Work Text:
AGE SEVEN
The two boys sat in class on the colorful square mat as Miss Censordoll spoke, not really listening. She was going on about what things were sinful, and how if they wanted to get into heaven, they shouldn't be doing them. The blonde boy sighed with boredom and looked down at his hands, and then his friend. He recently realized he liked his friend, like, like liked his friend. It scared him a little bit, but not for the reason you'd think. He was just afraid that his friend wouldn't like like him back. He looked at his friend, who was sitting, resting all of his weight on his hands behind him. He'd seen girls and boys his age hold hands when they liked each other, so why couldn't he do the same? He took a deep breath and gently set his hand on his friends', and held it. The brunette looked at him in surprise and then down at their touching hands. A light pink spread across his face as he looked up at the blonde and smiled softly. He gently gripped his back and then looked back up at Miss Censordoll. The both of them not being able to focus on her words, only each other.
AGE EIGHT
The dirty looks started soon after they decided to hold hands at school. They couldn't figure out why other kids could hold hands, but whenever they did people frowned at them, or told them they were sinning, or that they should be holding a girls hand. One day, when they were sitting and holding hands under the slide, a little boy came up and pushed them both over. "What was that for?" the brunette asked angrily as he sat up. "Holding hands with a boy is sinful!" the little boy said and pointed at the blonde. "I can hold hands with whoever I want!" the brunette swiftly stood up, and shoved the boy. He ended up being the one getting in trouble.
AGE NINE
After all the bullying, the boys decided they needed to not to hold hands in front of people. They became tired of being hit, shoved, or yelled at whenever they did so. They tried telling teachers, but whenever they did, they were either told that they were wrong, or just ignored completely. The boys decided they would start meeting at the Black Forest Preserve, where they went on a field trip to in second grade. Not many people came around, and they could hold hands all they wanted. As they sat on their favorite rocks after school one day, the blonde leaned over and gently pressed a kiss to the brunette's cheek. His face became red, and he looked down at the ground. The blonde giggled as the brunette smiled softly. They than began giving each other kisses on the cheek back and forth with big smiles.
They didn't notice as two older boys came out of the bushes with bats. Suddenly they were pulled apart and were being hit over and over. It all went black until the brunette felt the blows stop, he slowly opened his eyes, and looked over to see the blonde still getting hit. Without thinking, he stood up and grabbed the bat next to him, hitting the boy hurting his friend. The boy dropped and he knelt to tend to the blonde. They smiled at each other. All the beatings in the world couldn't stop the nice feeling they got when being around each other.