Part Nine

The sun rose and lit up Joseph's bedroom. He woke up from his sweet dreams and smiled when he remembered what happened last night.

He picked up his phone from the night stand and read the message that Nathan sent him.

Nathan : Morning beautiful. Would you like to have a date with me today at night?

A big grin immediately appeared on Joseph's face as he read the text. Without thinking twice, he replied.

Joseph : Of course love. What time?

Nathan : Maybe 1800 at the park near my house?

Joseph : Sure!

Nathan : See you tonight!

Joseph : See you!

Although he was just texting Nathan, he was already blushing. He put his phone in his pocket and went downstairs to have breakfast after washing up.

Jennifer saw Joseph going downstairs, looking really happy. "What happened to you? You looked extremely sad yesterday and now you are smiling?" she asked while watching TV.

"Where's Mom?" Joseph ignored her sister's question.

"In the backyard."

"Thanks!" he said before he walked towards the backyard.

His mom was watering watering outdoor plants while humming songs.

"Mom!" Joseph said as he leaned on the opened sliding door.

"Yes?" his mom stopped humming and turned around and looked at Joseph.

"Can I go out tonight?"

"Okay. When will you come back?"

"I don't know. I'll give you a call when I leave."

"No problem. By the way, your breakfast is in the kitchen. It's your favorite, pancakes."

"Thanks Mom!"

"Have fun tonight!"

His mom went back to water the plants while Joseph headed towards the kitchen to eat his favorite food, pancakes.

He took his food out of the kitchen and sat at the dining table. Jennifer saw him eating alone so she moved from the couch and sat opposite him.

"Hey! You haven't answered my questions. What happened yesterday?" Jennifer lowered her voice and leaned towards Joseph.

"Why are you keep asking that?" Joseph crooked his eyebrows. He was a bit annoyed by his nosy sister.

"Yesterday when we were having dinner, you didn't talk much. But now, you are smiling. What makes you change this quick? Something fishy is definitely going on!"

"Nothing. I'm just really tired yesterday. Today, I'm full of energy."

"Noo. It's definitely something more than that. If you're tired, why would you go for a walk yesterday? Why didn't you go to sleep? Why would you-"

"As I said, I'm just tired. The reason why I went for a walk was that I wanted to breathe in fresh air only. Okay?" Joseph cut her off.

"Really?" Jennifer looked at his brother with suspicion.

"Yes sis. Just... just watch your TV and leave me alone."

"Fine." Jennifer did a shoulder shrug and went back to the couch.

At the same time, Joseph went on eating his breakfast and had a sigh of relief. He once thought that his sister knew what's going on with him. Luckily, she did not know at all.

After finishing his breakfast, he went back to his room and lay in his bed. The upcoming date with his loved one was all that he could think of now.

'What are we going to do? Where are we going?' Joseph's mind was filled with different questions and imagination.

Time flew. It was already five at night. Joseph grabbed a yellow hoodie and a pair of black jogger pants. This was his very first date with his boyfriend so he was very concerned about his appearance. He wanted to look good and had good impression on the first date. He left home at half past five after putting on his black vans.

Joseph arrived to the park 10 minutes early so he sent Nathan a text that he had arrived already and Nathan replied him with a "I'm coming! 5 minutes.".

"It's fine." Joseph said to himself and looked around the park and found a bench. He sat down and waited for Nathan. Several pairs of couples were passing by with laughter. The sun was setting slowly and the light was steaming through the gaps between the leaves. The whole picture was beautiful but without Nathan, it was still an imperfect piece of artwork for Joseph. He decided to look through his phone while waiting for Nathan.

Meanwhile, Nathan was still fixing his hair in his bathroom.

"Don't you need to go out tonight, Nathan?" his mom said in the living room.

"Yes Mom. Almost done!" he replied before he continued making sure he that he looked good.

"Okay, good. Let's go Nathan." he said to himself in front of the mirror and left the bathroom.

He left home with a small box in his left hand and headed to the park.

After about 5 minutes, he arrived at the park and saw Joseph sitting on the bench alone. Nathan smirked as he thought of a good idea to approach Joseph. He walked behind the bench and hugged him from the back.

"Hello beautiful." Nathan whispered to Joseph's right ear while wrapping his arms around Joseph.

Joseph turned around at once and when he saw his loved one behind him, he had a really big grin.

"Nathan!"

"Let's go now."

"Where?"

"Just follow me."

Then the two boys left the park and they walked side by side towards their destination. Joseph did not know where they were going and he was looking towards to it while Nathan was not sure if Joseph would like the place that they were heading to.

They crossed many streets and passed a lot of people. Joseph wanted to hold Nathan's hand but when he remembered that they might get judged or even attacked, he would take his hand away and put his hands in his pocket. However, he was still very happy that he could go on a date with his loved one.

After half an hour, the two boys nearly arrived at their destination.

"Sorry for the long walk, but we are almost there." Nathan said.

"It's fine." Joseph replied with a smile as they kept walking towards the place for their first date.