handmade jewlery

      Daniel was a little happy he wasn’t the only one embarrassed in this situation. His face did burned red again at the mention of why he came in here, “I would rather not answer that question. The answer is embarrassing.” He would never admit to making up an excuse to walk in. He probably would’ve bought Amelia a bracelet to cover up that fact.

      Daniel scratched the back of his neck, “If you say it like that there’s no way I can complain. Why do you have to be attractive, and have a great personality? I mean that’s a bit unfair to me. I don’t know what to even say to how adorable that is.”

      Daniel nodded quickly, “I mean I need to walk around to get rid of my nerves.” His eyes widened at the words, “Why don’t you want me to leave? Shouldn’t you be a bit creeped out by now? That’s what usually happens in these situations. I don’t know how to react.” He was about to start hyperventilating. This man who he found extremely attractive wanted to be around him, and he just couldn’t understand it.

        Daniel needs to learn to control how much he talks. He couldn’t help how panicked he was. It wasn’t everyday you talk to someone you’ve been slightly interested in for the past couple of months. It seemed impossible, but his face darkened even more. He couldn’t help, but get embarrassed when the older male talked so kindly.

         “Kale? That’s interesting. I haven’t uhm heard that before. I’m just surprised you noticed me. I’m kinda not noticeable. You probably were just bothered with how loud Amelia is. Yeah that’s it.” Daniel tried to reason with himself. Why else would someone pay attention to him?

          “I don’t think I could find that creepy if I tried. It’s more endearing than anything.” Why couldn’t he stop spitting out his every thought? He was mortified and covered his face, “I’m a bit embarrassed right now so please disregard everything I just said. I want to go crawl in hole.”

      He really didn’t expect to be held back from leaving. Nor for the jeweler to know his name. Had he been paying attention to Daniel? How was that even possible. Daniel was so average. There was nothing special.

       He was confused on why he was so attracted to a stranger. Someone who he didn’t even know his first name. Maybe that confusion came out as fear. He wasn’t necessarily afraid of the older male, just afraid of his fascination, and what the older male would think about it. I mean how creepy is it to plan his route home to see someone where he didn’t even know their name.

       He turned around to face the taller male. He might as well toughen it out, and ask his name at least. That was the best Daniel could do in his flustered state. He took a deep breath before holding the others warm amber gaze again. He could deal with his burning cheeks later, “I didn’t know you had even noticed me. I changed my whole route home to pass here. That must seem really creepy. I’m sorry if I freaked you out.” He was a bit mortified that he just confessed that. What was wrong with him? It couldn’t get worse probably.

       His eyes widened a bit, and he cast a glimpse to his bracelet. He was right. The jeweler had made it for him. He let a slight smile spread across his face as he addressed the taller, “It’s gorgeous. I really like it a lot. I’m wondering though if you could at least tell me your name. I haven’t heard it, and I can’t help but be curious.” Was that creepy sounding? Maybe. Daniel just decided to not care at the moment.

        “You didn’t scare me. I hope I didn’t scare you though. I’m just really shy, and I couldn’t get up the courage to come talk to you. Plus my sister Amelia is studying criminology, and she liked to constantly remind me I was acting like a stalker. That freaked me out quite a bit.” Word vomit much? He cursed at himself. He needed to learn how not to sound like a weirdo in front of people he found attractive.

Despite everything about this gently awkward and intensely rocky first interaction, Kale is distracted by how much he gets to hear Daniel talk.  Months of nothing and now he’s getting exposition and secrets and everything else.  Kale’s chest felt tight but breathing steady seemed to ease the feeling a bit.  Hopefully his smoke-scented breath wasn’t offensive... Maybe he’ll start smoking menthols...?

It was a lot to take in all at once but Kale’s brain is trained to take in hectic situations and only retain the important points.  Though, when the person unloading a verbal avalanche on you happens to be the boy you’ve been  lightly obsessed with, it’s a much harder to dismiss anything he says as unimportant.