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Luke had never been asked on a date before. He’d never been one to approach his crushes, and had never been in a proper relationship. He was quite awkward around everyone, especially people he was attracted to. Sure, when was ten a girl had asked him out, and he accepted. They never did anything besides that one kiss on the cheek his friends pressured him to give her in front of the entire school at recess. Besides that, he was an amateur when it came to relationships.
Which was why he was surprised when one of the more popular, well-known girls in school pulled him aside and asked him to meet her at a restaurant that Luke had never been to after school. She made it clear that it was a date, however, she seemingly asked him out on a whim. All she said was the time and place to meet. She didn’t give him her number, and they hadn’t exactly been friends before, although they had spoken a few times. But at sixteen years old, Luke was at the point where he just wanted to date someone, even if they weren’t someone he had a crush on, perhaps he would grow to like them over time.
When Luke got home from school, he did his homework until around six o’clock when he started getting ready. He put on a baby blue blouse over a T-Shirt, unbuttoned at the top, and some dark blue jeans. Simple, yet effective. He texted his mom that he was going out to dinner with some friends, knowing that she would question him to no avail having heard that he was going on an actual date.
Although he didn’t have a crush on the girl (as far as he knew), he was looking forward to the date. The girl seemed sweet, and he wouldn’t mind showing affection towards her. The date would be a good opportunity to get to know her as a person, and experiment with the whole dating thing.
Luke brought around thirty dollars, considering that due to gender roles, she may expect him to pay. Luke always thought it was best to split the bill. However, she had asked him out, and that wasn’t typically how it went. Luke applauded her for doing so. He looked over his appearance one last time in the mirror, before grabbing his phone and keys, and heading outside. He felt quite anxious, and there were butterflies in his stomach, but despite his anxiety, the excitement remained abundant.
He walked for about a mile and a half until he reached the restaurant, realizing that he was a few minutes early. He headed inside. Looking around, the restaurant wasn’t too busy, especially for a friday night. He saw a young man standing by the door inside.
He was a waiter, clearly. He was wearing a black polo shirt, black jeans, and an apron around his waist. Luke had certainly seen attractive waiters in his life, but he was sure none compared to this one. He had wavy, dirty blonde hair, tan skin, a cheerful, dimpled smile, and hazel eyes that shone. Luke was slightly in awe as he stared at him.
Coming out of his stupor, Luke finally started speaking. “Table for two?” he requested.
The pulchritudinous waiter looked a bit puzzled for a moment seeing that there was only one person. Despite this, a second later he replied “Come right this way,” moving his arm in a beckoning motion, and Luke followed him to a table.
The waiter pulled out a seat for Luke, and Luke sat down, slightly confused (as no waiter had ever done this for him), and a bit sad considering that he was supposed to be doing this for his date. Perhaps he should have waited for her outside.
The waiter put a menu in front of Luke once he was seated, and put another in front of the seat across from him. Luke thanked him.
“My name is Ashton, and I will be your waiter tonight,” he announced. Luke liked the name, and found it fitting. He nodded in response. The waiter flashed him another one of his spectacular smiles before walking away. Despite it being late in the day, the waiter looked genuinely excited. Luke loved when workers like him managed to remain seemingly engaged despite the fact that they were most likely drained, and had been working hard all day. By the end of the school day, Luke was almost guaranteed to be ready to collapse. Except for this day, since it was a friday, and he was going on his first date.
Luke looked at the menu, and debated whether or not to decide what to order yet. He figured it was best to wait until he got there, so he sat and waited.
Who was he kidding, she wouldn’t know where to find him. But then again, if she walked into the restaurant and looked around, she couldn’t miss him. Or, she could ask where he was. Either way, he waited in anticipation for her arrival.
Soon enough, ten minutes had passed; ten minutes since she should have arrived. He sighed and sat back, looking down at his lap, before feeling a tap on his shoulder.
He looked up to see his waiter looking back at him. “Would you like anything to drink?” he asked politely. Luke figured that if he would be waiting awhile, he should probably order something.
“Just a chocolate milk,” Luke replied.
“Good choice,” replied Ashton. He saw him looking at the empty seat across from him curiously.
“Oh, she’ll be here soon,” Luke told him, recognizing his confusion. Ashton nodded, and walked off once again.
He came back a minute later with Luke’s chocolate milk, and placed it down on the table in front of him. He stood there for a second, not knowing what to say, before turning around and walking toward the back of the room.
Luke sipped at his chocolate milk, and went on his phone. He looked at his social media news feeds, hoping to see a post that revealed whether or not she was busy at the moment. He saw that she hadn’t updated her facebook status since that morning, and hadn’t posted on instagram in a week. Her snapchat story remained un-updated. He sighed, feeling slightly creepy.
Twenty minutes slowly turned into a half an hour. Luke looked towards the back of the room to see Ashton looking at him with concern. He saw him walking towards his table.
“Are you quite ready to order yet? If you’re hungry, you should eat,” said Ashton with his writing pad out and a pen in his hand, ready to take Luke’s order.
“She’ll be here soon. I swear. I hope,” replied Luke, attempting to not sound rude or anxious.
“Alright then,” replied Ashton, and nodded before walking away.
Luke sighed, and slumped down in his seat, sulking.
Fifteen minutes later and with no notifications, Luke accepted the fact that he had been stood up. It was eight o’clock by then, and he was sure that she was busy doing other things. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw that she had posted a snapchat story of her playing soccer with a few friends.
Perhaps she had simply forgot about the date, Luke thought. Her asking him out didn’t seem to planned. Perhaps he was only her plan B; the place she would go to had she found no other way to entertain herself on this lovely friday night. He tried to assure himself that it wasn’t his fault; that it wasn’t his overall incompetence that got him stood up on his first date, but it was difficult. As he sat there in silence, a terrible feeling of hopelessness and insecurity overcame him. A first date should be amazing, a positive part of one’s life but for him it was a reminder of his failure to be worth spending time with.
He didn’t realize how sad and disappointing he must have looked until he felt a comforting hand on his left shoulder blade, rubbing softly. He looked beside himself to see Ashton looking at him, with a stronger look of concern than had shown on his face before.
“Aw, babe. That really must suck,” Ashton said, the sympathy prominent in his voice. Ashton clearly wasn’t saying “Sorry bro, it happens.” He genuinely felt sorry for Luke, and not in a condescending way. Luke didn’t know this waiter, but he suddenly felt a connection to him, and trusted him with his life. He wanted to get to know him. Perhaps it was partially because the waiter had called him “babe”, and if that didn’t make Luke swoon extra hard, he didn’t know what did.
Luke sighed. “Yeah, it sure sucks.”
Ashton looked down in sorrow before taking his hand off Luke’s shoulder and walking away. Luke didn’t know where he was going, and thought this waiter had stood him up too before he came back with a plate of spaghetti, and set it down in front of Luke.
“It’s not exactly comfort food, but it’s a favorite of mine. Hopefully it’s a favorite of yours too.”
Luke was quite surprised that the waiter knew about Luke’s love for spaghetti. Maybe they did have a special connection. Either way, Luke couldn’t deny that despite his melancholy, he was hungry. He hadn’t eaten since lunch. Luke thanked Ashton, and started twirling some spaghetti around his fork before Ashton sat across from him.
“Want to talk about it?” Ashton asked, looking at Luke, awaiting a response.
Luke’s trust for Ashton was still present, and he decided to open up to him. He needed to vent, and he wanted to get closer to Ashton. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to do both.
“I’ve never really been one for dating. I don’t approach the people I like saying that I do, and I’ve only ever been in one relationship. I don’t even know if I can call it that; I was ten, and we barely spent any time together. Which is why I was surprised when one of the more well-known girls in school with more romantic experience asked me to meet her here. Seemingly, it was on a whim; she only gave me the time and place, not even her number. Sure, we’d spoken a bit before she asked me, but we weren’t friends or anything. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m so desperate for affection that I would say yes to people hoping that I would grow attracted to them from dating them, even if I didn’t like them yet. I didn’t expect anything of it, so I said yes.”
Luke sighed, and stared down at his food. “It’s just - your first date is supposed to be great, y’know? It’s supposed to be a first - the start of all relationships to come. The fact that I was stood up on my first date really says something about me. It says that I’m not worth spending time with.”
Ashton shook his head. “But what you don’t realize is that it’s not your fault for being stood up. It doesn’t mean anything about you, it just means that the girl is missing out.”
Suddenly, Ashton looked as if he had an idea. “I’ll be right back,” he said, quickly getting up from the table and walking toward the back of the restaurant.
Luke had no idea where Ashton was going. Perhaps he was being abandoned once again. Around ten minutes later, he looked over to see Ashton once again. But this time, instead of his waiter outfit, he was wearing a navy blue button down which, besides the color, matched Luke’s, and the same black jeans he was wearing before. Ashton was carrying another plate of spaghetti.
He sat down in front of Luke, set down the spaghetti, and started to eat.
“May I ask what you’re doing?” asked Luke, quite confused.
“You said you wanted your first date to be great. Well, I’m going to make it great. I want to make you realize that it wasn’t actually the girl who asked you out whom you’ve been waiting for, and that your date has been here the entire time. I don’t like to see my customers get stood up, but I wouldn’t just do this for any customer.”
Luke couldn’t help but grin widely at Ashton’s words. Perhaps his first date wouldn’t be so bad after all.
“See, there’s a smile!” Ashton exclaimed, making Luke blush. The two continued eating.
Luke almost wanted to ask Ashton whether or not he should be working at the moment, but then Ashton may realize that he should go back to work and do so, or misinterpret it as Luke not wanting to eat dinner with him, and Luke wanted neither of those things to happen. He wanted to see if Ashton could live up to his promise, and he had a good feeling.
After getting to know each other by discussing family, school, and what else they were currently doing with their lives, they discussed music, which was a passion of both of theirs. It turned out that they had quite a similar music taste. Their conversation flowed easily.
“If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” asked Ashton.
“I would be able to shoot spaghetti out of my fingertips,” replied Luke, with a completely straight face.
Ashton laughed. “Would you be able to eat it?” he asked, and demonstrated this be putting his fingers in front of his mouth and opened his mouth in a weird way. Luke laughed rather hard at Ashton’s strange antics, and he found himself laughing at many other things Ashton said, even if they weren’t particularly funny. Ashton seemed to have that effect on people. When you were around him, you couldn’t help but laugh, be happy, and have a good time.
Luke was sure he could say that this was his ideal first date. It was awkward at some points, but him and Ashton got on very well. They laughed, conversed, and flirted like people who were on a planned first date. Pretty soon, the nerves and insecurity Luke had been feeling before disappeared, and Luke felt at ease. Ashton managed to distract Luke amazingly well. Whenever he saw Luke look almost slightly sad, remembering that he was stood up he would say or do something that would make Luke laugh or shock him out of his funk. Luke could even listen to Ashton speak about and reference his past relationships that Luke didn’t have without feeling a sense of insecurity, but instead, jealousy toward the person who got to experience all these things with Ashton. Things that Luke hoped to experience with him in the future.
Luke suddenly realized that until around two hours ago, he didn’t even know Ashton existed, and yet, he was already thinking about a future with him, and about doing romantic things with him.
Once again, Ashton separated Luke from his deep thoughts, when he asked what was the matter.
“I just realized that I don’t really know you. I mean, I’ve learned quite a bit about you in this past hour, but we just met. And yet - this is a date isn’t it? Wow, I’m going on a date with someone I just met.” Luke laughed, and shook his head in disbelief. “I didn’t think I’d end up going on a date with someone I knew, let alone someone like you. I mean, you could be anyone.”
“What are you implying?”
“You could be a criminal, someone I shouldn’t trust, and yet I completely trust you? I feel as if I’ve known you for way longer than I have. Going on a date with someone you just met shouldn’t be easy, but with you, it is.” Luke shrugged. “I’m being cheesy, but…”
“No, I understand how you feel. I feel the same way.” Ashton smiled politely.
“Well, have you ever done this before? Y’know, the whole - going out with someone you just met out of guilt thing?”
“First of all, this definitely isn’t out of guilt.” Luke had thought he’d known this before, but he could never be too sure. “Second of all, I haven’t. But you’re cute, and you seem nice enough.”
Luke sighed, and slumped in his chair. “Apparently, I’m not nice enough for everyone.”
“Hey,” said Ashton, as he lightly curled his hand into a fist before putting it under Luke’s chin, and tilting his head up. “You are enough. And I hope you will realize it some day. I think we all need to.”
Luke agreed with this, and “someday” made it sound like Ashton would continue to be in touch with him in the future. He smiled and blushed.
The night went by fast, and before Luke knew it, it was eleven o’clock.
“Shouldn’t you be closing up?” asked Luke. “Not that I want to leave, I just don’t want to get in trouble.”
“It closes at midnight, but earlier if it’s empty. And since we’re the only ones here, we should probably get going.”
Ashton began to take out some money, but Luke quickly objected, saying that he didn’t bring his money for nothing. Despite these objections, Ashton was persistent.
“How about we split the bill?” suggested Luke, and after some gentle pressure, Ashton agreed to do this, although he did find it a bit peculiar.
Ashton had drove to the restaurant, and offered to drive Luke home. The drive home was comfortably silent, unlike the date (for the most part), the only sound being music quietly playing from the radio, and Ashton tapping his fingers on the driving wheel to the beat. Luke thought that this would be a good opportunity to stare at Ashton without him noticing, but occasionally, Ashton would catch him, and Luke would look down and blush.
After catching him staring for the fifth time, Ashton lightly rested his hand that wasn’t on the wheel on Luke’s thigh, and patted it affectionately. luke loved the feeling, and looking down at Ashton’s hand, noticed how large it was.
“You have really large hands,” Luke commented aloud, not exactly intending to. Ashton looked at him strangely, and Luke noticed he’d said it aloud. “Sorry, it didn’t mean to come out that way.”
Ashton laughed. “Yeah, I do. It’s almost inhuman. But they do come in handy sometimes.” Ashton realized what he had said, and giggled adorably once again.
“What do you mean?” asked Luke, genuinely curious. Ashton hadn’t mentioned doing any construction work, and he didn’t play guitar or piano as often as he played drums, which didn’t require much handiwork.
Ashton chuckled and shook his head. “Perhaps you’ll find out one day.” After thinking about it for a while, Luke realized what Ashton meant (and that his mind was too clean for his own good), but he’d save those thoughts for later. Right now, he focused on the soft hums coming from Ashton’s mouth, the sound of him tapping a beat on the driving wheel, and the heat of his large hand on his thigh.
Soon enough, they arrived at Luke’s home. Luke was slightly upset, considering he wanted to spend more time with Ashton.
This was the climax; the win or lose, the part where Ashton would walk away, and, unless Luke visited the restaurant on a day Ashton happened to be working there, Luke wouldn’t see him again. Or, they could exchange contact information, and plan to see each other again sometime. He was much surprised at how much this cute waiter meant to him, after a mere few hours of knowing him. Although they hadn’t spent much time together, that time meant a lot to Luke, and he wanted more. He didn’t want to lose Ashton, even though he hadn’t quite gained him yet.
Luke stepped out of the car once Ashton opened the door for him. Ashton grabbed Luke’s hand, and intertwined their fingers once Luke stood up. Luke now knew one thing Ashton’s hands were good for, which was holding. His smaller, smoother hand felt safe in Ashton’s rougher, larger one, and he wanted to hold his hand forever.
Luke stood in front of his door, and turned around to face Ashton. This was it. They stared at each other for a few minutes, before Ashton took his phone out of his pocket, and presented it to him. Understanding the gesture, Luke typed his contact information into his phone, attempting to make the name something clever and creative (but, realizing his lack of a sense of humor left it as “Luke”) and handed it back to Ashton before handing Ashton his own phone.
At this moment, Luke realized that he won. The simple number Ashton typed into his phone was a promise. A promise that they’d stay in touch. A promise that maybe, just maybe, they’d see each other again, could get to know each other even better, and could get closer than they’d had time to get in a few hours.
They stood staring into each other’s eyes once again. Luke realized that in addition to his hands (and pretty much everything else about him), Luke liked Ashton’s eyes. They were brown, with a hint of green or amber, depending on how you looked at them. They shone with the luster of a precious gemstone. Studying the rest of his face, his eyes soon found Ashton’s lips. They were the kind of lips that you couldn’t help but stare at as he talked; the way he spoke with them was alluring. They were the kind of lips that you couldn’t help but stare at even when they were unmoving and pressed in a thin line. They were the type of lips that Luke wanted to touch with his lips. And his tongue.
“Do you kiss on the first date?” Ashton abruptly asked, and Luke felt slightly ashamed and embarrassed; about being caught, and about the fact that this was his first date.
Ashton’s eyes widened, remembering this too, and realizing that what he said was slightly insensitive. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean–”
“It’s fine,” Luke reassured him. “I haven’t before, but I guess now would be a good time to start.” He secretly hoped Ashton didn’t turn his head, and make him kiss him on the cheek instead.
Luke realized another thing: this was his first kiss, or rather, it would be his first kiss on the lips. He had only kissed on the cheek before. He quickly reflected upon the date, and realized that he hadn’t told Ashton this. Perhaps Ashton thought that he had kissed before, although he hadn’t gone on a date. Tonight was the night of many firsts for Luke, and he was glad that these firsts were happening with Ashton. He hoped it wouldn’t be his last first shared with him, and that there would be many to come. Luke was young and inexperienced, and, although he had just met Ashton, wanted to gain experience with someone like him. It was wrong, but somehow, it felt right.
“I actually haven’t kissed before in general,” Luke mumbled, shame overcoming him once again.
Ashton nodded in understanding. “It’s fine. I understand if you don’t want to.”
“No, I do! Believe me, I do. It’s just – I don’t know how. What if I’m really bad at it?”
So that’s what he’s worried about, Ashton thought, and put his hands on Luke’s shoulders, massaging them slightly. “Relax,” he said calmingly. “Just close your eyes, and kiss back - however you know how. I promise you won’t be bad.”
Luke did as he was told, and closed his eyes, waiting for the kiss, debating whether or not to pucker his lips. Before he could decide, he felt Ashton’s lips on his.
The kiss started off slow, a simple chaste, press of lips together. Luke’s hands flew to Ashton’s waist, and Ashton started moving his slightly; opening and closing them, overlapping Luke’s bottom lip. Luke copied his movements, opening and closing his lips around Ashton’s top one. After a few seconds, they pulled away breathlessly, smiling at each other. Luke admired Ashton’s slightly swollen lips from kissing.
Luke looked down to see that Ashton was on the balls of his feet; his heels lifted ever so slightly above the ground. He needed to position himself like this in order to kiss Luke, considering that Luke was a couple of inches taller than him. Luke thought this was adorable.
Ashton removed his hand’s from Luke’s shoulders, and Luke reluctantly did the same for Ashton’s waist.
With a classic wink and a “text me”, Ashton was off. Luke watched him walk away, noticed that he didn’t drive away until Luke was safely inside his home, and had seen Ashton watching him enter. He thought this was sweet and responsible of Ashton. It was yet another thing that made him gain his trust, and hope that Ashton wouldn’t do anything to make him lose it, yet at the same time, another thing he trusted Ashton to do was keep Luke’s trust in him.
He closed the door behind him, and leaned against it; staring into space. Realizing he looked like a lovesick idiot, he walked inside his home, and carried on with his life.
After reading a quality, engaging story, readers will want to go back to the first page, and read it all over again. Luke thought Ashton was like this. Although there had been few; every kiss, every touch, every word, every movement left Luke wanting more. Ashton was an amazing book, and Luke wanted to read him over and over again; he wanted to stitch the words of the book into his heart, and fall asleep with the book open on his chest and a smile on his face.