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Scott reached out to tangle his fingers with his husband’s as they walked. The streets were empty at this time of night. The glowing street lamps cast orange glow on the cobbled streets. The shops were closed, bars over the windows to stop the petty thief.
“This is nice.” He remarked, squeezing Jimmy’s hand.
Jimmy turned to him, bright smile lighting up his face. Scott smiled back, so utterly fond of this man.
Jimmy tugged him toward the wharf. “This way. I have a little something in mind.”
The sea was grey, and the thin strip of sand glowed silver under the half moon. Beach grass tickled his sandaled feet and sand seeped between his toes.
His husband kicked off his crocs, sitting down in the wet sand. Scott sat down next to him, for once not caring much about getting dirty. He leaned over to rest his head on Jimmy’s shoulder, pulling their hands into his lap to play with the ring on Jimmy’s finger.
They sat that way for a while, staring out at the barely visible horizon line and the rising moon.
“Do you remember how we met?” Jimmy asked after a long while.
Scott laughed. “As if I could forget.”
—-
8 years earlier, Scott stood at the front door of a small cafe. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open. A cheery jingle greeted him.
This might be a bad idea, but he was sick of just waiting around for the perfect guy to appear. So, a blind date it was. Granted, he wasn’t very confident- his parents had set it up- but at the very least he could waste an afternoon. He wasn’t exactly sure who he was waiting for, but he knew he had brown hair?
He scanned the small sitting area at the front of the cafe.
It was mostly empty, save for two women sitting on opposite ends of a couch- one in a red hoodie covered in white dog fur scrolling on her phone, and the other with orangey hair and flower pins. Both paid him no mind.
He took a seat in an armchair and waited for the mystery man to show up.
—-
The bell jingled and Scott looked up. Sunlight briefly framed the customer’s face, and Scott, without much conscious thought, decided that this man was beautiful. He was a good couple centimeters taller than Scott, with dirty blonde- he supposed it could be brown in certain lighting- hair framing his face and a dusting of a beard.
“Worth a shot,” He muttered to himself as he stood up. “Hi. Are you here for the blind date?”
The man’s eyes crinkled around the corners. Cute. “Yes.”
“Scott.”
“Jimmy.” He said, taking Scott’s offered hand. “Should we get a table?”
“Good idea.” Still holding Jimmy’s hand- he had meant for it to be a handshake but honestly, he didn’t mind all that much- he walked toward the counter.
The server pointed them toward a booth in the corner. Scott sat down, letting go of Jimmy’s hand. Jimmy sat down opposite.
At first, they just stared awkwardly. Scott broke the silence.
“So, what do you do for work?”
—-
Jimmy laughed out loud, kissing Scott’s cheek. “We were so awkward.”
Scott grinned. “Let me finish.”
“Can we at least skip to the good part?” Jimmy asked.
Scott rolled his eyes, but he did, anyway.
—-
It was about 30 minutes into the blind date, Jimmy had gone to the bathroom, and they were interrupted by the very person responsible for it in the first place.
Scott’s mother.
“Scott?” His mother asked. “Who is your friend?”
Scott looked up, surprised to see her. “He’s my blind date…”
“Him?” His mother shook her head. “No, you’re here for a blind date with Pearl… where is she?”
“Mom. I’m gay. Stop trying to set me up with women!”
“She’s a lovely young woman.” His mother said dismissively, scanning the restaurant. “Ah, there she is!”
With that, she marched over to another table, where the two women from earlier were chatting and laughing over a plate of sushi, and dragged Scott with her.
“Scott, meet Pearl. Pearl, Scott.”
Pearl- the woman in the red hoodie- looked up at them, a little shocked. “Hi?”
“I’m so sorry about this… enjoy your meal.” Scott apologized, pulling his mom back to the table where Jimmy had just come back. “Give me a minute Jim.”
—-
“I can’t believe we both were there for a blind date at the same time!” Jimmy commented. “What are the odds?”
Scott nodded. “Best coincidence of my life.”
—-
After Scott returned from escorting his mother outside and sending her away-he was an adult now, he could do that- they finished their food in amicable conversation, exchanged numbers, and split the bill.
As they were leaving the restaurant, they ran into the Pearl and her date again outside. On a whim, Scott went up to them, pulling Jimmy along.
“Hi. Sorry about my mother… she refuses to accept that I’m gay and keeps trying to set me up with girls.” Scott said.
“My mom’s the same way.” The other woman with the orange hair laughed. “I’m Gem.”
“I’m Scott. This is Jimmy.”
“Pearl. So… it sounds like I was supposed to be meeting you, Scott… and… Gem and Jimmy?” Pearl asked, looking between the four of them quizzically.
“My mom just told me she set up a blind date for me…” Gem explained. “I guess it’s just a lucky coincidence that we were all here at the same time and switched dates.”
Scott laughed. “I’m glad things turned out.”
“Agreed.” Pearl said, snaking her arm around Gem’s waist. Gem giggled.
—-
That night, Scott got three new instagram followers: PearlescentMoon, GeminiTay, and Solidarity- AKA Jimmy.
—-
5 year later, he and Jimmy watched Gem and Pearl exchange vows in a beautiful flower covered church.
—-
2 years after that, Scott slipped a ring onto Jimmy’s finger.
—-
“For once, my mom was kind of right.” Scott whispered.
Jimmy laughed, pulling Scott to his feet.
“Home?”
“Home.”