Shades of Gray

Dan

Shopping had never been fun for Dan, but he knew it was necessary to survive. It was always more fun with Henry, but he had soccer practice. If they didn't get food into the kitchen before he got back, he'd have to deal with a hangry Henry. That was never fun. He pushed his cart through the isles trying to locate the bread. It was always in a different place in every store. He didn't know why all store designers decided to do it like that. Milk was always in the back, produce to the side of everything, and bread could be anywhere! He sighed before entering the final isle, he was surprised it had taken him that long to find bread. He grabbed the store brand stuff and checked the list on his phone. He could never remember to grab a list, so he kept it on his phone. The last thing he needed was croutons. Salad just wasn't as good without them. He made his way over to where he knew they were from his journey to the bread. He knew Henry's favorite brand and threw it into the cart. He smiled and started to make his way to the checkout. He stopped short when he saw a familiar face. 
"Hey Maggi!" He cheered gleefully. She jumped as if she had been very focused on something. 
"Oh, hi Dan." 
"It's cool to see you. I meant to ask yesterday, but did you have a good time? I realize we kinda got engrossed in conversation with some of Henry's friends." She shook her head. 
"Don't worry about it. I met someone and we danced but I left at some point." He smiled. 
"Who are they?" He asked, trying to sound like he didn't really care. However, after getting to know her all week, he was really interested in who she found attractive. 
"Um, her name is Norma Nigh. Do you know her?" He looked up to think. 
"Is she about yea high with brown hair and eyes. I know she goes to the other school. She's on the soccer team. They are pretty good." 
"Yeah. That's her." The way she said it almost seemed like she wanted to say more, but wasn't going to. "Well, I need to....find my brother. Yeah. He went to go get some milk. See you on Monday!" She ran off and he sighed. It seemed to matter how hard he tried, he wasn't going to get past her walls. She was heavily guarded. It was understandable, considering what Sabrina did to her, but it still was annoying. He shrugged and went to check out. He would deal with that on Monday. He just needed to pay and get home to make something for his sweaty athlete. 

Lunch was quite quick. Henry was hungry from practice and Dan was just hungry. He told Henry about Maggi and Norma and they talked about that for awhile. They speculated on whether they would actually get together. Neither of them knew either girl that well, but they knew Maggi enough to know that she didn't just give her number to any random person at a club. At least, that's what Dan thought. He didn't know the mind of an introvert. That was in the job description of being an extrovert. He almost laughed out loud at his own joke before catching himself, but not before a small snort got out. 
"What's so funny? I know that it's not probable that Maggi and Norma will buy a penthouse have three cats and live until they're eighty, but a boy can dream!" 
"It's not that, I'm just laughing at something my brain said." Henry smiled encouragingly. 
"What did it say?" 
"It said that not understanding introverts was part of the extrovert job description." Henry chuckled and rolled off the couch onto the floor. 
"I wish I could be a nice fat cat sometimes. Nothing to worry about, just whether or not I can reach that bird or when I get fed next. I know I'm not a cat, but I think it would be fun." Dan rolled off the couch and onto his boyfriend, pinning him to the ground. 
"Love, I know you want a cat. When we buy our own house then you can have a cat. You can name it Cheeto for all I care. However, we need an actual house, not an apartment, before that can happen." Henry stuck his bottom lip out in a pout. Cats were his favorite animal. It was funny sometimes, especially since Dan was a dog person. He smirked. "Put that lip away or I'll put it to use." Henry smiled devilishly. 
"Oh, really?" Dan leaned down, just a brush away from Henry's lips. 
"Yeah." Henry closed his eyes, expecting the kiss to come, but Dan smirked again and pulled back. 
"I know we just ate lunch, but what do you want for dinner?" Henry laughed. 
"I don't know. It's too early. Lets go take a nap!" Dan nodded. 
"Yeah, lets do that." Henry got up and dragged Dan to the bedroom. They snuggled up together before Henry fell asleep. Dan never really napped, he just like to cuddle with Henry. It always made his day when he and Henry could take a nap. He kissed his boyfriend's forehead before settling his head on the pillow and relaxing.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!