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Lucas hadn’t come to the party to hook up. He really hadn’t. But then the new kid with the beautiful smile and soft hair had walked in and, well… what was he supposed to do? Perhaps not what he did, but at least only his friends had heard him.
“Dibs.” The word had fallen out of his mouth before he could stop it, earning him a glare from Manon and a slap upside the head from Arthur. He hadn’t meant to say it, not really, but hey, who could blame him? The new kid was easily the most beautiful person he’d ever seen and he’d consumed just enough alcohol that he was feeling confident enough to try his luck.
The logical side of his brain was laughing at him, and that logical side of his brain’s name was Imane. It really wasn’t helping him at all, but she never held back from the opportunity to put him in his place. “Seriously, Imane?” he groaned.
She raised her hands in surrender. “I’m not laughing at you, I swear.”
“You’re literally laughing and looking at me after I just spoke.”
“And?”
He rolled his eyes. He didn’t have time for this. Let her laugh all she wanted, hopefully he’d be the one laughing later. The new kid met his eyes across the crowd, a jolt of electricity shooting through Lucas’ body. He hadn’t come to hook up, that was true, but he also hadn’t come to fall in love and he was worried he might if he kept looking at the new kid for too long. Wait… how long had it been already?
The other boy wasn’t looking away, so Lucas didn’t either, but should he? Was he being creepy? Was everyone watching them watch each other or did it just feel like that because they’d been watching each other for so long.
“His name is Eliott,” Imane whispered in his ear, but he barely paid attention, too busy staring down the boy— Eliott— until one of them decided to look away. He was vaguely aware of conversations carrying on around him, of people coming and going, still zeroed in on those eyes that pierced him even from all the way across the room.
Someone bumped his shoulder and he risked a glance away, making sure no one needed him for anything. Turned out it had been an accident on Yann’s part as he shifted from foot to foot behind Lucas, engaged in conversation with Emma. Lucas narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the two of them. He sure hoped they weren’t going to try anything tonight, he couldn’t deal with the aftermath of that again.
By the time he looked back, Eliott was gone, and he cursed himself. He should have just stayed there staring until Eliott had materialized in front of him, asking if he wanted to get out of there. Together. Ok, maybe that last part was wishful thinking, but it didn’t change the fact that now Eliott was gone and Lucas had no idea where he went. Defeated, Lucas went to the kitchen for more beer. If he couldn’t have Eliott, he could at least drown his sorrows.
Either he was drunker than he thought, or everyone else was, because the walk to the kitchen was a whole lot harder than it should have been. Once he got there, finally , he had to dodge someone walking past, unfortunately slamming right into the fridge door as someone opened it.
“Ah!” He stumbled back, nearly falling to the floor, clutching his nose. Fuck, he was pretty sure it was bleeding.
“Oh my god, oh my god, I’m so sorry,” the person who had hit him in the face crouched down, looking into his eyes. Wait a second. Lucas knew those eyes.
Oh, this was just wonderful. Of course it had to be the pretty new boy he’d called dibs on that had slammed the refrigerator door into his face and possibly broken his nose. “Lucas? That’s your name, right?” Eliott was blinking feverishly, a worried expression on his face. Lucas didn’t even take the time to wonder how Eliott knew his name. “Are you ok?”
“Um,” Lucas said intelligently, still holding his nose. Yeah, it was most definitely bleeding. “Can you grab me a napkin or towel or something?”
Eliott widened his eyes, shooting back up to standing. “Yeah, of course, um…” Lucas watched him look around the kitchen, eyes shooting rapidly from location to location. The other people in the kitchen were probably too drunk or high to help, just looking at Eliott with dazed, amused expression. Lucas pointed weakly to a dish towel on the table right in front of Eliott and Eliott sighed with palpable relief, swiping it off the counter and bending back down to hand it to Lucas.
“Do you maybe want to get out of here?” Eliott asked, handing Lucas a few extra paper towels to wipe the blood off his hands. “Together?”
Yeah, this was definitely not how he’d expected the night to go. Hooking up was most definitely off the table, which he should have been happy about, but he wasn’t. He would have been if it was anyone other than Eliott. Anyone else would have been a decision Lucas woke up to regret, but Eliott was different. They didn’t even know each other, and Eliott had just broken his nose, but he knew it was true.
“Let’s go,” Lucas agreed, voice muffled by the towel pressed to his nose. Lucas spared a glance at his friends as Eliott led him away, and he caught an alarmed stare from Manon. He raised his hand into a small thumbs up, but she didn’t look convinced. He’d have to remind himself to text her later, he didn’t want her and, by extension, everyone else, worrying about him all night.
The night air was cool and Lucas found himself shivering unconsciously. Eliott noticed, frowning and shrugging off his jacket. “Here, take this,” he said, holding it out to Lucas.
Lucas shook his head. “I don’t want to get blood on your jacket.”
“I mean, I’d deserve it.” Eliott shook the jacket again, raising his eyebrows until Lucas took it with his free hand. It was heavier than he’d expected, but it was soft and warm when he slipped it on. He’d seen Eliott wear it around at school so often, never working up the courage to go and try to talk to him, hoping Eliott might make the first move.
“I’m really sorry,” Eliott repeated, walking alongside Lucas, gazing at him from the side.
Lucas waved him off. “It’s not your fault, you couldn’t have known my dumbass would walk right into the refrigerator door.”
Eliott rolled his eyes but Lucas could see a small smile working its way across his face. “You’re not a dumbass.”
“How would you know? We barely know each other,” Lucas pointed out, removing the towel from his face. He felt kind of bad for stealing it from whoevers house that was, but he was pretty sure they wouldn’t want it back. Luckily, his nose had stopped bleeding, but it still throbbed painfully.
“That’s true,” Eliott agreed with a shrug, “But I’d like to.”
Lucas had to make sure he was hearing things properly. “Like to?”
“I’d like to get to know you better,” Eliott clarified, and Lucas went beet red. He wasn’t aware that Eliott had even known who he was.
They walked in silence for a little while longer and Lucas realized he didn’t know where they were walking to. “Um, where are we going?”
Eliott blinked as if that hadn’t occurred to him either. “Where do you live? I can walk you home, it’s the least I can do, actually.”
“Not far from here,” Lucas answered, taking the lead. Part of him wanted to lead Eliott astray on purpose so they had to spend more time together. He probably would have, had his nose not hurt enough that he was desperate to get home to ice it.
They talked casually the rest of the way, about everything and nothing. Eliott was easy to talk to, Lucas felt more comfortable around him than he had with any of his other friends the first time he’d hung out with them. Eliott laughed at everything he said even if he wasn’t trying to be funny, and Lucas found that he could see himself getting used to this. He’d already loved Eliott in the way you can love a person without actually knowing them, but now he could see himself very clearly falling for Eliott if given the chance. It terrified him and excited him. He wasn’t really the type to look for love, he hadn’t even believed in it for a long time, but something about Eliott made everything else fly out of the window.
“This is it,” Lucas said, turning to face Eliott and gesturing up to the building behind him.
Eliott looked up at it, then back down to Lucas’ face, probably still covered in blood. “So this is where we say goodbye, then.”
It was a bit of a question, a bit of a statement. Lucas desperately wanted to invite him inside, desperately wanted to say no, this is not where we say goodbye . So he did. “It doesn’t have to be.”
Eliott raised his eyebrows and Lucas continued quickly, “I have to ice my nose, and it’s your fault, so you should help.”
Eliott laughed, eyes crinkling at the sides as he threw an arm around Lucas’ shoulder and walked the two of them across the street. “You had me at ‘it doesn’t have to be’.”
“Ok good, because I felt really bad about blaming you for my nose.” Lucas breathed a sigh of relief, melting into a fit of giggles. They were both giggling hysterically by the time Lucas found his key and let them into the building, giggling as they made their way up the stairs, giggling as Lucas shushed Eliott when they walked in, hoping to god Mika was either out or asleep.
“Nice flat,” Eliott said, looking around, “Now let’s get you some ice.”
“I have a better idea,” Lucas said, feeling more confident now that Eliott was actually standing in his apartment. He took a few steps forward until he and Eliott were in the same breathing space, watching Eliott’s eyes carefully as he raised himself up on his toes and leaned in. “Is this ok?” he asked before he leaned in all the way.
Eliott responded by closing the distance, hands coming up to cup Lucas’ chin. The kiss was soft and gentle, a million words and feelings slipping through from Lucas to Eliott and back again. When they broke apart they pressed their foreheads together, both huffing out small incredulous laughs. “I’ve wanted to do that since I saw you on the first day of school,” Eliott said softly, tracing the lines of Lucas’ cheekbones.
“Me too,” Lucas answered truthfully, leaning back in and accidentally brushing their noses together a little to hard. He winced involuntarily and Eliott pulled away immediately. “Sorry,” he apologized, “Some hooligan broke my nose.”
Eliott ran a hand through his hair. “Sounds like trouble, you should stay away from him.”
“Mmm, he’s all right.”
“Just all right?”
Lucas shrugged. “Only because he hasn’t gotten me any ice to make my nose hurt less so I can kiss him more.”
Eliott couldn’t move faster, bouncing away until he turned around with a sheepish look on his face. “I— I don’t know where your kitchen is.”
Lucas grinned broadly enough that it sort of hurt his nose, but he didn’t care one bit. He grabbed onto Eliott’s hand, leading him in the right direction. “Come on, nose-breaker, I’ll guide you,” he said, pulling Eliott behind him.
“Nose-breaker? Do I get nickname veto rights?” Eliott asked as Lucas filled a clean towel with ice from the freezer and hopped up onto the counter, pressing it to his nose.
Lucas considered this. “Hmmm… no.”
“No?”
“I think it’s funny,” Lucas explained simply.
Eliott pulled his legs, sliding him to the edge of the counter and standing between the gap. “I get to give you a nickname then.”
“Ok, fine, give it your best shot.”
“Baby Hedgehog,” Eliott answered immediately. Ok, not what he’d been expecting.
He giggled into the towel. “Baby hedgehog? Why?”
“Because you look like one. It would just be hedgehog, but you’re so short…”
Lucas shoved him away, scoffing in indignation, only giving Eliott a second to pout before pulling him back in, setting the ice on the counter and wrapping his arms around Eliott’s neck. “You’re an idiot.”
“As long as I get to keep kissing you, I don’t care what you call me,” Eliott grinned, leaning in closer.
“Ok, nose-breaker.”
“Baby hedgehog.”
“Gumby.”
“Mini me.”
“Heathen.”
“Dumbass.”
“Idiot.”
“Beautiful.”
The next kiss was even better than the first, and Lucas knew that it was just one of many to come. It seemed he’d been right about his plans for the night. He wasn’t going to have a simple hook up that night, not when Eliott was right there ready to love and be loved. Lucas had called dibs for a reason, after all. This could turn out to be the kind of love that hits you in the face, both literally and figuratively, and Lucas couldn’t wait to see where it went.