The Barefoot Violinist

Branded

"Bennett?" Cory started as he led him into the house by the hand. "About what you said in class..." He thought he should get the crush situation over with. There's no point in denying that he had a full blown crush on Bennett and skirting around the issue didn't help at all.

"What was that?" Bennett tried not to think of what happened in English class. His little revelation isn't something he wanted to talk about at this moment. He needed to process it himself.

"When you talked about a crush." he blushed at saying this. "It's just, it's that... I just, you know?" Why was it so hard to get the words out, he wondered.

"I don't know, but with some more words, I could try." he grinned at Cory, who scowled back at him.

Sitting on the couch, Cory looked at Bennett who still had a confused look on his face. Okay, this is it! You can do this! he tried to psych himself up again. It didn't seem to help very much because he still felt like he was about to take a leap without a rope.

"Okay, we've been hanging out for a while and I'm sure you know by now that I have a crush on you. More than that." he stopped, waiting for a response from Bennett. When nothing was forthcoming, he cleared his throat and continued, "Do you think maybe you'd want to go out with me? Not as friends, I mean, as in dating." he quickly clarified when Bennett opened his mouth.

"I... I'm not sure about that." he started, not exactly sure what to say. Their time together was really special and his realisation in English class made him want to say yes, but the reality of it all was completely different.

"What do you mean?" he was perplexed by Bennett's response. He was sure that they were on the same page when it came to their relationship.

"The dating thing. It's one thing to hang out, but dating? That's not been part of my plan." he looked at Cory, seeing the disappointment in his face. "That doesn't mean that I don't want to date you, but..." he trailed off not knowing what to do exactly.

"But?"

"But, I need time." Bennett dropped his gaze, only looking up when Cory took his hand. "Can't we be friends a little while longer?"

"Okay, I've got time!" he grinned, glad that there was still hope for them. "Now, what do you say to a movie after dinner?" They'd quickly fallen into a routine of spending their time together. If they weren't at Bennett's, they spent all their time together at Cory's house. He'd managed to lure Bennett away from his violin a little bit at a time. When he wasn't playing, he sometimes sat chatting to Cory while he cooked or helped, which didn't always go as planned.

He'd come to know of some of Bennett's quirks, which were really endearing and Cory often had to stop himself laughing when something miniscule set him off. He'd also learned the hard way never to touch Bennett's socks. He had soon realised that he was happiest that it was just the two of them.

Now, he sat looking down at Bennett asleep in his lap. The movie had long been forgotten, and he only had eyes for Bennett. "You're so beautiful." he quietly sighed, brushing his fingers over Bennett's cheek.

"Hey, Cory!" his head snapped up when he heard his name called out, before seeing Tyler come bounding into the room.

"Shut up!" he whispered loudly, placing his finger over his lips to keep him quiet.

"What?" Tyler started with a confused look in his eyes. Cory was still sitting on the couch, not making a move to get up. Walking over to him, he leaned over Cory's shoulder and was surprised to see Bennett asleep in Cory's lap.

"Oh..." he softly exhaled looking from one to the other with a frown.

Slowly extricating himself from Bennett, Cory tried getting up without waking him. When Bennett started mumbling in his sleep, Cory immediately pacified him. "It's okay, baby. I'll be right back," he couldn't help but smile, leaning down to plant a kiss on his brow.