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Taking the walk to the bus stop, I noticed that Scotty kept trying to even out the pacing of his normal conversation. While he would normally babble on endlessly, leaping from one disconnected topic to another without so much as taking a deep enough breath to keep him conscious...he appeared to be struggling today. Going from short bursts of boyish small talk, followed by extended periods of silence. Possibly taking the opportunity to think about what he was going to say next. He really had invested a whole lot of his time and energy into hanging out with me today, and I didn't take any joy in making him feel so awkward. Honestly, I didn't.

I almost felt bad for setting him up like this today without his knowledge of what was going on. He would try to joke around a bit while we were walking, and I'd feel bad if I smiled at him. Because it's like his adrenaline would get turned up to eleven, and he'd practically have to stop himself from enthusiastically skipping at my side over having made a positive impact on me. And yet, if I didn't smile or tried to hold back from misleading his fragile emotions in the wrong direction, I was only making him exhaust himself in an attempt to try even harder to get in my good favor. How am I supposed to walk that fine line between both extremes when I don't have any control over the super sensitive emotional filter that Scotty Lynch is seeing through at all day?

It's, like...impossible.

I didn't want to hurt him or make him feel rejected. God, his eyes had the bright sparkles in them the whole time, and it just...it kind of made me regret treating him like the bratty little brother that I had before. Hiding from him, ignoring him...practically chiseling away at his young heart, bit by bit, since he first showed an interest. It put things in a new perspective.

I'm definitely going to make an effort to be nicer to him from now on.

Scotty sort of mumbled something, bashfully, under his breath that I couldn't quite make out. "What was that?" I asked.

"Nothin'..." He answered.

"No, it's ok. I just didn't hear you."

Scotty was quiet for a brief moment, then he cleared his throat. "I said...you look really nice today."

No no no....not yet! You've got to save your charm for the real prize here, Scotty!

"Thanks, Scotty." I said, trying not to encourage him with anything else.

"You smell good too. Totally. What is that you're wearing?"

"Ummm...soap?" I said, smiling but giving him a bit of a strange look at the same time.

"Oh..." He said. "Well...that must be some good soap." Hehehe, nice save. I think Scotty was sort of kicking himself for moving in too fast, but it only took a few seconds of awkward silence before he was grinning at me again.

You know, if I was just a couple of years younger, I might just go for a boy like this. I think he's actually giving my heart strings a little tug today.

"Do you like chocolate? I prolly should have asked first, but then I thought...everybody likes chocolate." He said.

I noticed that he was looking at the chocolate roses that he gave me, and that he didn't dare to start eating the ones he had for himself. Was he waiting for me to eat first? Awww! I gave him a break and began to unwrap the rose and took a bite. "I absolutely love chocolate, Scotty. Thatnks. How did you know?"

He shrugged. "I just kinda figured, that's all." Scotty seemed so proud of himself. It was cute. Then he ripped the foil off of his rose and started chomping down on it too. "I hope you don't mind. I put them in the icebox for a little bit so they wouldn't get all warm and gooey while we were out in the sun and all."

"Good thinking." I said, and watched him really tackle that candy. Hahaha! The look of relief on his face made me feel bad for making him wait so long. It was some good chocolate though, so I understand.

We got to the bus stop and barely waited two or three minutes before we could see it coming down the street from a few blocks away. Scotty started digging in his pockets for cash, but when I did the same, he was quick to tell me, "No, it's ok! I can pay for both of us."

"Hehehe, what? It's fine, Scotty. You don't have to do that..."

"Nope. You keep your cash, Tristan. I've got this. Honest." The way he was wiggling around, trying to shove his hand deep in his pocket, I almost thought that I was going to have to keep him from falling over. His jean shorts weren't really tight, but they were pretty snug in some places. So he was having a bit of an issue over there. The bus was coming closer, and I saw him taking out a couple of wrinkled dollar bills, two at a time. No order at all, just balled up wads of allowance money. "One, two, three...wait, I've got some more in my other pocket too..."

"Really...dude...I brought money with me for..."

"GOT it!!! See? Told ya!" He beamed, and when the bus pulled up, Scotty stepped aside to let me get on first. Such a little gentleman. But then he hollered at the bus driver over my shoulder. "It's ok! He's with me! I'm paying! Me! I got it right here!" Hahaha, I swear, that kid gets more adorable by the second. He did what he promised and footed the bill for the ride, and then asked, "You wanna sit in the back? The back is the best spot."

"Sure. I'm cool with it." And just as the bus was taking off, I started to worry that Scotty's infatuated stare was intensifying. "You're being awfully generous today. Thanks." I said, but I was trying to see if I could maybe calm him down a little bit. I'm pretty sure that he's looking at this as his first 'date', and while I wanted to keep him at arm's length...I was still trying my best not to hurt his feelings. But, for what it's worth, Scotty's got some real courage to do all of this. He's really going for it, and hoping to make a good impression on me. When I think about how utterly terrifying it was to approach Jesse in the food court that first time...Scotty must be miles ahead of me in the 'romantic pursuit' department. I mean...I pushed my best friend down in the mall trying to escape the terror of having to talk to Jesse, and here's Scotty with candy and flowers and strawberry soda.

I was still curious as to whether his mom knows that he likes boys or not. Then again, I'm still just presuming that he likes boys at all. I mean, it seems pretty obvious at this point, but for the record, that hasn't actually been confirmed yet. I've got to be fair.

"I'm glad you're coming out with me today, Scotty." I said, causing him to almost gasp in shock. "I really think you'll like my friends." Deflected. Get his attention on someone else.

"Me too..." He said, his voice cutting out halfway. "I was worried that I was going to be late. I had to get ready and everything, and I had to do laundry, and the dryer was taking forever."

"It's pretty early to be doing laundry. You could have done it later."

"Well, I had to wash my bed stuff, so..."

"Your 'bed stuff'?" I asked.

Scotty was finishing off his chocolate when he absentmindedly said, "Yeah. My sheets and stuff this morning had gotten all stic..." He suddenly cut himself off. Was he about to say 'sticky'??? Omigod, was he...? Did he...? Oh man! I don't think I want to know! Wait...was that because he was dreaming about ME specifically, or just dreaming in general? I saw his face turning soooo red as he fought to think of something he could use to change the subject. Awww, the poor kid. I'll help him out.

"Hey! I see you're wearing a pair of your special sneakers today. I like those." I said, pretending to not hear what he just said.

Suddenly, the distressed look on his face melted away, and the most cheerful grin spread out on his face. "Oh yeah! Thanks, Tristan!" He said, and he scooted over a bit to immediately swivel around and put his right foot up on the seat next to me. "I finished these about two weeks ago, but I ran out of purple paint stuff. Had to substitute it with dark blue instead. I think they still came out pretty cool, though."

Grinning, I said, "I thought these were your 'works of art', and you never really wore them outside of the house?"

Some of Scotty's blush came back to him. "Well, not never. I wear a pair or two out sometimes for special occasions." Then he looked up at me, and said, "NOT that this is a special occasion or anything..." Then he stopped himself, and focused back down on his shoes again. "Not this is NOT a special occasion..."

That boy certainly does fall victim to tying himself in knots sometimes. "Hehehe, it's ok, Scotty. I know what you mean."

"Ok. Cool." Then he took his painted sneakers off of display and put his foot back down. "I can still make you a special pair if you want. You can choose whatever colors you want. Even purple...but I'll have to buy some more from the shop. Then we can do it the next time you come over."

"Oh really now?" I grinned.

"Well, it's better if you're wearing them when I do it. It like...helps to know how you fit into the shoe and how you lace it up and stuff." He said, his voice getting softer as he gazed into my eyes, almost as if lost in a dream. He'd better be careful or he's going to get his 'bed stuff' all sticky again. "I can hold your foot still...and then just...paint right on top and the sides. We can put on some music or something, or, you know...just talk for a bit..."

I heard a text alert coming in on the phone in my pocket and jumped at the chance to answer it, as I had NO idea how I was going to strategically switch subjects after that one! I looked down, and saw the name 'J Kyler' pop up. "Hold on just a sec, ok?" I told him.

"M'kay." He said, and I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Whew! Saved at the last second.

I looked at Jesse's message, and he asked, "Is your friend still coming over?"

There was nothing particularly flirtatious about his message at all, but something about the fact that Jesse typed it out sent me into a fit of wiggles, regardless. It was really hard to keep myself from giggling to myself. I answered him with, "Yep! We're on the bus now. We should be there in about fifteen minutes or so."

"Excellent!" He texted back. "I told Artie that we were just going to go over some stuff for our 'two thousand plus subscribers' video. He'll probably be coming by a little later than you guys, but I'm sure he'll show up not long after you guys get here."

Was I blushing? I hope I'm not blushing. That would look suspicious. Better make this quick. "Ok! Sweet! This is gonna be friggin' awesome!"

"I know, right? Can't wait!" Jesse texted. Then I saw him typing something else out, and a message came in to say, "It'll be good to see you, Tristan. I know it sounds corny, but...you have no idea how much I miss you when I can't be with you. I love you, k? Seriously."

I sort of peeked over at Scotty to make sure that he wasn't reading over my shoulder or anything, but he seemed to just wait patiently while watching the scrolling landscape outside of the bus window. So, with an involuntary smile, I sighed and texted, "I love you too, Jesse. Mwah. See you soon." And I suddenly felt this wave of warm chills crawl up my back and cascade over my shoulders as the love in my heart began to throb out of control. DAMN...what that boy does to me!

That's when Jesse said, "Hold on a sec..." And there was a pause before he started texting again. "So, Tristan...what do you think? Green? Or Gold?" And he sent me a pic.

Green or gold? What is he...

Oh GOD!

The pic was Jesse standing in the mirror, with nothing but a low hanging bath towel around his waist and slightly damp hair, right out of the shower...and he was holding up two pairs of shiny soccer shorts. With a raised eyebrow and the most endearing grin of mischief that I've ever seen! Hahaha! That brat! He always knows how to get to me.

I couldn't hold back a little giggle after seeing that, and that got Scotty's attention. Shit. I was really trying not to tip him off, but sometimes Jesse's addictive charm catches me by surprise. Scotty started to look over at what I was doing, and the only way I could stop him was by making eye contact with him and politely saying, "I'm sorry. It's my friend, Jesse. He's just excited to meet you. That's all."

"Oh. Ok." Scotty grinned. "I'm...excited to meet him too. Or her. Whichever."

I didn't want to be rude by staring at my phone for the rest of the bus ride, even though Jesse could talk for hours on end without any problem at all. So I just texted him back, and told him, "Neither." Followed by a string of smile emojis and the last one being a 'wink'. Hehehe, I took one last look at that picture, and my heart began to pound so hard that I could feel it in my ears. I could, literally, hear it over the engine of the bus.

I mean, that bath towel was LOW! Like, seeing a few pubes peeking over the top low! Smooth, flat stomach and a shallow belly button...tiny tufts of hair under his arms, but barely enough to notice...erect dime sized nipples...and that gorgeous smile that I fell so madly in love with. It was so hard to keep from squirming at that moment. He fills me up with more joyous energy than I can handle.

Jesse sent back a crying laugh emoji and told me he'd see me soon, sending me a kiss. And then I put my phone away to focus my attention back on Scotty again. "Almost there." I said.

He nodded a bit, saying, "Cool." Then there was a short lull of silence between us, we he seemed to look a little unsure of himself again. His mood was a little unstable today, but I can't say that I expected anything less. So I perked him up by taking the strawberry soda he gave me, and I smiled warmly at him. "Oh yeah! I forgot!" He giggled. And the emotional roller coaster is back up at the top again.

He looked and waited for me to open mine first. Again...always the gentleman.

So I opened my soda can, and then I held it up in front of him. He seemed to get really excited at that moment. I think he was physically trembling at that point. But he had the biggest grin on his face as he popped the top of his can too, so proud that he had done something to get such a pleasant response out of me. And, you know what? I think I felt the same way for getting such a gleeful response from him too.

Scotty held up his open can, and I held up mine. "To strawberry soda." I said.

"Yeah. The best soda ever." He snickered. And we lightly bumped the cans together to say cheers for being about as close as we've ever been before. Strange, considering that we live down the street from one another.

Our bus finally reached our destination, and I saw Scotty sort of fixing his hair a bit as we moved to get off the bus. Waiting for me to get off first, of course. And then we started walking towards Jesse's house...with Scotty practically skipping at my side. He didn't seem to have much to say this time though. I don't know if he was nervous about meeting my friends or if he was just being overwhelmed by his crush at the moment. But he did manage to look up at me and giggle a few times. Not for any particular reason. Just to acknowledge me in the only way his obsessive heart knew how. His boyish charm was radiating from him in buckets at that moment, and that's going to really set Artie off the second he catches sight of him. I mean, Scotty is definitely cute enough to catch anybody's eye without any effort at all...but now that I see how sugar sweet and infectious his delightful vibe can be...that's the key to his real beauty.

Hehehe, Artie's not going to know what hit him.

We got to Jesse's house and were walking up to his front porch. Visions of us standing right over there that night when I walked him home...and he asked me if he could kiss me. God, the memory of it still drives the butterflies in my stomach WILD! I felt nervous all over again just thinking about that night...our very first official date. But this wasn't the time to think about me. I'm going take Scotty inside, we'll wait for Artie to show up, and once the sparks start flying...he'll be making some special moments of his own. That will be so CUTE! You know?

I rang Jesse's doorbell, and of course he hurried down to open the door for us. My blond angel, sweeping me off of my feet with a single smile like it always does. So beautiful. "Hey, guys! You made it!" He said. Ugh...my heart. Why is my heart so...ugh!

"S'up? Jesse...this is my friend, Scotty..." I said, expecting to see Scotty grinning from ear to ear. But...what I saw was something a bit...'different'.

At first it looked like confusion. Then he furrowed his brow as if he was trying to figure something out. Then his face was displaying some other kind of emotion that I didn't quite recognize.

"Hey, Scotty. Good to meet you, man." Jesse said, reaching out to shake his hand.

Scotty was a little reluctant at first, and I wondered what could possibly have rattled him so much within the first few seconds of meeting my boyfriend. That's when Scotty took his hand and asked, "Aren't you on Youtube?"

Oh shit! I didn't ummm...ok...wait, what???

I froze. Jesse glanced at me, and I glanced back at Jesse, and Scotty glanced at both of us. Jesse and I didn't know if we should say something, or NOT say something, about Youtube. How the heck does Scotty Lynch know about Jesse being on Youtube? Unless he's been...ohhhhh...

Well, I guess that answers that question.

"Heh...Youtube?" Jesse said, bashfully. Trying to stall for a few seconds to see if I would give him some kind of signal to tell him whether or not he should answer truthfully. He was just as surprised as we were.

"Yeah. Aren't you 'Jesse One-On-One'?" Scotty asked.

Did I just out Jesse? Did I just out Scotty? Did I just out myself? What the fuck is going on here?

Nervously, Jesse replied, "Well...I mean...'Jesse-101', but...yeah. That's me." He said. "So...you've seen the channel?" Scotty didn't say anything. He peeked over at me, and then back at Jesse. I couldn't even imagine what was going through his head right now. Jesse took a deep breath and simply told us, "Come on in, you guys. We'll...have some fun. No need to stand on the porch all day, right? Heh..."

And Scotty did manage to swallow down whatever it was that he was feeling at that moment, but it was easy to see that his whole mood had shifted again. God, please...

...Don't tell me that I screwed this up!