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Tai did not expect to win the hundred dollars, he also didn’t expect Nezo to accept going on a dinner date without even thinking about it, but he especially didn’t expect to win the hundred dollars. His dilemma now is that he had no money and a date with his friend.
Who he totally has no feelings for, no, not at all.
Luckily for him, Tai knows that if he annoys Jude just enough, he’ll get the hundred dollars anyways—even if he ends up having to listen to both Jude and Sharpness scolding him for what usually feels like ages.
Meeting with Nezo is not awkward, which is surprising when Tai has been acting like a schoolgirl with a crush since the moment the words “let’s get steak and lobster” left his mouth mid-stream.
He’s smiling ear to ear the moment they spot each other, totally platonic.
They spend what could have easily been an hour discussing where to eat. Either Nezo likes a place Tai is not too fond of, or Tai likes a place that is way too expensive even if they split the bill. Maybe they should’ve discussed where they would be having this date beforehand, but it wasn’t all that bad.
They end up at some decently fancy diner, granted there’s no lobster, but the steak looks good. Nezo orders a cut, making sure to make light fun of Tai for ordering pasta instead.
“You’re paying, right?” Nezo asks the second the waitress leaves their table; he’s giggling while he does so too.
Tai realizes—a little too late—he might be gone when he catches himself smiling at his voice. “Yes,” he says before even registering the words Nezo is saying, he decides to look the other way before talking again, only for his thoughts to be whipped completely by the other’s laughter again.
“Yeah?”
“Yes!” Tai repeats, he can feel his face heating up even if just slightly—he hopes Nezo doesn’t notice, “it’s Jude’s money anyways.”
Nezo hasn’t stopped giggling since the moment they got here. It’s a nice sound to listen to, hell, Tai curses himself for even thinking about how he would love to hear his laugh every day.
He has no feelings for Nezoshoki, none at all.
Everything else goes smoothly while they wait for their food, they both talk about their content, their life, Tai especially complains quite a bit about his new housemates, but other than that everything goes great—more than great, perfect, even.
Once their dishes arrive Nezo makes sure to thank Tai repeatedly, all smiles and giggles at the way Tai stutters over himself when praised over something as simple as paying for dinner.
Sometime mid dinner Nezo cuts a small piece of his steak and holds it in front of Tai with a huge grin, “Want some of mine?” he asks, holding a hand beneath the fork as he moves it closer to Tai’s face.
Tai looks at his own unfinished plate before looking back at Nezo.
He shakes his head, an awkward laugh bubbling from his throat before saying no—or at least trying to before Nezo just shoves the piece into his mouth. It’s shoved carefully enough for Tai to get a chance to chew the steak instead of choking.
He feels his face somehow getting redder, even more so when he blinks at Nezo’s face, cheeks rosy as well.
“Was it good? Man, we should order desert, have you pay for it too!”
“You still want desert?!”
They finish eating in peace—well, Nezo does while Tai decides to order his dish to go and gift it to him. He makes a face when paying the bill but having Nezo thank him again is more than worth it (not like it was his own money, anyways.)
They step outside only when Nezo’s driver arrives, the goodbye is as quick as it is awkward with them sharing a small hug that leaves Tai’s face right over Nezo’s shoulders before they pull apart for Nezo to not lose his drive home.
Tai sighs as he sees him go, something weird in his chest he decides, once again, to try and ignore. He needs to order a ride for himself now that he thinks about it, Tai takes out his phone, really only thinking about getting back—
“Hey, Tai!” Nezo calls out, snapping Tai out of his thoughts.
Tai turns around to see Nezo running at him with the same smile he has worn all day. It’s cute, it’s endearing and Tai totally does not panic at the realization he’s been pushing back all day.
“Yeah—?”
He gets cut off by Nezo leaning down slightly to be at face level with him. He stays barely an inch apart from his face, as if giving time for Tai to back away from whatever he was about to do. Tai doesn’t.
Next thing he knows, Nezo’s lips are pressing lightly against his face, close enough to his mouth for Tai’s brain to freeze. His lips linger in the place for a second or two, just enough time for Tai to process the situation before Nezo pulls away.
“Thanks again for dinner, man!” And with that he runs off to his uber—making a blushing mess of Tai as he leaves him behind.
“What the fuck.”
Tai, still frozen in place, decides he will not be talking about this with anyone. Not Jude, not Sharp, probably not even Nezo himself if he ever decides to bring it up in the future.