Stepping up to the Plate

Nel

It was the third night now. 

After Jamie had assumed Nel had fallen asleep, he cautiously crept across the floor; taking care to step past any creaky boards. He then lept out of their bedroom and quietly closed the door behind her.

The first night, he assumed his lover was getting up for a glass of water, which was quite a common occurrence. But after he didn’t come back for an extended amount of time, Nel began to doubt his motivations. Sadly, sleep overtook him before he could contemplate the matter any further.

The second night, he carefully followed him out of the room. Taking precautions, not to be noticed by the brunette. He watched as they quietly crept into the living room, carefully avoiding stepping on their cat, Melon.

He quickly snatched his tablet from the desk upon which their devices were charging. Since they were no longer in high school and were now in college, they no longer had to reside in the crowded dorms of their youth. 

This was good on multiple fronts. First of all, they had the luxury of living together. Which allowed for more private environments. Also, their scholarships had provided them with top-level gadgets. This provided both Nel and Jamie with top-of-the-line laptops, that they never used for work, but was thankful for nonetheless.

The interesting thing was the tablet Jamie was currently fumbling for was not something he was issued by the agency, but Nel's personal tablet. It was several models behind and not in the best condition, the only reason he kept it was because his parents bought it for him a few years back. So he kept it more for nostalgia than for anything else. 

He looked at the tablet with a determined look and began to type something. He then swiped his finger along the surface of the touch screen slowly, as if reading something. At first, he figured that Jamie was reading some dumb fluffy fanfiction, but determined that it wasn’t the case; after all, why would he do so on Nel's tablet? He looked nothing but determined.

The third night had finally come. Jamie followed the same routine as he had the first two nights. Sneak out of bed, grab the tablet, read for an hour, then rush back to bed.

The next morning after Jamie had gone to hang out with his little sister, Nel walked into the living room, setting his plan in motion. 

He aggressively picked up his ancient tablet and swiped to open it. There was no password.

I'm way too trusting. He silently thought to himself.

He then proceeded to check his apps that were currently running. Unsurprisingly, all of them were. It seemed that Jamie had the same bad habit as Nel himself. It seemed like Jamie had spent too much time with his mother.

After inspecting each tab closely, the only one that could have warranted reading for long periods of time was the browser. As he investigated each opened tab his eyes grew wider and wider as the realization silently overcame him. Though all the tabs were from different blogs and websites, they all had one thing in common; a single topic.

Bakugo’s face contorted into his signature smirk. He had always been a bit shy, but apparently, he had a bold side as well.

Each tab focused in one way or another, how to determine someone's birthday without asking them directly.

~~~~~~

Jamie

His alarm never failed to go off five minutes after he woke up naturally. At 6:55 AM Jamie’s eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the light around him. 

He tensed the muscles in his legs and arms, attempting to stretch while moving as little as he possibly could. He relaxed his arms and legs, settling back into his cushy bed. 

He propped herself up on her pillow using his left arm and turned to gaze at the boy sleeping beside him. Nel was wearing his usual black tank top; he observed as his chest rose and fell in a rhythmic pattern.

Though when they first met, he had been brash and aggressive; the brunette quickly opened up to him and showed him a sweeter, more considerate side of the English major he came to love. 

He reached over their shared blankets and began lightly ruffling his hair with his right hand. Though his hair looked kinda prickly during the day, at night (and in the morning) when he was without hair gel. His hair was quite fluffy. It felt like his fingers were running through the fur of a freshly groomed pomeranian.

The boy in question stirred slightly, scooting towards him. Despite being arrogant at times, he was quite the cuddler when it came down to it.

After removing his hand from Nel's now frizzy hair, he quietly slipped out of bed and into his morning routine.

~ ~

When the bus finally arrived at the station, Jamie stepped down with a little extra spring in his step. Today was the day he did it. Today he would tame the lion and take control. He didn't know what would become of him if he wasn't able to figure out something as simple as a birthday.

He then proceeded to enter a nearby smoothie shop, Juice Net. Here, he was planning to meet up with his three close friends, George, Harriet, and Connor. Though he just told Nel that he was spending the day with Alice, his younger sister, to avoid any suspicion.

After finding a table that would appropriate enough space to fit the four of them, he hastily ordered a pineapple smoothie with one of those little umbrella thingies.

After barely having enough time to settle into his seat, a chime was heard at the door. Jamie quickly turned his head, only to be met by his friend George. Who was short with dark-brown hair and thick glasses.

“Greetings Jamie,” He said, adjusting his glasses to reflect the afternoon sun.

“Stop being so formal George” he replied with a toothy grin.

The bluenette took the seat next to Jamie and ordered a blueberry-weed grass smoothie, with extra protein powder. He also requested one of those strange umbrella contraptions that serve no purpose but to bemuse the tenant.

After his initial formal greeting, they began the usual banter that longtime friends do. Trivial stuff, mostly about former classmates and their activities. PE was a frequent topic.

Not too long after George’s arrival, the university number one and number three ranked scholars at the university walked into the smoothie shop. The former was wearing his usual grin, while the latter donned what appeared to be a loving smirk.

It was no secret that Connor and Harriet were an item. They made no effort to hide their affection for each other.  Though Harriet still embarrassed easily, much like her brother.

On one occasion, he noticed that Connor had been extremely distracted during a debate session. Which was concerning, considering how calm and collected he usually was.

On this particular day, before their relationship became official, Harriet had finally overcome her greatest obstacle, Cindy; who she had never been able to beat in a one-on-one debate. Immediately after the debate had been completed, Harriet was swarmed by the school; most of them wanting to get a statement from the champion of the chamber.

Before Harriet could get a word in with the student body, Connor grabbed ahold of Harriet from under her arms and legitimately dragged her away.

Months later Jamie learned that Harriet once jokingly told Connor that if she ever defeated all for one, she would make out with Connor. Connor wasn’t known for being particularly bright when it came to sarcasm.

He also learned that they did more than make out.

A lot more.

Ever since that day, neither of them, especially Connor, had been shy about their affection for each other in public.

That being said, the couple walked towards the table with their hands intertwined and sat across from George and Jamie.

“Does Nel know?” Harriet said, jumping right into the topic at hand.

“We probably wouldn’t be having this conversation if he did…” George said with a smirk, once again pushing his glasses up his nose with an exaggerated chop.

“You look like captain Kuro when you do that,” Jamie remarked while rolling his eyes.

“A-anyway, back to the topic at hand…” Harriet said, with her voice wavering slightly.

“Hey, Harriet you’re surprisingly vocal about this kinda topic. How do you think I should go about it?” Jamie asked, lacing his voice with sincerity while looking deep into the green orbs of his best friend.

He knew this word game wouldn’t work on him, but he wasn’t his intended target.

"No, sorry I've got nothing," Harriet said with a sigh, "I've always written down the date beforehand or asked them myself."

"Yeah well I'm in too deep to do that now," Jamie said with a huff, "and besides, it would be totally lame if I forgot his birthday. But at the same time, if I ask for it, Nel will hold it over my head for weeks!"

His friends looked at him with a gentle sense of despair and chuckled.

Waiting for Jamie to realize the inevitable truth. That no matter how many times Jamie forgot Nel's birthday or Nel accidentally stepped on Jamie's toe; they would always come back to each other.