Three

"Dean, I was bored and was wondering if you'd like to go out for coffee."

No.

"Hey, Dean. It's Roman. Remember me? I was hoping you'd love to get something to bite."

Stupid; they merely parted ways hours ago.

Roman threw himself on his couch. He really should google on how to ask someone out. He was clearly out of touch.

Unable to stop replaying his lunch with Dean in his head, he decided to ask him out for dinner.

They both had to eat, he reasoned with himself mentally. Roman secretly hoped Dean couldn't cook that way he couldn't say no to him.

Taking out his phone, the Samoan man decided to just take a chance. What was the worse that could happen?

Suddenly a thought crossed his mind: what if Dean had a boyfriend or a girlfriend? What if he was in the middle of something with his significant other?

What if…

Roman sighed; only one way to find out.

Dialling Dean's number, he held his breath as he waited for the phone to be answered.

"Hello?" the auburn haired man's gravel voice floated through.

"Dean?" Roman cleared his throat. "It's me… Roman."

"Oh. Hey, Roman."

No enthusiasm. Maybe Roman was getting way ahead of himself with this. "I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me."

"Dinner?" Dean sounded surprised. "You and me?"

"Yeah. I know this great small cafe that serves killer pasta."

"Well…"

"You gotta eat."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. Why shouldn't I be?"

There was a moment of pause before a quiet, "Yeah; sure I'll meet you."

Roman almost exhaled in relief. "So I'll pick you up at six? Text me your address, alright?"

"Sure."

Happily Roman bid him a see you later before hanging up.

Jumping to his feet, he happily strode to his room.

He had a dinner to get ready for.


Dean stared at his cellphone for a while before sending Roman his address and putting it down.

Did that just happened? Did Roman ask him out for dinner? But why him? What was so special? Surely Roman had other friends-

Stop thinking about it, he chided himself. You need to get ready in a while.

As he showered, Dean tried to think back to a time where he was nervous about a dinner meeting; he couldn't remember.

Roman was the first decent person he knew who wanted to give a damn about him.

At six, the raven haired man was there on time to pick him up in his sedan.

"Hey," Dean greeted him as he shut the door, buckling his seatbelt. "Again."

"Hey." Roman sounded cheery and his face was glowing. "Thank you for agreeing to come out at the eleventh hour."

"No problem. It's not like I had anything to do anyways."

"Oh. So no work at the hotel today?"

"Maybe next week. We'll see."

Roman turned on the radio when they stopped at a red light. Nineties music was blasting from it… some Color Me Badd song Dean used to hear from time to time.

Dean hated love songs. Love was only for the lucky and he was anything but that.

"So I've been meaning to ask you," Roman started, "are you seeing anyone?"

Dean's heart started pounding hard. Surely… Nah. That was crazy; they had just met and in a cemetery of all places. "No," he answered. "With the profession I'm in, I doubt it. My side profession anyways. Besides, I'm not worth knowing."

"What? How can you say that?" Roman countered. "You're worth knowing. I want to know you, Dean."

"Oh yeah? Why?"

"I'd like to be your friend."

Conflicting thoughts were now running through Dean's head. A part of him wanted to accept Roman's friendship and another part of him wanted to run so badly.

He didn't want to be hurt.

"Dean?" Roman asked.

"I'm fine," Dean mumbled.

The cafe Roman had brought him to was a place called Franco. It was kind of nice with an artificial waterfall upon entering the place and a cat on top of the cashier counter. "Hey Wally," Roman cooed, scratching the cat under its chin. "How have you been?"

Dean had never seen a person as affectionate as Roman. He was so damn warm and personable that he refused to believe that the grey eyed man can't do better than him in the form of company tonight.

They were given a table near the window where the waitress, a nice old woman with a bun hair and green apron, presented them with menus. "I could use some stuffed eggplant," Roman announced.

Dean made a face. "What?"

The nurse chuckled. "It's basically sliced eggplant with mozzarella cheese and proscuitto ham."

"Are you sure it's nice?"

"Heavenly."

The mechanic decided to take Roman's lead to order the Linguine Pescatore which was marinara pasta with scallops, mussels and calamari.

This was new to Dean; the only Italian he had were in the form of TV dinners.

It wasn't that he couldn't afford nice things; he was saving up for a decent apartment to rent.

When the waitress came back, Roman placed their orders adding two glasses of spring water.

"So." Dean played with the red and white checkered table cloth. "Who's going to be at your dinner party?"

"Just my family and friends."

"Including your ex boyfriend?"

"Seth? Yeah."

"Oh. That's nice."

"It is. I haven't seen him in ages. We chat on Skype and Whatsapp though."

Dean didn't know what to say about that. Seemed too personal and he could feel himself drawing in. "So how big is your family?"

"Oh very big. But just for this dinner, my parents are going to be there, my sisters and some uncles, aunts and cousins. Probably nine of them."

"Won't they wonder who I am?"

"You're my friend, Dean. I'd be proud to introduce you to them."

"You shouldn't be."

"Why do you keep saying that?"

"I just… I never had a good life, you know? I've had a fucked up one."

Roman leaned forward. "But I want to make it better."

"Why?"

"Why should I have a reason, Dean?"

"Because you don't know me, Roman."

"Again why do you keep saying that?"

"Because once you do, you'll run away like everyone else."

"I won't. I promise you that I'm staying."

Their order was served then; Dean found himself staring at his plate - more thoughts running through his head about Roman's intentions - until a piece of stuffed eggplant was placed on it. Immediately, he wrinkled his nose.

Roman laughed. "I promise it's good."

"And if it's not?"

"If it's not, I'll buy you the biggest ice cream cone in Greenville."

"Nah. I'm more into chocolate."

"Any chocolate you want from any candy store here."

"Deal!"

But Dean found himself silently agreeing that Roman had been right about the eggplant and found himself taking another one.

The mozzarella did a good job of disguising the taste of the eggplant.

These beat TV dinners any day of the week.

The two men didn't say much during dinner, making small chat about cars and hospital work life but one thing was for sure: Roman was a genuine person.

It was evident from the way he talked about work and his patients that he cared deeply about their well being.

What a big heart he had.

Dean promised himself to try harder not to judge his actions.

Of course, Roman paid the bill despite Dean's protest at the end of dinner before he all but dragged him out of there. "Roman-"

"Let's find us a candy store."

"But I liked the eggplant."

Roman smiled. "Oh? I couldn't tell."

Dean couldn't help but grin back. "I took three pieces, Roman."

"Did you? I didn't notice."

"Liar."

"Caught me there. But seriously let's go to a candy store to get you those chocolates."

"But-"

"I still would have bought you chocolates, Dean. Besides, I could use some myself."

Despite how he had felt, Dean felt his heart melting; Roman had turned an awful day into a good one.


They ended up buying a huge chocolate bar - milk with cookie dough bits - and sharing it while they sat on a park bench at the botanical gardens close by.

Roman broke a piece and popped it into his mouth. "So good."

Dean nodded. "Thank you for today, Roman."

"Actually, I should be thanking you. Because if my guess is correct, you've been leaving flowers for Baxter?"

"That's your dog?"

"Yeah."

"I am so sorry, man. Must have hurt to have lost him."

"It did. He was my best friend since senior year in high school. He used to pull my blanket off me when it was time to wake up or sleep beside me on the bed. I just don't have the heart to get another one. Did you have pets growing up?"

"No. Well kinda; there was a stray that looked like Baxter that used to come up to me all the time. That's why I left flowers for him. He reminded me so much of Hush."

"You named yours Hush?"

"He wasn't mine."

"But he came looking for you, didn't he? Well, he saw you as his master. Something has to be yours if it comes looking for you time and time again."

Dean smiled a little. "I guess he was mine."

Roman loved Dean's smile; loved the way his dimples popped up. He wanted to see more of those. "So why not get a pet now?"

"Can't afford one. I'm saving up for my own place to rent."

"Where is home now?"

"A tiny room in my boss' sister's house. I never moved because she charges very little so it helps me to save more faster."

"Makes sense."

This time, they sat in companionable silence for a bit. "Is there anything you want for your birthday?"

"No. I have everything: good family and friends, good health, a roof over my head… I'm good."

"That's a humble way of looking at life."

"But these are the things that matter."

"Yeah. They are."

There was so much that Roman wanted to ask him about his life but he didn't want to scare him away with more questions. The Samoan man could feel him slowly warming up to him so saying the wrong thing may scare him off.

"What's on your mind?" Dean asked.

"Oh. I hope that this can be a regular thing between us."

"Dinner?"

"Or lunch. Yeah." Or both. Again Roman didn't want to scare him away.

"I may not always be available, Roman. You know with my other job and all."

"We can compromise. It's just that I-" He cut himself off. Whatever happened to not scaring Dean off?

"It's just that what?" Dean repeated.

"Ummm nothing. I enjoy your company." Well it was partially true.

The blue eyed man seemed thoughtful then. "Well, I guess we can arrange something once a week."

"Yeah." Once a week was a good start.

"You have a strange effect on me, Roman," Dean confessed. "You literally have me agreeing to go out with you weekly. I bet you make friends easily."

"I guess I do."

"Hmmm…"

But with you, I just want more...

Roman drove Dean back home while music blasted in the car. When one of his favorite songs came on, he turned the volume louder.

"Cause' I love your smile," Shanice was singing that classic hit on the radio. "I love your smile."

"I finish work at six tomorrow," Dean suddenly broke the silence. "I… ummm… I'm free after that."

"You are?" Roman was trying hard to contain himself from smiling so wide. "I mean that's great. I'll pick you up from work."

"What? Roman, I can't let you-"

"I'm on leave and I don't have much to do. I'd really love to see you tomorrow."

They were staring at one another now. Oh fuck. He had screwed it, hadn't he? He just had to open-

HORN!

The car behind him was clearly impatient because the traffic light had turned green. Stepping on the gas, Roman drove forward.

Upon reaching Dean's home, he walked his crush to his door, feeling as if his heart was like a powder keg waiting to explode.

"So I'll… see you tomorrow," Dean mumbled.

"Right."

They stared at one another before Dean nodded and climbed down the stairs that lead to the basement.

Okay.

So maybe he hadn't screwed things up.

A/N Sorry for the delay. I apologise. I hope you like this chapter and thank you so much for your comments; they make me smile :-)