Author's Note

Well shit this was late. I posted a reminder on my phone to post this chapter but it just never went off. Oh well, better late than never. I'll try to post chapter 3 on Tuesday anyway.

Unexpected

The very first thing Lost Way did when the curtain opened was let out a loud and easily heard gasp. It was almost like the gasp itself was against his will, and was ripped from his mouth before his brain even had time to properly process the sight before his eyes.

Lost Way had only just begun to truly settle into his table a moment before. Unlike his roommate the idea of his own date being hand-picked by the princess of love had made him morbidly curious and excited for the night ahead. He never dreamed that a zebra like him would get the attention of royalty, even if he was a royal guard himself. He couldn’t help but wonder just what sort of stallion had been hoof-picked for him. When asked to describe his own type he had some difficulty putting it into words. Most of his encounters with stallions ended before any meaningful connection could be made that went beyond the physical kind. Truth be told he had been looking forward to the idea of a stallion who somepony else thought to be the perfect fit for him.

What he hadn’t been expecting was for that stallion to be one he recognized. Crashing Thunder was standing before him with his eyes shut, and an overly nervous look on his face. As soon as Lost Way let out his gasp he saw his best friend wince. There was a brief moment in time before Crashing Thunder cracked open his eyes where Lost was able to take in the situation. He briefly considered bolting, or hiding underneath the table. However his body seemed to be frozen, much like time. It couldn’t have been more than a few moments, but for Lost Way the seconds that he spent staring at his friend before Crash opened his eyes felt like an eternity.

Eventually time unfroze, and Crash cracked open his eyelids. The large pegasus looked up. Lost Way could see the cogs turn inside of the pegasi’s head. His mouth opened and hung ajar like that for several moments.

“There’s gotta be a mistake,” Was the very first thing that Crashing Thunder said. “This has gotta be the wrong table.”

Lost Way wasn’t sure why, but the panic in his best friend’s voice caused a tightness to form inside of his chest. Though Lost Way had been shocked by the sight of his best friend, his reaction hadn’t been so instantly against it as Crash’s tone of voice seemed to suggest. He was so caught up in the whirlwind of sudden emotion that he was forced to put that tightness in his chest aside and pray that it didn’t fester.

“What’s going on here?” Lost Way asked as he stood up from his cushion.

The waiter who had led Crashing Thunder back to this table looked between the two with a puzzled expression.

“I… I don’t believe there’s a mistake,” The Waiter said. “I was specifically requested to pair Crashing Thunder and Lost Way together at a table. That IS the two of you, correct?”

“It is, but…!” Crashing Thunder started, but his words got choked up in his throat. He looked to Lost Way with a panic in his eyes. “I’ve never… all my dates have been with mares… Lost Way, he’s…”

A million thoughts must have been running through Crashing Thunder’s head as he rambled, and seemed unable to finish a single thought. He was so busy wrapped up in his own confusion that Lost Way had to buck up and take the reins of the conversation.

“Will you go and double check?” Lost Way asked as he approached Crash and laid a hoof on his friend’s shoulder. He looked into the waiter’s eyes and forced himself to be the one in control of their emotions. “Please?”

“Y-Yes, of course,” The waiter said. The poor pony looked frazzled as he turned tail and made his way back towards the entrance. As soon as he was gone Crashing Thunder planted a hoof on his head and let out a whining sound that Lost recognized all too well as the big guy’s anxiety getting the best of him.

“C’mon, sit down,” Lost Way said as he tugged on Crash’s arm and directed him over to the table. “Take a breath, big guy.”

“Th-This is insane,” Crashing Thunder said under his breath as he followed Lost Way’s direction with all the movement of a shuffling zombie. He sat down on his cushion, or more so let his entire weight come crashing down on top of it. Instantly all the work Crash had put into his look seemed to be coming apart as he couldn’t help but constantly run a hoof through his combed mane.

“I’m sure it’s just a little mistake,” Lost Way said. “We both got hand picked by Cadance and Shining. Maybe there was just a little mixup between others who also did?”

Even as Lost Way said that he couldn’t help but hear how little he believed that in his own tone of voice. Of all the dates the two had been on, there had never been a mistake like this. The organization set up by the princess was very meticulous in how it handled business to avoid things exactly like this. Crashing Thunder was refusing to look at him directly, and instead opted to keep his eyes glued to the slightly ajar curtain in sight of the waiter who Lost was starting to doubt would really save either of them from his awkward situation.

That tightness from before lingered in Lost Way’s chest. He was struggling to play the comforter to Crash while also failing to deal with his own emotions. He bit the inside of his cheek and stared down at his hooves when he realized his words didn’t seem to be reaching the already anxious and upset pegasus.

The waiter returned, and judging by the worried expression on his face he didn’t seem to be bringing good news. Regardless, Crash stood up instantly.

“Is it wrong?” Crashing Thunder asked.

“I’m afraid it isn’t,” The waiter said. “All documents we received from the prince and princess all seem to indicate you two were matched together.”

There was a dead silence that hung over the room.

“But…!” Crashing Thunder started.

It was Lost Way who realized this was going to go around in circles unless somepony said something. He stood up.

“Thank you for checking,” Lost Way said as steadily as he could manage. “We’re sorry for the trouble. Can we have a minute before we order anything?”

Crashing Thunder looked back at Lost Way with fear in his eyes which Lost realized he had no idea how to comfort. The waiter hesitated, but seemed to want out of this situation just as badly as the two stallions. He simply nodded his head and pulled the curtain back, which left both Lost and Crash standing there in silence.

“Why’d you do that?” Crashing Thunder asked. His tone almost sounded hurt.

“It’s clearly not a mistake, Crash,” Lost Way said wearily as he sat himself back down. He put both hooves up against his face and let out a long winded groan. “Will you just sit and calm down?”

Crash clearly looked like he wanted to fight Lost Way on that, but relented when seeing just how exasperated the zebra seemed. The large pegasus sat down much softer than before before staring down at the table cloth. There was a ghastly expression in his eyes that only made Lost Way feel worse. The zebra was forced to look away from his friend to avoid his own emotions spiraling.

Calm down. That’s what Lost Way kept telling himself. He knew how badly Crashing Thunder handed situations as awkward as this. If he wasn’t the one in control of his feelings here then nopony would be.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Crash said out loud.

“Well… Maybe try to look at it from the prince and princess’ perspective?” Lost Way asked as he tried in vain to find some way to comfort his anxious friend. “We’re both royal guards, and we both had a bunch of dates here without much luck.”

“But why YOU?” Crashing Thunder asked.

Those words felt like a knife slipping directly into Lost Way’s chest. He felt like he had just been slapped or spit on.

“I-I don’t know,” Lost Way said, and found himself growing sheepish as the conversation lingered. “Maybe what we said we liked in ponies fit each other somehow?”

“But I’ve never been on a date with a stallion here,” Crash said wearily.

“Did you ever say you ruled out stallions entirely?” Lost Way asked. “I said that about mares.”

“I… I guess not,” Crashing Thunder said. “I said I maybe liked stallions but… ugh…”

Crashing Thunder placed his face in both of his hooves as he leaned onto the table and caused it to creak. Lost Way couldn’t bear to look at his distressed friend, and found himself wishing to also bury himself away so he couldn’t see. Tonight was so far the worst of the dates he had ever been on. He had never felt so unwanted, and for it to come from somepony he cared about as much as Crash only caused his chest to continue to ache.

“We… We don’t have to fight this so hard y’know,” Lost Way said.

“What do you mean?” Crash asked.

“Well… we’re here,” Lost Way said. “We don’t have to leave just cause of this little thing.”

“You seriously wanna continue this?” Crashing Thunder asked.

“Why not?” Lost Way said, and resisted the urge to snap back at his friend. “The restaurant’s paid for and we’re all dressed up. I don’t know why we can’t just try to enjoy our time here.”

Crash looked away as he frowned. Lost Way could see his friend was thinking, but knew he couldn’t find much of a reason to argue that wasn’t just how uncomfortable he felt.

Seeming to force the two to make a decision, the waiter finally returned. He peaked his head behind the curtain gingerly and looked at the two with squinted eyes as if judging to see if the situation had smoothed over at all.

“Do… Do you two gentlecolts need more time?” The waiter questioned.

“Wine!” Lost Way said loudly. “I could REALLY use some good red wine.”

Crash looked back at the waiter, and then lost. He eventually let out a weary sigh.

“Same for me,” Crash said. “Just bring a bottle, please.”

The waiter who seemed to not want to be there a moment longer simply nodded his head before darting off. After a moment Crash looked back to Lost, and the two locked eyes.

“You really wanna stay?” Crash asked.

“What, and go back to our place where it’ll be just as awkward without free food?” Lost Way asked. “I’ll take the free food, thanks.”

This seemed to finally get through to Crash. The pegasus nodded his head, and finally saw a little bit of logic in Lost’s reasoning to stay. He settled down onto the cushion and for once that evening didn’t look like he wanted to instantly bolt away.

It didn’t take long for the waiter to reappear with wine glasses and a bottle in hoof. As he poured the drinks he looked from Lost Way to Crashing Thunder suspiciously, but didn’t dare ask a question on how their evening was going as a waiter normally would. Lost couldn’t help but wonder if the tension in the air was truly that bad.

“I’ll give you a bit to look over the menu’s,” The waiter said quickly before quickly exiting. He seemed to want to be there even less than Crash.

As soon as he was gone Crash put the glass up to his lips and downed half of it. He let out a large gasp as he pulled the glass from his lips.

“Don’t down it all in one go,” Lost Way muttered under his breath before picking up his own glass and allowing the dry red liquid to coat his tongue. He knew it wasn’t the best idea to try and mask his anxieties in drunkenness, but right now he was a bit too worn from the past twenty minutes to care.

“I really should have taken you up on your offer to ditch, I guess,” Crash said as he looked longingly at the curtain where the waiter had just left. “Could have avoided this whole awkward mess.”

“It’s not THAT bad, is it?” Lost Way asked. “Free food, free wine, and no having to ask a bunch of boring questions we don’t really care about.”

“I guess not,” Crashing Thunder said, and then trailed off. He seemed dead set on making sure the conversation would never pick up. It had never been so much like pulling teeth for Lost Way to talk to his best friend.

“You said you didn’t pick only mares when you signed up for what you like, right?” Lost Way asked as he tried his best to brush past the subject.

“Yeah…” Crashing Thunder said. He already sounded a little bit uncomfortable.

“You never told me that,” Lost Way said. “That you… might not be interested in only mares.”

“Well it’s not like I put it down as yes I love stallions,” Crashing Thunder said. “I’ve never had a real marefriend or coltfriend. It didn’t feel right to just rule out stallions entirely… But I said I preferred mares, I dunno.”

“You dunno?” Lost Way asked. “You could have talked to me about that, you know.”

“I didn’t think about it, okay?” Crash said. “I don’t see why you care so much.”

“I’m your best friend, Crash!” Lost Way said. “You didn’t have to, but… I thought we didn’t hide secrets.”

“It wasn’t a secret,” Crashing Thunder said. “I started coming to these things so I could start a herd,” Crashing Thunder said. “This just makes me feel like I’m wasting my time here with a stallion.”

“You don’t think a stallion would want to start a herd with you?” Lost Way asked. He didn’t know why, but that insuitation offended him a little bit.

“No, not a stallion, but…” Crashing Thunder started his train of thought, but then trailed off. He gave one quick glance to Lost Way and then darted his eyes away. “Nevermind. It’s never crossed my mind to try to start it with a stallion, no.”

That was like a dagger piercing itself right through Lost Way’s heart. It was clear that Crash already knew he had said too much by how he refused to look Lost Way in the eye. Right now the Zebra could feel his mind racing. Just what did his friend think of him? Lost suddenly felt like he was being judged by the one pony who had never made him felt that way, and it hurt more than any wound he had ever experienced.

“We’re already here,” Lost Way said as he struggled to keep himself calm. “The date hasn’t even really started, so why can’t we just…”

“It’s NOT a date,” Crashing Thunder said.

Lost Way felt himself visibly wince as he looked up to Crashing Thunder.

“Well, why the heck not?” Lost Way spat right back. “Fancy restaurant, fancy wine, fancy bowties? Looks like a date to me!”

“Why are you so hung up on all of this?” Crashing Thunder asked. “I thought you’d be just as eager to forget this entire thing!”

“I don’t know why you do!” Lost Way could feel his voice getting louder as his emotions started to seep through. “Princess Cadance matched us together herself! She knows more about love than any pony. it’s kind of her job!”

“For all we know she could have just looked at two stallions who hadn’t managed to find a steady partner in half a hundred dates and just stuck them together hoping for the best,” Crash said right back. “It doesn’t MEAN anything. No stars aligned and no fate is happening here.”

“Do you really think she wouldn’t put ANY thought into this?” Lost Way said. “You’re the one who was so passionate about this thinking you’d find somepony BECAUSE it was the Princess of Love who set everything up!”

“So what, suddenly you’re in love with me because we’re on a blind date together?” Crash asked.

“When did I say that?” Lost way snapped. He could feel himself growing frantic, and in frustration he hit his hoof down on top of the table hard enough to cause the wine in both of their glasses to vibrate. “I’ve never thought of you like that before, Crash! It never crossed my mind, but…”

Lost Way trailed off. He realized he was practically shouting now. His body was starting to tremble. The emotions he had strung up so tightly trying to keep under wraps were beginning to unbind themselves and leave him just as much of an emotional wreck as his best friend.

“But what?” Crashing Thunder asked.

“Forget it,” Lost Way said.

“Lost…” Crash started.

“I just… Seeing you when the curtain got pulled back,” Lost Way started. “I was shocked, yeah. But I wasn’t… I wasn’t whatever you’ve been like this whole time.”

“I’m not being like anything, Lost,” Crashing Thunder defended himself.

“Are you KIDDING ME?” Lost Way nearly shouted again. “You’re acting like you can barely look at me! You’ve been so wrapped up in thinking this is some horrible mistake and whining about how I’m not some stranger! You keep going on and on about how bad this is for you but have you even thought for a second how this whole thing is making ME feel?”

That was it. The moment the dam inside of Lost Way’s heart burst. He finally lost control of his emotions.

“I’m some mistake, I’m not somepony you’ll ever start a herd with, I’m NOT your date. You aren’t even stopping for a second to think about it, you just saw me and freaked out! Like I’m… I’m the worst thing that could have possibly been behind that curtain!”

Lost Way could feel the tears welling up in his eyes now. He so, so desperately didn’t want to cry. Not here, and not now. He hated himself for getting so worked up, and for taking everything Crash had done this evening so personally.

“Lost,” Crash said. For the first time that night Crash’s voice didn’t feel wrapped up in his own anxieties. “I didn’t think you would want to settle down to start a herd. I thought you only came to this place for fun.”

“Is that really how you see me?” Lost Way asked. “Just some stallion who only cares about whose gonna fuck him next and move on? I’m out of the question the second you saw it was me?”

“No!” Crash said, with his eyes widening in a panic. “Of course not!”

“W-Well you’ve done an a-awful job of acting like that’s not i-it,” Lost Way said. A few tears slipped out and he instantly put his hooves up to his face and let out a groan of frustration. His shoulders started to tremble. He was losing control, and fast. “Dammit… Dammit dammit!”

Lost Way wanted to be swallowed up by the earth. He wanted to disappear and never be found again. He was starting to wish this night had never happened. He couldn’t remember the last time him and Crash had fought, and certainly it had never made him feel quite so much like his heart was being ripped out on his chest.

Lost was so overwhelmed by his emotions that he didn’t hear Crashing Thunder get up. What he did feel was the weight of the enormous stallion practically crashing on top of him and startle him badly enough for him to let out a gasp. His eyes were so blurred by his own tears that he couldn’t see anything, but he certainly felt the strong arms of his friend wrap around him.

“I’m sorry,” Crashing Thunder said. By the sound of it, he too had emotion in his voice that he was struggling to not let unearth. “Please stop crying.”

“I-It’s a little late f-for that!” Lost Way said. Truth be told he had meant for that to be more of a joke, but he was already so overwhelmed by his own emotions that he was positive he only sounded more upset.

“I’m sorry,” Crash repeated and strengthened his hug around Lost Way’s body. “I’m here, okay? I would never think any of that stuff about you, ever.”

Lost had lost control of his breathing to the point each breath came and went shakily. It started to feel like Crash’s forelegs were the only thing holding him together. He leaned into his friend, and buried his teary eyed and snotty nosed face into Crashing Thunder’s chest.

“I don’t think we can ever come back to this restaurant,” Crash said. “The waitstaff’ll be telling stories about us for months.”

Despite his crying, Lost Way couldn’t stop himself from letting out a half-sob half-laugh at that. Even doing that caused his entire body to shake, and Crash squeezed him tighter as a result.

“D-Don’t make me l-laugh, you jerk,” Lost Way said.

“I’m glad you CAN laugh,” Crashing Thunder said.

Lost Way sniffled. Though he still felt awful he had to admit having his friend comfort him alleviated a bit of the stress that had been building up all night. He closed his eyes. Even minutes later when the tears finally stopped he struggled to breathe steadily without trembling.

“H-Hey,” Lost Way said once he finally felt confident enough to speak without devolving into his emotions. “Do you remember when we were really young? Back when we got bullied a lot?”

“I try not to,” Crash said. “But yeah, I do.”

“I remember when we finally became friends, we did everything together,” Lost Way said. “Nopony else would even talk to us for the longest time. We sat and ate lunch alone together, and played together. It got to the point you couldn’t separate us. The other stallions started to tease us all the time asking if we were boyfriends or something.”

“Mmm, I think I remember that,” Crash said. “I got so fed up with it once that I yelled at them that I’d be lucky to have you be my boyfriend.”

“You remember,” Lost Way said, and couldn’t help himself from smiling. “I just thought of that all of a sudden. Any other stallion that age would have acted grossed out if you even joked about that kind of thing. You didn’t, though. You acted like you’d be proud to be with me. Even before I knew I liked stallions that made me feel really good.”

“They all laughed at me for saying that,” Crash said. “But I said it every time they tried to make fun of us like that. Eventually they got bored of that and moved on to other stuff to mess with us.”

Crashing Thunder let out a long winded sigh. His arms loosened around Lost Way, but didn’t fully release. He put his chin on top of the zebra’s head and began to gently rub his back. Lost Way felt his cheeks grow warm. He had never been embraced so softly before.

“I’m sorry about tonight, Lost,” Crash said. “I was right back then. I’d be lucky to have you even consider being my partner.”

“Th-That’s not why I brought it up, you doof,” Lost Way said. “I just thought of it because of the blind date and all.”

“It’s true, though,” Crash said as he pushed away from Lost and held him at foreleg’s length. The two met eyes, and for the first time that evening Crashing Thunder had a stern conviction. “I should have been acting like that colt I was when I was a little kid and not thought only about how I felt. I’m no better than those stallions who used to treat us like garbage.”

“C’mon, Crash,” Lost Way said. “Don’t say that.”

“No, don’t let me off the hook,” Crashing Thunder said. “I’ve been a jerk and an ass and I don’t deserve you at all, but please just let me try this date again.”

Lost Way felt his eyes widen.

“Date?” The zebra asked.

“Look, maybe you were right,” Crashing Thunder said. “Maybe Cadance did see something when she hoof picked the two of us for tonight. Maybe we just didn’t see it cause we were so caught up in just seeing each other as friends.”

Lost Way could feel his chest tighten up. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Crash have such confidence and boldness in his eyes. It was a far cry from the panicked mess he had been this entire evening. For the first time Lost Way allowed himself to seriously consider the possibility of himself with Crash.

“So… what do we do now?” Lost Way asked.

“Well,” Crash said. “I guess the first thing would probably be to order some food.”

—————————————————————-

Crashing Thunder felt the cold water from the tap splash up to hit his face. With both hooves pressed against his face he allowed himself to let his shoulders loosen up. The way he was feeling right now was almost indescribable. So many emotions had hit him at once over the course of this evening that right now all he felt was the looming cloud of exhaustion hang over his head. Part of him wanted nothing more than to go home and curl up in his bed and sleep until day had gone by all the way into the following night. The other part was brimming with nerves and curiosity about what the rest of the night might hold if he didn’t.

Crash raised his eyes from his hoof and stared at his own reflection. The bathroom of this restaurant was dim, which only accented the dark circles under his eyes. He looked more of a mess than Lost Way, which was saying a lot considering the zebra’s eyes were probably still red and puffy from his crying.

Crash felt his guts twist at the memory of that. He had heard Lost Way cry before, but it had never been because of him. The hurt in his best friend’s voice still made Crash tense up. He felt his own eyes briefly begin to sting.

“Stop it,” Crash muttered under his breath as he tore eyes away from his reflection. “You can fix this… you HAVE to fix this.”

Crash knew he had made mistakes tonight. Seeing Lost break down after trying so hard to salvage this mess of a dinner was the biggest wake up call the pegasi could have asked for. He only wished he hadn’t been so self absorbed in his own feelings to have seen it before the breaking point.

Now wasn’t the time for Crash to pity himself. He had screwed up in just about every possible way but he knew there was still a chance to salvage the broken pieces of the date he had carelessly tried to smash with all his might. He looked himself in the mirror once again, and forced himself to look determined.

“I WILL fix this,” Crash said.

Crashing Thunder exited the bathroom with a sigh. The busy restaurant seemed so much more lively than the curtained off chambers which he and Lost had had their individual breakdowns. It only served to remind him of the scene they had caused, and made him wonder just how much the other patrons of this restaurant had heard in the process of all their shouting.

Crash returned to where Lost was, and opened the curtain to see him already stuffing a forkful of greens into his mouth.

“Foods here,” The zebra said with said food still in his mouth.

“I see that,” Crashing Thunder said as he returned to the table and sat himself down. “Did the waiter look like he was ready to bolt when he brought it?”

“Well, it’s been a good fifteen minutes since we yelled at each other,” Lost Way said after swallowing his food. “So I think they’re letting their guard down. I think we need to yell about something soon or they’ll act like we’re normal by the time we leave.”

“That’d be a real shame,” Crash said with a sigh as he stared down at his own plate of food. He had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn’t even bothered to look at the menu, and had just ordered the same meal that Lost Way had. Daisy salad with cider drizzled dressing.

“So, uh, Lost…” Crashing Thunder began.

“Yeah?”

Crash had tried to look up to meet Lost’s pink eyes, but found that his cheeks grew warm in doing so. He looked back down to his food and shifted awkwardly back and forth on his cushion.

“About us,” Crash said. “Have you ever thought about it?”

“You mean dating?” Lost Way asked. “No, not really. I kind of thought you were straight as a board until tonight.”

“Y-Yeah,” Crashing Thunder said. “I’m sorry. You were right, I could have told you about those feelings. I just didn’t think it was ever right.”

“No, that wasn’t for me to butt my head into,” Lost Way said. “You need to deal with that in your own way…. But how about you?”

“How about me?”

“Have you thought about it?” Lost Way asked. “The two of us?”

Crash frowned, and after a moment of consideration slowly shook his head.

“Not really,” Crash said. “I was never actively against the idea either, though. It was just something that didn’t seem like I should think about it too hard.”

“Ditto,” Lost Way said. “But how about right now? Have you thought about it at all?”

“W-Well,” Crash said, and found himself getting flustered faster than he expected. “A little. It’s only been for these past fifteen minutes though, so I’m not sure if I’m really qualified to give an opinion.”

“Qualified?” Lost Way snorted.

“You know what I mean,” Crash said while resisting the urge to groan. “You’re my best friend, Lost. Thinking of you as different is…”

“Bad?” Lost way asked.

“No, no,” Crash said quickly and shook his head. “It’s scary. If something goes wrong and one of us gets hurt I don’t wanna lose you.”

“Crash…” Lost Way said gently. Crashing Thunder looked up to see Lost Way’s eyes were staring right at him. The zebra reached his hoof across the table and took the pegasi by his own and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You will never, ever, not be my best friend. Even if you broke my heart I’d find a way to forgive you. I don’t want a life without you in it, romantically or as a friend.”

Crashing Thunder felt his chest tense up a bit, but for once it wasn’t because of anxiety. His eyes stung a little, and he had to tell himself not to let his emotions get the best of him. He nodded his head gently.

“Thank you,” Crash said. “That’s pretty comforting to hear, actually.”

“You wouldn’t abandon me, right?” Lost way asked.

“Never.”

Crash said it without a hint of hesitation. He didn’t even need to think about it for even a second. In a way the fact that he didn’t have to ponder the question gave him a bit of relief. He knew deep down that regardless of what came from tonight Lost Way would always be a part of his life. The way his friend smiled made him feel safe.

“This might sound weird but you’re kind of what I’ve always wanted in a mare,” Crash said.

“That’s…” Lost Way began, and sounded a bit skeptical as he did so.

“Not physically,” Crash said quickly. “Just that you’re easy to talk to. You don’t make me feel like an alien in my own skin when I’m around you. I feel like I can already tell you anything and not be afraid you’ll laugh at me.”

“Well… I don’t feel like we’re just gonna have sex and you’ll never talk to me again,” Lost Way said. “Sometimes I feel like they only want me because I look exotic or something and they just wanna try it with me. It’s been really hard to have a genuine connection with anypony lately.”

Crash felt his belly twist at that word. The idea of anypony only seeing his friend as that filled him with mixed feelings of frustration and sadness all at once.

“I thought you didn’t care about that stuff,” Crash said.

“I thought I didn’t,” Lost Way said. “But after it happens so many times in a row you just start to feel tired. Lately I’ve been wondering what it’d be like to find a stallion who wants to get to know me and doesn’t just make me feel like I’m something on a list to cross off.”

Lost Way picked up his glass of wine and stared at it with a melancholy expression as he swirled it around.

“If we do try this,” Crashing Thunder said. “I mean, really give it a shot… I don’t think I want our first date to end here.”

“What do you mean?” Lost Way asked as he looked up.

“I mean, this restaurant sucks,” Crash said with a half-hearted laugh. “We spent most of our time here screaming or crying. I feel like it’s my fault for that.”

“Crash…”

“No, it is,” Crashing Thunder said. “Look, you deserve to be treated right for a change. I say we just leave this place and try to start over this date someplace else.”

“You just wanna ditch?” Lost Way asked. “Before eating?”

“Lost,” Crash said. “I’ve seen you literally lick a plate clean because it had cheese sauce on it. I don’t think we need to act like we’re prim and proper to impress each other like we’d normally do at this place.”

“I will admit,” Lost said before sighing as he mindlessly stabbed his greens with a fork. “This salad isn’t nearly greasy enough to count as comfort food after crying. I feel like I could eat five hay burgers.”

“With hay bacon?”

“Yes, with hay bacon,” Lost Way said. “Are you insane?”

Both Crash and Lost chuckled at that. It was then that Crash reached up and began to undo the bowtie that had been constricting his neck for the entire night. He ran his hoof through his perfectly combed hair until it was just as messy as usual.

“That feels better,” Crash said. “This place makes me feel like I fit in more with the staff than the patrons.”

“Ditto,” Lost Way said. “You think if I walk around eventually some uppity mare’ll snap at me to get her more wine?”

“Within minutes,” Crash said. “So, how about it? Wanna ditch and I’ll buy us some burgers at that little diner you like?”

“Heh, you really do know the way to get to my heart,” Lost Way said with a giggly smile before grabbing his glass of wine and downing the rest of it in one go. He let out a loud sigh and slammed it onto the table as if it were a shot. “Let’s get the heck out of here.”

Crash smiled as well as he stood up. Once he and Lost Way were standing side by side he gently bumped his rump against Lost Way’s own.

“Ready for a date that doesn’t blow?” Crash asked.

“I could make a really, really bad joke about your wording if I wanted,” Lost Way responded.

Crash let out a chuckle, and reached up his hoof to briefly tuck his arm over Lost’s shoulders and pull him in close. After a brief moment of hesitation he pressed his lips down against his friend’s cheek. It was softer than he had expected.

“H-Hey!” Lost said in a high pitched surprised tone, and pulled away slightly.

“Sorry!” Crash said. “Was that too much.”

“N-No,” Lost Way said, and touched his cheek where he had just been pecked. “Just didn’t expect that is all… Give me some warning next time, jeez.”

“Next time?” Crash asked, and raised his eyebrows. Now it was Lost Way’s turn to blush as the pink stripes on his cheeks began to blend in with the rest of his face.

“Shut up,” Lost Way said. “You’re buying me large fries too, now.”

“Yes, Sir,” Crash said as Lost Way pushed forward in front of the pegasus. Crash followed close behind with a smile on his face.

This was probably the first time he had been leaving a date not feeling the dread of the world on his shoulders. Truth be told, he was actually a little excited.