None the Worse ✓

41) 'Get A Makeover For Your Date' And Other Advice That Works In 80's Chick...

Heston groaned. "Don't tell me you're also gay."

He was kicked.

Then everyone was kicked out. Benjamin had a date to attend. He walked over to Thijmen's room and knocked on the door. Seconds later, Thijmen emerged and took a moment to look him up and down. He even raised his hand to scratch his chin.

To fill the silence, Benjamin said, "Let's go."

"Okay." He closed the door behind him and headed towards the end of the hallway. It wasn't until they reached the hall, that he finally said, "You look nice."

"Thank you."

Thijmen looked nice, too. Not that he didn't already look nice all the time, but he looked extra nice today. So he told him and Thijmen said thanks, too.

Now that that was out of the way, they slid into the car and Benjamin asked Isaac the driver to bring them to the park. It was a silent ride but not uncomfortably so. They simply sat side by side, thighs touching, looking out through the windows, until they reached their destination.

Thijmen followed him into the ice cream parlor, glancing around without saying a word, until they got to the counter and Benjamin asked, "How many waffles do you want?"

"Why did we come to an ice cream parlor for waffles?"

"Do waffles exist in the Netherlands?"

Instead of replying, Thijmen said, "Three waffles with whipped cream, please."

"That's an uneven number."

"They're all mine."

"Oh. Then three for me, too."

The girl behind the counter looked skeptical and then started making six waffles. With whipped cream. And sprinkles, because Thijmen decided he wanted those as well.

The moment they were placed in his hands and his teeth sank into the first one, his face lit up like a kid on Christmas Day. Benjamin almost forgot he was supposed to eat his own waffle. He could only stare at Thijmen.

"Happy Valentine's Day," said the girl.

"Oh, uh, thanks. You too."

That was the first time Benjamin had ever talked to a girl.

Now he was a real man. A real gay man. A real gay man who had talked to a real girl, while eating real waffles with his real boyfriend.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

Benjamin dropped one of his waffles in surprise. His heart broke. Thijmen's heart broke. The girl's heart broke, but she offered to make him a new one. Ben figured this was a good time to admit to himself that he couldn't just lose weight from sinning with Thijmen.

"Where does all the food in your body go?" he asked.

"To North Korea."

"That's nice. They must be very thankful."

"Yes, very. Are you sure you don't want another waffle?"

"No, two is fine."

"Okay." Thijmen shrugged and inhaled his third waffle, cream coating his lips and sprinkles raining down on the ground. Maybe the birds would eat them later. If Ben was a bird he'd eat sprinkles from the ground, too. They looked a lot prettier than seeds and nuts.

"These waffles are good. We should go here more often."

Maybe Benjamin wasn't so bad at organizing dates after all. Then again, Thijmen was the kind of person who always found ways to make anything fun and/or amusing. He'd never forget the lentil soup ordeal.