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"Ricky, no."
"Uh, I think you mean, Ricky, yes!"
EJ groans, turning away from Ricky as he sinks his head into a pillow. Ricky forcefully pushes him to the other side of the bed, making room for himself, then dumps snacks and books at the end of the bed.
"This was supposed to be a sleepover!" EJ protests, lifting his head to look at Ricky, "we were supposed to cuddle and watch bad movies from the nineties, not study!"
Ricky ignores him, placing a pillow against the frame of the bed, making himself comfy. He opens a bag of Cheetos and takes a piece using chopsticks.
"Cheeto? I don't want to get my books dirty."
When EJ merely casts him a glare, Ricky's shoulders sag. "Hey, please, I need to do well for English this year, so I need to put in more work, and that includes more reading, and getting help from mister 4.3 GPA."
EJ's lips press into a thin line. Then he sticks out his hand. "I'm hungry, so you'll have to pay me in food."
Ricky grins and drops the Cheeto into EJ's hand, then kisses him softly, lingering for a few seconds. EJ's face burns up as Ricky breaks away, and immediately tries to busy himself, pretending to try to find a more comfortable position to sit.
"Okay, so I was thinking, Harry Potter?" Ricky wonders aloud, "But then I found this book in the bookshelf called 'Totto-chan' and the cover is cute. What do you think?"
Ricky pauses when he notices how much EJ is moving around, and raises an eyebrow, trying to suppress a smile. "What in the hell are you doing, EJ Caswell?"
EJ freezes and reluctantly faces Ricky, which only makes Ricky's heart melt. "Aw, you're blushing!" he coos, and EJ can't help but bury his face in Ricky's chest with humiliation.
"Go with Harry Potter, it'll be more interesting," EJ mumbles, and Ricky hums in response, popping a Cheeto into his mouth. He grabs his book from the end of the bed and opens it to where he had previously stopped.
EJ, finally ready to face Ricky again, turns back around and gazes up at him. Ricky, looking back at him with his infectious smile, only makes EJ turn away and stare straight at the book.
"Okay, so I stopped at chapter seven of Prisoner of Azkaban, and remember, you're here to help me. Let your inner meanie out," Ricky says, then pauses. "Well, that won't be difficult, since you are the school's bad boy."
EJ shakes his head, and jams his finger repeatedly into the pages of the book, code for "stop talking and hurry up and read".
"Alright, alright!" Ricky clears his throat and begins to read.
"Malfoy didn't reappear in class until late on Thursday morning when the Slytherins and Gryffindors were halfway through double Potions. He swaggered- "
"Swa-gurd, not swa-gard."
"That's what I said."
"No, you didn't."
Ricky sighs in defeat. "Okay, fine. He swa-gurd into the dungeon, his right arm covered in bandages and bound up in a sling, acting, in Harry's opinion, as though he were the heroic survivor of some dreadful battle. "
Ricky hesitates and leans forward. "What's 'simpered'? It says here Pansy simpers."
It takes EJ a few seconds. Even he, with his incredibly high GPA, finds it challenging to explain this in simple terms to Ricky.
"It's, uh," EJ dragged out his speech, "I think, like, smiling but in a self-conscious, uh, or silly way."
"Ah, I see," Ricky responds, then begins to speak in a high-pitched voice, smiling aggressively, "How is it Draco? "
EJ laughs at Ricky's stupid impression of Pansy Parkinson, playfully hitting in the chest.
"Okay, stop it."
°°°
Ricky has been reading for the past hour, and, of course, EJ has been helpful. With his assistance, Ricky has learned about a dozen new words and also devoured two entire big bags of Cheetos.
"Do you think you should take a break?" EJ questions, pausing to yawn, "Because we've been sitting here for a long time and eating unhealthy food."
"But it's getting all sad! They just found out Buckbeak is in trouble, and Hagrid's all worried-"
EJ sighs. "Okay, fine, one more chapter and then we're getting up."
Ricky claps for a few moments, then goes back to reading.
After a few pages, Ricky is feeling a bit restless, so he mindlessly toys with EJ's hair using his free hand.
"Harry stuffed the Sneakoscope back inside the socks and threw it back in his trunk..."
EJ doesn't mind, only nestling himself further into Ricky's arms as he listens.
Finally, after another 15 minutes, Ricky is done with the chapter. Surprisingly, he didn't get corrected once by EJ - maybe his reading isn't so bad, after all.
Ricky closes the book, tossing it onto the foot of the bed and stretches his arms. "Alright, babe, you ready to..."
Ricky trails off, falling silent when he realises that EJ has fallen asleep. He can only smile, his heart fluttering at how peaceful EJ looks.
"You idiot," Ricky mumbles, shaking his head as he attempts to move away so that he can put everything away. That is, until EJ snakes his arms around Ricky's waist, restraining him.
Oh, Ricky thinks, I'm going to cry.
Giving up, Ricky moves everything to the floor right next to the bed and turns off the lamp. In the darkness, Ricky pulls the sheets up over him and EJ, then presses a kiss to the boy's head. He falls asleep shortly after.
Ricky and EJ stay like that for the rest of the night, sleeping in each other's arms.
When EJ wakes up with the slightest bit of sunlight in his face, the first thing he realises is that he went to sleep without brushing his teeth. Then he sees his arms around Ricky, and the second thing he realises is that he fell asleep with Ricky.
A part of him feels terrible for falling asleep while Ricky was reading, but a massive part of him is happy. It doesn't get any better than cuddling with your adorable boyfriend.
So, maybe EJ doesn't mind reading with Ricky.