Twelve: Gift

*thanks to gelfling65, km300, xoxchilli, and bleh_bleh for your support!!*

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Sage did not want to go on this date. He was a chicken, plain and simple, and he was quite content with that, actually. Unfortunately for him, he had two…helpful best friends who weren’t going to let him back out.

Sage just wasn’t particularly in love with the idea of a new relationship. So of course, the opportunity to start one had to come when he wasn’t looking for it.

Carolyn straightened Sage’s shirt for the thousandth time, fluttering around him like he was a statue, and she was the sculptor. Sage let her mess with him, knowing that if he said something about it, she would pinch him somewhere that should never be pinched.

Abe, for his part, was sprawled out on Sage’s bed scrolling through his phone, searching the internet for Ash’s social media profiles. Considering none of them knew Ash’s actual last name, it was proving to be a difficult task. He would flip his phone towards Sage every thirty seconds or so with some random guy’s profile photo enlarged on the screen and ask, “Is this him?” None of them had been Ash, so either he wasn’t using a photo of himself for his profile, wasn’t using his real name, or he didn’t have much of a social media presence. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but Abe was determined to find him to make sure he wasn’t A) a gym bro, or B) a psychopath, both of which were apparently equally abhorrent to Abe.

When asked to describe Ash, Sage had mentioned that he was fairly muscular, which is what made Abe anxious to make sure he wasn’t “married to his muscles.” Abe had had one too many relationships with guys who spent 90% of their time working out and he was forever making sure neither he nor Carolyn entered such a relationship.

Sage didn’t think Ash was the type to frequent the gym. He might go every once in a while, but his goth aesthetic didn’t really scream gym guy. That didn’t necessarily mean anything, though. Appearances didn’t mean shit.

“There,” Carolyn said finally, stepping back to admire her work, tongue poking against the back of her front teeth. She’d chosen clothes that were casual, but not too casual – a navy blue turtleneck and black skinny jeans – and she’d carefully styled Sage’s dark brown hair so that it looked tousled, but artfully tousled. Sage was pretty sure he could have just run his hands through it a few times to get the same effect, but whatever made her happy.

“Are you finally done?” Abe groused off to the side. Carolyn narrowed her eyes at him.

“It’s his first date in a while. He should look nice.”

“He always looks nice. Sage is one of those lucky bitches that looks good in everything.”

Carolyn sighed and started picking imaginary pieces of lint off Sage’s shirt. “Yeah, but it’s the first date. Impressions matter.”

Abe snorted. “What century are you living in? Nowadays people show up to first dates in comfy clothes and unbrushed hair. What you see is what you get, you know?”

Carolyn sneered at him. “Maybe you do. If I recall, you went to your most recent date wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. Gee, I wonder why he hasn’t called you back.”

Abe’s mouth popped open comically. “Oh, yeah? And when was the last time you even went on a date?”

“Back when I was still Carson,” she deadpanned, and Abe stuck his nose in the air smugly.

“See? Clearly, I’m doing something right, t-shirt and sweats notwithstanding.”

Sage rolled his eyes at their banter, checking himself over in the mirror. He looked okay, but he honestly wasn’t super worried about looking nice. Ash clearly didn’t care much about appearances considering he asked Sage out while Sage was wearing a sleep shirt and the first pair of jeans he could find.

It was 6:45 now, but the restaurant Sage had chosen was just down the block, so he had plenty of time. And though Sage had told Abe and Carolyn that they didn’t need to follow him, they were still going to walk him there and wait at a café nearby until he was done.

Just get it over with, Sage told himself. It’s probably going to be super awkward and he’s not going to ask for a second date. You’re just going out to have a nice dinner that isn’t something you microwaved.

Sage met his own eyes in the mirror and nodded to himself. This was just a casual outing. Nothing more.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, Sage, Carolyn, and Abe approached the front of the restaurant, a small, family-owned bistro that Sage often went to on his lunch breaks. As soon as they rounded the corner, Sage spotted Ash standing in front of the bistro. He was wearing slim black slacks, expensive looking loafers, and a black turtleneck. His hair was swept back elegantly from his face, revealing bold, coal black eyebrows and dark, intense eyes. He also seemed to be holding a small box in one hand, and Sage hoped he was seeing it wrong and that was actually his wallet or something and not a gift, because Sage hadn’t brought anything for him.

Carolyn saw him a second after Sage did and her eyes widened. “That’s him, isn’t it? Damn, he’s fine. You lucky bitch. Oh, and he’s wearing a turtleneck, too. You’re matching!”

Abe’s mouth was hanging open, looking Ash up and down like he was fine art.

Sage grimaced, but neither Carolyn nor Abe noticed, too busy gawking at his date, who noticed them only a moment later. He waved at Sage and seemed like he was about to walk over to them, but Sage hurriedly pushed Carolyn and Abe away before making his way over to Ash himself. Ash didn’t need to meet his friends just yet. No need to scare him away too early.

“Good luck,” Abe whisper-screamed before he and Carolyn went back down the block towards the café, tittering.

Sage watched them go, and when he turned around, he jumped, because Ash was right fucking there. Damn, he moved fast. Sage tilted his head back to look at him, throat suddenly dry.

Ash really was a looker. It was unfair, really. This close, Sage could smell him. Sandalwood and something sharper. Lavender, maybe? Whatever it was, it smelled really fucking good.

Sage blinked when Ash didn’t say anything. He just stood there and stared. Maybe he was waiting for Sage to say something?

Sage cleared his throat. “Um. Hi?”

Wow, very smooth.

Ash tilted his head and then held out the little black box he was holding to Sage. Sage cursed mentally. So it was a gift.

With Ash staring at him so steadily, Sage had no choice but to take the box.

He expected something typical for a first date present. Maybe jewelry – cheap jewelry, just in case this didn’t go well – or chocolate.

What Sage wasn’t expecting to see was a bunch of green when he opened the box. Laying on a bed of white silk was a bundle of sage surrounded by some other type of leaves. Sage had no idea what to make of it, and he stared at it blankly for several moments.

“Uh…thank you,” he said finally. He kind of understood the sage – because that was his name – although why Ash was giving it to him as a present was unclear. But what were the other leaves? They looked like they’d been plucked right off a tree just recently.

Ash scratched his cheek. “It’s ash and sage,” he said, and then placed a hand on the small of Sage’s back to lead him to the restaurant, the heat of his hand blazing through Sage’s turtleneck. Sage went along with him in a daze, gazing at the side of that impossibly handsome face, completely stupefied and, for some reason, blushing like crazy.

Maybe this wasn’t going to be as simple as Sage hoped.