Paul's Dare

July, 2007.

Paul looks in the mirror at himself, ajusting the cuff of his crisp white shirt. He lets out a small nervous sigh remembering the events of thr previous night.

"𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚎." 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚍, 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚢 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚔 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚘𝚗 𝙱𝚘𝚋𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎.

"𝙸 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠." 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚔𝚎, 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝙽𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏.

"𝙰𝚕𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐." 𝙰𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚍.

Paul is still rather unsure what to wear, even though he is already dressed and has to leave soon. He has gone between casual and formal, a white button up shirt and black jeans. He hopes he hasn't under dressed, but what else are you supposed to wear on a date with your best friend? He decides to just go with it and heads out to his car, arriving at Alex's house five minuets before seven.

The next thing that the drummer is faced with is: does he wait in the car or go and get Alex? However the question is swiftly answered when his phone pings with a cheeky text from the frontman
'what kind of date leaves his partner waiting?!'
Paul can piture the smug look on Alex's face as he wrote that, letting out a sigh amd stepping out of his car to trail up to the front door and knock. After a moment, and some clanging as Alex seemingly struggles with the locks on his own house, the door swings open, and there he is stood. Paul is relived that Alex hasn't dressed too much more formal than himself, the singer donning a pair of dark blue jeans, a black shirt and white blazer. Paul feels his cheeks heat up a little, hes about to take this man on a date. He wonders how many people would kill to be in his position right now.... the dark haired man is snapped back into reality by his friends voice*
"Are we going or are you going to gawk at me all night?" Theres a playful tone in Alex's voice, however this just flusters Paul more.

"Yeah, yeah, come on, lets get this bloody thing over with" Paul rolles his eyes and leads the way back to the car. Pausing again when he hears Alex gasp
"So youre not going to open the door for me?"
Paul turns and frowns at his friend
"The handles right there, open it yourself"
"Some date you are."
Paul huffs and drags himself back round the car, opening up the passenger side door for Alex, noticing the cheeky smirk the singer flashes at him as he gets into the car. Paul decides to let it slide, pushing the door closed and finally getting into the drivers seat and beginning to drive, clenching his jaw a little as Alex decides to be a pain in the arse once again.
"You didn't even complement how I look" Alex puts on his best pout and puppy dog eyes, making Paul tut
"You look stunning, princess." he manages in a painfully sarcastic tone. Alex folds his arms dramatically and looks out of the window, sulking all the way to the restaurant. Paul hesitates for a moment and glances at Alex
"I can not believe we are going through with this."
"You should have thought about that when you chose to let Bob give you a dare then shouldn't you."
"I didn't know he would make me take you on a wholeass date!" Paul scoffs
"Someones got cold feet."
"Shut the fuck up." And with that Paul gets out the car, opening Alex's door for him, guessing that this would be the singers next complaint, and locking the car behind them, swiping away Alex's hand as the taller man tries to reach for Pauls*
"Id have to be drunk or dying to hold your hand"
"So sour" Alex softly elbows his friend "lighten up a bit will ya?"
Paul frowns a little, but says nothing else, leading the way into the moderately posh building and finding the pair a table, and sitting himself opposite Alex, kind of grateful that the other didn't demand to be pushed in or something else ridiculous. The drummer reaches for a menu, and gazes upon the food options,finding himself wondering if a burger is too casual for a date or not. He catches himself mid thought process, why the hell does he even care if its too casual? This is a dare, its not like he had a choice in this. If he wants a burger he can have a damn burger. With his decision almost made he glances over to Alex and notices him on a much more posher looking part of the menu, loosing his nerve with the burger and starting to look for something else. Within a couple more minuets he looks back over at Alex.
"Er.. what you lookin at?" Paul peeks again at Alex's menu
"Lobster."
"You fooken what?" Paul narrows his eyes a little.
"I sai-"
"I know what you said.. but why?"
"Its nice. Have you ever tried it?"
"No..."
"Good, because its a meal to share." And with that Alex puts the menus aside, not giving paul time to protest before a waiter is called over and the meal is ordered along with a couple of glasses of red wine. Paul sits open mouthed, wondering what the hell just happened, and this makes Alex giggle
"Did you seriously just do that?" Paul manages after a moment
"You have to try new things sometimes, Paul"
"Its. A. Fucking. Lobster."
Alex bursts out laughing once, placing a hand on the table in an attempt to stop himself sliding onto the floor in a fit of giggles. Im turn, Paul finds himself cracking a grin at his friends unique laugh, shaking his head a little
"What kind of posh bugger eats lobster on a date anyways?"
Alex calms down a little and catches Pauls gaze "my kind of posh bugger." He gives a silly grin to Paul.
At that moment the drinks arrive, and Paul reaches out to take a sip from his, watching his bandmate do the same. Paul starts to feel a little self conscious, is the restaurant okay? Did he dress alright? He decides to just be brave and ask.
"Everything okay?"
"Hm?" Alex puts his drink down, noticing the glimmer of concern in the drummers beautiful blue gaze. "Yes. Its perfect."
Paul is unsure if Alex means that, or if he is playing the 'hard to please date act' still, but it settles his nerves either way. He nods a little "thats good then.."
A little more time passes, before this time Alex speaks up, noticing the song being played, an old favorite of his.
"i love this song"
"you do?"
"yeah, reminds me of being a teenager."
"ah, nostalgic?"
"very much so. Id listen to it every day"
"I wasn't aware you were into this kind of song."
"not usually" Alex shrugs "I suppose I just have a wee soft spot for this one."
Paul decides to keep this in mind.. just fur future reference right? He couldn't be trying to remember things just to please the other could he? Before the convosation can get any further, the food arrives, the large plate of salad and lobster being placed between the pair. Paul makes a face at it, causing Alex to chuckle. The singer swiftly picks us a knife and fork and starts to tuck in to the meal, however Paul sits there, not so sure. Alex glances up noticing the others reaction*
"Not hungry?"
"I- Ive never had this before" Paul stutters. Alex's expression softens a little as he cuts off another mouthful, however this time instead of spooning it straight into his mouth he holds it out across the table for Paul
"try it, you never know, you might actually enjoy it."
Paul furrows his eyebrows a little at the motion, but Alex is sat there, an eager look on his face, forkful of food held out to paul. He gives in and leans letting the other shove the food into his mouth. Paul holds back a giggle noticing how Alex awaits Pauls reaction like its law, and to be fair, he wasn't wrong about the lobster. After swallowing the food Paul nods and gives a thumbs up*
"Alright, you got me there, that was okay."
"See? You need to trust me more. I told you its good"
"you also told me them slimey shells of shit were good" Paul wrinkles up his nose and giggles a bit
"Oysters, Paul, you mean oysters"
"Yeah thats the one" They both break into a small fit of laughter, Paul admiring the way that the others fringe flops softly into his face as he leans forwards, once again the drummer blushes a little as he catches himself in thought, clearing his throat and sitting back up. Paul reaches for his own knife and fork, eating his half of the meal quite happily. Once the pair have had their fill they sit back and catch each others gaze. Alex is first to speak up.
"Thank you, Paul, this was fun"
"I er.. Yeah, it was." Paul shuffles a bit in his seat, quickly noticing a waiter and calling them over so he can pay before Alex notices his blushes. Paul pays for the meal in full, ignoring Alex's protest of splitting it, and then slowly stands up.
"Alright then, lets get going."
Alex nods in agreement and walks with Paul back to the car park, deciding to be cheeky again and once more reaching for the drummers hand, and to Alex's utter suprise, Paul takes it. The darker haired man refuses to look at Alex, but instead squeezes the others hand lightly, enjoying the way the moon lit shadows dance across the now fairly empty car park. Paul opens the door for Alex, who laughs and playfully kisses Pauls cheek as he steps past to get in the car.
"Oi, ya bastard"
Alex giggles in response "the opening was there. And i took it."
Paul rolles his eyes mockingly and quickly closes the door, feeling the heat in his cheeks as he walks arround the back of the car, and gets into the drivers seat, glancing at Alex breifly once more before pulling out of the carpark and starting the drive home. Alex has noticed Pauls silence and fears he maybe pushed too far with the kiss
"Paul?... Are you alright?"
"Yeah"
"Look, Im sorry if I went too far I jus-"
"Youre fine... More than, actually..."
Paul tenses up a little, the tension in the car borderline painful, he can feel Alex's gaze hot on him, and he forces himself to not look.  Soon enough, the car has been pulled up outside of Alex's house. Paul feels his heart droop a little, he was sort of enjoying their 'date' it felt good to have some company... It felt good to have Alex's company. The drummer takes a deep breath before turning to finally face the other, meeting his gaze, almost loosing himself in those stunning green eyes. Paul has to look away briefly before forcing himself to look back once more, realising Alex looks nervous.
"Are you alright?" He copies the frontmans words from earlier on.
"Yes. I just... I need to tell you something Paul, about the dare."
"Okay."
"I asked Bob to give you this dare."
"You did? Why?"
"Is it not obvious??" Alex wonders if Paul is stalling. Maybe hes made his friend uncomfortable. He reaches for the car door in an attempt to leave before he ruins the mood, letting out a light gasp as paul grasps ahold of the others arm in both hands, holding him there.
"Tell me, Alex."
"I... I like you, Paul, and I have done since we met. I just thought you weren't into me so I stayed quiet."
Paul blushes brightly, this time it doesnt go un noticed.
"Well, thats ridiculous, because I like you too." And without thinking, Paul leans across the car, pressing his lips softly upon the others, and feeling his stomach twist when he realises Alex is returning it, the taller man placing a hand on the back of Pauls head to pull him closer. After a while they pull appart, catching each others gaze.
"You know" Alex looks back at his house then back at Paul "you're welcome to stay the night."
"Fine. But only if you answer this."
"What?"
Paul sits upright and takes a calming breath, scooping up the other mans hands in his own "Is this... us... going to be official?"
Alex's face flushes several shades of pink as he nods quickly.
"Yes! Yes of course."
"Great." Paul grins at his friend, no, now boyfriend, and hops out of the car, opening the door for the other and taking his hand once more once he gets out, happily being led to the house. Paul has to let go of Alex's hand once inside so that the other can lock the door behind them, before grasping ahold of Pauls arm and leading him upstairs. As soon at the bedroom door is closed behind them, Alex drags Paul into a more loving kiss, holding him close and enjoying the heat of the others body against his own, before moving back and resting his chin on Pauls shoulder gently. After some time of just being close, Alex steps away and puts on the tv, finding some light hearted comedy that they can fall asleep watching. The frontman can't help but stare when he turns back and notices Paul has removed his shirt, and this makes Paul chuckle as he gets into the bed*
"What? You'll get used to it"
"I don't think I will." Alex slowly removes his own jacket and shirt, the very idea of Paul in his bed enough to give him intense butterflies in his stomach. Alex then joins Paul in the bed, snuggling up beside him, and enjoying the way that the drummer then rolls onto his side, arms wrapped tightly around Alex's middle, and rests his head on the others chest. Alex puts an arm around Paul, resting his hand on the others shoulder and struggling to believe this is actually happening. The frontman listens as Pauls breathing starts to become heavy with sleep, all the emotions of the night wearing him out. Alex speaks up one last time.
"Hey Paul?"
"Mmh?"
"I love you."
"I love you too, Alex."
And with that said, the new couple drift off into a snuggly and very happy sleep.

The end.