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As lunch wrapped up that Friday, everyone in class 3A began to make plans among themselves. Sekijirou and Tensei, who were sitting up at their desks in the front of the class, were talking to each other while tossing a few looks back at Hizashi and Shouta. Hizashi knew they were going to ask them if they wanted to do something that evening when he saw Sekijirou get up and start towards them, but he had a plan for that evening. Instead of trying to explain it to his white-haired friend, he tapped on Shouta’s desk a few times to wake up. “Hey Shouchan, wanna stay over tonight? I found a movie I want to see on Netflix,” He asked, leaning back from his desk in his chair and looking over the top of his sunglasses.
Shouta lifted his head from his desk for a moment to groggily nod, “Sounds good. Can we go for a run in the morning?”
“Of course, my dude,” He grinned to himself, happy to have Shouta to himself for the night.
By the time Sekijrou made it to the back of the classroom, Shouta had already fallen back asleep and Hizashi apologized for them already having plans for the night.
***
Later that night, Hizashi plopped down on the couch next to Shouta and shoved the popcorn bowl in his lap, pulling the only blanket on the couch over his own legs. Through a mouthful of popcorn, Shouta asked, “So what are we watching?”
“It’s called The Ritual! I read online that it was a pretty good movie,” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shouta jolt before becoming deathly still.
“That sounds like a scary movie, Hizashi.”
“It is.”
Groaning, Shouta crossed his arms and slumped further into the couch, “Fine. But my English homework is going to be finished before I go home.”
“Sure thing!” He agreed, because of course he would agree to that. He would’ve helped him finished his English homework anyway if he’d just asked.
He flipped on the movie and waited. In all honesty, he didn’t really want to see The Ritual that badly. He had never been a huge fan of horror movies; jump scares bored him and it wasn’t like any of the stuff that happened in movies would happen in real life anyway. They just never really held any appeal for him. But he had a plan. A plan to get Aizawa Shouta to cuddle with him. What better way to nonchalantly ask your friend to cuddle with you than to pretend to be scared of silly movie on TV? He could totally play it off as being scared if Shouta thought it was weird but if it worked, he could also pretend in his head it was like they were dating while the cuddled. It was a fool proof plan.
There was a bloody scene at the beginning of the movie, not even 10 minutes in. It was jarring to have it happen so quickly and without a lot of warning. Hizashi found himself a bit surprised by it. It was just a little blood though, so he couldn’t act scared just yet. But out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Shouta had set the popcorn bowl on the table in front of them to pull his knees close to his chest and wrap his arms around them. It would be hard to get closer to him if he stayed like that, but Hizashi was determined. He would give it a little bit longer.
Twenty minutes into the movie, Shouta hadn’t moved from his spot. If anything, he had curled more in on himself. He has also started vibrating with nervous energy as the friends continued to trek through the woods on screen. A few more minutes led to the group of friends finding a decrepit house and to more general creepiness. By this point, Hizashi was beginning to see the flaw in his plan. He hadn’t asked Shouta how he felt about scary movies. And it was starting to look like he might not be a huge fan of them.
Another ten minutes passed and Hizashi’s suspicions were confirmed. Shouta tried to play his tightly curled position off as comfortable by resting his chin on his knees, but that backfired when Hizashi’s cat chirped from behind them and he jumped, kneeing himself in the chin in the process. Of course, Hizashi only caught it because he spent more time watching Shouta out of the corner of his eye than he did actually paying attention to the movie. His plan now looked like it was going to have to work in the reverse. “Hey Shou,” He whispered, reaching out and touching his shoulder gently, “Ya know, if you’re scared, you could scoot closer?”
It was silent for a heartbeat and Hizashi was worried he misread the situation. But before he could take it back, Shouta’s unsteady confidence crumbled and he turned to Hizashi with wide eyes. He was worrying at his lower lip and his eyes darted to the blanket spread across Hizashi’s lap. “Maybe we could just shared the blanket?” He asked, refusing to make eye contact.
“Sure thing!” Hizashi lifted the blanket up for him and Shouta was pressed up against his side in an instant. Shouta pulled the blanket up to his shoulder and leaned into Hizashi as he adjusted.
Well, his plan may have been flipped upside down, but it was already working. He could be content with Shouta ducking his head into his shoulder to hide and clinging to his shirt when something particularly scary happened. But when the monster picked someone off 50 minutes in, Shouta dove into Hizashi’s armpit in an attempt to get away from the monster that flashed across the screen. Hizashi was caught off guard, but he could work with this.
“Hope you enjoy my armpit sweat,” He teased, trying to ease some of the tension out of Shouta’s body.
It didn’t seem to work, but at least he shot back, “Fuck you.”
Hizashi chuckled, but slid his arm around Shouta’s shoulder, rubbing his arm to comfort him as best as he could from this position. This seemed to be helping the most so far. Shouta leaned more into his side and hid his view with his hands while Hizashi kept on pretending to watch the movie instead of watching his friend like he really was.
They stayed like that for almost half an hour. The movie was coming to the climax now and the monster was finally revealed in all its glory. Or horror, if you were Shouta, who at this point decided his fingers just weren’t doing the trick anymore. He buried his face not into Hizashi’s shoulder or armpit as he had been doing, but directly into his chest. His arms slipped around Hizashi’s waist and hugged him close, eyes clenched tightly closed.
Hizashi felt his heart skip a beat. This? This was his plan from the beginning. He couldn’t believe this was all actually working. He pulled him closer and readjusted, putting his back against the arm of the couch. When Shouta didn’t push him away or move, he brought his other arm to wrap Shouta into a tight embrace, hoping it would be comforting.
“Um, I can move,” Shouta murmured once the action scene was over, “I’m sorry, I just... Guess I got a little scared.”
Hizashi’s heart was pounding in his ears. This was exactly what he wanted and now Shouta wanted to move? That was scarier than the movie would ever be to him. “N-no, its okay! Ya know, if this helps you to, like, not be scared, then. We can stay? Like this?” For someone who talked so often, it was always surprising to him how often he got tongue tied around Shouta.
“Okay,” He whispered back, his face burning bright. Hizashi couldn’t blame him. He was blushing too; it was just harder for Shouta to see since his face was pressed into Hizashi’s chest. But Hizashi, who was looking down at his best friend’s face, did not miss a second of it.
The last fifteen minutes of the movie went by without Hizashi seeing the ending at all. He was too absorbed in enjoying the feeling of his best friend and crush of three years curled up in his arms for comfort. He couldn’t believe how well his night was going. But when the credits started to roll, his heart sank. It had been nice, but this was all over once the movie had ended.
But Shouta didn’t immediately push away from him. Instead, he let the credit rolls for half a minute before finally sucking in a deep breath and pushing himself up, “That was terrifying.”
“Really?” He let himself laugh, pushing a grin onto his face, “Who knew the big bad Aizawa Shouta would be scared of a little horror movie!”
“Shut it. You’re scared of bugs. That’s worse,” He argued as his cheeks reddened and he looked pointedly at the floor.
Rolling his eyes, Hizashi stood and stretched, “Whatever man. Bugs are real. Weird Norse deities don’t actually live in forests in Scandinavia.”
Shouta grumbled comebacks under his breath. Hizashi couldn’t hear what he said but he laughed anyway. Shouta only ever mumbled his responses if he knew he wasn’t going to win an argument. They walked to Hizashi’s room while he chattered away about school, trying to keep Shouta’s mind off the movie.
Once they made it to his room, he threw himself down on his bed and yawned, “Man, I didn’t realize how tired I was. You ready for bed, Shou?”
“Yeah, I am,” He mumbled, shuffling towards Hizashi, “But I think we forgot my futon.”
“Oh shit, we did! Well, you know where it is in the hall. You can go grab it right?” He asked without thinking.
“Um, do you think you could go get it?” Shouta asked, his eyes wide and his eyebrows knit tightly together on his forehead.
Hizashi paused, thinking out his response. Part of him wanted to jump up and run down the hall to grab it for him because he would do anything Shouta asked him to. But another part of him, a greedier part, won out and he decided to tease him first, “Eh? You can’t go down the hall to get it?”
“I mean, I can but,” Shouta trailed off, stubbornly looking anywhere but at Hizashi.
“Well, I guess you’ll be sleeping on the floor then,” He laughed.
He didn’t expect Shouta to say anything before he could say just kidding, but he did. He most certainly didn’t expect Shouta to say, “Can’t I just sleep in your bed tonight?”
Hizashi never had been a fan of scary movies. But he definitely liked them a bit more after that night that he got to spend snuggled up to Shouta in his own bed.
***
Fifteen years later, Hizashi sat in their living room, readying a movie for the night. Shouta plopped down next to him and groaned as he saw the title The Monster on the screen. “Seriously, Hizashi, I can’t believe you love horror movies so much.”
“Hm, I don’t like horror movies,” He retorted, pulling Shouta close and tucking him under his arm.
“What the hell?” Shouta shoved away from him to look him in the eyes, “What are you talking about? We’ve watched so many horror movies together! You want to watch them all the time.”
He felt a grin spread across his lips, “Yeah, they just bring back good memories for me is all.”
“What good memories could blood and guts bring back for you?”
Hizashi elected not to answer, instead pulling his husband back into his arms and pressing play. Thirty minutes in, Shouta was hiding by burying himself in Hizashi’s armpit. Hizashi snorted as he poked his husband in the ribs, “Hope you enjoy my armpit sweat.”
“Fuck you,” Came the murmured reply. The same reply he always got.
Hizashi guessed he did like horror movies after all.