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Valentine's day. The one day where all the happy couples brag about how happy they are, and the single people stuff themselves with chocolate. Jeremy never really got anything for Valentine's day, besides a card from Michael that had some lame video game reference. This year, it was a card with a video game controller on it that read, “Our friendship is on another level”.
Definitely not his best work.
That day, Michael seemed a bit off. Jeremy couldn't put his finger on it, he just seemed… nervous? He didn't exactly know why. All Jeremy knew was that Michael looked too cute all flustered, stuttering and rubbing the back of his neck.
Later on during the day, Jeremy sat in chemistry class, in the desk next to Michael. Two very enthusiastic students practically bust through the door, holding a handful of red roses each. They go around the class, handing them out to students. Once all the roses go out, or so Jeremy thought, he looked over at Michael with an eye roll. Michael looks more tense than before, eyeing the two girls handing out roses. One of them had a single rose in her hand, and she read the name on the tag.
“Jeremy Heere?” She looked around the room. Michael began to sweat. Jeremy raised his hand halfway, confused, and the bubbly girl happily placed the flower on his desk.
Jeremy looked at the tag attached to the flower, convinced it was a prank. But, he was proven wrong but what was written inside.
Maybe I should have said this in person?? I mean, you probably already know who this is anyway. Christ, way to make things awkward,
Where Jeremy had a guessed a name was written before, it was scribbled out and written over about 3,000 with random numbers and letters.
Anyways, hope your day is going well! Everything's good? Let me stop before this gets weirder than it already is. I like you. There.
The note was written in a swirling girly font, one Jeremy didn't exactly recognize. He just pushed the flower to the side until the end of class. After class, Michael waited for Jeremy to leave the classroom before inquiring about the rose.
“Jeremy! I saw you got a rose!!” He said, playing it cool as he threw an arm around his friend's shoulder.
“Yeah…I'm kinda confused about it.” Jeremy said, resting his head against Michael’s side for a minute before beginning to walk with him.
“Why? Do you know who it's from?” Michael asked in a concerned tone.
“I honestly have no idea.” Jeremy said with a shrug as he fiddled with the tag on the flower. Michael thought this was absolutely adorable. He stopped himself from staring by grabbing the rose from him, reading the tag, feigning surprise.
“Maybe it's written in code, or it's some type of read-between-the-lines situation?” He asked Jeremy, only halfway joking. Jeremy shrugged again,
“What if it was sent the wrong person? Or it's a prank?” He questioned in frustration. Michael frowned at him and handed him back the flower.
“It definitely wasn't sent to the wrong person.” he pouted slightly. “But anyway, you still down for video games today after school?”
Jeremy smiled, “Totally dude!” After school, Michael drove Jeremy back to his house. Jeremy held the rose tightly, reading and rereading the note attached in utter confusion.
“Any clue who it might be?” Jeremy asked, reading the note aloud to him for probably the 50th time. Michael rubbed the back of his neck, keeping his other hand on the wheel and eyes on the road.
“Oh, uh…. I dunno man.” Jeremy ran his thumb across one of the blood red petals. It fell off in his hand. When they got back to Michael’s house, he grabbed a bag of doritos off of the counter, not stopping until the two made it to the basement. Jeremy plopped down in his usual blue beanbag, next to Michael’s red one. Michael sat, with his eyes glued to his t.v., setting up Apocalypse of the Damned. Jeremy fiddled with the flower again, mumbling to himself. Michael couldn't stand him looking so upset, so he finally caved.
“Hey, Jere. Can I tell you something?” Michael looked at him with a straight face. Jeremy turned to face Michael. “Huh?” Michael cleared his throat, running a hand through his dark hair. “Uh...itwasme.” He spoke quickly, looking down at his sneakers. Jeremy tilted his head to the side,
“What?” He asked in confusion. Michael took a deep breath,
“It was me. I sent the flower. I wrote the note. Well, Brooke actually wrote it. I just told her what it needed to say.” Jeremy watched Michael, shaking his leg. He could tell his friend was nervous. Michael avoided Jeremy’s adorable and anxious gaze, and when he finally looked up at him, he chose to focus elsewhere. Elsewhere included his precious blushing cheeks, the perfect flip of his hair, his soft, round, pink lips. Jeremy’s face grew concerned, and Michael realized he was staring again.
“...Michael? You okay?”
“Oh shit- sorry Jere.” He apologized with a weak smile. “But yes, I wrote the note. Before you ask, no, it's not a joke!” He said with a slight giggle. “I figured you would have caught on by now, if you hadn't already figured that I like you.. I was gonna tell you after class, but….. I kinda got nervous.” He continued to ramble on, and now it was Jeremy’s turn to stare. “....And I tried to spell out my name with the first letter of every sentence, but I kinda forgot the h…..” He rubbed the back of his neck. As he awkwardly fumbled with his words, he hadn't noticed that Jeremy had gotten closer. Way closer. When Michael had finally snapped out of it, he noticed that Jeremy was right in front of him. He jumped in surprise, and Jeremy laughed. Reaching a finger under his chin, he looked him in the eye.
“You're honestly too adorable, Michael.” He smiled at him. “Never looked cuter. Plus, misspelling your own name? Precious.” Michael looked at his untied shoelace.
“Shut up.” Jeremy lifted his chin, giving him a mocking look.
“Make me.” Michael grabbed Jeremy by the collar of his shitty Eminem shirt and kissed him.
Hard.
They kissed for a long while, the Apocalypse of the Damned start up song looping about 5 times before they pulled away. Both their faces were cherry red, and their hands were tangled in each other’s hair. Jeremy was panting, he had barely breathed.
“Looks like somebody is definitely still new to kissing.” Michael said jokingly, poking fun at the fact that Jeremy had only ever kissed Brooke, and their relationship lasted about a week.
“Shut the fuck up and kiss me.” Jeremy said with a groan and a blush. Michael smirked, earning back control.
“Fine. But I'm doing it because I want to, not because you told me to.” He said before kissing him again.