inkspresso

yeah, no, duh

Jack bounces his leg nervously as he waits for him to come to the café. He checks his phone. It's eleven in the night, and he's yet to arrive. Jack can't even focus enough to do some stupid task to distract his mind.

The bell rings, alerting him.

Zach comes in already wearing headphones. He doesn't bother to greet Jack with a smile, like usual. The curly head sighs. Yeah, he definitely pissed him off.

Zach sits, turning away from Jack. He opens his computer and immediately gets to work.

Jack approaches with an éclair. He sets the plate by him and hesitantly sits down. Zach looks at him briefly and looks away.

Jack taps the table lightly, as if signing he wants to talk. The brunet takes off his headphones and sighs.

"I'm sorry." Jack mumbles.

"Oh, you better be." Zach scoffs. "Did you even take a second to think about how insane it is following me in the park?"

Jack lowers his head.

"And then, when I was about to tell Ethan that I'm not interested, you came up and somehow made him jealous—because he said that you made him jealous—and I had to sit through a god awful movie about football." He crosses his arms. "So, yeah. You better be sorry."

"I'm sorry." He mumbles again. "I was worried about you."

"I'm not a child, Jack. I can take care of myself." He leans against the chair.

"I'm sorry." He mutters again.

"I forgive you." He says quietly. "But only because you got me out of a kiss I didn't want to have."

Jack furrows his eyebrows as he lifts his head.

Zach looks away. "Ethan tried to kiss me." He confesses. "I said that I didn't want to, and he asked if it was because of you. I said you were my ex and that I was not over you." He looks at the table.

"He didn't... force you, right?" Jack asks quietly.

"He pressured me, yes. I said no and told him to back off, and he might not have backed off. And I might've slapped him."

Jack's eyebrows rise. "You did?"

Zach nods. "Just because I haven't kissed anyone doesn't mean I'm desperate to be kissed." He playfully rolls his eyes. "It's not like I can't land dates whenever. The guys I attract just aren't my type." He shrugs.

The curly head hates it. Why can he land dates so easily? I mean, he can definitely answer that. Zach is handsome. There's no denying it. He's funny, kind, polite. Of course, he can land a date whenever he wants. But why doesn't he want them?

"What is your type then?" He questions.

Zach raises an eyebrow. "Are you trying to set me up or something?"

"I'm just curious." He shrugs. "Whats-his-face was like a model, and he wasn't your type."

Zach shakes his head, in disbelief at his words. He shrugs. "I like guys that make me laugh. A nice, kind guy who can cook. I guess that's my type." He shrugs yet again.

Jack makes a mental note to learn how to cook.

"But like physical traits. What are you searching for?"

"Are you trying to actually set me up with someone?" He jokes.

"I'm not. I'm... curious. You never speak of things like these. Like relationships and love and whatever." He tries to play it cool.

Zach uncrosses his arms. "I don't really mind what they look like... but a pretty smile usually gets me." He admits. "I don't know, I just find that really attractive."

"No height requirement?" Jack jokes.

Zach chuckles. "No, no height requirement. Just a pretty smile."

Jack nods. "Tell me more."

"Jack, there's not more for me to tell you." He taps the table. "I'm not complicated."

"Don't you want like a guy that likes it when you wear make-up?"

Zach raises an eyebrow. "Even if he didn't like it, I would still wear it." He shrugs. " I made the choice to wear it, the same with when I wear skirts. It's not up to him to decide what I should wear or not."

Jack feels like his heart stopped for a few seconds. Zach. And a skirt. Zach... in a skirt. Legs. Exposed. Out for the world to see.

"Y-You wear skirts?" He hesitantly asks.

Zach looks at him weirded out. "Uhm, yeah. And I look hot wearing them." He crosses his arms. "It's not a sin, Jack. Stop looking at me like that." He rolls his eyes.

The curly head clears his throat. "It's not a sin. I just never thought you'd wear skirts."

"Yeah, because it's nighttime, and it's cold outside. We only see each other during the night. I wear comfortable clothes here." He points at his hoodie.

Jack nods. "Right. It makes sense."

A weird silence sets in between them.

Zach scratches the back of his head. "The girl... was she the girl from that date?"

He nods. "She... uhm... wanted to go at it again." He admits. "Definitely didn't end well."

"Oh?" He asks curiously.

"I might've... not said her name." He admits quietly.

Zach's jaw drops open. "Wow." He scoffs. "Dick move, dude."

Jack groans as he runs his head through his hair. "It was not on purpose!" He whines.

"How do you accidentally call another girl's name?"

He hits his head on the table as he groans. If only it had been another girl's name. "I'm stupid."

"Yeah, no, duh."He says sarcastically. "That's a well-known fact."

He whines loudly, just to be dramatic.

"Okay, we get it." Zach pats his head to shut him up. "You're a dumbass, we know." He runs his fingers through his hair.

Jack hates people touching his hair, but somehow, he didn't hate it when he touched it. He was gentle when dealing with his curls.

He feels his eyes closing. He is so tired. Jack hasn't slept a wink, but with him just playing with his hair like that, he might just fall asleep.

"Jack?" His voice sounds like a beacon in the distance.

Zach shakes him awake. Jack lifts his head as he blinks slowly. He yawns.

"Didn't you sleep?"

Jack sheepishly shakes his head. "Too much noise."He mumbles.

Zach sighs. "You sleep. I'll watch over, okay?" He stands up, but Jack grabs his hand. "I'm just moving spots to be able to look outside."

Jack lets go of his hand and allows him to move. Zach sits, facing outside, and opens the page that allows him to see lectures. Jack blindly reaches for one of his hands.

It's warm, and it feels soft. He sets his left hand over his head and moves closer to him.

Zach bites his lip. He's just being friendly. Jack probably likes it when people play with his hair. He's just helping a friend out.

A few minutes in, and Jack is lightly snoring. Zach smiles softly. How come does he still look cute despite being dead asleep? He gently moves his hand away from him and opens his document.

Zach starts writing.