Archive of Our Own

Maria took a final deep breath before she stepped into the dimly lit restaurant and reminded herself to smile. The man had been funny online, several of his messages had made her full on belly laugh, and surely he would be the same in person. She managed a full two steps forward before the hostess caught her attention.

"Good evening, miss. Do you have a reservation?"

"Yes. It's a table for 2 under Norrgård."

The waitress flicked through her book for a moment before looking up with a question already written across her face.

"Unfortunately, I can't see a booking for 2 under that name. There is a booking for four with that name? Is that the right table?"

A wave of panic began creeping up Maria's spine before she remembered one throw away comment that she had ignored at the time. Her date mentioned that his friend was also on the dating market and perhaps they could double date sometime. She remembered she had said 'oh that might be fun' but she certainly hadn't expected it to be on the first date. Meeting one stranger was bad enough, meeting three was outright torture. Praying she was wrong, she turned back to the still waiting hostess.

"Is the table for a Jakob Norrgård?"

A bright smile confirmed Maria's fears even before the hostess spoke. Fuck. Three new people and she had to meet them all whilst battling the conventions of a first date. Wonderful.

"Yes, it is indeed."

"I see. Well, that's me then."

"Perfect. If you follow Enid here, she'll take you to the correct table. Have a delightful evening."

Maria tried to not sigh and followed the older woman who led her to a table in the back corner of the restaurant. She could see a very pretty woman with light brown hair sitting opposite two men who were chatting like they were the only two people in the room. Maria didn't even know how to interrupt but thankfully the waitress seemed to somehow sense this and stopped at the side of the table, clearing her throat loudly.

"Mr Norrgård, the final member of your party is here."

Immediately one of the two men shot to their feet and Maria gave a quiet sigh of relief as the man looked exactly like the pictures on his profile. He stepped forward and pulled her into a hug, dusting a kiss to her cheek then stepped back as if to admire her.

"Maria. You look stunning. A heaven sent angel if I've ever saw one. I'm sure you've already worked it out but I'm Jakob, and may I say it's lovely to finally meet you in person."

Putting her best foot forward, Maria pulled out the charm and gave her best attempt at a smile.

"It's lovely to meet you too, Jakob. I love the look of the restaurant you've picked, it's so cosy."

"I'm so glad you like it. It's a favourite of my friend group, the food is always cooked perfectly and I've yet to have a bad dish when here."

"Well, maybe you can recommend something for me to try tonight."

Maria let a little flirty edge fall into her tone and was delighted by the way it made Jakob's eyes twinkle. Now that she could get used to. Unfortunately for her, however, before she could see what other ways she could make those pretty blue eyes twinkle, there was the clearing of a throat and Jakob sprang back like he had been burned.

He then turned to the table and Maria followed his swivel, eyes landing on a rather grumpy looking man and the pretty woman from earlier who was somehow even prettier in person. The man had darker hair, like her own and also wore glasses like her whilst the woman had lighter hair and weirdly familiar looking blue eyes. Both offered a polite smile as she turned to look at them before glancing back at Jakob for a proper introduction.

"Ah, yes. This is my best friend Axel, hopefully you remember me telling you about him."

Maria nodded. How could she forget. Jakob was in a band with his two best friends and seemed to spend almost all his time with them so she certainly had heard plenty of stories about Axel.

"Yes, of course. It's lovely to meet you, Axel."

"Very nice to meet you too."

"And then this lovely lady here is Axel's date, Sofia."

"Nice to meet you." said Maria

"Nice to meet you too."

The woman had a beautiful, melodic sounding voice that sent shivers down Maria's back. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, before she could get carried away, Jakob kindly pulled out the seat next to Sofia and Maria took the hint to sit in it.

As she got herself settled, she quietly observed the seating layout. Herself, next to Sofia but opposite her date, with the best friend next to Jakob. Probably the most sensible combination but given she was still adjusting to the idea of two extra people being here, Maria chose not to compliment anyone on the seating chart.

Instead she focused on the drinks menu. She wasn't sure if they were drinking or not but decided to pick an option for both and then see what the others chose. She didn't want to be the only one drinking or not drinking depending on what the rest of the table chose. Thankfully, Jakob somehow sensed her question and asked it for her.

"I feel like someone always needs to ask this question so let me get it out the way. Are we having alcohol this evening or did people drive?"

Just before the silence got too long, Maria spoke up.

"I got a taxi so I'm safe to drink."

Sofia immediately chimed in, like she'd been waiting for someone to go first.

"I did the same. A friend mentioned the cocktails were really good here, he comes with his boyfriend a lot so suggested I try one."

"Oh a cocktail would be nice. Did your friend suggest anything in particular?" asked Maria.

Sofia's face lit up as she flicked through the drinks menu and Maria had a brief thought about how Axel was a lucky man before Sofia's fingers started dancing over the cocktail menu and alcohol became the primary thought in Maria's head.

"The Margarita is supposed to be wonderful, they do a watermelon one. And the starry night is apparently delicious but lethal. I think I fancy the Pride Punch. It's a special for June but I can't resist a silly gimmick. It's only a shame they don't have a pansexual one. Got to represent when you can."

Maria grinned and grabbed her handbag, to show Sofia the bisexual flag pin that was strapped to the handle. Sofia clapped her hands and the pair grinned at each other. There seemed to be a silent conversation between the pair, a crackle of energy in the air that Maria wasn't sure how to explain yet

Unfortunately, they were rudely interrupted by the waitress before Maria could name the energy bouncing between them. Thankfully, neither man across the table seemed to notice the weird moment.

"Good evening, everyone. My name is Daisy and I'll be your waitress this evening. Can I get some drinks to get everyone started?"

Jakob then sat forward and Maria found herself blinded by a beautiful smile. It reminded her exactly why she had matched with the man opposite her and she sat back to enjoy listening to him speak. His voice was so filled with joy, she couldn't help but smile.

"Can we get some water for table please and then ladies, you go first?"

Maria gestured to Sofia who quickly placed her order of the 'pride punch" that had been mentioned before then turned and gestured to Maria. Maria took one final glance at the menu then decided an old favourite was safest.

"Can I get a margarita on the rocks please?"

"Excellent choice. And for the gentlemen?"

Jakob turned to his friend next to him and Maria was stunned by the display of puppy dog eyes that suddenly appeared. Yet the man next to him didn't seem shocked. Instead there was a look of quiet indulgence, Axel clearly having decided to say yes to whatever Jakob wanted before he even had to ask. But Maria held her breath, waiting to see what the question was anyway.

"Axel, can we get that bottle of wine we split last time?"

"The one from when Kevin dragged us out to third and fourth wheel for him and-"

"Yes! That one. Please, Axel?"

Maria watched as her date's lips fell into a kissable pout and just as she thinking about how much she would enjoy kissing him, she watched his alleged best friend crumble into a pile of compliant goo.

"Of course we can."

Jakob then turned back to the waitress as Maria tried to figure out what on earth was going on.

"Can we get a bottle of the Green Lizard Pinot Grigio please? With two glasses."

As the waitress nodded and bustled away, Maria tried to figure out if it was normal for a man to bring his best friend on a date and for them to split a bottle of wine rather than it being split between the people who were actually on a date.

Although, she supposed, neither woman had asked the men if they wanted to share wine and had jumped straight into cocktails. So there had been no chance for Jakob to ask if she wanted to share with him. Maybe they could share a dessert instead.

She nodded to herself, content within that plan and turned her attention back to the conversation taking place.

"Yes, so somehow this worked and the car rocketed forward and we end up on the ground in a tangle, absolutely covered in mud with Kevin, all nice and warm, and most importantly clean, in the car laughing at us."

Next to her Sofia let out a polite chuckle so Maria quickly did the same.

"So there we were, 2 in the morning, both sitting on an old towel on the backseat in nothing but our boxers. Thank god that Axel runs warm."

"Yeah, you just like stealing my heat." Axel remarked fondly before glancing at Maria. "He's a complete cuddle monster, you'll have your hands full with him. Feel free to send him over any time you need a break from his snuggles."

Maria smiled, not quite sure how to respond. Was that a weird attempt at being a wing man? It felt more like a teenage girl laying claim to a boy she claimed was her best friend but given Axel was also here on a date, Maria ignored the weird feeling and continued to smile before changing the subject.

"So I've never been here before, what would you recommend food wise?"

Sofia was first to point at the menu.

"I can't say I've actually eaten it but my friends did recommend the chicken skewers."

Across the bench, Jakob practically bounced in place.

"Yes! Kevin had those last time, didn't he Axel?"

"Mm. I think so. The ones with the spiced rice?"

"Those exact ones!"

"So how often do you two actually come here?"

As Maria spoke she realised exactly how she sounded so she quickly tried to stick the landing and soften her words.

"Because if you two are experts in the menu, I might make you order for me."

She did her best to finish with a laugh which thankfully seemed to work as the tension bled from away from the other side of the table. Beside her though, Sofia looked closer for a moment, like she could see into her soul before turning back to her menu.

"The starter sharing platter sounds good, and it's meant for 4 to 6 people so we could split it 4 ways if people fancy? It's got the mozzarella sticks and Tobias said those were absolutely worth trying."

"I'd certainly be down for that. Jakob, Maria? Fancy the sharing platter?" asked Axel with a surprisingly charming smile.

Maria found herself nodding. There was nothing disagreeable on it and sharing would allow them to get to know each other more.

"Let's do it." She declared.

Opposite her, Jakob let out a bright laugh.

"Very subtle there, Axel. Should we warn the lovely ladies here to keep their fingers off your loaded potato skins or are you going to pretend to be polite to impress your beautiful date?"

"Jakob, what, I. Ugh. You are the worst wingman ever."

"I'm the best wingman. You just don't want to admit to having a loaded potato skins addiction."

"Ladies, can I just apologise that you have to hear such untrue stories. I will happily share the loaded potato skins, Jakob is exaggerating."

Jakob stage whispered across the table, a weird blink that might have been a wink in a different life time.

"I nearly lost a finger the last time we ordered the loaded skins but don't you worry ladies, I'll keep you safe from the potato monster."

"How gallant." Axel said sarcastically. "All this and then he'll fight us all over the onion rings."

"Axel Åhman, how dare you accuse me of such low brow stunts? I would never do that and you have no proof."

Maria had a funny feeling from her date's tone that this conversation had been had more than one occasion and that proof was about to appear. Then, like he had heard her, Axel had an objection. His hand shot into the middle of the table, already rolling his sleeve up.

"These bite marks on my wrist say otherwise."

Maria couldn't help but lean forward and stare at the exposed pale skin, despite the fact she knew there would be no visible mark there.

"See. Nothing there. I would never maul you over an onion ring."

"Mmm. That seems untrue. However we should probably discuss mains before the waitress comes back for our order."

Jakob's eyes narrowed but he nodded and turned his attention back to the menu. Maria blinked twice then did the same.

To give the men opposite her credit, the food looked delicious. Maria could easily have found herself lost in the menu for days. There was steak, pasta, rice, soup, burgers, chicken and several other dishes that caught Maria's eye.

As she debated between the taco trio with spicy rice and the stuffed chicken breast with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables, Maria heard muttering from across the table.

Looking up she found both men sharing one menu, whispering and pointing in their own private bubble. A gasp got stuck in her throat at the sight. Honestly if she didn't know any better she would have guessed they were boyfriends and out on a date. She couldn't help but imagine with the tables nearby might be thinking. But then she heard her mother's voice in her head reminding her that it did not matter what others saw, as long as she was happy and knew the truth. And despite looking like they were on a date with two chaperones, Maria knew the truth and that was enough for her.

She focused back on the menu and tried to make a decision before the waitress returned. Beside her, Sofia had sat the menu down so Maria gently tapped her wrist.

"What are you having."

"Well my friend Tobias recommend the steak sandwich or the chicken skewers but I don't really want red meat today so I think I'll have the skewers. What are you thinking, gorgeous?"

Sofia's eyes widened as she realised what she had said but given how flattering it was Maria simply grabbed her hand and shushed her before she could apologise.

"Don't apologise. From someone as beautiful as you, that is very very flattering."

"Phew. I was worried."

"Oh, please don't be. Honestly if I'd met you in another life I'd have been asking for your number and hoping you were single."

Maria felt her heart skip a beat as the beautiful woman opposite her flushed a beautiful shade of red.

However, before Maria could embarrass herself by forgetting who she was on a date with, their waitress returned with drinks.

She looked across the table, expecting the two men to look confused at minimum and outright angry at her flirting at worst, but the bubble they had been in the last time she looked at them had apparently been intact the whole time and had only burst and dragged them back to the real world when the waitress had placed her tray on the table.

Weirdly thankful that the men hadn't noticed but slightly guilty at flirting with someone whilst already on a date, Maria quickly took a much needed sip from her margarita. She then turned her attention to their pretty blonde waitress who was flicking open her pen.

"Okay, what can I get for you all this evening? Will we be doing starters or will we be jumping straight to our main courses?"

"Can we order the sharing platter starter please?"

"Oh, absolutely, that's a great choice."

The waitress scribbled that down before looking back up with a smile

"Okay, fabulous. Now for our mains, let's go ladies first."

"I'll have the chicken skewers please and can I get those with the waffle fries?"

"Absolutely. And you, my lovely, what can I get you?"

Maria took one more second to think them just went with a snap decision.

"Can I get the taco trio please?"

"Do you want that with the spicy rice or the side salad?"

"Rice, please."

"Wonderful." She scribbled down Maria's order then turned to the two men.

"And for the gentlemen?"

"Can I have the steak sandwich please, with a side of normal fries and Jakob will have the chicken and pepper quesadilla with the chip and dip?"

Maria felt her eyes widen again, this time as Axel ordered for her date. Jakob, on the other hand, didn't even blink. Thankfully both the waitress and Sofia seemed to be as confused as Maria, with Sofia staring intently at her date and the waitress looking at Jakob for confirmation that never came. After a brief pause the waitress nodded at nothing and her smile returned but didn't quite reach her eyes this time although neither man seemed to notice.

"Okay, well if that's everything I'll let the kitchen know and give me a little wave if you need anything in the mean time."

Maria watched the waitress walk away and part of her wished she was able to do the same. The other part of her, however, was insanely curious as to how the rest of this date was going to go. Plus Jakob seemed like a nice enough man, if a little close with his friend. And maybe that was okay. She was certainly close with her friends… although she probably wouldn't have brought them on a first date, especially what was essentially a blind date.

So instead she took a sip of her margarita and turned to try to get to know her date better.

"So, Jakob, you mentioned you were in a band. What do you do in your free time?"

His face lit up and Maria's heart skipped a beat.

"Honestly I spend a lot of time working on band stuff, writing new songs, working on new concepts. But in the free time I do get I love going to see musicals, walking my dog Alfons, or playing video games. What about you?"

Maria smiled. They certainly had some stuff in common which was always a good start.

"Me… well I also love musicals but I also really like dancing, and I love doing crosswords."

"Ah, you've picked the right one of us then. I personally love a dance with a good partner. Nothing quite like spinning someone under your arm and catching their eyes twinkle as they spin back to face you."

Maria nodded and Jakob continued.

"In fact a spin like that is part of Axel and I's signature choreography, isn't it, Ax?"

Axel nodded.

"It is indeed. Our spin usually gets a good cheer or two from our fans during a concert."

Maria wasn't sure what her face was doing but she was praying it didn't show the sheer confusion that had taken over her whole body.

"Oh… wow! That's great. I uh, um, Sofia, what do you do in your free time?"

"I do a lot of reading, I love getting lost in a good book. Funnily enough I also teach dance actually. Tango, salsa, paso doble, and other Latin dances."

Across the table Jakob burst out laughing, elbowing a suddenly red in the face Axel.

"Oh, well, there you go, Axel. Maybe Sofia will be able to actually teach you how to dance."

Axel stammered and stuttered but no proper words came out. Jakob laughed hard for a moment but when he realised that his friend had flushed a dark red, he turned to completely face him and immediately stopped laughing. Instead he focused intently on his friend and began speaking to him so softly that Maria had to strain to hear what he said.

"Hey, no, I'm only teasing. It's fine. You do great every single time, you know that. Don't make me call Kevin."

"But-"

"No buts. I'm sure you'd have a great time dancing with Sofia here."

Sofia glanced at Maria, confusion written all over her face and Maria did her best to offer a reassuring smile. It seemed to work and Sofia turned to the still scarlet faced man.

"I'd happily give you a dance lesson anytime, Axel. I think you'd be great."

Axel nodded but Maria could tell he was still very uncomfortable with the idea. Hoping to save the conversation, Maria wracked her brain for a completely different topic.

"So, you mentioned doing shows, Jakob. Do you go out on tour often?"

Jakob gave her a grateful smile, apparently appreciative of the topic change.

"Not too often. We have a few more shows coming up across Finland and Sweden but we don't really go further than that very often."

"Interesting. Where is the furthest you've actually gone as a band?"

"We actually went to Japan, didn't we, Axel?"

"Uh, yeah we did. It was good. A little strange that people so far away knew our music but it was nice at the same time."

Sofia then chimed in.

"Wow, that is some distance. Have you got any photos?"

Axel nodded as Jakob pulled his phone out of his pocket. He quickly pulled up an album and showed the photos to them. The first few photos were normal - a random street, a sushi roll, a cherry blossom tree, and a photo of Axel, Jakob and another man that Maria assumed was the mysterious Kevin surrounded by fans. However, the next photo nearly made Maria drop her drink that she had picked up to take a sip from. It was a photo of three hands linked together, one tugged the other two forward. It wasn't vulgar, there was no nudity but it was somehow the most intimate feeling photo that Maria had ever seen. Next to her, Sofia let out a small gasp and quickly took a deep drink from her cocktail.

"That's a … nice photo." Maria managed. "Where was that taken?"

Jakob turned the phone around to look and Maria watched as both men opposite her seemed to soften internally as they stared at the photo and reminisced. It actually took Sofia clearly her throat lightly to prompt the men into speaking.

"That was taken when we were out exploring on our day off. I can't even remember the joke that started it but it ended up being one of my favourite pictures from the trip."

Jakob looked like he was in a whole other place as he remembered the situation behind the photo. The man beside him was no better, the soft curl of a smile tugging at the edge of his lips as he stared at the photo on Jakob's phone.

Unable to actually process what was happening Maria turned to her side to see Sofia who was staring at both men like they had started speaking in tongues. Which, Maria supposed, was a good thing because it meant Maria wasn't the only who was finding the behaviour of her date and his friend very strange.

Before either woman could actually process this or indeed ask the men what was going on, the waitress returned, her bright and bubbly personality firmly back in place.

"Okay, ladies and gents. I have 4 plates and some tongs here and I've also got our tray of dips to go along with your sharing platter, which I'll just nip back to the kitchen and get."

She placed the dips and plates down and spun on her heel. Whilst they waited for her to return, Axel kindly passed out the plates and Sofia positioned the dips so they would be accessible by all four of them. Their waitress then returned with their starter platter.

As she placed it down on the table, Maria took a close look at the various elements and had to mentally acknowledge that the suggestion had been an excellent one. It gave Maria (and the others) a chance to try a little bit of everything.

"Okay, that's our lovely starter platter for you all. Can I get anyone a refill of their drink?"

As one, Maria and Sofia both spoke.

"Me please."

"I'll take a refill."

"Okay, that's perfect ladies, I'll get them put through and brought over for you both as soon as possible. Gents, do you want another bottle of wine."

Jakob reached over and pulled the wine bottle from its cooler.

"No, I think we are fine… unless you think otherwise Axel?"

"No, no, I think we have plenty."

"Okay, well, that's great then. I'll leave you to get tucked in and I'll go put that drinks order through for you ladies."

Silence fell across the table as the four of them began claiming what looked good to them. Maria tried to take a little piece of everything, keen to try the food that everyone had raved about.

She then tucked in, and immediately found herself agreeing with the compliments that everyone had bestowed on the restaurant. The chicken wing was moist, the perfect hint of tang from the BBQ sauce. The mozzarella stick was crispy, warm, and gooey and with the perfect cheese pull. The onion ring was crispy and she could see why her date claimed it to be his favourite. Then she tried the loaded potato skin and cursed. That was spectacular. No wonder Axel was allegedly obsessed with them.

Across the table, Jakob looked up at her curse and as he put the maths together on what was happening, he let out that bright laugh that Maria was growing quite attached to.

"Ah, you might have some competition for the potato skins, Axel. My beautiful date here seems to also have learned how delicious they are."

Maria felt herself blush.

"Admittedly they are absolutely delicious. I'll have to fight you for the last one, Axel."

The smile that the man opposite Sofia offered her was less of a smile and more of a grimace. Maria wasn't quite sure what to do with that so smiled back and turned her attention to the halloumi fry that she had yet to try.

Thankfully, before a strange atmosphere could settle around the table, or in case am atmosphere stranger than the current one, their waitress returned with their drinks. She placed them down with a polite smile before turning her attention to the whole table.

"How are we finding our starter this evening?"

Maria had unfortunately just put another mozzarella stick in her mouth so offered a wobbly thumbs up and a smile, doing her best to hide the fact her mouth was full. Sofia, thankfully, had just finished her bite so was able to actually verbally respond.

"Food is wonderful so far. Absolutely delicious."

Axel nodded as Jakob agreed verbally.

"The onion rings are excellent as always."

"Fantastic." The waitress beamed. "I'll leave you to it then. Just shout if you have any issues."

The same silence from before descended as the four strangers - or rather two strangers and two best friends - slowly worked their way through the starter.

Before long they reached that awkward stage of only one or two pieces of each thing left. At first no one moved but then Sofia looked so longingly at the final mozzarella stick that Maria laughed and placed it on the woman's plate.

"Sorry, boys. I can't resist a girl looking at a mozzarella stick so sadly."

Jakob laughed but Axel nodded.

"Honestly understandable. That was like dealing with Jakob looking longingly at cake. It's impossible to say no."

The laughter from Jakob stopped abruptly, his lips falling into a pout as his eyes made him look like a wounded puppy.

"I don't look longingly at cake."

"Yes, you do. You are cake consuming monster and if Kevin and I let you, you'd live on cake."

Jakob folded his arms across his chest with a little huff but then spotted the final onion ring.

Axel must have also noticed where Jakob was staring and burst out laughing, a warm friendly laugh that made Maria laugh too.

"Ah you've tripped yourself up, young Norrgård. You can continue with your pout or you can claim the last onion ring. Whatever will he do?"

Maria watched as her date thought hard, his brain practically giving off steam before one arm slid to his side and his other hand picked up his fork and grabbed the onion ring before anyone could grab it. All three of them laughed as Jakob happily munched on his onion ring.

"Was that worth it?" teased Axel.

"Absolutely."

Jakob hummed contentedly before sitting back against his seat.

"Totally worth the surrender. Now… the real battle. There's only one potato skin left."

Like they were the same person, both Axel and Maria looked down at the platter. They both then gestured to the other and spoke in sync.

"You have it."

"Why don't you have the last one."

"No, it's okay, you have it." Axel insisted.

"Honestly I couldn't it's clearly your favourite."

Maria held her hands up and gestured for Axel to take the potato. It was clearly the man's favourite and she couldn't take that away from him.

The pair were stuck in a stalemate and neither wanted to give in but then Jakob offered a solution.

"I uh I sort of saw this coming so... Axel give the lady the potato skin, I promise you won't be completely heartbroken."

Axel silently passed her the potato and Jakob waited until Maria had taken her first bite before pulling up his napkin with a magician level flourish. Beneath it was half of a potato skin.

"I spotted there was an odd number and I thought this might happen after how much Maria seemed to enjoy her one so I decided to keep this for you, Ax."

Instead of saying thank you like a normal human being, Axel closed the gap between the two men like a heat seeking missile and wrapped Jakob in a hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. Best friend in the whole world."

Axel's face was glowing with delight and Jakob flushed red at the compliment. Their hug continued, Axel practically dangling off of Maria's date as he continued to tell him how wonderful he was.

"Seriously Jakob. You are the best, honestly. Best friend I've ever had."

"Oh, so can I tell Kevin you said that then?" teased Jakob.

"Oh god, no absolutely not, he'll never let me live that down. Don't you dare tell him."

"I'll make you a deal. You shut up and eat your potato and I'll not tell Kevin that you said I'm the best friend in the world."

"You better not tell him, Jakob, I swear to-"

Maria watched in stunned silence as Jakob stopped Axel finishing his sentence by taking the potato skin and shoving it against his lips. However, instead of Axel then grabbing the potato and eating himself or shooing Jakob's hand away or doing anything remotely sane, Axel then let Jakob feed him the whole chunk of potato, bite by bite.

Maria was certain her heart had thundered to a stop in her chest as her brain tried to process what on earth was happening. Surely this was a dream. Her date was hand feeding another person, directly in front of both of the women they were supposed to be on dates with. Then, like the fever dream she was living could get no worse, Jakob gently placed the last piece of potato in Axel's mouth and Axel, instead of simply closing his mouth and sitting back to swallow, seemed to swipe his tongue over Jakob's fingertip before pressing an almost invisible kiss against his skin.

But no. Surely Maria didn't just witness that. She couldn't have. She must be dreaming. Or perhaps her drink was much stronger than expected. To reassure herself she once again turned to Sofia but given she was staring at both men with her mouth open, the odds of it being a dream were seeming smaller and smaller.

Expecting both men to be embarrassed and apologise when they realised what they had done, Maria waited with bated breath for them to turn their attention back to the table. Instead Maria watched as the pair stared at each other for an endless moment before Axel murmured something that Maria didn't catch.

The pair then turned back to the table and both took a sip of their wine. Neither man seemed embarrassed, and Maria was left to wonder exactly how close these best friends are. Thankfully the woman next to her seemed to have a similar thought and was slightly braver than Maria.

"So. If you two are best friends… how long have you been best friends?"

Both men lit up like this was their favourite question. Axel gestured to Jakob who happily answered.

"Oh it's been forever. We met as kids and we've been attached at the hip ever since."

Maria ignored the mean voice in the back of her head that couldn't help but retort 'yeah we can all see that.'

Sofia, on the other hand, was clearly on an information finding mission.

"Oh, wow that's so cool. And now you are in the same band as well?"

"Yeah. It's the best. I get to spend every day with some of my favourite people."

Axel nodded enthusiastically whilst Sofia offered a slower nod.

"I can imagine that's a lot of fun."

"Definitely. We spend a lot of time together but it just means we know each other super well."

"Yeah, I mean my parents basically consider Jakob their second son at this point."

Jakob laughed joyfully.

"It means I have a standing invite to Sunday dinner, and trust me when I say Axel’s mum is the best cook."

"I still can't believe you went without me last month."

"Well, you couldn't make it and your mum had made my favourite cake for dessert. It would have been rude to miss out on such delicious food. Honestly, Sofia, you are in for such a treat."

Sofia hummed and Maria could tell she was unimpressed but neither men seemed to notice. Did neither man realise how they sounded?

Before that thought could develop any further the waitress returned with a colleague and the pair quickly cleared the table.

"I'll be straight back with those main courses. I hope you're all hungry."

A silence settled over the table that seemed untouchable so Maria watched the waitress collect their food to avoid the awkward silence she could feel building. Thankfully the waitress was quick and either couldn't feel the tension at the table or was a consummate professional who was choosing to ignore the uncomfortable air around them.

Their plates were sat in front of them and Maria smiled. At least her food looked good. She was pleased with her choice.

She then gave into her nosey nature and peered at everyone else's food. Sofia appeared to have made a good choice too. Her food looked colourful and smelled amazing. Maria gave it a nod of approval and then turned her attention across the table.

She wasn't sure what to expect, she had learned that very quickly that her date and his best friend were unpredictable but somehow she still found herself stunned at the sight. Axel had cut his steak sandwich in half and quickly placed half of it on Jakob's plate. Jakob had then returned the favour and placed two of his four quesadilla fans onto Axel’s plate.

The men then spun their plates so that their sides were closer to the person sitting next to them and then nodded as if they were content with their actions. Maria debated questioning their actions but was almost 100% certain that if she asked the men why they had just done that they would assume it was perfectly normal and not see a single problem with what they had done.

Thankfully Sofia seemed to still be of a similar line of thought to Maria. She leaned over and spoke just loudly enough that Maria would hear her but their dates wouldn't hear a word.

"It's not just me that's finding this unusual, is it?"

Maria shook her head in tiny motions.

"Not at all." She whispered. "It's the most unusual date I've ever been on."

"I'm just glad I'm not alone."

Maria laughed at the statement and agreed completely. This was not something she could have handled alone.

Glancing across the table, she once again found both men contained in their own private bubble, laughing at some joke that would only ever be heard by the two of them.

Deciding that she might as well talk to someone, Maria turned to the beautiful woman at her side and tried her best to get to know her. Maybe she would at least be able to make a friend out of this strange evening as it seemed highly unlikely that she was going to walk away with a second date.

"So. You teach dance. How did you get into that?"

Sofia's face lit up and Maria's swallowed hard at the way her smile sparkled.

"I actually fell into it. I work as an executive assistant and I honestly felt like I was losing my soul to the corporate world. I had danced when I was younger so I found an adult dance class and started attending. I actually became really good friends with the instructor and eventually he asked if I would be interested in teaching a beginners class. Jarmo enjoys the more complicated steps. So I agreed and yeah, that's how I ended up a dance teacher."

Maria couldn't help but be impressed.

"Wow. That's so cool. I've always wanted to learn to dance but I wasn't ever sure I would be good at it."

"Why don't you come along to my next class then? I bet I could have you twirling around the floor like a perfect beautiful princess in no time."

Maria knew there was now at least a splattering of red on her cheeks but she nodded anyway.

"I uh, I think I'd like to give that a try."

"Excellent. I look forward to guiding you around the dance floor."

Realising that the two were tangoing quite close to flirting, Maria glanced across the table to see what her date thought of the situation.

Unfortunately for Maria, her date had no idea that she had been walking the thin line between friendship and flirting as he was too busy staring into his best friend's eyes as his friend wiped dip from the corner of his lip. Maria watched for a second then made a decision.

Turning to Sofia again, she spoke quietly but loud enough that the men across the table would hear her.

"I think I need to nip to the bathroom. Sofia, would you care to join me?"

"I think I would."

"Excuse us, gents."

Axel nodded and Jakob smiled, a genuine happy smile that made it seem like he was delighted to see both women getting along.

The two woman walked to the bathroom in silence but Maria knew the upcoming conversation was about to be very interesting. She held the door open to the bathroom, admiring the opulent lighting and the eye catching tiles as she followed Sofia into the room.

Neither woman seemed to know what to say for a second, staring at each other with confusion written on both of their faces. Then the absurdity of the situation seemed to land in both their heads at once and they burst out laughing.

Maria found herself having to hold herself up using the sink, laughter making it hard to stand. And the more she thought about the absurd situation she had found herself in, the harder she laughed.

As she finally managed to calm down, Sofia caught her eye and Maria burst out laughing all over again. And for the next few minutes, every time she caught sight of the beautiful woman across the room, who was still giggling, Maria found herself laughing all over again.

"Stop. Don't look at me. You keep setting me off with your giggles."

"Sorry.... Sorry! It's just so funny."

Maria shut her eyes for a moment and when she finally felt like she had herself back under control, she took a deep breath and then focused her attention on Sofia. Thankfully she also seemed to have wrestled her amusement back under control.

"So. How's your date going?" Maria asked.

"Admittedly I've had better. But somehow this is still not the worst date I've ever been on."

Maria couldn't help the snort that escaped her.

"I know exactly what you mean."

"It's still a weird evening though I have to admit."

"Is it just me that feels like a third wheel?"

Sofia shook her head violently

"Oh I am so glad you said that. Did you know that there would be four of us this evening?"

"Honestly not at all. I almost humiliated myself at the hostess stand."

"Me too! I had to text and ask why there was no table booked under Åhman."

"Admittedly, Jakob had mentioned that he had a good friend who he was close with and that we could maybe double date sometime but I thought he meant several dates in, not a double date the first time we met."

"I bet you also thought the double date would be split as you and Jakob then Axel and whoever he brought not Jakob and Axel and then you and whoever Axel brought with him."

"Well. No offence, lovely lady but yes."

Sofia seemed to think for a moment.

"Do we tell them?"

"I mean we probably should. They would probably benefit from knowing they are effectively in a long term relationship. I mean did you hear Axel say to send Jakob over to him if he needs hugs. I've never said that about a friend and especially not to someone they were on a date with."

"I nearly fell off my seat when he said that. I was stunned."

Maria thought for a moment then made a decision. This date with Jakob was never going to end in a way that made anyone happy but perhaps a very gorgeous woman was about to tumble into her lap instead.

"Let's go back and finish our food. Then we can skip dessert. Before we leave we point out, as kindly as possible, that those two are practically in a long term relationship and then maybe you and I go and get a drink somewhere?"

Sofia bit her lip and Maria found herself wrestling with the desire to also nibble at the perfect plump lip.

"I think that sounds like a wonderful plan."

"Then let's go get the ball rolling."

The two ladies returned to the table and as they walked across the restaurant, Maria tried to guess what they might find the two men doing. She couldn't help but imagine they would be touching in some way or other.

Arriving at the table, she immediately saw she was almost correct. Axel was feeding a fry to Jakob who was almost moaning with pleasure. Maria glanced at Sofia who simply rolled her eyes and sat down to finish her meal. As they sat down, Jakob offered them a smile but once again didn't acknowledge the weird behaviour between himself and Axel. All four of them then ate quietly with minimal conversation, mostly about the weather and a TV show that all four of them had recently watched.

Once they had all finished eating, Axel took a drink of his wine then seemed to remember he was supposed to interact with his date.

"How was your food?"

"It was very nice." said Sofia. "The recommendation from my friends was an excellent choice. I really enjoyed it."

"Are you going to have any dessert?" Axel asked.

"No. Unfortunately I think I'm full."

Unexpectedly next to Axel, Jakob began to pout. Although Maria wasn't sure why. But of course immediately, Axel knew what the issue was and began to cheer Jakob up.

"Hey, no, we don't all have to have dessert for you to have dessert. You can still order what sugar filled monstrosity you have your heart set on. I'm sure no one will mind."

Jakob nodded, still looking remarkably sad, then looked directly at Maria.

"Will you have dessert?"

Maria shook her head. She had no intention of dragging this out any longer.

"Oh."

Jakob then turned back to Axel.

"Ax, please. Are you having dessert?"

Axel smiled so indulgently that Maria was stunned.

Of course I'll keep you company. I'll see if they have an affogato and if they don't I'll see if I can order some ice cream and an espresso and make my own."

Jakob wrapped his arms around him and gave him a hug.

"Thank you, Axel. You're the best!"

Maria watched as a grown man bounced in his seat. Admittedly it was sort of cute to see a grown man so excited about dessert but Maria did wonder what he would be like on a sugar high.

Turning to Sofia, Maria hoped the question she was asking was somehow silently projecting into her mind. Thankfully they seemed to be mostly in sync.

"If you are planning on ordering dessert, I think Maria and I are going to head off. It's been a long day so if it's okay with you, we would like to get the main bill and then split it. Is that okay?"

The men looked at each other with confusion before Axel spoke.

"Uh, yeah. Sure. If that's what you want. Although we weren't expecting either of you two pay, we asked you two on dates so it only seems fair we pay."

"No, no it's totally fine. We will happily pay for our own share, won't we, Sofia?"

"Of course. We couldn't burden you like that."

"It's not a burden at all. We would be honoured to take care of the bill for two lovely ladies."

Maria smiled at that. He might have been more interested in his best friend than he was her, but Jakob was very charming. Maybe in another life, in a different place, with a different name, she might have been charmed by him, but in this life it was clear Axel was where his heart truly lay.

"Well. We won't argue if you insist."

"We do insist." Axel stated firmly.

"Then thank you." said Sofia.

"Yes. Thank you very much."

There was silence for a moment before Axel broke it.

"Are you both okay to get home safely? Assuming you are both still planning to leave just now."

Both women nodded and Maria finished her drink for courage before she turned to the men.

"First of all. Thank you for a lovely evening. The food was delicious and the company was very lovely."

"You are most welcome. We also had a lovely evening." Jakob smiled.

Maria, who had been worrying about her next statement suddenly felt much better. Jakob having answered for both of them made her feel that much better about her next move.

"Secondly, and Sofia and I hope you don't mind us being so forward- are you two aware that you probably don't need dating apps?"

Jakob and Axel made matching faces of confusion.

"What Maria is trying to say is that you both went on a first date this evening and you brought your best friend."

Jakob nodded brightly.

"Yeah of course, he is my best friend after all."

"See, that's sort of our point. And this goes for both of you. You brought your best friend on a date, shared your food and wine with him, hand fed him food and made sure to keep him happy. Maybe you don't need a date. Maybe you just need each other."

Not sure what reaction to expect, Maria watched as both men flushed red, both struggling to stammer out a response. Eventually Axel managed to find the words.

"We appreciate the concern ladies but Jakob is straight and -"

"I'm not straight, you are-"

Maria and Sofia sat frozen as the world opposite them blew up to reveal a whole new world underneath.

"I'm not straight, Jakob, I'm demi sexual you know this. I told you and Kevin years ago."

Jakob's face had gone pale.

"I… I genuinely don't remember this. But I'm not straight either. I'm bisexual, always have been."

"But, how did I not know that? Did you tell me?"

"I told you that night by the river with the box of wine we borrowed from your aunt when we were 17."

"You mean the night I have no memory of after Kevin fell into the water because someone kept giving me wine."

"Oh."

"Oh indeed."

The pair stared at each other and Maria decided that was their cue to leave. She gently nudged Sofia and the pair stood up in sync.

"Thank you for a lovely dinner. Jakob, feel free to text me, I think we would do a great job as friends."

And with that the two women walked away, partially dying to stay and find out what happened next and partially knowing that these two needed to have their next conversation by themselves. As they stepped outside, the restaurant both women began giggling.

"I cannot wait to tell Tobias and Jarmo about this. They'll find it hilarious."

"I mean understandable, it really is hilarious. Honestly I can't believe that just happened."

Both women reflected for a moment before Maria glanced over at Sofia. She was beautiful, even under the terrible street lights and Maria summoned her courage.

"Can I still interest you in that drink?"

The next morning, Maria woke up to the pinging of her phone. It was only a text message so she didn't rush to pick it up. Instead she let the memories of last night wash over her. The date that could only have come from the mind of a madman, the two men who so clearly belonged together. Then, the drinks afterwards with Sofia. The drinks were delicious and the pair hit it off. They learned they were remarkably compatible, that they had a bunch of interests in common, that they even had a few friends in common. Then, as they left, that kiss. It was small; a tiny kiss in the grand scheme of life but Maria could still feel the ghost of Sofia's lips on her mouth and she couldn't wait to kiss the beautiful woman again.

Heaving a sigh, she rolled over and grabbed at her phone, swiping to see who had text her. She wondered if it was a friend, or her mum, or maybe even in an ideal world it would be Sofia. Instead she found her text thread with Jakob was the only one with a notification. Excitedly she opened it and found three text messages.

J - 'Sorry for being the worst date ever.'

J - 'And unfortunately I can't take you out for a second date. I don't think my boyfriend would be too happy about it.'

J - 'But if it helps, you just changed my life and I owe you one massive sized favour.'

Maria let out a little sequel that she would deny ever happened if asked and then quickly fired off a few texts in return.

M - 'I think that I might just be able to forgive you.'

M - 'Seriously though, congratulations!! It was clearly a long time coming.'

Immediately Maria's phone pinged again, this time with a photo. It took a moment to load but when it did Maria couldn't help but smile. It was Jakob, shirtless and still in bed but instead of alone, there was another body beside him, a smiling face curled into Jakob's shoulder.

J - 'Axel says thank you too!'

M - 'Anytime! You two were meant to be.'

Maria let her phone slide out of her hand onto the mattress and flopped onto her back, a wide smile on her face. Sofia would be thrilled to know the two men worked it out. Maria might have been on the worst date of her life but somehow everything seemed to have come to a perfect conclusion anyway.