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The next night Zane was in his apartment, getting ready to go out with Ty, when a beep on his computer told him that he had an incoming message. He pulled it up to see that it was from Irish, a friend he’d made through an online zombie survival game.
nutup_or_shutup: You gonna be on tonight, Z? My roommate just ditched me to go on a date. :(
TheWalkingZed: Oh man. Sorry Irish, but I won’t be around tonight either.
nutup_or_shutup: Oh well. I guess I’ll just have to survive on my own. So, you got a hot date too?
TheWalkingZed: Hope so.
nutup_or_shutup: Nice. ;) So it’s a first date then?
TheWalkingZed: Yep.
nutup_or_shutup: Nervous?
TheWalkingZed: Terrified.
nutup_or_shutup: You must really like her.
Her. He wasn’t really surprised by the assumption, it’s not like the fact that Zane dated men and women had ever come up during their gaming sessions. They usually only talked about strategies during the game and their Skype sessions usually revolved around The Walking Dead TV show, or other video games, or sometimes their classes, since they were both college students.
They didn’t even know each other’s real names, simply going by ‘Irish’ and ‘Z’ when they were talking to each other. He realized he didn’t really know Irish well enough to know how he’d react.
TheWalkingZed: Him. And yeah.
nutup_or_shutup: Oh sorry. I should really know better than to make assumptions. So tell me about him. How’d you meet?
Zane let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and smiled.
TheWalkingZed: Funny story. And… it’s kinda thanks to you actually.
nutup_or_shutup: What? How so?
TheWalkingZed: Remember about two months ago when we were joking about how The Walking Dead should have been in the How-To section of every book store?
nutup_or_shutup: Yeah…
TheWalkingZed: Well, the next day I was at a bookstore and, on a whim, decided to move a couple of them. One of the guys working there caught me. I think he thought I was absolutely crazy that first day.
nutup_or_shutup: First day?
TheWalkingZed: lol, yeah. He was cute. Especially when he was mad at me. So I went back the next week and did the same thing.
nutup_or_shutup: You didn’t.
TheWalkingZed: I did. He was pretty pissed, too. But I talked him down. And went back every week since.
nutup_or_shutup: Shit. What are the fucking chances?
Zane was confused. What in the world did that mean?
TheWalkingZed: What?
nutup_or_shutup: You did puns, right? Left him puns in the books. He never told me what kind of books they were, just that you moved them around. He mostly just talked about the stupid puns.
Okay, how in the world did he know that?
TheWalkingZed: Okay Irish, what the hell?
nutup_or_shutup: You are not going to believe this.
TheWalkingZed: Try me.
nutup_or_shutup: You’re going on a date with my roommate.
TheWalkingZed: You’re shitting me.
nutup_or_shutup: I sorta wish I was.
Zane stared at the computer screen in shock, not sure of how to respond. Another ding told him that Irish had beat him to the punch.
nutup_or_shutup: Heh. Lone Star. ;)
TheWalkingZed: Oh my god.
nutup_or_shutup: Yep.
TheWalkingZed: What a small fucking world.
nutup_or_shutup: No shit. Hey, now I know what the Z stands for. Zane. :)
TheWalkingZed: So you gonna tell me your name too or do I have to wait and ask Ty?
nutup_or_shutup: lol, no. You don’t want to talk about me on your date. Nick O’Flaherty, at your service.
TheWalkingZed: At my service, huh? So…are you going to give me some insight into Ty?
nutup_or_shutup: Are you kidding? I’ll tell you all his dirty secrets. Want to know his real first name?
TheWalkingZed: What? His name isn’t really Ty?
nutup_or_shutup: Oh, that’s the name he goes by. But it’s legally B. Tyler Grady.
TheWalkingZed: So what’s the B stand for?
nutup_or_shutup: On second thought, maybe you should just ask him.
TheWalkingZed: Will he hit me?
nutup_or_shutup: lol, he might.
TheWalkingZed: I think I’ll wait then. I don’t like to get too kinky on the first date. ;)
nutup_or_shutup: Fucking hell, man. He’s like my brother! I do NOT need to hear that shit, ok?
TheWalkingZed: lol, fair enough. So what will you tell me?
nutup_or_shutup: Only that he’s just as nervous as you are, if that makes you feel any better.
TheWalkingZed: It does, a little. Thanks. :) Well I should probably sign off and go finish getting ready.
nutup_or_shutup: Later. Have fun. And please don’t tell me about it after.
TheWalkingZed: lol, understood. ttyl
Grinning, Zane shut down his computer and then quickly finished getting ready. He’d gotten so distracted talking to Irish-no, Nick-that he’d lost track of time. Ty had offered to drive and he would be there any minute. After debating with himself briefly, he threw a charcoal long-sleeved henley over his t-shirt. It was usually cold in the theater, after all.
They’d discovered that one of the local theaters was doing a showing of Romero’s Dead series, and considering how they’d met, had decided that was absolutely where they needed to go for their date. Zane had insisted that since Dawn of the Dead was unquestionably the best, that should be the one they went to. The movie started at eight, but Ty was picking him up at 6:30 so they could grab a bite to eat first.
Exactly five minutes early, Zane’s buzzer rang and he let Ty in. As soon as he opened the door, he started laughing. Ty was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt with two zombies on it. One was crouching down and, having removed them from his sockets, was tossing his eyeballs at his zombie buddy, who had his hands raised in frustration, proclaiming, “Don’t roll your eyes at me!”
“Where do you find these shirts?”
Every time Zane had seen him, Ty had been wearing a different novelty t-shirt. They often had puns, which was of course what had prompted Zane to leave that first note.
Now, Ty shrugged. “I just find them. Sometimes people give them to me. This one is actually from my roommate. He’s just as into zombie stuff as you are.”
Zane bit his lip, trying not to laugh and deciding if he should admit what he’d just discovered about Ty’s roommate.
He must have waited too long because Ty cleared his throat and said, “So you ready to go?”
“Yeah, just let me grab my keys.” Zane headed towards the desk in the corner of the room and picked up his wallet and keys, slipping them into his pocket as he turned back towards Ty. “So did you decide where you wanted to eat?”
“Not really. Anything you recommend around here?”
Zane shrugged. “Do you like Italian? There’s a nice little place just around the corner. I’m a regular and can usually get a pretty good table quickly.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Twenty minutes later, as they were seated comfortably in a cozy corner booth and eating their appetizers, Ty leaned over and said, “Regular, huh? You failed to mention that the waiter has a huge crush on you.”
Zane looked at him in surprise. “What? Ryan? Really?”
Ty laughed. “You really didn’t notice?”
“Can’t say that I did. I guess I’m oblivious sometimes.” He winked. “Besides, I’ve had my eye on someone else.”
Snorting, Ty pointed a breadstick at him and said, “Smooth, Lone Star. Very smooth.”
“I try.” Zane debated for a second and then decided it was time to push his luck a bit. “So,” he said casually. “What’s the ‘B’ stand for?”
Ty froze with his mouth open, breadstick in front of his face and his eyes wide. “What?”
“A little birdie told me that Ty isn’t your given first name.”
“What is this little birdie’s name?”
“Until tonight, I only knew him as Irish. But apparently you know him as Nick.”
“Holy shit. Z?”
Zane grinned and gave a little wave. “Hi.”
“What the hell?”
“That’s what I said. It’s apparently a really small fucking world.”
Ty’s eyes narrowed. “What did that asshole say about me?”
“Nothing. I swear. He just told me to ask you what the ‘B’ stood for.”
“Right.” The breadstick was once again pointed at Zane’s face. “I don’t believe you.”
Laughing, Zane held a hand to his chest. “I swear to God. We honestly didn’t talk that long. He did promise to give me all the dirt later, though.”
“Of course he did. Bastard.”
“Well, you’ll just have to return the favor. Give me all the dirt on him, and I can use it at the perfect moment to beat him at a game.”
“I could do that. But who’s going to give me the dirt on you?”
Zane shrugged. “I don’t know.”
After studying Zane silently for a minute, Ty simply returned his shrug and said, “It’s more fun to figure it out on my own anyway.”
“Oh yeah? And what have you figured out so far?”
“Honestly? Not a lot. You’re hard to read.”
“I am?”
“Yeah. That’s not a bad thing.” Ty grinned. “It’s fun.”
“Fun?”
“Yep. You really want to know what I think so far?”
Zane already knew that Ty was very observant, and he was intensely curious, so he nodded. “I do.”
“Okay. Well, you have a dry sense of humor, which I like, but you have really bad taste in puns. Your obsession with the zombie apocalypse tells me that you have a need to protect people. And besides the t-shirt you were wearing when I first met you, you don’t advertise that you’re from Texas, even going so far as to downplay your accent as much as you can. I’m thinking that you’re not eager to go back home, for whatever reason.”
Well. Zane simply stared at him in shock. After a long silence, Ty started to grow visibly uncomfortable.
“Um…too far?”
Shaking himself from his stupor, Zane finally answered him. “No. It’s fine. Just…you’re really good at that.”
“It’s my major,” Ty said dismissively, but after a slight pause admitted, “But I’ve always been good at reading people.”
“So now you have to tell me what ‘B’ stands for.”
“No I don’t. I’m afraid that I have very strict rules about what I will and won’t do on a first date.”
Sighing dramatically, Zane said, “I suppose it’s good to know where the line is right off the bat.”
“And you better remember it.”
Ty was once again emphasizing his point with his as yet uneaten breadstick and Zane couldn’t stop the snort that broke free.
“You know, you’re very scary with that breadstick.”
Ty looked from the breadstick to Zane and then back again. “Good,” he said decisively, before finally putting the end of the breadstick in his mouth and theatrically taking a bite.
When Ryan showed up with their food, they were both too busy laughing to do anything that shake their heads when the waiter asked if they required anything else.
Several hours later, Ty pulled his Bronco to the curb in front of Zane’s building and shifted into park before turning towards him.
The nervousness that had disappeared sometime during dinner returned in full force as Zane cleared his throat and said, “So. That was, uh, fun.”
Ty grinned at him, his hazel eyes sparkling as he said, “It was.”
Zane swallowed hard, trying to decide where to go from here. “Do you-”
He was cut off as Ty suddenly leaned forward and kissed him. Zane was too startled to react at first, but then his brain caught up and he kissed him back, bringing one hand up to cup the back of Ty’s head. Ty hummed appreciatively before deepening the kiss and flicking his tongue along Zane’s lips.
Zane had had a few first kisses in his day, but none of them had lit a fire in him like this one was doing right now. When Ty lightly nipped at his bottom lip, he lost all semblance of control. With a low growl, he gripped Ty’s hair. The kiss became rough, almost violent, but damn it was hot. He’d lost all track of time by the time Ty finally pulled back from him slightly.
Zane didn’t move his hand as he smiled at Ty, enjoying the glazed look in his eyes and the way his lips were red and slightly swollen.
“Yeah. Fun.”
Zane laughed. “We should definitely do it again sometime.”
Ty could only nod in response.