#easyupdate

As for the company, Kyle has no idea what to expect from his date. He knows his name is Bradley, knows that his mom has some connection to Kyle’s mom. He assumes that both of their parents seem to have a penchant for setting their respective sons up on blind dates, and that’s about it.He’s not expecting anything to come of tonight, that’s for sure. He’s been set up on enough of these dates to know how they go. He predicts another night sat across from someone, forcing awkward conversation with a guy he would never willingly go out with. He expects to enjoy his meatball parmesan and pretty much nothing else. He expects his date to be a little like him but not too much; not so similar to Kyle that they’ll actually get along, but awkward enough that his mom sets him up on blind dates.Kyle is thinking over the reassuring speech he knows his mother will give him when he sees her next, and so he takes no notice of the man approaching his table, until said man is standing over him, clearing his throat. Kyle looks up from the drinks menu he’s been pretending to study, eyebrows raised. The man is handsome, wearing fitted jeans and a leather jacket over a checked shirt. He looks like the type of person that is overly confident and popular. Not Kyle’s type. Upon first glance, Kyle would decide he doesn’t have the patience to talk to someone like this, but the stranger has somewhat forced his hand.“Can I help you?” Kyle asks, giving the man an expectant look.“I hope so,” replies the stranger, his lips quirked a little into a grin. Kyle feels like he’s being mocked, squints a little behind his glasses, his eyebrows creased. His opinion of the confident man is somehow falling even lower. Hih “I’m supposed to be meeting Kyle?”“You’re Bradley?” Kyle exclaims, disbelief obvious in his voice, in his wide eyes, and eyebrows that are now raised. Brad laughs and it’s a nice sound. It’s more genuine than the cocky grin, and suits him better, Kyle thinks.“Brad’s fine, but yeah,” Brad confirms with a nod. “Hi. Do you mind?” Brad gestures to the chair opposite Kyle, and Kyle, still a little shocked, nods slowly, making an active effort to keep his jaw closed despite the urge to let it drop as he stares at Brad in wonder. This does not look like the kind of person who needs their parents to arrange dates for them, and Kyle’s a little stunned.“Yeah, sure,” Kyle manages to say, but only after Brad has pulled the chair out and draped his jacket over the back of it. Brad grins at him as he sits down.“So, do you do this often?” Asks Brad, and Kyle has to make an active effort not to roll his eyes. He’s still trying to get a read off this guy, and for the moment all Kyle can think is he’s snarky and probably not Kyle’s type. No matter how objectively attractive he may be.“What, get Italian food?” He asks, keeping his tone serious. He’s playing dumb in response to the stupid and obvious question. “Yeah, I’d say I’m a fan.” Kyle’s answer makes Brad face light up, amusement in his eyes and in that stupid grin which is back on his face.“Is that why you’re here, because you love Italian food?”“It was a huge factor, yeah,” Kyle replies bluntly. He really has no interest in trying to be overly polite, or in trying to impress this guy. If his track record is anything to go by, Kyle won’t see Brad again after tonight anyway, so why bother pandering to him?“That’s fair,” Brad chuckles. “Blind dates don’t tend to be all that exciting.”“I can’t say I’m going to break that trend for you,” Kyle warns him. “I’m not really an exciting person.” Brad grins, like he knows something Kyle doesn’t and it just makes Kyle narrow his eyes a little again.“Hey, at least let me be the judge of that,” insists Brad. “Maybe my luck’s changed.” Kyle wants to roll his eyes again. He just wants to enjoy his food, has already had enough of Brad’s attempted smooth-talking for now.“Maybe,” Kyle mutters, though he’s clearly not convinced that Brad will even find him vaguely interesting. He goes back to looking at the drinks menu and Brad feels a little dejected. He thinks Kyle’s cute, likes his upfront, no nonsense attitude. He wants to get on Kyle’s good side.“You don’t think this could be an okay date?” Brad asks, keeps his tone light, curious. Kyle clearly hasn’t offended him. Kyle sighs heavily, looks back up from the menu again.“Look,” he says flatly. “It’s nothing personal. Just, speaking from experience, these dates don’t work out all that well.”“So you are experienced,” notes Brad, smirking a little at the fact he’s managed to get Kyle to answer his previous question. Kyle scoffs.“Yeah,” he snaps. Brad’s grin doesn’t falter as he sees Kyle’s frustration at himself grow. “I’m experienced. You wanna know my experience? I go on a date that my mom has arranged for me, sit opposite some person who is vaguely like me, and spend the night eager to go home again because and the company is terrible and I’d rather be alone.”“Sounds like we have pretty similar life experiences then,” Brad quips with a grin.“That tends to be pretty standard too,” Kyle answers, still not pleased. Brad’s overly optimistic attitude is starting to grate on him. Kyle’s being obviously miserable, but it’s not putting Brad off; if anything it’s making him act like he likes Kyle even more. “Oddly enough, the kind of quiet guys who need their parents to set them up on dates have similar backgrounds.”“Hey, who said I was quiet?” Jokes Brad, a teasing smile on his face. He’s so flirtatious, it almost pains Kyle to witness him. They seem to be complete opposites.“I will admit, you certainly break the mould on that front,” Kyle concedes, with no trace of joy in his voice. Brad grins triumphantly anyway.“See!” He cries. “Maybe this could be a date that puts an end to both of our unlucky streaks. I’m already spicing things up for you.” Kyle winces at that, smiles despite himself, though it’s more a pained look than one of genuine amusement.“Please don’t,” he laughs, an awkward and uncomfortable noise. “Don’t call yourself spicy.”“I never said I was spicy!” Brad protests with a laugh. “I just said that I’m making things more interesting.”“Being more interesting doesn’t necessarily mean you’re more appealing,” Kyle points out. Brad shrugs.“Maybe not. But, I could be both,” Brad counters with a look Kyle knows is supposed to be suave, but he finds it a little obnoxious. Kyle sighs. He doesn’t know what Brad expects him to say to that.“You’re off to a bad start,” he says, back to his blunt attitude. Now it’s Brad’s turn to sigh, shoulders slumping a little. It’s like Kyle can see him physically drop the cool guy attitude. Brad smiles sheepishly and Kyle likes that infinitely more than the cocky grin.“Alright, sorry. Can I start over?”“Sure?” Kyle agrees, his brow furrowed, his face a picture of confusion. What is the deal with this guy?“Okay,” Brad breathes. “Hi. I’m Brad, I prefer barbecue to Italian, but you seem really cool, so I don’t mind that we’re not getting barbecue.” He’s met with silence for a few moments, as Kyle stares at him, lips mouth slightly agape. He really can’t believe this.“That was… sort of better?” Kyle manages finally, but he’s still confused.“I’m sorry man, I don’t really go on that many dates, I’m not sure what I’m doing.”“You don’t go on that many dates?” Asks Kyle, eyebrow arched and voice dripping with disbelief.“Not really? Why do you sound like that?”“Because!” Kyle exclaims, gesturing to Brad. “Look at you!”“Yeah dude, I’m just another average guy.”“No, Brad, you’re like—” Kyle cuts himself off, realises what he was about to say. Though Brad’s not letting him off that easily.“Like what?”

“You’re like, super good looking,” Kyle continues, somewhat begrudgingly.“Says you!” Brad exclaims. “Have you seen yourself?”“Yeah, I’ve seen myself, I’m a huge nerd, Brad.”“Then that makes two of us!” Brad cries with a grin. “Two nerds who find each other attractive.” Kyle groans and hides his face.“I can’t believe I told you that,” he grumbles to himself, but Brad chuckles.“It’s fine, we’re on the same page, right?”“I mean. I guess so? But for the record, I when I first saw you, I thought you were not my type and out of my league.” “Out of your league?” Brad echoes. “Why?”“Because,” Kyle huffs, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “You came in with your skinny jeans and your leather jacket and your charming smile, and I’m sat here on a date that my mom set up for me because she worries that I’m lonely.” Brad chuckles at that.“Well, my mom set me up on this date too, so. I’d say were in the same league.”“Yeah, what’s the deal with that?” Kyle asks. Because apparently they’re having an actual conversation now, and apparently Kyle doesn’t hate talking to Brad.“The deal with what?” Questions Brad, a little lost.“Your mom setting you up on dates. You don’t look like a guy who needs his mom to get dates for him,” explains Kyle.“Oh! Yeah, that. Well, funny story, my mom assumed I was dating my best friend for years. I’m talking like, since we were teenagers. Then recently she casually asks me if we’re ever gonna get married and I had no idea what she was talking about. So, after a lot of clearing things up, she realised that I’ve been single all this time, and now she thinks I need to be dating someone. So here I am! Dating,” Brad nods once and grins at him. Kyle lets out a laugh of disbelief.“Are you for real?”“Yeah, dude! It’s crazy, right?” Kyle nods his head, lets out another laugh.Their waitress comes and takes their orders, returning a few minutes later with their drinks. Their conversation comes much more easily now, and they talk about their lives, their jobs, their interests. Kyle learns that Brad’s a hairdresser, and when Kyle reveals that he’s a QA tester, they discover they’re both incredibly enthusiastic about video games. Of course, Brad’s not the first date Kyle’s had who likes games, but he’s the first person Kyle has enjoyed talking to about them. Brad’s opinions are interesting, and whilst Kyle doesn’t agree with him on everything, he likes their discussion.They move on from the topic of the 3DS and Pokémon before Kyle can get genuinely offended at Brad’s (idiotic) opinion that the games have rapidly gone downhill and are no longer interesting or relevant enough for Brad to play them. Brad’s the one who cuts him off, asks about the games Kyle has worked on, which prompts Kyle to start explaining the development of Guitar Hero and DJ Hero.After a short while, Kyle stops talking, waves a hand and snaps his fingers in front of Brad’s face.“I’m sorry, what? I keep getting lost in your eyes,” Brad says after a few moments of Kyle looking at him expectantly. And Kyle wants to go back to hating him, he really does. He wants to hate Brad because he wasn’t listening and because that’s the cheesiest line Kyle thinks he’s ever heard and Brad doesn’t look like he’s joking. Kyle wants to hate him, but Brad is cute and charming, and Kyle enjoys talking to him, when Brad actually listens. Kyle wants to hate him, but instead his eyebrows raise and a smile of disbelief tugs the corners of his lips upwards.

“Are you even real?” He asks, laughter in his voice. “What is this?”

“Dude, I’m sorry, you just have really nice eyes.”

“No, Brad, my eyes are stupid. I’ve got a stupid face with stupid eyes. What is wrong with you?”

“Nothing’s wrong with me!” Brad protests, gets this teasing look about him. “There might be something wrong with your really nice eyes though. I don’t think they’re working properly. Maybe you need new glasses or something.”

“How,” Kyle groans, laughing again. He reaches for his shoulders before remembering they’re at a nice restaurant and Kyle’s not wearing a hoodie; he can’t pull the hood over his face and hide from this. Instead he rests his elbows on the table and hides his face in his hands as he giggles. “How can anyone actually be like this? You sound like you’ve been picked right out of a romcom.”

“Is that bad?” Brad questions, and though the fingers over his eyes prevent Kyle from seeing the fond smile on Brad’s face, his tone is light, laced with amusement. Kyle wants to hate him even more.

“I don’t know, Brad,” Kyle admits, pulling his hands away. He looks at Brad and Brad looks back, both of them grinning. Brad arches one eyebrow, questioning, and it makes Kyle smile, all open mouthed and gleeful.

“You don’t know if I’m bad or not?”