A/N: Sorry for the wait *nervous laugh*.  Anyways here's part one of their friend date. I'm not great at writing fluff/flirty banter so I apologize for the awkwardness XD.

Ollie’s POV

With my bedroom looking like an episode of Hoarders, one would think I was a typical high school boy. Clothes strewn about, half empty water bottles, and possibly even a half-eaten bag of chips somewhere in the mess. It also didn’t help that I had two severely underdressed women in my room digging through my stuff. 

Except I wasn’t a high school student, wasn’t a typical boy, and the two women wouldn’t touch any man romantically to save their life, even me (well, Mahealani would, but she’s monogamous). Not that I would touch a woman that way anyways. 

“Ollie, I hope your man ain’t planning on coming here,” Courtney gritted out, pinching the hood of one of my probably dirty hoodies I hadn’t been able to wash yet. She resisted the urge to gag as her girlfriend flung things out of my closet. Looking at the pile, it really was starting to look like Hoarders. I mentally put donating clothes into my long list of ‘things I needed to get done but probably won’t.’

“He’s not my man,” I told her, wondering how she could be comfortable in just a bralette and high-waisted shorts. “Or anything, alright. It’s a friend-date. Like when I hang with you two.”

From the inside of the closet, Mahealani scoffed, emerging with probably a dozen shirts on hangers in her arms. “We hardly see each other anymore, Oliver. And admit it, you’re just as freaked out as us about deciding what to wear. Isn’t this why you called us? It’s totally a date.”

I rolled my eyes at her, even though I doubt she could see me past the pile of shirts. She set them down on the bed with a huff. “Not a date.”

They crossed their arms simultaneously. Courtney hummed before commenting, “didn’t you say that he called it a date?”

“Yeah, as friends.”

“He said all day, though.”

I frowned. “Yeah, to watch these music videos and listen to his happy music.”

Courtney gripped my upper arms, looking me dead in the eye. “He shared his music with you?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Oh,” Mahealani turned to Courtney as they said together, “it’s a date.”

“Girls, stop. There’s nothing happening, alright? We’re probably just going to get some food and watch videos on my laptop like normal.”

“Mmhmm.” Courtney narrowed her eyes. “So why call us for this ‘fashion emergency’ literally at eight in the morning. If it was a friend-date, you’d be fine with whatever lame outfit you got.”

“Is my normal fashion bad?”

“No,” she urged, waving her hand as if to clear the air. “Just you’d be fine with a random sweater or shirt and some pants.You wouldn’t call us fashionistas over this. You don’t do this when you’re on our friend dates.”

“Yeah yeah,” I mumbled under my breath, knowing they had a point. So what if I was mildly excited to see Haruto outside of the cafe? It didn’t make it a date, but I couldn’t just go to whatever place he had in mind looking like a broke and exhausted college student. What if he planned on going somewhere fancy, I couldn't just go with a hoodie. “I just don’t know what we’re doing.”

Courtney smirked before saying under her breath, “each other.”

“Court-” Mahealani beat me to it by whacking her in the arm. I gave her an unamused look before continuing, “will you help pick something out, please?”

Courtney rubbed her arm before going with Mahealani to browse the shirts and shoes in my closet. Maybe I was just making a big deal out of this in the first place, he probably didn’t mean all day anyways, right?

As they continued to try and pair a few pieces of clothes together, disagreeing with each other, I stared at my phone, debating if I should just text him. He did give me his number.

“Ollie, black or blue?”

“What?” I looked as the girls held up two types of pants, neither of which I’d ever think to wear. I didn’t even know I had those.

“Black, let’s go with black, babe.” Mahealani put down the black jeans before picking up a couple of jackets and sweaters.

I pointed at the sweater. “I thought you said no to sweaters.”

Courtney sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose. “Layers, Ollie. You need layers, and the sweater jacket just matches your vibe.”

“My vibe is sweaters?”

“Exactly,” she replied. “I think maroon looks best on him.”

“I thought we agreed mustard was his color.” They continued their argument over the colors of jackets as my phone lit up. Only for my heart to skip a beat. It was Haruto.

“Girls,” I said, staring at the notification on my phone. They didn’t hear so I said it louder. 

“No,” Courtney stressed. “If he’s going with the black pants, it’s got to be maroon”

“He texted!” That got their attention finally. 

Immediately they dropped the clothes on the bed before circling around me. “What he’d say?”

I turned my phone towards them. Wanna meet at the cafe first? Cold brew at 9? 

“What do I say?”

“Yes, you dumbass.” Courtney scoffed before reaching for the clothes. “You literally have twenty minutes, get your ass dressed.”

Quickly answering him with a sure, the girls threw the clothes in my arms as I headed toward the bathroom. After struggling to get the jeans on, my phone pinged with his reply. 

See you soon ;)

My face flushed, glad that the girls couldn’t see it to mock me for it. 

---

“Nice jacket,” Haruto commented as he set the cold brew down at my table. Surprisingly, he had worn something a bit different from his usual work attire. I made a note to thank the girls for not suggesting something so casual. 

“Thanks, I don’t think I’ve seen you in denim.”

He smiled. “My plaid jacket needed a wash, so I went with this instead. Plus it’s just as comfy, it’s got a fuzzy lining inside.”

“Those are the best.”

“So what would you like to do today?”

Tilting my head, I looked at him funny. “I thought you were deciding. I lost the bet, remember?”

“True, but I want it to be enjoyable for you too. I’m not going to force you to listen to my music and videos if that’s not your speed. Is there anything you felt like doing?” He grinned before sipping his drink, some kinda iced tea this time. 

“Oh, I don’t know, what did you have in mind?” I was feeling more flustered than usual now that this was a friend date.

He hummed. “The mall? Unless that’s too loud and crazy for you. There’s some nice shops that I could show you.”

“That sounds great,” I said, wondering why our conversation was getting so awkward. Why did I have to be such a nervous wreck at the thought of us being in public together? Men hung out with each other all the time, it should’ve been fine. 

“Well, I figured we could take the bus, it’s only a ten minute ride if you don’t mind.”

“Yeah, sure.”

We finished up our drinks as we waited for the bus, Haruto scrolling on his phone, researching the food places at the mall. Apparently he hadn’t been to the food court since their renovation and reopening and wanted to see what was new.

“Anything specific you wanted to see?” I asked him as we sat down on the bus, trying to ignore the old man that stared at us the entire time.

He turned towards me and I swear the old man narrowed his eyes at us further. “I did wanna check out the bookstore if you don’t mind.”

I nodded, the old man’s scornful gaze making me squirm. It shouldn’t have mattered what he thought about us, but it still reminded me so much of the judgemental thoughts people had about the LGBT+ community. I had moved here because it was supposed to be a more accepting city, but there’d always be a few people who weren’t, sadly. 

Haruto leaned toward me, upsetting the old man further. “Anything you’d like to do?”

“Nothing in particular,” I told him, grateful the man had pulled the string to get off before our stop. 

--- 

I had tried ignoring the obvious stares the girls were giving us in the bookstore, obviously whispering and pointing towards us. It was unnerving and I couldn’t help but think about how people did that in high school. It was how the rumors and side comments had started, leading to the bullying and ultimately my decision to leave the school. 

Haruto was fascinated by the collection of staff picks on the table, picking up a few to read the synopsis or reviews on the back. I tried to engross myself in looking at some of them, but it felt like laser beams shooting at us throughout the store. Even when Haruto strolled through the manga section to point some good series out to me, I could see them walking past the aisle talking in a hushed tone. It was like the old man on the bus that couldn’t stop staring at us as sat in the two-seat row. I couldn’t help but let my nerves get the better of me.

“They keep looking at us,” I told him finally. “Are we being too loud?”

“No,” he drawled. “They probably think we’re dating.”

“Oh.”

I watched as they giggled when Haruto glanced in their direction. I couldn’t help but laugh, Haruto cracking a smile too. “That’s insane. Why is it that when two guys are around each other, everyone assumes they’re dating?”

He shrugged before whispering in my ear, “I mean, look at what book they have in their hand.”

I looked past Haruto’s shoulder, only to see that it had a cover of two guys holding hands. I rolled my eyes before whispering back. “Of course. They’re shipping us, aren’t they.”

He hummed before stepping back to glance at them again. They turned, pretending to look at the rows of books. I could see a curious glint in his eye, one that meant he had an idea. “Wanna give them something to look at?”

“Haruto,” I said in a hushed tone. “What are you thinking?”

He chuckled before holding his hand out. “May I?”

I tilted my head, glancing between his palm-up hand and the girls who were whispering amongst themselves. He leaned his head forward again to say quietly, “like that book cover.”

“Oh,” I drawled. “I see.”

“Shall we get outta here?” He said a bit louder. “Sweetie.”

Resisting the urge to laugh, I placed my hand in his theatrically. He gave them a wink before leading us out the store. He even walked dramatically with his hips.

As we left the squealing girls in the bookstore, we couldn’t help but let out the eruptive laughs outside the store. As we caught our breaths, I realized his hand never left mine. He seemed to notice me staring at it and loosened his grip on it, letting me slip out of his hand. I almost didn’t want to let go of his hand, it felt warm and right in my hand. 

“You know, I’ve never done that before.”

“Held someone’s hand?”

“No,” I said. “Pretend to be with someone to get out of a situation like that.”

“Ah,” he replied, before pointing to the Macy’s near the other end of the mall. “Wanna guess the prices of clothes? That’s always fun.”

“Fun?”

He grinned. “Never done that before either? It’s like window shopping. But competitive. How about whoever gets the furthest away from the price buys lunch?”

“You’re funny. Deal. Why not another bet. Best out of ten?”

“Bet.” He beamed, looking around at the shops before leading us towards the Macy’s.

After walking past a couple of stores, he turned to me with a slight frown. “Sorry if that made you uncomfortable. In the bookstore.”

“Oh, no,” I waved my hands in front of us. “It was comedic gold. Their faces made my day. I think it made theirs too.”

“It’s just that some people feel uncomfortable with the nicknames in public. And with physical touch and all that.”

“It’s fine, Haruto. Seriously. It was fun.”

“Really?”

I hummed. As we neared the store’s doors I turned to him. “Shall we?”

“Let’s go,” he replied before adding softly, “sweetie.”

“Ha, you're funny,” I mocked as he opened the door to Macy’s.