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Noah sighed. This was the last thing he wanted to do. Okay, that wasn't strictly true. There were actually a lot of things Noah wanted to do even less. It was more like this was the last thing he wanted to do with Owen. You see Owen was eighteen, but he still only had a learners permit. Which of course, meant that he had to have a fully licensed adult in the car with him while he was driving. That lucky adult turned out to be him.
He sighed again and slammed his head into the steer wheel hard enough to make the horn blare. Intentionally so, as Owen was still in his house. It wasn't long afterwards that Owen was knocking on his window. Noah opened the door, and switched places with Owen, then walked around to the passenger's seat and sat down. "Okay Owen, what's the first thing you do?"
"Turn the radio on so I don't miss any food commercials?" Owen questioned.
"No, in fact until you get better at driving we're leaving the radio off so it doesn't distract you." Noah said.
"Aw, okay." the blonde sighed. He got a look of concentration on his face. "Um, something about a safety check?"
"Good, now what are the proper safety checks?" He asked.
"Um, always have food in your glove compartment in case of an emergency?"
"No, that's not a bad idea, but no." Noah replied. "First, you have to do what I've already done."
"What you've done? So, I need to teach you to drive?" Owen asked.
"No, look." Noah gestured to himself. "What have I done to prepare for our drive?"
Owen frowned and his brows furrowed cutely. Noah shook his head. He did not just think Owen was cute. That did not just happen. "Oh! I got it! You've buckled your seatbelt!" The blonde struggled for a bit to get the belt over his girth but he managed. "Did I do good?"
Noah smirked at Owen's eager face. "That's a start. There's at least two more steps."
"Okay! So now what?" Owen asked.
"Can you see properly?"
"Of course I can! I have great eyesight!"
"No Owen, in regard to driving. Are there any blind spots?" He asked.
Owen frowned as he looked around. "I think there's a small bit in back."
"Adjust your mirrors a bit."
"Okay." Owen said. It took him a while to get them the way he wanted them. Mostly because he kept over adjusting. To be honest Noah found it adorable. He caught himself. In a completely platonic way. Obviously.
"Okay, can we go yet?" Owen asked.
"One last thing, how do you hold the steering wheel?" Noah asked.
Owen put his hands on the steering wheel. way too close to each other. "Owen nine and three?"
"Oh yeah!" the blonde said, placing his hands on the wheel correctly this time. "Is that it?"
"You want me to make you check the tires too?" Noah smirked.
"Not really."
"Okay, now put the car in drive." He said. Owen did so. "Back up." Owen slammed on the gas. "Not that much!" Owen backed up right into his fence. it broke.
"Oops," Owen chuckled, a sheepish look on his face. "At least it's in my own yard right Noah?"
"Yes, you're very lucky. What have we learned from this?" He prompted.
"That I need to get a new fence?"
"That you should never hit the gas pedal that hard. Owen, if you want to be safe when driving, you need to start slow and only speed up to where the signs say to."
"Okay, I'll try again." This time Owen did get out of the parking lot and on the road. Things were fine until they reached the first turn.
"Don't forget to signal." Noah reminded him.
"Which button is that again?" Owen asked. Noah pointed. "Okay." Then they turned, way too sharply. "
“Owen! You need to make wider turns, otherwise you may run into someone." He explained.
"Right, right." Owen chuckled nervously. They drove to a long back street and Owen began to drive down it.
"Remember the speed limit is thirty. We want to maintain a speed around that, preferably somewhere in the twenty to thirty range." Noah instructed.
Owen nodded and kept driving. Noah found himself watching him. His face was scrunched up in concentration. The light breeze from outside was making his blonde hair flutter, the light caught his eyes in a captivating way. Noah swallowed. He'd tried to brush off these thoughts earlier, but he could no longer deny it. He thought Owen was cute, and the way his eyes lit up when Noah would give him compliments, like he was Owen's whole world, well, he'd be lying if he said didn't enjoy it.
He shook himself out of it. Now was not the time for such thoughts. Now he had to remain alert so Owen didn't make any big mistakes. Speaking of which. "Owen, stop looking at the billboards."
"But the McRonald's burgers looks so good." Owen pouted.
Noah sighed. "Look if you can manage to get through the rest of the drive without making any big mistakes I'll take you to McRonalds after."
"Really?!" Owen's eyes shone. "Just the two of us?!"
Noah chuckled, a light fluttery feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Yeah, just the two of us."
Owen's face became more determined than ever. The rest of the drive went fairly smooth. Owen parked correctly, he stopped when he was supposed to, he didn't speed, and he managed to focus on the road, rather than the billboards. His turns still needed work, but that was understandable. Once they were pulling into Owen's driveway once again the blonde beamed. "I did it!"
Noah was filled with pride. "Proud of you chubby buddy."
Owen looked like he'd just won a lifetime supply of cheese. "Really?"
Noah smiled a bit. "Yeah really." Silence between them and then Owen took a deep breath. "Noah? I was thinking, in fact, I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, but I was wondering if maybe you could be more than just my little buddy?"
Noah blinked. "What like a best buddy?"
"No, I mean like-" Owen frowned. "Can I do something?"
"Depends on what it is?" Noah frowned.
"...Can I kiss you?"
Noah knew his eyes were wide. "I'm sorry what?"
"Oh never mind, it's nothing- no!" Owen looked determined. "I said I was gonna confess and I am! Noah, I really like you. Like really, really like."
Noah blinked. Did Owen just say what he thought he had? "Owen I-"
"It's okay if you don't feel the same-"
"No!" Noah gasped. "I think I might...and you know there's one way to know for sure. Owen, go ahead and kiss me."
Owen gently cupped his cheek and leaned forward to kiss him on the lips. The action sent endorphins through him. Noah smiled. This felt right. Owen pulled away. "Wow."
"So uh, yeah." Owen said.
Noah rarely did things spontaneously. But this time he did, pecking Owen on the lips swiftly. Owen's face was red. Noah Smirked. "Now let's go get that McRonald's."