Hugh tapped nervously on his steering wheel, his nerves getting the better of him. Shortly after getting the invitation to hang out with Jack, and getting the necessary directions to his apartment, he had drove off with a giddy excitement permeating his being. However, the closer he got to his destination, the more his mind wandered to negative scenarios. He had never met this man, and here he was driving to his abode, alone, on a whim. Totally not a bad idea, no siree. But worse still, he worried about whether Jack would be disappointed meeting him, after all, his date for the day had straight up ditched him, so what was stopping Jack from doing the same? It worried Hugh, and rubbed into his insecurities, his fear of failure and losing people.

He couldn’t afford to mess this up.

So, as he drove along the highway, and turned off onto a main city street congested with traffic, he started to sweat nervously. As he pulled onto the side road the apartment complex sat on, he started to twitch and tap on everything with a nervous energy pervading every part of his part, demanding he move to burn it away. And as he pulled into a parking spot in front of the building, he started shaking and panicking. He really couldn’t do this, what was he thinking? This guy was way outta his league, he shouldn’t have even said anything, let alone drive over ona whim, and now he was going to make a fool in front of his newfound friend and crush, and destroy it before anything could ever happen. This is why he stayed in his bubble, why he was content doing nothing but staying within his comfortable patterns. He could predict, he could work around, he knew what to do, but here? He had no idea, no earthly clue, and it scared him.

As he sat in his still running car, sweating and tapping anxiously, his thoughts twisted further still. His failures with other men swirled in his head, his botched attempts at dating flashing before his eyes, the words they said stinging him again, sapping his already waning confidence. He couldn’t do this, he needed to leave, he needed to-

His phone vibrated.

Hugh turned to it, trying to catch his breath. With shaking hands, he opened the phone, and read the message from Jack.

“Looking forward to you coming over soon~”

Hugh let out a shaky breath he didn’t know he was holding, and relaxed slightly. He didn’t need to leave, and he shouldn’t. After all, Jack was the one who had agreed to letting him over, no need to let him down by ducking out now.

He opened his car door, and stepped out into the midsummer’s sun, the heat washing over him. His legs still shaking, he walked up the steps, turned to the door, and banged on the small brass doorknock.