"Let's go out together" was the message. When Andrew faced him looking surprised, he got confused. Did he phrase it wrong? "I want to go out with Ethan too" he wrote another text, but the tall guy had the most shocked look his stoic face could let him.

Furrowing his brows, he started typing another message. That was way more difficult than he remembered. "I want to thank you" - maybe Andrew didn't want to go out with him, he never thought about the possibility - "Do you not want to go?"

Now the other seemed to be looking nowhere in particular while one hand covered his mouth. The tall guy had the faintest shade of pink painting his cheeks. He probably didn't want to go, and now he felt forced to do it. But as Lowe was preparing to write an apology, Andrew stood one hand in front of his body in a 'wait' motion. Then he proceeded to write a message on his phone.

Lowe received an "I misunderstood your message" followed by "I want to go" - The second one got him in high spirits again, so he let himself feel the excitement growing, fluttering in his stomach.

When was the last time he went out with people outside his family? From his memory, he still was in high school, and it was mostly by obligation when a teacher would pass some group assignment. And even then, more than once, his group would hold a meet without letting him know.

But this time, it was different. Andrew did nothing but be helpful since they met. And Lowe didn't even have to ask for his help. He would trust his gut. And his dog, who was, by the way she acted, an excellent character reader. If the guy passed the test on Cookie's "good human" radar, how was he going to suspect anything about him?

And even if he ended up being an asshole or something of the sort, he would be the asshole that helped some poor-fortunate guy with his dog. So it couldn't be that bad. Was it even possible to be an asshole and go around doing good deeds at the same time?

Andrew being a bad guy would be as depressing as the day he got all excited when he found some money on the street, only to discover it was a church's pamphlet in disguise. Or that time when his younger self got all excited to go out to watch a film with his parents, only to get to the movie theater and find that the movies didn't have subtitles. They weren't seen as a necessity since the films were national or the foreign ones dubbed.

Shaking his head off such thoughts, he focused again on the taller guy. It would be better to decide things face to face. At least this way, Lowe could analyze the other's features or his gestures. Non-verbal communication was a big part of how he understood others, so it would be harder to communicate using only text messages. If they were already having misunderstandings while facing each other, he didn't know how making plans together would go without visual contact.

But now, he just needed a date and a place to go. Considering that he was up to let the other decide where and when they would meet, he didn't need to think about anything else. And he was quite pleased with the flow of things.

Realizing he spent more time on this task than he was supposed to, he started to write another message. "I don't know where. Can you choose?" The other answered almost immediately. "Yeah. When you are free?"

"I have nothing this week." Lowe answered, adding "Next week I have classes" afterward. Andrew took some time to process the information, calculating his plans. "I will ask Ethan to see when he's free. I'll send you a message later."

They locked eyes, and Lowe gave a timid smile, agreeing with the other. Since Andrew just stood there, without saying anything else and Lowe himself had nothing to add, he fought to break their visual contact. It was like Andrew's presence could draw people in but would swallow them at the same time.

First, he signed for Cookie to follow him. Then we waved his hand to the guy, lightly nodding to him before leaving the room. Striding his way back, he reached his dad in no time, who was waiting by the entrance.

Almost forgetting about the chocolate, he spun on his feet and jogged back to Jenny. He took it out of this pocket, mentally thanking for it still being, somehow, in one piece, placing it in her hand. First, he put one hand in front of his chest and the other in front of his forehead. Then he motioned both hands further from his body.

Jenny's eyes moved from her hand to the boy, and then she blinked a few times, confused. Then her vision moved somewhere behind him, spending a few moments looking through the boy.

He could bet that his dad was telling her the meaning of the sign, so he waited until her eyes were back to him again. The blond woman grew a smile, nodding, and he mirrored the action. Now that he had thanked her properly, he was good to go.

He walked back to his dad, turning around one last time to wave goodbye to Jenny. Unexpectedly, Andrew was by her side, waving his hand timidly. He beamed, following his father and Cookie to the car.

Not wanting to leave Cookie by herself, he sat with her in the backseat. When the car started moving, he looked outside the window until the clinic was out of his view. He chuckled and proceeded to pet his dog, savoring the warm feeling in his chest.

Maybe they would end up being friends, and that thought made him happy.