Duet: an Avi Kaplan fanfic

A Walk in the Park

I wake up the next morning to a text from Avi.

                AVI: Hey

                ME: Hey

AVI: Why did you say that thing to Scott? You know the, “you call yourself a baritone…” thing? I’m curious

ME: Just something I’ve wanted to say to him for a while. Hey, how old are you?

AVI: Hopefully not too old/young for you. I’m 24. What about you?

ME: I’ll be 23 next week, 8/13

AVI: You wanna do something today?

ME: Sure. What do have in mind?

AVI: You wanna meet at the park? At 12:00, maybe?

ME: Yeah, see you then.

Holy shit. I am going to go hang out with Avi, and I don’t think I remember how to breathe. When I recover from my mini panic attack, I get dressed. I throw on my favorite tee, the one for my school’s choirs, it reads “WARNING: The owner of this shirt is prone to sudden outbursts of song.”  I finish getting ready and go downstairs.

                “You look like you’re about to be late for something, what’s up?” I do a double-take and see my sister sitting at our kitchen table.

                “Oh, I just have this thing I gotta go to. No big deal. What time is it?” of course I don’t tell her who I’m going to see.

                She glances at her phone, “its 11:15. Good luck with the thing. See you later A.” I bolt out the door. It takes forever to go anywhere in LA, so with the added frustration of my prehistoric Taurus slowing me down, I just barely make it in time.

I arrive and see Avi sitting on a bench, waiting for me. We say hi and start walking around. We talk about life, Pentatonix, my job, you name it, we probably covered it. At one point Avi teases me, “So, you’re a choir teacher. That means you can sing. You should sing me something.”

“No, why do you want me to do that?” I say, too fast.

“Well, if you’re confident enough to call Scott out, then you should be confident enough to sing for  me. Come on, Arya, please” he makes this pouty face that almost makes me break down and sing. Almost, but not quite.

“Maybe later, if you think of something you want me to sing,” I tell him. Then I just gotta ask, “What’s your favorite thing you’ve ever sung?”

“Telephone. What about you?” he asks. I blush, knowing that my answer is going to sound strange.

“Don’t laugh, it’s one of your arrangements. I learned every part of Evolution of Music and recorded the background and performed it in my college’s talent night.” I say, not sure if I should be embarrassed or proud.

Avi seemed to think this was awesome. “That is crazy cool. We are going to do a duet at some point, promise?”

“Promise.” I say and stop as Avi sits down on a new bench, patting the space next to him. I sit.

“If this sounds crazy, I understand. I mean, I just met you but, I know this to be a fact. I like you, Arya. I ‘like like’ you. Sorry if I sound like I’m in middle school, but that’s the best way I can explain it.” Then, as I sit speechless, he closes the few inches between my lips and his. At first I’m so shocked, I jerk away. He straightens up, looking disappointed. I reach up and pull him down to me, kissing him back. It is soft and slow and electric. I giggle as we break apart.

“What?” Avi asks, confused.

“Nothing, your beard just tickles,” I kiss him again.

“You wanna come over and watch a movie?” he offers.

“Yeah, I’ll follow you in my car, can’t leave it here.” I respond, still grinning ear to ear