Jared Abitol is ugly, past his prime, and desperate for love.
Years of being hyper-aware of his own looks have made Jared develop social anxiety. When you look like Jared, love isn't easy to find. Jared might not have the looks or confidence, but h...
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The things that happened early in the next morning were mostly a blur. Jared woke up first and took a shower, and Darnell had one after him. It was strange to have someone stay the night, so Jared was a bit nervous and confused about how to treat Darnell, so he just went with letting the man do what he wanted to while following him around.
It was Saturday, and Jared didn't have work to do. Darnell also didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave. The younger man got into his change of clothes he had brought with him before helping Jared out with the laundry and vacuuming because he felt useless just sitting around and doing nothing. Jared was mostly quiet as he sorted things out and arranged the assignment sheets he was planning to mark later in the day. They were both in the living room of the three-room duplex now. As they went about their business Darnell rambled on about things Jared could only understand in bits and pieces.
"You do drag?" the older man asked when Darnell just finished trailing off about dressing up and performing at a bar with his friend.
Darnell gave the older man a smile before nodding. "Yes!" he said, pausing what he was doing before looking over at Jared with a wide smile. "You should come to one of my shows. I don't really have many now because I'm just starting out, but if I get a gig next week, I'll invite you," Darnell mentioned, and Jared bit his bottom lip in thought. Gay bars that hosted drag shows held his biggest fear — pretty effeminate men that looked at him like he was scum. It was strange. If people thought the emphasis on looks when dating the opposite gender was cruel, they would break down if they had to spend over an hour on Grindr.
"Well?" Darnell asked, turning on the vacuum cleaner again. Jared apologized when he realized he had spaced out before running a hand through his dark hair. He was sitting on the longest sofa in his sitting room with the center table drawn close to him so that he could have a surface to arrange the sheets on.
"Sure, I'll come," he said when he noticed the mild irritation on Darnell's face. The young man immediately cheered up before he started rambling on about something else. He spoke too fast, so much so that Jared could only pick up a few words, but the older man didn't mind. It felt nice to have someone with him. It was also nice that Darnell was talking to him, and not pretending he was a brick wall.
It was one of those things he had worried about when they were still sorting out their contract. They were miles away age-wise, and Jared felt that they wouldn't have things to talk about or say to each other, but Austin assured him it wouldn't matter much.
"What do you teach?"
"Hm?" Jared stopped what he was doing to stare at Darnell who was now sitting on one of the living room sofas. He had put the vacuum clear away, and the carpet looked spotless.
Darnell shrugged, hugging himself as he pursed his lips. "You're a lecturer, right? What do you teach?" Darnell asked again, making rub the back of his neck.
"Physics," Jared answered, looking back down at his students' assignments. He had a lot of good students, but sometimes he wondered how some of them made it far enough to take a 300-level class.
