Chapter 12

Twelve

Yesterday after the phone conversation, Beel figured he would take Az's advice and show up at the front door, because he really wouldn't mind another kiss. Only it was already late by then, and Jon had headed into bed. Beel would have woken him up—after all, when Jon was half asleep was probably the best time to not be missed in his frog form—but, well, the heated rock was really warm, and it had been a stressful day, and Beel might have dozed off.

Being topside had made him really enjoy snoozing. It was a lovely human pastime, and Beel had embraced it with all his little froggy self.

Needless to say, the next morning came, and Jon had brought him everywhere, including down to the pet shop. That would've been the perfect time to stroll in wearing a human form, only Jon kept looking at him.

His cute shopkeeper was totally suspicious.

But Az had planted the idea in Beel's head, damned lust demon, and now Beel couldn't stop thinking about being in his human form and hanging out with Jon. He loved when the sexy shopkeeper rubbed his back, but he wanted to be able to touch Jon in return. And yeah, definitely kiss him too.

The day dragged, and by the time they were heading back to the apartment, Beel was losing hope. Then an idea hit him. Jon always showered after work, and (most unfortunately) he didn't bring Beel in the bathroom with him. He usually came out wearing pj pants or sweatpants and a t-shirt, and Beel figured if he timed it exactly right, Jon would have to rush to the door without stopping to get him. He'd already be dressed, so he wouldn't need to pop into the bedroom.

What could go wrong, right?

So yeah, he was already suspicious, but Jon had to realize how crazy the idea was. Who would believe that his friend's pet frog turned into a human, put on a pair of Jon's boxers, scared off his ex, kissed him, and then came back for a visit a few days later?

Humans tended not to believe the unbelievable, even when they were faced with it. Hell, Gabe hadn't known he wasn't a normal frog for twenty years, and he knew about demons and angels and all that stuff.

So Beel sat in his aquarium and figured out what he would wear. (And yeah, last time he had sort of forgotten he could just appear with clothes. But really, Beel hadn't worn clothes in twenty years, so he couldn't be blamed.) He thought maybe black jeans and a sweater would work. He wanted to be casual, but he didn't think sweatpants were the right look. Gabe had a thing about never wearing sweatpants out of the house, so Beel would follow that lead, although he thought some humans did that.

As Beel was imagining his outfit, he heard the water in the bathroom shut off. He was oddly nervous. His stomach felt kinda funny and flippy. But what was the worst that could happen? If Jon turned him away at the door, so be it.

He heard Jon puttering around in the bathroom, and he gave it a minute before he transported to the outside of Jon's apartment.

Yes, he was dressed this time. He even remembered a jacket to go with the outfit, and he thought he looked quite dashing with his ripped jeans—like one of those cute, sexy guys in the movies (and so what if those guys usually died first; this wasn't a horror movie).

He gave a few urgent knocks on the door. He managed to wait about three seconds, then he knocked again. Fuck. He really hoped Jon didn't check the bedroom.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he heard footsteps heading toward the door, and he smiled at the peephole, trying his very best to look casual.

He wasn't sure he succeeded.

The door was thrown open, and Jon was wearing gray sweatpants and a black t-shirt, his hair still wet and his towel draped over his shoulder.

Beel definitely understood the human fascination with gray sweatpants, because Jon looked fucking amazing in them. He thought he could even see… Beel snapped his eyes back up to Jon's face, because he did not wanna get caught staring at Jon's dick. That would probably be rude.

Maybe? Because Jon was definitely giving him a once over.

"Hi!" Beel said. Then he did a stupid little half wave again.

He literally wanted to bang his head against the door. Fuck. He was so awkward.

Luckily Jon didn't seem to notice, because he was just staring at Beel.

"Um, is this a bad time?" Beel asked.

"NO!" Jon cried out, and then he lowered his voice, saying, "No, not at all. I mean, I just got out of the shower, so you sort of surprised me. Come in!" And he moved aside, holding the door open.

Beel sauntered in, barely resisting the urge to press Jon up against the wall and kiss him. He didn't want to scare the guy, though.

"I'm Jon, by the way," Jon said.

"Oh, yeah, hey! Nice to officially meet you," Beel said, inwardly panicking. He hadn't thought about names, and now he had to give a fake one, and what the hell was he supposed to say? "I'm… Demon," he muttered, and it was like the word was coming out of his mouth and he knew it was wrong even as he said it, but he couldn't stop it in time.

Beel again had the urge to bang his head against the wall. What was wrong with him? He was such an idiot!

"Did you say Damon?" Jon asked, and Beel blew out a breath in relief. Yes, that was a human name.

"Yup! Damon! That's me!" Beel said, then he fumblingly stuck his hand out to shake hands.

Beel literally thought about just turning around and walking out at that point. Was being human always so freaking awkward? He had been ok the first time, but then he'd been dealing with Jon's ex and hadn't had time to think. Now he was just absurd.

Luckily Jon was a really nice guy, because he didn't comment on Beel's awkward behavior, and he instead just reached out and shook hands.

Beel almost didn't want to let go. Jon had lovely hands.

They both sort of awkwardly chuckled after that, and then they stared at each other. Beel had no idea what to say, because he hadn't exactly been chatty for the last twenty years, and Jon obviously was stuck too. What if now, in the light of day when he was actually awake, Jon wasn't interested in Beel? What if the whole kiss thing had been temporary insanity on Jon's part because his ex was a jerk?

Beel felt totally self-conscious, but he couldn't take the silence, so he plowed ahead. "I, uh, I just wanted to… apologize? For the other night? Because that was probably pretty rude and kinda creepy, and I guess I just wanted to… uh, check on you?" Beel finished lamely.

"Oh! No! No apology necessary at all! I'm really sorry about my asshole ex, and, uh, thank you. For coming to my rescue." Jon gave a weak chuckle at that. "You were really super nice. Although I have no idea how you got in," Jon added.

Of course he couldn't let it go. Ugh. Beel had to throw something out there. "Well, I do… parkour?" He and Gabe had watched a movie about urban climbing, and he thought it was called parkour. Hopefully.

"Parkour?" Jon repeated.

"Yeah, you know, like that urban thing where people run and climb buildings and stuff?" Beel answered. Of course, that didn't explain the boxers, so he added, "And it was like a dare from my friends to do it naked, but I wasn't gonna risk… you know, all my bits, so I wore boxers. But yeah. Parkour."

"Parkour," Jon repeated again.

Beel wasn't sure Jon was buying it. It was like a little red warning sign was flaring in Beel's brain. ABORT MISSION! ABORT MISSION!

"Well," Beel said, putting his hands in his belt loops and rocking back on his feet a bit. "I don't wanna, like, intrude or whatever, but I wanted to apologize about being weird. But maybe I just made it weirder. So, sorry about that! And, um, yeah, good luck with everything."

Beel started to turn around, ready to make his exit and go back to being a frog for the rest of eternity (because being human sucked), but he felt Jon's hand on his shoulder.

"Wait!" Jon said, and Beel turned back around to look at him. The cute shop owner was totally blushing now, and it weirdly gave Beel a bit of confidence. Maybe Jon did like him in this form after all.

"I was just gonna watch a movie. You maybe wanna stay and hang out? I can order some pizza. It's the least I can do since you came to my rescue the other night," Jon offered, and he looked so adorably cute and nervous.

"Sure! I'd love to!" Beel said. He figured he probably sounded over enthusiastic, but oh well. He did like Jon, and maybe after pizza they could make out a little on the couch. Fingers crossed (now that he had fingers again—he almost chuckled out loud at the thought).

"Great!" Jon said, and they walked in, Jon gesturing toward the couch. "What do you want on your pizza? I already had a movie pulled up, but we can pick something else."

"No, this is great! I love horror movies, and this is totally a classic! And pepperoni and mushrooms are great for the pizza," Beel answered.

He thought Jon gave him a slightly weird look, but then his cute shop owner smiled as he walked into the bathroom to hang his towel up and grab his phone (which was thankfully not in the bedroom—it was a good thing humans took that little device everywhere with them, even when they were gonna shower and not use it).

"Sounds perfect!" Jon answered, and he sat down next to Beel while he placed the order on his phone.

They were so close that their thighs were almost touching, and Beel wondered how long he'd need to wait to make a move. Maybe the first jump scare would have Jon leaning into him and cuddling up.

A demon could always hope.