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george luz suspected that an environment had a large effect on how a person acted. for example, as a high school english teacher, he believed his students’ behaviors played a part in his own. it’s the only way to explain the huge crush he has on the history teacher, and one of his best friends, joe, right across the hall from him. joe was quite possibly everything luz had been looking for and more. and his students seemed to think the same thing, if their “forgotten drawings and writings” were any indication. and luz would’ve thrown them away if he wasn’t so damn impressed. instead, he hides them, hides them like he does his feelings for joe. he does his best to hide the rush of butterflies in his stomach when joe smile or laughs because of him. he does his best to hide the blush that graces his cheeks whenever joe touches him. he does his best to hide everything he doesn’t want joe to know because the thought of losing his best friend is nearly enough to kill him. and if he lost joe, he wasn’t sure what he would do. so maybe it was more than a crush, but joe would never find out so luz never tried to pinpoint what exactly it was he was feeling. then, luz finds out that he and joe have to chaperone their classes on an overnight field trip and he nearly passes out. he’d have to share a room with joe. there’d be separate beds of course, but luz…luz snored. and not a cute little wrinkled-nose snore, but a bear, hibernating deep in the winter, snore. and if his feelings for joe weren’t going to drive away, his snoring would. but, after the longest field trip in the history of the world, luz is too tired to even remember to be worried about his snoring. and, as luck would have it, it would be the least of his worries once the two of them step inside the room.
“you’ve got to be shitting me.” luz declared dryly as his duffel bag slammed to the ground.
in front of him was one queen bed. one. when there were supposed to be two.
luz walked towards windows overlooking the city, surprised that the school decided to spring for such a nice hotel.
joe sighed and sat down heavily on the chair against a brick wall.
luz turned towards the sound, knowing joe wanted luz to look at him.
“luz, i’m fucking tired. if i had to stop jason and lisa from making out at the museum one more time, i swear to god i would’ve taped their damn mouths shut.” joe grumbled and luz laughed loudly.
joe looked to the side at luz, a serious expression on his face that made luz’s throat tighten.
before luz could ask, the look was gone and joe was talking again.
“i just wanna go to bed and get some sleep before those little shits start banging on our door because they can’t seem to act like normal people.”
luz smiled, feeling more relaxed the more joe talked to him.
it’d been a long day filled with too many missing teenagers who thought it was a great idea to bring joe and luz to the point of complete exhaustion. joe’s class usually behaved perfectly, joe left no room for anything other than perfect, but this trip made them all bursting with energy and it was hard to keep up with. why they trusted only two people with thirty students, was beyond either of them. and three hours at a museum with thirty teenagers was enough to drive anyone to the edge.
once they got everyone to their rooms, luz and joe had barely made it to their own.
and now, it seemed, their students weren’t done driving them insane.
luz didn’t know how he knew, but he knew that the group of kids in his class who wrote and drew about him and joe were behind it. they must’ve called the hotel sometime during the day to switch the room.
and now luz was completely alone with joe. and he was expected to sleep in the same bed with the man that he’d grown to admire and lo-care for deeply over the past few years.
and if he decided to make the class write an eight page paper on the etiquettes in pride and prejudice then so be it.
“luz? did ya hear me?”
luz blinked rapidly, “sorry i was just thinking of how to punish my students.”
joe smiled softly and luz felt lightheaded.
“why are you punishing them?”
luz rubbed the back of his neck and looked to the floor, “they’re the reason we only have one bed.”
luz didn’t have to look up to know that joe had a look of confusion on his face.
“how do you know that?”
luz looked up and once he saw joe’s face, he knew he had to tell him.
“because of the things they write and draw and leave in class for me to find.”
joe’s eyebrows drew together in question.
“what are you talkin’ about luz?”
luz stood up quickly and started pacing in front of joe.
“so like, in november i found the first one and i thought it was just a joke so i laughed and threw it away. but then they kept showing up. little pictures and stories of you and i.”
he looked at joe out of the corner of his eye, still pacing, and growing more nervous at the increasingly curious look on joe’s face.
“you and i?”
and god, luz hated how that sounded coming out of joe’s mouth, like it was unbelievable.
he continued, nonetheless, “yeah. just random things, like what our first date would be like. our first kiss. you beating up someone who made fun of me. moving in together. what kind of dog we would have. getting married. us talking about our favorite pizzas. and it hasn’t stopped, only gotten worse. and i didn’t tell you about it because it seemed harmless, until…”
“tonight.” joe filled in.
luz’s heart was pounding and his nerves were getting the best of him.
then, joe started laughing.
luz stopped pacing and looked at his best friend.
“luz they left them in my class too. i think it’s a school conspiracy. lip said he found a story taped to his desk.”
luz’s eyes widened and he sat down heavily on the bed.
“what the fuck is wrong with our school?” luz laughed warmly, happy that joe isn’t weirded out by it all.
he noticed joe wasn’t laughing and when he looked up, the same look from before was on joe’s face. and luz couldn’t stop staring.
joe spoke so softly that luz almost didn’t hear it, but joe was looking directly at him, through him, and luz knew he was meant to.
“maybe they all see something we aren’t.”
luz was speechless for a long time.
he swallowed heavily against the lump in his throat and gather all of his courage to ask, “like what?”
joe smiled and leaned back in the chair, fingers rubbing over his lips and luz knew he was truly fucked because there was no way to miss luz’s lewd gaze towards joe’s lips and the blush that formed when he met joe’s shining eyes.
“like the fact that maybe we’re supposed to be more than friends.”
luz’s heart stopped. maybe that paper would have to be ten paged, fifteen even.
“or like the fact that we would clearly have more than one type of dog. and we don’t have more than one favorite pizzas, because you and i like the exact same kind. or that i would be more than happy to beat the shit out of someone for you. or maybe it’s the fact that you blush whenever i touch you.”
joe had moved to kneel in front of luz and if it weren’t for the total shock of every word coming out of joe’s mouth, luz would’ve had to look away.
joe tentatively placed his hands on luz’s thighs and sure enough, luz blushed.
luz saw the most perfect smile form on joe’s face at his blush and it was almost more than luz could bear.
“just like that. or maybe it’s the fact that you can’t stop staring at my lips when i touch or bite or lick them. it could even be the fact that you’re my best friend and one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.”
joe moved his hands slowly to grab luz’s own shaking ones.
joe looked deeply into luz’s eyes, like what he was about to say next would change both of them forever.
“or maybe it’s because i’ve been in love with you since the day you burst into my classroom to hide from sobel after you covered his office in post-its.”
luz laughed softly at the sheer intensity of the moment. cursing himself for being both oblivious and obvious.
he looked at joe and saw nothing but honesty and vulnerability.
“he was pissed for weeks and called like four different meetings about conduct and setting an example for the students.”
joe laughed, but it was hollow, like it wasn’t what he wanted to hear from luz.
“and i’m in love with you too.” joe smiled at the expression on joe’s face, equal part exasperation and fondness.
luz shrugged, “have been since the day i met you.”
joe surged up from the floor and kiss luz within an inch of his life.
luz had just gotten his hands underneath joe’s shirt when a knock sounded at their door.
joe groaned but ran to it quickly.
he opened the door and when luz heard a loud “goddamn it,” he ran to the door.
“those goddamn bastards.” joe held out his hand and luz couldn’t stop laughing.
in joe’s hands was a box of magnum condoms and eventually he started laughing with luz before kissing him soundly.
luz pulled away and pulled joe towards him, wrapping his arms around joe’s shoulders.
“our students think very highly of you.”
joe smiled smugly, “just wait and see if they were right.”
he winked and luz couldn’t get to the best fast enough.
before joe could reach him, luz shot up quickly, remembering why he was nervous in the first place.
“i have to tell you something, joe.”
joe placed his hands against luz’s face gently, “what is it?”
“i snore. like really bad, you’ll want to kill me.”
luz could imagine the look of terror on his face, worried joe was going to call everything off.
he pulled luz close to him, “luz, shut up and kiss me.”
luz smiled wide and bright, “hell of an idea, joe.”
luz couldn’t help but feel guilty because joe looked like death warmed over. he knew joe was so tired because his snoring kept him up.
he’d tried to make it up with good morning kisses, but they only helped so much.
so when the two of them and their classes are eating breakfast in the hotel, luz links their fingers together underneath the table while joe works on his fourth cup of coffee.
he smiles when he looks at joe and sees a small smile form on his tired face.
“i’m sorry my snoring kept you up.”
joe frowned and looked at luz, fingers gripping tighter to luz’s own.
“don’t be sorry luz, i’m more than happy to listen to you rake up the coals if it means you’re sleeping next to me.”
luz blushed hotly, still not used to joe reciprocating his love. it was heady and intoxicating.
“i love you,” luz whispered.
he turned to look at joe and was surprised when his best friend’s lips met his own in front of their students.
there were a lot of wolf-whistles and cheers from each of the students.
joe shouted sternly, “can it. finish your breakfast. we leave in a half hour.”
luz loved that voice because it left no room for discussion or argument and the power behind it always left luz hot under the collar.
when he turned to luz, his anger vanished into warm admiration and luz felt complete when joe spoke again.
“i love you too, luz.”