Chapter 6: Watch Me
“Welcome to The Beyond Bar and Grill, just the three of you,” asks Matthew, who was the host that afternoon. Danial nodded, still looking at Jay who was taking an order from a brunette at the bar. Laura nudged him, nodding towards the bar.
“That brunette with your man is the girl I told you about.” Danial nods as Matthew starts to lead them to a table. “Hey Matthew, can we sit at the bar?” Danial’s eyes go wide for a second before turning to glare at a smirking Laura. Matthew nods.
“Sure, we offer our full menu up there. How are you, Laura? I haven’t seen you for a few weeks.” They take their seats at the bar. It was shaped like an L, with the long end ending at the doors to the kitchen and opening for serving staff to get in and out, while the shorter end ended at the wall that was lined with pictures and mixed martial arts posters. There were 10 seats along the longer end and 6 seats along the shorter one.
They had decided to sit near the wall on the short end, opposite where Jay was currently standing at the other end mixing a drink for a customer. Danial took his menu from Matthew as he and Laura continued their conversation, while Leor listened and asked questions. But they were the last thing on Danial's mind, all he could think about was the stoic brunette at the other end of the bar expertly spinning a mixer in his palm.
“Dan, are you listening to me?” Laura’s voice broke through the Jay-filled fog of his brain, bringing his attention back to his group.
“What,” he asks looking at her, scowling when he sees her smug expression.
“I was just asking you what you wanted to eat, but I think I answered my own question. Or are you the one that wants to get eaten?” She teases, nudging her head in Jay’s direction. Leor snorts, trying to hide in his menu with a shit-eating grin. Before he could tell her off the brunette that he was warned about came up to them.
“Laura! Hey, what are you doing here,” Britney asks energetically, making Danial snort.
“Britney, hey, we are just getting some lunch. Dan has never been here before so I thought he should try it. Right Leor,” she says looking at Leor, not wanting Britney to know that they were really here so Danial could talk to Jay. Leor nodded his head with a big smile.
“Ya, I haven’t been here either, so this was the perfect time for us to try the food.” Britney smiles, turning to Danial, eyeing him up and down. He cocked an eyebrow at her, wondering what she was planning. She turns to look behind her, seeing that Jay is walking this way.
“Dan, huh, a cute name for a hot guy.” She flirts with him, giving him a seductive smile and wink. Danial moves away from the crazy chick, knowing she was just doing this because Jay was coming this way.
“I’m gay and it’s a nickname, Pink Cheeks.” Laura and Leor both try not to laugh at Britney’s offended look.
“Danny? What are you doing here? Oh, wait stupid question, ha-ha. What can I get you guys to drink,” Jay asks, finally standing in front of them, slightly pushing Britney out of the way. Her face instantly sours when she realizes who the blonde is. “Britney what are you doing here? I just set that drink down at the other end for you to take to the customer.” ‘Is Deku forcing her to leave?’ A smirk rises to Danial's face at the humiliated look on Britney’s face. With a huff, she stooped away.
“Sorry about her,” Jay says, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, eyes looking down at the floor.
“I thought she stopped doing that. What happened,” Laura asks concerned, she knew how much Jay hated Britney’s behavior and how uncomfortable it made him.
“She started to pick it back up again the last couple of days. Especially after this morning,” Jay says, looking at Danial, who is still staring at him. Danial could see the apology in those jade orbs that he had become so addicted to. Jay couldn’t seem to look away now that Danial was so close and staring right back at him, blue eyes filled with possessiveness from thinking about the brunette trying to get close to his Deku.
Laura looked between the two who were clearly in their own little world and smiled, nudging Leor who was also looking with his own smile.
“I give them two weeks till they are dating,” Leor whispers to Laura, who snorts and nods.
“What happened this morning Izu,” Laura suddenly asks the two, who jump apart when they hear her voice. They didn’t even realize that both of them were starting to lean forward over the bar. Turning to look at the dirty blonde, Jay sheepishly takes a step back looking anywhere but at the blonde, while Danial was glaring daggers at Laura before turning back to Jay with a cocky grin.
“Well, umm, Danny gave me his number before we went our separate ways this morning and Britney saw my happy mood and asked about it, but when I told her why she got mad and said some stuff. Anyways it’s no big deal.” Jay’s mood instantly started to sadden as he remembered what Britney had said that morning to Skyler. Danial immediately noticed the change in Jay and reached for his hand without thinking. Sitting forward on the bar stool, reaching out, and grabbing ahold of Jay’s hand lacing their fingers together on instinct. Jay immediately looked up into Danial's warm blue eyes also seeing gentle smiles on his face, jade eyes softening and filling up with the same warm emotion. A loving smile settles onto Jay’s face as he calms down, thankful for Danial being with him. Laura, Leor, and Britney were staring at the pair, two of them loving the display for future blackmail and teasing purposes, while the other was pissed and was about ready to burst.
Skyler walks out of the kitchen from the office to see a fuming Britney, he is completely taken back, but then he follows her jealous gaze to see Jay and Danial holding hands and staring at each other with so much love it should be illegal. ‘Ya, just friends my ass.’ Skyler thinks smiling. He watched as Jay brought Danial’s hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it, making blue eyes widen slightly before softening once again. ‘Fuck I hate to do this, but if I don’t the bitch is going to lose her shit.’ With that sad realization, Skyler walks over to the pair.
“Jay, I hate to ruin your moment, but Britney is about to go ballistic. I am so sorry,” Skyler says, looking at Jay before turning to look at Danial saying the last bit. They finally come back down to earth looking at Skyler, before looking back at each other and realizing what just happened. Jay practically turned into a red neon light completely embarrassed, while Danial looked frozen in place, a shocked look on his face with a slight blush.
Laura and Leor shared an amused look knowing they were going to have so much fun torturing Danial about this for WEEKS. Skyler looked at them apologetically, knowing how much that moment likely meant to Jay. Who was shy and slowly turning to look at Danial. When he finally turned all the way to look at him, Jay found that Danial was already looking at him waiting to see what Jay would do. Once again sapphires met jade before looking down at their still joint hands. Slowly they let go of each other's hands, still staring into each other's eyes.
“Umm sorry about that, Danny. Thank you, Skyler, umm,” Jay says, trying to look away from Danial, but he can’t. He can’t bring himself to look away from that strikingly beautiful face that he wants to kiss so bad it hurts.
Danial could see the internal battle going on inside Jay as he looked at him. Jay was still standing close to the bar top, maybe 3 feet from Danial. His blue eyes still stare at Jay softly, watching him closely. Danial reached out and rubbed Jay’s arm, trying to soothe whatever battle was going on in his mind.
‘Breathe in, breathe out. Danny you really are going to be the death of me.’ Jay thinks collecting himself. What he didn’t know is he was mumbling. He heard Laura and Leor snicker before picking up their menus and hiding behind them. Danial drew back his hand and a smirk rose on his face.
“Oh boy, good luck Jay,” Skyler said patting him on the back before making his way back to the office. That’s when it hit Jay that he was mumbling, his face was once again bright red. Jade eyes still looking at where Skyler was before leaving.
“So, nerd, how am I going to be the death of you,” Danial asked, still smirking at Jay resting his chin on his joint hands as he rested his elbows on the bar top.
“You… ah… You are… just so special that I can’t… can’t seem not to get distracted by you.” Jay had no idea why he all of a sudden was turning into a stuttering mess or why he said that. He turns to Laura and Leor who are still trying not to laugh. “Okay, I am so sorry for the distraction. What can I get you guys to drink?” All 3 of them couldn’t help but smugly smirk at their flustered bartender.
Eventually, they all ordered their drinks and Jay disappeared to make them. Laura and Leor turn to look at Danial who still had a dreamy look on his face looking over at Jay. Danial turns to look at them once he feels their eyes on him. He glares at them, knowing that they are about to comment on his little display with Jay.
“Don’t. Let’s just focus on our meal before we head back to the store. I still need to go in tonight to work at the hotline, so just shut up, order, and eat your damn food.” Their shit-eating grins only grew when they saw the slight blush growing on Danial’s face.
“Here you guys go. Now what can I get you to eat,” Jay asks, putting down their drinks and grabbing his notepad to take their orders. Laura gives Danial one final look before turning back to Jay, seeing the pleading in his eyes to not embarrass him more than he has done to himself today. Deciding to save it for another day, they ordered their food.
Throughout the entire meal, Danial and Jay continued to pass glances at each other, the longing and desire plain to see in their eyes each time they met. By the end of their meal, Danial left Jay a $100 tip and a note that said ‘Thank you for the amazing meal, and I’m not talking about the food. Night Nerd.’ Jay nearly had a heart attack when he saw the tip and the note. ‘Yep, he is gonna be the death of me.’