Chapter 37

That weekend Dana officially found out about them, Alex excused himself after dinner. Daniel drove him home but didn't push for a sleep over. Instead he asks "Are you free next weekend? There is another restaurant I want to try."

With this, they start a comfortable dating routine. Saturday and Sunday during the day they spend outside, often with Peter, sometimes also with Dana, so that Zero can get all the exercise he needs. In the evening, they would go to one restaurant or another and end the night in Alex' apartment, making love to each other.

Also, now that Dana officially accepted them, Alex slowly starts to let his guard down. He is still a little tense when the siblings start teasing him, but he slowly gets accustomed to someone else knowing about their relationship. Peter thinks that his teacher and uncle have become good friends so they naturally spend a lot of time together. In the end, he doesn't care, as long as it means Zero stays with them more often.

Like this, the summer goes by in a flash.

Slowly, the city fills back up with all the students returning to university after the break. The town is bustling with life. When Alex chats with his co-workers, they all tell about their weekend activities. One of them really likes extreme sports. Her stories always are by far the most exciting. But Alex would never feel tempted to try this out. There are just some things in the world, he can live without.

"My boyfriend forced me in this action movie on Sunday. It was just shooting and shouting for two hours.... Apparently, it's a series and he really likes it. He owns all the DVDs and since I wasn't adequately excited about it, he forced me to watch the whole series afterwards and made me promise to give the movie a second shot... I can't believe I let me get talked into this.", Emily complains. She recently started dating a college student. But her complaining is quickly betrayed by the apparent smile on her lips. Despite everything, she is happy.

"What movie was it?", a co-worker asks. "Ah, the Hero-series' fifth episode, about the wolf man."

Alex' ears perk up. He watched the four previous parts throughout his childhood. He remembers how he and his brother marked the start of the film in the calendar weeks in advance. He can't believe he missed the newest release.

He takes out his phone and types: "Daniel, would you accompany me to the movies this Saturday? There is one I would like to see."

Seconds later the reply is shown on the screen. "Of course, love. Everything you want. Just tell me when I should pick you up."

Alex smiles to himself. This would be the first date in town for the two of them. They only went to restaurants and family outings. A real high school like date would be a first. He chuckles to himself. 'Should we also eat fastfood afterwards?'

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Alex told Daniel to pick him up at seven o'clock, so they would have enough time to reach the movie theatre in the city. He wears casual, but tight fitting clothes, knowing that it would please Daniel. With a last look in the mirror, he pats Zero good-bye (he would stay in the apartment, already walked and fed, since Alex will return - in company - later tonight) and starts towards the door to wait outside.

Some minutes later the black car rolls in front of the apartment complex. Without hesitating Alex climbs in.

"Hello, love." Alex blushes. Daniel wears a dress-shirt with rolled-up sleeves and dark jeans. It seems like he only got back from work. "Good evening, Daniel." He closes the door before he leans over, claiming the expected kiss. They had this routine for two months and he slowly grows comfortable with intimacy hidden by the tinted windows.

"You look really sexy tonight." Daniel leans in close and whispers in his ear. "I can't wait to get you home." When he sees the blushing Alex bite his lips, Daniel realizes that his teasing monumentally backfired. His lover looks so tempting he just wants to lean back the seat and devour this temptation.

"Stop this, love. Otherwise, I might attack you."

Alex blushes and leans back in his seat. But Daniel clearly hears him mumble "That wouldn't be such a bad idea, but I really want to watch that movie."

"Haha. If that movie is that good, I guess, we have to. And we still have the whole night." Daniel starts driving, but out of the corner of his eye he sees Alex smiling, with his face turned towards the window.

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The movie theatre is packed. Since the series has a huge fan base and the movie was just released a week ago, still many came to watch it. Alex already reserved some seats in the back rows, but only managed the second to last row with couple seats. Normally, he would be too embarrassed to book these, but since there were no options, he thinks that the other guests would not necessarily associate a couple seat with them being lovers.

This just shows how much Alex has grown in the last months and how good of a influence Dana's quick and whole-hearted acceptance was for him.

Daniel goes to buy popcorn and drinks and they can soon enter the theatre. The rows fill up quickly, only some seats in the back left empty. But these also filled once the advertisements start. They could hear the rustling of two people moving in the dark, searching for their seats.

The dark helps Alex to relax. Daniel already found out that his lover was getting easily excited by acting intimate in situations where they can't be seen but are close to other people. They wouldn't do anything obvious in the packed cinema. But the couple seat allows them to sit with close contact next to each other. Alex feels the heat of Daniel's hip and thigh against his. He intentionally shifts his weight to feel the warmth of his boyfriend. During the film, they share the straw of the drink, occasionally smiling at each other over the thought of an indirect kiss. And when they both reach for the popcorn in the bag they share, they sometime touch intentionally, letting the skin contact linger. Daniel often uses these instances to shortly grab his lover's hand and to give it a heartfelt squeeze or to circle with his finger on his lover's wrist or palm. It is all innocent, but the two surrounds a happy, blissful aura they are both unaware to.

When they just touch their hands in the bag of popcorn once again and smile at each other happily, a voice in Alex' back hisses in a low tone, "Wah, look at those gays. They are so shameless."

At once, Alex tenses and jerks his hand back. Daniel can only scowl at the person behind them, he doesn't dare to cause a scene and with that draw attention to their situation. Would he be alone or with someone else, he wouldn't care and just punch the bastard behind them. But he knows how sensitive Alex is towards these insults. He looks at Alex and his heart clenches when he sees how his boyfriend fights back tears, biting on his lower lip, a perfect picture of insecurity and hurt. Daniel reaches over to comfort him, but Alex flinches back, looking at him with panicking eyes. It was the same expression he had when Dana found out about them. It was like all of the growth of the last months went out of the window over the insensitive comment of one jerk.

Daniel clenches his fist. After the movie, he would make that guy apologize. ... But in his mind he knows, that Alex doesn't want that, that he only wants to get back home and bury himself under the blanket. So Daniel, feeling helpless, can only do two things: He forces his fists to unclench and gently touches his foot to Alex's, trying to comfort him in this not noticable way.

The film suddenly seemed extremely long.