Drew was standing outside the building when Ryan got to Rollies and immediately the boy's eyes fell on him, the taller boy's lips turned up into a huge smile as he walked over, pulling Ryan into a hug. Ryan gasped as strong muscular arms embraced him, but he soon got over his shock and reveled in the feeling those arms gave him.
It didn't matter that he felt small in them, that he felt he could get lost in them, that he felt he could stay in between those arms for all time... because that's exactly what he wanted. But even though he wanted to feel safe in those arms, they didn't belong to him and Ryan knew that.
He patted Drew gently on the back and pulled away, trying to not look up into his deep brown eyes, lest he got lost in them. But the blush on his face didn't go unnoticed to the taller boy who just kept smiling at the blond boy.
"I'm really glad you came," said Drew softly as he took Ryan's hand. His thumb rubbed gently on the back of the blond's hand, sending a shiver down Ryan's spine. He gulped. "Come on."
Ryan could only nod, his voice had apparently left him and his mind was no use to him right now since it could only remind him of just how warm Drew's body was.
Drew led him into the bar, walking past the main area where customers sat and into the back that was reserved for staff. There was a break room behind the kitchen which was currently empty.
"You can sit here, I'll be back in a minute," Drew said as he gestured to the seating area.
The tall boy didn't keep long and before Ryan could even gather his thoughts, Drew was back in the break room without his apron which allowed Ryan to take a good look at him.
There was just something about Drew that made Ryan's heart flutter... and though that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it didn't stop Ryan from disliking just how easily his body reacted to Drew. The tall boy wasn't wearing anything particularly extraordinary, he was in an orange collared T-shirt and a pair of black jeans. Yeah, the color of his shirt complimented his dark skin really well, but it was the way his muscles flexed underneath those clothes that had the blond boy's mouth-watering.
"You look very nice."
Ryan's eyes snapped to Drew at the compliment. A blush coated his cheeks as he hadn't expected to hear that, especially from Drew.
"Oh," he said slowly, his face reddening. "Thank you." He looked down at his hands for a minute, afraid to even speak lest he made a fool of himself. But Ryan didn't want to embarrass himself further.
"So... how do we do this?" He asked, looking up at Drew.
The taller boy seemed confused for a moment as his eyes widened slightly at Ryan's question. "Oh..." Ryan bit his lip as he watched Drew bite his lip and look away. If he was a little paler, Ryan was sure he'd be blushing. "I didn't really think about that," Drew chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Why don't you tell me about your day? We can begin from there," he said and Ryan nodded. He could work with that.
The blond boy pursed his lips, thinking back on what he had done the entire day that didn't include thinking about Drew. "I didn't really do much today, to be frank," he said. Drew raised a brow as if he didn't believe Ryan, which made the junior blush. "Aside from school stuff, I just worked on a side project for a little bit."
"Oh? What's that?"
"Just a story I've been writing," Ryan said with a chuckle. It wasn't something he was particularly interested in doing but a couple of the guys from his club had pressured him into writing a while ago.
"What's it about?" Drew asked, seeming interested.
"Eh... it's not that interesting. Kinda stupid, really."
"Oh come on," Drew said, chuckling. "I don't think it's that bad. I actually do like stories... sometimes."
Ryan pursed his lips, surprised at the new information. "Well, it's kinda dumb but it's a fanfiction of these gamers I watch," he stated slowly, hoping that Drew wouldn't be put off.
"That's actually kinda cool," the brown-haired boy said with a smile that made Ryan's heart flutter. He didn't know if Drew was just messing with him, but this felt so incredibly wonderful to hear.
You think so? He wanted to ask but stopped himself before the words left his mouth. Ryan couldn't allow himself any more validation from the senior. Even sitting here, in the back of the ice cream bar with him was beyond what he had dreamed would happen.
He couldn't risk hearing Drew say words that had meaning to him, knowing that he would say those same words to Nora. He couldn't allow himself to develop a more intense crush on him when Drew didn't belong to him.
"So what do you want to know about Nora?" He asked instead.
"Well, the basics. How old is she? What's her family like? That sort of stuff," Drew said, shrugging.
That seemed easy enough for Ryan and he answered. "She's sixteen, has a little sister and an older brother who's married. She loves to read, and watch movies... well, mainly anime. She and Ruxie — our other friend — have this weird competition about who can watch the most anime in a year. It's kinda annoying sometimes," Ryan said, chuckling as he remembered a moment back in sophomore year.
"What about you?"
"What?" Ryan paused, eyes wide as he looked up at Drew. The boy was staring at him intensely, as if he never wanted to look away, making Ryan's cheeks heat up.
"I said, what about you?" Drew asked again, his voice soft but unwavering.
"I thought this was about Nora."
"True, but I can't just let you talk about her alone, can I?"
Ryan didn't know what to think. He had been led to believe that this meeting was simply for him to tell Drew everything he knew about his best friend. So why was Drew asking about him?
"Hmm... I guess so," he whispered, slightly taken aback.
"So, tell me about you."
"Okay... well, I'm seventeen, I'm an only child. I love to read a lot, but I mainly read fanfics for some reason," he chuckled, blushing slightly. "I love playing Minecraft and league of legends, sometimes Fortnite too," he continued, trailing off at the end since he realize she had covered the basics. "Ummm what else?"
"Favorite musician?" Drew questioned.
"Glass Animals."
"Favorite song?"
"Helium."
"That's... interesting," Drew laughed.
"What? Why?" Ryan almost whined.
Drew only chuckled as he stared at the blond boy, shaking his head. "Don't mind me. It's cool. I like it too. Favorite movie?"
Ryan eyed the tall boy for a minute and shook his head, smiling. Drew was... something. Ryan couldn't put his finger on it, but he was going to figure him out.
"Um... I don't watch movies that much but I guess I'll go for the Lord of The Rings trilogy."
"Wait, for real? I love those movies!" Drew exclaimed, eyes wide with excitement as he lifted his hand to give Ryan a high five.
Ryan was overjoyed. "We should watch that sometime," he said without thinking and slapped his hand over his lips when he realized what he had just said. "Um... if you want to... not that you have to or anything. I just..."
"Ryan, relax," said Drew with a smile. "I don't mind at all. I'd love to watch nine hours' worth of movies with you."
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