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Wilbur could see the pain in the other’s eyes when he told him the news.
Even through the screen of their discord call, he could see the pain in the other’s eyes when he told him everything that had happened.
“I went out with Jared last night.”
“Like, went out as friends?” That made Wilbur laugh.
“No, Schlatt. On a date. We’re dating.”
“Oh.” He sounded... sad. Why? “How, how long?”
“About half a month?”
“Oh. That’s really cool, Wil, I’m happy for you.” And Wilbur knew that the pain in his eyes was for him. It was well disguised, but Wilbur had known Schlatt for so long, it was hard not to see it. He continued anyway.
“Thank you,” he said with a beaming smile. It was fake. It hurt him to see his friend in pain. “We went to the movies, we saw that new movie that came out, and afterwards, we went to dinner at this really fancy place.”
“Did you have fun?”
“Yep! Hmm. Well. Fun isn’t the word I would use to describe it. It was romantic, but I’ve had better dates.”
“Well still, I’m happy for you.” Schlatt tried to smile, but his eyes didn’t match. All too suddenly, Wilbur got it. His smile faded, and his eyes grew soft.
“You wish it was you.”
“What? No! No, man, I’m happy for you, really. If you’re happy, I’m happy. That’s all that matters.”
“You say that, but you wish it were you.”
“Of course. I... yeah, okay?”
“I do, too.”
“Really?” Schlatt asked. He looked lost. Wilbur nodded.
“Jared... he’s nice, or at least he tries to be, but I don’t have fun with him.”
“I’d take you to fun places.”
“Would you?”
“Yeah.”
“Like where?”
“Like the movies, but we wouldn’t see some shitty romance film, I’d take you to see Shrek or something, cause I know you love that movie. I’d take you to carnivals and theme parks, to the tops of roller coasters, I’ll take you to places that get your blood pumping and your heart racing, so that whenever you feel that feeling again, you’ll think of me. I’ll take you to dinner, sure, but it won’t be stuffy or stuck up in there, I’ll take you somewhere local. The owners will know us by name. Then we’ll go home and nap together on the couch or something.” Schlatt’s on a roll now. Wilbur feels like he can’t breathe, he’s so taken aback with how much thought Schlatt has put into it. He’s liked Schlatt for a while, but he never knew it was mutual. He almost didn’t hear him continue.
“I’d take you to places that’ll make you laugh, Wilbur, smile. None of those places that people will take you because they think you’re a romantic and don’t actually know you. I know you’re a romantic, but you’re one that loves to laugh, to smile, to be with people who actually love you. If Jared thinks that you actually had fun watching a chick flick and eating at some stuffy dinner place, then he’s not the one for you.”
“And you are?” Wilbur challenged playfully. Schlatt seemed to deflate slightly, taking that as a rejection.
“I’d like to be.”
“That’s all I needed to hear. So when?”
“What?”
“When are you picking me up?” Schlatt’s smile came back. Wilbur loved seeing it.
“Two weeks from Friday. I’m coming to Brighton. You better find some local places you like, otherwise you gotta come over here.”
“Two weeks from Friday. It’s a date.”
The two weeks quickly came and went, and soon Wilbur found himself fixing himself up in the bathroom mirror, a never disappearing grin on his face. Seriously, his face was starting to hurt from how much he was smiling.
He fixed his bright yellow sweater, attempting to smooth it down. He fluffed his hair lightly, trying to decide if it looked dirty messy, or cute messy. Not like he was given too much time to let the anxiety build, hearing a hard knock on the bathroom door. Wilbur jumped a bit, letting out a silent yelp.
"Y-yeah?"
Schlatt must have heard the shakiness in his voice, because a small snicker was heard through the door. Wilbur rolled his eyes, looked back towards the mirror and fixed his beanie.
"You almost ready loverboy? We don't have all night for you to look pretty."
“I am so ready.” He opened the bathroom door, and Schlatt looked him over. “What, is there something wrong?”
“No. Absolutely nothing. You’re fucking perfect, Wilbur,” Schlatt said, a soft smile adorning his features.
“And you’re a fucking sap.”
“Ah, you mean your fucking sap. Now come on, where are we going?”
“Right. I have listed a few restaurant type places, since you asked me to.”
“Great.”
The date was great. They had dinner at one of Wilbur’s favorite places to eat at, and afterwards Schlatt had them hop on a bus with absolutely no destination in mind, which Wilbur couldn’t say he had ever done intentionally. They ended up near the edge of town, lying down in some grass and staring up at the sky.
It wasn’t the clearest night, but Schlatt pointed out all the constellations he could remember or see, and Wilbur snaked his hand into the New Yorker’s.
He was so glad he’d broken up with Jared for this. This one night alone had been so much more fulfilling than nearly two months of dating Jared. When he let Schlatt know this, he smiled at him.
It was quiet as they walked back to Wilbur’s place, but it was a comfortable quiet. A group of drunk people passed by them, which broke their silence, but afterward it was filled by Schlatt and Wilbur chatting about whatever they wanted to chat about, no bits for the camera or anything, just life stuff. When they got back, true to Schlatt’s word, they watched Shrek, just to spend the entire film talking about the lore of the Shrek films.
It felt nice. Definitely the best date Wilbur had been on by far.