Author's Note: Good morning, babies! I'm back. I just published this chapter at exactly 11/19/2018, 10:18 AM. I've been writing since 2 in the morning, and my eyes are tired. Our baby Pierce is going on a date on this chapter and I hope you like it.

Instagram: cory_bower | Pierson Matthews

Twitter: JMSenar
Instagram: JMSenar

Word count: 4,447

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Chapter 12

"Melody, I've never been on a date before!"

We've been arguing for an hour now when she came barging here in my unit, demanding to see my date attire. When I told her I didn't put much attention on what I'm going to wear, she freaked out and said that I should be worrying about my clothes. She told me on the first date, I should not come off as too stylish or too... bland. It should be somewhere in between. An in-between where he thinks you don't look uncool, but you're totally cool, and that you're just a go-with-the-flow guy. But I've never been interested with dates before. I mean, okay, cool that you're going on a date... with some random stranger, that's fine. But I just don't get why you need to alter yourself for a bit just so your date can find you interesting and be into you. That's just a big nope.

My best friend rolls her eyes as she inspects my flannel shirts ranging from grey to blue to red that are hung in the cabinet and the grey pants and jeans that I have. She also eyes the colorful and black and white shirts and shorts that I have folded neatly just under the hanged shirts. Melody has this thoughtful look on her face, the time you see when she overthinks something. This time, she's putting a lot of thought on what I should wear for this date, which will happen in about a few hours – 3 hours to be exact.

"Pierce, you've been on a date before." She laments and I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

While it's true that I've been on a date before, it ended up as a disaster. A catastrophe waiting to happen, as what Melody said before when she learned that I accidentally splashed my pineapple juice on Kyle's shirt when we were having a date. Kyle is way out of my league, but we tried anyway. But our attitudes, beliefs, and style just didn't match and we didn't totally click so we decided to just end things before it escalated to something we'd have a hard time getting out of.

"But it's not a real date." I state and Melody looks at me like I'm the stupidest person she has ever met in her whole existence called life. "The date with Kyle doesn't count. It's not official."

"Hun, just because you kind of ruined the date with him, doesn't mean it's not a real date."

She rolls her eyes again and grabs faded red and white flannel shirt and hovers it on my body, inspecting if it looks good. I can practically see the gears working in her head, turning slowly and clicking. She smiles as if she figures it all out. Melody grabs a folded grey shirt and jeans. She lays it all out on the bed and her smile widens. She turns to me and the clothes then back to me.

"This is perfect." She winks at me and squeals excitedly as she smoothens the clothes she just grabbed out of my closet and I sigh, thinking whether I should bail out of this date or not. But if I ever say that to Melody's face, then my face will get wrecked by her fists. She may be a woman, but she's a great puncher. "These clothes are just simple. They aren't too fancy, but they aren't too casual."

"These are not casual?" I motion to the clothes she picked.

"I declare now it is not." She grins at me and my left eye twitches. "We still have less than 3 hours, and we're going to use that time to groom you up. Make sure you slay that date and for fuck's sake, do not, and I mean do not, accidentally splash your date with pineapple juice or any sort of liquid."

"Thanks. That's so thoughtful of you."

"You're welcome, bitch." She grins and ushers me to the bathroom.

I head to the bathroom with much resistance, already feeling the nervousness coiling in my stomach. It's been a long time since I last went to a date with someone, and it ended up as a disaster. I mean, it's not much of a disaster to be honest. I just accidentally splashed Kyle with pineapple juice and he got quite upset. That's a disaster, right?

Overthinking isn't going to help me, I know that, but I just have so many questions inside my head that I want to be answered. What if this is a mistake? What if the guy Melody set me up with has high expectations and I can't meet them? What if it doesn't work out between us? What if I accidentally splash him with a drink and he'd hate me?

"Pierce! I don't hear the fucking shower running!" Melody yells on the other side of the room and I take a deep breath because I'm pretty sure slapping a girl is frowned upon by many. "Clean yourself and take this date seriously!"

Turning on the shower without bracing myself for the cold water to hit my skin once I stripped off, I let out a hiss and let the water soak me in, clearing my head and washing the negative thoughts away. Who cares if my date doesn't like me? Who cares if this date doesn't work out? It doesn't matter if I get to be into him or he gets to be into me; as long as we have fun, that's okay. I smile to myself, finally grateful for Melody for getting me out of my comfort zone. As much as she's a pain in the ass, she helps me a lot and I don't know what I'd do without her by my side.

Once I'm done showering, I step out of the bathroom, wrap a towel around my waist, and get out of the bathroom. Melody sees me with dripping waters on my hair and chest, and she lets out a whistle and fans herself and I roll my eyes at her. She has seen me naked several times. Well, not totally naked, just my top. She hasn't seen my junk and I don't plan on showing her.

This junk is exclusively for my man only.

Melody hands me out the clothes she picked for me to wear after I use deodorant (because really, I can't have myself having a BO in front of me! Now that's a disaster!). I head back to the bathroom to wear these. I put the clothes on the glass attached to the wall along with the other extra towels, and wear the shirts and jeans Melody picked. After wearing the clothes, I take a look at myself in the mirror and nod in appreciation about how I look.

Who knew a red and white flannel shirt over a grey shirt with a blue Champion logo would look good on me? And the jeans. The jeans compliment my top and I thank Melody in my head for having such a good sense in fashion. I may be over exaggerating, but I never really got the chance to style myself due to work and other stuff. I mean, the closest to doing that is when we go out every weekend to have fun. But that's because it's expected of me to put effort into my attire. But for this, I'm going to impress a guy. And really, to be honest, this is the first time I'm going to do this. The date with Kyle is different, and this time I'm more serious and aware that I'm going on a date.

I head back to my room and let Melody see her work. As her eyes set on me, she drops the Men's magazine she's been reading once I stepped into the shower and makes an ooh comment. She stands up and leads me to the mirror, taking the light wax. She offers it to me and I take the wax, opening it and getting a few before spreading it on my hair. Melody helps me fix my hair using her fingers as a comb to give it a more natural look.

"Okay, you fucking look good."

Melody ushers me to wear my black Nike shoes and grabs a couple of colorful bracelets she made when she was bored. She puts it on me and squeals when she sees how I look. She pushes me in front of the mirror and I nod again in appreciation, thanking her for being there when I need her. She brushes my comment and I look at the time. I still have an hour and thirty minutes left before the date and I'm suddenly nervous again.

Despite telling myself that it's okay if this date doesn't work out like I'm hoping to, it still gives me the chill, like something bad would happen. Melody senses my emotion – we just have this deep connection with each other where we sense what each other feels – and immediately comforts me, not throwing any shade or unnecessary remarks.

"You'll be okay." She kisses my cheek and goes back to the bed and picks up the Men's magazine. "I'll be leaving once you get out of the house. Don't worry, I'm not setting up a camera in case you guys want to hook up."

"Stop, Melody. I'm not going to have sex with him. This is just our first date!"

"Honey, gays hook up a lot, even on first dates. Trust me."

"How do you know this stuff? You're not even gay."

"Trust me, I'm considered a gay deity." She winks at me and laughs. "Go have fun. Take Uber because I don't want you smelling like you just joined Olympics and participated in a track and field event where you lost big time."

"Alrighty. And thanks for telling me that gays hook up a lot on first dates. Not gonna happen."

"Oh. Don't speak of that just yet. You'll never know." She gives this one, chilling laugh and I regret having her set me up on a random date with a stranger. Not really a good idea. I learned that now. She pats my shoulder and grins. "With that look, he'll be charmed."

Melody grabs my phone and books an Uber for me because I can't force myself to. She pushes me to get out of my unit and tells me that she's going to go home or be with Matt after I get out of the building. I nod at her and tell myself that this is going to be okay, that I'm going to be alright. I take the elevator and pray that everything will go smoothly. I'd be damned if this turns out a disaster.

The Uber arrives after five minutes, the car is a black Sedan, and I climb in. I nod at the middle-aged driver and I tell him that I'm Pierce. We hit the road immediately and I keep praying for this to turn out good and fucking awesome.

I arrive thirty minutes early, but that means I get to think a lot. Melody texted me she messaged the guy I'm going to have a date with, informing him the attire I'm wearing so he shouldn't have a hard time finding me. But then she sent another message about even if she didn't tell him what I'm wearing, he'd immediately know it's me. I find that suspicious. I narrow my eyes at her text message and sigh.

I'm seated on a wooden bench facing the fountain in Prospect Park. The water sprinkles high in the air, showering the women statues standing in the center of the fountain. The sound of the water is calming, and it helps me clear my head. There are only a couple of people around the area I'm at. They aren't really loud and noisy, but they are only hear to admire the fountain that probably means something, or it probably has a history.

There's a small girl crying in her mother's lap, complaining about the cotton candy her mother didn't get her. Her mother tries to reason why she didn't buy her, but it only makes the girl cry harder. I suddenly miss my parents. If the kid has an idea what it's like to be far away from her parents, then she'd realize that it's a valid reason to cry. The mother looks at us the people around her and they give her a look of sympathy. Her eyes connect with mine and I just nod at her and she nods back. She brushes her daughter's tears with a towel and whispers something in her daughter's ear, and the girl immediately calms down. I smile at them and someone catches my eyes. I squint my eyes and stares at the guy who seems kind of lost. I can't make out what he looks like, but the more I stare at him, the more I realize that he's familiar.

"Kevin?" I shout and he seems shocked when I call him. His brows furrow, his nose scrunching up, as his eyes search for me. I wave my arms at him and he finally sees me. This time he's even more shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" he asks me back and I roll my eyes at him.

"I'm meeting someone. You?"

"I'm meeting someone, too." He replies back, grinning.

"You got a date?"

"Yeah," he grins widely and takes a seat beside me.

Once he does, my eyes rake over his appearance. His dark brown hair is cropped and cut, and styled upwards. He has a black shades on and he removes it, slinging it in the grey long-sleeves shirt. He has a jacket slung on his shoulder. He matches his attire with black boots and a pair of dark jeans. Never would I have thought that Kevin James has a sense of fashion when back in high school, he always wore an oversized shirt that, yeah, he could pull off.

Kevin looks between me and the fountain, and he has this thoughtful look etched on his face as if he's thinking of doing something but afraid to do so. I purse my lips and check the clock. It's already six forty-five in the evening, and my nervousness isn't still fading. I'm glad Kevin is here to keep me company while he waits for his date. He seems just as nervous as I am. We let the comfortable silence falls between us and I shut my eyes, calming myself down. I can feel Kevin's gaze at me, but I just focus on calming down my heart because, honestly, I think I'll make a fool out of myself when my date meets me up.

It's finally 7:00.

But he isn't here yet.

I text Melody, asking for my date's number so I can call him as he's not here yet. Kevin is just staring at his lap, his expression hasn't changed and he's been real quiet. Melody immediately sends a response, giving me my date's number and I dial it up. Kevin's phone rings up and he jumps out of his seat. His eyes are wide and he has his eyes set on me. I arch a brow and put my phone over my ear. His phone continues to vibrate and I purse my lips, eyeing his phone.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" I ask him, worried that it might be his date cancelling their plans tonight. Kevin just looks at me and nods.

He takes a deep breath, places the phone over his ear, and answers. "Hey."

We are both quiet for a couple of seconds.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." I stand up from the bench and eye Kevin who still has his eyes wide. His face is beet red as he looks at me, and I turn around and let out a sigh. I immediately hang up the call and dial my best friend's number and she quickly picks it up. "Is this for real?"

"What, did you accidentally throw some liquid on Kevin?" My best friend laughs hard.

"This is a joke."

"Honey, it isn't a joke." I look at Kevin again and he smiles shyly at me, offering a peace sign and I stomp my foot on the ground. 

"So Kevin is my date? He's not even gay! Why would you set me up with Kevin?"

"Um, Pierce? You can't just assume someone's sexuality." Kevin butts in and my head whips in his direction. I hear Melody laughing harder, and I hear a loud thud. Maybe she falls out of her bed or something. I just look at him. "I'm bisexual."

I hang up on Melody and put my phone back in my pocket. I begin to massage my temple when Kevin stands up and looks at me worriedly. He walks towards me and stops himself, and I eye his every move. Kevin doesn't really give that bisexual vibe, and I remember he had a lot of girlfriends back in high school. I never saw him flirting with a guy. That makes me wonder if he just recently realized that he feels sexual attraction with both men and women.

We both take a seat and Kevin laughs at me. He seems calm and collected now that he realizes that I am calm. I rest my head on his shoulder, letting out a sigh and shutting my eyes. His shoulder is vibrating, and I can still hear him laughing. I open my eyes and punch his shoulder playfully.

"So you're bisexual, huh?" I tease.

"Yes."

"And you have a date with me."

"Yep!" He chirps and I laugh. "I was sending yu mixed signals but you weren't really getting it."

"Mixed signals?"

"Yeah, mixed signals." Kevin nods, cheeks flushed as he scratches the back of his neck. "I wanted to hang out with you, and we cleaned up your house. And I always get smiley when I'm with you. Melody caught it and she talked to me and we've been talking about you."

"So Melody knows for how long?"

"Two weeks ago?" He puts his index finger underneath his chin and pouts, blowing his cheeks and I find it cute. "Yeah, I think it was two weeks ago. Originally I wasn't your date. When Melody basically shouted about you wanting to have her set you up on a date, I talked to her about it and volunteered because... maybe... you'd like to?" Kevin blushes again and I rest my forehead on his shoulder, chuckling.

"Only Melody knows?"

"Matt knows too. You know she can't keep a secret with her boyfriend."

"But she can keep a secret with me?"

"Actually, that's my request." He utters hesitantly, looking down on his lap, his fingers fumbling with each other. I purse my lips, waiting for his explanation. Kevin looks up and smiles shyly and this time, my heart swells when I realize they're keeping it a secret. "I'm not exactly out yet, and I only told Melody and Matt because they've been great friends, and you. My parents don't know yet."

"Kevin, you don't need to come out because there's nothing to come out to." I tell him, giving him a courageous smile and he returns it back. "It doesn't matter if you're bisexual or gay or straight. You don't have to come out just because you feel that way. Just be you and that's it. Me, I didn't really come out. Mother's instincts. My mom just supports whatever I want to do in life, whoever I want to love. My dad, too. I'm sure they'll understand. From what I remember, based on what I saw when you brought them over in school because you had a fight with Wyatt, they were being nice."

"Yeah, they are nice." Kevin lets out a crooked smile that has my heart racing and I turn sideways, hiding the blush forming on my cheeks. 'Thank you. Let's start this date?"

"Sure," I hide my smile and take a deep breath, grinning widely.

Now I really don't have to worry about my date judging me because Kevin knows who I really am. I still can't wrap my head around what's happening. Kevin is bisexual. Kevin is my date tonight. This is really happening.

We start our date with getting what to eat. He said, as per his experience, that a best date should not be planned at all. There shouldn't be an itinerary, and there shouldn't be any hold backs. First stop we head to this bar that does comedy, and we order a few light drinks with large fries and we share some. We laugh a few times to a drag queen telling jokes about Donald Trump and Kevin laughs out loud, doubling over as he holds his stomach. He has a cute laugh. I just notice.

After an hour spending the time watching the drag queen at the comedy bar, we decide to head out and order ice creams that we haven't tried yet. Kevin tells me that the least favorite he likes about ice cream is the mint flavor. I agree with him, not liking the flavor. Rocky road is my favorite, and his is double dutch. He orders for me and I order for him. He orders me a butter pecan caramel ice cream, and I order him a Neopolitan ice cream, which consists of made up blocks of flavors vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry.

Kevin and I talk about personal stuff, like how my parents are doing and what his parents are up to. He tells me they are doing fine, attending church every Sunday, and their garden business is doing well. We talk about his favorites. His favorite color is green, his favorite food is fried chicken (he tells me this with so much enthusiasm), his favorite sport is soccer, and he's a big fan of The Hunger Games. Mostly the books, and Jennifer Lawrence. I tell him that my favorite actor is Chris Evans because of his portrayal in What's Your Number? and that my favorite movie is The Avengers, and I tell him my favorite Avenger is Scarlet Witch and his is Doctor Strange.

"Scarlet Witch is no match to Doctor Strange," Kevin states smugly as he crosses his arms across his chest while smirking at me. "It's not even a match if they fight."

"Well, yes, I agree." I nod my head at him. "Because Scarlet Witch can just reality-warp Doctor Strange and he will cease to exist. Have you read the House of M storyline?"

He shakes his head. "She can do what now?"

"She can alter reality at her whim," I tell him about Scarlet Witch. "I suggest you read House of M because that's the time she's at her powerful state. Even Doctor Strange couldn't defeat her. Scarlet Witch changed the reality where everyone got what they wanted. All it happened because she thought her kids died and she lost control of her powers."

"What happened after that?"

"Wolverine remembers everything, but he's in the reality the Scarlet Witch made." I continue, grinning as I find him really interested about Scarlet Witch, Doctor Strange forgotten. Yay. "Scarlet Witch changed the reality where the mutants became the superior and the humans became the minority. Doctor Strange got what he wanted. Everyone got what they wanted, but Wolverine, even though he liked the state he was in, decided that the reality should be put back to the way it was before.

"There's this one girl who had the ability to see what changed in the reality, and with the help of her, she was able to restore the memory of the others and they were so mad at the Scarlet Witch for giving the life they've always wanted. So they ran straight up to her. Magneto is the king of the world they're living in. House of Magnus. It's what it's called. So they fought and fought until the girl restored Magneto's memory and then he got mad at Quicksilver because he's the one who convinced the Scarlet Witch to change the reality because they were going to kill her because she's losing the grasp of reality. She kept trying to make her children alive again."

"Oh, so it's Quicksilver's fault?"

"Kind of, yes." Kevin is into my story that I realize he's probably thinking about Elizabeth Olsen's portrayal of the Scarlet Witch. "And then Magneto tried to kill Magneto and Scarlet Witch got so mad that she removed almost all the populations of mutants just by saying "no more mutants.""

"Almost?"

"If it weren't for Emma Frost's and Doctor Strange's interference, all mutants would have been gone. But they weren't able to stop the spell the Scarlet Witch casted. Ninety-nine percent of the mutant population have become human. It's called the M-Day, the worst history for all mutants."

"Wow,"

"I know, right? I still have a copy of the House of M. I can lend it to you."

Kevin grins and nods his head, smiling brightly. All my worries and negative thoughts have faded away, and it's thanks to Kevin. If it weren't for him, I'd still be a mess. Kevin scoots closer to me as we're back in the Prospect Park where we first met, me not knowing that he's my date. He yawns in a fake manner, spreading his arms out, and then his arm rests on my shoulders and I hide a smile. Silly. Kevin purses his lips and I hide my blush when I catch him staring at my lips, reminding me of Wyatt.

That stupid Wyatt.

Everything was going great and smooth but then I remember him.

Sighing, I lean on his shoulder and shut my eyes, trying to clear my head out of Wyatt thoughts because it's not healthy. I have fun a lot tonight, and I can't wait to tell Melody how happy I am today. But I'll leave the Wyatt part.

We remain quiet and look at the stars spread out in the dark sky, twinkling brightly as it shines over us. The moon is only half, but the beauty of it is still a sight to behold. I wish it could stay like this. I wish we could stay like this. I never knew Kevin would be into me. But I'm not sure if I do want to continue what I have with him. I'm not even sure of my feelings for him. For the most part, I think it's completely platonic. But I can romanticize, right?

Maybe I can.

Maybe he's the key to me forgetting Wyatt.