Every inch of my body froze. The only movement that I seemed to be able to accomplish was narrowing my eyes at Hunter. He reached his hand up, pressing against the doorway and leaning his body into it, the amused look never escaping his face for a second. Hunter stood in front of me in nothing but a pair of athletic shorts as I found my eyes moving briefly from his to glance at his exposed upper body. There were additional small tattoos that he seemed to have added to his collection since the last time.

Suddenly my eyes stopped when I noticed a particular new ink mark. It was small and placed on the side of his body. I would have missed it if it wasn't for the way he was leaning into the door frame, raising his arm to expose the skin. A butterfly. But not just any butterfly, the one I drew for him.

Hunter seemed to realize what I had seen, and instantly lifted his weight off the doorframe and dropped his arm.

"Dylan..." Hunter said cautiously in a low tone. He appeared to want to say more but lost the chance due to a voice that interrupted him.

"Dylan! Hey!" Charlie appeared from behind Hunter, "Didn't realize you were here. Come in!"

"No!" The word escaped my dry mouth too quickly, "I mean," I cleared my throat, doing my best to ignore the burning stare from Hunter, "I just realized I'm starving. Could I see it after?"

Charlie nodded, moving past Hunter. "Of course."

The two of us made our way down the stairs and out the front doors in silence. I followed his lead down the street, glancing up at him to try and get a read on what he was thinking. Either he was great at covering up, or he was oblivious to my previous odd behaviour.

"So..." I said softly, clearing my throat, "You and Hunter live together?"

Charlie looked over at me, smiling with a nod. "Yeah, he's helping me out by letting me stay with him while I finish up my last year at law school."

Law school. Charlie had mentioned briefly last night that he had transferred schools for his final year due to an internship opportunity.

"Isn't it hard living there with him? You know, with his... lifestyle?" I carefully chose the last word, not wanting to sound judgemental.

A light chuckle escaped. "Not really, actually. He spends most nights out at work and keeps his company out of the apartment." 

I did my best to force a smile as I nodded along.

Charlie placed his hand on the small of my back. "This is it," he said as he guided me towards the front of the café.

The scent of freshly brewed coffee wafted through the air as we stepped inside. It was a small yet charming space. Large bay windows on either side of the door allowed the sunlight to pour in. The painted white walls were decorated with photographs of city landscapes in gold frames. Each round wooden table had a small vase filled with beautiful lilac flowers. The anxious feeling that once clouded my thoughts seemed to instantly disappear as I took in my surroundings.

"Hey, Charlie," a young-looking waitress greeted the two of us, "Just for two?"

As Charlie gave the girl a nod in response, she gathered two sets of menus from the stack on the small table beside her and led us to a table.

"I'll be back in a bit to take your order."

"Thanks, Julia." Charlie gave the girl a smile before she scurried off to another table.

Charlie glanced back to me, his hands fumbling together nervously on the table. "I hope you don't mind this place. I thought it would be a safe choice for a first date."

I could feel myself blushing as I noticed the nervousness in his tone. "It's lovely. Do you come here a lot?"

"I like to come here to study when I need a break from the library or the apartment."

Charlie continued on about his studies, describing how surprised he was by how quickly his workload was already pilling up. Though he stated how it was stressful, I could notice the excitement in his eyes when he spoke about his last year.

Julia returned to our table and pulled a notepad out of the front pocket of her apron. She quickly scribbled down our orders before collecting our menus and disappearing once again.

"What do you want to do after you finish law school?"

Charlie took a sip of water from his glass. "Entertainment, but focusing on sports."

"A sports lawyer?" I asked, "Why's that?"

"I've always wanted to be a sports agent, but I also want to follow in my dad's footsteps," Charlie explained, "Thankfully, I found a way to mix the two."

"Alright, Mr. Future Sports Lawyer," I teased, "Favourite NFL team?"

Charlie's eyes slightly widened, a look of curiosity washing over his face. "Easy. The Giants, of course."

I propped my elbows up on the table, pressing my face into my hands. "Oh god," my voice softly cried, "I'm on a date with a Giants fan?"

I pulled my head to meet his amused expression.

"Hell yeah," he grinned, "I lived in New York my whole life before coming out here. I can't go against my team. Besides," he narrowed his eyes, the playful grin still spread across his lips as he leaned in closer and softly spoke, "It's not like you're a Cowboys fan, right?"

Following his lead, I leaned my body closer across the small table. "Oh, I'm definitely a Cowboys fan."

"It's too bad you are an enemy now," I murmured, pulling myself back, pressing into the back of my chair, "Would've been nice for someone new to join for Sunday night football. But I think my father would disown me if I brought a Giants fan into the house."

"First date and you're already thinking about me meeting the parents?"

I rolled my eyes in an attempt to disregard his remark, but the flush spreading across was cheeks was impossible to hide. Luckily for me, Julia made her way to our table with our food, giving me a chance to advert my gaze from Charlie's and calm my embarrassment.

"So your dad's a lawyer?" I asked after a brief silence.

"He's a partner at firm back in New York. And my other dad is a doctor."

"Oh, you have two dads?"

"I do, they adopted me when I was little." Charlie cleared his throat, "My dad was working a pro bono case and his client at the time was my birth mother, but before going to trial, she ended up passing away from a drug overdose. My birth mother had no other family, so I would have been placed in foster care if it wasn't for my parents."

I reached my hand over the table, placing it over his. "Wow," was all I was able to manage, finding myself at a loss for words.

"Sorry," Charlie mumbled, looking down at his food, "I shouldn't have put a damper on the mood."

"Don't be sorry, I'm glad you told me." I moved my hand to allow my fingers to lace in between his. His eyes glanced as a smile crossed his lips, seeming relieved by my action.

Charlie dove further into his life; his eyes glimmered when he spoke about his parents and how thankful he was for them. He told the story of how he met Hunter. It was on the first day of elementary school when a couple of classmates were making fun of him having two dads, and after Hunter overheard, the tall, yet lanky child, threatened to 'beat them up' if they didn't stop.

Charlie let out a laugh, his smile wide from telling the story. "He looked like a noodle, I swear."

I forced myself to smile as I listened along to the story. For a brief moment, I had completely forgotten how I ended up on this date. Although it guilted me to admit, I couldn't help but silently wish that Charlie and Hunter weren't friends. But it was wrong to want something that would make my life easier, especially when Charlie seemed so grateful for his friendship.

"I feel it's been all about me so far. What about you? Are you in school?"

What he asked seemed so simple yet caused a bundle of nerves to flutter around the pit of my stomach. Thankfully, I was chewing on my food, which bought me some spare time. After all, it would be impolite to speak with my mouth full. Or so I told myself out of pity. I began to regret not taking a bigger bite as I realized my time of avoiding to answer was quickly running short.

I cleared my throat. "I grew up in Beverly Hills, so been a 90210 brat my whole life." My pathetic joke was an attempt to hide the shakiness growing in my voice. "My parents still live there. I have an older sister, but she's been in Europe for a while, so we don't speak much." I knew I had to answer his one question, but before I could think, my words left my lips too quickly, "And yes, I study business. Pretty boring."

While Charlie seemed interested when I brought up school, I could feel a giant knot twist in my stomach. When his mouth parted to speak, I quickly interjected, "My mother actually called me when I was walking over, brought up some charity gala she wants me to go to."

Why was that the one thing I could think of to change the subject?

"Are you going to go?" There was no hint of suspicion that crossed his face.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. They are all pretty boring, well, except for the free booze."

"Free booze makes any party fun." When Charlie flashed his charming grin, I could feel the knot slowly begin to untangle itself.

It was odd yet incredibly alluring how he made me comfortable with such ease. Especially when he had no idea. Abby was definitely right about this date; it was a good choice. Charlie was easy to talk to, he had an interesting life and what sounded like a promising future. I, on the other hand, probably seemed like a complete mess. I barely spoke about my life and probably made it sound like enjoying an event for 'free booze' was the most fascinating thing about me.

"I knew I'd find you two here." The deep voice that spoke snapped me from my thoughts.

Hunter stood next to Charlie, sporting a mischievous grin. With just one look, the knot not only began to twist once again but felt as if it was growing inside me.

"Mind if I join while I wait for my take-out?"

Yes, I fucking mind! The voice in my head screamed.

Before receiving an answer, Hunter had already reached for an empty chair from the empty table beside us and sat down. My chest started to feel tight as two pairs of eyes across from me looked like they were eyeing my every move.

"I didn't think you liked the food here?" Charlie looked to the side at his friend.

"Well, you talk about it all the time, thought I'd give it another chance."

I rolled my eyes at Hunter's response. "How convenient," I huffed under my breath.

"Having a nice date?" Hunter asked, looking straight ahead at me as if his question was only directed at one person.

Charlie nodded, seeming unbothered by the interruption, and flashed a smile. "I think it's going very well," the confidence in his tone provided a small amount of relief to my shoulders. "You know, except for the fact that I'll never be allowed over to her parents' house."

"Trust me, man," Hunter placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, "It's probably better that way."

The pressure that was once briefly elevated pressed down against my shoulders once again.

Charlie looked over at his friend. "From how Dylan's described them, they seem nice to me." A hint of defence laced his tone.

"Well, this one time-"

"You should come with me!" I quickly interrupted, doing everything in my power to not look at Hunter. I knew what he was going to refer to, and that was the last thing I wanted to be brought up right now. "Come to the charity gala my mother wants me to go to. I think it would be fun to go, actually, with you as my date."

From the corner of my eye, I could see that Hunter's smirk had disappeared. His lips were now pressed in a thin line, a scowl replacing his once amused expression, as he watched the two of us.

"Yeah?" Charlie looked surprised by my sudden invitation. "Sure, I'd love to."

"Just as long as you promise to not bring up the Giants," I teased.

Charlie's hands raised in defence. "I'll do my best but no promises."

2019;

sneak peak: 

"A lot of people seem to think they know things about me. But it's far from the truth." 

"I guess I wouldn't be here if I believed everything I heard."  

"And that's why I like you."