I was definitely more nervous than excited by the time Friday night came, though. My chest was tight and I felt sick and a little dizzy. Why the fuck had I decided this was a good idea? This would definitely end everything; it was too dark in here, and too messy and the food was burning and I didn't know what I was supposed to give him to drink when he got here.

All too soon there was a knock on the door, and I just about shit myself. My hands shook violently as I unlocked it, and I stopped breathing upon coming face to face with him.

"You can laugh if you want, but it always seems to happen in sappy movies, so…" With a shy smile, he handed me a bunch of very prettily packaged flowers.

I did laugh, but it was brought on by nerves. "Unnecessary, but cute," I told him, taking them from him and squeezing his hand. "I feel bad now; I don't even know what to offer you to drink," I admitted guiltily, my face flushing.

"To be fair, you are cooking me dinner," he teased. There was a pause, and he was suddenly very quiet. "I didn't come here for anything but you, Garrett. Don't worry about it."

I could have kissed him, but instead I just smiled, not sure how to take his statement. There was an awkward pause where neither of us said anything, and then he offered to help me finish cooking. "It's done already…I wanted it finished by the time you got here…" Not sure what else to do, I dished up our food, setting it on the table.

Sitting in front of me, he was apparently unfazed. "You're a really good cook," he told me after a few minutes, briefly glancing up to look at me.

"Thanks." For once the compliment pleased me, but I was still hyper aware of how much I was eating; despite feeling sick, I'd still managed to get through more on my plate than Carlisle had. I watched him as subtly as I could, and he never once swallowed more than the tiniest bit he could…was he nervous about this too?

He fidgeted just as much as I did and sat with remarkably good posture, keeping his eyes on the table and only risking a few glances up at me. Carlisle was nervous too. The thought put me at ease a little, and I scolded myself for it.

We ate the rest of our food in nervous silence, but it only took a bottle of beer each before the tension dispersed and we were talking again. My heart was racing as we sat on the couch together, absentmindedly watching a movie, while I tried to figure out how I might shuffle a little closer so I could hug him. I didn't normally consider myself a cuddly person, but my god did I want to cuddle that boy. Alcohol wasn't making it any easier.

Carlisle reached over to take my hand, and while it wasn't quite the amount of contact I would've liked, it was still wonderful all the same. I slid along the couch a little more, wanting to at least get closer to him. Taking my hint, he put his free hand on my knee, lightly tracing the seam of my jeans with his finger.

Testing my limits, I cautiously slid my arms around his waist, pulling him a little closer. He leant his head against my shoulder, seemingly as comfortable as I was being this close to me.

"You said you have a brother, right?" he asked quietly. "Tell me about your family?"

I nodded, squeezing him gently. "Yeah, Eleazar. His wife's name is Carmen, and they have a daughter, Kate. She's turning five in a few months." I paused, wondering how much he actually wanted to know, but he gave me no indication, so I continued. "My parents live just out of town, so I get to see them a fair amount, which is nice. That's pretty much it, really, we're only a little family."

"Little is nice," he murmured, sounding sleepy.

"What about yours?"

He shook his head, tensing a little bit. "…not tonight…" he mumbled. There was a long pause before he spoke again, and I frowned but left it alone. "Do you see your brother's family often?"

"Usually at least once every week. We're only a year apart in age, so we've gotten quite close a we've grown up. He's coming for lunch tomorrow afternoon, actually." With a repressed sigh, I realised I'd much rather be spending that time with Carlisle, but it was far too late to change my mind now.

"Where'd you get the flowers from?" Eleazar asked through a mouthful of pasta.

I ducked my head, quickly focusing my attention on my plate. "Ah…just someone I had over…"

He looked me up and down, grinning. "Like a romantic someone?"

Not saying anything, I just shook my head.

"Out with it, Garrett."

"Fuck off, Eleazar. Shut up and drink your tea," I grumbled at him, fighting to keep my face from flushing.

"Whatever you say, little brother," he teased. "Whoever they are, they have nice taste in floristry."

Well, he wasn't wrong. I ignored the comment anyway, knowing he was baiting me into telling him. "Have you had a busy week?"

"Just the usual. No one brought me flowers though, so I'll have to bear that hardship."

"Shut up, you asshole."

"is this worth mentioning to mum?"

"Most definitely not." Yet.

Thankfully, he shut up and finished his food, as did I. "We're trying to plan a birthday party for Kate. It's damn near torture, I swear."

"Is she excited to start school?" I asked, glad we were off the topic of my guest.

"Hell yeah. Her and Carmen have had a bloody field day shopping for stationary and school bags and the rest of it."

"It's better than being nervous," I reminded him.

"It certainly is," he agreed.

After he'd gone home, I spent the rest of the evening trying to figure out how to see Carlisle next. I was hitting a wall though; our timetables clashed for the next few weeks, not even leaving us weekends seeming as he worked retail and covered those shifts sometimes. The next Friday he had off was three weeks away, and I knew there was no way in hell I was patient enough to wait that long to see him.

Sitting at my desk at work, I was quickly resorting back to buying papers from the boy in the bookshop every day, just as an excuse to talk to him. I'd learned what days he had off, and I never went when I knew it would only be his co-workers; they were nice and all, but they weren't Carlisle. The mean comments from my boss just seemed to slide off me; they didn't matter so much when the boy I wanted liked me back.

The next absolutely freeing morning provided me with the perfect opportunity to do something that I hoped to god was cute, and not entirely weird. The air sucked the heat out of any exposed skin as I stepped out into the snow, and I was glad for my thick jacket. On my way to get my daily paper, I stopped and picked up two coffees; I knew for a fact that the bookshop didn't have heating, and I was sure that providing Carlisle with a little bit of heat was going to go down well.

There wasn't anyone in the shop when I opened the door, so I didn't bother with the paper at all, figuring I could pick one up if anyone came in. I set his cup on the counter, sliding it towards him.

After a moment of confusion, he picked up, thanking me with a smile.

"Where's your boss?" I asked, realising that the rest of the store was entirely quiet.

"He's gone home; it's too cold for him here," he mumbled, holding the mug with both hands to try and stop them shaking so much. He was shivering quite a bit, despite his jacket, and I badly wished I could hug him to warm him up.

"Do they not have any heating at all?" I frowned.

"They're installing it next week. I hope."

"You're still okay to come over then?"

"Yeah, of course," he smiled, glancing up at me. "As long as you'll have me, that is."

I just nodded, barely resisting leaning over the counter to kiss him.