"I give this a solid one out of five stars," Todd stated flatly, breath slightly laboured and looking extremely unimpressed. Sweat had his hair plastered to his forehead and his black V-neck clinging to his torso. Levon couldn't help thinking how good the shorter man looked, all hot and irritated, in jean shorts and hiking boots, gripping the straps of his bag with annoyance.
"You're hardly giving it a chance," Levon argued with laughter and Todd sent him a tight-lipped glare that hinted at a smile. Todd clearly wasn't hating the date as much as he claimed, though he stubbornly clung to his miserable façade.
"You promised me a good time and all I'm getting is sunburnt and bug-bitten," Todd retorted. "I have to express my disappointment."
"Or maybe you're just cranky because my mom was teasing you about the date," Levon smirked slightly and Todd's glare was real now. Bree had been so ecstatic to hear about the date, had packed them food and had all but forced them to take pictures before they left. Levon had been more than amused by his mother's antics but Todd's discomfort had made it all the more perfect.
"Maybe you should shut up before I kill and you ditch your body here," Todd threatened.
They were walking side by side on the narrow trail. It wasn't a popular trail, almost completely uphill, rather hard to find and quite a long trek. But Levon had made the trip before with his siblings and the cliff it lead to was breathtaking. Todd was always a sucker for pretty sights.
After more than five hours of walking through the forest, Tod was clearly enjoying himself despite his complaints about wasting his day off work. Levon knew how much the guy loved the outdoors. Levon knew that he would enjoy the view and that this was exactly Todd's kind of date. Todd just wasn't ready to admit it yet.
"Can I have more bug spray?" Todd asked, holding a hand out and Levon swung his pack off his shoulders, slowing his walk slightly so he could fish the bottle from his bag and chuck it to Todd. "Little fuckers are eating me alive."
"You must taste delicious," Levon mused, glancing at Todd as he sprayed a ridiculous amount of the substance of his body. "I'd ask for a taste but I'm pretty sure you've reduced yourself to pure chemicals with all the bug spray and suncream you've put on."
"Good," Todd's lips twitched into a crooked smile. "I can keep more than one pest away."
"I'm going to pretend that didn't hurt my feelings," Levon told him and replaced the bug spray in his pack before resituating the bag on his shoulders. The sun was high and bright in the sky casting wonderful shadows across the path in front of them. Levon was quite certain that they were almost there.
"If that hurt your feelings I don't know how you plan to survive the rest of this date," Todd said, the word 'date' leaving his lips awkwardly and Levon had to smile, humming in amusement.
Todd tripped on a root and almost went crashing to the ground, several creative curses leaving him. Levon burst out laughing, reaching out to try and help but only managing to send himself stumbling after the other man when Todd's momentum dragged them both closer to the ground.
"Damnit, Todd!" Levon chuckled. "I thought you said you knew how to walk!"
"I didn't see the root!" Todd defended. "I was looking for the rabbit we saw earlier."
"Idiot," Levon snickered. They righted themselves and Todd huffed in annoyance.
"Don't start with me, Lev," Todd warned. "There are much better things I could be doing with my day off."
"Like what?" Levon challenged, eyes alight with laughter. "Hang out in my room and avoid my family?"
"You say that like you haven't been avoiding them too," Todd grunted, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.
"I haven't been avoiding them," Levon grinned. "They don't bother me with their teasing. You're the only one who gets all butt-hurt whenever someone brings up that fact that you've been kissing me behind their back."
"It's all your fault," Todd kicked a rock and Levon smirked.
"It's my fault for kissing you?" Levon asked and Todd's lips twitched.
"Yeah," he nodded. "Now everyone thinks I'm as gay as you are."
"Oh, the horror," Levon mocked and Todd laughed a little.
"But it's all your fault they noticed the hickey," Todd grimaced, pointing roughly to the faded spot on his neck. Levon eyed it with appreciation, not willing to admit how much he liked seeing his pathetic claim, knowing Todd would kick his ass without a doubt.
"You should have covered it if you didn't want anyone to see it," Levon deadpanned and Todd sent him a glare. Not as angry a glare as they had been in the past few days, Todd had gotten over some of his previous anger, thankfully.
"You shouldn't have put it there in the first place," Todd snapped, the same argument as always, cheeks pinkening. "I'm a lifeguard. I don't have anything to cover my neck. Everyone at work wants to know who my new girlfriend is and they don't believe me when I tell them I'm not seeing anyone."
"I'd like to point out that you actually are seeing someone," Levon said and Todd rolled his eyes. "And this someone wouldn't mind at all if you went and told all your coworkers who it was that put those pretty marks on your neck."
"Well, I'd rather this someone shuts his mouth and let me deal with my own problems."
"Don't want anyone knowing you're kissing little ol' me?" Levon teased, pricks of hurt working their way through him.
"Can't say having people know would be the end of the world," Todd muttered, glancing at Levon with that shy look in his eyes. "But I've gotta say that I like when we're private. When what we do is just ours and no one can ruin it for us."
That was enough to appease Levon for the time being.
They arrive about a half hour later, breaking out of the trees and coming out into the relatively small, clear area that lead to the edge of the cliff. Todd blinked and slowly took in his surroundings with wide blue eyes. Levon looked around, happy to see it was as beautiful as it had been the first time he was here.
The long green grass was littered with wildflowers and massive rocks. The cliff was sturdy and overlooked the forest. A vast sea of treetops, a scattering of buildings in one distance and mountains in the other. The sky was a perfect blue expanse, the sun beating down on them with early afternoon warmth.
"This is so fucking corny," Todd finally spoke and Levon glanced at him, watched the dazed way that Todd took in the view. "I literally can't stand you."
"Just wait, Toddy," Levon smiled and Todd dragged his eyes from the treetops to look at Levon. "We're having a picnic here too."
"Please tell me it's those chicken wraps your mom was making this morning," Todd said, face brightening and Levon laughed, nodding his head in affirmative and Todd groaned in appreciation.
They dropped down onto the soft grass, not as close to the cliff as they could be. It was very windy and Levon was afraid their food would blow away.
Todd seemed to melt into the ground, settled into the grass and flowers and looking far too much like a work of art for Levon to handle. Levon had a hard time keeping his eyes on the food he was pulling out of his bag, setting it out between them. Todd watched with enthusiasm but started laughing when Levon pulled out a thermos with cold wine in it and two travel cups.
"A romantic meal, right?" Levon winked and Todd just grinned his crooked grin, blushing adorably. He snatched up a wrap, there were several wrapped in tinfoil, and started eating.
"Four out of five stars," Todd said after a few moments and Levon had finished pouring two cups of white wine. Levon looked up in amusement.
"Just four?" Levon gestured to the view. "After I brought you all this."
"You're making me feel like a character in a shitty romance movie and that's kind of ruining this for me," Todd said, eyes dancing with humour and Levon chuckled.
"So, you're saying this is too perfect so I don't get a five star review?" Levon snickered and Todd nodded. Levon grabbed a wrap for himself and Todd was nearly done his first. "I'll shoot lower for our next date."
"Who says you get another date?" Todd snorted and Levon smirked.
"You say that as if there's a possibility you'd say 'no' to another date," Levon said and Todd threw a loose piece of lettuce at him.
"Don't get cocky," Todd warned. "You'll lose another star that way."
"I wouldn't want to lose that," Levon rolled his eyes. "I need good ratings be able to attract any other potential mates."
"Ew." Levon laughed at Todd's grimace.
"Just kidding, darling," Levon patted Todd's arm. "You're the only potential mate I have."
"We've talked about the pet names, Lev," Todd scowled.
"I don't remember you being this difficult when we were younger," Levon sighed, playfully eyeing Todd. "What happened to you?"
"I let you trick me into hanging out with you," Todd looked pained and Levon laughed.
"You keep saying that like you didn't want to hang out with me," Levon smirked. "I was adorable."
"You were this weird, little, bullied kid," Todd disagreed. "You wore all those stupid outfits even though all the other kids kicked the shit out of you."
"They just didn't understand fashion," Levon said, lips curled into a small smile and Todd gave him a fond look.
"You annoyed the hell out of me," Todd smirked, then face became warm, sadness and even shyness creeping up on him. "You called me your hero when I stopped the other kids from bullying you. But I didn't want to be your hero. I'm not made to save people."
Levon blinked at him with mild surprise at the burst of honesty and Todd swallowed thickly, eyes dropping as he picked at his food. "You were my hero back then, but that's not why I wanted to be your friend so bad. I'd been picked on since I was in preschool. I was always small and dorky, bad at making friends. But I wanted you because I wanted to make you happy."
Todd arched a brow. "You expect me to believe you didn't just want me around to stop the bigger kids from roughing you up."
"That was always a plus," Levon smiled slightly. "But I didn't care about them. I had Aisha and I was happy. But you were the saddest kid I had seen. You always look miserable. You always wanted to be alone."
"If you noticed that then why did you keep bugging me," Todd narrowed his eyes.
"Because you laughed when I told you that stupid joke," Levon grinned. "How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh?"
"Ten-tickles," Todd didn't look impressed while he answered and Levon laughed.
"You looked beautiful when you laughed," Levon sighed wistfully. "And I wanted to be the one making you laugh."
"You make me want to puke," Todd said flatly, face hot.
"I don't know how long I've been in love with you exactly, but I'm pretty damn sure it was early on. Before I realized how much of a prick you are." Todd was silent, gazing at him with disbelief. Levon smiled back warmly. "Now I know how much of a prick you are, but I've come to know that I really do love pricks too."
"Oh, fuck off," Todd scoffed, the soft moment broken and Todd sipped more wine. Levon grinned at the man.
They ate in silence for a little while, taking the time to enjoy the scenery and the food. There were birds flying in the distance, animals flicking through the trees, out of their sight. Levon couldn't have hoped for a better day.
He looked over at Todd while Todd started gathering up their garbage and storing it in his bag for later. Todd was perfect. Perfect with his large, impossibly innocent blue eyes, the messy black hair and the broad shoulders that were tight in his t-shirt. Levon couldn't have dreamed his life with anyone else, didn't understand how he had never noticed just how good this man was for him.
"I hope you know this means you're my boyfriend now," Levon stated and Todd paused, looking up at him with a small crease between his brows. His cheeks darkened and then he looked away, attention back on his task.
"I've been called worse," Todd conceded and the smile that spread over Levon's face was so instantly wide it almost hurt his cheeks. The rush of happiness almost made him dizzy.
Todd finished, looked up at Levon and rolled his eyes in embarrassment at Levon's obvious joy. "Don't go making a big deal out of this."
"I'm going to make a huge deal out of this," Levon promised.
Then they kissed. Long, sweet kisses that tasted of wine, the soft grass warm under their bodies. Levon was certain that nothing could make the day more perfect.
***
Anyone else think hiking is a perfect date idea? ;)
Let me know what you think! Vote or comment. Much love! xoxo