What's Written in Red

The moment was awkward to say the least, with Alan sitting across from Austin on his couch, subconsciously scanning his eyes across the room. His conversations with the boy seemed forced, but he was not one to give up easily.

He just needed to ask the right questions and find a subject to get the guy talking. It couldn't be too hard, Austin thought. But the thing was, Austin was running out of things to ask. He'd asked every possible standard question one would asked when getting to know a person, but each time Alan would simply give him a short, vague answer.

Finally he just thought, fuck it.

"I want to get to know you more, Alan." Austin blurted out, waiting to see the reaction on his guests face. At first he looked a bit surprised, but it was soon replaced with a happy smile.

"Of course, what would you like to know?" Alan asked in response, causing Austin to have to refrain from groaning out loud. How about all the things he'd been asking for the last twenty minutes? Austin wasn't going to complain too much, though. He found Alan's shy and awkward personality, well... attractive.

"How about we play something like 20 questions?" Austin asked, deciding to change his approach a bit. He knew it was stupid, trivial even, but he couldn't think of anything else to get the boy talking. "And I'll ask all the questions." Alan raised his eyebrows but nodded in agreement, waiting for Austin to start.

"Are you allergic to anything?" He finally came up with, he was trying desperately not to ask all the cliches.

"Um garlic actually.." Alan mumbled, but Austin still managed to catch it. To be honest he was surprised, he didn't actually expect Alan to be allergic to anything. Maybe dust or something, sure, but being allergic to garlic was something he'd never heard of before.

"Seriously?! Wow, is it a rare allergy? I'm used to people being allergic to peanuts and stuff but not garlic." Austin asked, genuinely curious. He saw Alan blush furiously, and he couldn't help but think it was cute how he blushed at the simplest questions.

"Yeah, you could say that." He laughed, causing Austin to give him a half smile.

"Anyways.." He continued. "Do you have any siblings?" Alans face immediately dropped and he looked down at his hands. Austin couldn't help but regret asking the question, he'd obviously hit some kind of nerve.

"Uh..no I'm an only child." Alan finally answered tightly, but his expression seemed forlorn and sad. Why was he getting the feeling that Alan was lying? Austin decided to let it go, knowing it was probably a sensitive topic. He decided to change the subject to something different.

"Favorite drink?"

"Fruit punch." Alan smirked, more to himself as it seemed to Austin.

"Um..boxers or briefs?" Austin asked cheekily.

"Boxer-briefs." Alan looked up to stare into Austin's eyes while he answered the question, not removing his piercing gaze once. Austin started to get more confident.

"Single or taken?" Austin smirked, staring right back at Alan.

"Single." Alan answered simply.

It was now or never.

"Sexual preferences?" Austin blurted out before he lost the confidence. He felt a wave of satisfaction once Alan finally broke his gaze, blushing furiously.

"Um.." Alan stuttered. "I like..guys.." He mumbled, looking extremely awkward. Austin's heart practically leapt out of his chest in joy.

Normally Austin wasn't the relationship type of guy, but there was something about Alan that made him want to change his ways. He'd never wanted to be with someone more in his life. He just felt this strange..connection with Alan. He liked the kid, he liked him a lot, and Austin knew he had to go for it.

"Okay, last question." Austin finally announced, getting Alan's attention.

"How would you like to go on a date with me?"