"Do you like anything!?" asked TJ.
"Ummm," Jonah thought. "Well, I don't eat meat."
"Well, that explains why you keep saying 'no' every time I ask if you like a certain type of food; I keep naming stuff with meat in it," realized TJ.
"Sorry. I know you're just trying to see what kind of restaurant to take me to for our date."
"Yeah, so far, I've got nothing, because you eat nothing."
"Well, just choose a place. I'm sure I can find something on the menu I'd like. Sorry, I'm just grossed out by a lot of different foods."
"You have a girl's appetite."
Jonah punched TJ in the arm.
"Ow! But you don't punch like a girl," TJ noted.
Jonah and TJ were at TJ's house, sitting on the couch in his family room.
"You guys want a snack or something?" asked TJ's mom.
"You want anything?" TJ asked Jonah.
"No, I'm good."
"We're fine, Mom. Thanks," she was told by TJ.
TJ had his arm around Jonah the entire time that they were sitting on the sofa.
"You're not worried about your parents seeing?"
"Nope. My parents are cool. My dad's so proud of my basketball record that me dating a guy is irrelevant to him. He's, like, a crazy basketball dad. Even though we're in middle school, he knows I'm probably gonna end up getting a college basketball scholarship in high school."
"Wow, that's awesome."
"I mean, yeah, that's good, 'cause I'm sure as hell not getting a scholarship from my grades, but I've gotta admit it can get pretty stressful, sometimes. My dad's at every one of my games, and he's always the loudest person in the stands, yelling what he wants me to do. He's basically my coach. My actual coach gets annoyed by him, sometimes. My dad's just obsessed with basketball and he wants me to follow in his footsteps, I guess."
"You don't like basketball?"
"No, I love it, but my dad can be pretty overbearing, sometimes. Like, if I make a mistake, even just during practice-and yes, he sometimes comes to my practices-he starts yelling at me."
"Wow, that sucks. I didn't know you had to deal with that."
"It's alright. A lot of athletes go through it when they're kids. They're called helicopter parents, because they're always hovering over you. Hey, how about this place?"
TJ showed Jonah a restaurant's website on his phone.
"Yeah. Wow, that looks nice. That place looks expensive," Jonah noted.
"Hey, don't you worry about that. I've got it covered."
"Come on, TJ. You don't have to do that. I'm not a girl."
"Hey, sexist much?" TJ teased. "You're just as beautiful as a girl, so it's happening."
"Fine. There's no point in arguing with you, anyway, 'cause you're just gonna get your way."
"True."
TJ leaned toward Jonah and placed a quick kiss on his lips.
"Really? On your parents' sofa? My parents didn't even like for me to hold hands with my exes," said Jonah.
"Did you forget that I'm a badass? I do what I want, dude."
"Oh, a peck on the lips. Real badass," Jonah remarked sarcastically.
"You want me to French you?" asked TJ.
"Definitely not right here."
"Then let's go upstairs."
"Cool your jets, nympho."
"You started it."
"I'm actually pretty tired. Do you think your parents would be cool with me sleeping here, if my parents are okay with it?"
"Yeah, I don't see why not."
Jonah called his parents to ask if he could stay over TJ's house. After they'd approved, Jonah and TJ headed up to his room.
"Not in the same bed," said TJ's mom as she passed by his bedroom door and continued walking.
TJ rolled his eyes, then closed his door.
"It's alright. This won't be the first time I've slept on the floor at a friend's house."
"You're definitely not sleeping on the floor. Besides, we're more than just 'friends'."
"Then where am I gonna sleep? Your mom said we can't sleep in the same bed."
TJ picked Jonah up and tossed him into the bed.
"Of course you're gonna defy her. What was I thinking?" noted Jonah.
"True."
TJ plopped down onto his bed, beside Jonah.
"I don't know why I'm so tired," Jonah said.
After not receiving a response from TJ, he turned to him to see that he had already fallen asleep.
"Again? Dude can't hang," said Jonah aloud to himself.
He chuckled, then lied his head against the pillow, closing his eyes.
The next morning, Jonah woke up to someone shaking him.
"Come on. Wake up, you sexy-ass thing," said TJ while gently pushing Jonah's arm to rouse him.
"Crap, what time is it?" Jonah asked groggily.
"Don't worry. I made sure I woke you up on time," TJ reassured,
Jonah glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand.
"Looking back, it's kind of surprising that my mom let me stay the night at your place on a school night," remarked Jonah.
"Yeah, your mom's awesome, dude."
"I think she's just glad I finally have a friend other than Cyrus."
"What's wrong with Cyrus?"
"Well, nothing, but she's always saying how I should make more friends. I don't see why you need more than one friend, you know?"
"Well, maybe so that when one friend's busy, you can ask the other one?"
"That's actually not a bad point, but I'm sure she has a better reason. Anyway, I'd better go if I wanna be home in time to catch a shower before school."
"You can just shower here. I have my own bathroom, after all."
"Nah, I'll just shower in my own bathroom. That way, I don't have to put the same clothes back on before I change."
"Let me rephrase that: please shower here."
"Fine. It's not a big deal, anyway. Why do you want me to shower here?"
"Because you have to get naked. I would love for you to do that here."
Jonah let out a genuine laugh.
"You're nuts, you know that? Whatever. I'd better hop to it if I don't wanna end up late," Jonah stated.
He started to undress and TJ had no shame in staring at him with a look of anticipation.
"Hey, creep, are you gonna get me some towels?"
"Oh, right," said TJ after waking from his trance.
TJ jogged to the linen closet in the hallway, not wanting to miss any part of Jonah stripping, then brought back a large towel and a smaller towel. Jonah was already wearing only boxers, when he got back.
"Thanks, man," Jonah said as he took the towels from TJ.
"Aww, no fair. You're not gonna take your boxers off 'til you get in the bathroom?"
"Then I'll take them off right here. I don't care."
Jonah nonchalantly removed his boxers, then tossed them aside. TJ unabashedly stared at Jonah's naked body as Jonah sauntered toward the bathroom.
"Aaaaaand boner," TJ said to himself.
Jonah, like many others, loved showers. Not only did he love the feeling of being clean afterward, but the process itself was therapeutic for him. He actually took cold showers, because hot showers made his skin feel dry. He had just gotten to his favorite part: washing his hair; it was basically like a scalp massage. Just when he'd gotten his hair all sudsy, he noticed someone opening the shower curtain. Of course, it was TJ, but instead of the expected mischievous grin, TJ had a primal expression. He removed his shoes, then stepped into the shower with Jonah, fully clothed. Jonah started to laugh.
"What the heck are you doing?" asked Jonah.
Without a word, TJ cupped Jonah's face, looked into his captivating eyes, then kissed him deeply, his clothing now soaked. While TJ kissed him, Jonah started to unbuckle TJ's sopping jeans. Jonah reached into TJ's water-logged underwear and began to fiddle with his member. All TJ could do was look at Jonah with gratitude.
"Wait, what am I doing? We don't have time for this. We have school," Jonah realized.
"Dammit, you're right."
"Get out," said Jonah.
"Fine."
Later on, about halfway through the school day, Jonah noticed that a lot of the kids in the hallway were staring at him and whispering to each other as they passed by him.
"What's going on?" Jonah whispered to himself.
Even from a distance, he could see a lot of junk on his locker, and most of it was...pink and red? What the hell? It's not Valentine's Day. After thinking about if for only a moment, he quickly realized it was most likely TJ's doing. When he got to his locker, he saw that there were all sorts of paper hearts, roses, and the like plastered to its door, but what he noticed most of all was the huge piece of pink construction paper in the center of all the muck that read "consider this me asking you out the right way. Jonah Beck, will you be my boyfriend? Love, TJ."
Jonah's face almost immediately began to turn beet red as he thought about the amount of people who must have walked by and read it by that point. He noticed TJ jogging toward him in his peripheral vision.
"So, what do you think?" asked TJ.
"This is so sweet, man, but I feel so embarrassed."
"Don't be bashful. You've got the captain of the basketball team publicly asking you out," TJ said, laughing.
Jonah laughed.
"Well, I guess everyone knows, now."
After school had ended, Jonah was at home searching through his closet for something to wear on his date with TJ. He had never been on a date to such a nice place before, but TJ was unlike anyone he'd ever dated, both in gender and personality, so he wasn't surprised that they were going somewhere a bit fancy. Jonah ultimately decided on a black button-down shirt with jeans and black converse. It was about as dressed up as he ever got. He received a text. It was from TJ. It said he was outside waiting.
When Jonah got outside, TJ was leaning against a car that Jonah didn't recognize as one of TJ's parents' cars.
"Who the heck's car is this?" Jonah inquired.
"I ordered us an Uber," explained TJ and he opened the back door of the car for Jonah.
That was when Jonah noticed that there was someone in the driver's seat.
"Oh," said Jonah. "I kinda just assumed your parents would drive us."
"Nah. No parents."
"You really don't mind spending money, huh?"
"Not on you."
TJ winked.
Jonah chuckled then got into the car.
When they got to the restaurant, Jonah admired the frescoed ceiling as they walked in.
"Reservation under TJ," TJ said to the maître d'.
"Right this way," the maître d' directed them.
He guided them to a booth in the back.
"See anything you like," TJ asked, as they both perused the menu.
"There's a lot on this menu," said Jonah, surprised by the expanse of menu items.
"That there is," TJ seconded.
TJ glanced at Jonah a couple of times as they continued to look over their menus. There was something he had been wanting to say to him all night, but hadn't had the courage to express.
"Uh, Jonah?" said TJ.
Jonah looked up from his menu with a smile.
"What's up?" Jonah responded.
"Uh...I love you"
Jonah was at a loss for words. He was not expecting that.
"I love you...too," said Jonah, smiling.
Jonah hadn't even realized it, be he had unwittingly fallen in love with TJ. Then again, how could he not, considering how much love TJ showed him on a regular basis.
They both started to laugh.
"Well, I guess we're in love," said TJ.
"Looks like it," Jonah said.
They looked into each other's eyes from opposite sides of the table, then slowly started to lean toward each other until their lips met.
The End