First Date

“Not yet.”

After the two got their orders on the table, both men relaxed. They finally realized it was just like best friends going out for dinner. Even though at the end of the night, it may be more than just friends. Aleks dove right into his tacos. James got nachos with guacamole and all of the trimmings. They chowed down on their food, making small conversations about nothing. Their date went from both of them being nervous wrecks to leaning into each other and holding hands. It felt right. Even though it was Aleks' first date with a man, he felt really comfortable with James.

The men were so wrapped up in each other that they didn't notice the person walking over to their table. James was tracing small circles on Aleks' hand with his thumb as they started talking about going out on another date. Maybe going to see The Hobbit when it came into theaters. James' eyes went wide when the man approached their table. Aleks followed James' gaze, his eyes landing on the giggling Latino.

“Are you guys on a date!?” Eddie squeaked. Aleks' cheeks flushed a few shades of red, his gaze slowly lowering back to their table.

“What are you doing here?” James asked, still shocked that they were caught.

“I'm here with my date. She is in the restroom, but I thought I heard you guys! I can't believe you two! You guys are so cute!”

“Shh! Shh!” James put his finger up to his lips, trying to quiet Eddie down.

“We don't need the world to know!” James rubbed the bridge of his nose. Eddie took a seat next to Aleks, pushing the Russian over.

“So do the guys know?” Eddie asked, totally forgetting that his date was back sitting at their table. James shook his head, looking over at Aleks. The younger man had his head down on the table as he slowly picked at his tacos.

“No we aren't telling them y-”

“Oh my gosh! They are going to flip! I think they will be okay with it, I mean you guys were practically together alre-”

“Eddie!” James cut the other Latino off. He was trying hard not explode. Aleks was still silently eating his food.

“Wait. You're not going to tell them?” Eddie was starting to realize that they weren't going to tell anyone. Eddie just happened to be at the right place at the right time to catch the two. James sighed.

“You can't tell anyone. Please. We want to make this work and we don't want the pressure of everyone else trying to make us work. We just want to keep it on the down low.” Eddie slowly nodded. He looked over at Aleks and sighed. Eddie couldn't do that to his friends. Especially Aleks, who was like family to him.

“Okay. I won't say anything. Just. Don't keep it a secret for long. You know the guys are going to find out sooner or later.” Eddie got up from his spot at the table and waved over to his date, letting her know he didn't ditch her. He turned back towards Aleks and James and smiled.

“You guys have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow.” It felt a little out of place. Eddie went from being his happy bubbly self, to a slightly less bubbly kinda happy. Aleks could tell Eddie was thinking things over and that he wanted to spill his secrets to the world. But being as close of friends they were, Aleks knew Eddie would keep their secret.

~ ~ ~

“Damn dude! It's been like a little over a month since we last did Creature Talk?” Aleks asked. He looked over towards Jordan and Dan who were setting up their equipment. Dan mumbled something as he focused on untangling wires for the microphones. Eddie practically skipped down the basement steps, jumping into the room.

“Yea! You should have seen the posts about it on Tumblr. Like that one with the old lady from the titanic. It's been ninety-seven years, or some shit like that.” Eddie laughed, grabbing some chairs to set around the table. Aleks couldn't help but snort out a laugh.

“Well if you guys would help us out then we could actually start Creature Talk!” Jordan yelled. Aleks and Eddie exchanged goofy looks, mimicking Jordan, laughing lightly. Jordan was always tense before Creature Talk. It stressed him out if nothing was going according to plan. So when Jordan slammed his hands on the table, Eddie and Aleks quickly got to work or they were going to be on Jordan's hit list later.

~ ~ ~

“Hey!” Everyone yelled collectively. Creature Talk was now live. The chat was exploding with “OMG!” and “FINALLY!”. Dan was having a heard time controlling the side bar as he tried to help out the moderators.

“Sorry Seamus couldn't join us today. I know that is going to be one of the first questions here today, so I am clearing that up first.” Jordan was already prepared for the “Seamus bomb.” It had been going off everywhere on their videos and chats.

“Now onto the topics-”

“It's still the pre show, Koots!” Eddie yelled, trying to swat Aleks' hands away from the cookie sitting in front of him.

“Dammit, Aleks! Don't touch my shit!” Eddie yelled, his signature giggle ringing through the microphone.

“Well do we want to officially start yet?” Dan asked, trying to raise his voice over the overly exuberant Latino.

“Give me a piece!” Aleks yelled, grabbing at the cookie. Crumbs exploded across the table as James and Aleks swiped for pieces of the crumbling cookie.

“Dammit! That was a fan cookie!” Sly whined.

“And it's damn good too.” James spoke up around the cookie in his mouth. James looked over at Aleks and smiled. The Russian's cheeks turned a light pink as both of their hands slowly made their way under the table, locking their fingers together. A high pitched squeal came from Eddie across the table.

“You guys are too damn cute together!” As soon as the words left his lips, Eddie's eyes went wide and his hands clapped over his mouth. Aleks and James' faces went white as their mouths hung open. The room fell silent. Dan was the first to laugh lightly, breaking the silence.

“That's a good one Sly!” Dan piped up. Jordan looked from Eddie to the two men across from him.

“Well, new topic is added to the list.”