Bad Habit

nine

It was safe to say that Moss was smitten. He was really fucking smitten.

But there was no way he'd let it show. When Finny's eyes crinkled from laughter, Moss would look away and erase the image from his head. When Finny would stutter from speaking so excitedly about something, Moss would tell himself that he looked stupid rather than completely fucking adorable. And when Finny would graze his hand on Moss' shoulder in a completely platonic, friend way, Moss would back up as if it freaked him out, when in actuality, all he wanted to do was move closer. But it wasn't like Finny was that observant when it came to boys having feelings for him anyways, considering his ability at reading gay guys was completely whacked, so he barely noticed any of Moss' attempts. But Moss didn't know that. 

"You go start the car and I'll pay the bill, okay?" Moss said sternly as the boys scooted from the booth. Finny nodded and offered a thanks before brushing past Moss once again. The meal had gone extremely well; there were no awkward silences or pauses in conversation, only laughter on Finny's end and good, interesting talk. Moss stumbled over to the counter where you were to pay with his credit card between his middle and pointer finger. He smiled at their waitress before handing her the check and the card. 

"Hey," he whispered, looking behind him before leaning over the counter to whisper. The waitress nodded, signalling him to keep talking. "Why, uh, why did you think he and I were on a date or something?" The girl laughed and flipped her long hair onto her back as she punched at the old fashioned cash register. 

"You both looked really nervous," she smiled softly, "and if it wasn't apparent before, it was after he came back, but that guy is really into you."

Moss held in his gasp and severe smile as he took the card back from her. "Really? Like, how could you tell?"

"He didn't once take his eyes off of you," she laughed as she came around from the counter, ready to get back to work. "And, he was laughing way too hard. Have a good one, okay?" Moss tipped his head and thanked her once more before turning around to leave. He brought his hand up to rub his chin and then bit at his thumb between a smile. 

Moss practically skipped to Finny's car, but recomposed himself before he sat back down in the messy car. "All set," he announced, "that was good food."

"Definitely," said Finny who was beginning to pull out of the parking spot. "We're headed to your house now, yeah?" Part of Finny hoped Moss would say no and ask if they could do something more, but he wasn't very optimistic.

He should've been optimistic, though. Moss really did not want to go home. He didn't want to face the reality of being alone in his big room another night. He liked company, and he even more liked Finny's company. He wondered if it would be too much to ask if they could stay together longer, even though that's what he desperately wanted. "Moss Man?" Moss shook his head and began to speak, spewing some stutters before forming the right words. 

"Do you think that, maybe. . . Do you think we could stay out a bit more?" He asked finally, taking a deep breath after speaking. "Like, if you're beat or whatever it's fine, no worries, I just thought—"

"Of course!" Exclaimed Phineas who was bubbling on the inside. "You're speaking to Phineas Trancy, okay? I never stop having a good time. You wanna go somewhere? Or we can go hang out at my house. I've got music and food and—"

"Your house," Moss whispered quietly, "I'm tired." Finny glanced at the boy in his passenger seat with a frown. Is he okay?

"En route to my house then," Finny said theatrically, "it's a bit of a dump compared to your place, as a heads up. My room might be the size of your downstairs bathroom."