Arin wakes before Dan does. It's about 11:30 in the morning and the sunlight is coming in through the window, streaming onto the floor. The younger man looks over to find that Dan is indeed still sound asleep, his eyelashes barely touching his cheekbones, his hair all over the place, his lips slightly parted. He looks beautiful, and Arin can't help himself- he leans forward, pressing a kiss against the older man's forehead before kissing the side of his neck and then pecking his lips.

Dan stirs a little, eyebrows knitting together. Arin watches as his eyelashes flutter open until he's squinting from how bright it is in the room. He smiles widely though when he notices Arin looking at him.

They exchange a few sleepy kisses before Arin sits up, running a hand through his hair. To get out of the bed he has to climb over Dan, and when he actually does it he's reminded of how sore he is. Dan makes sure he's alright and then gets out of bed also, deciding he might as well get dressed too like Arin is, because fuck it, he's already up now.

Once they're dressed they head downstairs. Suzy is working on something for her shop and smiles knowingly when she sees them. She doesn't say anything about it though, only telling them good morning before she continues on with her work.

Dan offers to make breakfast for everyone, though Arin isn't confident in Dan's cooking abilities. He decides to help him and make sure he doesn't burn anything, be it the food or the house or himself.

They end up just making scrambled eggs with spinach and toast and then they all sit down together to eat. Suzy has to suppress a giggle when she notices Arin having a hard time sitting comfortably, and they all know that Arin's going to fill her in later about everything. But in the meantime they make small talk and end up discussing the date that Arin wants to take Dan on.

"Classic dinner and a movie, huh?" Suzy hums, taking another bite of her eggs. "I see. So when are you guys heading out?"

Arin looks at Dan, but the older man just shrugs and continues eating in silence. Arin frowns and instead turns to look at Suzy again.

"I was thinking right after dark maybe," he replies, pushing his now empty plate away. "Or at least like, fuckin'... an hour or two before the movie starts if we're eating first, though I don't know where to go to eat and I'm unsure about what we'll be seeing at the theater. Maybe sushi or something?"

"Sounds fine, and for the movie, we can just pick when we get there," Dan says, sipping some milk. Suzy nods at that, her mouth too full to speak but trying to convey that she agrees.

Once they all finish eating Suzy goes back to her work and Arin sits beside Dan on the couch. The older man wants to catch up on some shows that he missed while on tour, so Arin decides to watch with him.

Dan's head ends up on Arin's shoulder, the younger's hand resting right above Dan's knee, rubbing small circles into his outer thigh with his thumb. The older of the two smiles fondly, his own hand brushing against Arin's.

They end up watching a bunch of SNL and a few other things until Dan gets bored of the TV. They chat with Suzy and switch the game on for a little while instead, playing a few rounds of a multiplayer game. Dan's talking about the tour and asking more about what Arin and Suzy got up to while he was away, petting Mochi, who sits in his lap, after the first round of the game.

When the sun starts setting, Arin looks at the clock and then stands up. "We should probably get ready to go," he yawns as he turns off the game and puts down the controller, making his way from the living room, through the kitchen and over to the stairs. "I'm going to go up and get changed. I need to find something decent to wear."

He disappears, leaving both Dan and Suzy by themselves. It's then that Suzy finally turns to Dan, frowning.

"Why is it that you seem to not want to go on this date with Arin?" she questions, her full attention on him instead of her work. Dan's eyes flicker over to her, but they quickly shift away after. He's not surprised that she noticed. "Did something happen? Did he, like, say something wrong or...?"

"It's not..." Dan starts, but he doesn't exactly know how to say what he's actually feeling. "Fuck, I mean it's not that I don't want to go exactly, and it's not really about Arin, I guess, it's... more about me? He didn't do anything, I'm just fuckin'..."

"Worried?" Suzy guesses, receiving a nod from Dan as a response. "About what, Danny?"

Just as he opens his mouth to reply, Arin's coming back downstairs. The younger man, now dressed a little better than he was before, pauses at the bottom of the stairs when his wife and boyfriend abruptly stop speaking and turn to look at him. He looks right on back, confused and kind of worried.

"Is... something wrong?" he asks them, "Did I do something?" But Dan is smiling a little at him and shaking his head, dropping his and Suzy's conversation completely.

"No, big cat, nothing's wrong," the older man insists, though they're all aware that it's not the truth. "But, uh, hey, you look... you look really nice. I should probably head up and get dressed too, actually. I hope I have something in my bag."

Without another word, Dan heads upstairs and into the guest bedroom. Arin looks at Suzy like he expects her to have an answer, but she only shrugs.

"I tried to ask him about why he's being so weird about the date," she explains as Arin takes a seat next to her at the island. "All that I got was that he's worried about something and it doesn't exactly have to do with you, but he didn't get to say what was bothering him because you came back so quick. I think that he doesn't want you to be worried too, which is probably why he doesn't seem to want you to know about what's going on with him."

Arin's eyebrows knit together. "Do you think he's afraid of people seeing us together?" he wonders aloud, his chin resting in his palm as he looks over towards the stairs. "Like seeing us, and fuckin'... thinking something bad about us for being together, or even going as far as to actually say something to our faces? D'ya think that he's worried that if we go out together, people will think we're disgusting? Or maybe he's just worried that someone who knows of us will find out and tell everyone before we're ready or something?"

Suzy bites her lip, giving Arin a grim expression. "It's hard to say for sure what's bothering him, but you may be onto something. We shouldn't assume though, just in case it's something else, but I have a weird feeling that you're right."

"Do you think he's ashamed of me or embarrassed to be seen with me?"

Suzy frowns. "Baby, no- of course not. He loves you."

Arin sighs softly, his head falling against Suzy's shoulder. "Should I call off the date?" he asks her, wondering what he should do, if he should let it go and go on the date without saying anything or if he should speak up about it. Though if Dan doesn't want to go, then Arin's not going to force him, obviously.

And if Dan doesn't want to go and it is for the reasons the younger of the two suspects, well then Arin just doesn't understand, he guesses, because what would the big deal be in someone they don't know seeing them together? Most people are accepting nowadays, and even if they aren't, people can be easily ignored unless they're super aggressive or hostile, and most people aren't either of those as of late.

Or at least Arin hopes.

Arin gets that Dan is probably paranoid about it though because all he's ever been is straight until they got together, and that's fair, of course, but... maybe Arin had hoped things would've changed a little by now and that maybe Dan would be comfortable with other people knowing. Besides the two of them, only Suzy, Brian, and his wife Rachel know. No one else does; not their families, not any of their other friends, including Ross, Sean, Barry and Vernon, Matt and Ryan and Allie and more- nobody else knows.

Maybe it's better like this, but Arin thinks that everyone else who knows them will not mind at all. It's just that Dan's afraid, and that's valid, of course; Arin doesn't mind keeping it a secret because yeah, maybe the others won't care about it being kind of gay, but they probably won't understand the agreement between Dan and Arin and Suzy, and Arin doesn't want anyone to think he's a cheater because he definitely isn't.

"I don't know if you should call it off," Suzy tells him finally, gently touching his shoulder. "But maybe talk to him first and see how he feels? If he's uncomfortable then maybe you should call it off for now, I don't know."

Before Arin gets to say anything, Dan speaks up from where he how stands at the bottom of the stairs, surprising Arin and Suzy both.

"You don't have to call it off, Arin," is what the older man says, sounding a little embarrassed or sad or nervous, or perhaps all three. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop but it's hard not to hear you, dude. So yeah, you're right- I'm fucking scared, Ar, of people thinking that I'm gay, I'm scared of people knowing that you're my boyfriend and then giving me shit for it, I'm scared of anyone else finding out and then thinking differently of me, and... I'm scared of everything else too, but I can't help it. I'm just not ready for anyone else to know that we're together and it's not that I'm ashamed of you, because I'm not, baby, please don't think that. I'm ashamed of myself, and I really don't understand why."

Arin nods, swallowing. "Well what if..." he starts, eyes studying Dan and finally noticing how nice he looks; it'd be a shame if they didn't go, so he continues speaking. "What if instead of cancelling the date, we just fuckin' go, but like... keep everything on the down-low? If we're somewhere that someone could possibly see us, then we won't touch or kiss or anything and then everyone will just assume that we're only friends. Would that be okay?"

Dan sighs and thinks it over for a moment. "It wouldn't be the fuckin' romantic date I know you're hoping for and I'm sorry about that, but what you're suggesting would... it would be okay with me, I think. As long as we stick to it."

Arin perks up a little. "Really?" he nearly whispers, a little surprised that Dan's agreeing. Dan gives a nod and Arin lets out a breath, happy that they're actually going to get to go on their first date after all. "Well if that's the case, we should get going then, shouldn't we?"

With that Arin stands and kisses Suzy on the cheek. "We'll be back, Suze, love you," he tells her, moving over to where Dan awkwardly stands in the kitchen area. He offers his hand to Dan, which the older man takes, and they head towards the front door.

"Love you too," Suzy calls out to him, smiling. "That goes for you too, Danny. Love you! Also, I'm probably going to be out by the time you get back, so if that's the case I'll probably see you both in the morning."

Dan chuckles as Arin opens up the door. "Okay, love you too, Scuze," he utters, letting Arin tug him outside. "Bye!"

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