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The ocean breeze ruffles through Liam’s hair as he and his best friend, Garrett, weave through the crowd on the carnival pier. They’re out of immediate funds, comfortably sunburned, and starving. All in all, their first day of summer tradition is winding down as amazing as ever. They’ve decided to call it a day and head out for some food with the cash they stashed in the car for exactly that purpose. They learned the hard way the first time they came to the pier without their parents that they could and would spend all of their money on rides and games, forgetting to save any for food. They’d practically eaten the interior of the car on the hour and a half drive home.
“Liam. Hey, Li. Hey.”
Liam sighs and looks over at Garrett, knowing that voice and manner of getting his attention mean the other boy wants something from him. “What?”
The beautiful blond boy pouts and says, “My feet hurt.”
“Well that sucks, you probably should’ve worn more appropriate walking shoes, then.” Liam points out, nodding at Garrett’s battered chucks.
“Dude, you wore Doc Martins. You don’t get to judge me for choosing aesthetic over comfort when you’re wearing those clunkers.”
“I’m smart enough to put supportive inserts in my shoes, asshat.” As soon as the words are out of his mouth, he immediately regrets it because Garrett’s sly grin means he fucked up.
“Well then, you’re supportive inserts can support both of us off the pier.” He beams at Liam.
“You really can’t walk five more minutes? So sad.”
“Oh, come on, Li! What’s the point in building up all that muscle if you can’t carry your half crippled best friend to the car?”
“You’re not even close to being half crippled, you drama queen.”
“I am a king, thank you. And as your liege, I command you to carry me to my carriage.”
“You’re a menace to society, is what you are. But if it’ll make you quit your bitching, fine. But you’re holding the squirrel.” He’d spent four bucks trying to win the oversized, plushy monstrosity for his mom’s collection. She’s gonna love it, so he’s not leaving it behind just because his best friend wants a piggie back ride.
“Yes! I’ll hold whatever want.” Garrett does an adorable victory dance. Liam, for the millionth time today, wishes he could say no to Garrett. Every time he gives in, Garrett does something like this and Liam can’t help but admire his stupid perfect face and his stupid perfect hair and his stupid perfect body… that’s about to be wrapped around him. Liam swallows and turns around, setting the squirrel on a bench and bracing himself for the longest five minutes of his life.
Garrett makes happy noises as he climbs onto Liam’s back, wrapping his legs around his hips and his arms around Liam’s shoulders. Liam squats down a little so Garrett can grab the squirrel. As he starts walking toward the exit, he can’t help but fantasize a little about what it would be like to have Garrett wrapped around him like this but in front of him instead. Preferably with his back against a wall and mouth attached to Liam’s. He shakes the fantasy away before his pants situation gets embarrassing. Garrett is devastatingly straight and Liam has come to live with it.
As the duo comes up to the exit, they fall behind two girls, each carrying their own giant stuffed animals. Liam can hear them talking about how hungry they are and they’re settling on a nearby pizza place to eat. The same one he and Garrett always go to.
“Hey, ladies!” Garrett shouts, startling Liam into almost dropping him. Garrett doesn’t seem to notice as the girls turn around with frowns on their faces. “We’re walking behind you so we literally couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. Obviously, you don’t know us, but we’re heading to the same pizza joint when we leave and I was wondering if you would like to join us at our table.”
They assess the two boys and Liam gives them his politest smile while also trying to convey that none of this is his idea. The girls must not find them very threatening because the taller one shifts her giant dolphin into one arm and holds her hand out to Garrett, “I’m Violet, this is Hayden.” Hayden shifts her oversized gorilla over and shakes his hand as well.
“I’m Garrett, my ride here is Liam.” Garrett introduces them, tightening his legs around Liam so he can let go with one hand and shake the girls’.
“Don’t mind him,” Liam nods up at Garrett. “He’s a loudmouth, but he’s harmless.”
“Hey! What happened to me being a menace to society?” Garrett gently pulls the hair at Liam's nape, sending a small shiver down his spine.
“I meant you're a menace to me. I guess you're not the only one who can be dramatic.”
“Ha! So you’re the drama queen to my king. The world makes sense again.”
“Dude, considering how I’m the one carrying you, I’m the king, carrying the weight of the world of his shoulders. If anything, you’re a prince, seeing as you’re pretty like the ones from Disney.” Liam bites the inside of his lip, hoping Garrett doesn’t read too much into his statements. It’s already too late to add
Bro
to it to make it a little less homo.
Luckily, Garrett just grins and shrugs. “Yeah, alright.”
Violet and Hayden laugh at their banter and they all head toward the parking lot. The boys had parked in a row further down than the girls so they part ways, promising to see each other in a few minutes.
Garrett hops off Liam’s back when they reach his car, he tosses the squirrel in the backseat when Liam unlocks the doors, then slides into the passenger seat. Once Liam settles behind the steering wheel, he turns to him excitedly. “Dude, I just scored us a double date with two seriously hot chicks. I’m the freaking man!”
Liam shakes his head fondly at him and starts the car. “Yeah, dude, you’re the man.”
“I’m totally fine with either one, but I kinda hope I click with Violet more. Those doe eyes about killed me.” Garrett says as he buckles his seatbelt. “And I noticed that Hayden has that pixie chin you like so much.”
Liam hums in agreement and drives them out of the parking lot. As huge of a crush as he has on his best friend, he doesn’t use it to hold himself back from other people. He’s not going to Taylor Swift his way through life, hating pretty girls who catch Garrett's attention when he can also be catching pretty girls’ attention. And boys, though they are a little bit harder to get with considering Garrett is his
type
but he doesn’t want to hook up with anyone like him if they’re not him. So he’s only fooled around with one other guy and danced with a few at Sinema, making his experience with boys a bit limited. Doesn’t matter. He likes girls just fine and Hayden really is cute.
He pulls into the parking lot of the pizza place. They didn’t see what the girls were driving so they have no idea if they beat them, but he looks around anyway when they exit the car. Garrett drapes an arm over Liam’s shoulders. “Ready to woo some pretty ladies?”
Liam resists the urge to lean into Garrett’s side. “You bet.”
They walk through the saloon-style doors and peer around the dim room. Liam spots Violet and Hayden sitting in a booth to the left, waving at them. He ducks out from under Garrett’s arm and heads toward them, a smile plastered on his face. It freezes a little at the sight of their entwined hands on the tabletop. He slides into the free bench across from them, Garrett follows him. The boys share a short, puzzled glance.
“Yay, you’re here!” Hayden beams at them. “We only ordered drinks but we’re starving.”
“Tell me about it. Thanks for waiting on us.” Liam says graciously.
“You’re welcome. And thank you for getting here quickly. Violet was about ready to nom on the menu waiting for you.” She laughs.
“Hey, I was only about thirty-four percent ready to eat the menu, thank you very much. Bitch.”
“I love you, too.” Hayden leans over and kisses Violet’s cheek, making the girl's nose crinkle adorably.
She returns the kiss to the tip of Hayden's nose. “Yeah, you do.”
“What the fuck?” Garrett mutters low enough for only Liam to hear. He sends Liam a baleful look. Liam’s shoulders shake with giggles he stops from coming out with a fist to his mouth, eyes shining with mirth at Garrett.
Liam raises his eyebrows at Garrett.
Dude, you set us up on a double date with lesbians.
Garrett narrows his eyes and ducks his head at Liam.
Shut. Up.
“So Garrett and Liam, we’re still basically strangers here,” Violet says, snapping the boys’ attention back to her. “Where did you two meet?”
Liam takes it upon himself to help Garrett save face and ruffles the blond’s hair. “We’ve been next door neighbors since birth, right Gar?”
“Yeah. Our moms bonded over being pregnant at around the same time, so we grew up together. Play dates and all that.”
“That’s so cute!” Hayden coos. “So how long has it been a
thing
between you? Or is it one of those things that have always been inevitable?”
Christ, the girl didn’t need to put my feelings about it out there like that.
Liam just shrugs. “To be honest,
this
dynamic is very new. Believe it or not, our first date is today.”
Technically not a lie. If this is a double date and the girls are already together, that just leaves Liam and Garrett. Not at all how he imagined their first date. Y’know, fake and all. Liam sighs inwardly. Of course, it just had to be this way. What else is new?
“No way!” Violet lets go of Hayden’s hand to press her hands into her cheeks. “Why did you invite us to your first date?”
“Well...” Liam starts, not really knowing what to say this time.
“I, uh, well, as Liam said, it’s really new like this. And even though we were together all day we were totally surrounded around people. I guess I just didn’t want it to be too awkward when it was just us. Here.” Garrett finishes sheepishly.
Oh, that was good.
Liam places his hand over Garrett’s on the table. “We did talk about it in the car on the way here, though. I don’t mind you being here. It’s not awkward at all and now we’re making friends with two ladies who seem pretty awesome.”
The girls both grin at him and Garrett surprises him by tangling their fingers together. Before anything else can be said, a perky redheaded waitress bounces up to the table, apologizing about the wait and asks for the boys’ drink order. Both couples know what pizza they want so they go ahead and order their food as well.
When the waitress heads to the back with their order, Hayden nudges Violet’s shoulder. “I think I should use the restroom before the food gets here.”
“Good idea.” Violet looks at Garrett and Liam. “Gentlemen, we’ll be back.”
The girls weave their way through the tables and disappear around the corner to the ladies room.
“Oh my god.” Garrett releases Liam’s hand and buries both of them in his hair. “They only agreed to come with us because they thought the double date was with them together and us together. What the hell?”
“Apparently, they thought we were gay.” Liam doesn’t bother to hide his giggles this time.
“But we’re not?” Garrett squeaks out, hands leaving his hair to flail a bit before hitting the table.
Liam snorts.
“You’re
not.” He freezes, eyes going wide at what he’d just implied.
Garrett’s head snaps toward Liam, eyes bugging out of his head. “Are you telling me you’re gay?”
“No! Well, kinda? I’m a little gay.” Liam holds his hand up with his thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. “Bisexuality is a thing, you know.”
“Ah, yeah. I’m intimately aware of that fact.” Garrett blinks owlishly at Liam.
Liam gawks at him, trying to comprehend what the other boy just said to him.
Is he actually saying what I think he’s saying??
The moment breaks when the waitress returns with their drinks. “So sorry if I interrupted something!” She stage-whispers as she sets them down. “Pies will be ready in about ten minutes.” She presses her lips together, Liam couldn’t even give her a reassuring smile before she was gone, turning away so fast her ponytail smacks her cheek.
His mind is still reeling when Garrett mutters to his fidgeting hands. “How have we known each other since birth and yet never knew we were both bi this whole time?”
“Uh, heteronormativity?” Liam offers.
Garrett snorts. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
Liam hesitates and asks, “Truth circle?” It was a promise they made when they were little. If one asks for a truth circle, the other couldn’t react negatively without a full disclosure discussion to get all the facts, if needed. When Garrett nods his acceptance, Liam answers, “I never said anything because I thought you were straight and I didn’t want you to look at or think about me differently.”
“Jesus. That’s why I never said anything. And, uh, also, I figured that if you knew, then you’d be able to see the giant-ass crush I have on you.” Garrett ducks his head again as if expecting a bad reaction from Liam at receiving this latest confession.
Liam blinks at Garret once, twice, then he reaches out and gently turns Garrett’s face back toward him. “I know I’m supposed to wait until after the first date to ask this, but can I kiss you?”
Garrett’s eyes widen once more but he nods slowly. Liam licks his lips and Garrett follows the movement, causing Liam to smirk a little. Garrett looks back into Liam’s eyes as he leans in slowly, hand still gently gripping his chin. Liam releases a small sigh when his lips meet Garrett’s and the other boy presses back. He pulls back just enough to brush his nose against Garrett’s and the dips back down to capture his lips again in another kiss. This one a little harder, letting the other boy know how much he wants this. Garrett kisses him back in kind, bringing one hand up to Liam’s shoulder, the other feeling around for Liam’s free hand and tangling their fingers together when he finds it.
Liam is about the deepen the kiss when he hears a voice coo, “Oh my gosh, you guys are adorable.”
They pull apart to see Hayden and Violet sliding back into the booth with matching
Aww
looks on their faces.
“Thanks,” Liam smirks, leaning his head on Garrett’s shoulder. “I could say the same about you two.”
“Well, that’s definitely true,” Violet says, slinging an arm around Hayden’s shoulders and pulling her in to kiss her temple.
Garrett grins. “Waitress said it’ll be about ten minutes. So, so how about you two, huh? Where did you meet?”
As Hayden starts telling them a tale about the seriously hot, but bitchy girl that always stole her parking spot when they both had summer jobs at the mall last year, Liam settles closer to Garrett, keeping their hands together and leaning into his side because now he can. Sure, they’re going to have a lot to talk about on the ride home after dinner, but he can already tell that this is going to be the best summer ever. And, hopefully, the start of many, many more.