Chapter Text
10:45 am. The phone screen glowed coldly on Derek's palms. The sun sparing no effort in letting itself be known as its light beat down on the surroundings. Fixing his glasses on his nose, he recalled the last time he went out without them and winced internally. It wasn't a pleasant memory at all, but it had a pleasant outcome nonetheless.
Derek admittedly, rarely ever went out. It was only ever when he has to meet with clients or when he runs out of things unexpectedly does he step foot outside. He prefers to spend as little time outside as possible just so he can go back to his room and back to his tinkering. So, he never bothered with dressing up. Still, he's no slob if he put in the effort.
And put in effort he did.
Dressed in a casual yet sharp, red button down with black jeans and a pair of brown loafers he dug out of his closet, he felt more than ready to rectify the disastrous first impression he had with Avery.
Actually accounting for the weather today after spending hours digging for possible outfits, he put in even more hours after waking up early to get ready. Finishing his fight with his hair, he finally arrived at the diner 15 minutes earlier than the agreed upon time.
He sat down on a booth that faced away from the sun. But the light flooded in nevertheless, and Derek is just thankful he didn't forget his glasses again. His fingers danced on the table. Tapping out an erratic staccato as he looked at his phone again. He's done what he can, everything was as good as he can prepare them. Now, all he had to do was wait.
10:50 am. Seconds stretched to minutes, and stretched further to what felt like hours as Derek drank the coffee offered to him by a server. He was thankful for it, having something else to put his attention to. But maybe coffee wasn't the best idea to get his heart pumping a little less.
10:55 am. Each ring of the diner's bell as its door opened called for Derek's immediate attention. He expected it to be popular, but he slightly cursed under his breath as each ring grated at his nerves. He checked his phone again and was met with its cold light. His hands trembled as he put it down again.
Staring at the bottom of his empty cup, the diner bell rang once more. And Derek's chest fluttered at the sight that greeted him as he looked up.
It was Avery. Hair slightly ruffled and a bit out of breath as he scanned the diner looking for Derek. Once their eyes met, Derek felt that the sun became much brighter than earlier. Whether because the sun now sat higher in the sky or because of Avery's smile, Derek couldn't care as he watched Avery make his way to him.
The oversized shirt Avery wore fit his shoulders perfectly, loose and flowy without drowning him out. Baggy shorts adorned with hand painted stars making him seem like he was wading in the starry sky. Accessories adorned his arms as they clinked and glittered underneath the light, messy yet cohesive in Derek's eyes.
As Avery slid in the seat in front of him, Derek stared for a few seconds too long as Avery settled in. Fingers paused as he tried to utter out a greeting, before deciding instead to just relax his hands as he rested his phone to the side.
Inhaling and exhaling once, he noticed that the man in front of him was grinning. Derek cleared his throat, chiding himself mentally for losing his composure. He joined his hands together and finally opened his mouth,
"Hi." He squeaked out.
At that moment, he wished for the seat of the booth to swallow him whole but he continued, "How have you been Avery?"
His hands clasped tighter as his foot started to tap out an unstable melody. But he held it in as he waited for Avery to respond. Putting the empty cup of coffee to his lips, he put it back down slowly. Glancing up to Avery, he prayed to whatever or whoever for him to not have noticed.
However, something shifted in Avery's smile. Now that he caught his breath, he eased into resting his chin on his hand as he looked at Derek head on. "Aw, I've missed you too." And Avery said it so easily that he knew Avery was just messing with him.
The damage was still done however as Derek tried to unscramble the knot of words stuck in his throat. Yet, on the surface, Derek's composure did not break. He closed his eyes, taking care not to squeeze them too tightly and exhaled a short breath as he responded "I see, you've been doing well."
A server came around their booth and Derek was thankful that he was saved from the silence that would've hanged in the air. As Derek finished asking for a refill and putting in his order, he turned to Avery, "What about you Avery?"
The server's ears perked up at the name, eyes flashing in recognition as she looked at Avery's direction. "Avery! It's you! It's been a while!" Avery's face morphed into a grimace for a split second, fast enough to go unnoticed by anyone else, but not by the man burning his features into memory.
The server and Avery was then locked in on conversation. Derek could pick out bits and pieces about the server's sibling, and their progress in skateboarding. Yet, something burned in Derek's chest. He didn't know what it was, but it wasn't a comfortable feeling.
He watched as Avery talked animatedly, watching the crinkle in his eye when he smiles. The way his hands waved as he emphasized a point, and the way he shifted little by little away from the server. The way he acted felt stiff, and before he could think further, Derek cleared his throat. Both pair of eyes locked onto him.
"Can I have the refill for my coffee please?" His tone even, as he didn't break eye contact with the server. "Oh right, I'll get to it then. And Avery. I'm assuming the usual?" A wink, and a smile coming easily.
"Sure, the usual." He replied, and Derek could feel that a weight was removed from his tone.
A comfortable silence hanged in the air as they waited for their food. Derek looked out the window as he slowly sipped on his refilled cup of coffee. Stealing glances at Avery who he saw was watching the same cityscape he did.
The silence did not last forever as their orders came to their table. Derek ordered a simple, classic platter, apart from requesting for the eggs to be well done. Satisfied with his plate at a first glance, he looked towards Avery's "usual" and he felt his jaw hang slightly as he analyzed his plate.
A stack of golden brown pancakes absolutely drowned in honey syrup, with a dollop of cream and berries then finished with a drizzle of chocolate. Derek had to remind himself that it was rude to stare, but he couldn't help but wonder if Avery's "usual" was brunch or dessert.
But Avery was quicker to the draw, "You eat eggs well done?" Pointing an accusatory fork in Derek's direction. Before cutting a piece of the stack of golden pancakes and making a satisfied noise as he put it in his mouth.
"I don't like my eggs runny. Their texture has always bothered me." Cutting into the yellow of the egg, Derek answered. Nodding as he checked that it was firm.
Avery hummed as a response, melting in his seat a little as he dragged a piece of pancake in the swamp of syrup in his plate. It was then Derek's turn to ask his question, "How long have you been coming here? They seem pretty familiar with you."
Avery's hands paused for a moment, his pace of devouring his pancakes slowing down as he turned to open a sugar packet for his coffee. "Ever since I moved into this city I guess," stirring his cup with a spoon as he took his eyes off the table and onto the distant cityscape as he sipped his coffee. "Blegh, this is bitter… so about five years I guess?"
Avery tore open another sugar packet and dumped it all into his coffee.
"Life is bitter enough as is, so why put it in your mouth too?" Avery raised his eyebrows as he watched Derek take another sip of his coffee.
"Sweets feel heavy on my tongue, which is why I'm not very fond of them," came Derek's reply as he let out a soft sigh. Food to him was rarely something to be enjoyed, it was more something he partook in to stay alive and functioning. If you were to ask him, if he was given the chance to forgo eating, he would, as it would give him more time to spend on his interests.
The pair fell into silence again. The air only being filled with the sound of utensils occasionally clinking against the plates. Derek looked up and watched as Avery finished the last of his pancakes. The berries that once adorned the peak of it now lie pathetically in the quagmire of honey syrup as Avery speared them one by one with his fork.
"I heard you talking about teaching skateboarding earlier, is that your job?" Derek asked, cutting through the silence that has enveloped both of them. Avery's head perked up as he heard Derek's voice. Face breaking out into a beaming smile as he responded, "Yeah! Though it would be more accurate to describe it as a gig than a job. But it pays well enough as a side hustle so it's not so bad."
"How did you get into it?"
"Oh man, so it was actually an unexpected thing you know. Like, it was one of the few things that came easy to me, skating I mean. I ate a lot of dirt in the beginning but I gritted my teeth and stuck with it till now."
Derek watched Avery talk, noticing how he lightly shot up and leaned forward as he spoke a beat faster, an easy rhythm for Derek to listen along to, still he had to ask, "Only in the beginning?"
He teased, pointing out the scratches and band-aids that trailed Avery's limbs. And he took a pause from his talking as he comprehended what Derek said, "Hey! I can't stick to the basics forever so of course I needed to learn new skills!"
Derek laughed lightly and asked Avery to continue. He obliges but not without huffing a bit before picking up where he left off. "And then, one day at the skate park, I saw an anxious kid at the edge of the rink. And I knew what that felt like so I approached him. That's when I found out I actually had a knack for teaching too. Thanks to that kid, I actually settled in education as my major as well."
And that piqued Derek's interest, "You're an education major?"
"Let me guess, I don't look the part do I?"
Derek shook his head lightly as he took a bite of his hash brown.
"No, it actually makes sense. People who willingly get into education with the way things are is a rare breed."
"Is this a roundabout way of calling me stupid?" Avery asked, raising an eyebrow as he spoke.
"No, no, I just think it's noble. And it suits you, reaching out to others and noticing their needs is a good skill for teachers to have, because you don't know which students could be struggling."
Avery snorted at that reply, "Okay wise guy, what about you? What's your major?"
"IT, but I've dropped out a few months ago already."
"Whoa, really? You mentioned work right? So what are you doing now?"
"Mostly freelance coding, can't talk about specifics though, I'm under NDAs."
That answer earned a whistle from Avery. He took another sip of coffee as he sat there for a moment, "Didn't know I was talking with a big shot over here."
"They're mostly start up companies. Not enough manpower yet so they have to outsource the work. I'm not going to complain though, they let me work from home after all."
Avery smiled again, in what Derek has picked to be what he wore when he was going to tease him, "If I didn't ask you out, you wouldn't have touched grass again this month would you?"
The fork, like a microphone was pointed at him again, a slice of strawberry stabbed at it's prongs. Derek unconsciously gulped as he looked beyond the fork and into Avery's eyes.
They weren't smiling.
As Derek turned to look away, Avery put the strawberry in his mouth and spoke again, "Right! It's decided then, we're hanging out more often now!" He clapped his hands, as if closing the proposal without input from the other party.
Derek ate the last bit of food on his plate as he took in Avery's self triumphant smile. Unwittingly, he smiled back. Quickly, he took a sip of coffee to mask his smile, a faint heat blooming on his neck.
There seems to be no turning back for Derek now.