There hadn't been a day in the last week that passed where Jude didn't curse himself for being so shy. Ever since he had accidentally overheard a conversation and found out his extremely hot and very cute neighbor was gay, Jude had been trying to talk to him. But his brain kept betraying his mouth. Every day for the last week, they would meet in the lobby of their apartment building, getting their mail at the same time, and all Jude could manage was a small wave as he avoided all eye contact.

Jude flopped down onto his bed, pulling out his phone and dialing his sister's number. Maybe she would know what to do.

"Hey Judicorn," Mariana chirped.

"Hi Mari," Jude sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Is something up?"

"Yeah."

"Boy trouble?"

"Why else would I be calling you? If it was anything else I'd be talking to moms," Jude sassed.

"Okay, so lay it on me."

"So you know my really hot neighbor I told you about a while back?" Jude asked.

"Oh yeah, Mr. Muscles," Mariana teased.

"Shut up, I did not call him that—exactly," Jude mumbled. "Anyway, I inadvertently overheard him talking to someone and—well I found out that he's gay, and now I can't say a word to him even though I really, really want to talk to him."

"So then just do it. Just go up and talk to him," Mariana suggested, earning a groan from Jude.

"You have no idea how much I cannot do that," Jude griped.

"Suit yourself."

"Mariana, help me! Like, find something I can do that will force me to talk to him," Jude pleaded.

"You are absolutely hopeless when it comes to boys," Mariana lamented, exhaling softly in exasperation.

"I know, that's why I always come to you for help," Jude explained.

"Alright, well why don't you just go over and pretend you need to borrow something from him? Like maybe some cooking stuff," Mariana said, offering up her best advice for the situation.

"Uh, I might be able to do that," Jude replied slowly.

"Then go do it," Mariana prodded. "I have to go, text me how it works out."

Jude took a deep breath, rising from his bed and shuffling over to his neighbor's apartment. Might as well do this before I lose my nerve, he thought. The tranquility that came with his deep breathing disappeared in about thirty seconds, once Jude stepped into the hallway. He nervously padded over to the apartment to his left, raising his fist and feebly rapping on the door.

The door swung open almost immediately, revealing his neighbor dressed in a faded red tank top and black skinny jeans. Jude felt his throat quickly dry up, his entire body fluttering like a leave in the breeze.

"Can I help you?" his neighbor asked calmly, a genial smile plastered on his face.

"H-h-hi, I'm y-your n-n-neighbor, J-Jude," Jude stuttered, holding out his trembling hand for him to shake. Jude always had a problem stuttering when he got really nervous, and Connor made him more nervous than anything else in his life had before.

"Hey Jude," the other boy chuckled. "Just like the Beatles song. I'm Connor, by the way."

"N-nice to meet y-y-you C-Connor," Jude spluttered, his cheeks growing redder by the second. At this point, they matched the shade of red of Connor's tank top, but they wouldn't be for much longer as they just kept getting darker as Jude started feeling more embarrassed.

"Well now that we have introductions out of the way, what is it you need?" Connor inquired.

Shit! Jude thought as he froze. In his haste to get over here, he forgot that he was supposed to ask to borrow something from Connor. Mariana suggested cooking supplies…

"Sugar!" Jude blurted out. "I uh n-need to b-borrow some sugar."

"Oh sure," Connor answered. "Come on in for a second."

Jude stepped into the apartment, nearly tripping over his feet as he did. He glanced up; thankfully Connor had his back turned and hadn't noticed.

"So what are you making?" Connor called from the kitchen. Jude whimpered; I really did not think this through.

"C-c-cookies," Jude stammered.

"Ooh, sounds delicious," Connor commented, walking back out into the living room with a small container of sugar. "You'll have to bring a few by when you're done. You know, as payment for the sugar."

"Y-yeah, sure," Jude smiled nervously.

"See you soon Jude," Connor grinned.

"See you," Jude muttered, rapidly going out the door to Connor's apartment and going back to his own.

"That could not have gone any worse," Jude mused sadly, leaning up against the closed door to the apartment. Now he had to make cookies even though he was probably the worst baker on the planet, and he had to talk to Connor again after that disaster of a first meeting. Why did he have to be so fucking shy?

Jude exhaled, dragging himself into the kitchen and pulling out his phone to look up a recipe. As mortified as he was, Jude still wanted to talk to Connor again, and the only way he could do that was if he showed up with cookies. So he got to work.

Jude settled on making chocolate chip cookies, if only because he actually had chocolate chips lying around his apartment. Grabbing all the ingredients he needed, Jude found there was only one thing missing: baking soda. Jude had baking powder, but he faintly recalled a thanksgiving where his mama mixed the two up and the gravy basically exploded all over the kitchen, so he figured the two weren't interchangeable. And he wasn't asking Connor for that (not that he had needed to ask Connor for sugar, he actually had plenty of that as opposed to having no baking soda), at least not this time. Maybe the next time he was making something. So Jude went to the store and got that himself.

So an hour and a half later, Jude was surrounded by a huge mess. Flour had gone everywhere on the counter, there was batter splattered on the walls from when Jude had unwittingly powered up his electric mixer at full speed, and there was a mountain of dirty dishes in the sink. And Jude had about twenty massive cookies to show for his hard work. He was actually quite proud of himself, and he was a little bit excited to take the cookies over to share with Connor.

That was, until he took a bite of one and nearly vomited on the floor. For as good as they looked, the cookies tasted absolutely disgusting. But Connor had asked for them, so Jude reluctantly piled a few on a plate and slowly walked over to Connor's.

"Well that was much quicker than I expected," Connor giggled when he opened the door, taking the plate from Jude and snatching up a cookie. "You know, this is a nice look for you."

"W-what?" Jude stuttered weakly.

"The whole messy baker look. It's actually kind of cute," Connor shrugged casually, as if calling Jude cute was no big deal. Jude on the other hand was fairly close to a meltdown. Even if Connor thought it was cute, Jude was still flustered by the fact that he looked to be in a state of complete disarray. His entire outfit was covered by a fine layer of flour, the debris of dried batter sticking to his shirt. Jude didn't have a mirror, but he probably had flour streaked all over his face and in his hair (which was probably sticking up every which way from the number of times he ran his hands through it). Now, that made twice that he had looked like a complete idiot in front of this boy he had barely talked to but had already started to like a lot.

"O-oh I should probably w-warn you, they d-don't taste v-very good," Jude exclaimed when he noticed Connor taking a bite of one of the cookies. Connor chewed cautiously for a moment.

"That's probably my fault," he laughed, spitting out the chunk. "I have no idea how old that sugar was I gave you. It's been in the apartment since before I moved here, so it's probably not any good actually."

"I-I see," Jude joined Connor in chortling.

"Anyway, thanks for trying at least," Connor said, giving Jude a light pat on the shoulder. "See you around Jude," he added, smiling at Jude before handing the plate back and closing the door to his apartment.

Two days later, Jude was back at Connor's apartment asking for a spatula. And this time, Jude took care to make sure he actually had a prepared story for Connor.

"Hey Jude!" Connor beamed.

"Hi C-Connor," Jude replied.

"I'm guessing you need something," Connor cackled.

"U-um yeah," Jude said softly. "I uh, dropped my s-spatula in the oven and I k-kinda can't use it n-now and I s-still kinda need one."

"Okay," Connor responded. "I have like, five of them so you can honestly just keep one of them."

"N-no that's o-okay," Jude argued. "I c-can just borrow it a-and then go g-get one t-tomorrow." Jude didn't want to keep it for two reasons. One, he didn't need it, since he lied about his being unusable (he just wanted an excuse to talk to Connor) and he would feel bad about taking it, given Connor's generosity to him so far. And two, he wanted a reason to have to come back later. It's not that Jude didn't realize it would be easier to ask Connor out, he was just pretty sure he would never be able to ask. He just had to hope that by constantly dropping by, Connor might pick up on the hint.

Connor wasn't picking up on that yet, but when it came to the spatula, Connor insisted that Jude keep it, so Jude agreed and accepted it, even though he would be giving it back tomorrow.

Later that night, Mariana called begging for the details on how things were going with Connor.

"Hey Mari," Jude answered flatly.

"So give me the scoop," Mariana instantly replied, not even bothering to greet Jude.

"I'm doing just great Mariana, thanks for asking," Jude said sarcastically.

"Oh hush, I just need the details of you and Connor, let me live," Mariana quipped.

"Well for starters, I can't utter a single sentence to him without stuttering, I've never been so nervous around someone in my life. Not to mention one of the three times he's seen me I showed up looking like a complete disaster from trying to bake cookies that tasted like shit. And tonight I lied so I could ask to borrow a spatula just because I wanted to talk to him. So in conclusion, it's an utter wreck," Jude ranted. "Why can't I just talk to him Mari?"

"That is not a question I know how to answer Judicorn," Mariana stated.

"Ugh, me either," Jude sighed. "Well at least I'll see him again tomorrow so I can return the spatula. Perhaps something will happen then."

"Just be careful, you don't want to start annoying him," Mariana warned.

"It might be too late for that," Jude whispered.

Connor had decided that his neighbor might be the most adorable boy he'd ever seen in his life. For as much as Connor thought Jude was trying to hide it, Connor knew that Jude thought he was attractive. The feeling was mutual, not that it had come up yet. But Jude was very cute, and on the surface, his personality appeared to be miles away from the shallow assholes that Connor seemed to be drawing in lately. Jude was really shy though, and Connor was taking it slow; the last thing he wanted to do was scare Jude off.

There was a knock on the door and Connor grinned. It was about time Jude dropped by today.

"Hey Jude!" Connor said brightly as he flung the door open.

"H-hi C-Connor," Jude garbled. Connor honestly could not begin to say how cute that was; that Jude was so nervous he stuttered around him. Well Jude could actually stutter, but either way it was still cute.

"What is it you need today?" Connor joked.

"J-just returning the s-spatula," Jude answered.

"I told you that you could keep it," Connor frowned.

"I-I don't need i-it," Jude countered. "I a-already got a n-new one."

"Well then um, thanks for bringing this back," Connor said, taking the spatula from Jude.

"Y-you're welcome," Jude replied, giving him a shy smile and turning on his heel, walking back into his apartment.

Connor had to figure out how to get this guy to actually talk to him. He couldn't let a guy with a smile that cute get away.

Jude was back over at Connor's apartment the next day to borrow something he didn't actually need. He kept thinking about Mariana's warning not to annoy Connor, but truth be told, Jude got attached to Connor very quickly for some reason. He didn't understand how or why, but he missed Connor after only a few hours. So against his better judgment, Jude strode over to Connor's apartment to ask to borrow something. And then he stopped by the day after that. And the day after that. Every day for the next month Jude was heading over to Connor's to ask to "borrow" something from Connor. Needless to say, they'd had a few interesting encounters in that time.

"Just a minute!" Connor yelled when Jude knocked on the door one day, about a week and half since his daily visits started. Jude waited patiently, hearing Connor shout things such as take that, and suck on it and other things Jude would rather not repeat.

Connor answered the door, clutching a white controller in his hand.

"Hey Jude!" Connor said brightly. "What do you need today?"

"J-just some black p-pepper," Jude shrugged. It wasn't exciting, but it was something. It was hard coming up with things he needed to "borrow".

"Sure, come on in for a minute," Connor responded, waving Jude inside the door. Jude wandered over towards the TV, interested to see just what it was Connor was playing that got him so riled up.

"M-Mario K-K-Kart?" Jude exclaimed. "Y-you were sc-screaming at your T-TV over Mario K-Kart?"

"You've never played Mario Kart, have you?" Connor chuckled, handing Jude a small shaker of black pepper.

"I h-have!" Jude protested. "I l-love it, I've j-just never f-felt the need t-to shout th-those things at t-the TV over i-it."

"It's probably because I have a really competitive streak," Connor admitted. "Have my dad to blame for that I guess."

"H-hey, I'm com-competitive t-too!" Jude argued.

"Yeah, but you're also usually kind of shy and quiet. I don't see you as a smack-talker."

"You're p-probably right," Jude conceded.

"Well there you go, I need to get back to it, the next race is about to start."

"Okay, w-well I'll s-see you a-around," Jude said, even though that was lie. Connor wouldn't be seeing him around, he'd be seeing him tomorrow, right here.

Jude had been visiting Connor daily for almost three weeks now, but today he hadn't come by like he normally did. Connor was starting to wonder if something might have happened to him. He had knocked on the door to Jude's apartment at least five times over the course of the evening with no response. He was almost ready to call the police when he heard a knock on his door. Connor swiftly answered it, finding a slightly ragged looking Jude.

"You're running way behind today," Connor joked.

"F-family em-emergency," Jude explained.

"Oh my God," Connor gasped, stepping out into the hallway with Jude, shutting the door behind him. He considered Jude to be a very close friend, even though they only ever talked when Jude needed to borrow something from him, so Connor was going to be there for him if he needed him to be. "Is everyone okay?"

"I g-guess," Jude mumbled. "My moms g-got i-in a car a-accident. T-they're b-both g-going to b-be f-fine, I'm j-just feeling a l-little sh-shaken u-up."

Connor stood there awkwardly, trying to figure out what to do. What he wanted to do was to give Jude a really firm hug, but with Jude, he didn't want to push anything; he was so shy and Connor didn't know what he would be comfortable with.

"How are you then?"

"A-alright," Jude answered. "It w-was k-kinda h-hard to see m-my mama i-in the h-hospital. Sh-she's going t-to have to s-stay for a f-few days, b-but the d-doctor says s-she'll be f-fine."

"That's good then," Connor commented.

"Y-yeah. It's j-just sc-scary, I-I've already l-lost one m-mom b-before," Jude choked out.

"Oh I'm uh, I'm really sorry about that," Connor said sympathetically but also uncomfortably. He wished that he knew what to do or say to make Jude feel better. Connor settled for putting a comforting hand on Jude's shoulder, and Jude returned the gesture by throwing his arms around Connor (who hugged him back tightly).

"S-she's g-going to b-be okay, I d-don't kn-know why I'm s-still so s-scared," Jude blubbered. Connor held Jude, struck by how small and fragile he seemed to be in the moment. Connor kept spouting nonsense to try to make him feel better. They stood there for a while, and when Jude stopped shaking, they stepped apart.

"Well I guess you probably don't have anything you need to borrow tonight then," Connor quipped, trying to lighten the mood.

"N-no n-not r-really," Jude chortled. "B-but t-thanks for t-this."

"Yeah, anytime," Connor smiled, turning back and wrenching the doorknob to his apartment, but it didn't budge. Connor tried turning it again to no avail. "Um, Jude?" he said sheepishly. "I think I might have locked myself out."

"R-really?"

"Yeah," Connor murmured, turning bright red.

"C-come on," Jude chuckled, waving for Connor to follow him. "Y-you can s-stay on m-my couch t-tonight."

"Thanks," Connor whispered, shuffling into Jude's apartment.

After Jude got Connor set up on the couch, he went into his bedroom and shut the door, pulling up his phone and calling Mariana.

"Is something wrong?" Mariana answered quickly. Given the events of the day, most of the family was on edge.

"No, no everything's fine, I just wanted to talk about Connor," Jude clarified.

"Is everything okay with you two?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, yeah everything's fine, I just—I wish I wasn't so shy," Jude sighed. "I went over to talk to him like usual today and I kind of ended up crying on his shoulder. I mean he was hugging me so tight and it was the best hug I've ever gotten and I just want to ask him out but every time I try, I can't speak!"

"Well give it some more time," Mariana advised. "Maybe next time you'll be able to ask him, or maybe he'll ask you."

"I hope he asks me soon," Jude said, running a hand through his hair. "I don't think I'm ever going to ask him."

"You never know."

"Oh, also Connor locked himself out so he's sleeping on my couch right now," Jude chuckled.

"Connor really is a huge dork, isn't he?"

"Definitely. It's one of the reasons I like him so much."

"Well I'm exhausted," Mariana yawned. "I have to go, but I hope things work out with you and Connor soon."

"Me too," Jude muttered. "Me too."

After that night, Jude started to stay at Connor's apartment for his daily visits a little longer. By the time a week had passed, Jude was usually over for at least twenty minutes. Connor really wanted to ask Jude out, but he was terrified that he might freak Jude out. He was waiting for Jude to ask him instead.

Today, Connor really couldn't have Jude stay over for long; he was busy trying to set up for a house warming party he was throwing for their new neighbor. Jude knocked on his door, just like clockwork.

"Hey Jude!" Connor chirped, giving Jude his usual greeting.

"H-hi Con," Jude said cheerfully. Connor giggled; Jude had started to call him Con a few days ago and he loved it.

"What do you need? I wish I could have you stay and chat for a while, but I'm really busy today," Connor sighed.

"O-oh wh-what are y-you doing?" Jude inquired.

"We have a new neighbor so I'm throwing him a house warming party," Connor explained.

"T-that's c-cool. A-and y-you're having it h-here?" Jude asked. Connor nodded. "W-well maybe I c-can st-stick around a-and h-help."

"You sure you want to?" Connor wondered. "I mean, there's going to be a lot of people here."

"I c-can m-manage," Jude shrugged.

"Well then sure, I'd love to have you help out," Connor grinned.

So Jude stayed and helped Connor with the party. He didn't say much, but considering that Jude rarely went out and didn't like parties or crowds (at least that's he told Connor), Connor thought it was a pretty big deal that he stayed. Jude was close to his side the whole time, but he seemed to be fairly comfortable.

Jude was actually not feeling very comfortable at the party. Even having Connor close to him didn't help. His hands were trembling and his stutter was so bad he could barely even say his own name. Thankfully, Connor seemed to notice and was doing most of the talking for him.

He and Connor were just standing off to the side later. Jude was thankful that he was staying with him, away from the chaos of the party, though he felt a little guilty that he was keeping Connor from being involved in the party. That wasn't doing much to help Jude's frayed nerves. In fact his shaking hands were getting worse. Somebody at the party let out a loud whoop, startling Jude and he jumped, accidentally tossing the contents of the drink he was holding onto Connor.

"O-o-oh m-my G-G-God, I'm s-so s-s-sorry!" Jude exclaimed, he cheeks heating up as he avoided all eye contact with Connor. This was just a disaster. First he was keeping Connor from enjoying the party and now he had just dumped his drink on him.

Connor on the other hand was doubled over, laughing so hard he wasn't making any sound.

"W-what's s-s-so f-funny?" Jude demanded.

"Look Jude, you're just fine," Connor gasped between chortles. "Don't even worry about it."

"B-but I'm k-keeping you f-from your o-own p-party and n-now I just sp-spilled my d-drink on y-you," Jude countered.

"Oh Jude, you're not keeping me from the party, I'm hanging out with you over here because I want to," Connor assured him, still softly chuckling. "And yes you spilled your drink on me, but you were startled. You're really out of your element here, so I understand."

"O-okay," Jude stammered.

"I'll be right back okay? I need to change my shirt."

After the incident with the drink, the party was actually a lot more fun for Jude. Connor brushed the whole thing off with great humor and that went a long way to defusing a lot of Jude's anxiety.

"So how did you enjoy the party?" Connor questioned as the two were cleaning up after all the guests had left.

"I-it was f-fine," Jude conceded. "I d-didn't m-mind it t-too much."

"Thinking you're going to become a party animal now?" Connor kidded.

"N-no, n-not at a-all," Jude giggled. "N-not unless y-you're g-going to come w-with me t-to all of th-them."

"Well I don't know about that, but maybe we should go clubbing one night or something," Connor suggested.

"I d-don't think s-so," Jude frowned. "I d-don't want t-to drink. M-my mom w-was killed b-because my d-dad drove d-drunk."

"Oh," Connor whispered. "So wait, then how did you end up with your moms?"

"I w-was in f-foster c-care f-f-for s-six years b-before they f-fostered me and m-my sister. T-they adopted m-me w-when I w-was th-thirteen," Jude told him. "I a-also h-had a lot of d-drunk ab-abusive f-foster f-fathers t-too."

"Okay, so no clubbing then," Connor quickly clarified. "We'll have to come up with something to do."

"Y-yeah," Jude muttered in reply. An uncomfortable silence hung over them for a few minutes before Connor piped up.

"My dad was an alcoholic too," he said softly. "He started drinking after my mom divorced him and it only got worse when I came out a year after that. I uh, got beat quite a few times before I finally was able to move in with my mom. So I um—I know how you feel. Sorry about being so insensitive."

"Y-you're o-okay, y-you didn't k-know," Jude responded, hesitantly giving Connor a hug. Connor hugged back tightly, feeling comforted by Jude's embrace. "W-well I p-probably sh-should go. I'll s-see you t-tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," Connor replied, the pain on his face quickly replaced by a smile.

Ever since that night, Jude had started to stay longer and longer. It had been two more weeks, and they confided in each other all their stories about growing up in bad homes, and Connor felt a deep emotional connection to Jude largely because they had so many similar experiences. Connor just wished that Jude would ask him out already; it was pretty clear that they would make a perfect couple, since they already understood each other perfectly.

There was a knock on the door, and Connor bounded over, answering it and surprisingly, finding somebody other than Jude waiting for him in the hallway.

"Hi Connor," the girl greeted him.

"Hey Daria," Connor flinched as he answered her. Daria was here, and that could only mean one thing…

"So Connor, do you have anything going on tonight?"

"Um," Connor scrunched up his eyes, trying to find some excuse to say yes and finding none. "No, I don't."

"Great!" Daria squealed. "Get ready, I have a blind date for you!"

Connor sighed; he didn't want to go on any blind date Daria set up for him. In fact, the only person he wanted to go out on a date with was Jude. Speaking of Jude, where was he? He was running behind when he usually showed up.

Jude had seen the girl standing outside the door and didn't want to interrupt Connor while he had company. He sat up against the wall, waiting for the girl to walk back out. Forty-five minutes later, when she hadn't left, Jude decided to knock on Connor's door anyway. If he weren't available to talk, he would tell him.

Connor answered the door and Jude was ambushed by a sight he wasn't prepared to see. Connor was dressed up in a long-sleeved, form-fitting button-up with a bright blue bow tie to go along with his usual black skinny jeans.

"Hey Jude!" Connor greeted him, with his usual bright smile.

"H-h-hey C-C-C-Connor," Jude stuttered, struggling to form a coherent sentence with the snappily dressed Connor standing directly in front of him.

"You actually caught me just in time, I was about to leave for my date," Connor explained.

Date. Date. Date.

"T-that's c-cool," Jude spoke, trying to keep his composure. "Who's t-the l-l-lucky g-guy?"

"Oh I don't know," Connor sighed. "My friend Daria is always setting me up on blind dates, and they're almost always, without fail, terrible."

"W-well maybe t-tonight's will b-be g-good," Jude mused. It made him feel better that Connor didn't expect much out of the date. As bad as Jude knew it was to being thinking this, he really hoped it would be awful.

"I doubt it. So might as well just ask for what you need now since I can't stick around."

"I j-just need s-some, b-baking s-s-soda," Jude answered quickly. It was the next thing on his list of supplies to ask for (no joke, Jude had a list so that he wasn't at a loss of what to ask to borrow).

"Okay, one second," Connor said before disappearing out of sight for a minute. He returned clutching the entire box, handing it to Jude. "Just take this for now and bring it back tomorrow. I gotta get going."

Connor took off and Jude sighed, wandering back into his apartment. He should've known that Connor wouldn't go forever without going on a date, especially since Jude wasn't giving him any indication he wanted to go on a date with him. It was only a small comfort that Connor didn't expect the date to go well. He and Connor were still close friends though, so even if the date worked out, he still wouldn't have to stop talking to him. But Jude really hoped it wouldn't work out.

Connor walked into his apartment later that night, sighing as he collapsed on the couch.

"That was, without a doubt, the worst date I've ever been on," Connor grumbled to himself. All his date seemed to be interested in doing was getting Connor drunk so that he could have sex with him. The whole time, Connor found himself thinking that Jude probably wouldn't try to do this to him. About an hour into his date, Connor decided he'd had enough, standing up and leaving, his mind made up to ask Jude out the next day. To hell with scaring him off. Connor felt like by now, he knew Jude well enough to know that Connor asking him probably wouldn't freak him out. Afternoon couldn't come fast enough.

Jude knocked on Connor's door almost as soon as he arrived home from work the next day, and Connor answered in a matter of seconds, as if he was just waiting for him to knock.

"I-I have your b-baking soda," Jude declared, holding up the box for Connor to grab.

"Yeah, thanks," Connor replied absentmindedly, intently focused on the next thing he wanted to say. "Hey Jude, do you have anything going on tonight?"

"W-why do you a-ask?"

"Well it's just—like I predicted, my date last night was awful and I'm kind of tired of going out with these guys Daria sets me up with because they're all huge douchebags. And you're really cute and I know you're not a douche, you're like really kind and sweet and um, I like you a lot so would like to go on a date with me?" Connor spit out rapidly.

"W-what?"

"Do you want to go on a date with me?" Connor questioned. Jude nodded, not trusting his voice to speak. "Okay cool," Connor exhaled loudly. "How would you feel about dinner and movie here in my apartment?"

"Y-you're not t-trying to—" Jude squeaked. Connor's eyes grew wide as he realized how his suggestion sounded, hastily trying to explain himself.

"Oh no! It's not anything like that, I-I know you don't like going out places, so I figured you'd be more comfortable just staying in," Connor clarified.

"T-that's really t-thoughtful. S-sounds like a p-plan," Jude answered.

"Okay, come by around 5:00?"

Jude nodded.

"See you then Jude!" Connor chirped.

As soon as the door to Connor's apartment was closed, Jude let out a loud whoop. He, Jude Adams-Foster actually got a date with Connor um—well Jude didn't know his last name, but that wasn't important anyway. He could barely contain his excitement. As he rushed back into his apartment, he pulled out his phone and called Mariana. He had been keeping her up to date on the happenings between him and Connor. She would want to know this.

"Hi Jud—"

"I got a date with Connor!" Jude squealed.

"That's really funny Jude, but you know it's not—"

"Shut up Mari, I'm being serious!"

"Don't be toying with me Jude," Mariana warned.

"I'm not! Connor just asked me on a date!"

"Awww, my little Judicorn, going out on his first date," Mariana cooed.

First date. Shit this was his first date.

"Oh my God," Jude yelped. "I'll text you later I need to go panic right now."

Jude's mind started racing. What was he supposed to wear? What was he supposed to bring? What—

"Jude, take a deep breath and relax," Mariana snapped. "Just wear something blue, do your hair and show up. You'll be fine."

"L-let's h-hope so."

Back in Connor's apartment, his phone rang.

"Hey Connor," Daria said when he picked up the call.

"Um, hey Daria," Connor replied.

"So Connor, do you have any plans for tonight?" she asked curiously. Connor smiled; for once he actually did.

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"Wait, am I hearing what I think I'm hearing? Did Connor get a date all by himself?" Daria teased.

"Actually, yes I did," Connor grinned. "I asked my very cute, very shy neighbor just a few minutes ago. He's going to be over in—fuck only an hour I have to go."

"Okay Connor, let me know how it goes!"

"Yeah, sure," Connor quipped, hanging up and rushing around his apartment. It was not, in its current state, suitable to host anyone, not that it had been stopping Connor over the last month and a half. But this was Jude, and this was a date, and this was his first date with Jude. Connor had to blow him away and in order to do that, his apartment needed to be clean first.

Jude showed up at his apartment at 5 o'clock sharp. Connor had just finished making his apartment suitable for Jude to see, and he opened the door, feeling slightly out of breath.

"Hey Jude!" Connor exclaimed, as he usually did when he answered the door. Jude was wearing a blue t-shirt and black skinny jeans. Connor couldn't believe that even in something so simple, Jude still looked super cute. But then again, he'd seen Jude in almost every kind of outfit and he definitely looked cute in every thing Connor had seen him wear.

"H-hey C-Connor," Jude said, smiling shyly. "I-I like w-what y-you're wearing," he added with a giggle. Connor looked down to see that he was wearing a striped tank top and pajama pants. In his rush to clean up his apartment, he totally forgot to change!

"O-o-oh s-sorry about that I was busy doing something else and I forgot to change," Connor spluttered nervously, blush coloring his cheeks.

"Nah, it's c-cool, I like it," Jude assured him.

"I've got to start making dinner; you want to join me in the kitchen while I work?" Connor inquired, trying not to blush harder because Jude liked what he was wearing.

"S-sure," Jude nodded, following him in and hopping up and taking a seat on the counter across from the stove.

"You're lucky you're cute," Connor said, scowling at him. He didn't like people sitting on the counter (Daria always had a habit of doing that no matter how many times Connor told her not to).

"W-what can I s-say?" Jude shrugged. "H-hey Connor, I k-kind of h-have a con-confession to m-make."

"What's that?"

"I d-didn't need a-any of the s-stuff I a-asked to b-borrow from y-you. I w-was j-just looking f-for an ex-excuse to talk t-to you be-because I was t-too nervous just t-to t-talk to y-you o-otherwise," Jude mumbled.

"Aww, that's really adorable. While we're making confessions, there was nothing wrong with the sugar I gave you. You just really suck at baking," Connor admitted.

"T-tell me something I d-don't know," Jude stammered.

"I—I'm not sure if this question is out of line or not," Connor said, "but do you always stutter?"

"N-no, just when I'm r-really nervous," Jude explained.

"What can I do to make you feel less anxious then?"

"S-stop being so c-cute," Jude retorted.

"No can do," Connor giggled.

"I w-wouldn't want y-you to anyway."

"Aww babe," Connor teased.

"S-shut up," Jude muttered, playfully shoving Connor.

"Okay I just need to say this," Connor piped up. "It's been five minutes and by far this is already the best date I've ever been on."

"T-this is m-my fir-first date," Jude whispered.

"Really?" Connor asked incredulously. "I can't believe a guy like you has never been asked on a date before."

"Never met anyone I've w-wanted to go on a d-date with before," Jude shrugged nonchalantly.

"Okay I give up," Connor groaned, looking at the ingredients scattered around his kitchen. "Well now we know that you can't bake and I can't cook. Let's just order some pizza."

"I could go f-for that," Jude chuckled.

"Then that's what we'll do. Why don't you go and sit on the couch while I call? I'll be out in a second to start the movie." Jude did as Connor suggested, settling down on the far end of the couch. Truth be told, Jude wanted to snuggle up to Connor, but he didn't know if that might be too forward for a first date, so he made sure there would be plenty of space in between them if Connor wanted it that way. His question was quickly answered as Connor finished ordering, plopping down right close next to him, snatching up the remote and pulling up Netflix on his TV. Jude was still leaning slightly to keep his distance.

"It's okay if you want to cuddle," Connor said softly "I mean, we've kind of been working toward this for a while, so it's not like it's weird. We already know each other so well anyway. If we didn't like cuddle or something it'd just be like any other night we hang out, right?"

Jude nodded in agreement, cautiously leaning up against Connor, and Connor put an arm around him. Connor was so warm, and for all his muscles, his body felt really soft, Jude just felt like he melted perfectly into Connor's side.

"So what do you want to watch?" Connor mused.

"I don't care," Jude conceded, uttering his first sentence to Connor without a stutter.

"How about this?" Connor questioned, pointing to some movie Jude had never seen before (Jude probably wasn't going to pay attention to it anyway).

"Sure."

Two hours and a large pizza later, the two of them were laying horizontally on Connor's couch, Jude curled up into Connor's side, lightly snoring. Connor grinned; Jude was even cuter when he was sleeping. Connor had been on a lot of dates in his life, even a few that very pretty close to being as good as this one. But this date with Jude was just right. He already knew that he could get used to doing this all the time. Knowing a guy before going on a date with him made a huge difference.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Jude asked sleepily.

"Just thinking that I could get used to this," Connor sighed contentedly.

"Yeah, I could get used to this too," Jude replied.

"Hey, you're not stuttering," Connor blurted out.

"Huh, I guess I'm not," Jude grinned.

"So you don't feel nervous around me anymore," Connor beamed.

"Nope, not anymore," Jude chirped.

"I—I'm really glad we got to know each other before we did this," Connor commented. "It made this date so much better."

"I'm just glad you finally asked me," Jude giggled.

"I've wanted to ask you for almost a month, I was just worried you would flip out if I asked you too soon."

"And I was just waiting for you to ask," Jude explained. "You know, I was so nervous around you I literally couldn't get the words out."

"So we were both just waiting for the other to make a move?"

"Pretty much."

Connor laughed, squeezing Jude against his side. "So I guess you should probably get back to your apartment."

"In your dreams," Jude yawned. "You're too comfy, I'm not leaving."

"I'm not going to argue," Connor said, staring into Jude's eyes that were looking back at him, Jude's chin on Connor's chest. "Can I—"

"Please," Jude whispered.

So Connor leant forward and Jude met him halfway, chastely kissing for a few seconds. For a kiss so short and so simple, it was still the best kiss Connor had ever had.

"Hey Connor?" Jude asked when they pulled away.

"Yeah?"

"Is—is it weird that I think I love you?" Jude pondered.

"Not really. Like I'm pretty sure we were already best friends, so it's not that big of stretch. I know that I love you so," Connor shrugged.

"How did we end up here from baking supplies?" Jude chortled.

"I don't know," Connor replied. "I guess Fate works in strange ways."

"Sure does," Jude answered.