Jeff sits on the metal bars around the ramp up to the front entrance of Dalton, swinging his legs, drumming his fingers a little nervously against the stainless steel as he waits for Nick to arrive. He checks his watch, and then looks up at the doors expectantly.
"Aaannnndddd... NOW" Jeff says to himself, flinging his hands out dramatically toward the doors. Nothing happens.
"Damn..." Jeff sighs, sliding backwards on the bar, holding on tight with his hands so he's hanging upside down, his blond hair in his eyes. He hears the door open and then slam closed, and sits up, almost headbutting Nick in the process.
"That would have been a good start to our first date, huh?" Nick laughs as Jeff jumps down off the bar, flicking his hair back off his face, trying to smooth it back into place before giving up and smiling.
"Shall we go?" Jeff asks, holding his hand out for Nick's, who hesitates for a moment before taking it in his own.
Jeff and Nick walk together down the ramp, before Jeff tells Nick to cover his eyes, letting go of his hand reluctantly. He steers Nick around the corner, then stops him, positioning him carefully.
"Ok now... open your eyes!"
Nick uncovers his eyes, grinning at what he sees.
"Oh wow... where did you even get these?" Nick asks, walking over and looking closer at the two gleaming mountain bikes propped against the wall. He runs his fingers over the handlebars, smiling to himself.
"I have my ways." Jeff says, pushing his hands into the pockets of his shorts, smiling at Nick. "Do you want some time alone with that bike or..." he asks, as Nick trails a finger down the crossbar.
"Shut up," Nick sticks his tongue out at Jeff. "You even got Dalton colours..." He turns to see Jeff practically bouncing with excitement, rocking up onto the balls of his feet.
"I know how much you like cycling and we haven't done it since we've been back at school and... yeah, I just thought it would be nice."
"It is nice." Nick smiles, reaching for the scarlet bike, pulling it toward him and turning back to face Jeff, who's pouting, his bottom lip jutting out. "Oh fine, you can have the red one."
"Yay!" Jeff grins, coming over and taking it, straddling it and resting one foot on the pedal while he waits for Nick.
"So where are we going?"
"That's a surprise. Just follow me, ok?" Jeff says as he pushes off, cycling rapidly across the sports-field and out onto the street, Nick close behind him.
They ride in silence, Nick concentrating on following Jeff as he flies down the suburban streets, waving occasionally at people he doesn't know, his blond hair pushed back off his face by the wind. Nick can't see his face, but he just knows that Jeff's grin must be as big as his own.
Eventually, Jeff signals and they pull off the road onto a rough track, and he's glad that he got the mountain bikes rather than the racing bikes because it's a lot bumpier than he remembered it being. Glancing back at Nick to check he's ok, Jeff pushes on, pedalling hard over the grass towards the clump of trees in the middle of the park. When he reaches them, he jumps neatly off his bike, kicking it onto the stand and pushing his hands into his pockets while he waits for Nick.
"That was... exhausting..." Nick pants, bent over. "When did you learn to cycle like that?"
Jeff laughs, taking Nick's hand and leading him into the trees, the light dappling across their skin through the leaves.
"That fortnight you were away in France with your family... I pretty much just cycled for the whole two weeks," Jeff says, smiling at Nick as he pulls him round a final corner and they emerge out into a tiny clearing, barely more than a patch of grass. "Ta da!"
"Jeff..."
"Look look!" Jeff calls excitedly, tugging his hand from Nick's to run over to the trees opposite and pull out a rucksack from within the roots of the biggest one.
"I brought water and coke and food! Well... it's mostly chips, in fact... it's all chips, but chips are good, so... don't you like it?" He asks, looking at Nick. "You're being really quiet..."
"I love it, Jeff... thank you..." Nick smiles, pulling him into a hug. "Now, you mentioned chips?"
They sprawl out together on the grass, Nick spread out on his back, hands tucked behind his head as he looks up at the sky, Jeff lying on his front, feet kicked up behind him, propping his head up with his hand as they talk about nothing for what feels to Jeff like hours. Every so often, Nick sits up to drink or eat yet more chips, but apart from that, they're both still and content in each other's company.
There's a crash of thunder and Jeff wakes with a start, disorientated for amoment. How did he get outside? The first few raindrops hit him, and he suddenly remembers where he is, jumping up and scrambling to get all of their rubbish into his rucksack before swinging it on.
"Nick, let's go..." He says, trailing off as he turns and sees Nick, still asleep on the grass. "How on earth did you sleep through that..?" Jeff mumbles, reaching down to shake him.
Nick wakes slowly, yawning and stretching even as Jeff looks up at the dark clouds covering the sky.
"Where... ah! Wet!" Nick yelps as the rain starts to get heavier, taking Jeff's proffered hand and pulling himself up.
Jeff keeps hold of Nick's hand as they run through the trees back towards where the bikes are waiting for them. The rain's getting heavier still, the leaves beneath their feet slick with mud and water and Nick puts his foot down wrong and slips, crashing onto the ground, pulling Jeff down with him.
Jeff lands on top of him, laughing. Nick laughs too, because Jeff's managed to get a leaf stuck to the side of his face somehow, but after a moment they both trail off, looking at each other. Jeff wets his lips nervously, then leans in, lips barely even brushing Nick's before Nick pushes him back gently.
"Sorry... definitely not ready for that yet..." explains Nick, wriggling out from under Jeff, trying to brush the mud from him as he stands up.
Jeff stands too, watching Nick through his wet fringe. He holds out his hand.
"I'm sorry too... I shouldn't have but... you looked really... I'm going to shut up now... um... bikes?"
Jeff smiles as Nick reaches up to pull the leaf off his face before taking his hand and walking with him back through the trees and the rain. They emerge out into the park just as another crack of thunder echoes out across the open ground.
They cycle back through the rain soaked streets until they reach Dalton, pushing the bikes back into one of the equipment sheds before running into the building and standing dripping in one of the corridors. Jeff shakes his head madly, showering Nick with water from his hair. Jeff flattens his hair with his palm, kicking his shoes off as Nick does the same. When Nick straightens up from picking up his shoes, Jeff's hand is waiting for his. Jeff shifts his fingers as Nick slips his hand into his, interlocking their fingers, glancing up at Nick a little anxiously.
"You were slower on the ride home," Nick says as they start to walk up to the dorms, their damp socks leaving footprints on the wooden floor of the hallway. "Did you slow down so that I could keep up?"
Jeff nods, swinging their hands between them and smiling broadly, playing his fingertips over Nick's knuckles. Nick smiles back at him, squeezing his hand gently, laughing softly when Jeff's grin gets wider.
"Well... this is me..." Nick says when they reach his bedroom door.
"I know..." Jeff laughs, before leaning in and kissing Nick's cheek gently. "I'll see you tomorrow then... in class I mean..."
"Yeah..." Nick smiles.
Jeff waves, and then turns and walks to his room, a few doors down, waving again to Nick when he reaches it.
"Night then..." He calls, smiling.
"Night!" Nick calls back, bursting out laughing as Jeff walks straight into his door.
"Forgot to unlock it..." he yells, rubbing his forehead before disappearing into his room.
Nick shakes his head, still laughing as he heads into his own room and shuts the door behind him.