You Should Ask Him Out
“Where were you?” Scott asked when Peter got into the dorm room.
He’d almost forgotten he had a roommate, he was so happy. “I uh...just went out for a morning walk.” Technically it wasn’t a lie. The closer to the truth he stuck, the easier it would be to navigate.
“By yourself?” Scott looked impressed and a little worried.
Peter could say yes and be done with it, but then it would be considered a lie, and he didn’t know why he was lying anyway. It wasn’t like he didn’t want his friends to know about his friendship with Steve. They were all friends, right? And if eventually something happened between them, he’d want his friends to be cool with that. There was a part of Peter’s brain nagging him about the age difference though. But they were both adults. That was all that mattered.
“I went with Steve,” Peter replied.
“From the bar?” There was a little more shock and worry on Scott’s face.
“Don’t know any other Steve,” Peter said a little defensively.
“Huh,” was all he heard from Scott. Peter started grabbing his things for class and wondered whether he should take another shower after the hike he’d gone on. “So are you two uh…”
Peter turned to Scott at the question. “Are we what?” Peter could guess what Scott was trying to ask and he wanted him to finish the question.
“Are you two hooking up?” Scott finished.
He wished. Peter turned a little red in the cheeks. “No. We’re just friends.” He decided to take another shower and gathered some clothes. Then he turned back to Scott. “For now.”
“Huh?”
“We’re just friends for now,” Peter repeated. “I uh...I like him. And I want to be more than just his friend, but...I’m not sure how to go about it. I’ve never been with anyone.”
“Have you asked him out?”
“Mmm...kinda. Not really. No.” He had invited him out with them for Halloween, but that didn’t count as asking him out. It was a group activity, not a date. And their hike that morning was just a friendly outing. There had been no romantic intent as far as Peter understood.
“Then you should ask him out,” Scott said nonchalantly. “Take him to dinner. Maybe a movie.”
“What if he...only wants to be friends?” Peter didn’t even want to think about that. He’d get his heart broken before he even had a chance to have an actual reason to have his heart broken.
“Then there are plenty of other fish in the sea,” Scott said with a smile. “You’re bound to find someone, Petey. You’re not ugly. And you’re really sweet.”
Peter smiled at the compliments. “Thanks.” And he already knew he could eventually get over Steve. He’d done so with Ned and Michelle. Somehow he remained friends with them so maybe it would go the same way with Steve.
Peter took a quick shower and then went to class. He thought a lot about what he could do. He could be brave and ask Steve out, or he could nip it in the bud and just put himself in what heterosexual incels refer to as the “friendzone”.
He spent the whole day thinking about it until he finally got the courage to message Steve. “Hey, would you wanna watch a movie with me?” It was vague enough to not be asking him out on a date, but it still had the potential to be a date. He just had to see how Steve took it.
“Sounds like fun. What are we watching?” came the reply from Steve.
“Depends on when you want to go.” Peter gave Steve the opportunity to set the date so that he wouldn’t back out like he had on Halloween.
“How about Friday night? A client canceled on me lol.”
“Sucks for them. Friday night sounds good.” Peter spent the next hour looking up movies and showtimes that he could possibly want to watch. Eventually he settled on a horror movie. “How do you feel about Killoween?” he messaged.
“Ooh I’ve been wanting to watch it!” Steve wrote back.
“There’s showings at 7:30, 9, and 10:30 at the Marvel City AMC.”
“I’ll pick you up at 7ish then?”
“Cool thanks. I’ll be ready.”
Peter didn’t know if it was an actual date or not, but at least he was going to spend more time with Steve. If anything, at least he would get a really good friendship out of it.
Friday night came and Peter couldn’t figure out what to wear. He didn’t want to dress too fancy in case it wasn’t a date, but he didn’t want to dress too casual in case it was. At the last minute he settled on jeans and a shirt with a cute little spider pattern on it. The shirt had been a gift from Aunt May. He spritzed some cologne on himself and then threw the bottle on his bed before rushing out.
When he got outside, Steve’s car was waiting for him and Peter panicked a bit. “I’m sorry. I hope you weren’t waiting long,” he said as he got inside.
“No worries,” Steve said in a way that made Peter relax. Steve was so chill and Peter appreciated that about him. “Are you hungry? I’m hungry.”
“Yeah, I could eat,” Peter replied.
Steve drove them to a little 50s-themed diner named Carter’s that was near the theater. He told the hostess they were a party of two and were seated right away at a little table with two chairs facing each other. They sat and Peter nervously looked at the menu. He thought they were going to just watch the movie, but now that they were eating dinner, he was wondering if they actually were on a date. He knew they hadn’t actually spoken the word “date” even in a joking sort of way, but Peter couldn’t help but let his thoughts wander any which way.
Steve was even wearing similar attire to him, which kept things confusing. The jeans and a button up shirt look was classic for a date, but he’d seen Steve at the bar wearing the same thing just to be there by himself.
When the server came to take their order, Steve looked to him to order first. Peter had been thinking so much that he’d forgotten to pay attention to the menu and just ordered the first thing he saw. A cheeseburger plate. Steve told the server he would have the same thing.
Steve smiled at him and for a moment all of Peter’s worries left him. He asked how Peter’s week had been and Peter was able to talk to him about school and which classes and professors he liked and hated. Then he asked Steve the same and Steve talked about some of his most stubborn clients at work.
Their food came and they ate mostly in silence. Peter noted that the cheeseburger was good and the fries were perfect, and Steve agreed, telling him it was his go-to order, The Peggy Special. He also told him about how he loved to come to Carter’s before going to watch a movie because then he wouldn’t have to eat during the movie. Peter thought it was a solid idea. They probably weren’t on a date.
After they ate, Peter went to the bathroom to pee. He had nervously drunk a lot of water and it had finally caught up to him. When he got back to the table, Steve got up and asked, “Ready to go? Nine-o-clock showing’s gonna start soon.”
“Yeah,” Peter said, checking his phone for the time. “Where do we pay for the food?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Steve said. “Already paid for it.”
“Oh,” Peter said, confused once again about what was happening. Did Steve paying for dinner mean that they were on a date? Or did it mean he wanted Peter to pay for the movies? Or did Steve just have pity on him because he knew he was a jobless student living on whatever money his aunt sent him for the week? Either way, he had to offer to pay for something. “Thank you. But now you have to let me pay for the movie tickets.”
“Deal,” Steve replied after seeming to mull it over for a few seconds.
They got to the theater a few minutes before the previews started and even though Peter agreed with Steve about not needing to eat during the movie, he knew he had an oral fixation and had to have some kind of snack. He bought himself some overpriced candy and explained himself to an amused looking Steve.
The theater wasn’t full, but most of the good seats had been taken. Steve led them toward some seats in the center but close to the aisle. “In case we need to make a quick escape,” Steve said.
Peter laughed at that. “What, like if the killer comes out of the screen and attacks us?”
“Well, I meant more in case the movie sucks.”
“Oh, oh, right.”
“But who am I kidding? I’ve never left during a movie. Fallen asleep during one, but never outright left the theater.”
“I was about to ask,” Peter said with a light laugh.
Soon the movie started and they were quiet, though Steve leaned over to whisper his thoughts to Peter every once in a while. Some of them were jokes and others were guesses as to who was underneath the Killoween mask. It was a mystery slasher film about teenagers being hunted down on Halloween night.
Throughout the night, Peter offered his candy to Steve and Steve took some. Eventually, Peter just left the candy box in the cupholder between them so they could reach over whenever they wanted.
There were a few jump scares during the movie, to which Peter reacted with a jump and a loud, “Oh!” Steve laughed at that and then grabbed Peter’s shoulders, squeezing them a little to help him relax. Peter wasn’t a fan of the jump scares, but was definitely a fan of Steve’s hands on him.
When there weren’t any jumpscares, Steve’s hands were on the arm rests. Peter constantly glanced over at the hand that was closest to him and was tempted to move his own hand towards Steve’s. He wanted to make physical contact so badly that it would distract him from the movie and lead him to his over dramatic reaction during the next jump scare.
Once, they both reached toward the candy and touched hands. Peter quickly retracted his hand and apologized, but Steve just laughed it off and reached for the candy. Peter hoped it would happen again, but it didn’t.
When the movie ended, they spent the ride back home talking about it. Peter only talked about the parts he had remembered. And there was a lot he couldn’t recall because of Steve’s distracting hands. Still there was enough to talk about for Steve to get out of the car again. Peter was glad for it, knowing he would probably get another hug.
They said their goodbyes and Peter was right. Steve reached over for a hug and Peter took a big whiff again. He didn’t know if it was because they were both tired or if it meant anything else, but the hug lasted a little longer than the last time. Notably longer.
But Steve let go first again. “Tonight was fun,” he said. “We should do it again.”
“I’m down,” Peter replied. “Let me know if there’s a movie that you want to watch.”
This started Steve off with a new conversation about upcoming movies that he was looking forward to and five minutes later they were saying goodbye again. Another hug ensued, a little shorter this time, but still lengthy.
Peter then remembered something. “Are you going to Quicksilver tomorrow?” he asked.
“Yeah! Gotta get my Hulk fix,” Steve replied.
“Same! She’s so awesome!”
Steve and Peter then began a new conversation praising The Incredible Hulk and all her performances they had seen. Steve even took his phone out to show Peter some older videos of Hulk from prior years.
Eventually, they said their goodbyes again and hugged a third time. This time it lasted even longer and Peter took this as a sign that maybe Steve did like him. Maybe the night wasn’t definitively a date, but it had almost seemed like it.
When Steve let go, he was finally able to get back in his car and drive away. Peter still had his worries about what it all meant, but he’d gotten three hugs from Steve that night and it was better than he’d ever thought was possible. Because now he knew he actually probably maybe had a chance with Steve.