[Wait A Minute by Willow]
word count: 1556

in dedication to all the awkward dates i've been on, you don't always have to do something embarrassing, sometimes it's just the fact that you don't know what to talk about so you say nothing. dear me from past me, it gets better. x
-

I wasn't very good at being subtle.

"Who is he?" Halfway through an awkward conversation about the upcoming test in Chemistry, the date was sitting at a standstill... That is, until Dalton had addressed the elephant in the room. I knew he noticed my liking for Wyatt, I knew it from the time we'd bumped into him and I knew it when I was sitting down across from stone-cold eyes and gripping my menu like my life depended on it.

That was when I remembered the punch to my side, grimacing because I bruised so easily. Slipping my shirt up a bit, I frowned at the purplish tint and it confused me, "A friend. What was that?" Gesturing towards my stomach, my brows furrowed and I watched our waiter come up with our drinks in hand, pausing the conversation.

Smiling politely up at him, I recited my order and Dalton did too, glaring slightly at me once the man was gone. And if I wasn't uncomfortable before, I was even more when my date wouldn't quit the scrutinizing. Wyatt was a friend, a very nice friend whom I may or may not have been crushing on but that was over now.

Dalton and I were on a date, my very first date for a matter of fact and I wasn't going to ruin it before it had even started. I'd come out with him to learn more about him, to learn to like him and maybe he could be my person but all he wanted to talk about for the past ten minutes was my crush on Wyatt Stevens.

"He seemed to be very interested in you." Dalton's voice was calm, calculated like he often was but I could hear the tinge of annoyance in his words and sense the aggravation.

So trying not to anger him, I spoke all of what I'd experienced dealing with Wyatt Stevens. "He's not." Wyatt liked girls and all lanky and scrawny, five foot ten of boy I was, wasn't exactly feminine. His most-recent ex-girlfriend, Tey, was quite gorgeous and quite the opposite of me... come to think of it, I'd only seen Wyatt with girls -although seeing him with anyone was pretty rare- he seemed to like the female type... you know, the type with boobs. I most definitely did not have those nor did I have curves in any part of my body.

The boy in front of me scoffed, crystal-blue eyes rolling and I felt myself suck in a breath, "Wanna come on a hike with me? You're my muse." Twisting his straw around, he kept his eyes glued on the ice that was shifting in the liquid. He was trying to seem uninterested, I presumed, and it really was working. "He was flirting with you."

"He was not." My stomach clenched at the thought and I couldn't help the fear that Dalton would leave me here and refuse to even start the date. I'd never been on one of these and I knew it wasn't the nicest thing to ogle another guy on the walk here but I didn't even like Wyatt anymore. Sure his eyes were still deep and brown and his hair was still that chestnut color that floated in the fucking wind and reminded me of the autumn. Leaves caressing the breeze much like his hair and his smile so infectious it nearly made me fall in love- Snap out of it, Gabe.

Shaking my head gently to push the thoughts away, I looked back up at the boy across from me and pushed away the contrasting appearance. Dalton was cute and nice and he was right across from me, thinking about Wyatt was so rude. "Why're you acting like this? Why'd you hit me?"

"You almost told him this was a date." His voice was simple, as if it were an acceptable answer and his eyes focused straight on me. Almost as if I wasn't sure who he was talking to, I found myself looking around. When it was clear he meant me, I looked back at him, catching him twirling his straw in his drink again.

"Because it is. You specifically said 'I wanna take you on a date, Gabriel' so why the hell are you acting like this is brand new?" There was something there and I wasn't sure how to address it but due to my lack of any lasting relationship, platonic or not, I spoke bluntly.

And he shrugged, raising his eyebrows at me as if he expected me to know already. "I'm not out yet."

"You're not out?" I mean, I wasn't out either but I didn't really care whether or not I was. No one really cared about what happened in my life, dating a guy wouldn't affect anything or anyone. My parents could find out on their own, I already told my sister and I didn't care. "You asked to take me on a date and you're still in the closet?"

But he cared what people thought about him and that didn't sit right with me.

"I..." he'd trailed off, stopping when another waitress walked by, even though they obviously didn't care about seeing us or hearing us. Dalton was paranoid.

"Does your grandpa know...?"

He gulped and the look on his face disappeared before he became stone-faced. I tried to ignore it, skepticism bubbling. "No one knows except you and Quinn." And the way he said that upset me. I didn't even want to think about a relationship with a guy that didn't want to be seen with me. Maybe that was my fault as I hadn't had friends and I wanted to feel important to at least one person, a guy I was dating not wanting to tell anyone about us would've made my self-esteem plummet even more.

"I wanna go home."

He seemed shocked at that, our appetizer being placed on the table in between us and I kept my arms crossed even though my stomach was growling. I didn't want to stay here with him, my side hurt and I wanted to leave. "What?" Maybe I was being annoying, I just really didn't want to start anything with anyone knowing that it would probably blow up in my face.

"I don't want to be anybody's secret, Dalton."

"You're not. I just, I can't come out yet but we can still go on dates and maybe kiss and stuff. I really like you, Gabe." And how the hell could he like me? We barely talked, I was so sure he hated me a week ago. "You took care of me and you're really cute, I wanna try dating boys."

And that should've been a clue, he'd never dated a guy before me but really, I hadn't either so of course I couldn't judge. But something I couldn't shake off was the look he'd given me when I mentioned his grandfather, "Is he gonna be mad or something? Are you scared?"

"He won't care."

"Then why not just tell him?" I was speaking too much, this was a first date, time to get to know Dalton and I was being too pushy already. Trying not to speak too much, I went to grab a cheese stick, they were silk warm as the conversation barely lasted and I still felt awkward.

"I just can't, love, not right now." Love, that was pretty, the way he'd said it with his thick accent. "Please respect that." And I did because something about Dalton intrigued me, probably his mystery, that was what attracted girls to boys in the movies and I didn't deny to myself that I was the more feminine one in this situation.

"Okay but you're paying because I'm broke." Sighing and sitting back, I lifted the menu and the smile that spread across his face made me blush.

"I wasn't going to ask you out and not pay."

Laughing at that, I tried to relax and furrowed my brows at that. How'd he get a job that quick to pay for this? "How exactly are you gonna pay for this?"

"My mum left me money."

And the way the smile wiped off my face made him look away. I felt terrible, always bringing his mom up unintentionally in our conversations. "Dalton..."

But he didn't give me enough time to be remorseful as he jumped attempting to continue a conversation light-heartedly, "Good thing I didn't have any siblings, huh? She gave Quinn her car which she's getting brought over here and she gave me everything else." The way he spoke hurt my heart, his voice has wavered and he clearly pushed back any emotion, fake smile putting up a front but before I could apologize, he'd cut me off. "Let's order."

Dalton Jones wasn't so much silent but more so selective on what he did speak about and I wasn't so sure if the secrecy was a good thing or not.

That night was filled with awkward conversation and him leaving me once we got to his house, me walking down the street alone and dodging Claire asking how the date went. I didn't know exactly how well it went or... vice-versa?

I wasn't very good at being subtle and quite frankly, neither was he.