looking like a hill billy. I shouldn't mention that to Hill Billy Sam that lives in the dumpster at the back of the small Chinese restaurant in town. Damien stood from his spot on the porch and stretched. He took a couple of steps out into the yard and leaned down. It looked like he picked up something and came back over to me. He opened his hands to reveal a tiny firefly. I smiled.

Damien blew a small gust of air at it and it flew off into the night. I sighed and watched it until I couldn't see it's small glowing light anymore. Damien grabbed my hands in his and pulled me to my feet. "C'mon, I wanna take a walk." I shrugged and followed him out into the yard and down to the narrow gravel driveway. He kicked along a rock as we walked, kicking it over to me every so often. Suddenly he stopped. Damien looked over at me. His eyes seemed to be glowing from the inside out. His eyes always seemed to pull that illusion when he was thinking of doing something adventurous. "Anthony, we're friends, possibly even best friends, right?" I nodded. What was he getting at? "Would you hate me if I kissed you?" I jerked my gaze over to him so suddenly I was surprised I didn't break my neck. "What?" He didn't just say... He did... He said it... Shit, I'm getting light headed. "I asked if you would hate me if I kissed you?" Fuck, he really did say it. I must have said my thought aloud because he laughed. "That I did, and I'll even perform what I said." He reached up and grabbed me by the shoulders, closing the gap between us. It was amazing. It was what people write in mushy fanfics, romance novels, and more. I couldn't get enough of it really. Damien didn't seem like he could either. It felt like it lasted forever before he pulled away from me. I felt out of breath. It was a little emberassimg honestly. Dark cupped my jaw in his hands. His hands felt soft, with the exceptions of the callouses that had formed on the edges of his thumbs. He looked into my eyes, and I into his. It was suddenly such an intimate moment that I thought I might burst.