Darryl stood still on the sidewalk, dumbstruck. Zak, the person he was terrified of, but loved spending time with, kissed his cheek. What was he supposed to think about that? Zak had hated him only a few hours ago, he never expected anything like that would happen for a long time. There was no way Darryl could have expected that.

He stared straight ahead for a while, stuck in his thoughts. He couldn't believe what happened.

An owl hooting nearby startled him out of his thoughts. He needed to get home, it was almost midnight.

He pulled up his maps app on his phone, looking up how far his house was from where he currently stood. He realized it was about half an hour, not as long as he thought it would be. Darryl decided to just call an Uber instead of walking back to the subway and having to hop onto different lines to get home.

As he waited for the Uber, he sat on a bench near the sidewalk. A street lamp illuminated the bench while everything around him was dark. It looked line a scene from a movie.

While he waited, he decided to scroll through his phone to see if he could find what Zak did to it.

After a few minutes of searching, a car pulled up and the window rolled down.

"Are you Darryl?" A middle aged woman in the driver's seat called out, looking at him. He nodded, locking his phone and standing up. He walked over to the car and opened the back door, climbing in silently. Once he was buckled, she confirmed his address and they were off.

"Thank you, I know it;s late and you probably would prefer to be in bed." He spoke quietly, looking out the window. She looked back at him from the rear view mirror.

"No worries, hun. It's my job." She smiled before putting her eyes back on the empty road in front of them. After that, it was silent.

Darryl pulled out his phone again and kept scrolling and clicking, trying to find whatever Zak hid for him.

Suddenly, he had a thought. He clicked on the contacts app and scrolled down, looking at the Z's. He frowned, there was no Zak.

He scrolled back up, thinking he must have missed something. He reached the C's and stopped, a name caught his eye. It hadn't been there before.

"Cutie♡"

Smiling, Darryl clicked on the name. The photo popped up at the top, the same photo that was now his lock screen. He laughed quietly, thinking about how silly Zak was.

He noticed Zak had put his number in, so he clicked on the message option. Darryl sat for a moment with a black text screen, not sure what to say.

Since he couldn't think of anything clever, he just went with something simple.

Darryl 11:27pm:

I found it, Cutie.

He chuckled, hoping Zak would enjoy the message. Not even a few moments later, he phone vibrated and a text popped up.

Cutie♡ 11:27pm:

Took you long enough

Darryl 11:28pm:

Why the nickname?

Cutie♡ 11:28pm:

Wanted to make it hard for you :P

Darryl thought his use of emojis was cute, it didn't seem like something the brown eyed boy would use often. He felt special.

He decided to wait until he was home to send another message, since he wanted to send Zak a picture of his dog. He really loved his dog.

The ride was only about 5 more minutes, so he took the time to open his camera roll. He found the photo Zak took in his deleted folder and recovered it. Once it was recovered, he set the photo as his homescreen background instead of just his lock screen. He wanted to see it at all times, not just when he turned on his phone.

Soon, the car pulled up and the driver turned to look back at Darryl, letting him know they arrived. He thanked her, giving her a cash tip since he put his card in to pay online, and then he climbed out. He made sure to give her a 5 star rating on the app as he walked to his apartment complex.

Darryl used to share an apartment with his older brother, who recently moved out. Since then, he's been on his own with his little dog he liked to call a rat.

He made his way inside of the red brick building, heading to the elevator. He lived on the 7th floor, so he didn't usually take the stairs.

The elevator doors opened and he headed in, hitting the 7. The whole time, he was just waiting to text Zak back.

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket, but he didn't check it yet. He waited until he was in his apartment, shutting the door behind him. Darryl grabbed his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it to see another message from Zak.

Cutie♡ 11:38pm:

Why didn't you respond :( did you die

Darryl chuckled, clicking on the text line to respond.

Darryl 11:38pm:

Sorry, wanted to get home first. You'd know if I died, silly.

Cutie♡ 11:39pm:

I know, but I got scared

Darryl smiled at his phone, thinking it was cute that Zak was worried about him. He called over his dog, crouching down to pet her when she came running over. He pet her for a few seconds before he pulled out his phone and snapped a photo of her.

He sent the photo, along with a caption.

Darryl 11:40pm:

Someone else is happy I'm home too!

His phone vibrated almost instantly.

Cutie♡ 11:40pm:

OHMYGOD IS THAT YOUR DOG ITS SO CUTE I WANT IT!

Darryl laughed again, he couldn't help but notice Zak was making him smile nonstop. He wanted to keep smiling.

Darryl 11:41pm:

Yeah, that's my little rat. You could meet her sometime.

He didn't quite know why he said that, he didn't want Zak to take it as an invite in case it felt like he was being too forward. He didn't want to scare him away, he was already on his second chance.

Zak was laying on his bed like a teenage girl in high school. He was laying on his stomach, his phone clutched tightly in his hand. his legs were bent with his feet swinging up in the air. He had a blanket pulled across his body, hiding his face in a pillow.

He was currently squealing like a little girl, too. He sounded like Callie talking to her boyfriend on the phone.

Zak was clutching his phone close to his chest, his eyes shut tight in excitement. He didn't know why he was so excited, he was just extremely happy that Darryl said he could meet his dog.

That meant they would hang out at his house together.

He pulled his phone away from his chest and looked at it, his phone screen brightly illuminating his face. He wasn't sure how to respond to Darryl.

He thought for a moment, not wanting to be too forward.

Zak 11:42pm:

How about tomorrow night? I don't work the next day, so we could have a movie night or something.

He was satisfied with his response, he didn't feel that he came on too strong, but still gave Darryl

the hint.

His phone vibrated instantly, signaling Darryl responded.

Cutie muffin 11:42pm:

That would be perfect.

Zak squealed again, but covered his mouth. He didn't want to wake up his family.

He felt butterflies in his stomach, something he had all night since Darryl came in the store. He hadn't noticed them much until now, but every time Darryl looked at him, they grew stronger.

For some reason, Zak felt like he couldn't be mad at Darryl at all, despite what happened in the last few days. He just wanted to spend time with him and enjoy each other's company.

Plus, every time he looked into his green eyes, it seemed like they got brighter and brighter.

All night, Zak couldn't help but notice the colors around them. Darryl's eyes, the deep blue of the night sky, the yellow hues that street lamps cast down onto the sidewalk. All of it seemed so much more vivid now that he forgave Darryl.

He knew something was different, he just didn't realize what.

Zak wanted to spend time with Darryl, he wanted to keep holding hands and chatting all day. He wanted to look into his green eyes and just melt. He wanted to give him more kisses on his cheeks, and maybe just all over his face.

He wanted to hold Darryl and keep him safe from all the evil in the world, and take away all the pain from his past. He wanted to be there for him, no matter what.

Zak sat thinking for a long time, his phone in his hand. He never responded to Darryl, and realized his phone had vibrated a few times.

He unlocked his phone and clicked on their texts, seeing he had 5 messages from the green eyed man.

Cutie muffin 11:53pm:

Should I come meet you after work?

Is that ok?

Zak?

Hello?

Did you fall asleep, cutie?

Zak chuckled, typing out a response.

Zak 11:53pm:

Sorry, I was just thinking about how cute you look with glasses

That's fine, you can meet me and we'll go to your place from there. It's a date.

I can't wait to meet your puppy!

Cutie muffin 11:54pm:

She'll love you.

I'll see you tomorrow, get some sleep.

Zak pouted at that message, he didn't want to stop texting yet. He really enjoyed their conversations.

Zak 11:54pm:

Okay, goodnight!

Sleep well <3

He didn't know if sending the heart was too much, but he was relieved when his phone vibrated with Darryl's response.

Cutie muffin 11:55pm:

<3 goodnight

With that, Zak locked his phone and set it on his nightstand. He turned to lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling.

This position was very familiar, but this time it felt different.

Instead of crying and feeling the world was crumbling around him, the butterflies in his stomach fluttered freely and gave him goosebumps. Zak smiled and closed his eyes, picturing bright green ones peering back at him.

Darryl.

The one he vowed to never think of again.

The person who made him feel broken and unfixable.

His soulmate.

The same person who made him feel invincible, like he was soaring.

The one who gave his butterflies and shivers.

Darryl, who made him smile and laugh.

Zak couldn't wait for their date.

He picked up his phone again and read through the messages. He smiled, his grin growing larger at every line. Then, it dropped.

He stared at one of his last messages.

That's fine, you can meet me and we'll go to your place from there. It's a date.

He called it a date.

Zak sat up straight, pulling at his hair. He called it a date!

Why did he call it a date? Why didn't Darryl say anything? Is that why he went to bed? Did Zak scare him away? Did he mess this all up?

No, there's no way, Zak thought. He would've said something if he wasn't comfortable with it. I'm sure it's fine.

Still, Zak continued to freak out and overthink the situation. He was scared Darryl wasn't scared of Zak's forwardness.

He really hoped he would show up tomorrow night. Overthinking, Zak sent Darryl a quick message.

Zak 11:59pm:

Hey, sorry if you're asleep already

I just wanted to make sure, is it ok that I called it a date?

He waited to Darryl's response for a few minutes, sitting in agony. Suddenly, his phone vibrated. It lit up with a message from Darryl.

Cutie muffin 12:04am:

You didn't wake me, I was brushing my teeth

That's totally fine, why wouldn't it be?

Zak sighed in relief, happy that Darryl was okay with the word.

Zak 12:05am:

You just said goodnight so quickly I was scared that it wasn't ok

Cutie muffin 12:06am:

Nope, I'm looking forward to it, cutie.

I'll see you tomorrow, goodnight <3

Zak did a little happy dance, throwing his arms up above his head and laying back down on the bed. He locked his phone again, not before sending another goodnight text-with a heart, of course.

He was looking forward to tomorrow.