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It was around 5:00 pm on a Sunday when Alec showed up to Brandon’s apartment for a date. They hadn't met up for a few days due to work schedules, but such is life. Alec rang the doorbell and waited a few seconds. Nothing. He rang it again, and after a little bit, Brandon answered the door, shirtless, belt unbuckled, and the fur on the top of his head tousled. “Hi Alec… sorry I’m running so late, there was traffic on the way home and… god, it was just such a shit show… come in though! Feel free to sit wherever.”
“It’s no problem babe, we're not in a rush right?” Alec asked.
“Y-yeah, I guess so.”
“Take your time then! I’m not going anywhere, heh.”
Brandon rushed back into his bedroom, fastening his belt. As Alec sat in the living room, a picture frame on the wall caught his attention, something he hadn’t seen the last time he was here. He stood up to look at it closer, and he realized it was a picture of the both of them on the previous date they had gone on, to the state fair. They were in front of a fountain, Alec teasingly smearing cotton candy on Brandon’s face, and Brandon laughing.
Brandon eventually came out from his bedroom, dressed in blue jeans, a Linkin Park tee under an unbuttoned black flannel, and his tail slightly wagging behind him. “You ready, Alec?”
“Yeah of course! But babe this picture… it's so cute…”
“Oh the one from the fair a few weeks ago? I had some spare time at work a few days ago, so I printed that out for us. I have another copy for you, I just haven’t had the time to get it to you yet. I’ll definitely give it to you when we get back from dinner though, I promise.”
“Awe, Brandon, that's so sweet of you! Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome babe. You ready for dinner?”
“Yep! I sent you the address as I was driving here.”
“Ah, right,” Brandon pulled his phone out of his pocket and put the address into his GPS app. “Uncle Frank’s Pasta’s and Pizzas? It’s not even too far from here and I’ve never heard of it.”
“Really?” They headed towards the door of Brandon’s apartment and stepped out. “It’s really good, arguably one of, if not, the best pizzas I’ve had.” Brandon double checked the lock and they headed down the stairs into the parking awning. “Damn, really? Hope it lives up to your hype.” Brandon said.
“Trust me it will.” Alec replied. Brandon unlocked the car and opened the passenger door for Alec. “Here you are my passenger princess…”
Alec exclaimed in a mock, high pitched voice, “Oh my! Thank you, my driver in shining armor! What would I ever do without you!”
“All in a day's work!” Brandon replied in a deep voice, flexing one of his arms. He went around the front of the car, opened the door, and got into the driver's seat. He started the car, put his GPS map on, and pulled out of the parking spot.
“So how’s work been going for you?” Alec asked.
“Eh, boring, same as always. You?”
“It’s been fine actually, I recently got a raise, although only by a dollar fifty, heh.”
“Well that’s better than no raise, yeah?”
“You’re not wrong!”
The rest of the car ride consisted of some normal catching up, random flirts thrown in here and there, all with Brandon’s punk rock and metal playlist playing in the background at a low volume. Once they finally arrived at the restaurant, they both began to unbuckle, but Brandon stopped Alec before he could stand up. He got out, went around the car to the passenger door, and opened it for Alec. Alec returned to his mock voice, “Such a gentleman…” Brandon shut the door. They grabbed paws and walked towards the front of the restaurant. They were greeted by a young possum. Her nametag read “Klara” with a few assorted buttons underneath. Alec recognized one with the Triforce on it. “Hello, welcome to Frank’s Pastas and PIzzas, how many in your party today?”
“Just two, and a booth if there’s any open, please.” Brandon said politely.
“We actually just had one open up! Follow me.” She grabbed two menus from the host podium and led them to their table, a nice, small booth tucked into the back of the restaurant. She left the menus on the table and said, “A server will be with you shortly to take your orders!”
Both Brandon and Alec said “thank you” in unison, and sat opposite of each other. They opened the menus and started to skim through them. “Do you want to split a pizza or just get stuff for ourselves?” Alec asked.
“I think a pizza should be fine. Just no olives, you know how I am about those things…”
“Oh my god, I was JUST thinking about that the other day! I was laughing my ass off so hard my roommate thought I was losing it.”
“It was so gross though! I swear I can still feel them in my shirt dude, I still don’t get why George did that at that party, he almost never drinks!”
“Oh you know he meant no harm, he’s chill.”
“Yeah true, but I’ll never let go of this grudge…” Alec chuckled. Eventually a waiter, a tired looking red panda, came by. His name tag read “Joshua.”
He asked unenthusiastically, “Hey, what drinks will you two have?” A big contrast to the energetic Klara from earlier. “I’ll just take a Pepsi, please.” Brandon said. Alec added on with a “Make that two.” Joshua scribbled on his note pad and left without saying anything.
“Dang he’s tired. I assume this place closes in a bit, so you can’t blame him, you know?” Brandon said.
“True. Remember when I covered someone’s shift at the bookstore and when I got to your place afterwards, I just collapsed and fell asleep on your couch?” Alec said.
“Oh my god, yeah. I remember feeling so bad that I stayed in the living room on the floor next to the couch with you until you woke up.”
“Anyways, a medium sound good? Four slices each?” Alec asked.
“Perfect. What do we want for toppings?”
“I was thinking pepperoni with bacon bits and sausage?”
“Read my mind.”
Joshua came back with their Pepsis and handed them out. “What’ll you have for your food…?”
“We’ll take a medium pizza with pepperoni, bacon bits, and sausage.” Brandon replied.
“Any sides?” Joshua asked. Brandon shot Alec a look. “We’ll pass tonight, thank you.” Alec said. Joshua scribbled on his notepad and left. Minutes passed as Brandon and Alec chatted. Joshua eventually came back with their pizza, steam rising from it. “Enjoy.” He left without saying anything else. “Goddamn, you were right,” Brandon exclaimed. “This looks so good…”
“I told you! Alright, let's devour this before it gets cold.” The pair ate their share of slices each, without really talking much.
“God… that was amazing! We’re definitely coming back here.”
Alec said, “I knew you would love this place! So glad you enjoyed it. I got our tab.”
“Nope, I got it. I drove and everything so I’ll pay.”
“Babe this happens almost every time we eat out,” They both laughed. “How about we just split it, since we each ate half?”
Brandon let out a reluctant, “Fine.” as he clearly wanted to cover the whole thing. “Thank you.” Alec replied. They got out their cards, as Joshua came back one last time with the receipt for the tab. “We’re gonna split the tab if you can do that here.” Brandon said. “No problem.” Joshua replied. He took their cards to a nearby register, rang them up, and went back to the table. He returned their cards and said, “Thank you, have a great night.” Brandon and Alec replied “Thank you” in unison again. The pair grabbed paws and headed to the front of the restaurant. Brandon opened the passenger door for Alec again, then went around and got in the driver's side. “Wanna do anything else tonight?” Brandon asked.
“Nah I think I’m good, thank you though,” Alec replied. Brandon started the car. “I think I’m ready for a food coma…”
“For real.”
The drive was silent for a while, with only the sound of Brandon’s playlist in the background. “You ever wonder what life would’ve been like if we never met?” Alec asked.
“Yeah actually,” Brandon’s tail twitched. I would probably be in Arizona with my shitty parents if my friends never took me to that dive bar.”
“Still sorry for spilling that drink on you that night, heh.”
“And I’ll never forgive you!” Brandon said sarcastically. Alec laughed. “But yeah, I’m really glad I met you,” Brandon sighed. “My life’s been perfect since I did.”
“Same here.”
“You know, I’d totally kiss you right now, but I kind of need to keep my eyes on the road.”
“I’d risk death just for one kiss from you!” Alec proclaimed.
“Prove it then.” Brandon replied teasingly.
“On second thought… I think I’m good, I’d rather not leave you alone.”
Brandon chuckled. “That’s what I thought.”
They continued their playful banter until Brandon finally pulled into the parking spot. He got out, went around the car, and opened Alec’s door one last time. “Thank you, my driver in shining armor!” Alec exclaimed. They grabbed paws and went up the stairs to the apartment door. Brandon unlocked it and they walked inside. Brandon took his flannel off and threw it on a nearby chair. Brandon slumped onto the couch, with Alec following suit. “You wanna watch something or just chill?” Brandon asked.
“I think we should just chill. Spend some time, just the two of us. It’s been a bit since we’ve had time together like this, you know?”
“True.”
They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, until Alec went over to Brandon’s side of the couch, laying his head on his chest. “Thanks for doing all this tonight, Brandon. I love you.”
“I love you too.” He planted a kiss on the top of Alec’s head. Alec lifted his head up and kissed Brandon. He put his head back down and put his arms around Brandon. Brandon put his arms on Alec’s back. Brandon was about to ask Alec if he wanted to do anything tomorrow, but when he looked down, he realized Alec was asleep. “Good night Alec.” He said softly, as he kissed his head one more time, before closing his eyes too.