The Boy with the Guitar

First Date (for real this time)

Chris:

We sit down at a table near the window and Ricky smiles at me.

"So...a real first date, huh?" I say as I break my muffin in half and give him half of it. He gives me part of his bagel in return and nods.

"Yup. But I feel like we've had a lot. I think we're already close enough for me to ask you this."

"Ask me what?"

Ricky takes a sip of his coffee before looking into my eyes with a mischievous, but beautiful, stare. "Now this may sound like me being a desperate prick because I just lost my other one less than 12 hours ago, but would you please be my boyfriend?"

"Of course I will," I say, trying not to look or sound too excited, even though I'm over the moon. Of course I want to be Ricky's boyfriend. "And you don't sound like a desperate prick. I really want to be your boyfriend."

"Good. Because I don't want to keep saying that I love you if you're not even my boyfriend. And it's true. I do love you."

"I love you too," I reply.

Just then, the bells on the door ring and Hayden walks in accompanied by a short, tattooed, brown haired man with big brown eyes.

"Chris? Ricky?" Hayden questions. "I didn't expect to find you two here."

"Lot of things happened today that I didn't expect," I say absentmindedly. He raises his eyebrows but I wave him off. He and his companion get their breakfast before they sit down with us.

"You look like you're on a date you know," Hayden comments.

"Is that a problem?" I ask.

"Not in my eyes. Anywho, I was gonna ask you, what was all that yelling about last night and where did Gabriel and Reggie go?"

"You want the easy answer?" Ricky asks him. "Or the real answer?"

"The real one, silly! Down to the last juicy detail."

"Well...ah, Chris would love to tell-"

"Nope," I interrupt.

"Right...so, Chris told me he wanted to talk. I'll skip the details there, but um...I guess we just ended up telling each other that we were in love. With each other. Gabriel saw us kissing. Broke up with me, took Reggie, said they'd find their own way home. Yes, there was a lot of yelling which I'm not shocked that you heard. Gabriel yells when he's angry. Never that bad though, he's usually good at talking things out. I guess he had reason to last night though. So yeah, he left with Reggie. He did, however, leave me $500 and an 'I'm sorry I yelled' letter. But yeah, Chris and I are...I guess boyfriends now. And yes, we are on a date."

"I'd ditch my boyfriend to make out with Chris too," says Hayden. I raise my eyebrows as I take a sip of my tea. "No, Chris, I don't like you. Not in that way."

Ricky and I just look at each other when he says that and Ricky follows with, "You heard that conversation?"

"Yeah," I answer nonchalantly.

"Sorry," he mumbles, looking down.

"It's fine. Assuming you were lying."

"Yeah, yeah. Of course I like you. I love you." I smile at him and my cheeks turn a soft shade of pink.

"I love you too," I mumble.

"Aww," Hayden coos obnoxiously. I play punch his arm and he pretends like it hurt.

"So you'd make out with me?" I tease him. "And leave your boyfriend to do so?"

"Yes. I mean, look at you. You're hot. Anyways, I don't like you like that. You're just hot. My hot friend. Plus now you have a boyfriend so there will be no making out with anyone else. Isn't he hot, TJ?" The man that walked in with Hayden looks me up and down before nodding hesitantly. "This is TJ by the way. He lives in this town. I wanted you to meet him because he is a very talented guitarist. I was thinking maybe you guys could use a rhythm guitarist. You could go to his place and hear him play sometime today. You'd still have to find your own drummer and keyboardist, but at least you got TJ."

"I'd love to come hear you play," I tell TJ. "I'm sure you're great."

"Thanks," says TJ.

"Fuck," Ricky says, loud enough to draw attention from the other people and employees in the cafe. "Sorry!" He lowers his voice, saying, "I mean, yeah. Fuck."

"Shh," I hiss. "What?"

"Angelo."

"Okay, who is this Angelo I keep hearing about? Gabriel was talking about him too. Who is he?"

"He's my friend. I totally fucking forgot, he's an incredible drummer. He lives in Scranton. He could be our drummer. He is in a band, but he really doesn't like it and told me that if I see anyone looking for a drummer I could give him a call."

"Really?" Ricky nods. "That's great. Then we'd just need a keyboardist and we're set."

"Right. Okay, but for now, Hayden and...TJ was it?" TJ nods. "Hayden and TJ, can you go sit somewhere else so we can have our breakfast date?"

"Absolutely," says Hayden. Is he ever not loud? "We will see you later, I'll text you TJ's number."

"Cool." Hayden and TJ take their breakfast and walk out, making sure to be annoying when they walk past the window we're sitting in.

"So we pretty much have our band then," I say once the other two are completely gone.

"Pretty much. But for now...that's not what matters." Ricky grabs my hand and looks into my eyes with that angelic smile creeping across his face. "We can talk about that later. Tell me, Chris, how many relationships have you been in?" Ricky asks.

"Two," I answer him. I look down into his beautiful eyes and he blushes. Oh my god Ricky, stop being so fucking adorable. That perfect little smirk of yours, fidgeting with your lip rings, those big blue-gray eyes, that-

My thoughts of how beautiful he is are interrupted by Ricky pressing his lips against my own. "Sorry," he says after pulling away. "You were staring."

"Oh. S-sorry...for staring."

"It's cool. Anyways, only two relationships?"

"Yeah. Both with girls."

"Ah, so you've never been with a man?"

"I haven't. The second one actually only ended because I came out."

"Yeah? How old were you?"

"17."

"You know, I've never had a girlfriend."

Breakfast with me is the most Ricky ever talks. He's usually quiet and reserved, but get him some coffee and a donut and...me, I guess, and he won't shut up.

"I guess girls don't like guys with long hair and makeup," Ricky continues. "Or maybe it's just because I don't like girls. Either way I haven't had a girlfriend. Gabriel and I, however, were together for almost 3 years."

Well now I feel even worse about breaking them up. 3 years? I'm a dick.

"Oh. I'm sorry then."

"Why? Because we broke up?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I was gonna break up with him anyway."

Ricky:

I wasn't going to break up with Gabriel. But I don't want or need Chris worrying about it or beating himself up over separating us. Even though it was his fault. But I love Chris more than I could have ever loved Gabe. Besides, if I hadn't left Gabriel for Chris I would've still loved Chris while I was with Gabriel and my love for Gabriel could never compare to how much I love Chris. I truly do believe that Chris and I were made for each other. I'm glad he broke me and Gabriel up.

I know my love for Chris isn't just strong because it's new. I've never been this in love with any of my ex boyfriends, not even when we were just falling for each other. When I kissed Chris, I felt something. Something special that I've never felt before. And I love it. And I love Chris.