Two weeks later

Jake and Ryder were sharing a booth at Breadstix, their second ever date. Jake had hooked his foot around Ryder's ankle, and Ryder was holding his hand across the table. They'd just ordered their food when Jake spotted a familiar face near the entrance.

'Hey,' he squeezed at Ryder's hand to get his attention. 'Is that Josh?'

Ryder spun in his seat, foot slipping away from Jake's. 'Yea, it definitely is. And, um, it looks like Marley's with him.'

Jake tore his gaze away from Ryder, looking back over to Josh. Sure enough, Marley was there too, both of them hovering around each other awkwardly. They were waiting to be seated, several other couples ahead of them. Jake lifted a hand to wave them over, pleased that Marley was looking around curiously.

She noticed them immediately, and the two hurried to Jake and Ryder's table. 'What are you doing here?' she asked.

'We're on a date,' Jake replied, curious as to why they even had to ask. 'What about you?'

'We're on a date too,' Josh explained. 'Our first date.'

Jake thought about that for a moment. He kinda liked the idea of the two of them. They both definitely deserved someone. But they seemed uncomfortable with each other. Jake didn't want them ending before they even had a chance. 'Do you wanna join us?' he asked, casting a questioning look to Ryder. 'Like, a double date?'

Josh and Marley turned to each other to consider. Jake felt Ryder's foot slide over his calf. He was smiling gently, as if to say he was proud of him. Jake just smiled back, until he felt a body slipping in next to him. Josh was sitting down, Marley sitting opposite.

'Thanks for the offer, man.' Josh clapped him on the back.

'Yea, of course.'

Ryder spoke up then. 'I have to say, I'm kinda surprised. I didn't see this coming.'

'Yea, well,' Marley seemed kinda embarrassed. 'We hung out a lot with that assignment for glee. I guess we just clicked.'

Jake noticed the smitten look that Josh was giving her as he leaned over to take her hand. Jake turned back to Ryder, wanting to give the two of them a moment of privacy.

Ryder was grinning broadly at him now. 'You're amazing. You know that, right?'

'What do you mean?' He matched Ryder's hushed tone.

'The fact that you'd do this for them.'

Jake smiled back, feeling shy. 'Well, they are my friends.'

Ryder just squeezed his hand in response, staring into his eyes until Marley asked them both a question.

I just want to thank you all so much for reading this. Thanks especially to those who favourited, followed and reviewed. There were some great reviews with some useful feedback which is always great. Finally, I wanna thank Tincho P again for prompting such an awesome idea.

Hope you all enjoyed this story!