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Yuu tries to keep his attention on the movie playing on Asahi’s tv, but it’s hard when there’s Asahi to watch instead, right there next to him and apparently blissfully unaware of Yuu’s constant gaze on him. It’s been like this for as long as Yuu can remember, always watching and waiting and hoping for something. He’s not sure how long exactly he’s felt the way he has, always wanting just a little more than he’s gotten, always wanting to expand on their friendship but afraid of which step might be the one that’s just a bit too far.
Asahi has never seemed to mind Yuu’s need to constantly be close, the way he can’t keep himself from reaching out and touching, playful pushes and soft hugs, a hand on his arm as they talk. In fact it seems to be the opposite, where Asahi initiates as much as Yuu does, but he’s not sure if that’s reality or just wishful thinking. Days like this one, when they’d walk home together, Asahi would have a warm hand around Yuu’s elbow, guiding him along easily as he lets Yuu ramble about some thing or another, preventing him from getting too distracted and walking into a pole, or worse, the street.
Every afternoon that they’ve done this Yuu has tried to convince himself to open his mouth and say something, to finally get his feelings out in the air, but he hasn’t yet gathered the courage. He just watches instead, the way that Asahi gets so involved in the movie, the way his face lights up as he laughs, the way he bites his bottom lip between his teeth when something sad happens. His hair is loose around his shoulders, and as he tips his head back to laugh Yuu is hit with the burning desire to run his fingers through it, to let it tangle around them as Yuu kisses that happy grin.
He’s on his feet before he even realizes it, hands fisted in the hem of his shirt as he stares down at Asahi, his mind a cacophony of thoughts and noise that he can’t control. Asahi tilts his head to the side as he looks up at him, and Yuu is distracted for a moment by the way his hair catches on his shoulder and drapes across his neck. It takes him a little longer to realize that Asahi looks concerned, and it sounds like this isn’t the first time he’s asked his question. “Is something wrong?”
Yuu takes a breath and drops his hands, totally intending to shake himself off and make a joke out of it, but the words that come out of his mouth aren’t the ones he expects. “I like you.”
The room is nearly silent after, the movie quiet, and Asahi just blinks up at him once, his eyes dark and unreadable. By the time it looks like he’s going to say something Yuu’s brain has already cycled into an endless chant of ‘I messed up’, and he takes a step backward, needing to leave before Asahi asks him to. He’s halfway to the door when Asahi scrambles up and grabs one of Yuu’s wrists in his hand, his grip tighter than Yuu is used to.
They stand there like that, staring at one another in tense silence for the longest moment in Yuu’s life, and then suddenly Asahi ducks his head and loosens his grip, letting his hand slide down Yuu’s wrist until he can lace their fingers together. When he looks back up his cheeks are flushed and his eyes are bright. “I like you, too.”
It’s not until he sucks in a huge gulp of air that Yuu realizes he’s been holding his breath, waiting and trying not to hope, just in case. He lets it out again in a sigh, still too surprised to figure out what to say. “Oh.”
Asahi smiles, soft and gentle, and uses his other hand to tuck his hair behind his ear before gesturing back to the bed. “Ah, do you want to finish the movie?”
Yuu nods without even thinking about it, and lets Asahi pull him into place, tucked up against his side. He still can’t make himself pay attention to the movie, though, not with Asahi right there, and he spends a few minutes tracing the lines of his face again. Asahi glances down at him with a tiny smile, like he knows exactly what Yuu’s doing, and then he leans down to press a tiny kiss to Yuu’s cheek before turning back to the movie, face red.
His heart stops and speeds up again, and he buries his ridiculous grin in Asahi’s chest. They stay like that the rest of the movie, cuddled together warm and comfortable, and Yuu finds himself thinking that some things are entirely worth the wait it takes to get them.