holiday spirit ✓

☃️ 019!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Bryce smiles sweetly towards Luke as he leans over the table in an attempt to see the other boy's phone screen, and Luke leans back in an attempt to not let Bryce see his phone screen.

It goes back and forth for a little while, and Luke can feel people staring. "Bryce, can you not?"

He shrinks back into his chair, and Luke instantly feels bad - after his many public screw-ups, he's conditioned himself to think 'staring = bad', and so any time anyone lays eyes on him for too long, the creeping feeling starts to settle on his skin.

"Band stuff. Nothing that concerns you." He says softly in an attempt to lighten the mood, staring at Bryce as if to challenge him as the waitress comes over to their table. Luke does his usual 'zone out and look like I'm listening to elevator music thing' while Bryce asks about all the specials twice and finally ends up asking for something off the menu. It's their usual routine. Not that they have a usual routine.

After ordering, the waitress holds eye contact with Bryce for a little longer than seems necessary, before then walking away. He doesn't really think too much into it, until she returns from the back with a small note and a decidedly less small slice of cake.

Luke can't disguise the smile on his face as Bryce looks dumbfounded and seemingly confused at the waitress, before she confirms that yes, it is for him, and he claps and grins a lot.

Bryce is too focused on the mystery of 8/24 to notice Luke snap a photo on his phone while watching the waitress flash a smile at him and slip away to the back of the café. It's all gone wonderfully to plan, and he can't help but mentally thank the waitress for not acting oddly when he walked up to her with a series of instructions and the note.

"This is so unreal, I love it, oh my God." He giggles like a little kid, before starting to shovel cake into his mouth. Luke just sort of sits and stares dreamily at him - one half of him wants to just kiss Bryce right there and then, but the other half wants to let this play out fully and see what happens, because even if Bryce does end up hating him, then at least Luke will have had some time to prepare himself a bit, and show Bryce how much he loves him before he gets completely shut down.