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The start of spring was always one of Evan's favorite times. It always brought flowers, and leaves started growing back on trees. It was a peaceful time. It meant warmer weather. It also meant no too-early classes, for him at least.
Ironically, this was when writer's block hit him hardest.
Evan was currently sitting under a tree, staring at the notebook on his lap. It was open to a blank page, and he was at a loss on what to write. Fantasy seemed too far away and nonfiction just seemed a little too easy.
Around him, there was the odd jogger or couple going through the park, some passing him and some not. And there were leaves scattered on the ground that were still left over from fall and had escaped winter.
I suppose I could write about spring? He thought to himself then shook his head. Just like all of his other ideas, it didn't seem right. He was shaken out of deep thought a few moments later by someone leaning over him, most likely trying to talk to him. Of course he's talking to you, idiot. Who else is he leaning over?
"Having trouble?" Evan looks up and is immediately enamoured by the man. Holy shit. It was like he had popped out of a romance novel. His amber eyes shined as the light hit them in the most perfect way, even if they were hard to see through the man's glasses. While Evan's busy admiring the man, he asks another question.
Evan feels the heat rise to his cheeks as he replies, "um, what?" Was that too rude? He clears his throat and tries again. "What I meant was- uh, what did you say?" Better.
"I asked if you wanted any help. You seem to be pretty concentrated on a blank page. Are you writing a paper?" The stranger tilts his head to the side at the last sentence.
"Oh, um, no. I'm working on a novel, act- actually. And I, um, I'm stuck." Evan smiles nervously. "That's- that's why I was-why I was focusing so much. Or, um, trying to, at least." The stranger's eyebrows shot up.
"Really? That's cool. What's it about?" The stranger moves to sit beside him and Evan doesn't bother stopping him, not that he had the guts to anyways. It was nice having someone to talk to.
So Evan happily launches into the plot he was hoping to create. And if the man's appearance gave him inspiration, then so be it.
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It was a slightly chilly Tuesday when Evan ran into the beautiful stranger again.
He had been running extremely late for his creative writing class and was in a rush. While he was running, he hadn't bothered looking where he was going and accidentally ran into someone. They both fell to the ground, Evan's supplies going everywhere.
"Oh, I am so sorry. I- I was running late and- and I wasn't- I wasn't looking where I was going and I-I-" The stranger cut him off as he picked up a few loose papers that had fallen out of Evan's binder.
"Don't worry about it." He gave Evan a smile and Evan swore he could have melted right there. He held out a hand to help Evan up and Evan takes it gratefully. "Though I do advise you from falling for me again." The joke was a little cheesy, but Evan laughs anyway.
"I- I'll make sure not to do that." It surprised Evan how easy it was to talk to this stranger. He just felt safe around the brown-haired beauty. It was as if they had known each other for years instead of hours. Maybe they had been best friends in another life. Unaware that he had zoned out, Evan stayed at that train of thought until the stranger spoke up again.
"Do you need a ride?" The guy took his keys out of his pocket as he spoke.
Shit. He had forgotten why he was in such a hurry earlier. Evan looked down at his watch and sighed, letting his shoulders drop.
"No. My- my class is- there's really no use to- to show up now." The man nods and goes to put his keys back into his pocket before stopping as he gets an idea.
"Do you want to, um, go get coffee or something?" There's a dusting of pink on his cheeks as he asks. He seems to realize something before he speaks again. "I mean, if you don't want to-"
"No!" Maybe that was a little too forceful, Evan thinks as the stranger recoils a bit. "I mean, uh, I'd, um, I'd like that, " he says, looking at the ground. Evan felt his cheeks heat up. Am I really doing this? Going out with a stranger? Evan frowns. I don't even know his name!
Almost as if the man has read his mind, he spoke up, "Oh! I just realized I don't know your name, Cinderella." Evan winces at the nickname. "Bad choice?" The stranger asks when he sees Evan's reaction.
"Yeah. It's, uh, definitely, um, a bad choice." Evan gives the stranger a weak smile. It'd probably be best if I didn't tell him about the whole "trans" thing.
"Anyway, what is your name?" He turns to look at Evan and continues walking backward. Surprisingly, he wasn't bumping into anyone or anything.
"Um, Hansen. Evan. Evan Hansen." There was an embarrassed blush on Evan's face as he repeated his name in the right order. The stranger laughs and for a second, Evan thought it was at him, but the thought was dispelled quickly.
"We going James Bond? Alright, " The stranger stops and holds out a hand, continuing his introduction, "The name's Kleinman. Jared Kleinman."
Evan smiles as he shakes Jared's hand. "It's- It's nice to, um, properly meet you, Jared."
Jared smiles back and they continue to walk to the nearby coffee shop.
Somehow the silence isn't suffocating, instead, it's comfortable and Evan doesn't really want to break it. So, he doesn't.
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"So, what do you do other than writing?" Jared asks and Evan looks up from the small pastry in front of him.
"O-oh. Um, I like to, uh, study nature." Evan says hesitantly. Even if Jared genuinely wanted to get to know him, it didn't really make it any easier to open up, even with how comfortable their relationship already seemed to be.
"That's pretty cool." Jared's smiling at him again and Evan's surprised at how well he's keeping it together.
Jared asks him about his favorite part of nature and Evan involuntarily vocally trips through a small rant on trees. Jared laughs again and Evan's pretty sure his face is bright red with how much he's blushing. He trails off at the end, still unsure about the situation he found himself in.
"You're cute when you ramble, " Jared comments, another one of those damn smiles on his face.
That's it. This is my death; caused by a cute boy smiling at me, Evan thought as his face was somehow even redder.
And honestly? That didn't sound too bad.
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"What's your favorite book?" Jared asks and Evan takes a moment to think.
"I, uh, I like the Lorien Legacies series. I, um, can't- I can't pick a favorite, though, " Evan replies hesitantly. Jared's face is blank and right before Evan goes to say something, he does instead.
"I don't think I've heard of that series. Maybe you could show me sometime." Jared looks thoughtfully at the ground.
"What, uh, what about you?" Evan asks, genuinely curious to hear Jared's answer. Immediately, Jared's eyes light up like a kid in a candy store.
"Divergent. The entire system they have is incredible and it's interesting to see how everything fits together, especially when after reading the entire series. There's foreshadowing everywhere." Jared goes off on his own rant, not unlike Evan's in the coffee shop around a week ago.
Evan can't help but stare as Jared gestures wildly with obvious passion. It was pretty adorable how bright his eyes were and how excited he was explaining everything. It was pretty clear how much he loved the series.
"Wait, " Jared says after he trails off. "Where was I again?" Evan can't help but giggle a little at that. He also catches the fond look Jared gives him and smiles back as Jared blushes.
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It's a few months after they've met and Evan couldn't be happier. Or more confused. They'd gone on a few pseudo-dates, but neither of them had officially asked the other out.
Evan decides to bring this up one day as they lounge on Evan's couch.
"Hey, uh, Jared?"he looks up at the other as he talks.
"Yeah?"
"Um, if you don't mind me asking what are we?" Jared closes his book - a copy of The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore that Evan had loaned him after he had liked the first book - and sets it to the side. Then he looks down at Evan, who was basically tucked into his side.
"Well, what do you want us to be? Friends? Boyfriends? Friends with benefits?" Evan blushes wildly at Jared's last suggestion.
"I, uh, I'd like it if we were, um, boyfriends," Evan mutters, face still bright red. Jared gives a questioning hum and Evan repeats what he had said, albeit a little louder.
"Boyfriends it is then."