My Cup of Tea (snowbaz)

Chapter Six

Baz sat down on his bed, a smile on his face. He had his phone up to his ear, his long hair back in a loose bun, and had changed out of his suit. He was alone in his flat and happy to finally have some time away from the office. The first thing he did, of course, was dial up Simon. Well, right after he changed twice, which he realized was pointless since he wasn't even seeing  Simon, and told himself that everything would be fine. He couldn't understand why he was making such a huge deal out of this. He had talked to a lot of guys at the tennis club, but he never got this flustered. There was something about the blond boy at the Daily Grind that made him suddenly incapable of forming coherent thoughts. 

It only rang twice before Simon picked up. 

"Hello?" Simon asked into the phone. Baz wondered if he had even expected this call. If he had been yearning for it as much as Baz had. 

"Hey, Simon. It's Baz. From the Daily Grind?"

Why couldn't he stop smiling? His mouth was starting to hurt.

"Yeah, 'course. How...how are you?"

Baz wondered if Simon was just as nervous and excited as he was. He wondered if Simon had been sitting around wondering if Baz would call. He wondered if Simon was at the coffee shop today. He wondered if Simon looked to see if Baz would come see him. 

"I'm good. Long day at the office, though. How are you?"

"Same here. Long day. I'm still standing though."

Baz chuckled. 

"That was nice," Simon said. 

Baz felt his cheeks get red. "No, I wasn't laughing at--"

"I mean your little laugh," Simon said, giggling. "It was..."

"It was what?"

"Kind of hot."

Baz didn't know what to say about that. His heart was pounding in his chest. 

"Crap, was that out of line? I'm sorry, I've just... I've never done this before."

"What, flirted with someone?"

Simon laughed again. Baz loved his laugh. It was so light and happy. It was like a child's laugh, and Baz couldn't get enough. 

"No. I meant, like, I haven't done this before. With you. With a guy."

Baz didn't know what to say. 

Baz had always known that he was gay. Even when he was little he knew. He knew he was gay before he even knew what that meant. He always thought of boys as beautiful. He always wanted to talk to boys, never to girls. As he got older it became harder for him to keep it together. He knew his father would never approve of his sexuality so he kept it hidden. He knew that he couldn't even tell his friends without risking that it would somehow get back to his father. There had been a time, before university, where he had dated some girls just so his father wouldn't get suspicious. He was always watching and Baz hated the fact that he had to please him. 

"Oh." It was about all he could muster. Did this mean that Simon wanted nothing to do with him? 

"Am I not allowed to say that?"

Baz repositioned himself on his bed. "No, of course you can. I just don't know what to say. Are you..."

"I don't know. I mean...I've always liked girls. I've dated them and they're fine, you know? But then when you walked into the coffee shop I felt something so real. It wasn't anything like I've felt with those girls."

Baz liked where this was going.

"But I don't really know. It's been kind of weird. And I don't know if I'm allowed to say this but... I haven't been able to think about anything else all day."

Baz really liked where this was going. "That's fine," he said. "It's all fine. I know it's hard to navigate at first, but you'll figure it out. And, for the record, I haven't stopped thinking about you either. Honestly, the thought of calling you was the only thing that kept me sane at work today."

Was Baz going crazy or could he hear Simon smiling over the phone?

"I'm smiling like mad right now," Simon giggled. "You're really sweet."

"You know what else would be sweet? If we got dinner tomorrow night." 

Simon laughed. Baz cringed at his line, but there was something about Simon that made Baz want to be corny. He liked it.

"Yeah, that sounds brilliant," Simon said. "Text me the details?"

"Of course. And hey, Simon?"

"Yeah?"

"I can't wait."