Learning Curves ✔ (bxb)

Chapter 34

The restaurant ^^

Michael's POV

By 12pm, I glance at myself in the mirror one more time before heading out.

The place is mildly fancy, so I've decided to wear a black dress shirt with some grey pants.

I say goodbye to my parents before driving over to the restaurant.

Rowan said he made a reservation under "Rowan", and I spot Liam sitting at one of the tables when I enter the restaurant, so I head over to him.

"Hello," I greet, sitting across from him. He's wearing a light blue dress shirt with some black slacks.

"Hey." He replies softly, glancing up at me for a second before looking away awkwardly. Checking the time, I see it's 12:32.

"What time did you get here?" I ask curiously.

"Um, only 12:25. They had the table ready so they let me sit down." A sudden movement catches the attention of both of us. Looking up, I see it's Rowan who sits down next to Liam, giving both of us a brief 'hello'. He's wearing a white dress shirt and black dress pants with a couple of the top shirt buttons undone.

Rowan gives Liam a soft kiss on the forehead, making the younger boy blush intensely. It's very cute.

A few moments later, Theo comes walking over to us.

"Sorry I'm a bit late," He smiles sheepishly. "traffic was pretty bad, the bus was late." He sits down next to me, and I reach for his hand and link it in mine. He glances over and sends me a soft smile before turning to Rowan and Liam.

"When did you guys start dating if you don't mind me asking?"

"About 2 and a half weeks ago," Rowan responds causally, "but we didn't tell anyone for about 2 weeks because we were still figuring things out."

"Figuring things out?" Theo questions.

"Yeah, like making sure we both really wanted this relationship, and figuring out how our lifestyles would change. It's basically just making sure we wouldn't break up within the first few weeks of dating." Rowan explains. Liam nods along, sipping his water, but doesn't say anything. Everyone starts looking at their menus after that.

"Holy shit Michael you never told me it was this expensive." Theo gasps quietly.

"It's fine. Rowan and I were talking, and we wanted to pay for this." I murmur back quietly. Glancing over, I see Liam looking at the menu with slightly widened eyes.

"What? I can't let you do that! I'd feel guilty." Theo responds frantically, looking at me with an appalled expression.

"Consider it a gift from the both of us in celebration of our relationships." I say, bringing his hand to my lips and kissing it gently before setting it back down. Theo looks at me defeated before looking back at the menu.

"Have you guys decided?" Rowan asks everyone at the table.

"I'm going to get the wild halibut with curry butter, tomatoes and spring greens." I respond, reading off the menu before looking back up.

"I think I'll get the ricotta dumplings with spring greens and peas." Theo says. I note that it's one of the cheaper options on the menu, but don't call him out on it.

"I... I guess I'll get the Jersey Royal potatoes with crème fraîche and herbs?" Liam questions uncertainly. Rowan glances over at Liam's menu.

"That's one of the cheapest things on the menu darling, and I know you're not the biggest fan of crème fraîche. Don't worry about the price okay? Michael and I are going to pay for it." I hear Rowan speak quietly to Liam. The younger boy looks troubled, but reluctantly agrees to change his order.

"Then I'll get the grilled monk fish with Café de Paris butter and matchstick potatoes." Liam says, and Rowan leans back in his chair, looking satisfied.

"I'll be getting the slow cooked short rib with broad beans, new season turnips and horseradish." He states. Rowan proceeds to call over a waiter to take our orders.

"You guys can't just pay for the whole meal. I'll be chipping in as much as I can." Theo says stubbornly after the waiter has left. Liam nods in agreement.

"Me too. It doesn't feel right to mooch off of you guys, no matter how much the meal costs." The blond insists. Rowan and I glance at each other for a brief moment.

"But we want to treat you guys. It's a nice restaurant and we wanted to show some sort of affection aside from the physical stuff. Consider it a gesture of love." I respond, looking at Theo and Liam, who glance away for a few moments, not really knowing what to say.

"Fine, but we're definitely helping you with the move after this." Theo huffs resignedly. Liam begrudgingly agrees to let us pay, a small pout on his face that Rowan leans over to kiss away, turning the younger boy's face red.

"You guys have no shame when it comes to PDA, do you?" Theo asks, amused at Liam's reaction.

"I certainly don't care. Liam does a bit though, so we compromised. I won't do anything lavish or extreme, just anything a normal couple might do." Rowan shrugs.

After the delicious meal, I drove Theo and I back to my house to collect my stuff and start moving things over. The moving truck was going to stop at Rowan's house to get any big furniture before going to mine and finally dropping everything off at the new flat.

Rowan was taking Liam with him to his house to move the smaller stuff like luggage. We would all meet at the flat.

-

Theo and Liam didn't end up helping as much as they wanted purely because the moving guys did most of the work. The rest of the work was difficult for Theo or Liam to complete because it was a lot of heavy lifting. Needless to say, both of them were very disgruntled that they couldn't chip in and help out, but Rowan and I showered them in affection to let them know it wasn't necessary.

Theo and I cuddled on the couch after the moving guys left while Rowan and Liam finished decorating Rowan's room to his taste.

"I'm really glad I met you." Theo murmurs into my chest.

"Me too. Despite our previous issues in this relationship, I'm really happy being with you." I reply quietly, not wanting to break the gentle atmosphere.

"We've definitely had some bumps in the road," Theo agrees, smiling fondly, "like when my parents kicked me out. That was scary. Or when you were contemplating breaking up with me for your parents."

"I really am sorry about that, by the way." I kiss his forehead.

"That's alright. You were stressed and anxious. I still love you." Theo smiles warmly.

"I love you too," I chuckle, "Well, as many problems as we have in the future, they'll just make our relationship stronger. We can call them learning curves."

"Yeah, learning curves indeed." Theo smiles before leaning up to kiss me.

End

Completed April 18th 2019 10:25pm