Freshly moved from Florida, Nathan Bradley finds himself feeling lost at Storm Coast Academy. Despite the new environment of the school and the small Oregon town as well as his confusing but cute roommate, it won't take much time for him to feel at...
The two boys lay on their beds, simply being in each other's space as they scroll on their phones. Nate glances up at Griffin, who's engrossed in his screen.
Griffin... he dated Evelyn before she came out. So he must be into guys to some degree, right? So Nate has a chance..? It was mentioned that he's bisexual, after all...
He'd been suppressing his romantic feelings for Griffin under the assumption he's straight, in order to preserve their friendship, but maybe now he could do something about it?
The guy isn't straight, surely... so maybe he could just let his feelings come out.
"You're staring." Griffin points out with a laugh, "Lost in thought?"
"Something like that." Nate replies, blushing. Griffin notices everything, as always.
"What's on your mind?" Griffin asks, cocking his head as he sits up, putting his phone down to give Nate his full attention.
"Uhm, just Evelyn--" He lies quickly, "I need to go talk to her." Nate says, quickly getting up.
"Oh, alright. I just wanted to..." Griffin frowns, a look of regret on his face, "Talk to you later, then?"
"Definitely." Nate replies, heading for the door. He did want to talk to Evelyn first, so it isn't all a lie... but, it's hard, leaving Griffin when they could talk about it together...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Thanks for meeting up with me!" Nate says, waving Evelyn over to the fireplace they agreed to meet at.
"Of course." Evelyn replies, fiddling with her hair before sitting down next to him. "Now what's up with him?"
"...how'd you know?" Nate groans, he did want to talk about Griffin but he didn't want to make it so obvious from the start. All they talk about these days is Griffin.
"You're easy to read." She replies, "So, what is it?"
"I- I mean, I want to ask him on a date..."
"Then do it!" Evelyn interrupts.
"It's not that easy, Ev!" Nate exclaims, "I'm not even sure if he's into guys."
"He is. And he's totally into you, too. I'm surprised he hasn't made a move yet," Evelyn rolls her eyes, "You two are hopeless, you know."
"Wait-- really?! You think so?" Nate asks, imagining Griffin asking him out in his head... yeah, he better make a move. Nate isn't any good at that kind of stuff.
"Yes, really, you moron." She shakes her head. "You're so dense. Just try to bring it up with him."
"But- how?"
"Stop making excuses, Nate, just do it." Evelyn says, "Just bring up the topic. Ask if he's looking for a boyfriend or girlfriend or something."
"But what if he's not?"
"Well, he is. Now go talk to him. Come on." Evelyn grabs his hand, steering him towards their dorm room. "I can't watch you two pine over each other any longer."
"Fine- just stop pulling so hard." Nate says, taking his hand away as they made their way along the school's halls.
"Here we are. You got this."
"Right... thanks, Ev."
"No problem. Now go get him, tiger."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Nate slides through the door, only to come face to face with Griffin. "Oh, hi!" He says, surprised to find him waiting.
"I have something I need to talk to you about." Griffin announces. Nate opens his mouth, about to say the same thing, but lets him speak first.
"I've been... evaluating us for a long time." He continues, speaking slowly. "At first, I was sure we'd never even be friends, because I didn't want to go through a break-up again."
"Griffin..." Nate starts, but Griffin puts a finger over his lips to shush him.
"Let me finish, please." He says, continuing, "As he became friends, early on I just kept wanting to be more than friends. But I told myself that I wasn't ready for anything yet. And I wasn't." Griffin takes Nate's hand slowly, and when he doesn't pull away, he brings it up to his chest.
"But now I feel ready. So if you allow me to, I'd love to take you on a date." Griffin admits.
Nate seems shocked at first, but before long he gives Griffin's hand a squeeze. "I was going to say the same thing... I'd love to go on a real date with you, Griffin."
"That's my Nathan!" He grins, his arms wrapping around him and spinning him around as a grin fills his face. "Let's go tomorrow!"
Nate looks out of the window, seeing the sun slowly moves towards the ocean as the evening begins. "Let's go tonight instead..."
"Okay!" Griffin agrees, meeting his excitement, "Do you have an idea? You look like you have an idea."
"Let's go to Cannon Beach. Your secret spot."
"Are you sure..?" Griffin asks, taking his hand as they look out of their window.
"Positive. With you there, I can do it. Let's get going then?" Nate asks, grabbing his coat.
"I can't believe I'm doing this, it's the middle of winter. The water is going to be freezing." Griffin says, grabbing a few blankets off his bed.
"Oh, we'll be fine." Nate assures him, heading for the door, "Ready? We need to get going if we're going to see the sunset."
