KISS: Casablanca High School

Ch 120: Date Night (Ace)

A/N: this is the same date as last chapter, just from a different POV!

Letting out a sigh, I pulled on a sweatshirt and ran a brush through my hair. Sure it was just a little fun thing with Paul, but it didn't mean I didn't have to look nice. With another sigh, I looked at my reflection, trying to push any and all thoughts of Peter out of my head.

My phone buzzed and I grinned, looking at the text from Paul.

Paul: 'hey i'm out front'

"Alright bye Mom, I'm gonna go out to dinner!" I shouted over my shoulder, running down the stairs and heading for the door. She looked up from the soup she was stirring, raising an eyebrow. "With who?" I rolled my eyes, hand on the knob. "Paul and Gene and Eric. I told you Mom, I'm not dating Peter anymore. I'm gonna go, I'll see you later!"

Shrugging, she went back to her soup and I joined Paul in his car, flashing him a grin. "Hiya curly! You excited for tonight?" He gave me a nervous smile, driving off with a shrug. "I guess? I dunno, I'm kinda nervous. I've never like...well, dated a guy, obviously. I hope it's okay Gene and Eric are coming."

"Yeah of course! And don't worry curly, just relax and have fun! This isn't anything serious, it's just for fun! Plus my mom's making soup and I'm really not feeling that for dinner tonight." To my relief, he laughed. "That's a mood. What does this place we're going serve?" 

My eyes widened and I stared at him in shock as we kept driving. "You've never been to Huey's?! How have you never been to Huey's?! Aw curly they've got the best burgers in town! Dang I can't believe you've never been there. Bruce works there, it's hella fun to bug him when he's working. You're gonna have fun!" I said, jumping out of the car and pulling open the door for him. He gave me a smile, dark eyes twinkling. 

"I'm looking forward to it," he mumbled, cheeks turning pink as we walked into the restaurant. Bruce gave me a smile that wavered a bit as he saw Paul. "Just the two of you tonight?" he asked, grabbing some menus. "Uh...well Gene and Eric are coming but we're gonna do two separate tables of two each, can you make that work?" I asked. 

Bruce's eyes widened a bit and he looked at us for a moment before snapping out of it and putting his waiter grin back on his face. "Yeah! Yeah, sure. Just follow me to the back," he said, waving us after him. Me and Paul sat across from each other, taking the menus Bruce handed us before he walked off. Poor Paul was terrified, hands shaking as he flipped through the menu. "Paulie, relax! Just calm down, we're doing this for fun and if anyone asks and you don't feel comfortable we can just be here as friends! It's gonna be fine," I said, giving him a reassuring smile. 

Another weak smile flashed across his face and he nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yeah. No, no it's okay if people ask we can tell them, it's fine! I'm just...I dunno, it's weird. I'm not out to anyone except for you and Gene and Ava and yeah it's just...weird. Well no, that's not the right word, it's just nerve-wracking." 

I reached under the table to grab his hand, giving it a squeeze before letting go again. "It'll be fun! Just calm down and try and relax! But if you're not having fun we can go too!" Bruce walked back over, sitting Gene at the table next to us and giving us a look. "What do you guys want to drink?" 

"Sprite," me and Paul said at the same time, before he flashed me a smile. "Dang, guess we're in sync. You ready to order?" he asked, and I nodded, turning to Bruce. "I'll just have the number 3!" "Same here," Paul said, giving me another, slightly bigger smile. Bruce just nodded, scribbling something on his notepad and walking off. 

Me and Paul sat in a casual silence until Bruce brought our drinks and brought Eric to Gene's table. I took a sip of Sprite before looking at Paul, eyes shining. "Alright curly, this is a date! Let's get to know each other!" I said cheerfully. He laughed, shaking his head. "Ace we've known each other for years." 

"Well yeah! But tell me things curly, things I don't know! Like uh, how long have you been gay for, first of all? That's a pretty big one," I teased. His face grew pinker and he shrugged, looking at the table. "I dunno. Freshman year maybe? Like halfway through? I dunno man, I don't have like an exact date or anything," he retorted with a smile. 

I giggled, accepting the plate of food Bruce set down and grabbing Paul's hand under the table. "So anyway, let me walk you through this! The trick to dating guys is you find one you like and you take him on a date and do date things on the date!" I said, taking a bite of burger. Shaking his head with a smile, he left his hand in mine. 

It was nice, being able to sit and talk and hold his hand and eat, but it wasn't perfect because he was still really nervous and kept looking at Gene, who also kept looking at us while Eric tried desperately to keep him engaged. At last we had both finished and Paul had paid, which surprised me, and I took his hand, which I was now holding above the table, giving him a grin. "You ready to go?" 

He nodded, squeezing my hand back. We rose to our feet and I dropped his hand, heading to the door before he stopped and went over to Gene's table, talking quietly to him. Shaking my head, I leaned on Paul's shoulder, giving him and Gene and Eric a smile. "Yeah come on curly, we gotta go, I need to teach you how to make out with guys!" Paul rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Bye Gene, I'll see you tomorrow!" 

We walked back out to his car and he gave me a soft smile as I slid into the passenger seat. "Thanks for inviting me, Ace, it was a lot of fun!" "Yeah! Sorry if you felt uncomfortable though." Paul let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair. "Nah it's just...I love Gene man, he's my brother and we grew up together and I don't want to lose that but it just feels like he doesn't like that I'm bi, you know?" 

I grabbed his hand again, giving him a reassuring smile. "It's just that he's startled by it! We all were, he still loves you man don't worry. Just relax and be who you are and enjoy tonight!" He nodded, before giving me a look and a playful grin. "You being serious when you said you'd teach me how to make out with guys?" 

I stared at him in shock for a moment before a huge smile spread across my face and I nodded eagerly. "If you want!" His grin got a little bigger and without a word he leaned over and kissed me. We went at it for awhile before he sat back, face burning red and eyes shining. "Huh, what do you know, it's exactly like kissing a girl." 

"Aw, surprise, surprise," I said with a laugh, sitting back in the passenger seat and kinda wishing I could've kept making out with him.