Thursday, evening

     Daniel was lost. He was completely and utterly lost.

He had taken Frey home—as requested by Hannah. And while he had been cooking dinner, assuring Frey he didn't need any help, Frey had joined Hannah for a tea-party with her old worn-off stuffed animals that once belonged to Daniel himself, and he was lost.

He had watched Frey joking around, sipping imaginary tea from a small broken tea-cup, while talking to a bear that didn't reply since, well, it was a stuffed animal.

Hannah's joyful laughter over his jokes, the fact Frey didn't seem to mind playing along with her, the fact he sat there uncomfortably on the ground without complaining or sending judgemental looks?

Daniel was mesmerized by the other boy.

He was surprised too but mesmerized mostly.

Since when did Frey have this sweet, kind, caring side to him? And why did he have to show it in front of Daniel, who already felt attracted to the boy?

But he was grateful for Frey buying them Hannah's favourite food. And since he bought all fresh ingredients, the mac and cheese tasted way better than they were used.

The smile on Hannah's face hadn't left ever since Frey told her they'd share the desserts, and it only widened more during the evening.

Daniel was lost, he really was.

He couldn't stop to stare at Frey, interacting with his sister as if they'd known each other for years. As if Frey and Hannah were best friends, and they even had their own inside jokes now.

Daniel's mother had seemed pleased with Frey's presence, and the fact Hannah couldn't stop smiling and laughing. The smile on his mother's face was priceless, but than she had looked at Daniel, and she had a knowing look in her eyes that Daniel hated.

She knew he liked Frey, and it was only a matter of time before she would start asking questions. But Daniel didn't want them to get the wrong idea. He felt as if Hannah expected him to join more often, like Mitchel had done months ago. He felt as if his mother thought they were dating or something.

And Frey was unaware of the looks their mother was sending Daniel.

But no matter what was going on in Daniel's mind, Frey scored a lot of points that night. Not just because he bought them more food than they would normally eat in two days, but also because he had made both his mother and sister smile.

He had made his sister enjoy her evening, and she hadn't once complained about anything.

And other than Mitchel, Frey didn't once comment on their tiny house, or shabby interior. He hadn't complained that he had a plastic throw-out plate to eat from, or the fact it was cold inside because the heater was still broken and there was no money to repair it.

Daniel was still shamelessly staring at Frey when they grabbed their bikes because Daniel had to work, wondering if their little stupid trick the night before had made that much of an impact on him that he changed this much; overnight.

That couldn't be possible, mostly because Jenna had sort of aborted the mission by going on a fake date with Frey. He was still wondering why Jenna, of all people, had done it. But according to Lacy, Jenna had her reasons, and even though Lacy still disliked Frey a lot, she agreed that it had been better to cancel their plans to mess with Frey.

She promised to explain later, but Daniel didn't really need an explanation any longer. He saw a side of Frey he had never seen before.

Not just that night, while Frey entertained his sister, but in their chat conversation too.

Daniel had actually used a lot of his own hobbies to talk about, and Frey seemed to share most of the interests, and that had surprised him in the least. It was shocking to find out Frey actually liked reading, and they had an hour-long conversation about The Great Gatsby. Frey knew his literature, and he seemed to understand those books too.

All things combined, Daniel felt like he was starting to fall for Frey's real charms. The charms he didn't really show, but were there nonetheless. The real Frey, that was hiding behind his big words and obnoxious attitude and lots of laughter, that was the Frey Daniel was falling for.

He just wondered why Frey wasn't more like that, more often. Why hide his true self, if he knew people didn't really like the side he showed?

"What's wrong?" Frey asked, pulling Daniel out of his thoughts.

Daniel shook his head, not really knowing what to say, while Frey had already unlocked his bike and was now staring at their house.

For as far as you could call it a house.

"You just... you surprised me."

"With what?" Frey frowned, clueless what this was about.

"Big tough Frey has a kind side to him." Daniel waved towards Frey, who chuckled in response.

"I truly ain't a jerk all the time."

It was such a simple response, and Frey didn't really seem to care about the fact Daniel was impressed by this side of him.

"Why aren't you like this more often? You might even get friends."

Frey shrugged, not responding at all, leaving Daniel at a loss for words.

He didn't think he would ever start to understand Frey, and what was going on in his mind.

"Whatever... I need to get to work."

     Daniel had been unfocused for his entire shift, not really knowing what to think about Frey. The boy had surprised him to no end that day, or even that week. His heart was telling him to explore more of Frey's kind side, but his mind told him not to burn himself on it.

Frey was too unpredictable in his behaviour, it would drive him nuts.

But then why couldn't he stop staring at the boy while he was talking to Jenna, casually drinking a beer, laughing over things?

His eyes kept searching to find Frey in the crowd, and whenever Daniel's eyes found his, Frey smiled, and Daniel was lost all over again.

This wasn't happening.

Daniel couldn't be falling for the biggest jerk in South Cedar, could he?

Even though said jerk shared a lot if interests, bought his family a decent meal, and plastered a smile on his sister's face by goofing around.

He had just finished his shift and he initially planned to go home, but he was simple drawn towards Frey like a magnet. He couldn't resist the urge to talk to him, just for a while.

As soon as he had stopped next to Jenna—while she was laughing over something Frey said—Frey charmingly smiled at him and said "hey."

Daniels stomach had flipped, his mouth had run dry, and he lost the ability to talk. After Mitchel, he swore he would never allow himself to fall for another jerk like him, ever again. Then why was his heart doing exactly that?

Daniel, in frustration over his feelings, had started drinking, and tried to stay away from Frey as much as possible. But since Jenna was talking to him, that meant he couldn't talk to her either, so eventually he found himself hanging out with Arun and Jordy for most of the time.

But then he went to the bathroom and faith decided to torture him some more.

Mitchel showed up in front of him, obviously hammered and smirking—a futile attempt to be seductive.

"Hey there, handsome." Mitchel tried to wink—again an attempt to be seductive—but failed to impress Daniel. "Don't you ever think back about us?

Yes, he did. But not because he missed Mitchel. Whenever he did allow himself to think back of that mistake, he kept getting reminded why breaking up had been a good idea.

"Sorry, no." Daniel muttered, turning away from Mitchel, wanting to walk back into the club.

"Hey, don't be like that." Mitchel grabbed his wrist, pulling him back, pushing him against a wall. "I can remind you of what you're missing..."

"Mitchel, knock it off!" Daniel tried to push him away, but Mitchel—even in drunk state—was strong.

"Come on, stop playing hard to get..." Mitchel had grabbed hold of Daniel's face, squeezing his already soar jaw. "You know you miss it..."

"I don't." Daniel just wanted to lift his knee and hurt him where it would hurt him most, when Mitchel was suddenly punched from the side, tumbling sideways, and falling to the ground since he was incapable of keeping his balance.

Frey stood beside him, staring in anger down at Mitchel, while a security guard instantly moved in to grab Mitchel, patting Frey's shoulder while passing him.

"God, I have been wanting to do that for a while now." Frey chuckled, waving his hand. He pulled a face of discomfort, and Daniel could see he injured his hand while hitting Mitchel.

"How'd you know..."

"He was being annoying to others too, so I kept an eye on him. Idiot... calls this club tacky and cheap... but he's the one acting cheap." Frey stood up straighter, turning to Daniel with a bit of worry in his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... I think so..." Daniel took in a deep breath, noticing he was a bit shaky. He hated Mitchel in every way possible. But at least he never tried to do anything to harm Daniel. Mitchel was really losing it.

Daniel noticed Frey was still cradling his hand, while they stared at each other. "Let's get some ice for that hand." He suggested, grabbing Frey's arm to drag him to the back of the club and into the backroom. He should not have touched Frey, for his entire body heated up just thinking about the touch.

He made Frey sit down on one of the two sofas, moving to grab some ice from behind the bar, putting it in a towel to put on his hand. He sat down next to him, gesturing for Frey to stretch out his hand.

Tingles shot through him as soon as he carefully grabbed Frey's injured hand, placing the bag of ice on top of it.

They both were staring at their hands, and Daniel started feeling uncomfortable in the silence, but luckily Frey wasn't one to stay silent for long.

"Say, Daniel?"

"Yes."

"Who was behind the account? I know who were involved... but Jenna doesn't want to tell me that. Was it Jenna?"

"No, it wasn't Jenna."

Frey snorted, before asking; "It was Lacy? That bitch can't ever be nice..."

"She's not a bitch if you get to know her." Daniel defended Lacy, knowing she too wasn't having an easy life at home. "And it wasn't Lacy either."

"Then who?" Frey pulled up his eyebrow in surprise and he was probably wondering if it had been Michelle.

"It was me, Frey." Daniel muttered softly.

"So, it was all made up?" Frey wondered aloud, while he stared down at their hands again. "The interests, the hobbies?"

"Well... not entirely. Those are mine."

"You like to paint?" Frey's head snapped back up and he seemed genuinely surprised. "You like to read?"

"I do, yes, why?" He pulled back Frey's arm, to place the ice back in the right spot after it had slipped a bit. Frey stared at him, and Daniel returned the look, feeling a bit uncomfortable. He expected Frey to make fun of him for his hobbies. To tell him he all pretended to like the same things in their chat. But Frey wasn't predictable.

"Did you feel like we clicked?" Frey whispered. He sounded serious. No joking, no sadness, serious was all he was.

"I...I—" Daniel stuttered. Damn, yes, he thought they had a click. But that was the part he thought was unfair. He knew it didn't matter, because Frey didn't ask him for nothing if it had been Jenna, first of all. Daniel knew Frey spent half the night talking to Jenna.

Her saving his ass during their own trick, had brought them close together.

And Daniel was jealous, but he wouldn't ever admit that.

"Did you? Or did I make it up?" Frey pushed him to answer.

"I felt it..." Daniel looked at Frey, who was closer to him than he had ever been. The staring became intense, and Daniel even got nervous when he noticed Frey's eyes flickered down to his lips once.

Then again, and again, before Frey leaned in.

"What're you do—"

Daniel really needed to remember Frey was anything but predictable.

Frey's lips touched his before he was able to finish his sentence, and his heart wouldn't stop him from doing something stupid, like answering the kiss.

And Daniel, once again, felt lost. Lost in his feelings for Frey Sanders.

Words: +/- 2077