Chapter Text
Harry was in a cab after yet another awful date. Tonight he’d gone to an arcade with a stylist. Harry was all for different dates and didn’t really have anything against the arcade setting, but his stylist was really a local barber who spent most of the night talking to Harry about how he would cut his hair to better frame his face. Harry had felt his hand randomly twist into his curls on four separate occasions and had pulled away, hopefully not too obviously, to maintain some first-date space. After his barber had beat him at every game in the arcade, he suggested bowling and Harry was out. He begged off claiming he was tired, that the games had really sucked the energy from him. The barber tried to pull him in for a kiss goodnight but Harry put his hand up quick, stopping the intruder from invading his personal space, yet again. He walked backward, saying his goodbyes, with no promises of a second date. Now in the cab, Harry opened the online dating app on his phone and looked through the new messages he’d received to see if any of them were worth a first date.
This had been the fourth date he’d gotten from the dating app and he was starting to feel a bit pathetic. Well, he started feeling pathetic for just joining the site in the first place. He refused to tell any of his friends or family how lonely he’d been and figured this would be an easy way to get a few dates. He wasn’t a bad looking bloke. He could walk into a bar and generally attract attention but he wasn’t getting the attention he wanted. He didn’t want to be a one night stand. He wanted to find someone he could share a life with, that had similar interests and goals. He figured the dating site would be perfect because he could list out details about himself and read about other people’s interests before deciding if a date would go anywhere. So far he was a terrible judge in character. They’d all lied in some way. Two had pictures that were over five years old. One said he was really into reading, since Harry is a writer, but it ended up he really only liked reading comic books. The barber tonight hadn’t actually lied that Harry could tell but he wasn’t nearly as interesting in person as he’d seemed in his profile and pre-date messages. Maybe Harry was being too quick to judge but he just didn’t feel comfortable in his presence so he was going back to the drawing board.
A new message had appeared while he was losing at Pac Man.
Hey gorgeous. My name is David. I see you’re a writer and I find that fascinating. I love to read but I’ll be honest that I don’t have a lot of time for it these days. I’m a doctor, nothing fancy like a neurosurgeon, but just a regular old GP with my own practice. It’s hard to meet someone with how much time I dedicate to my patients but I would really love to have someone to come home to at night. Please take a look at my profile and see if you think I’m worth a date. Thank you for your consideration.
Harry had never received such a polite message before. Usually guys would immediately start asking about hooking up, if he was a top or bottom, or if he was into whatever freaky sex thing they liked. He understood not wanting to get invested if someone wasn’t into what you were, but it was all a bit forward for him. David seemed like a genuinely nice guy. Many people have dreams about dating a doctor but Harry had never really considered it. It could be a nice perk though. He was on the clumsy side. Harry scrolled through David’s profile and saw him in his scrubs. He was handsome. He was no Dr. McDreamy but Harry could be attracted to him. David loved art, dogs and kids. He wanted to be a father someday. Just the thought that someone could be so sure and open about that on this public site melted Harry’s heart. He responded back to David:
Thank you for writing to me David. I think it’s pretty fascinating that you’re a doctor. I’m always getting hurt so it would be nice to have you around. I’m sorry. That was lame. I was just trying to break the ice I guess. I would like to meet you, if you still want to meet me after that...
Harry realized he could have just re-written his introduction message but he figured it was better that David know he’s a bit cheesy up front. That was an important part of Harry’s personality and if he didn’t like it now, it wasn’t going to grow on him. David responded before Harry even made it home.
I would love to! I’m free either tomorrow night (I know that’s a bit fast but I would really love to meet you) or Saturday day/night. Please let me know what works best for you and then we can figure out the details of our date.
Harry bit his lip, nervous and excited. David has absolutely been the most promising person he’d spoken to on this site and he thought this could be the one! Harry didn’t want to wait until Saturday (6 whole days away!) but he was busy the next night babysitting a friend’s daughter so she could have her own date night with her boyfriend. Instead Harry offered up Saturday, either day or night, for their first meeting.
They settled on Saturday day but continued to plan and chat throughout the week. Harry learned more about David’s job and schedule. His practice was typically open Monday through Friday, fairly regular business hours, but he was on call as needed. He didn’t work out of a hospital so his patients would call him at all hours of the night for advice and sometimes urgent care. Depending on the severity, he would refer them to the hospital, but he liked to be as involved as possible.
Saturday they met up at a park around a lake for a food truck rally that occurred on the first Saturdays of the month, giving them a chance to walk around, explore the different food options, eat outside, and enjoy this nice autumn day. First meetings are always a little awkward. You’re looking around trying to find the picture you’ve seen online, hoping they actually look like they’ve claimed. Once you spot each other, how do you greet each other? You’re not friends. You want to date, maybe. Sometimes, depending on first impressions, Harry goes for a handshake. Other times he’s hugged them briefly if they chatted online a lot first. Since he and David had been chatting all week, he went in for a hug which David accepted.
David looked just like his profile picture. He was a bit shorter than Harry, about 5′7″ compared to Harry’s 6 feet. He had sandy brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was dressed casually but still like a professional. He had khaki’s and a polo shirt with boat shoes. He was a little more preppy than Harry was used to but he could get over that. Harry was in skinny black jeans, his trademark, and wore a dark blue button down shirt with little white stars all over it.
The date went really well. This was by far the best date Harry had been on in years, maybe ever. They got to know each other’s food tastes by checking out all of the food trucks and going over each menu thoroughly before deciding. They ended up getting more than they would normally, just because they wanted to try so much. Even though they both ordered their own food, and paid their own ways, they shared. Harry had a bite of David’s crab cake and Sheppard's pie while David tried Harry’s lettuce wraps and gyros. They shared a piece of triple chocolate cake and each ordered a coffee to stay warm. Harry liked his coffee with lots of cream and sugar and any flavors available while David’s was black and extra hot. They ate their food on a picnic table next to the lake, watching the kids nearby feed the ducks while another group played footie in the field.
Harry knew he wasn’t in love. He didn’t believe in love at first site but he had absolute faith that he could make something work with David. He wanted to make something work with David. At the end of the date, David invited Harry back to his place to watch a movie. Harry was a little skeptical because often inviting someone back to your place on a date meant becoming intimate and it’s not like Harry is a prude, he just wanted to take his time to develop their relationship. He didn’t want them to be about sex so he declined the offer with a promise of another date the next week.
Over the week Harry and David chatted regularly through text. Harry didn’t sign into the dating app, wanting to see what was going to happen with David. Their second date was to a small, local carnival. When they met this time, Harry offered David a kiss on the cheek as a greeting. They walked around bumping shoulders, brushing hands and gentle “accidental” touches throughout the day. The sexual tension was definitely building and Harry wanted to take the next step but it was only their second date, so again, he declined David’s offer to return to his flat.
Their third date was an actual dinner, their first nighttime date. The restaurant was a fancy steak house and Harry was a little put off at first. He wasn’t poor but he didn’t regularly go to such expensive places. He thought of them as special occasions. Places you went when you were celebrating anniversaries, promotions, new book deals. A third date didn’t seem to qualify but Harry wasn’t going to argue. He figured that meant David was taking them seriously and saw a future with him. David spent most of the dinner talking about his patients. He obviously didn’t give names, but he shared their cases with Harry, trying to impress him. Harry was interested in David’s work, but thought he was trying a bit too hard. He already liked him and he just wanted them to relax. Harry tried to talk about his own work. He was a writer and although he wasn’t sure what he really wanted to write about, he got paid to tell other people’s stories. He wrote biographies and sometimes ghost wrote memoirs. He found it fascinating to learn about other people’s lives, their stories were inspirational to him but he he wanted to do more. He just didn’t know what yet. Unfortunately, whenever Harry would bring up his work, David would relate the story back to one of his patients, or his time at med school, or his family or friends. He didn’t seem interested in listening to Harry much.
After dinner was over, Harry wasn’t ready to give up. Things felt off tonight, but he thought it was the fancy dinner more than anything. They just needed a more casual setting to reconnect. When David asked Harry back to his flat, Harry agreed. David’s flat was at least three times the size of Harry’s and in a very nice part of town. Harry was happy he’d been dressed up for dinner, he may have felt out of place in his normal skinny jeans. When they get inside, David offers Harry a glass of wine, which he accepts, and sits in the living room. Or at least he thinks it’s the living room. There is no visible TV, just a couch, coffee table, and a wall of book cases. Seconds after sitting down, Harry gets up to explore the books. They’re mostly anatomy based but there is a small section of fiction as well as a large collection of travel books. Harry runs his fingers over the titles seeing some familiar names. “Are you a fan of Charles Dickens?” he asks, noting several titles by the author.
David comes up behind Harry, putting his hand on his waist saying, “not really. I haven’t actually read those except A Tale of Two Cities for school. I just bought them to have.” David’s chest is pressed against Harry’s back and his hands start moving up and down his sides. Harry feels lips on his neck and sucks in a breath. It’s a third date so he should be fine with a make-out session but it just doesn’t feel natural. He feels a bit like a whore if he’s honest. David had paid for their meal this evening, tried to impress him with his work and his home and is now making his moves, like Harry is expected to comply. While Harry is contemplating what to do, he feels David’s hands move to the front of his shirt and start unbuttoning it from the bottom up. He gets three buttons undone before Harry pulls away, moving into the book case since David was surrounding him on the other three sides.
“I, um, I don’t think I’m ready for that,” Harry says as his eyes travel the atlas and Africa and Australian travel books. He clears his throat and says, “I was kind of hoping we could just relax and get to know each other better.”
David huffs. “What do you mean get to know each other better? That’s all we’ve been doing for the last three weeks!” David moves in again, boxing Harry against the shelves as he says lowly, “I just want to get to know your body better at this point.”
David is smaller than him by quite a bit so Harry knows he can just shove him out of the way and walk out of the flat but David is the best connection he’s had in years. They had enjoyed each other’s company at the park and the carnival. They shared similar food tastes; both claimed they liked art and books, though Harry was starting to doubt David’s sincerity. Maybe Harry should just let them take this next step so they could say it was done and get back to the development of their mental and emotional connection. Maybe this is how David connects. Harry gives in. Harry regrets it as he lays in David’s bed, nude, watching David snore next to him. David had been the top and hadn’t been particularly willing to try anything different. He’d let Harry open himself up and started pounding him as soon as Harry’s fingers had left himself. He hadn’t assisted Harry in his own orgasm and really just seemed to be chasing his own release, not a connection of any sort.
Harry sighed, got up and washed off his stomach in David’s bathroom. He got dressed, looked at the sleeping man with sadness and left. David never messaged him again.