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Noah hated sports. One would think that was obvious, given he was a nerd who barely participated in gym class. In fact, with his lethargic nature and lack of strength he practically had, I’m not into sports, written across this forehead. So Noah would never have expected anyone would understand this.
Apparently though, this was not the case. As he was being invited to a sporting event. Of course the person doing the inviting was Tyler so perhaps he should have expected it. All he knew was that the jock had approached him when he came to school that morning with so much enthusiasm Noah was tired out just looking at him. He was currently holding out a set of two tickets.
“Noah?” Tyler said.
Noah blinked. He must have been so shocked at Tyler’s actions that he zoned out for a moment. Can you blame him? He’s being invited to a sporting event of all things? “Sorry Tyler, I didn't catch that.”
“That’s okay dude, I didn’t throw anything.” The jock said.
Noah gave him the most deadpan look he could manage. “Right. I meant I didn’t hear you.”
“Okay, soooo. I was just saying that there's a football game playing here on Saturday. I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?” Tyler asked.
Noah sighed. “Why do you have two tickets anyway?”
“Uh, because I uh, was gonna go with a friend but he had to cancel last minutes. So I thought, maybe you’d wanna come?” The jock said, smiling tensely.
Noah raised an eyebrow. “You thought I’d want to come to a sports game?”
“Well I uh,” Tyler stammered.
“When have I ever shown an interest in sports? In fact Tyler, when have I ever shown an interest in physical activity, period?” Noah asked.
“Well, you don’t have to play sports to like them. And like everyone likes sports right?” The jock said.
“No, Tyler, not everyone likes sports. In fact many people outright hate them, and in case you hadn’t noticed I never pay any attention in gym class. It is the one class I am barely scraping by in. I am not a sports guy.” Noah explained.
Tyler blinked. “So, does that mean you don’t wanna go?”
The cynic pinched his brow. “Why are you asking me? So one of your friends canceled. You’ve got a lot of friends. Surely one of them is into sports. So tell me why of all the people in the entire school you could have asked, you chose the guy who tries to avoid physical activity in general?”
Tyler looked anxious. “I just really wanted to hang out with you. That’s all. I uh, figured this was a good place to start. “So, uh will you come? Please? I mean you don’t have to but…”
Noah wanted to say no, and in fact if he were having a phone conversation he would have. Without any hesitation. He wasn’t on the phone though. He was right in front of Tyler, and the pleading look in the jock’s eyes was so pathetic that Noah couldn’t bring himself to do it. Besides, the jock wasn’t the worst person to hang out with, and there’s nothing that says he has to stay awake if he get bored. “...Fine.”
“Fine?!” Tyler gasped, a hopeful look on his face.
“Yeah, whatever. Just don’t expect me to be all enthusiastic. Or have any idea what’s going on.” Noah said.
“Yes! Yes!” The jock cheered, hugging Noah and spinning him around. “I’m so happy!”
“Great, now let me go before you crush something important.” The cynic said.
“Oh, oh right! Yeah. Yeah.” The jock gently sent him down on the floor. “So see you in two days?”
“Yeah. Whatever.” Noah sighed.
You know how time always seems to go slower when you’re looking forward to something, but when you’re dreading something it seems to go way too fast? Well in Noah’s case it was the latter. It felt like Saturday came so quickly.
He sighed. Tyler was picking him up soon, and the urge to cancel was strong. He could say he was sick or something. The thought of how disappointed Tyler would be stopped him though. Noah wasn’t sure why, just like he’s not sure why Tyler wants to spend time with him specifically.
It’s not like he’s dreading hanging out with Tyler. Tyler’s fine. More than fine actually. For an idiot Tyler is surprisingly easy to like. There’s just something about his enthusiasm. About how easy it was to make him happy, that Noah couldn’t help but like.
He’s dreading the sports game. Watching a bunch of people running around after a black and white sphere while he sits on bleachers so crowded he’s practically marinating in other people’s sweat wasn’t his idea of a good time. Not to mention the noise and cheap hotdogs.
Noah had not bothered to dress up for this. He was wearing what he usually did. Considering how much he disliked sports he figured the fact he was going was enough.
The doorbell rang and Noah let out a sigh. Well time to face the music. He opened to the door to see Tyler was adjusting the bottom of his track jacket. Noah cleared his throat. In shock, Tyler jumped back and fell down the porch stairs. Noah couldn’t help but laugh. “I’d ask why you’re so nervous, I can see you’ve already fallen for me.”
Tyler's face turned red, He was probably embarrassed he’d tripped. Noah continued to chuckle as he reached down to take Tyler’s hand. “Come on dude we’ve better get going.”
The jock took his hand and got to his feet. Noah walked out to the car and to his surprise Tyler opened the door for him. “Uh, Tyler? You don’t need to do that. We’re just hanging out.”
“Right. Right.” Tyler replied as Noah got in the car. As they started out Tyler turned on the music. Noah was surprised to find it was piano music. “You like piano?”
“Well, I used to take piano. For like one lesson, but then I broke the keyboard with my strong fingers. I still like the music though.” Tyler explained.
The ride over was nice enough. Noah wasn’t much of a talker, unless he was being a snarky bitch, so he just listened to the music. It seemed like Tyler wanted to start a conversation, but for whatever reason he never managed to.
When they got to the stadium it was already pretty full. It took a bit to even find a parking spot. One idiot even parked sideways, taking up two spots. They did find a spot eventually and were able to get in before the game started.
It was like Noah expected. Loud, crowded, with obnoxious vendors hawking their wares. Tyler bought two hotdogs for them. Noah wasn’t the biggest fan of hotdogs, but Tyler had paid for one, Noah wouldn’t want him to waste money. As someone in a big family he knows the value of a dollar.
Noah started watching the game with no interest. One team had blue uniforms, and the other had red. He sighed. He really wasn’t interested in the game, but since he was here anyway… “So who’s playing?”
Noah didn’t really understand anything the jock told him. All he’d expected was the team’s names. Tyler was giving him far more than that. Names of individual team members, the history of both teams, what their strengths and weaknesses were, any controversy’s they’d been in. None of it really stuck with Noah, but watching how enthusiastic Tyler was made his heart flutter. It was really nice to see. Not only that, but it was making him realize that while Tyler might be an idiot, but when it came to topics he was passionate about he could be very knowledgeable.
Ultimately Noah still didn’t know anything about the teams. So he just decided to root for the blue team. Whoever they were. The game itself was mind numbing to Noah, but he had to admit the blue team’s net person was pretty good. Red team had only managed to get one ball past him.
At one point though Noah looked at the viewing screen to find he and Tyler were on it. “Uh, Tyler? Why is the camera on us?”
The jock was so red Noah was worried he’d burst a blood vessel. “It’s uh. The kiss cam.”
Noah blinked. “The what cam?”
“The kiss cam. Basically at some games they choose two people at random to put the camera on. Usually, they take it as an excuse to kiss each other. But like sometimes they just hug, or like, one of them kisses their hot dog.” Tyler muttered.
“Why on earth would they put that kind of pressure on people?” Noah asked.
“It’s meant to be fun.” The jock swallowed. “You don’t have to kiss me if you don’t want to.”
Noah honestly wasn’t sure about the whole thing. He’d never really thought about kissing, and honestly wasn’t sure why everyone was so obsessed with it. Still he didn’t have a problem with kissing Tyler. “You can kiss me if you really want to.”
Tyler sputtered. “I can? Um, okay?” The jock leaned in and pecked him on the lips, pulling away quickly, his face somehow redder. The crowd cheered.
Noah didn’t really pay attention to the rest of the game. He was still focused on that kiss. It felt really nice. Something he wasn’t expecting. He didn’t understand why it would. They’d just pressed their lips together. Why would it feel nice? He still didn’t know, but he couldn’t stop trying to figure it out.
The game ended, and the blue team won. Noah felt oddly satisfied by that considering he’d randomly decided to root for them. They went back out to Tyler’s car and drove home in silence. When they got back to Noah’s house, he turned to Tyler. “Hey, I had a good time surprisingly. Not that I’m into sports now. I think I just had fun because it was you. So thanks for inviting me I guess. Even though I don’t know why still.”
Tyler swallowed. “Noah. I asked you to hang out because, I like you.”
Noah blinked. “I like you too?”
“No, not like that. I really like you. Like, Really really like.” The jock whispered.
Oh, was that why Tyler seemed so nervous? “Oh. Hey wait, did you plan the kiss cam?!” He asked.
“No! You can’t plan that kind of thing! It was out of nowhere! That’s why I was so flustered about it! I barely managed to kiss you! I kind of wish it’d been longer.” The jock rambled.
Noah wasn’t sure what came over him, maybe he felt bad for Tyler. Maybe he wanted to tease him. Maybe he was trying to figure out what the feelings from the kiss were. All Noah knew was that he was leaning forward and kissing the jock. His lips were firm, but surprisingly smooth. Tyler looked shocked, but then kissed him back. Noah let him lead from there, not sure how kissing worked really.
When they pulled apart Noah was speechless. It took a moment to regain his composure. When he did he gasped. “Well, I think this means I like you too?”
Tyler burst out laughing. Noah wasn’t sure what he’d done, but that was okay. He likes Tyler’s laugh.