Notes: THERE. I would like to point out two things:

1) Seeing as this is written in Nat's POV, the narrative is very personal and jumpy. Nat thinks that's cool, okay.
2) I understand that this might move a little too fast for some people but I like it. If you've ever been in a situation where you unexpectedly fell for someone and always wanted to jump their bones, you will get this fic. This is a real phenomenon.

ALSO: Trigger warning. This chapter is not for Arachnophobes.

It was amazing how no matter how many times Nat had been to the local zoo, somehow seeing it through Double D's eyes made it a thousand times more interesting. He remembered coming here once and glaring at all the sleeping animals and empty cages. If he really wanted to see some animal action, he'd watch the Discovery Channel. Seeing them in real life didn't exactly do it for him.

Except Double D somehow turned every single exhibit into some kind of fantastic attraction. Maybe the animals sensed his enthusiasm because they even performed slightly interesting feats in their presence. One of the sunbears yawned and stretched which shouldn't have been as exciting as it was, but it sent Double D into a frenzy and he had to take half a dozen pictures of the act before he was satisfied.

Nat didn't mind Double D's picture-taking addiction. It was nice. The only problem was that Nat somehow lost at a kind of flirting gay chicken and now wanted to hold Double D's hand all the time. If Double D was taking pictures, he couldn't be holding Nat's hand and that genuinely sucked.

Nat had to resort to stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans as if that would somehow simulate human contact. It's not like the weather outside was cold—it was just that if his hands came into contact with open air, it reminded him all the more on just how much he really liked Double D's palm touching his.

It was so stupid. He hadn't gone into this arrangement liking Double D, had he? Was he being fickle? It was hard telling, especially when Double D bent over the side of the railing to get a better angle for a picture and Nat got a nice view of that Double Derriere. It was ripe for the grabbing and, ironically enough, if this had been a normal outing and not a date, he would have wasted no time in grabbing Double D's ass, but now he was a confused mess of emotions and couldn't decide if that would be sending a wrong signal or not.

Maybe this was all in Double D's plan. Maybe he was being confused on purpose—to force Nat into thinking one way so that he would act accordingly. Was it a failsafe? Did Double D know Nat's inherit nature and purposely acted in such a way that it would cause him to stumble off the main path and crash into an uneven tangle of feelings?

Double D was clearly so much more cunning than Nat gave him credit for. Then again, if there was something fishy going on at school, chances were, Double D and his Ed-friends were behind it. Perhaps Nat should have prepared himself a bit better for today.

"Nathan," came Double D's dulcet tone. Oh god, he was describing Double D's voice as 'dulcet,' now. That wasn't a good sign. Was it possible to fall so fast after a few measly touches? Nat had made out with dozens of people and never felt this needy for something. Fuck Double D and his master psychological warfare. "The path deviates to two locations. Which would you like to visit first, the Sea Lions or the Insectarium?"

Seeing as bugs were really the grossest things on the planet, Nat was about to immediately offer up the Sea Lions, but when he looked down that particular path, it was filled to the brim with tourists and strollers and people who walked less than a half a mile an hour. The Insectarium was relatively light on humans—probably because no sane person liked looking at bugs.

Except Double D.

But after today Nat was pretty sure he wasn't sane.

"The…. Insectarium?" Nat tried. He winced a little as he said it. There were probably spiders in there. Granted, they were behind glass, but still. Spiders.

"Excellent choice!" Double D beamed. He actually let his camera go back to dangling around his neck so that he could take hold of Nat's left arm with both his hands. "I'm sure there are species in there that I have yet to categorize in my personal collection. It would be very interesting to see them up close."

Nat allowed Double D to pull his hand from his pocket if it meant they could clasp fingers again. He also couldn't say no to a Double D that was practically vibrating with excitement over something as mundane as insects. With a deep breath, Nat let himself be dragged down the hill toward the opening to the Insectarium which was tastefully created to look like they were stepping into the mouth of a giant beetle, pincers and all. It wasn't a comforting thought.

As it turned out, if Nat wanted to have some alone time to cuddle with Double D, he'd made the wrong choice to try to do it in that building. Sure, it wasn't as crowded as other portions of the zoo, but that made Double D feel as though he could bounce around to the exhibits and mutter to himself, as if he were taking mental notes.

At least Nat didn't have to look at every individual bug. He could stay toward the more docile specimens, like the dead beetle display on the wall. That way if the glass spontaneously broke, he wasn't going to have a biting, stinging, or poisonous creature crawling up his pant leg.

While Double D pinged around the Insectarium, Nat took the chance to check his phone for texts, mostly out of habit. He wasn't at all surprised to see something from Kevin. After all, the guy was grounded and he'd only told the mysterious unblocked number that was supposed to be Double D. He hadn't told Nat, technically, so Nat naturally assumed it would be Kevin explaining his situation.

Except it wasn't.

Having fun with Double Dork?

Nat stared hard at his phone. For all intents and purposes, Kevin should have absolutely no idea that he was at the zoo with Double D. If everything had gone according to plan, Kevin should have thought he texted Double D with a cancellation and everyone would have gone about their day as normal. The only difference now was that Nat had taken Kevin's spot on the date train.

So how did Kevin know? Rather than ask him outright, Nat figured if the world was going to play mind games with him, then he was going to play mind games with the world. He would just not admit it. That would work swimmingly, right? He texted Kevin back with a quick, 'I have no idea what you're talking about,' and stuffed his phone aside angrily.

After a bit, Nat heard a tiny, "Nathan, come see this," from the far end of the Insectarium. Nat had no idea Double D wandered off that far and made a quick jog to his location.

Double D was hovering around a completely enclosed glass tank. The case stood on a podium in the center of the room so that observers could get the entire 360 degree look. Double D circled around it, eyes bright and mouth open in wonder. Nat was about to ask just what it was that he was looking at when he spotted the subject in the center of its web.

"Holy crap!" Nat shouted, a bit startled at suddenly seeing the spider. He took a rather large step back, which was actually considered three steps and found himself practically in the next room. "Is that a Black Widow?"

"Yeah," Double D breathed. He ducked this way and that and when he finally got the angle he wanted, he reached a hand out again and motioned for Nat to come back toward him. "I can understand why they displayed her in a 360 degree tank. This way one can see the signature abdomen markings. Come look!"

Nat glared at the spider, but he glared at Double D harder for making him come back and see. Maybe this was also part of Double D's sinister plan: make Nat want to cling to him all day long and then subject Nat to his worst fears and laugh about it later.

And yet his feet were walking toward Double D and the Black Widow of Death anyway.

When he made it to Double D's side, the other teen grabbed Nat's hand and tugged him downward so that he could look at the gigantic butt of one of the most poisonous spiders in the world. Nat liked butts, but he didn't like this particular butt. If it weren't so poisonous and bulbous and creepy, the red hourglass pattern would have been pretty cool.

"That's creepy," Nat felt the need to point out.

"It's beautiful," Double D countered.

Suddenly, for whatever reason unknown to mankind, the Black Widow felt the need to start wiggling around on its web, its spindly legs flailing around like it had no idea what it was doing. For all Nat knew, it was legitimately shouting "BOO" at the top of its tiny spider lungs.

The effect was immediate. Nat let out a string of curses and jumped what felt like a mile. It was like a wasp buzzed by his ear or something and he ducked without any real rhyme or reason. In the process, however, he managed to elbow Double D hard enough to send him toppling to the floor and without a Double D to balance him out, Nat fell conveniently on top of him.

Double D's laughter would have echoed off the walls if there wasn't carpet all over the place. He quickly began to prop himself up on his elbows so that Nat could de-tangle their limbs a bit. "Are you okay? She can't get you, you know. She's trapped."

"I know that!" Nat spat, deliberately looking everywhere but at the Spider Cage behind him. "Doesn't make it any less terrifying. Can we go, now?" Nat pulled himself back to a sitting position. Except for a few minor bumps, he was relatively unscathed. Double D didn't seem to be complaining of any injury, either, so their little tumble was more embarrassment than anything.

Double D sat up with Nat and ducked his head a bit so that he could properly study Nat's face. Nat felt a bit too exposed under Double D's scrutinizing stare but he couldn't look away. There were spiders in tanks everywhere. It was like he was literally being forced to make eye contact with Double D because there was simply nowhere else to look.

"Nathan," Double D began, his mocking tone abandoned for now. "Do you have arachnophobia?"

"No!" Nat defended quickly. "I'm not afraid of spiders. They're just creepy."

"I'm fairly certain that's in the same category," Double D deadpanned.

"Is not," Nat fought. "There's just too many of them in here. I think I'd like it a lot better if we were not in the same room."

"You do realize that all the insects outside aren't safely tucked away in glass tanks, right?" Double D just had to point out.

Nat shot him a harsh stare. "Way to make me never want to go outside, again."

"It's okay, Nathan," Double D sounded like he was fighting back a giggle. Was this how he got his kicks? Torturing people with spiders? "I can assure you that most insects truly are more afraid of you than you are of them."

"Yeah," Nat scoffed. "Most."

"Hey," Double D's voice took another step back, like he was only sarcastic fifty percent of the time. "I apologize for taking you in here. I had no idea you would react like this. Would you like to see the Sea Lions?"

If Nat weren't the manliest man among all the manly men he knew, then he would have pouted and nodded and allowed Double D to escort him from the building like some kind of Knight in Shining Armor—but he had a reputation to uphold. He steeled his resolve and shook his head before starting to stand up. "I'm good. You wanted to see the bugs."

"Nathan," Double D stopped him by placing a hand on his upper arm. Nat paused as if Double D had some mysterious invisible remote and could easily command Nat to do whatever he pleased. "I'm serious. We can leave."

Nat's eyes moved from where Double D was touching his arm all the way up to the concerned expression on his face. "It's your ruined date," he sadly reminded Double D. "You get to choose what we do."

"I wouldn't call it ruined," Double D said slowly. "I already explained it to you: this was the best case scenario."

"You mean," Nat pointed to himself just to be sure he was hearing that properly. "You would rather have gone on a date with me, than with Kevin?"

Double D didn't exactly confirm his answer. He only grinned, the bastard.

"But you and Kevin-?"

"Come on," Double D interrupted him and finally let the two of them stand up. A few bug enthusiasts were staring at them from across the room. It must have looked really strange to see two teenage boys sitting on the floor having some kind of meaningful conversation. "Let's go see the Sea Lions."

"But-!"

"Zalophus californianus, Nathan."

Nat groaned loudly and followed Double D out of the Insectarium. The harsh glare of the mid-afternoon sun hurt his eyelids and he had to squint a little, which couldn't have been attractive. Nevertheless, Double D was grinning at him like the little good-looking shit he was.

"You owe me an explanation," Nat demanded. Sea Lions be damned. He could hear their mocking barks in the distance.

"I really don't feel as though I should explain anything," Double D shrugged. "Have I not been very forward in my actions?"

"You mean… all of that?" Nat gestured to the entire half the zoo they'd already visited. "I thought you were playing some fucked up version of gay chicken!"

Double D looked a little hurt, but it could also have been in Nat's mind because the sun was still making him squint and obscuring his sight. "If memory serves me right, that is not how one plays the incredibly childish game of 'gay chicken.'" Double D drawled in his know-it-all voice.

"And what do you know about gay chicken?" Nat spat.

"I know enough to know that I wouldn't lose," Double D retaliated with equal enthusiasm.

Well this was just an interesting turn of events. Kevin apparently knew Nat was with Double D and Double D was apparently pleased as punch to be on a date with Nat to the point that he was practically daring Nat to kiss him.

How could everything in the world simultaneously go right and wrong at the same time? It was like his entire plan failed but in the best possible way.

"Okay," Nat said eventually, while trying to sort everything out in his head. "But what about Kevin? Where does he play into all this? I thought you two were…?"

"Friends?" Double D offered. That wasn't at all what Nat was going to say, but he could handle that answer. "We are to the point that I have his phone number. There's no reason for him to text me from a blocked number and vice versa."

"Um," Nat said intelligently.

"And furthermore, Kevin is grounded."

Nat threw his hands up in the air in frustration. These very important bits of information would have been very nice to have a few days ago when he was formulating his scheme. The rest of the story was easy enough to figure out. Kevin and Double D clearly collaborated behind his back to set this all up.

Why didn't he see it before?

Those weren't googly eyes of love shot to each other from across the room—they were probably mutually shared winks of backstabbing and betrayal. Nat wanted to punch something right in the face.

Instead, he decided it would be in his best interest to march over to the sea lions and stare at them long and hard until they stopped barking. Naturally it didn't work, but at least the non-stop noise was distracting enough to keep him from saying something he would regret.

Double D was at his side in an instant, his mouth close to Nat's ear so that Nat could clearly hear him over the cacophony of sea lions. "I apologize if I've offended you. I realize that pulling off as scheme of this magnitude is a bit petty, but must I also point out that you were trying to do the same thing?"

"Ugh," Nat groaned. "But I was trying to set you two up out of the goodness of my heart!"

"Don't you think that perhaps Kevin was doing the same as well?" Double D murmured. "I admire your loyalty to each other. If you're going to be cross with anyone, take it out on me. This was my idea. Kevin was only a collaborator at my request. I simply saw the opportunity and I took it."

Nat stopped watching the sea lions bark for a second to turn and face Double D. "So my elaborate scheme was really your elaborate scheme… to get into my pants?" That was a bit more reassuring. It certainly beat Nat's theory that they were secretly laughing about how ridiculous Nat had been behaving all day.

"I wouldn't quite place it that far, but yes, I have been quite sincere in my actions," Double D said. His words started out confident, but Nat could see the blush fill his cheeks. It was like Double D's flush had a direct line to Nat's groin because hearing and seeing the truthfulness in the confession was a little much for him.

"Oh my God, you could have just told me like a normal person," Nat complained. It would have saved him from how many embarrassing situations? Including the one he was in currently.

"I was unaware of your feelings," Double D tried to explain over the barking of the sea lions, but his words were getting lost. "I wanted to be sure."

"I was unaware of my own fee—hold on," Nat stopped mid-sentence and turned to face the still loud sea lions and shouted directly at them. "Shut the fuck up, will you? You're ruining my heartfelt love confession!"

Silence fell over the sea lion habitat. It could have been because Nat yelled at the animals or it could have been because a zookeeper had opened a door in the back and was walking in with fish so all the sea lions were busy waddling and flapping over to get their meal.

Either way, Nat could finally hear Double D properly. Zoo patrons shuffled around them on either side to watch the sea lions guzzle down some slightly dead fish and ended up herding Nat and Double D to the outside of the crowd, but at that point, Nat didn't even mind. His personal bubble only encompassed him and Double D and no one else.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Nat stated. "I didn't even know I—"

For the second time, Nat was interrupted, not by barking sea lions, but by a pair of lips on his own. It wasn't a particularly long kiss, but it wasn't by any means short, either. It was just long enough to effectively shut Nat up and leave him sputtering after a very smiling and very gap-toothed Double D.

"I understand," Double D said as he rolled back on the balls of his feet. "I could tell, all the way back at the elephant habitat."

"And you never told me?"

"Would you have accepted it if I did?"

Nat thought on that and realized he probably wouldn't have. He hadn't yet been eased into the idea that he probably liked the sockheaded genius. Yeah, he'd been hesitant to spend the day with Double D at first, but mostly out of intimidation. He didn't know Double D that well. He had no idea he could be anything more than Kevin's adorable neighbor.

"So you basically gambled on whether or not this date would go as you hoped," Nat summed up the situation nicely, he thought.

"If you did not reciprocate, then I would have had a lovely afternoon at the zoo with you," Double D said with a smile. "And if you did reciprocate, then, I suppose I am lucky."

Nat couldn't help but burst out into laughter and threw an arm around Double D's waist to pull him in close because now he could do that as he pleased. "You're such a manipulative asshole."

"Language, Nathan. There are children about."

"Oh, now you're worried about my language," Nat teased. Despite their outward bickering, Double D actually leaned in to Nat's arm as they walked. The atmosphere around them didn't even seem to change too much. Now that Nat knew they were flirting for the sake of mutual attraction and not for the sake of… whatever, he thought the dynamic between the two of them would change, but it didn't.

It still took a bit of getting used to—knowing that every time Double D found someone to take a picture of them, he wasn't doing it for blackmail, but for actual memories. Each time they took another picture, the two of them grew closer, as if now that they'd established a confession, they couldn't stand to be more than two feet apart.

The picture taken in front of meerkat display had Nat standing behind Double D with his arms wrapped around his waist and his head resting on his shoulder.

By the time they reached the zoo exit, Double D had them pose just outside the front gate, very close to where they'd taken their first picture. It started out as a simple pose with the two of them standing side by side with their arms around each other, but the lady taking the picture felt the need to call out, "Say cheese!" just before she snapped a shot. This gave Nat the perfect opportunity to lower his hand and give Double D's ass the squeeze he'd been dying to dish out all day.

Double D jumped just as the flash went off and Nat couldn't help but burst out laughing. When the lady asked if they wanted to re-do the picture, Nat waved it off. Double D had his pictures. Nat could have one, too.

As they waited for the bus, the two of them sat side by side on the bus stop bench, hunched over Double D's camera so that they could review all the pictures from the day. Because the sun had been so forgiving, many of the shots turned out perfect. Natural sunlight was, after all, the best flash.

Suddenly Nat could understand why Double D requested so many pictures of them together. Nat could actually see the progression they'd made in just the span of one day. They started out their journey as friends and ended it as, well, as friends, but with something a little bit more.

"You'll have to e-mail me all these pics, okay?" Nat nudged Double D's knee with his own. "You don't get to hog all the memories."

"I won't. I mean. I will. I'll e-mail them to you. I won't hog the memories, as you said," Double D stammered a little as he turned his camera off.

It was funny. The entire day, Double D had been a sassy and manipulative motherfucker but now that the date was coming to a close, he was suddenly going to crawl into his shell and be shy? Nat was far too gone to deal with that. "At least you didn't get any pictures of me in that Insectarium. We can just forget that entire thing happened."

"I don't want to forget it," Double D said quietly as he fiddled with the dials on his camera. "It was the highlight of my day other than, well, you know."

"No, I don't know," Nat grinned as he tried to lay on the charm. Thick. "Please, remind me."

"Other than you telling sea lions to shut up!" Double D clearly lied, but Nat understood him perfectly and they exchanged a knowing grin. Nat's face hurt from smiling so much. He wanted to pull his lips down to keep them from splitting his cheeks open. "I had no idea spiders had such an effect on you. I've never seen you so vulnerable before. If I'd been a little more confident, I would have kissed you in there."

"Oh thank God you didn't," Nat sighed loudly. "Our first kiss surrounded by spiders? Please."

"As opposed to being surrounded by rude zoo patrons?"

"We could have another, you know. Surrounded by irritated people waiting for public transportation."

"You're so romantic."

"You don't know the half of it."

Double D was giggling and it would have been terrible of Nat to make a statement and then not deliver on it. In order to give Double D a bit of a warning, Nat reached a hand out to lightly touch Double D's jawbone with his fingertips before tilting his head a bit to seal the deal.

Because they were sitting and because Nat had felt like the entire day had worked him up to this point, he wasn't at all upset when this kiss lasted far longer than their first. At first Nat thought he should count the kisses, but their lips moved against each other so often that he lost count.

Nat knew his mouth was attached to his head which was attached to his body, but for some reason nothing mattered except the point where his mouth collided with Double D's. His entire focus landed directly on the movement of each kiss and the taste of Double D's lips on his own. He had no idea what his hands or his feet or even his lungs were doing and it didn't really matter to him. He must have still been in shock mode because he was actually kissing Double D, and Double D was kissing back. In fact, there was a shit ton of mutual kissing and it wasn't even bad.

Sure, Nat had to adjust a little because everyone had a different technique for making out. Double D's in particular focused on a lot of tiny kisses, each one only slightly different, like he was trying to kiss Nat in all the ways from one to a hundred. Nat didn't mind at all. He only tried to keep up.

They didn't pull away until the screech of the air breaks from the bus tore them apart. Both boys were breathing heavily and it wasn't until then that Nat realized he'd been staggering his breathing. Had all of that even been automatic? Yeah, he'd made out with people before but hot damn, it had never been so localized.

Just as Nat began to stand up to board the bus, he inwardly groaned. Thank God they were going to sit down again on the bus because Nat found himself with a growing problem. Double D, having been prepared for such a nuisance, casually shifted his fanny pack to the front of his waist like he hid boners from society all the time. Jerk. Adorable jerk. Hurry-and-get-back-on-the-bus-for-more-kissing jerk.

Despite clearly having enough room, Nat and Double D took two seats next to each other and let the bus's tendency to smash the two of them against the window every time it turned do the rest of the work.

By the time they arrived back at Peach Creek, Nat was pretty sure he'd memorized Double D's scent. He knew his clothes smelled like him. At some point, however, Nat knew the two of them would have to go their separate ways; he just didn't think it would be so soon. Almost the second Double D stepped off the bus, he pulled out his cell phone to check the time.

"I promised Ed and Eddy I'd do something with them, tonight," Double D explained after seeing Nat's probably very inquisitive look. He'd made sure to furrow his brow and everything.

Nat didn't even bother to hide his whine at the news, "Can't you just ditch them and make out with me all night? I like that plan. I like that plan a lot."

Double D just grinned and dodged a few of Nat's grabby hands. He'd gotten accustomed to those rather quickly, Nat noticed. "I will not abandon my two best friends after a promise. However… I will text you, if that is okay?"

"I'm good with that. Texting is good. Texting is awesome," Nat's brain wasn't working very well. His blood was fueling the wrong head. The worst part was that now he had to walk home practically bow-legged.

"Perhaps we can see each other again tomorrow," Double D stated. He was already walking backward toward the direction of his house. Nat had grown so accustomed to the close proximity that it was almost painful to watch him walk away.

"Yeah," Nat echoed, "Tomorrow."

The two of them watched each other for a second. It was Nat who gave in first by rushing forward for one last quick kiss before they had to separate entirely. Double D reciprocated easily enough, but he was laughing against Nat's lips before too long.

"I need to go. They're waiting for me," Double D practically spoke inside of Nat's mouth.

"Tomorrow," Nat repeated. "You promised." Even though he really didn't, but now that Nat said the words they had to be true.

"Go home, Nathan."

"Yeah, yeah," Nat grudgingly began his trek toward home. He had to force himself not to look over his shoulder at Double D or he wouldn't get anywhere. And, really, he as much as he wanted to spend all of his time from then on out with the guy, he needed to have some space to clear his head.

As the distance between the two of them progressed, so did the working synapses of Nat's brain.

He felt like he'd been hit by a train. A very adorable gap-toothed, sockheaded genius train but still.

Had he always liked Double D but it never came to fruition because of the lack of mutual contact? How had he fallen so hard and so fast? He'd paid attention in English class. He'd read Shakespeare's plays. He knew how fast some fictional characters fell for others, but surely it couldn't happen in real life? It was like one minute he was in love with the idea of Double D and the next they were making out at a bus stop.

And then there was the whole ordeal of Double D having to practically con Nat into a date because, well, from what Nat had gathered, he'd liked him for quite some time? How lucky for him. How lucky for both of them.

Nat's brain moved a mile a second. It was like Double D had planted a seed and gave it all kinds of plant steroids and miracle grow because Nat was completely done for. His phone buzzed in his pocket and Nat was so shocked that he nearly dropped it as he scrambled to read the incoming text.

It wasn't from Double D like he'd hoped, but from Kevin.

Looks like you two had fun.

Was Double D home already? Had Kevin seen him walk through the cul-de-sac? Nat hadn't even noticed how fast he'd been walking, himself. He'd been too lost in his thoughts. He quickly typed in a response to Kevin essentially telling him to shut up, but used more colorful language. He wasn't at all surprised to get a completely normal response back.

Don't you dare hurt him. He may be a dork, but he went out on a limb for you.

Did Kevin actually think Nat was going to harm even one hair on Double D's head? Or hurt his feelings? Or any of the above? Nat couldn't even fathom it. Yeah, he'd had flings in the past, but they were flings. This was Double D. This was completely different. He didn't want to just grab Double D's ass. He wanted to be the only person to grab that ass. In fact that ass was exclusively the only ass he wanted to grab anymore, and that was saying something.

Nat punched in a response saying, 'Don't think you're off the hook just because you set us up. I looked like an idiot.'

You are an idiot and your plans suck.

Kevin was such a wonderful friend. Nat took back all those bad feelings he had at the beginning of the day when he thought he was hitting on Kevin's potential boyfriend. He was just about to retaliate with a snarky response when his phone buzzed with a text, but this time from Double D.

I miss you already.

Nat stopped in his tracks just outside the gates to his home and stared hard at the phone in his hand. He swallowed thickly and tried to ignore the flurry of feelings in his abdomen. He shouldn't be this affected by such a simple text but he couldn't help it. It was like they'd skipped about ten stages into their relationship and moved right to the honeymoon stage. It was awesome but also so completely overwhelming that Nat kind of wanted to explode on the pavement and just leave his bits to the birds.

Instead, however, he typed an equally as schmoopy response because no one in the world would read it except for the two of them. 'I miss you, too, Double Delicious.'

Fifteen seconds later, his phone buzzed again but this time with a picture of Ed and Eddy making kissy faces at the phone. The angle was off, indicating they'd taken it, themselves. Nat rolled his eyes but couldn't stop himself from smiling, anyway.

For once, he was perfectly happy that nothing went according to plan.

Note: THERE. NATEDD. I DID IT. :D