Elijah�s head snapped around.
Orlando stood with one shoulder propped against the order window staring at Elijah with something like frustrated determination.
Elijah shook his head, an instinctive quickshimmy of disbelief. �Don�t, I can�t�� Elijah shook his head again ignoring the words. He pointed at the menu. �Aren�t you getting anything?�
�What? No. Lij��
Elijah held up a hand. �You sure? Because��
Orlando shook his head. �No, dude, I had a burger earlier. Look, I�m trying to��
Elijah blinked at the single item. He turned to face the girl in the open window. �Make that two Double Tastees with bacon and cheese, a jumbo fries, a strawberry shake and a large lemonade.� Elijah reached for his back pocket. He felt a light touch on his elbow.
�I�ll get it.� Orlando hip-bumped Elijah out of the way and paid for the food. He lifted the tray with one hand and used the other to pick absently at an unraveling string on the hood of Elijah�s sweatshirt.
They walked in silence across the parking lot.
Orlando slid the tray on the table and folded himself onto the long bench. Elijah slid in next to him, a careful twelve inches away.
Orlando stared at the pile of food then abruptly turned on the bench, his knee sliding against Elijah�s hip. �I just don�t want you to think that you hurt me or anything. Because you didn�t, ok?�
Elijah nodded and opened the two hamburger wrappers. He flipped the buns off. He peeled the pickles off of one and the tomatoes off of the other and switched them.
Orlando frowned and pressed on. �And I was only talking to Billy because he�s�I mean, Dom and he�and Billy�s the�� He cleared his throat. �Billy�s like me. Like you�re like Dom. Only with me, obviously, not with�shit. You know what I mean.� Orlando scrubbed at one temple with his fingertips before stroking a hand back through his hair in an uncomfortable gesture. �Lij, he was just helping me understand. More. About things.�
�I know.� Elijah reassembled the pickle-only burger and pushed it in front of Orlando. He tugged the tomato-only burger closer and reached for a packet of ketchup.
Orlando frowned. �Lij.�
Elijah set down the ketchup and stared at the burger.
Orlando slid a finger through a belt loop on Elijah�s jeans. And tugged. Twice.
Elijah didn�t respond.
Orlando looked worried. He leaned down and tucked his face into Elijah�s line of sight. �Hey, you�re bein� all weird and shit. Do you want me to shut up?�
Elijah looked at Orlando, his eyes still swollen at the edges. He blinked. �No.�
Orlando blinked back. �Ok.�
They stared at one another across the remixed, reassembled slices of the last twenty four hours.
�You weren�t hard.�
Orlando made an unidentifiable sound. �It happens.�
Elijah�s brow furrowed. He reached for a fry, chewed, swallowed, and reached for his lemonade. While sucking on the straw, he handed Orlando the strawberry shake.
Orlando set the shake on the table.
Elijah set down his lemonade. �You didn�t want me to do anything. For you.�
Orlando did a weird twisty thing with his mouth. �I�not right then, no.�
Elijah face melted into wounded confusion. �But�why?�
The question tore at the chaotic gyroscope that was Orlando�s distress about why they were even having this conversation. Stopped it. Righted it. Each circle carefully aligned.
Elijah was hurt.
Orlando could fix it.
Orlando�s cheeks were flushed with color. He lifted one shoulder and took a long pull on his shake before answering, his voice scratchy with embarrassment. �I�felt like�I had to go.�
�Go?�
Orlando just looked at him.
Elijah�s mouth fell open, jaw hanging loose. He snapped it closed abruptly, his blue eyes widening in sudden understanding. He grinned for the first time in twenty four hours. �That�s why you disappeared into the bathroom?�
Orlando chewed intently on a fry. He nodded, and shrugged.
Elijah bit his lip to keep from chortling. �Dude, why didn�t you tell me? I thought�� Elijah shook his head and snorted.
�You thought what?� Now Orlando looked confused.
Elijah shrugged. �It�s stupid.�
Orlando poked him in the ribs. �Tell me.� He picked up his shake, sucking absently.
Elijah set down his drink and looked at Orlando. �I thought you didn�t want me to touch you. Like that. Anymore.�
Orlando snorted, choked and blew strawberry shake out of his nose. It looked like it hurt.
Elijah�s mouth fell open around a strangled laugh. He fumbled for napkins and handed one to Orlando.
Orlando sniffed and wiped his nose with a grimace. �Dude�� He blew again. �You�re insane. I spend the majority of my waking � and sleeping � hours thinking about you touching me.� Orlando crumpled the napkin and sniffed one last time, grinning at Elijah.
�Really?� Elijah knew the smile on his face was schmoopy. He didn�t care.
Orlando tilted is head. �I�d give up Baby for a single kiss.� His wide smile blurred into bliss. �I love you, Lij.�
Elijah melted into the curves and lines of Orlando�s body on the bench next to him, hip thigh and hands.
Orlando cupped the back of Elijah�s head, breathed a smile across Elijah�s mouth and�
�Whoa, fellas � what will the children think?�
Orlando and Elijah jerked apart, and a random flail of Elijah�s arm sent his lemonade flying across the table.
Orlando twisted around and breathed a de-panicked sigh of relief at the sight of Billy.
Billy grinned like a mad man and tucked his cell phone back into his pocket. He chuckled and slid into the bench across from them. �Orlando shown you the book yet, Lijah?�
Elijah blinked and shook his head, still dazed from�fucking everything.
Quarterbacks.
Boyfriends.
Allthewaysex.
And love.
Elijah got up and went in search of more napkins to clean up the lemonade.
He was smiling so hard his entire body hurt.
