pandora's box

good

[scomiche - M]

Mitch is in the middle of his date when he thinks this is not good.

Nothing is necessarily wrong, though. He’s enjoying a very good meal in a restaurant that’s just on the right side of casual and he doesn’t have the urge to disappear behind the screen of his phone like he usually does. He’s genuinely engaged in conversation and he’s having fun.

His date is tall and dresses nice clothes and a stunning smile. He was actually at the restaurant before Mitch, not forcing Mitch to spend extra bucks on the bar while he waits how he’d usually do. He is surprisingly polite and interesting and Mitch isn’t counting down the minutes until they have very unsatisfying sex so he can leave.

No, Mitch is enjoying himself and swooning over this man’s laugh and the way his arms bulge beautifully under his shirt while he talks and gesticulates.

Worse yet, he can feel them bonding. Over one stupid date set in a stupid dating app. Mitch is completely dumbfounded. He never once believed that Tinder would bring him anything but some mediocre hookups but here he is, thinking that he might go home with this man and that he will really enjoy it. He’s excited and in the back of his brain he imagines himself on Kirstin’s couch, grinning and giggling as a teenager as he talks about his date.

Everything is going so well and that’s why it is not good at all.

“Mitch?” The brunette raises his eyes to blue ones. This man, Scott, he knows his name. He never stuttered, never looked up and let his mouth fall open as he struggled to remember. The way he says his name - the name that Scott knows - is so satisfying that it almost makes Mitch sigh. “What do you want to do now?”

Mitch looks at Scott because he knows that he means this question. He wants Mitch to decide what’s the next step and he has a hopeful glint on his honest eyes that makes butterflies arise in his tummy.

And truly, Mitch knows what the right thing to do is. He’s supposed to smile and say that he had a wonderful night but he doesn’t think they should take this any further. Because for once, his date is a decent man. Hell, Scott is a great man. He’s not just going through the motions to get into Mitch’s pants and it’s absolutely disconcerting. He’s interested in Mitch as a person as well and that’s why things should end.

Mitch shouldn’t lead him on. He swore he wouldn’t get himself into relationships anymore. They serve only to drain him and to hurt him. He can do sex but he can’t do deep conversations and cuddling.

That’s why Scott and him can’t work. They get along too well for it to be solely sex. Scott is too considerate to treat him like a body and Mitch should let him go, he really should.

Instead, he smiles and leans over his arms on the table. “I still can’t believe you keep your Beyoncé coffee table book in your actual coffee table.”

He laughs and it sounds different as the atmosphere shifts. “Well, I guess I have to show you.”

Mitch bites his lip, apprehension and excitement swirling into one single emotion. He pays for half of the bill despite Scott’s objections and wants to kiss his little pout when he complains that he can’t make Mitch pay for the whole date next time.

Next time.

The brunette doesn’t think about it because he knows that, logically, there should be no next time, but with Scott’s hand placed on the small of his back he’s not so sure anymore.

No, he snaps at himself after Scott closes the passenger door for him, Maybe the sex is terrible.

He muses about it and thinks that this is probably the best outcome. They’re compatible in regards to personality but it would lack in the physical aspect. That would allow Mitch to dump Scott later with only a little bit of remorse. So for the first time, Mitch sits in his date’s car and hopes that he has really no idea of what to do in bed.