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Link wanted to learn to play the piano. It wasn’t something he had always wanted to do, but it was something that was interesting him currently. He had given it some measure of thought and had, somehow, decided that a piano would make a good investment in some way.
So, one rainy afternoon, after looking in a few places and stopping to get an overly-expensive cup of coffee, Link finally decided to purchase an upright piano from a local antique shop. He didn’t tell Rhett, even though it wasn’t necessarily a surprise. The new house was a house of creativity, after all. Sure, they didn’t have silverware or plates, but they now had a discolored, worn piano, complete with what looked like, chew marks on the front legs. Link thought it gave it character.
The piano was delivered on a Thursday afternoon. Link had left the office early to “take care of something” and headed to the Creative House. He arrived just as the delivery truck rolled up.
He watched, in childish excitement, as the beast of an instrument was placed in the empty living room. Somehow, the antique piece made the stark white space look like some kind of modern art exhibit. Link really liked it.
After studying the piano for a while, he decided to call Rhett and tell him he had something to show him. The excitement of his friend about to share in this treasure tickled his belly like a thousand butterflies. He just knew Rhett was going to think this was so cool.
As Link waited for Rhett to show up, he stood a few feet from the piano, hand to chin, admiring it. The bench that was tucked under the old piano had frayed fabric on one of the edges, like a tuft of hair sticking out from some old creature. Link imaged how many talented butts had sat on that bench before it finally came to live with him. He wondered if any musical talent could be obtained through his butt cheeks.
Smiling to himself, he ran his hand over the top of the piano, feeling the smooth finish beneath his fingers and letting his hand dip into a few dents and knots in the wood. After inspecting it thoroughly with his hands, he finally sat down on the bench, adjusting his back and giving his fingers a good stretch. He plucked one of the keys experimentally, enjoying hearing the high-pitched sound it made reverberating in the empty living room. He tapped a few more keys, making a nonsensical string of sounds.
“You got a piano?” Rhett suddenly said from the living room doorway. Link whipped his head around with an instant smile. He quickly thrust his hands out wide, showing off his treasure like a child with a new toy.
“What’dya think? Cool, huh?” Link said with his usual toothy grin. Rhett looked shocked, but gave a little snort of a chuckle to hide it.
“Why is there a piano in our living room, Neal?!” He asked, smiling from ear-to-ear with the ridiculousness of it all. Link giggled and hit a few more keys, producing the nerve-grating sound of someone who clearly had no idea what they were doing.
“I’m gonna learn to play the piano, man.” he said, excitement edging into his voice. Rhett shook his head again, the smile never leaving his face. After a few seconds, Rhett wandered around the piano, as Link had done earlier and poked at a white key. The hammer hit perfectly, producing a high-pitched “ting”.
“Ok, but…why?” Rhett asked, again, taking off the green trucker hat he was wearing and running his fingers through his hair.
“Why not?” Link replied standing up from the bench and motioning around the room. “This is our house of creativity, man! We can do whatever we want.”
Rhett shook his head and laughed, sitting down on the bench and taking Link’s place. He wiggled his fingers and then began plucking out a tentative string of notes.
“See? This is gonna be great.” Link said, watching Rhett’s fingers dance on the keys. Link walked to the front of the piano and crossed his arms on the top, resting his chin there as he listened to Rhett play a terrible rendition of Fur Elise. After a few seconds, Rhett looked up at Link and smiled.
“Come here, man, you gotta play the high part,” Rhett instructed, sliding his large frame to the end of the bench and making room for Link. Rhett continued to key out the part of the song he knew and Link took his position at the other end of the piano. He tapped a few keys, completely out of rhythm to what Rhett was already playing.
Rhett stopped and sighed, reaching down to Link’s end of the piano and playing his part. “There you go, like that. Yeah,” he said as Link tapped the keys as Rhett had, briefly brushing his fingers over Rhett’s. Link smirked and glanced at Rhett, who appeared to be deep in concentration, the tip of his tongue out on his lips and his eyes fixed on the keys.
Link felt the tickle of the butterflies again as the keys give way beneath his fingers. Rhett glanced at Link and smirked, picking up the pace of the song for no particular reason. Link let out a high-pitched giggle and struggled to keep up. The harder and faster Rhett played, the harder and faster link had to keep up. It became a dance—a battle of who was going to give up first. Rhett’s long curly hair fell into his face a his entire body joined the dance he was making on the ivory keys. Link’s smile nearly touched the bottoms of his ears and the dance continued, filling the house with music.
As the sound reverberated off the walls, Link finally fell out of sync with Rhett’s portion of the song and the two let out a loud “Noo!” at the same time, their fingers dropping off the keys and Rhett bolting up quickly in defeat.
“We almost had it!” Link said, giggling joyfully. Rhett sighed and pushed his hair out of this face, sitting back down on the bench. His hip found Link’s unintentionally and Link took an unconscious deep breath, feeling Rhett’s leg through his jeans.
When Link finally let out the breath he was holding, he turned and faced Rhett.
His best friend was staring at him with a smile on his face. Rhett scooted a little closer, closing even more distance between the two. Link took another audible breathe and held it as Rhett reached over him and playfully plucked a few keys at the end of the piano.
“See? I told you this was going to be great.” Link said quietly, feeling Rhett’s arm brush his chest as he pulled his hand from the keys. Rhett seemed unfazed as he fiddled with the keys.
Link’s stomach butterflies suddenly seemed to want to try and escape through his throat. He swallowed reflexively, trying to keep the fluttering creatures inside. He had felt this feeling before around Rhett, but had always kind of ignored it or chalked it up to excitement. But now, sitting together at a piano, alone in the big, empty house, Link couldn’t ignore what was happening.
He couldn’t ignore the shape Rhett’s fingers made as he pressed the keys, or the little tongue flick that he kept doing while he tried to to string together sounds that went well together. He couldn’t ignore the smile Rhett flashed him every now and then or the pressure of his friend’s leg on his hip.
Link took another deep breathe, deciding that he was just going to suggest they stop messing around and go get lunch before he did something he would regret. As Link turned toward Rhett, his best friend instantly met his gaze.
A small, tense moment passed before Rhett suddenly reached out and placed a hand behind Link’s neck. Without much preamble, he pulled him close and pressed his lips to Link’s.
The surprise hit Link first, but it was quickly eclipsed by the feeling of Rhett’s soft lips against his own. A tickle of beard ran onto his cheek and a shiver ran through him, like a bolt of lightning. Rhett took a small breath before dipping his head and kissing Link a little deeper. The tip of Rhett’s tongue peaked out and danced on Link’s lips, asking to be let in. Link parted his lips with a sigh and felt Rhett’s hand tighten on the nape of his neck for a moment.
Link closed his eyes and felt the butterflies inside him tickle at his belly again.
After what felt like several hours, Rhett pulled away from Link’s kiss-bruised lips and smiled slightly. The hand at the back of his neck dropped away and Link felt the breath catch in his chest.
Link smiled back, lost for words.
“Ok,” Rhett said softly, “Come on, you gotta play the high part.”
Rhett began plucking out Fur Elise again and, this time, Link had no trouble finding his place within the song.