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The Grassy Knoll was uncharacteristically empty for a Friday evening, not that Ponce was complaining. The seasons were turning despite winter officially starting near the end of December, and the people of Exclamation Point didn’t appreciate chilly, biting air. Ponce glanced up at the clock, then at the couple splitting a basket of fries in the corner booth. 20 minutes until he could kick them out and lock up- until then, he was resigned to wiping down the same laminate countertop for the 10th time.
He let his mind wander as he waited, going over school projects and applications and JFK... “ No, shit ,” Ponce scolded himself. “ Not thinking about Jack .” Try as he might, the mundane task of getting smudges out of a counter wasn’t enough to keep Ponce entertained. Although, he considered as he straightened up to stretch his tense back, he wasn’t really in the mood to not think about his friend.
John, like the diner, had been strangely silent for the last few days. He hadn’t been at school on Monday and wouldn’t answer Ponce’s calls during lunch, or after school, or when he’d been outside Kennedy’s house to check on him. He hadn’t answered the door, either, though Ponce couldn’t help but notice the upstairs bedroom’s curtains moving back into place as he got on his bike. Tuesday brought John’s return to classes, but he remained quiet and tentative. Lunch had been especially unusual, with Ponce having to direct most of the conversation despite his standard role of laughing at Jack’s remarks and being silently annoyed whenever his friend got too hung up on Cleo and Abe being an item. Wednesday was much of the same, and Ponce was getting worried. John usually bounced back after a day or two of being down, but 3 days was unheard of. Ponce had confronted his friend about his behavior as John was getting into his car Wednesday afternoon.
“Yeah, I’m doing just fine, Poncey.” Had been his response, shooting a tired smile at Ponce over the roof of his convertible. “I’m, uh, tired s’all. Been doing some thinking.”
It wasn’t as detailed as Ponce would have liked to hear, but it was more than he’d gotten in days. He let it go with a nod and a reminder that Jack could call or text him (hell, even show up in his driveway) if he ever needed anything. He’d received a text from Jack at 3 a.m. the next day saying, “ i’m planning something. be ready .” with no other context. When Ponce asked about the plan at lunch the next day, he received another half-smile and a pair of weary finger guns. John told him it was happening Friday evening after Ponce got done with work, despite Ponce’s objection of not knowing what “it” was.
So Friday had begun with Ponce arriving at school at 6 a.m. with his father and Kennedy showing up two minutes before the bell for 1st period rang, something that usually would worry Ponce, but seemed to be a running theme this week. The bags under John’s eyes were darker than Ponce had ever seen them, and he couldn’t help but notice how disheveled he looked as they sat through AP Literature. His hair was a mess of loose curls and Ponce could only assume he hadn’t really styled it since last week, nor had he bothered to put in his contacts today as was clear by the thin-framed glasses sitting on the corner of his desk. He watched as Jack kept dozing off into the sleeve cuffs of his sweater, stretched out and lightly stained from days of wear with no wash. As much as Ponce hated to admit it, Jack, who normally looked so put together, looked cute like that. He hoped he could convince Jack to wear his natural hair outside of his house more often.
Ponce was jostled from his thoughts as he heard tinkling from the bell above the diner entry, indicating a new customer had arrived. He sighed and prepared to turn around from where he’d been idly tracing patterns on the counter.
“Sorry,” he began, “but we close in- Jacky!” Ponce cut himself off as he realized who had walked in. “What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for you to get off work, duh,” Jack replied, swinging himself onto one of the stools across from his friend. Ponce noticed Jack had changed out of the red sweater and khakis he’d been wearing all week in favor of a t-shirt and sweats. “How much longer until we can leave?”
Ponce furrowed his brow. “10 minutes. How’d you get here?” He couldn’t see Jack’s convertible or his van parked outside and didn’t think anyone had dropped him off.
“I, er, uh, walked,” John said, folding his arms tight in front of him.
“What?” Ponce exclaimed. “In this weather? It’s freezing outside, Kennedy. I’m getting you my jacket.” He was already halfway to the backroom before John could begin protesting. He brought back the jacket and slid it across to John, who put it on with minimal protesting.
“...Thanks.”
Ponce rolled his eyes. “Don’t pull that shit again, walking two miles in the middle of winter in short sleeves.” He paused. “ Do you want anything to eat?” Ponce asked.
Jack propped his head upon his hand and stared at the counter Ponce had spent so long cleaning. “Winter technically doesn’t start until December 21st,” he muttered.
“Yeah, ok, smartass. Do you want anything to eat?” Ponce asked again, more pointedly this time. The unspoken question of “ Have you eaten today? ” lingered between the two.
“I’m fine, Poncey. I didn’t mean it like that,” John said. He still wouldn’t meet Ponce’s eye.
Ponce studied the other- he had obviously changed clothes since that morning, maybe showered too. His hair was more managed than it had been but hadn’t been slicked back in his usual style. Other than the hair and persistent dark circles under his eyes, Jack looked like the JFK everyone in Exclamation Point had grown to, well, maybe not love , but certainly know . “ You love it, ” some treacherous part of Ponce’s heart whispered. He pushed it down, hard. “I’m getting you a brownie,” he said, probably a little too loudly judging by the way John started on his stool. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he added, quietly this time.
John nodded, and Ponce made his way to the case where baked goods were kept. “ What’s up with you, Ponce? ” he thought, going through the motions of heating up the promised brownie. “ It’s just Jack. You’ve known him forever; nothing’s changed. ” That wasn’t entirely true. Something had definitely changed, though Ponce didn’t want to admit what exactly that something was. The oven dinged, drawing him out of his own head. He wrapped the pastry in a napkin and dropped it in front of John. He picked at the corner but didn’t make an effort to eat any of it.
“C’mon, I know you aren’t gonna ignore a brownie, Jacky.” Jack smiled a bit at the nickname and obliged, putting a piece of the brownie in his mouth. It made Ponce’s stomach feel weird, and he decidedly did not like the feeling. He cleared his throat. “I assume this is the thing you texted me about; where’re we going?”
Jack finished chewing before he spoke. “Stargazing.”
Well, that was unexpected. Ponce had been prepared for some kind of party or social event to kick JFK back into action, not stargazing. “Why?” he asked.
John shrugged. “I like space, I like spending time with you. Figured combining the two couldn’t, uh, go wrong.” He seemed to have realized what he had said a bit too late as a flush started to creep up his face, and he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.
Ponce ignored his friend’s behavior and told himself it was just a side-effect of whatever was going on with Jack. Definitely not anything he needed to look deeper into. “So I lock up and we head off?” He’d been so caught up in talking to Jack that he hadn’t noticed the couple in the corner booth had left until now.
“Not quite,” John said. “I walked, remember? I, uh, need a ride back to my house, then we can take the convertible out.”
Ponce whistled through his teeth, thinking it over. “Sounds good,” he nodded. “Give me five minutes.”
True to his word, Ponce had the building secured and was ready to leave in five minutes flat. He dug the helmet and gloves he kept for Jack any passenger out of the side bag and handed them to him, waiting for Kennedy to finish strapping the gloves.
“Here,” Ponce hesitated, then extended his hand to grab Jack’s own. “Let me help you.”
“I don’t need help,” Jack muttered but made no effort to pull away and do it himself.
Ponce finished wrapping the strap around Jack’s wrist. “Not a big deal,” he said, checking to make sure they weren’t too tight. “The less time here, the more time for you to teach me about stars.”
It was hard to tell in the dim street light, but Ponce swore he saw the taller’s face flush again. He brushed it off, just like every other occurrence that night. “ You can’t keep ignoring it forever, ” his heart said. “ Watch me, ” Ponce said back.
“Move over,” he told John, out loud this time. “I get in first, then you behind me.”
John snorted as he followed Ponce’s directions to move. “I’ve ridden with you before, Ponce. I’m not a newbie.”
“Maybe not,” Ponce said, situating himself on the motorcycle, “But it’s been a while. There’s no harm in reminding you.”
“Sure, sure,” Jack said. “Whatever.” If it was possible to hear someone rolling their eyes, Ponce was sure he’d have heard it just then.
“Come on then, show me what you remember,” Ponce said and twisted his top half around to get a better look at Jack. “Get up here, doll.”
Kennedy immediately faltered in his steps, and Ponce felt his soul leave his body. “ What the hell was that? That’s not ignoring the issue! ” He screamed internally.
John, bless his heart, tried to diffuse the situation. “Haha, very funny, Ponce. Really laying into the 50s-greaser-bad boy act, huh?”
Yeah, that’s what it was: an act. None of it was real. “Then prove to me I don’t gotta and get on here, Jack,” he teased, at least as well as he could while still trying to wrangle his heart off of his sleeve. He had turned back around to run his fingers over the dash of his bike, not wanting to see whatever was going over Jack’s face. He felt the bike sway slightly as his friend got on behind him.
“I’m ready whenever you are,” he heard Jack say from over his shoulder.
“Alright,” Ponce revved the bike to get it warmed up, feeling the machine come to life under him. “Hold on.”
Ponce felt Jack wrap his arms around his waist and didn’t comment when he held on tighter than he really needed to. He also didn’t comment when Jack rested his chin on Ponce’s shoulder as they waited for a light to turn green.
The rest of the ride to John’s house was uneventful, as long as Ponce dismissed the taller basically cuddling him from behind. Unfortunately, that was rather hard for him to ignore. The ride was short, so he tried to distract himself with anything else, landing on the weather of all things. It wasn’t below freezing yet, but certainly still cold.
“Too cold to be walking without a coat,” he mumbled to himself.
Despite the roar of the engine beneath him, Jack must have heard Ponce say something. “Hmm?” he asked, and Ponce felt it reverberate through his chest.
“Nothing, Jacky,” he raised his voice to get the message to the boy behind him. Jack only shifted his arms in response.
He rounded the final corner into John’s driveway and pulled the key from the ignition. They both pulled off their helmets and set them on the seat, John’s dark red helmet next to Ponce’s navy blue.
“So,” Ponce asked, flexing his fingers in his gloves. “What’s the plan from here?”
“I’ll, er, uh, get my stuff, an’ then we’ll leave,” John said as he shuffled towards the front door. “You can wait in the car if you want.”
Ponce nodded and climbed into the unlocked passenger seat (because of course, Jack left his car unlocked) and waited for him to get back. He’d been leaving the roof closed in preparation for the rainy season, and it caused the car to smell... different than usual. The lack of circulation amplified the scent of the pine air freshener he’d hung from the review mirror, mixing with the spice-y cinnamon of Jack’s cologne.
The sound of the front door shutting drew Ponce out of his thoughts. “Contemplating how good your friend’s car smells is definitely weird,” he thought, shaking his head.
John opened the back door and dumped a blanket, flashlight, and a bottle of wine. He noticed Ponce’s concerned expression at the wine considering one of them was going to have to drive back. “Don’t worry, it’s practically empty,” he said, swirling what little liquid was left in the bottle. “It’s not enough to actually get drunk off.”
Ponce shrugged it off and watched as his friend slid into the driver’s seat. “Where are we heading?” he asked.
“Uh, not too far. Need to get away from the city lights- too much light pollution,” he replied. Jack slung his arm around the back of the passenger seat while backing up, an action that Ponce found far more endearing than necessary. Jack paused to study his friend’s abnormally red face while turning back to face the steering wheel. “You alright, Poncey? Is it too warm for ya?” He was already making to roll down the window.
Ponce coughed, not expecting to be called out for his embarrassing thoughts. “Yeah, yeah, just too hot.”
“Mmm, alright,” Jack said, shooting Ponce a side glance. “I’m gonna, uh, put on some music. You can change it if you hate it.”
Ponce almost scoffed at the notion. Why would he ever hate anything Jack supplied him with?
“ There you go again, ” his heart laughed, “ When are you going to admit it? ” Ponce could have bashed his head into the glove box with how terrible he was at controlling his feelings today. There was nothing he could admit to Jack without changing everything, and he didn’t want things to change like that. What would he even say? “ Hey best friend, you know how we’ve known each other since childhood, and you come to me whenever you have trouble with girls? Well, funny story, I’ve actually been in love with you since freshman year when you stayed the night at my house and cried over Catherine the Great dumping you. Hope we’re still cool! ” It would never go over that smoothly.
The melodies of the songs Jack was playing softly from the car’s speakers lulled Ponce further into his own thoughts.
“ What if he figured it out? ” Ponce thought, alarmed. “ What if he knows I’ve got some sort of weird feelings for him, and he hates me now? ” Shit, Jack wouldn’t do something like that, would he? He wouldn’t have walked to The Grassy Knoll and waited for Ponce to get done with his shift or accepted his jacket. “ He’s still wearing my jacket, ” Ponce noticed. The sleeves were a few inches too short on Jack’s larger frame. Watching him lightly bop his head to the music and drum his fingers on the leather steering wheel, the dash lights illuminating his face in orange... “ I could kiss him right now. ”
Where on God’s green Earth had his self-control gone?
Ponce pressed his forehead to the cool glass of the window, hoping to ground himself away from his own self-incriminating thoughts. They were driving away from the city to watch the sky, nothing else. A purely platonic stargazing experience between a couple of friends.
“Poncey, wake up.” Ponce felt someone shaking his shoulder.
“What’s up?” He said groggily, sitting up in the seat. He looked around and found himself in JFK’s convertible, parked in some field off the road. “Dammit, I’m sorry, Jack, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” Ponce pressed his palms into his eyes, then twisted to face the driver’s seat. His back loudly popped as he did.
“It’s not a problem. You were only asleep for, uh, 10 minutes or something,” Jack assured him.
Ponce was very aware of Jack’s eyes on him as he tried to wake himself up. He looked up to meet his gaze.
Jack quickly shifted to grab the door handle. “I’ll, er, uh, get the stuff from the back. You can, uh, put your seat back, and I’ll, uh, I’ll lower the roof,” he said, fumbling with the handle even more. Ponce leaned over and flipped the lock. “Er, thanks,” Jack said sheepishly, almost falling out of the driver’s seat in his efforts to get out of the car. It wasn’t like him to be so nervous, especially when it was just the two of them hanging out. Ponce wondered if the thinking he’d mentioned he’d been doing had anything to do with where they were now.
“Here’s this, uh, the blanket’s in the back if you want it,” Jack said, emerging in the driver side door with wine and flashlight in hand. He leaned over the driver seat to set them on the center console, and Ponce could make out his hands shaking in the dim light.
Ponce followed Jack’s suite of leaning his seat back as far as it could go and watched as the top slowly opened to reveal a sky full of stars. They meant almost nothing to him, never knowing much beyond the North Star, but it was worth it to see Jack so excited over the shapes they made.
“This is perfect, Ponce!” he exclaimed, all signs of his anxiety disappearing in a flash. “Look, no moon, and we’re far enough away from Exclamation Point to avoid the city lights!” He sighed dramatically.
“Yeah, looks nice Jacky,” Ponce replied, looking at the pinpricks of light that littered the dark sky. “What do you have to teach me?”
“Where to start... What do ya already know?” Jack asked.
“I know the North Star,” Ponce said and pointed at the solitary white dot sitting low on the horizon.
Jack nodded his approval. “Any constellations?”
“Just the Big Dipper.”
The taller boy scoffed. “That’s not a constellation, Poncey. The Big Dipper’s an asterism.”
“Oh?” Ponce wasn’t really paying attention to the sky anymore. He was far more interested in the person telling him about stars than the stars themselves. “Never heard of it.”
Jack nodded. “They’re groups of stars that people recognize but aren’t counted as constellations.” He held up five fingers and started ticking off names. “The Big Dipper, the Pleiades, the Summer Triangle, uh,” he shoved his hand back under his arm, “some other ones.”
Ponce laughed at his friend’s actions, having propped himself up on his side to better see him.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Jack sighed again.
“Yeah,” Ponce agreed, still facing the driver’s side. “It is.” He kept watching as Jack’s gaze flickered through different parts of the sky, cataloging what was visible. The brighter stars reflected in his eyes.
“Your eyes are too,” Ponce blurted out.
Jack turned his head to him. “What?”
“Your eyes,” Ponce continued, suddenly overtaken with boldness and adrenaline, “they’re beautiful too.”
The small smile Jack had been wearing since the roof went down flickered slightly. “They were an accident,” he said, confused. “So was my hair. Neither came out right.”
It was Ponce’s turn to be confused. “What are you talking about?”
“The, uh, real one. The actual JFK, his eyes were green and mine are all weird and hazel. His hair was more brown; mine came out too red.” Jack was staring at his fidgeting hands, but his stare was vacant and cloudy. “It’s got curls, too,” he mumbled.
“Jacky,” Ponce said and pushed himself into a sitting position. “You don’t really think that makes you any less than the first JFK, right?” Jack didn’t say anything, just kept picking at his fingers “Right, Jack?” Ponce repeated.
“There’re other things wrong, too,” Jack continued. His breathing quickened. “I get nervous, and I can’t get out of bed some days, and I care too much about what people think, and I get nightmares about what happened to the real one and so many things are just wrong .” He buried his face in his hands.
“Oh, doll, is this what you’ve been thinking about for the past week?” Ponce said, mostly to himself. “Jacky, look at me.” He reached over and grabbed Jack’s wrist, revealing his face. He faintly heard the wine bottle and flashlight hit the floor of the convertible. Jack’s eyes were shining, but the light from his beloved stars was absent. “The cloning process isn’t perfect. Sure, there are some differences from you and the first JFK, but that doesn’t make you any less of a Kennedy.”
Jack didn’t look like he was taking much of this in. “The real JFK was a womanizer.” He said with a shaky breath.
Ponce didn’t follow. “Are you telling me you aren't?”
“‘S’not what I meant,” Jack shook his head. “What if I don’t want to be a, uh, womanizer?”
“Then you don’t have to be,” Ponce replied. A crease had developed between his eyebrows- he didn’t understand what Jack was getting at. He loosened his grip on the other’s arm, but Jack grabbed Ponce’s hand before he could pull away.
“No,” he stressed, finally meeting Ponce’s eyes. “What if I, er, wanted there to be more than just, uh, more than just women?”
Ponce blinked. “Oh... Oh ,” his eyes widened. “Jack, do you like guys ?”
“Fuck, forget I said anything.” Jack immediately tried to pull his hand out of Ponce’s, but Ponce didn’t let go. The movement drew them closer to each other in the confinement of the car.
“Jacky, hold on,” Ponce said before the other could get any false ideas. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“How else could you have meant it?” Jack groaned. “Just forget any of this happened, I’ll drive you home, and we don’t have to talk about-”
“Wait, Jack, listen,” he frantically interrupted him. “I didn’t mean- I’m- Can I kiss you?” Ponce shut his mouth. “ I didn’t mean to say that! ” he screamed internally. “ Yes you did! ” his heart screamed in return.
“What?” Jack looked dumbfounded.
“I didn’t mean to say that right now.”
A hint of a smile started to reappear on Jack’s face. “‘Right now’?” he repeated.
“Um-” Ponce was cut off by Jack pulling him closer over the center console.
“Yeah,” Jack breathed, gaze flickering between Ponce’s mouth and his eyes. “You can kiss me if you want.”
Ponce leaned further into Jack’s space, slightly tilting his head. “Funny, I do want,” he muttered against the corner of Jack’s mouth before properly meeting his lips.
The taller made a small “hmph” noise, which Ponce finally felt free to admit was adorable. Jack’s lips felt slightly chapped against his, and he still vaguely tasted like the brownie Ponce had given him at the diner. With the hand that wasn’t slotted against Jack’s, Ponce cupped the back of his partner’s neck. He ran his hand up through Jack’s curly auburn hair- that he wouldn’t trade for anything - before pulling away.
“God, doll,” he started, still pressed against Jack’s torso. “You can’t imagine how long I’ve wanted to do that for.”
“Oh yeah?” Jack laughed. “You could always show me.” There was the normal JFK. Always thinking about sex.
Ponce chuckled and pressed another kiss to Jack’s cheek. “You’ll have to take me out to dinner first, Jacky.”
“What if, until I take you to dinner, you stay the night at my place?” Jack asked. “We don’t have to do anything,” he said quickly, already reading Ponce’s expression. “I just... don’t want to leave you yet.”
Ponce’s face softened. “Yeah, Jacky, I’ll stay. I just gotta let my dad know.” He pulled himself back into the passenger seat, straightening it, and dug his phone out of his pocket.
Ponce
11:43 p.m.> I’m gonna stay the night at jack’s
> I’ll be back in the morning
Dad
11:46 p.m.> Sounds good. Stay safe.
Jack turned the key in the ignition, causing the car to come to life, and the music he’d been playing before resumed. He maneuvered the car back onto the road and sped up to reach the speed limit, then kept going. They looked to be the only car on the road for miles. When they reached a straight strip of asphalt, Jack took his right hand off the wheel and placed it on the console between them, tapping along to the rhythm of the song fading out. He looked radiant, Ponce decided. The dark circles under his eyes still lingered, but they were offset by his relaxed posture and the little smile playing over his face. Ponce caught the beginning of the next song filtering in and laughed.
“What?” Jack asked, glancing over at his partner.
“‘Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy’?” Ponce said, amused. “It’s a bit on the nose, don’tcha think?”
Jack’s smile grew. “I didn’t choose it, it just came on.”
Ponce rolled his eyes and grabbed Jack’s hand, threading their fingers together. “It’s cute. You’re cute,” he said and brought their hands up to his face, where he laid a chaste kiss to the back of Jack’s hand. Even in the minimal lighting provided by the dash lights, Ponce could see Jack’s face and neck turn red.
Jack turned the convertible into his driveway and shut it off, but neither boy made an effort to get out. Their hands were still clasped together, and Ponce didn’t want to let go out of fear that he’d wake up and find all of it to be a dream. He didn’t know if he’d be able to handle that, pining after his friend for years, finally hearing it wasn’t one-sided, and having it all ripped away from him when it wasn’t even real. He shook his head lightly as if trying to jostle the bad thoughts out.
“We should, uh, go inside,” Jack said, his free hand skirting over the door handle.
“Alright.” Ponce reluctantly dropped his partner’s hand and stepped out of the car, rubbing his arms to fight off the chill. Jack stood in front of the car, waiting for Ponce to meet him. Ponce couldn’t help but smile at his actions.
He made his way around the hood to start walking up to the door with Jack but was stopped when the taller immediately reached out to hold his hand again. Ponce looked up at Jack, who had turned his face toward the ground to hide the flush creeping up his neck.
“You blush so easily, Jacky,” Ponce grinned.
Jack whined, which only increased the pink now adorning his cheeks and nose. “Stop makin’ fun of me,” he said, pulling Ponce towards the front door.
“I’m not trying to tease you; it’s charming,” Ponce laughed and let himself be brought up the front steps.
Jack fumbled with the keys in his pocket, realizing the action of unlocking a door was much more difficult with one hand. After a moment of maneuvering, Jack got it unlocked and pushed the door inward. The lights in the house were off, Jack’s foster dads having gone to bed hours ago. “C’mon,” he muttered and led Ponce around the corner and up the stairs towards his room
“ As if I need any directions for around here, ” Ponce thought as Jack pulled him into his own bedroom and shut the door behind them.
“I can find you a toothbrush and something to sleep in,” Jack dropped Ponce’s hand and went to dig through his drawers. He threw a pair of shorts and a t-shirt at Ponce before finding his own and tossing them on the bed.
Ponce hesitated. They’d undressed in front of each other plenty of times before, but was it weird to now that they were... a thing? Ponce shook his head and pulled his shirt over his torso before he could overthink it too much. The shirt Jack had offered him was soft and worn with a logo on the front that was too faded to make out. If the car had smelled like Jack, his shirt certainly did. Ponce was tempted to press his face into it and inhale, but that seemed way too weird to do while Jack was still in the room.
“Do they fit?” Jack asked, turning around to see Ponce standing shirtless next to the bed, staring at the shirt in his hands. He whistled. “Damn, aren’t you a looker?”
Ponce rolled his eyes at the shit-eating grin on his partner’s face. “You’re one to talk, Mr. Heart-throb of Clone High.” He put on the shirt and reached down to undo his belt, slipping off his jeans and replaced them with the shorts Jack had thrown at him. He watched as Jack changed into his own pajamas, a plain white tee and flannel pants. Jack was careful to hang Ponce’s jacket in his closet, then stripped out of his own clothes and tossed them into a laundry basket in the corner.
Ponce started making his way over to the bathroom connected to Jack’s room but stopped in front of the full-length mirror propped up against the wall. The shirt was overly baggy on him, and the shorts had to be double-knotted to stay up.
Jack came up and stood behind him, watching their reflections in the mirror. “You’re so small,” he teased.
“Nah, I’m normal-sized,” Ponce said. He really wasn’t that small, only five or so inches shorter than Jack, but he wasn’t nearly as built. “That’s what I get for dating a 6’1” three-season athlete.” Ponce watched through the mirror as Jack’s face lit up at the notion of them dating (even though it’d only been a few hours. They could figure that out in the morning).
The two walked into the bathroom and Jack dug through the cabinet to find a new toothbrush and passed it off to his partner. Ponce was once again greeted by their reflections, this time with toothbrushes in hand. The scene overwhelmed him with blissful domesticity, and he thought he could end every day like that for the rest of his life. Maybe he was moving too fast for his own good, but he’d waited 4 years for this moment. He sure as hell wasn’t going to take it for granted.
Ponce leaned on the doorframe after brushing his teeth, waiting for Jack to finish washing his hands, and putting on moisturizer, and washing his hands again. He watched as Jack finished drying his hands on the towel hung up by the sink, but stopped him before he could walk out. Jack looked quizzically at him.
“Wanted to try this again,” Ponce muttered, folding his arms behind Jack’s neck and leaning up properly kiss him.
Jack’s hands fell to Ponce’s waist, drawing him closer despite the little space left between them.
Their second kiss was innocent and slow, reflective of how tired they both were from everything happening around them. Jack sighed contentedly against Ponce’s lips, and Ponce took it as his cue to pull back.
The tired smile was back on Jack’s face. “We should probably get to bed,” he said, stifling a yawn. “I haven't had a full night’s sleep in days.”
“Your bed awaits and neither of us has plans for tomorrow,” Ponce replied while twisting the baby hairs at the base of Jack’s neck around his finger.
“Ya gotta let go of me then, Poncey,” Jack laughed. He was so quiet when he was tired, Ponce noted.
He somewhat reluctantly complied, stepping out of the bathroom and following Jack to the side of his bed. “What’s the, uh, plan?” Jack asked, worrying the corner of his bed cover.
Ponce lightly shoved him with his shoulder. “You lay down first. I’m not getting squished on day one,” he teased.
Jack peeled back the covers and sat in the middle of the bed, then immediately looked to Ponce for approval. He nodded, encouraging him to get into a position he’d be comfortable sleeping in. He scooted down farther to lay on his back in abrupt, mechanical movements like someone else was controlling his limbs.
“Relax, doll,” Ponce tried to soothe his partner. “I’m not gonna hurt you, and if you’re too uncomfortable with sharing a bed right now, I can always sleep on the floor.”
Jack seemed to hate that idea and quickly scooted over to make room for Ponce.
“ God, how does he manage to make everything so cute? ” Ponce thought, watching Jack smooth out the blanket draped over the bed.
“Ok,” Ponce told him and put one knee up on the bed. “Would you be comfortable if I put my head on your shoulder?”
Jack nodded vigorously.
Ponce smiled and laid down next to him, resting his head on Jack’s shoulder, and slung an arm across his torso. “See? How’s that?” he asked.
“Good.” Jack’s voice was hoarse. He cleared his throat and looked at the ceiling “It’s good.”
“Glad to hear it,” Ponce said, tracing arbitrary patterns on Jack’s t-shirt covered chest.
They laid there in silence for a few minutes, Jack gradually relaxing more and more under Ponce. He thought the taller had fallen asleep until he took an abnormally deep breath in.
“I’m glad this happened,” he said, causing Ponce to momentarily stop making squiggles on Jack’s shirt.
“So was that what you'd been planning all week?”
Jack tensed slightly. “Er, not exactly,” he started explaining. “I kinda realized I had feelings for you over the weekend and I was planning on telling you I, er, uh, liked guys. Didn’t plan on the crisis or the... this.” He gestured broadly at the ceiling.
“Sorry to have derailed your idea,” Ponce joked, “but I like this outcome better.”
“Me too,” Jack sighed and wrapped an arm around Ponce’s shoulders.
They lapsed into silence again, Ponce getting gradually sleepier from Jack’s arm anchoring him close and his rhythmic breathing.
“One more thing,” Jack muttered, and Ponce felt the sound resonate in Jack’s chest.
“You can say as many things as you want,” Ponce said, propping himself up on forearm to get a better look at Jack’s face. He was still staring up at the ceiling. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Jack didn't continue immediately and drummed his fingers on Ponce’s bicep. “I, er, uh, I liked it when you called me, uh, nicknames.”
Ponce watched as a pink flush made its way back up to Jack’s cheeks. “You talkin’ about me sayin’ ‘doll’?” he grinned. “ Even his ears turn pink, ” Ponce thought, his heart filling with adoration for the boy laying under him.
“Yeah, that one,” Jack mumbled and shoved his face into the pillow next to him.
“Aw, doll, you don’t have to be embarrassed,” Ponce said. “It’s cute.” He ran his hand over Jack’s arm in an attempt to subdue his discomfort.
Despite that, Jack vigorously shook his head. “That’s the part that makes it embarrassing !” he whined.
“Nah,” Ponce drawled. “I’m proud of you for telling me. The more we communicate the better.”
Jack shifted his face a bit, looking up at Ponce with one eye. “Ugh, talking. Can’t we do that tomorrow?”
Ponce softened under the puppy-dog eyes his partner gave him. “Yeah, Jacky. We can wait until tomorrow.” Jack gave him a relieved look and a tiny smile. Ponce returned it and laid back down.
In the morning they could get coffee and talk over labels and boundaries and whatever else came with dating his (until very recently) closeted best friend, but for now Ponce was content to sleep and pretend everything was already figured out.
From the quiet snoring he could hear beneath him, he felt Jack agreed.