Wednesday, midday

     Even though it was way in the afternoon, Frey still felt the effects of his medication in the last class of the day. He had trouble staying awake during the class and was thankful his father had called school to explain.

The teachers, for once, didn't scowl at him for nearly falling asleep. They rather tried to keep him awake by asking him questions every so often. They generally dealt with the situation well; not ignoring it, but not putting him in the spotlights either.

Besides Daniel, only his friends Arun, Wes, James and Hendrik knew about his disorder, and the fact he was now taking medication for it that caused him to feel and act like a zombie.

Well, and Jenna, but she wasn't in this school, and he really didn't feel like seeing her any time soon.

Daniel had told him what she had done to keep Daniel away from him, and he wasn't as forgiving as Daniel.

Not that Daniel had completely forgiven her for it, but he did tell Frey he wanted to fix their friendship at some point. She was too important to him to hold grudges for the rest of his life.

Besides, Daniel hated being in fights with people for too long.

Though he had agreed with him that Frey's mother was someone who was impossible to live with for too long. He still expected Frey to end the fight someday, but he admitted it might have been too early.

Frey wanted to stop fighting with his mother too, mostly because it would mean he wouldn't feel hurt by her any longer.

He just wasn't in the right state of mind to deal with it any time soon.

But his medication wasn't the only thing that kept causing his mind to drift off. Daniel was on his mind too. Or more so, the fact Frey had noticed the smile on his face when he had called him his boyfriend.

And the fact they weren't officially together, and Frey didn't really know why he had said it was too soon.

They liked each other, so what was he waiting for?

He didn't know, and the smile on Daniel's face told him more than enough; Daniel liked the thought of being his boyfriend.

And Daniel, when he said he didn't mind Frey's disorder, had said things that warmed him from within, and made him feel loved in a way he hadn't felt before. It was all new, seriously dating, having actual feelings, and a relationship; even if they weren't official yet.

He eventually told his friends he would be right back during lunch, and walked through the lunchroom, towards the table where Daniel was seated.

He slid in a free chair next to Daniel, and leaned towards him, interrupting something Lacy had been telling him.

Daniel instantly had turned around to face him, and Lacy didn't seem pleased. She huffed, crossed her arms, rolled her eyes and turned to Michelle, who was dreamily staring into the distance.

Probably towards Arun.

"Hey." Frey addressed Daniel only, smiling towards him. He badly wanted to lean further towards Daniel to kiss him, but he wasn't exactly feeling comfortable with coming out.

So he didn't.

"Hey." Daniel breathed the word out with a smile. "What's up?"

"Can we talk? In private? After school?"

"We can talk now?"

"Well, I kinda hoped we could go out for dinner." Frey scratched the back of his head and kept an eye on the surrounding people, including Michelle and Lacy to make sure nobody overheard their conversation.

"As in a date?"

"Yeah, as a date."

"Oh! Eh, I would have to find a babysitter for Hannah..."

"What if I ask dad?"

"Let me finish. Mom's home so it has to be somebody who can take care of her too."

"And we have practise tonight." Lacy leaned forwards. "But! If you are seriously taking Daniel out for dinner, a fancy one, I will skip practise, and take care of Mrs. and Miss. Quinn for you."

"Really?" Frey felt surprised, mostly because he knew Lacy didn't like him at all. Sure, they worked together, but that was all he could say about their contact. They acknowledged each other, and that was all there was.

So, to have her offer them to take care of Hannah and Daniel's mother was a big surprise.

"Yes, really." Lacy shrugged and explained; "if you are serious about dating Daniel, I'll support you two. But if I find out you mistreat Daniel, you're mine."

Frey chuckled because Daniel responded with a roll of the eye. But he was thankful too for Lacy to whisper, instead of shout that he was dating Daniel.

"Okay, I guess I'm available for a date tonight." Daniel's smile soon turned into a frown. "But wait, I have no money..."

"I'm paying. This is me, taking you out, okay?"

"Are you sure? If you want to wait until I have a bit of money..."

"I don't. We're going on a date tonight. I'll pick you up at six."

Lacy nodded in agreement when Frey sent her a look of question, since he didn't exactly know if Lacy could be there at six until she nodded.

Frey hummed happily and pushed himself up from his seat. "Great. I'll see you tonight."

Frey had made reservations in a fancy restaurant one town over, not wanting to run in to people that knew him or Daniel.

He had asked his father to drive them, so they didn't have to ride the bike for half an hour, and he agreed; proud because Frey was taking dating Daniel serious.

If only he knew how Frey behaved until recently. Or how crazy he was about Daniel.

He himself didn't even really believe it, and he was feeling it.

The giddy feelings, the warmth that came whenever he held Daniel's hand, or kissed his lips or cheek.

And since there was nobody there to witness it—except his father—Frey held his hand the whole ride.

He wondered in silence how Daniel felt about him not coming out to the school, or to really anyone outside of his family and close friends. Was it bothering Daniel?

Did Daniel think he was ashamed of it?

Frey didn't ask anything until they were seated in the restaurant. Their food had been ordered, and a bottle of wine was on the table for the two of them to share. He didn't want Daniel to have any doubts, so he brought it up.

"How do you feel about me not coming out?" Frey asked during a silence. It wasn't an awkward silence. It was one where they had just stared at each other with smiles on their faces.

Daniel shrugged, his smile never faltering. "I'm fine with it."

"You are?"

"Yeah, I don't expect you to realise you have feelings for a guy, are bipolar, have a fight with your mom in the course of a month and then come out only days after we both admitted our feelings."

"Right." Frey smiled thankfully. He was thankful for Daniel to understand him. The fact his situation was rather unusual and a lot had changed in the past month. "Okay..."

"But? I sense there's more."

Frey chuckled and nodded amused. "Yeah, you're really observant, aren't you?"

"It's one of my many talents." Daniel winked and Frey let out a soft laugh, sliding his hand in Daniel's with a sigh afterwards. "Are you bothered that we haven't labelled... this?"

"Nah." Daniel shrugged.

"Nah?"

"If it were up to me alone, I would've made things official the moment you said you fell in love with me." Daniel smiled, cocking his head to the side a bit. "But again, a lot changed for you, and I'm willing to wait. But I will scare away any possible competition, FYI."

Frey smirked, squeezing Daniel's hand. "What if I want to make things official?"

"I wouldn't stop you."

"Okay..." Frey took in a breath, looked to their connected hands shortly and then made eye contact again. "So, will you be my boyfriend?"

Daniel's smile widened, and he nodded eagerly. "Yeah, I'd love to be your boyfriend."

"Cool... I didn't think you would turn me down, but this still is nice... to know for sure."

"Same." Daniel chuckled, and Frey joined him, feeling awkward and relieved in the same time.

"So, than I guess we're officially together."

"Yeah. Is that why you wanted this date tonight?"

"Uhu. I... I saw your smile when I told my mom you are my boyfriend. And I want to see you smile like that more often."

"Oh, but you make me smile like that all the time. Just so you know, I had feelings for you from the start. I just never showed them because I didn't want you to feel awkward around me and change your behaviour."

"Uuh, I actually purposefully flirted with you to some degree because I enjoyed teasing you... and seeing you blush because of it." Frey admitted while scratching the back of his head with his free hand.

"I thought you were just being an annoying tease to me, like you were to everyone. But tell me honestly, if you look back to the past couple of months. Do you think you had feelings for a while already?"

"Yeah, I do." Frey nodded to admit that he felt like he had feelings for weeks, maybe months even.

He only ever listened to Arun or Daniel. And listening to Arun was simply because he respected the boy, and they were best friends from the second they met. But with Daniel, it was different. They weren't exactly friends, still Frey cared about Daniel's opinion a lot. He didn't want the boy to hate him, or to be angry. He never cared about other's like that.

Surely, that must have been the first signs, right?

"I'm really glad we kissed that night." Daniel told him casually. "I don't know if either of us would've ever done it after that moment."

"And I'm not sure if I would ever realise my feelings for you if I wouldn't have kissed you then." Frey smirked. "Though, you are very irresistible."

"Oh, stop it..." Daniel blushed and waved a hand dismissively, still showing signs that he liked it when Frey flirted.

"I really like you, Danny. And I'm glad you trust me enough to take this leap with me."

"I'll kick your butt if you ever hurt me." Daniel warned him firmly. "Don't you dare to break up with me, or worse, cheat. I'll cut it off if I need..."

"Hey! Frey called out, laughing when some people turned to send them annoyed looks. "I'll never hurt you, I promise."

"Good." Daniel breathed out and smiled, squeezing his hand. "I could never hurt you."

"You won't need to. If I'd ever do something stupid, you can just unleash Pitbull Lacy, remember."

That made Daniel laugh loud, and the sound of it caused Frey's stomach to flip.

How the hell was it possible for him to change from a cold heartless player to a lovesick puppy in such a short period of time?

At least he was a lovesick puppy, in a relationship with the boy that made him feel better then ever.

At least Daniel felt the same, and he was ready for whatever would come their way.

Words: +/- 1898

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