The Chaotic Interim (boyxboy)

Chapter 18

The parking lot was almost completely full when Josiah and Carson arrived at the restaurant. The brunet felt nervous energy pooling in the pit of his stomach as he realized how busy the place was. The sun was only just starting to set and he considered he might have been stupid for suggesting they go out on a Saturday night.

He shook his thoughts off so that Josiah wouldn’t decide that they turn around and go home. The way Carson saw it, he made it this far. He could make it through a nice dinner with his best friend. There was no way anything bad could happen to them. That’s what he kept telling himself as they made their way into the busy restaurant.

Once inside the building, the boys noticed how dim the lighting was. The whole place was bustling with noise from the customers, college jocks drinking at the bar, and servers running all over the place to deliver food and checks.

“How many?” a short girl a couple years younger than them asked sharply as they approached the hostess’ stand.

“Just two,” Josiah said.

“This way,” the girl said shortly.

She grabbed two menus and instantly started to walk away. Josiah was kind of put off by her level of rudeness, but he tried to ignore it as he followed after her. Realizing it was a little harder to keep up with her than he had originally thought, he reached back to grasp Carson’s arm to pull him along. He just wanted to make sure that Carson was right there with him.

Josiah frowned when he saw that they were headed towards the very back of the restaurant. When the hostess finally stopped in front of the table, she tossed the menus down and turned to face the boys.

“Actually,” Josiah said, “is there anything closer to the door?”

Carson flushed a little as he realized why Josiah was asking that. The girl narrowed her eyes at the black-haired boy and Carson shrank back a little. He could see the irritation written all over the girl’s face when Josiah had spoken.

“No,” the girl said rather rudely. “You can clearly see how busy it is tonight. This is your table.”

Carson noticed that Josiah looked offended. Not wanting to cause a scene, the younger boy quickly said, “It’s fine, Joe. Seriously.”

“Listen to your boyfriend, dude,” the girl snapped. Carson’s blush deepened and he instantly took his arm out of his friend’s hold. “Just sit down, your server will be over in a sec.”

Josiah had to clench his jaw to keep from yelling after the girl as she stalked off. He couldn’t believe she was acting so rude to them. He could handle her bad attitude but he particularly hated the effect it had on Carson. Josiah almost flinched when his best friend had taken his arm back after the girl’s last words. He had to admit that it hurt a little to know that Carson was embarrassed by their hand-holding in public. He just couldn’t put his finger on why.

While Josiah had been glaring after the hostess, Carson slid into the booth. He glanced up at Josiah and nearly pleaded with the older boy. “Joe, please. Just sit down. People are starting to stare.”

Josiah jumped slightly. He turned to look down at Carson and his face softened. He glanced around a little and noticed that there were indeed a couple people at the neighbouring tables who were watching him. He felt his own blush begin to hit his cheeks, and to counteract this, he started to sit down next to Carson.

The brunet’s eyes widened slightly and he put a hand out to stop Josiah. His palm landed just above his friend’s hip and he shook his head. “You can sit on the other side, Joe.”

“Oh,” Josiah mumbled. He hadn’t even realized how stupid that was. Of course he was supposed to sit across from Carson. He went around to the other side and ignored the snickers from the middle-aged couple a table away. “Sorry.”