Could Tell a Love 2

"324!" The guy called from behind the counter.

"Oh, that’s us." Mike said, getting out and coming back with two trays loaded to the max with food. "And I present to you heaven on a platter, or two, in this case."

"This is better than heaven." I said, grabbing my two burritos and my soft shell taco.

The table was mostly silent as we all ate. I heard Eric mumble something to Daniel every once in a while. Daniel would giggle and elbow him softly. This was going to turn out badly, I could tell. He was supposed to propose to Miranda tomorrow, and he’s flirting with him? I avoided eye contact with them before I started yelling at Eric. When I couldn’t stand it anymore, I asked Eric, "Could I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." Almost everyone on our side had to get out so we could get out. I walked outside to talk to him. The wind picked up a little bit since we’ve been in there. "What’s up?" Eric asked.

I looked at him like he was insane. "What’s up? Eric, you’re flirting with Daniel in there and you’re proposing to Miranda tomorrow. Do you not see anything wrong with that?!"

"Chill, Beau. Just ‘cause I’m flirting with him doesn’t mean that anything serious is gonna come out of it." Eric said, blowing it off.

"You might think that way, but what if he thinks that something’s gonna come out of it? Are you gonna let him down?"

He looked at the ground and said nothing.

"That’s what I thought." I sighed, rubbing my face with my hands. "God, I feel like your dad more and more lately. Lets go back in there." I said, opening the door and letting him in first. We didn’t get back into the same order because that would’ve taken too much time.

"So, Daniel, you wanna hang out with us after we leave here?" Matt asked with his mouth full of food.

"I guess, I have nothing better to do." He said. He ate his 7 layer nachos, no beans, slowly. He was only half way done by the time everyone else was ready for seconds or desert.

"Daniel, hurry uuuuuup!" Matt said like a little kid, throwing an mini tantrum. He flung a piece of cheesy meat right in his face with his spork.

"Ooooooooh." It seemed like everyone in the restaurant saw it. He blushed a little bit and sunk down in his seat a little bit, smiling.

He let his jaw hang open in shock of what Daniel just did. "Oh no you didn’t." He reached across the table and grabbed the rest of his nachos and dumping them on his head. The "oooh" turned into a collective gasp.

"Motherfucker!" He yelled, crawling over the table and rubbing his head all over him, getting nacho everywhere. Everyone got away from the table as they battled it out. Before they could finish their battle, the manager came out and kicked us out. We booed her and left, Daniel and Matt covered in nachos.

"You put on a pretty good fight, man." He said, hugging him to his side as we walked.

"And I would’ve won if she wouldn’t have been a Nazi about it." He said.

Matt laughed and messed up his hair. "You’re a cool dude."

He giggled and blushed. "Thanks."

"So, tell us, Daniel, are you full on gay?" Eric asked straight out.

"Excuse me?" He asked, sounding slightly startled and offended by that question.

"Oh, come on, man. Like it isn’t obvious. You’re totally into guys, at least somewhat." Matt said.

When Daniel didn’t say anything, everyone let out a big "oooh".

He laughed and said, "I’m not all out gay, but I do take a liking to guys." He paused. "A strong liking."

"No wonder you and Eric were totally flirting." Mike said.

I looked at Eric and he sighed, looking back at me.

I swear to god that if he does anything to him and hurts Miranda, I’m gonna kick his ass so hard...

My angry rampage of thoughts was cut short by Jared grabbing me around the waist. I looked at him and he looked concerned. I must’ve looked frustrated. I kissed him, assuring that everything was fine.

"So you wanna come with us back to...?" Jared asked, trailing off, not sure where we were going.

"Uhh...wanna go to...Matt’s house?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, we haven’t been there in a while." I said. "Lets go. Daniel, you comin’ with us? There’s more room."

"I think I’ll go with Eric and them, actually. Thanks for the offer, though." He said, smiling, getting in the backseat with Eric.

For some reason, a pang of jealousy stuck in my heart, along with that anger. I sighed sharply and got in the car, starting it up in silence, looking straight ahead.

"Beau, what’s wrong?" Jared asked quietly as he put on his seatbelt.

I just shook my head. "Eric is such a dumbass."

"He was just having a little fun with Daniel." Jared said.

"It’s not fun when Eric’s proposing to Miranda tomorrow, and when Daniel’s taking it so seriously." I fumed. "I don’t want to see either Miranda or Daniel hurt by this." I felt a tear fall down my face. "I feel this is all my fault. I never should’ve brought him along.."

"Don’t say that. You didn’t know what was going to happen." Jared said, rubbing my shoulder.

"I just wish Eric would learn to control himself around every attractive person he sees. Shit like this is the reason why he can never hold steady relationships." I sighed, wiping another tear. "I knew this marriage thing was a bad idea."

"Just give it a chance, Beau. Hopefully Eric will realize what he’s doing and–"

"He never realizes til it’s too late." I interrupted him quietly.

Jared sighed and looked at me, concerned, giving me a sad/worried smile. "Just don’t worry too much about this, kay? I don’t want you stressing too much. You know what happens."

I actually didn’t know exactly, but I had an idea of what he might’ve been talking about.

He kissed me softly, hand under my chin. "Okay?"

I smiled a little and nodded. "Okay."

He smiled back. "Want me to drive?"

"No, I got it. I’ll be fine." I assured him, backing out of my spot and heading in the direction of Matt’s house apartment thing. Him and Mike shared a place somewhere close by.

We arrived and as soon as we got in the house, Daniel asks to talk to me in private. I agree and we go outside.

"What’s up?" I asked him.

"I don’t know how to put this without sounding awkward, but I felt some really bad vibes coming from you at Taco Bell. Is everything alright?" He asked, getting ever so closer.

I sighed, contemplating on whether to tell him or not. I decided it would be better to say something.

"Well, Eric...he has a girlfriend, and he’s actually proposing to her tomorrow."

Daniel had the look of shock./hurt on his face. "Why didn’t he tell me?"

"He doesn’t distinguish between using common sense and being a dumbass most of the time. I was victim to that." I added under my breath.

"He cheated on you?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, but that was a while ago. I’m over it."

"So does that mean you’re–"

"No, I’m not. I’m sorry." I answered before he asked. I’d be way too tempted to say I was single.

"Oh, right. Duh! How couldn’t I remember. I feel so stupid." He said, laughing.

I smiled, trying to hold in my giggle over how irresistibly cute his laugh was.

"You know you two are really cute together." He said, getting really close now.

Was he doing this on purpose? Why would he be doing this when he knows I’m taken?

"But you know what would be even cuter?" He asked quietly, smirking, stroking my jaw line.

The words to protest against all of this were caught in the back of my throat. I wanted to argue, but I couldn’t. Sooner than I could comprehend, our lips met, and it was amazing. I grabbed him around his waist and suddenly gained control of myself again. I moved my hands up to his shoulders and pulled away. "Whoa. No. This can’t happen. I’m not doing this. Not to myself. Not to Jared. I’m not going through that again.." I rambled, panicking. Daniel looked confused. "It’s okay, Beau."

"I’m sorry, but it’s not gonna happen. Jared is with me, and I’m with him, and after all the hell I’ve been through, I can’t afford to lose him again." I explained apologetically.

Daniel said nothing, but had the saddest look on his face, making me feel extremely guilty. I sighed and hugged him. "We’ve only known each other for a day. You can’t exactly start something off of that. You might actually not like me as much as you think you do once you get to know me. And even when you do get to know me, we can’t be together because I’m with Jared, and I’m planning on being with him forever." I paused. "How old are you, anyways?"

He stayed silent for a bit, then answered, "19."

I sighed and let go of him. "That’s the other reason why I can’t be with you."

"I’m legally an adult, it wouldn’t be illegal..."

"The gap is just too big. I mean, 8 years? That’s a bit much. Jared’s closer to my age, there’s only 5 or 6 years difference." I said quietly, looking at the ground, hands in my jeans pockets.

"That’s amazing. I mean, how devoted you are to just one person. I’m so jealous."

I laughed. "I haven’t always been like that, but I really don’t want to get into it."

"Well, if you’ve done it once before, you can do it again–" He said quietly, stroking my chest with his finger.

I grabbed his hand and held it with both of mine. "Daniel. I don’t want to do that again. It was hard enough the first time, and I already risked mine and Jared’s relationship once, because of my selfishness, and it tore me apart, literally." I explained.

"I don’t see how a relationship can tear you–"

I showed him my arms. "See now?"

Daniel had his hand over his mouth. "You weren’t lying. Oh my god, I’m so sorry."

"It’s alright, but we should probably get back inside so they don’t start questioning what we’re doing. Just, before we go back in there, promise you won’t flirt with Eric anymore. The girl he’s with means a lot to him and myself, and I’d hate to see her hurt, or Eric for that matter. He’s like my kid, in a way."

Daniel laughed, following me to the front door. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I took him in when he was 14. His home life was horrible." I turned the doorknob and I walked right into an argument between Jared and Eric.

"You’re getting fucking engaged tomorrow! You can’t be flirting with him like you have no one else in your life!" Jared yelled. "You are not gonna do the same thing you did to Beau to Daniel. He doesn’t deserve to fall for your man whoreish ways."

I cleared my throat and the room got silent.

Jared backed off, in his pissed off mode. "Alright, you heard everything."

"For the second time." I said quietly, slowly.

"Oh, well then." Jared plopped down on the couch, next to Matt, and buried his face in his hands, frustration fuming from him.

I sighed and went over by Eric. "Why do you always have to do this? You have something so good with Miranda and now you’re ruining it by flirting with Daniel. Can’t you just live with one good thing in your life?" I said quietly, but intensely. It seemed to have more of an effect on Eric than Jared’s yelling. I saw him trying to hold back tears.

"I know, and I don’t know. Maybe I will turn out like my dad after all." He said quietly, and slightly colder than I expected.

"It doesn’t have to be like that, Eric..." I looked at Daniel, feeling awkward. "Could we have a minute? Just the two of us. And Jared." I added on quickly as everyone else left the room. No one else knew about his dad except me, Miranda, the doctor, Casey, and Katie. I think it’s about time for Jared to know. I continued, "Just because your dad treated you like a sex toy doesn’t mean that you have to treat people like that." I felt Jared’s hands around my waist. I turned my head to look at him and smiled, turning back to face a saddened Eric.

"I don’t want to, but it just happens. It’s like he poisoned me or something." Eric said, barely holding in a sob.

I immediately hugged him. "I know it may seem like that, but that’s because you let yourself believe that. It doesn’t have to be like that. You just have to be strong and fight off all your temptations. It’s just you and Miranda right now, no one else. You two are going to get married and possibly have lots of little red headed blue eyed babies running around and I’m gonna be a grandpa." I said, tears falling down my cheeks as well, but my voice didn’t break once. I know what I wanted for him, and he needed to do this. "You need to do this. It’s for the best, trust me."

Eric sniffled and I felt more tears soak my shoulder. "I’m gonna do it."

I pushed away from Eric and looked into his teary eyes, and smiled. "Thank you, Eric."

He smiled back and wiped his cheeks. I turned to Jared and hugged him now. "You can be grandpa number two."

Jared laughed. "I think I can do that."

We looked at each other and our lips met passionately. A bit of guilt stuck in my heart from what happened on the porch. I shouldn’t have liked Daniel’s kiss, but I did. A lot. Too much.

I pulled away from Jared in distress. "Jared, I feel so horrible." I rested my hands on his shoulders and my head on his shoulder.

"Why? What’s the matter?" He asked, walking us to the couch so we could sit down.

"Daniel kissed me out there while we were talking, ‘cause I guess he really likes me...and I liked it." I hugged him. "I’m sorry."

He laughed. "It’s okay, Beau. I’m not mad. You told me what happened. And honestly, I would’ve liked a kiss from him, too."

I laughed. "I took that way out of proportion, huh?"

"Yeah, a little." He laughed, stroking my face, moving any stray hair that might’ve fallen in my face. "You know that a little kiss won’t bother me."

"I know. I’m sorry."

"Don’t be. Just don’t do anything else with him, I might have to get jealous." Jared said smiling, then leaning in to kiss me. This kiss felt so much better than the last one now that I got that off my chest.

I heard someone holding in a laugh from behind us. Jared pulled away softly and smiled. "Hey Daniel."

He smiled and waved, still holding in his giggle.

"Sup?" I asked, turning towards him.

"Nothing really. You guys were just taking a really long time, and I had to figure out what you were doing, make sure it wasn’t anything too.."

"Intimate?"

"Sexual?"

"Hot and sweaty?" Jared and I finished his sentence, smiling.

He laughed. "Yeah, those things. So we can come back and chill with you guys? Secret time is over?"

"Of course, come on in." Jared said. I scooted closer to him as Matt and Eric squeezed on the couch with us while Mike and Daniel ended up on the floor.

"So is everything sorted out between everyone?" Mike asked.

"Yup." Eric said, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV.