More Than Friends

Party

Stan

As the weeks went by, life settled into a comfortable rhythm. Stan went to school, played his guitar at the coffee shop, hung out with his friends, and every weekend Kyle came to his house.
And every weekend they spent together, Stan fell a little more for his best friend.

Which is probably why the first weekend in October, he found himself saying yes to a double date. Him, Lola, Kyle, and Nichole. He really didn't want to go, but Stan had a hard time telling Kyle no. He hated disappointing him.

He stood in front of the bathroom mirror, peering at his reflection.
He had on a pair of jeans, a red long sleeve shirt, and a jean jacket. He pushed his hair off his face, but it just fell back in place. He had thought about cutting it but then Kyle had said it looked good a little long. That had been the end of Stan wanting to cut it.
He gave up trying to do anything with it and went back to his room, sitting on his bed. He picked up his phone from his nightstand and checked it. He had a new snap from Red.
It was a selfie of her in her favorite oversized t-shirt with the caption, 'Have fun'.
Stan smiled and rolled his eyes, checking his other notifications.
He opened Instagram and there was a new picture of Lola and Nichole. Underneath was, 'Getting ready for date night!😁'.
Stan had to admit Lola looked beautiful with her thick brown hair falling around her shoulders, and hazel eyes lined lightly with eyeliner. Her lips were a soft pink and she wore a dark green sweater dress.
He sighed. She really was pretty, but Stan couldn't shake how he felt about Kyle.
He'd tried, but it just wasn't happening.

He sighed and flopped backwards on his bed. Kyle was meeting him here before they went to pick up the girls.
One of the more exciting things to happen was his mom getting a new car. Which means he and Shelly shared the old one.
She'd been surprisingly cool about it, pretty much letting him drive it whenever he wanted.

He jumped when his phone chimed and picked it up. It was a text from Kyle letting him know he was here. Stan texted him back to just come in.
He heard the front door open and close, then footsteps on the stairs.
He got up and opened his bedroom door, startling Kyle who had his hand out, reaching for the doorknob.
"Hey." He grinned at Kyle, looking him over. He had on a pair of black jeans, a black shirt, and the green jacket Stan had bought him, along with a pair of green converse.
Stan noticed his hat was absent.
He fought to keep his expression neutral as he struggled not to reach out and run his fingers through Kyle's hair. Not to mention what else he'd like to do.
"You look nice."
It was an understatement,
but probably the socially acceptable thing to say without sounding weird.

Kyle smiled at him. "Thanks dude, so do you."
It took all his effort not to blush as Kyle studied him with that unreadable expression again.
Stan moved around him and headed for the stairs, Kyle trailing behind.
In the living room, he scooped up his red converse, tugging them on. He shouted to his mom they were leaving and she answered from the kitchen.
"Have fun and be safe."
"We will."
He snagged the car keys, him and Kyle slipping out the door.

As they got in the car, Kyle's face lit with excitement. "It's so cool that you have a car now."
Stan chuckled. "A shared car."
Kyle rolled his eyes. "Semantics."
Stan backed out of the driveway and headed towards Lola's house, where they were picking up the girls.

It didn't take them long to get there. Stan pulled up to the curb just as the front door opened.
Nichole and Lola hurried over the car and got in the back seat, giggling. "Hey guys."
Stan waved and Kyle turned to look at them. "Wow Nichole, you look really pretty."
Stan watched her blush in the rearview mirror. "Thanks Kyle, you look nice too."
He slid his gaze over to Lola, who was looking at him expectantly.
Like a coward, he looked away and pulled into the street, driving towards the theater.