It Gets Complicated (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 3: Making Out the Scenery

It was the following week that something changed. I had been in and out of relationships with various guys since I had come out, but something about Ryan felt different. That's with all relationships, though, right? You expect it to last forever because you finally found "the one"? It was one of the many things I was prepared for. Luckily, Ryan was always full of surprises that I wasn't quite expecting.

Two days after the initial party invitation, I was leaving school when my phone buzzed for the thousandth time that morning, and for the thousandth time it was Ryan. This time, however, he was asking me what I was doing for lunch. My brother had gone out with some of his friends, and I had honestly been planning on skipping the meal in favor of extra tennis practice. Curious of his question, though, I called him.

"Hello?" His voice was clear and eager, obviously he hadn't just gotten out of bed.

"Hey," I didn't really know what to say next. Thankfully, he filled in the silence for me.

"So I'm in town and was wondering if I could take you out for lunch. Oh, and by take you out for lunch I mean buy you McDonalds because I am lost as fuck." I blinked a few time before cranking my car.

"Really?"

"Okay, maybe it's a small town to you, but this is foreign territory to me, man."

"No," I shook my head, "I meant about the lunch thing."

"Well, yeah. I figure if we're gonna date, we have to go on dates, ya know?"

"So we're dating now?" I teased. He huffed in agitation.

"Will you just shut up and drive here?" My laugh was the last thing he heard before I hung up. It wasn't long before I pulled into the dank little parking lot and hopped into his car. "Are we not going inside?"

"Do you want to play 20 questions with any random people I know that see us?" He put on his best thinking face before trying to answer. "No."

"Oh come on, am I that embarrassing?" He asked in a small voice.

"It's not you, it's them." I placed my hand on his between the seat. "It's just better if I keep my personal life, personal." I honestly felt bad when the words left my mouth, but it was the truth. When anything eventful happens to someone in this town it spreads like wildfire. With relationships, though, it seemed as if people intentionally tried to ruin couples because they were happy. I wasn't going to let that happen, especially not on our second date.

We went through the drive through and I led him down to the local park where we sat on the benches by the broken little fountain. It was quiet for a minute before Ryan started telling me about one of his college professors that brought dogs to class. It was crazy to me that in a year I'd go from organized, normal classroom time to lectures where the professors could do just about anything and call it a lesson. When we were done with our food, he tossed the trash in one of the nearby garbage bins and we started walking down Main Street.

"Why did you come today?" I finally asked what was on my mind. I knew this was supposed to be a date, but we were still really fresh and I've always been a straight shooter. I mean, I liked him and I'm assuming he liked me, but something still felt kind of off and I just wanted some clarification I guess.

"I wanted to see you." He took my hand in his and smiled. "Because I've kinda got this crush on you." He nudged me as his smile turned into that goofy smirk. I rolled my eyes, but walked a little closer to him. We were both quiet for a minute, thinking about what happens next, or at least I was.

"So, you aren't just rebounding into me or anything, right?" I swear I held my breath for an hour before he replied.

"No, why?"

"You seem distant and restrained and I don't know, maybe because you're this college god and I'm just me." I shrugged. He stopped walking and turned to face me, towering over me, but in a good way.

"You are so much more than you think you are, Jay. You're smart and funny and level headed and I'm still trying to figure out why you are even interested in another dumb jock like me, but you make me feel different, more so than anyone has ever made me feel before. This is only the second time I've been within a mile of you and I can't get you out of my head. You're all I've thought about since we ran into each other at the mall and it kind of freaks me out, but in a good way." Ryan was serious, his emotions on full display on his face as he spoke. I took a deep breath.

"Is this the part where you drop to one knee and propose? Because this is definitely not the right scenery." I joked. A booming laugh broke the tension he'd built only moments before. I inwardly told myself thank you for having a sense of humor that worked well in terribly awkward situations. We continued to laugh and poke fun at each other until we made a loop back to his car.

"Why do you have to go to tennis practice?"

"Why do you have to drive such a nice car?"

"Touché." He opened the door for me. "I really do wish you didn't have to go." The sadness in his eyes reiterated it all too well. Feeling brave, I got on my tip toes and kissed him on the cheek before turning to get in the car only to find Ryan spinning me back around and pulling my body against his. Before I could process what was happening, a pair of lips met my own. Like every other cinematic romance moment, time stopped for that brief instant. Soft lips caressed my own as rough stubble scratched over the edges of my mouth. When I opened my eyes, not really sure when I had closed them, I found deep brown eyes staring at me in adoration. "Is the scenery better?"

Ryan dropped me off at my car and I played horribly at practice because the only thing I could think about was the kiss. He had driven an hour here just to have lunch with me, told me all the good things I wanted to hear, and then kissed me. That strange feeling started creeping up again, but this time I completely ignored it. Instead, I thought about the party invitation that was still waiting to be answered.