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And you throw your head back laughing like a little kid
I think it's strange that you think I'm funny 'cause he never did
I've been spending the last eight months thinking all love ever does
Is break and burn and end
But on a Wednesday in a café I watched it begin again
Patrick’s face softened as David looked at the gift, “Oh, it’s just the receipt from our first sale at the store.” He let a smirk spread across his lips as he looked back up, mostly to see Patrick but also to glance at Stevie. She was giving him a full ‘I told you so’ look now.
David felt his voice catch as he went to respond. He patted the frame as he spoke, “Uhm, this is not nothing.” He kept his eyes on the man across from him in the booth who just nodded and let the faintest hint of a smile grace his lips. “So, thank you.”
This is a date. The words echoed through David’s head as soon as Patrick had explained the receipt to Stevie. Fuck. How did I not know this was a date? David could feel himself beginning to spiral but he looked across the table and noticed that Stevie was talking so he pulled himself out of it enough to hear her saying that she was gonna leave.
Once she slid out of the booth and stood behind Patrick, giving him a look of approval and thumbs up David couldn’t help but smile.
Once Stevie was gone he chanced a look back across the table to see Patrick with a shy smile on his face and a touch of redness in his cheeks. “Uhm, this is a very solid frame.”
Patrick nodded and looked back to him, “Thank you, I’m learning.” David let out a sigh of relief and pushed the frame off to the side. Picking up a mozzarella stick, Patrick smiled at him, “Shall we?”
---
“Wait so she really did that?” Patrick’s face was lit up entirely. His eyes were crinkled from where he had been laughing at David’s story and the smile had yet to leave his face.
David nodded enthusiastically and laughed, “I don’t know if you’ve seen my mother but she is a lot. It is very up her alley to do something insane like that.”
Patrick just let his head fall back and laughed even more before looking back at David with what could only be described as a look of fondness.
David felt his face heat up and contort a bit, “What?” He felt his eyebrow raise automatically when he vocalized the question.
Patrick didn’t let the look leave his face, “Just you. You’ve had all this insane crap happen and you’re able to sit here and joke about it. Whether it’s stuff about the lives you all had before you came here or quips about everything around you, you’re just so open.” Patrick paused for a second, studying David’s face.
When he finally continued it wasn’t what David was expecting, “That takes a lot of courage.” David let out a huff of disbelief. “David, I’m serious.”
David opened his mouth to say something snarky but he caught himself and shut it. He started twisting his rings before replying, “You know I don’t actually do this much. Ah, opening up isn’t really my strong suit but…” with you it’s different. He almost says it but no, that’s too much way too fast. “I’m trying to get better.” it’s not what he really wants to say but it also isn’t a lie so he figures it’s a happy medium. He smiles back at Patrick only to have the other man nod, eyes filled with more understanding than David ever thought possible.
Patrick must sense David’s discomfort because he quickly switches back to telling stories and making jokes. It is all just so... easy. David has never felt as comfortable with anyone as he does with Patrick. He had given up on actually finding someone who cared about him but this was different. Patrick isn’t here to use and hurt him like all the people in his past life had.
Patrick isn’t here to take anything. He is here because he cares. Specifically, he cares about David.
David could feel the walls he had built begin to crack throughout the night as this business major in straight leg, mid range denim laughed at all his snarky comments and looked at him from across the café table like he was the only person in the world. It’s the same look he had been giving David for months now but there was something else there now.
Maybe it was the dinner or the gift or something else but David definitely felt a shift in their relationship and that shift filled him with an unbelievable warmth.
I could get used to this.
David held that thought close to his heart as they left dinner and Patrick drove him back to the motel.