Sweet Little Birds (BxB Romance, Completed)

Chapter 4: A Dozen Donuts

For ten minutes, Robin had waited for Tyler to arrive at the library for their study session. With sweaty palms, dry mouth, and pounding heart he kept glancing at the door in the hopes of seeing a boy on crutches, with blonde strands of hair dancing in front of green eyes and a lollipop between his lips, make a grand entrance.

Robin kept telling himself this was no big deal. It was only a tutoring session. There was no need to be nervous. But his body was saying the opposite.

Maybe agreeing to the tutoring arrangement had just been a charade on Tyler's part anyway. A way to pander to his counselor. Maybe he wouldn't show up.

This notion made Robin feel silly about all the thought he'd put into making sure Ty didn't feel awkward. He didn't want to make the mistake with the stairs again. Therefore, Robin had arrived at the library early enough to occupy a table on the bottom floor, close to the entrance. He didn't want Ty to have to hobble around in narrow passages as they looked for a table or force the other boy to scale the spiral staircase to the second floor of the building.

There were probably elevators, but Robin wasn't sure where. Perhaps they would have to ask for a key in the reception. Perhaps Ty would find that humiliating. Perhaps he would blame Robin for not thinking such things through.

There was a lot of "perhaps" running through Robin's anxious mind.

He took a deep breath and leaned his forehead on the desk in front of him. He was overthinking things, as always.

"Calm down, Robin. Calm down," he whispered to himself while breathing in and out through his nose. This was a method to keep calm taught to him by one of the many doctors he had visited during his childhood when he was poked and prodded over and over. And yet all the poking and prodding never led to a conclusive diagnosis.

One tap, and then another. The sound came closer and Robin looked up.

Blonde curls and a lollipop.

"Are you asleep?" Tyler asked with a crooked smile that revealed a blue-ish tongue. The tip flicked across the round treat between his lips like a lizard. Robin surmised that the color must originate from a previous lollipop. Perhaps grape or blueberry. He couldn't help but wonder if Ty's lips would taste sweet and fruity as well.

A breath in and a breath out served to focus him again. What were these thoughts? This was just a tutoring session.

"I'm... awake," Robin blurted out as he tried to act normal. How did a normal person even act? Robin didn't quite know anymore. Perhaps he'd never known.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Tyler continued casually, seemingly taking no note of Robin's flustered state. Hopefully, he was passing the normal bar. "I might have fallen asleep myself in Miss Horn's office. She told me I could take a nap, so I did."

While Tyler put his crutches against a chair and untangled himself from his backpack, Robin jumped up to pull out a chair.

"Such a gentleman," Ty teased while sitting down. "I can sit down by myself. My arms work perfectly well." He lifted a hand and curled it to flex the muscles above. The sight of the hard edges moving underneath the skin made Robin's pulse race.

"Sorry," Robin mumbled while a blush spread over his face. The balance between doing too much and too little was hard to strike. Balancing had never been Robin's strong suit anyway. He could barely walk on a sidewalk without tripping. Although his coordination improved after he stopped taking all those medicines the doctors used to prescribe him.

Ty must have seen Robin's predicament and decided to take pity on him. "I don't mind some help," he muttered and reached into his jacket pocket. "Here's a lollipop for your trouble, Robby."