Work Text:
“You picked a great day to go to the amusement park, Baz,” Simon drawled sarcastically as their group walked through the turnstiles at the entrance to Thrillworld. Above them, the gray clouds rolled ominously across the sky.
“Shows what you know, Snow. Overcast days are the best days to go. No lines.” Baz retorted without looking up from the map he was looking at, absently brushing his long black hair away from his face so he could read.
Simon leaned over to his best friend, Penelope. “I bet it’s just because he didn’t want to get sunburned,” he whispered.
Penelope just rolled her eyes. She was used to the two boys’ bickering by now and just turned to the other member of their group who was lagging behind.
“Oi, you coming, Agatha?” she called.
The blonde girl was admiring the horses on the merry-go-round and jerked her head up dazedly at the sound of her name. “Of course.” She followed after her friends, fixing the ribbons in her braids which perfectly complimented the color of her dress.
“I don’t think you’re really dressed for these rides, Ag,” Simon commented dubiously, eying the delicate looking dress the girl was wearing.
“Yeah, we could get you some shorts and a t-shirt from the gift shop if you want,” Penny offered.
“I would rather die, thank you very much.”
Simon thought that she just might if the dress got caught in anything on a rollercoaster.
“Oh, leave her alone,” Baz interrupted, “Now, I’ve plotted the perfect path to make sure we get on all the rides today.”
“Ugh!!!” Of course, the uptight rich boy has to get the most out of his money. Surprise, surprise. Simon should’ve known the pale boy would suck the fun out the day.
“Come on, Baz! This is a theme park, not some school tour! We can just wander and get on rides as we like.”
Baz looked aghast, his eyebrows nearly disappearing into his hair. “That sounds so unorganized and inefficient. Don’t you want to enjoy all the rides, not just whichever ones you happen upon willy-nilly?”
“We have all day. We should just explore. Right, Penny?” Simon turned to his best friend.
“Actually…”
Simon couldn’t believe this. Betrayed by his own best friend for some pretty boy with a plan. They had gotten along just fine before Baz had finally decided they were worthy enough to hang out with.
“We might as well, Simon. We’ll still be riding rides and having fun, but now with some organization!”
Thinking about it, Simon should’ve known that Penny would go along with Baz’s plan. She was a sucker for organization. Which would be fine if she weren’t betraying her best friend.
The bronze-haired boy pouted at Penny before glaring at Baz. Baz just returned the look with a smug smile and led the way to the first ride.
It turned out that Agatha didn’t even like most amusement park rides, claiming they were too fast and would ruin her hair. Why she would even want to come today, Simon didn’t know.
So, Agatha perused booths on the ground while the other three waited in line and flew through the air over her head.
This meant that instead of the buddy-system that goes along with having an even number of people was destroyed. But, Simon wasn’t about to give up his buddy just so Baz didn’t have to ride alone or with a stranger. It didn’t matter how sad Baz looked when Simon glanced behind him and Penny, those stormy gray eyes downcast and red lips pulled down in a frown. But, the taller boy always looked happy when they got off the ride, black hair windblown and an excited blush staining his high cheekbones.
They were about halfway through the park before Penny claimed she was tired and wanted to eat.
“But we already had lunch,” protested Baz, “If we stop now, our whole schedule will be thrown off.”
Penny shrugged, “Agatha and I can stop and eat, then. I feel bad leaving her when we’re on the rides anyway. You two can keep going since you both want to go on every ride.”
Both boys froze and looked at each other. Both wanted to go on the rides even if they weren’t big fans of their new ride partner.
Penny sighed and rolled her eyes, “Get over whatever male posturing bullshit you both have going on and just have fun.” She grabbed Agatha and began dragging the blonde girl away.
“Be good, you two!”
“I’m always good,” Simon muttered, kicking a stray piece of trash.
“You have the most appalling manners though,” Baz mused as he started towards the next ride, a smaller coaster.
“Rude.”
Baz shrugged and they fell into a slightly uncomfortable silence as they waited in line. When they got in the cart, they stayed as far apart as possible, pressed against the sides. This was a mistake though because they ended up being flung into the edge of the cart whenever the ride made a sharp turn. They both stepped out of the ride rubbing their sore ribs, sure that there would be bruises.
Bruises must show up so brightly on Baz’s skin with how pale he was.
Bad Simon, stop it.
“Maybe we should sit closer together on the next one,” Simon suggested quietly, looking anywhere but at the boy at his side.
“Yeah. I just figured you would want to be as far away from me as possible.” Baz wouldn’t look at the golden-skinned boy, his tone cautious.
“What? Why?”
“You don’t like me. The only reason you let me come is because Penny asked.”
Simon blinked in confusion. Sure, Penny was the one who told him Baz was coming, but he hadn’t had a problem with it. Sure, they had had their issues in the past, but Baz had become their friend lately. Not as close as him and Penny but still friends.
“That’s not true. I like you just fine Baz. Especially since you haven’t been such a prat lately.”
Baz stopped walking. Now it was his turn to be confused. “What do you mean? I was never a prat to you!” The boy sounded almost hurt, gray-blue eyes wide and sincere.
Simon stopped too and turned to face him. “Uh, excuse me, but we’ve been roommates for years now and you have never been nice to me. You would ignore me and hide my stuff and…”
“Wait, wait, wait!” interrupted Baz, “That’s not true. Sure, I didn’t talk to you a lot but you never made an effort to talk to me. And, I have never been good at interacting with others anyway so being put in a room with a boy who just glared at me and then ran off to his little smarty-pants friend didn’t exactly encourage me befriend you. So, I focused on school and tried not to bother you.
And I never hid your stuff! I was trying to clean up the pig pen of a room we shared after you tore it up like a tornado!”
After his speech, Baz stood there breathless, waiting for a response from Simon whose blue eyes were narrowed in concentration as he looked back on his interactions with Baz.
“So, all this time… you weren’t trying to be mean?”
“No! I always wanted to be your friend, you ninny.”
“So, lately, you’ve been hanging out with us…”
“To try and be your friend,” Baz concluded, exasperated.
They stood in silence for a few moments just looking at each other before Simon looked down shyly.
“Well, I’m sorry it’s taken this long,” Simon said before holding his hand out for Baz to shake.
With a put-upon sigh and an impressive eye roll, Baz shook it. His hands were bigger than Simon’s and smoother with clean, well-groomed nails.
Simon broke the handshake with a big grin. “So, where does the schedule lead us next, Mr. Pitch?”
With a wry smile, Baz glanced at his map before meeting Simon’s gaze. “Skyrocket.”
Simon’s heart thumped, and not only at the mischief in Baz’s eyes. Skyrocket was infamous for its neck-breaking speed and cliff-like drops that left grown men screaming. Even people like Simon who loved roller coasters felt a chill of fear race down their spine at the thought of it.
Simon just smiled though, “Ok, lead the way.”
The line was surprisingly short and the two boys boarded quickly. The ride had a harness to strap the rider down and left little room to wiggle. Simon took a deep breath and glanced over at Baz who also looked a little nervous; gray eyes wide as he pulled at the harness.
Just then the ride launched and Simon had no chance to comment before he was pressed back into his seat. His eyes watered as they raced up the first hill only to come to a stop perched at the top. The drop in front of them looked deadly and Simon instinctively threw out his hand towards his partner. With a terrifying squeak the ride rolled forward and they went plummeting down wards. Simon couldn’t help the scream as they picked up speed and the ride sped around the track. When it finally came to a stop, he looked over a Baz to see the other boy breathless and looking disheveled. Simon also looked down to see where he was squeezing the life out of Baz’s hand. Huh, he must have grabbed the other boy when they went down that first hill.
Baz looked down at their joined hands with a soft chuckle and gave a soft squeeze before letting go. Simon felt a little bereft at the loss, but then realized they had to let go in order to get out of the harnesses. Simon laughed at himself before hopping down and following Baz away from the ride.
It didn’t mean anything. He only held Baz’s hand because adrenaline had flooded his system as he fell to his death. No feelings what so ever.
It didn’t matter that it felt good to hold his hand. It didn’t mean anything.
“So…” Simon began with a laugh, “That was… something else.”
Baz laughed and smoothed his hair back into place. “Yeah, it was. I could feel my heart in my throat. What a ride!”
Simon didn’t comment that he had felt Baz’s heartbeat from how tightly he had been gripping his hand.
“Maybe we should do something a bit calmer,” Simon suggested as he unsuccessfully tried to fix his tangled mess of curls.
“Here, let me,” Baz said as he reached up to rearrange the bronze curls.
Simon let his hands drop slowly as he blinked at Baz, the boy’s face suddenly much closer to his own.
Baz pulled back with a satisfied smile, “There. Now your hair looks a bit nicer than its usual bird nest.”
Baz had a nice smile. Straight teeth. Sparkling white. A bit sharp maybe but still very nice.
Simon cleared his throat, “Uh, yeah. Thanks.”
Baz just have him a soft smile before consulting his map again. “That was the last big ride. All we have left are some smaller things like the Ferris wheel. Then we can find Penny and Agatha again.”
The shorter boy let out a relieved sigh, “Thank goodness. That was fun but very…”
“Breathtaking,” Baz finished for him, gray eyes locking with blue.
“Uh, yeah.”
They made their way over to the big wheel in the center of the park, picking up some cotton candy on the way. They climbed in the seat and ate their treats as they waited for it to rise.
“So, I didn’t realize you were a screamer,” Baz said casually as they began to rise above the park.
Simon choked on the cotton candy he was eating, inhaling some of the sugar. Baz pounded on his back as he regained his composure.
“Bloody hell, Baz!” Simon yelled as Baz laughed.
“I just mean that you were screaming like a little girl on the ride,” Baz chuckled.
Simon felt his cheeks heat as he realized what Baz meant.
“Well, it was a fast ride,” he mumbled lamely, kicking his legs
Suddenly, the ride jerked to a stop, leaving them swinging at the very top of the Ferris wheel.
“Oof,” both boys grunted as they were pressed into the safety bar. They lean over and look down at the ground. The worker was messing with the controls and yelling at his partner who went running off.
“That doesn’t look good,” Simon commented before looking back up at Baz.
“I guess we’re stuck up here for a while,” the taller boy said with a sharp smile.
Simon looked away and picked at the remnants of his cotton candy.
“I thought it was cute, by the way.”
Simon’s head snapped up, “What?”
Casually leaning his head on his hand, Baz” smiled at Simon. “Yeah, when you grabbed my hand.”
“I… it was just… I mean…” Simon stuttered, trying to find his words.
Baz was obviously enjoying Simon’s struggle as he chuckled. Eventually, he took pity on the blue-eyed boy. “I liked it, Snow.”
“…What?”
“I… liked… it,” the dark-haired boy enunciated slowly.
“You liked it?”
“Uh huh,” Baz nodded slowly.
Simon just blinked. What the hell was going on?
“Christ, you’re lucky you’re pretty, Snow.”
Simon was about to protest before Baz grabbed the back of his neck and tugged him forward. Their lips met and Simon froze as Baz continued to kiss him. It was soft and Simon could
pull away if he wanted to but he found that he really didn’t want to. Their lips tasted like cotton candy as Simon let Baz control the kiss.
When they finally pulled apart, Simon looked at Baz, panting slightly. The other boy just gave him a smirk.
“Are you all caught up, now?” Baz asked with a laugh.
Instead of answering, Simon just pulled him in for another kiss.
He hoped they never fixed the Ferris wheel.