Chapter Two: Closer

The silence that descended on their table was really uncomfortable.

  Syne couldn't bear to open his eyes and see the expression on Chris' face. What would he see? Anger? Disgust?

  "Syne?" 

  He felt Chris moving closer to clasp his hands on his own and that made him snap his eyes open instantly. He looked at his face, into his dark eyes and was surprised to see Chris smiling at him.

  "Syne", he repeated. "I'd like you to repeat what you said".

  "I like you", he said without thinking. This time he wasn't feeling embarrassed though, he felt confident for some reason.

  Chris nodded slowly. "Are you sure?"

  Syne couldn't resist the urge to roll his eyes. He'd been sure for years, but he didn't expect him to know that, so he just nodded in response.

  Chris smiled at his answer then, removing his hands from his and ate a bit of his pasta. He was eating in complete silence and from his expression, Syne could tell he was deep in thought. Seeing as he didn't flip out from his confession, he figured that what he was thinking about wasn't anything too terrible.

  But he couldn't help but feel nervous.

  "A- are you mad or…something?" 

  Chris looked surprised at the question. He shook his head. "Mad? No. I'm just…pleasantly surprised at your confession".

  Syne tilted his head. "Pleasantly?" 

  Chris chuckled softly. "Yeah. I mean, now I understand why you've been acting all sweet to me".

  Syne choked on his saliva and went very root red.

  Chris couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not straight so, me liking you's not impossible".

  "Wait, what?"

  "Your aunt's a bitch though, so I don't think that even if I really, really liked you she'd let me be".

  Syne blinked. "A bitch?"

  "I've been dying to say that for a while", Chris sighed. "I really want to break up with her, too".

  Syne's eyes widened at the new piece of information. "I don't think this was what I expected when I planned to confess".

  Chris rested his palm on his cheek, looking curiously at him. "What did you expect?"

  "Well…" Syne tapped his chin with his finger. "Firstly, I expected you to be angry, or disgusted– but you said you're not homophobic so that's out of the options– or maybe a straight up turn down, but you've not done that yet".

  Chris grinned. "I guess I'm just an awesome guy".

  Syne laughed at his boastfulness. "Yeah, right".

  "So, how long have you liked me?".

  Syne bit his inner lip, a bit unsure whether to answer, but decided to anyway. It wasn't like he could do any worse than just smile or laugh or look shocked.

  "Four". 

  "Four what? Weeks? Months?"

  "Years", he whispered, thereby shutting the man in front of him up. 

  "Four years?!"

  Syne nodded, taking a drink. "Yeah, since I was eighteen".

  "Why didn't you say anything since?" 

  Syne folded his hands on the table. "You were totally out of my league– still are. Plus, you are dating my aunt".

  Chris opened his mouth to talk, then closed it, then he opened it again. "You think I'm out of your league?"

  "Yup. You're hot, funny and a lot of other things that I'm not. And you don't exactly give off the gay vibe like I do, not that I'm ashamed of it though". 

  What he was actually referring to was the fact that he usually wore clothes of loud colors, with makeup and liked showing off a lot of skin – not all the time though, because he was in the medical field–  and… Well, you couldn't actually meet someone looking like he did and not assume that he was gay.

  "I'm bi", Chris said, white teeth gleaming under the lights. "Also, you should stop looking down on yourself, I think you're handsome and very much amazing and so does your family".

  "Coming from you, that's something", Syne muttered. "Thanks".

  "You're welcome".

  Their table became quiet again as they kept glancing at each other while eating. Or, to be specific, as Syne kept glancing at the beautiful man in front of him and blushing furiously to himself.

  Finally, Chris seemed to have had enough of the stares as he glared at Syne playfully.

  "You should take a picture and just place it in your room, maybe that'll be better".

  Syne laughed nervously while blushing.

  Chris laughed, but not in a condescending manner. "I know I'm hot, Syne. But I never thought I was that hot".

  "Trust me", Syne said, rubbing his red cheeks, "You are very hot".

  "You really like me that much, huh?"  

  Syne smiled. "Yeah. Not your fault though, I'm not forcing you to like me back or anything. I just wanted to let you know my mind before I lose my mind".

  "It's cool. I don't really know what it means to genuinely like anyone though, maybe it's because I've been with Sophie for so long".

  Syne winced at the mention of his aunt's name. "Yeah, she's not the best when it comes to emotions. Why are you guys even dating?"

  Chris shrugged. "I guess we're just stuck. Or maybe it's just me".

  "That sounds very complicated", Syne said. "Anyway, I don't plan on being in the middle of your crazy relationship".

  "So, you don't even want to try?" Chris teased.

  Syne couldn't help but laugh. "I don't want you to feel obligated to like me back, Chris. You can move on with your life now. I just wanted to tell you how I feel".

  "But– "

  "Let's eat please", Syne interrupted, laughing internally at Chris's expression.

  "We're so not done with this conversation", he heard Chris whisper.

  He ignored what he heard though and proceeded to eat his food, making loud sounds with his cutlery.