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The Aesthetic, because I still don't worked out how to insert pictures.
Mason blinks twice, he rubs his eyes, then his ears, then he pinches himself in the arm, just to make sure h isn't dreaming this encounter. But nothing changes, the world doesn't vanish in a swirl of colours and he doesn't wake up. I really should have known better by now...
Meanwhile Liam continues to not-so-patiently stare at his best friend.
“Can you please repeat that?” Mason finally asks, maybe he just didn't understand right?
Liam sighs, clearly annoyed, “I need your help to plan my Valentine's Day date for Theo. It will be the best date he has ever been on.”
“And why are you taking Theo on a date again? Don't you guys, like, fight all the time?”
“Yes!”, Liam calls out the frustration seeping out of the single word, “but he said I wouldn't be able to plan a date even if I had someone to go out with on Valentine's Day. The bastard’s trying to prove he can out-romance me by giving me the best Valentine’s Day ever.”
“Why is everything always a competition with you two?” Mason is so tired all of sudden.
“Competition implies he gets to win. Can you help me pick out a wedding ring?”
Mason needs to think long and hard about his choice in best friends.
~♤~
In the end Mason talked him out of the proposal idea, which is a shame, really, because right now Liam feels very much like he wants to marry Theo. Or punch something, he hasn't decided yet.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
Theo's terribly self-absorbed grin gets even wider. “What's the matter, Little Wolf? Scared to loose?”
Liam takes in the scenery before him again. They are on the parking lot of ‘Beacon Hills’ Nature & Historical Museum’ and if his favourite place in this town wouldn't be enough on it's own there also hangs a gigantic banner over the entrance announcing a ‘Valentine's Day event extra ordinaré'.
No wonder Theo was so cheery, this was basically the date Liam's dreams are made of.
“So, are we going in or what?”
You can always just turn around and run... says a catty voice inside his head but running equals quitting and Liam might be bad at planning dates (especially if Mason refused to take part in what he called “an unnecessary complicated way to realize how in love you two idiots are". Which they aren’t. If you ignored the totally temporary crush Liam harboured for a considerable time now...) but he is not a coward and so he follows Theo inside the museum.
~♤~
Three hours later Liam has come to terms with himself that he lost. Nothing he came up with will be able to look good after this.
From the point on where they stepped foot into the museum Theo had made it clear that Liam was the one in charge and so the beta had lead them through expedition after expedition, always knowing some interesting facts or stories about the artefacts displayed to entertain his date with, and Theo – Theo practically hung to his lips, seeming genuinely excited to having Liam spill his knowledge.
He glances at Theo who still browses through the museum's souvenir shop, how the holy hell did he manage that? Planning the perfect date, being the perfect gentleman. Not one provocative or mean remark has left the Chimera’s lips since he collected Liam at his house after breakfast this morning, he even brought a bouquet of wildflowers, Liam's favourite, and a box of cream garnished chocolate hearts to complete the cliché; the car ride to their destination had been filled with pleasant, witty small talk – in short Theo was the perfect date.
How was he supposed to get over his crush when Theo did things like that? He already was attracted enough to snarky asshole Theo, how could he be expected to withstand this not only good looking but otherworldly nice version of him?
Liam's thoughts run so fast he doesn't even notice the other boy walking towards him. He has a small paper bag with the museum's logo printed to it's front in his hands that he holds out to Liam with a smile.
“Here, for you!”
Seeing how suspicious Liam eyes the bag he rolls his eyes, “it's not a bomb, I swear!”
A couple of older ladies who happen to walk past them throw weary glances at the pair before speeding up to reach the exit doors faster. Liam chuckles and finally takes the bag, his fingers brushing Theo's and he is unable to suppress his blush anymore.
It's a mummy. A little plush mummy of a jackal. What the fuck? How is this ugly thing so cute?
“I thought”, Theo rushes to explain, “if you don't look too lose it could be a wolf?” now he is fighting a blush too, if the faint dusting of pink on his cheeks is an indicator and it has Liam squeeze the plushy a bit tighter; oh how easy it would be to pretend... but that is something he can't do if he wants to keep his heart whole.
And so Liam swallows around the lump in his throat before a laugh, way more vulnerable than he planned it to be, leaves his throat.
“Wow, you really go all out if you want to win a bet, don't you?”
For a moment Theo seems to be taken aback, his eyes glossed over as if he too forgot about their reason to be here, then a determined look replaces the spaced out expression.
He steps closer.
“Oh little wolf, this is not a game to me. It never was...”
Theo's face is so close now and yet not close enough. The Chimera doesn't look like he will change that though, so Liam himself closes the last remaining centimetres and their lips meet in the softest of kisses.
Any thoughts of the museum around them, food or romantic walks in the preserve are forgotten.
~♤~
“I kissed you, so I clearly win!”
“Uhm... no? It was my date that made you kiss me – I win.”
“Oh really? Then just wait until next year when my date will knock out your socks!” Liam turns to him, speaking reassurance, “Right Mase?”
Mason sighs. Even when retelling their love story those two have to fight. Sounds like he is in for an exhausting year.