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“Isak you’re drooling.”
“Shut up, no I’m not,” Isak blushed but that did not stop him from reaching up and wiping his chin just in case. Jonas gazed knowingly at him, earning a glare back from Isak. He forcibly removed his eyes from where they were previously glued to the the other boy. That other boy being, Even. Isak’s stand was a lemonade stand, so most of the day he sat playing games on his phone or staring at Even in his booth. Even’s booth was a water dunking game, so he sat on top of a board while players tried to knock him down into the tub of water below. So far that hasn’t happened.
“Jeez, you can just go talk to him, that is a thing that you can do,” Jonas leaned against the concession stand’s counter.
“We do talk!” Isak protested.
“Oh yeah, ‘how are you?’ ‘that’s nice’ ‘yeah customers have been crazy ha ha’ ‘okay see ya,’ real exhilarating conversations there,” Jonas rolled his eyes.
“I’m playing it cool,” Isak mumbled, even though he knew that wasn’t true, he really just didn’t know what to say. He was usually great at flirting, if not a master, but something about Even made everything inside him bubble and go right out the door, leaving him with short, polite conversations, but not the kind he wanted to be having.
“It’s working amazingly well,” Jonas snorted.
“I just don’t know what to say,” Isak flapped his arms, “I can’t just go up to him and say ‘hey I really want to suck your dick, go on a few dates, and maybe get married, so what do you say?””
“I’ve seen you hit on girls before you came out, it can’t be that much different?” Jonas offered.
“What if he doesn’t like guys? What if I weird him out or he gets mad?” Isak mumbled.
“Nah, Even doesn’t seem like that kind of guy,” Jonas shook his head, “besides, I’ve seen guys flirt with him and he is always really good-natured about it.”
“Good-natured? So does he flirt back?” Isak probed.
“Uhh, sort of? It’s hard to tell because he kind of is just a flirty guy,” Jonas shrugged.
“This is unfair,” Isak groaned, “I thought we were all supposed to have gay-dar, but I can’t tell for shit.”
“The worst case scenario is he’ll turn you down,” Jonas offered him.
“Well, I still don’t know what to say to him,” Isak sighed.
“Well you have like 20 seconds to figure it out because he’s on his way over here,” Jonas nudged him. Immediately, Isak whipped his head over, and sure enough Even in all his 6’4” glory, was making long strides on those long legs over to Isak’s booth.
“Hey guys, what’s up?” the radiant boy beamed as he stopped in front of the stand, thankfully Isak was sitting because he wasn’t sure his knees would’ve been trustworthy.
“Hey man, not much,” Jonas nodded politely and then looked at Isak and jerked his head toward Even. Nice. Real subtle, Jonas.
“Hey,” Isak greeted him back, “Haven’t been dunked yet, huh?”
Even laughed, sending shivers through Isak as the deep vibrato reverberated all the way through his bones.
“Ah, no, not yet. It seems no one in Norway has any sort of aim,” Even grinned at him.
“Yeah, but who knows,we still have a few hours left, someone could come along yet,” Isak smiled.
“Yeah, I kind of hope someone does to be honest. I’m dying over there just sitting in this heat,” Even said and rain a hand across his forehead as if to emphasize his point, “That’s why I came over here, actually. I was hoping I could get one of these delicious looking lemonades.”
“Yeah! Of course!” Isak answered too quickly and hurriedly followed it up with, “I mean we’re both employees so we’re allowed to get free drinks, so yeah, obviously you can have some.”
Not the smoothest save.
“So, um, what size did you want then?” Isak asked him.
“Just a small,” Even answered. As Isak filled the cup he watched Even from the corner of his eye. He looked gorgeous, as always. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and basketball shorts so it wasn’t like he was dressed up, but to Isak he still looked like he was ready to do some sort of photoshoot. But he was probably biased since he’d been pining after him the entire summer.
“So have you been busy over here?” Even asked and interrupted Isak’s thoughts.
“Uh no, actually, kind of a slow day,” Isak said as he turned back to the front with Even’s lemonade.
“Yeah, me too,” Even nodded and carefully took the lemonade from Isak, “I think I’ve only had like 4 customers.”
“Yeah, I guess mondays aren’t that great of carnival days,” Isak replied.
“No, maybe not,” Even smiled. He looked directly into Isak’s eyes, which was both uncomfortable and exciting. Isak smiled back before ducking his head down and breaking the eye contact.
“Um, well I suppose I should probably get back to my post,” Even said, and unless Isak’s imagination was really getting ahead of itself, he seemed disappointed.
“Yeah, wouldn’t want to miss the chance to be dumped into a tub of water,” Isak tried to flirt but cringed on the inside. However, Even let out another boisterous laugh.
“In this heat, I’m keeping my fingers crossed,” Even flashed him another one of his blinding smiles, “I’ll see you around Isak.”
‘Yeah, or well, uh, I mean I’ll be here,” Isak shrugged.
“Cool,” Even said looking at him prolongedly once again.
“Yeah, see you Even,” Jonas voice suddenly broke through the air. Isak jumped a bit, he’d forgotten Jonas was even there, and from Even’s surprised reaction so had he.
“Oh! Uh, yeah, you too Jonas,” Even addressed the dark haired boy, “Yeah so, see you both around.”
Even gave them both one more wave before heading back to his booth. Isak watched his backside shamelessly, it wasn’t like Even knew and Jonas already did know, so whatever. He traced his eyes from his broad shoulders to his tapered waist and his long legs, and well, obviously his ass. It was a bit sad, honestly, because Isak could feel his body reacting just from observing the way the other boy’s back muscles contracted.
“Woow, he’s definitely into you,” Jonas whistled.
Isak frowned, “What do you mean?”
“He totally forgot I was even here, and he had that same dopey ‘you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen’ look on his face that you get when you look at him,” Jonas answered.
“What the fuck, I don’t make a face!” Isak said hotly.
“Sure you don’t buddy,” Jonas patted his shoulder, “Ask him out.”
“Ask who out?” Magnus yelled as he appeared out of nowhere, because he has no concept of voice volume.
“Go away Magnus,” Isak grumbled.
“Ooohh do you mean Even?” Magnus asked.
“Wait how do you know about Even?” Isak narrowed his eyes.
“Pfff, how does anyone not know about Even?” Magnus laughed, “You are always staring at him and mooning like a 12 year old girl.”
“See?” Jonas said nudging Isak.
“I hate you guys,” Isak glared.
“You should ask him out though, that would be so cool if you guys dated and he became part of our friend group!” Magnus said excitedly.
“Why?” Isak rolled his eyes.
“Even is so cool! Hands down the coolest guy here, even more than me,” Magnus answered.
“Everyone here is cooler than you Magnus,” Isak said flatly. Magnus gave him an unimpressed look.
“Okay, fine, then I won’t tell you what he said,” he turned his head.
“What do you mean ‘what he said’?” Isak demanded.
“No, I only care about my friends,” Magnus turned his nose up.
“Stop being dramatic Magnus and just tell me,” Isak demanded again.
“Say I’m cool first,” Magnus looked at him.
“Are you serious?” Isak asked incredulously. Magnus just stared at him. “Oh my god, fine, you’re the coolest Magnus. Cooler than anyone here. Tell me.”
“That didn’t sound very genuine,” Magnus answered and Isak glared, “But I’ll tell you. He was asking around if you were seeing anyone.”
“Is that all?” Isak squinted.
“Isak, guys don’t ask around if you’re seeing anyone unless they are interested,” Magnus said like ‘duh.’
“That’s not a lot to go on,” Isak responded.
“Well he stares at you a lot, too,” Magnus shrugged.
“No he doesn’t,” Isak disagreed.
“Yeah, he does, probably just as much as you do him, you just don’t notice I guess,” Magnus shrugged.
“See?” Jonas said again, “I told you everyone can tell.”
“Why hasn’t he asked me out then?” Isak threw his hands up.
“Well you haven’t asked him out either,” Jonas retorted.
“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask about that,” Magnus interjected, “Is there like a rule for gay guys? Like you know, guys usually ask girls out, but how does it work with two dudes?”
“Girls can ask guys out,” Jonas told Magnus.
“I know that,” Magnus rolled his eyes, “But still it’s usually guys that do it.”
“No, Magnus there’s no ‘rules’,” Isak air quoted him sarcastically, “God I wish there were, then I would know what to do.”
“You want me to be your wingman? I can go over there and talk to him for you,” Magnus offered.
“No!” Isak protested, now that would be embarrassing. Magnus is the last person he would want to be his wingman.
“Don’t be rude,” Magnus grumbled.
“Don’t you have to get back to ring toss or whatever,” Jonas asked him.
“No, I’m on trash duty now,” Magnus sighed.
“Why’d you get moved?” Jonas asked him.
“I kept feeling bad when people would lose so I would give them a prize anyway.”
“Pff, nice going.”
“I couldn’t help it! Those little kids look so sad when they lose!”
Isak tuned out from whatever conversation was left between Jonas and Magnus, and instead watched Even again.
He looked beautiful, although bored. He had wrapped a bandana around his head and was wearing a pair of sunglasses, staring off into the distance, moving his legs back and forth from where he was sitting.
“Hey will one of you guys cover for me?” Isak said suddenly.
“What? Why?” Magnus asked and then followed his eyes over to Even, “Oh shit! Are you going to go talk to him!?”
“Yeah,” Isak mustered up some confidence.
“Yeah, dude, go get it,” Jonas urged him.
“Don’t shout anything at me as I’m walking over there. I will kill you,” Isak warned them.
“Go, go, go!” Magnus said pushing him toward Even’s direction.
It was both the shortest and longest walk of Isak’s life. He could feel his nerves growing as he edged closer and closer. Just as he was about to chicken out, Even noticed him.
“Hey!” Even grinned at him.
“Okay,” Isak whispered to himself as he walked the last few steps to his destination.
“Hey,” He smiled more confidently than he felt.
“What are you doing over here?” Even asked beaming down from his overhead position. Fuck, Isak hadn’t thought of a reason why he came over.
“Um, you just seemed bored, so I thought I’d come say hi,” Isak blushed.
“Well, you are correct,” Even answered, “It gets quite boring over here when there aren’t any customers.”
Isak glanced back over to his lemonade stand, and of course his friends were watching intently. When they noticed him looking they both shot him thumbs up.
“So,” Isak turned back to Even, “How do I know you haven’t just rigged this so you don’t have to get wet?”
“What!?” Even’s voice squeaked, “you question my moral integrity?”
“I mean,” Isak smirked.
“Tss, okay lemonade boy,” Even smiled, “I don’t see you up here do I? You’d probably be afraid to mess up your hair.”
“My hair!?” Isak scoffed, “Do I look like I care about my hair!?”
“I mean,” Even smirked in the same way as Isak had earlier.
“Whatever, I’d totally be more brave than you,” Isak puffed up his chest?
“Oh yeah?” Even asked still grinning. He scooted over and patted the spot beside him, “Why don’t you come up here then?”
“I doubt that platform can hold both of us,” Isak answered.
“It’s okay Isak, you can tell me you’re scared,” Even whispered playfully.
Isak scoffed, “Fine.”
He climbed up the ladder and carefully got on the platform next to Even. It wasn’t very big so their sides were pressed together all the way from their shoulders to their legs. Suddenly, he felt a lot more self-conscious.
“See I told you,” Isak said haughtily.
“Mhhm,” Even bumped his shoulder, “We’ll see once a customer comes over.”
In that moment, a customer surprisingly did come over, even though it had been slow all day. It was a boy who looked about 7, and a mom who did not look to be pleased, as her entire face was flush and she had flyaway hairs bursting out in all directions.
“Hi,” she said, “How much is this one?”
“It’s 20kr for one shot and 35 for 3,” Even answered her pleasantly.
“Come on!” The little boy said impatiently and yanked on his mother’s shirt.
“Fine,” She sighed, “here’s for the 3 shots.”
Even took the money from here and placed it in a bucket behind the backwall.
“Okay, buddy, you get three shots,” Even smiled at the little boy and handed him a bucket with 3 balls in it. Like expected from a 7 year old boy he missed all three shots, but he seemed really frustrated about it.
“Mom! I want to play again,” He stomped his foot.
“No, I told you you could play one game and then we are going home,” The mother sighed.
“No!” The little boy yelled.
“Lucas, come on, we’re not doing this anymore,” The exhausted mother rubbed her eyes, “I said no.”
The little boy stomped his foot again and before anyone had time to stop him, he ran over and hit the lever keeping the platform up. Both boys fell, not so graciously, into the tub of water, knocking limbs as they went.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” the mother apologized profusely and grabbed her son’s hand. Even laughed.
“No it’s okay, I was bound to be dunked sometime,” He grinned.
“We’re working on his temper,” she gave them a tired look, “Lucas apologize to the boys.”
“Sorry,” The boy pouted, digging his foot into the grass. Feebly the woman dragged her son away with her. Isak and Even looked at each other before bursting out laughing.
“I told you I wasn’t afraid to get my hair wet,” Isak laughed.
“I guess I believe you,” Even’s eyes twinkled, his sunglasses having fallen off into the water. Even reached over and pushed some of the wet hair dripping into Isak’s eyes off his forehead.
“Um, thanks,” Isak whispered. Isak avoided his eyes and he could feel his face heating up, and it wasn’t because of the sun. Slowly, Even moved toward him, and then his face was right next to his, without thinking Isak turned his face to meet the other boy’s. Then their lips were touching. It was a soft chaste kiss where neither one of them were doing much more than pressing their lips firmly against the other’s, yet Isak could feel electricity across his skin. He felt Even smile against his lips before he pulled back. Isak looked into Even’s eyes and for a moment they just looked at each other. Isak grinned at the other boy before pulling him back in for another kiss. This kiss was not like the first and both boys moved against each, and before Isak knew it he was pressed against the side of the water container. The only reason they both broke away this time was because of the whooping and hollering coming from Isak’s lemonade stand. Isak shook his head as his idiot friends jumped up and down and yelled their congratulations.
“I’ve wanted to do that since I first saw you,” Even whispered. His body was still pressed up against Isak’s.
“Why didn’t you?” Isak smiled and wrapped his arms around Even’s neck.
“Woah, shit!” A voice interrupted their moment, once again., “You actually asked him out!?”
“Fuck,” Even cursed under his breath.
“I can’t believe you actually grew some balls,” the brown haired boy said leaning over the edge.
“Shut up Mikael,” Even glared. Isak could see the definite start of a blush on Even’s face.
“He hasn’t shut up about you for weeeeeks,” Mikael drawled.
“Really?” Isak asked laughing.
“Yeah, it’s the only reason he applied here,” Mikael nodded.
“Wait, what?” Isak furrowed his brow.
“Don’t listen to Mikael, he’s an idiot,” Even shook his head.
“Yeah, okay,” Mikael rolled his eyes, “no, we came here as a going away celebration for our friend Yousef, because he was going to Turkey for the summer, and no fucking kidding, Even saw you and I could see hearts forming in his eyes.”
“You can stop talking, actually,” Even splashed Mikael.
“No way, I have spent weeks listening to you fawn over this guy, I have earned the right to tease you,” Mikael splashed him back.
“Did you really apply here after you saw me?” Isak asked in awe.
“Uh, yeah, I did,” Even shrugged, “the same day actually.”
“Wow,” Isak whispered.
“Well, I was going to ask you if you wanted to come with me and get pizza, but I can see you’re busy,” Mikael interrupted again, “So I’ll let you lovebirds be.”
Even flipped his friend off as he walked away cracking up.
“I suppose we should get out of here, huh?” Even beamed at him. They both clambered out of the basin, Isak not so gracefully. Once out, Isak couldn’t stop himself from staring at Even’s chest. The shirt clung tightly to him, and the white was essentially transparent at that point.
Even raised his eyebrows when he noticed him staring, “Do you like what you see?”
Isak rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I do actually, but I would be careful with your teasing Mister-I-Applied-For-A-Job-After-Seeing-A-Guy-I-Liked.”
“Touché,” Even’s eyes shined.
“So there’s an employee bonfire tonight,” Isak said as he was ringing out his own t-shirt.
“Yeah, there is,” Even nodded.
“Do you want to come with me?” Isak asked.
“Well I am an employee,” Even shrugged.
“Even,” Isak looked at him.
“I’m kidding, yeah of course I do,” Even winked, “but right now, I think your friends want your attention.”
Off to their left both Jonas, Magnus, and Mahdi (who apparently had joined at some point), were waving their arms and making questioning gestures.
“Yeah…” Isak blinked, “I should…”
“Yeah, okay, I’ll see you?” Even raised his voice in a question, as if it was even a question anymore.
“Yeah, you’ll see me,” Isak gave him one last smile. He waved and made his way back over to his friends.
“Sooo is it kismet??” Magnus asked excitedly when Isak got over to them.
“No kissing and telling,” Isak responded smugly.
“What? Come on Isak,” Mahdi poked him in the side.
Isak rolled his eyes, “He’s going to go with me to the bonfire tonight with me.”
“Oooohhh,” all three boys crowed. Isak couldn’t hold back his glee and ended up grinning at them as they all patted his back.
“Jeez, man you’re pretty wet,” Jonas said wiping his hand off on his pants.
“I don’t even care,” Isak glowed.
“Wow, lovestruck,” Mahdi chuckled.
“Whatever,” Isak shrugged, “At least I’ve got a date tomorrow.”
The boys continued to mess around, cracking jokes, and knocking into each other, but Isak looked over to where Even had climbed back onto the platform. His shirt was still clinging to his body. Isak looked forward to the view he’d have for the rest of the day as he waited for later that night.