Double Dare

8

Read the author's note please please please. It's important stuff. Thanks!

Danny sits at a small, round table next to a window in an ice cream shop, wearing a pink sweater and looking pleased. He grips a mint chocolate chip cone in his palms. Beau, across from him, is sitting in an uncomfortably upright position, holding his bowl of dessert almost exactly three inches away from his chest. He, too, looks very happy.

Across the room, a boy nearly identical to Beau aside from his beanie and sunglasses peers at the two of them over a suspiciously large newspaper. No one pays him any mind, though.

The two boys at the table near the window smile at one another. They don't hold hands across the table, but it's clear that they both want to. Instead, they lock gazes and smile, Danny blushing but maintaining eye contact.

"Why vanilla?" Danny licks his cone, consciously trying not to be sexual about it.

Beau watches his tongue anyways, blushing and being unsure of why. "Why mint choco chip?"

"Touchè." The two of them smile at one another, and it's almost as though once one of them starts, the other can't stop. "Favorite song?"

Beau hums, drums his fingers over his plastic cup forwards and backwards twice. "Well-" He clears his throat, coughs, and bites his lip gently. "Do you promise not to laugh?"

Danny nods, leaning forward eagerly. "Cross my heart, babe." Both of them share a melting honey glance that whispers, Whoa, that was said, that was real, and that is now a thing we do; let's do that more, as in, all of the time. "What's the, um, song?"

"Accidentally In Love," Beau blushes. He taps his fingers more rapidly, trying to distract himself. "Not that it's like- You know. I'm not trying to say that I... I'm not, you know, confessing to you, or anything." He shoves ice cream into his mouth to shut himself up; it hits the back of his throat, and he manages not to gag on the spoon.

Danny smiles, licking his cone again, slower. Beau's eyes again trail after his tongue. "If you were, to, you know, confess to me, I wouldn't mind." He manages to keep his tone casual and slinking, and Beau nearly misses what was said.

"Really? I mean-" Beau coughs. "You wouldn't, hm?"

"Nope," Danny says, popping the 'p'. "I would just ask you on a date, I think."

Loud, excited coughing is heard from the guy in sunglasses.

Beau can feel his palms starting to sweat and grimaces. He carefully sets the bowl on the table and waves his hands through the air under the table. "You, uh, you would?"

"Mmhmm..." Danny bites his lip, and Beau has a sudden flashback to the phone call from threw days ago. He feels warmth crawl up through his chest and into the tips of his ears. Danny notices but pretends not to. "We could go someplace you're comfortable with, maybe just stay in at your house and watch a movie."

"Y-yeah?" Beau isn't really paying attention anymore. He's mostly trying to figure out when the room got so damn hot, and why all he can think of is Danny wearing one of Beau's old sweatshirts, tucked into the corner of the couch. "Maybe I am confessing to you, then."

Both of them are shocked by the statement, Beau more so than Danny. Did you actually just say that? Holy shit, what are you gonna do? That's crazy. This is crazy.

"Oh." Danny has turned slightly peachy pink, but tries to maintain his air of collectedness. "Okay. Then, say it."

Beau pretends not to know what's going on in hopes that someone will take pity on him. It almost always works when Benji does it. "What do you mean?"