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Avery shouldn't be as nervous as he is; he's literally been D3rlord3's...Derek. Derek's friend for almost one year alredy. It's true they've never met in person, but they chat often, talk in call frequently, play games together, and have even seen each other faces several times, either through video calls or by simply sharing photos of their daily activities.
It's just as valued as any other friend.
He really doesn't know why it took them so long to hang out together. Maybe nerves? The correct answer would be fear, but either Avery and Derek have the survival instinct of a potato or they just had a lot of trust from the beginning and there was never really any fear involved.
It was a surprise when they realized they dodn't actually live that far from each other, perhaps only an hour away.
Luck, destiny, call it whathever you want. But there really has to be a lot of coincidence for them to be from the same city.
They met in a very random way. Playing Minecraft of all the possible places and games.
Avery usually preferred to play Skywars solo, but one day he thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to try multiplayer. That's when he got matched with a certain user, D3rlord3. He has to admit he wasn't very good at PvP (why play Skywars of all the games then, Avery thought), but he was good at thinking up strategies to finish off the rest of the players faster.
One thing led to another and they ended up playing a few more rounds together, so Avery thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to ask for his discord to chat; he's always quite sociable after all, even in the games.
Based on his username, Avery really expected D3rlord3 to be some kind of edgy guy or something. But no! To his great (and pleasant) surprise, D3rlord3 seemed like a pretty normal person.
It didn't take long to define his personality. A calm and easygoing guy with a big considerable intelligence who sometimes gets bored of things quickly, but in contrast, he likes Minecraft a lot. Yeah Avery knows that judging and all is wrong, but he didn't seem like the type of person who would like games like this one at first glance.
Derek is a total nerd about the game, genuinely; he knows things that even Avery, who's been playing for years, didn't know. It was entertaining to read his unnecessarily long messages explaining some Minecraft mechanics or lore.
At first they only chatted to play the game, but in the second stage they started talking about each other's lives.
And from there the chat became vc calls. Derek's voice was deeper than expected, jeez.
They would stay talking for hours; it was always fun. Sometimes Avery would fall asleep during it and Derek would simply let him rest without waking him while the call continued.
Obviously, at some point they also exchanged numbers and everything, but discord was always the main source for communication between them.
It didn't take long for them to do a kind of "face reveal" so they could send each other photos from their days.
Avery has to admit, he was speechless the first time he saw a picture of Derek. That guy has no reason to be so handsome man. Really. He just stared at the screen for a few long seconds while blinking.
Sometimes he wonders if Derek thought he was pretty too.
Anyways.
Returning to the present, the nerves gradually rise as he walks down the street, almost reaching the park where they agreed to meet.
What if Derek doesn't find him as friendly as he did online...?
What happens if he ends up disliking him in some way?
Hopefully not.
Derek is very dear to him after all.
...holy discord situationship bro.
Okay, Avery doesn't want say he has a crush on Derek. But he might have a crush on Derek. And sometimes he feels a tiny bit dumb for it.
But at the same time, it doesn't seem that strange to him either.
I mean, why he wouldn't have a crush on Derek??
The thing is, of course, he can't tell that to him.
He'd probably think Avery is a little weird for it or something.
But hey! Maybe with time, if they met more often in person, it wouldn't be so weird anymore. What are the chances that Derek will develop a crush on him too? Well, probably one in a hundred, but never back down never give up as people say.
Once at the meeting place, he quickly recognized him. There he was, sitting on a bench reading a book, something about a Yellow King or similar, there's no time to really look at it.
Avery hopes he hasn't kept him waiting too long.
If he was someone else, Avery would have scream his name to caugh his attention and greet him, but this time he decides to be more careful, approaching him little by little.
When he was close enough, Derek noticed him, putting down his book to stand up at the same time as Avery stood in front of him. Fuck, Derek is taller than he expected.
They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds. Akward moment. Until luckily the other one decided to say at least the smallest thing.
"Hey"
"H-Hey! It's really you!"
Dereck chuckles.
"You were expecting someone else?"
"No! But you know, it's the first time I meet someone I met online"
"I can say the same"
Before another silence could form, for one reason or another Avery's head decided that it would really be a very good idea to take step forward and hug him tight.
Very smart of you Avery.
For a second he remained still, thinking that he had probably made Derek uncomfortable. But oh, it seems not.
Little by little, his arms encircled him as well. His hand patting him on the back.
"I'm glad to finally see you, Avery"
"Jaja, same here"
He gave him one last squeeze before they separated, although Avery would have liked them to stay like that a little longer; Derek felt warm. Avery likes how it feels.
"So...what would you like to do?"
"Uh? Oh! Well, I didn't really think much about it... I assumed we were just going to walk and talk?"
"That sounds good to me"
"Nice! Sooooooo, shall we go?"
"As you wish"
Avery waited until Derek had put his book in his backpack so they could start walking. There was no fixed destination or end time, just them, until they got tired or something. But Avery doubts that will happen anytime soon.
Derek is funnier than he shows in chats or calls, maybe talk in person is better for him.
There's always some topic of conversation that comes up between talks.
Although sometimes Avery gets lost in him instead of paying attention to the conversations
He pays attention to the way those brown eyes curve slightly when he smiles, to how his eyebrows rise or arch, the structure of his face, how soft his lips look...god he's down bad what the hell. Or maybe is just that Derek is stupidly attractive for some reason. It's almost hypnotic.
He hopes Derek doesn't realize how mesmerized Avery is with him.
"Are you okay, Avery?"
Dude. Why did he even think about it?
"Yeah! Why are you asking?"
"You look distracted"
"Nah, you're imagining things"
"If you say so"
Derek looked at him for a few seconds before speaking again.
God. Avery swears that if Derek keeps looking at him like that, this encounter is going to end in a sloppy making-out session against a tree.
Just joking...or maybe not.
Really, there's no better fantasy than kissing a nerdy man right now for him.
However, Avery tried to be a little more discreet from that point on. Derek is intelligent and notices things, it would be a shame if he noticed this too...if he hasn't already and is just pretending not to.
Wathever man. WATHEVER.
The rest of the meeting proceeded normally (thankfully).
They simply stood talking as they walked, although at one point they decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to sit down again for a while.
Sitting close together, Avery's leg lightly brushing against his.
Suddenly, literally out of nowhere, Derek's hand rested lightly on his. What in the Wattpad fic man. It was definitely an accident, right?
"Your hand-"
"I know"
"Oh-Why?"
"I just feel like it"
"...I see"
Hesitating for a moment, Avery slowly moved his fingers to interlace them. So now they're holding hands. He wasn't expecting Derek to be the touchy one.
Once again they fell into a akward silence.
What...what he's supposed to do now?
Should he take another step? Like resting his head on his shoulder or something cliche like that??
His poor head is scheming and thinking too much about what to do; maybe one of his neurons will end up burning out.
"Avery"
"Yes?-"
Of all things. Je hadn't expected that when he turned her head, Derek's lips would be pressed against his. It probably doesn't even count as a kiss; it feels more like a light caress, a question. He's genuinely short-circuiting right now. It's as if his breath is cut off and every liter of blood in his veins goes straight to his face.
Derek moves back a few millimeters, and Avery feels he has to say something, anything, but when he opens his mouth nothing comes out.
Instead, he decides to take a determined breath and lean in again, their lips pressing together in a tiny peck that lasts only a second.
When their faces finally part, Derek smirks, and Avery can do nothing but melt against the bench.
"Why-How-"
"I thought you'd like that"
"Am I...that obvious, Derek?"
"A bit"
"Damn....wait that means you-"
"I thought it was obvious too"
"Really??"
"The times I told you about us going on a date?"
"oh. oh...you were being serious"
"I always am"
"I realized" Avery stares at the horizon for a few minutes before slowly bursting into laughter. "Man this is crazy, you don't seem like the type of person to have discord situationships"
"God. Don't call it that"
"Sorry, sorry" He says between laughs. "So...what now?"
"Maybe it's a little too soon to make it official, but...you know, I'd like us to become something more serious in the future"
"Are you feeling shy now Derek?"
"...maybe"
"Who would have thought? But yeah, I agree with you. I'd like us to go out more, and for you to take me on those dates you were always "joking" about"
"Believe me, I won't disappoint you with that"
"I don't even doubt it"
He lets himself rest his head on his shoulder this time.
Well. This wasn't what he expected from this meeting. Not at all. But hey! It turned out better than he could have ever imagined! He never thought there was a possibility of him being reciprocated.
Now he can't wait to have more outings with Derek.
And he can't wait to give him a proper kiss either.