Danny & Steve [Completed]

Part 8

Cafe Ziva was hopping on Sunday night. The moment Danny and Steve stepped inside, Steve took Danny's hand. Danny looked around quickly, then relaxed when absolutely no one seemed to care. He glanced at Steve, and Steve grinned at him. The place was packed. As they scoped out a place to sit, two of Steve's friends waved them over and squeezed in at their booth.

Steve gestured to the black-haired friend Danny had seen at the demonstration, the one who mentioned Steve not going for closet cases. "This is Xian," Steve said, raising his voice to be heard above the live blues music, and Xian offered him a thin, saccharine smile.

The other friend had ginger hair and freckles, with startling blue eyes. "This is Jeff," Steve said. "Everyone this is Danny Freeman."

"Hi, Danny Freeman," Jeff said, "it's so good to finally meet you. Steve's mentioned you, like, a thousand times."

Danny's cheeks colored, and he ducked his head. "It's nice to meet you both."

Coffees were ordered, and the four of them chatted about mostly mundane stuff, classes and day to day things. Then came gossip, which was lost on Danny. He had no idea who the people being talked about were. The whole time, Steve held his hand, and that made him feel better.

Jeff glanced his way and said, "You look lost, Danny. You okay?"

Danny smiled, though he grimaced inside. He must seem like such a newb. "Yeah, I'm just listening."

Jeff took a drink of his coffee, then said, "So tell us about yourself. Where are you from?"

"Borderton," Danny said. "It's, uh..."

"On the border?" Jeff said with a wink.

Danny nodded, and he smiled a little. "Yeah. Not a lot goes on there. It's pretty small."

Jeff leaned forward, lowering his voice while Steve and Xian talked about the latest breakups. "Do your folks know you're gay?"

Danny leaned closer to listen, and he shook his head. "Oh no, no way. If they found out, they'd cut me off so fast. I'd have to leave school."

Jeff winced. "That's rough. So how long have you and Steve been a thing?"

Danny couldn't help but grin, and he squeezed Steve's hand. "Just a few days." Steve gave his hand a squeeze in return.

Jeff glanced at Steve, then back at Danny. "Lots of guys are after Steve. He's pretty hot. You're lucky. Then again, you're pretty hot, too."

Danny lowered his gaze and he felt the heat rush to his cheeks. "Thanks." He wasn't sure what else to say. Compliments had always been rough for him. They came so seldom, he didn't know what to do with them.

Jeff looked Steve over from the corner of his eye, and Danny thought he caught a glint of hunger there. "Keep hold of this one. Everyone loves Steve."

It was true. As they sat drinking coffee into the night, people kept coming by the table to say hello to Steve. Not just guys, but women, trans folks, someone Xian described as genderqueer and ace. Xian gave him quite the education about what all the letters in LGBTQA stood for. People in the community liked Steve, and Danny couldn't blame them.

Eventually the band finished their set, and applause scattered through the crowd. Which dwindled as the evening wore on, until it was just Jeff, Xian, Steve, and Danny left finishing their umpteenth cups of coffee. Danny must have met dozens of people, and he felt like he had learned so much about the community. His community.

Eventually Jeff and Xian called it a night, and Steve and Danny left when the cafe closed. Hand in hand, they walked out on the street. Danny forgot all about it until he caught sight of a familiar face, and his stomach twisted in panic.