A few days later, Dave was having a bad day. Some kid at school had spray painted FAG on his locker, and his dad wasn't going to be home until after dark. And that number was sitting on his desk, inviting him to call. He'd been considering it all week, but had never had the courage to do so. Finally after another few hours or contemplation, he dialed the number...and promptly hung up when Jack answered. Maybe he wasn't quite so ready after all.
Jack had been in the studio in his basement when his phone had started ringing. He'd stopped his music and slid across the floor like he was sliding into home on a baseball diamond, laughing when he almost crashed into the wall and picked up his phone. "Hello?" He panted; waiting a second and hearing the other person hang up. He looked at the caller ID and it was a number he didn't recognize. He contemplated calling it back, but decided against it. If they wanted to talk, they would call again.
And Dave did call back again, forty minutes later. But again he didn't have the courage to actually say hello. He wasn't good at this whole romance and dating thing, and he was terrified of messing things up and getting rejected again.
When Jack heard his phone ring again, he contemplated not even answering. But once again, he shut the music off and went to pick up his phone, answering it out of breath yet again from the tap he was just practicing. "Hello?" The blonde waited, trying not to sound too impatient. "Hello? Listen. If this is Sebastian again, I don't want to talk to you."
"...no, it's not Sebastian." Dave said a little awkwardly, drumming his fingers against the side of the desk in his bedroom as he sighed. "It's, uh, Dave."
"Oh." Jack sat up, still breathing hard, but trying to control his breaths. "Hi. I wasn't.. I didn't expect you to actually call."
"I didn't plan on calling." He said honestly, flipping through his biology text book as he frowned down at it. "But then I did."
"Well..." Jack started, playing with his sweatpants. "I'm glad that you did."
"You're out of breath." Dave pointed out, closing his textbook. "Are you busy? I can call back.."
"No. I'm just practicing." Jack shook his head before realizing that Dave couldn't see him. "Not busy at all."
"Practicing?"
Jack laughed at that, sprawling out on his back and looking up at the ceiling. "Yeah. I'm a dancer. Well, an aspiring dancer I suppose."
"Oh. That's cool." He mumbled into the phone, getting up and moving over to his bed as he pinned the phone against his ear. "Are you in the glee club?"
"No. I don't sing." He shook his head, biting his lip and stretching his arms over his head. "You?"
"No way." He said as he shook his head. "Glee club is for los- it's not really my thing."
"Ouch." Jack frowned a little, arching his back up and feeling the sweat on his bare back sticking to the floor. "But you thought I'd fit in there?"
"No... Shit." He sighed; he really was bad at this. "That's not what I meant. Old habits die hard, I guess."
"Yeah... Some of the guys at school said you're kind of a bully.. Or used to be, I guess." Jack sat back up, grabbing a towel and wiping the floor and then his back.
"Yeah, I guess I kind of was." He said with a nod, though Jack couldn't see it. "I'm...I'm trying to make up for it. I guess."
"Well, that's honorable." Jack said as he tried to put his shirt back on while still holding onto the phone, finally giving up and deciding to go shower instead.
"I guess so." He mumbled, looking up at the ceiling. "I'm not sure why I called." He admitted.
"Well." Jack turned the lights to his studio off before closing the door behind him and starting up the steps towards his room. "I'm gonna shower and head to the Lima Bean in about 30 minutes.. I guess if you figure it out you could meet me there."
"Okay." Dave said with a nod, not really confirming or denying whether or not he'd show. "Bye, Jack."
"Bye Dave." Jack smiled a little, ending the call and placing his phone on his desk, stripping down and heading for the shower. Even if Dave didn't show up, he'd called him. So that was something right? That being said, he really, really hoped he'd show up.
After his shower, the blonde pulled on some jeans, a plain white v-neck and a grey zip up hoodie, heading to the Lima Bean, grabbing a coffee and sitting in the booth he and Dave had sat in a few days before, wondering if he would show up as he plugged his headphones into his ears and leaned up against the glass.