Daisies • Zarry

7. There's no place like Daisies

Zayn was on edge, just sitting on his front porch, chain smoking for the past 15 minutes as he waited for Elias to pick him up for their date. Even though Zayn was gay, this entire experience was new to him. Zayn had never dated before in his life, even at 19, almost 20 years old, and it was one sad fact that he hated to admit. And the only time Zayn ever had sex with a guy was just once in his entire life, but it was not the sort of memory he wanted to relive, so he kept it buried deep inside his closet where he hoped it would remain forever.

And he continued to sit there nervously, anxious that he was going to be in public somewhere, somewhere where people could see him.

People are going to know I'm gay now.

This was a lot for him to process and part of him didn't feel ready to expose it, but another part of him knew that it had to be done. Maybe he needed a push, and maybe Elias was going to be the one to shove him off the cliff so he could fly.

Elias pulled up along Zayn's street in a really nice, really expensive, all black Audi and Zayn quickly snuffed out his cigarette into the ashtray on the corner of his porch before making his way to the car. Elias leaned over and opened the car door handle from the inside, propping open the door as Zayn slid in onto the leather seat.

"You look good," Elias greeted him and Zayn smiled softly.

He looked down at his navy blue and white paisley patterned button down, black jeans and black boots, his hair was growing longer and he had it slicked back; Zayn had spent a lot of time ensuring that he looked presentable enough for this date because Elias was really, really handsome, and he didn't want to look atrocious next to him.

"So do you," Zayn replied, studying Elias briefly.

Elias wore a white button down shirt under a grey blazer and matching grey slacks, complimenting his brown skin nicely. He still looked better than him and he smelled like some cologne that was just as expensive as his car.

"So where are we going?"

"Do you like Korean?"

"I don't think I've ever had it," said Zayn, realizing he was probably more uncultured than he thought.

"I know this place called Jungsik. Five stars, best Korean food in the city. It's really nice."

"Okay, sounds good."

The entire car ride there Elias told Zayn about how his family owned a home in Northern California on a vineyard where he spent his summers, and he learned how to make his own wine, that he spoke four different languages and it was in that moment that Zayn realized they came from different worlds. Zayn was raised by a single mother on a farm in rural Pennsylvania and they never had much money. His summers only ever consisted of doing farm work, taking walks and reading used books he got from the thrift store while he hid in a tree house, and he began to feel insecure that he just wasn't going to measure up to Elias' great life that he seemed to be leading.

The restaurant was exquisite, probably the fanciest place Zayn had ever been to. The tables were lined with these bright white table cloths, champagne glasses, candles, bouquets of flowers and everything was so pristine looking. Zayn suddenly felt under dressed in his black H&M jeans while Elias was the one wearing a designer blazer and proper slacks. He lead Zayn over to a table in the back corner away from everyone and he looked over the menu, realizing that he had never heard of any of these dishes.

"Don't make fun of me but I have no idea what to order here. Like...what's Galbi?"

Elias chuckled.

"It's Wagyu Shortrib. It's just beef ribs with soy, basically."

"Oh okay. That sounds tasty," Zayn answered, spotting octopus on the menu and scrunching up his nose at how gross that sounded.