anything and everything

Merek x Richard

Richard leaned his head down on the steering wheel of his car, taking a deep breath. This wasn't what he had expected when he agreed to a date.

Nolan had asked if he wanted to be a friend of his date. With all the pressure he'd been getting from his family, Richard figured a date wouldn't be so bad.

He didn't think that date was going to be to a wedding.

He'd been texting with 'Merek' for a few days in advance. He'd had a chance to back out but he didn't. He couldn't blame anyone except for himself.

Merek was a strange name too, he noted. He hadn't met anyone with that name before. It sounded masculine to him but some girls had very manly names.

A knock on his window startled him out of his overthinking. Richard rolled down the window, looking curiously at the man outside. "yes?"

"Are you Richard?" The man asked. He looked to be in his late thirties or young forties, Richard wasn't great at guessing ages. His red hair was slicked back professionally. If Richard wasn't mistaken there was a few flecks of leftover glitter in his beard.

"I am?" Richard answered.

The man smiled and offered his hand to Richard to shake. "it's nice to meet you, I'm Merek. I believe my son set us up on this date."

"Oh?" Merek was a man? Richard could feel a little heat rise to his cheeks but tried to ignore it. He accepted Merek's hand in a firm handshake.  Why would Nolan set him up with another man?

"Will you be getting out of your car, Richard?" Merek asked.

"Yes. Yes of course." Richard put his keys in his pocket and got out of the car, locking it behind him. He was just an inch or two taller than Merek, he noticed.

Merek took a step closer and helped Richard fix his suit since it got a little messed up whole driving. "You are a very handsome man, Richard."

Richards heart lept to his throat. How was he supposed to answer that? This was all so strange, he just wanted to hide away. "Thank you."

Merek offered his arm to Richard. "Shall we? I'm sure my sister, the bride, will want to see me before the wedding."

. . . . . . . . . .

The day had been full of surprises. Richard knew the bride was Merek's sister but he didn't know they'd be sitting at the head table with Merek's family. That wasn't nearly as much of a shock as finding out Merek was a man though.

Everyone was very polite to him throughout the wedding. There was some attention on Richard during the dinner but most of it was focused on the bride and groom.

After the meal there had been the first dance and a couple of speeches. Cake was cut. The party was finally in full swing.

"Are you much of a dancer?" Merek asked Richard. It was just the two of them left at the table.

Merek had been the nicest of everyone. He was polite yet friendly the entire night. His watchful eyes noticed when Richard was uncomfortable and he was trying his best to stay in Richards comfort zone.

"I haven't been to a wedding before." Richard said. He hadn't done much dancing except going to homecoming once or twice in his youth.

"We don't have to dance if you don't want to." Merek dismissed the idea.

"We should." Richard shook his head, he didn't want to disappoint anyone by not dancing. Besides, it didn't look too hard.

Merek looked over to the dance floor then back to Richard with an amused smile. "You know, weddings aren't really my scene either. I'm sorry my son pressured you into this. Knowing that boy he didn't tell you it would be a wedding."