A Benefit

Owen hated shopping. It went against the stereotype but he didn't care nor did most of his friends, which tended to skew more towards the brighter side of the rainbow. However, when it came to the few straight friends he had, they sometimes assumed he wouldn't mind and with Jeffrey, the situation was more out of desperation for any type of help possible. Plus, on that rare moment, he didn't have any excuses to get out of it.

"I'm screwed. Her birthday is in two days. I should have done this like a week ago"

"Why did you wait until now?" He had to state the obvious issue since it was already brought up in subject.

Jeffrey shrugged, "I forgot. This semester has been brutal. I'm glad my wife had it written down or I'd be doing this from the dog house."

They had almost the same schedule since both were studying law and in the same classes minus one as he already had his math basic course out of the way while Jeffrey had put it off until forced to take it that semester. The excuse sounded lame but he didn't want to push the issue too far because that would make the shopping experience longer. He wanted to get it done and over with quicker than that. First came the issue of where to shop, however. Not knowing what qualified as a good gift for a wife didn't help. He had to act the support and at the same time, not give too horrible of advice considering his lack of interest.

"She likes this store." The man lead the way in the mall to a very pink and white store.

It made Owen wince and shake his head. More like the man liked the store as it was the well known: Victoria's Secret. On his list of places to avoid, the store full of bras and other items was on the top. But it wasn't the worst option possible thus far, so he followed despite having no interest in most of the material displayed.

They stopped not far in the store, at least not going to the very back where the women working there were buzzing around different people. Picking up one of the items from the shelf, Jeffrey had no awareness of how strange they looked as he held up a pair of pink lace panties. "She might like these. This pair is lace and uhh, pretty."

"Okay. What size?" He glanced at the different ones on the table and the markings sketched on the drawers that each had a mixing of the different styles.

The pause didn't indicate anything good about to happen. "I don't know. Maybe this one."

Not sure if he should be proud or not for knowing this much, Owen had to give the bad news since it was clear his friend didn't quite realize the problem at hand. "I wouldn't want to be there if you guessed too big and think she'd want something too small? If you don't know, do you want to risk finding out the hard way?"

"Damn. No." He put the panties down and after another awkward ten minutes wandering the store looking very out of place, they gave up on the underwear and moved to other stores.

It took them far too long to get through the different stores to some place that suited him far better. Aside from the shopping, they did have one task that Owen found enjoyable: food. They picked one of the restaurant's within the mall to dine for lunch, making it almost worth going through the hassle of spending more than an hour in the shopping center. While waiting for their food to arrive at the stellar hamburger joint, he focused more on his phone than the current company.

"What about you? Playing the whole single until lawyered or are you seeing anyone?"

The straight guy asking about his personal life came out weird even though they sort of were friends. That topic was more discussed with his main set of friends except none of them knew the truth since it involved a secret. Even though Jeffrey didn't know most of the guys involved, since it was something they weren't telling anyone yet, he decided to go with the decision. "Nothing really, at least not that you'd want to here. I'm more focused on class since law school isn't that far off."

"I'd question that but I think you aren't telling something. Don't make me badger the witness and by witness I mean you." Jeffrey laughed before giving somewhat of an explanation. "It's only fair since you have to hear about my wife and everything."

"Said nothing worth mentioning." The only problem came when his phone went off right at that moment with a text from Tyler, with a message about later that night. Seeing it, he couldn't help but smile.

Of course, Jeffrey didn't miss it either. "And you are over ruled. Now spill because that smile is all guilt."

Shaking his head, he couldn't like out right, not quite the right situation though both probably had some skills considering their chosen study path with wanting to be lawyers. Also, he really wanted to tell at least one friend and no one else would find out since it was someone not in the main group. Jeffrey didn't even really know his interest. "Okay. One of my friends, Tyler, let's just say we've been enjoying some benefits."

"Is that all you guys do? Not going for the relationship? Because that smile was more like when I was getting ready to propose, if I could have seen myself when I was in that phase."

"It's complicated. Our schedules are different and I need to worry about school but there is something about him. None of our friends even know we've crossed that barrier. Even though we argue all of the time, he's great at helping me keep on my guard." Owen didn't know how else to explain and in truth, he wasn't quite sure about any of it. "I'm taking it how things come. Which right now means, once we're done shopping, I have plans. Oh, and he suggested the blitz body shop for a basket as a gift for your wife."

Jeffrey pulled at some fries but stopped at the suggestion. "The bath store? She loves that stuff. Why didn't I think of it earlier. I mean, that'll be like a hole in one. Great idea."

"I'll tell him thanks for the good idea, though I'll leave out the sports reference. I don't think he'll recognize it."

"Do you?"

"Yeah, it's umm that one with the stick. Putt Putt." Owen shrugged, not really caring as he was focused more on his texts than the table.

Jeffries laughed at him, eating a few fries before responding. "Close enough I suppose but maybe your boyfriend knows more."

"Friend." He corrected him at once but stalled right after. Deep down, as he looked at the phone, he realized that he wanted the other label. "Or maybe..."

"That's what I thought. Thanks for the help and maybe we can double date one of these days, after midterms, of course. I want to meet your boyfriend."

He almost said 'me too' but knew that would sound weird. He needed to talk to Tyler and see where they stood because after getting called out on the situation, now he knew that it was something he wanted. He needed to know if maybe they were more than just a couple of guys enjoying benefits.



(word count = 1265)