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This was why he hated going to Space.
Ted groaned as he bent over the table. He always knew his somewhat romantic feelings for his best friend would come back to bite him, he just always thought it would be figuratively.
“We call this the Lovebug ,” Guy told him, scanning the dark red space vermin that attached itself to Ted’s lower back. “Feeds off lust. Best hosts are those with strong feelings that only go one way.”
“Great.” Truth be told, they probably all knew about his feelings for Booster prior to this event, but now that it was confirmed, per say, they were going to tease him about it relentlessly . “How do I get it off?”
“The way I see it, you can either confess to your Golden boy, or never speak to him again. It’ll either be overloaded with secondhand satisfaction or pain. Then, once it comes off, you can squash it.”
“Why can’t you just squash it now?”
“Because the amount of force needed would probably break your spine.”
Ted groaned again. Loudly. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
Guy grinned down at him. “We all know you aren’t my type, though I do appreciate the gesture of bending over the table for me.”
“That isn’t what I meant and you know it.”
Guy shrugged and yanked him back up by the collar. “Go out and do what your heart wants. Or what it doesn’t want. I couldn’t care either way.” And with that, Ted was shoved out the door.
——————————
Ignoring Booster lasted all of two days.
Ted ignored his calls, his texts, stayed in his work as best he could to avoid feeling the overwhelming wrench of guilt. It was like a dark storm cloud that weighed a million pounds and was just sitting conveniently on his shoulders, raining on him at all times.
Okay, Ted. Bad simile. Accurate, but bad.
Then Booster came and knocked at his window. This hair was windswept - gorgeous - and his smile was wide and bright - stunning . Ted sighed and opened it for him to fly through. The visit caught him off guard, but all that was gone when Booster opened his mouth:
“Did I do something wrong?”
The question caught Ted left handed. Of course Booster hadn’t done anything wrong. The only wrongdoing was his misplaced emotions and that stupid bug on his back, neither of which Booster could know about. So Ted lied through his teeth, “No, I’ve just been busy.”
“You look busy. Like, really stressed.” Booster took a few steps forward and laid a hand on Ted’s shoulder. “Is everything alright?”
No, everything was most certainly not alright. He was stressed beyond belief, and now Booster’s touch was sending jolts of warm static through his arm and right into the pit of his stomach. He wanted to close the distance, wrap him tight, go ahead and-
“Ted?”
“What? Oh, sorry. Yeah, I am a little stressed.” He smiled up at Booster. The bright glow received was blinding.
“We should get you out of here! You’ve been working too much lately.”
“Booster, it’s three in the afternoon. I can’t just leave.”
“Sure you can! You’re the boss, bosses make the rules, right?” Booster shut Ted’s laptop and threw it into the bag next to his desk before promptly slinging the bag over this shoulder and flying out the window, leaving absolutely no room for argument.
Ted chuckled. How had he fallen for this dork?
————————
“So then I said, ‘hey, Rip, how about you go save time for once?’ I am so sick of him ordering me around, all high and mighty. It’s not like he’s my Dad or something,” Booster said, retelling a vivid story with hand motions and all while they ate dinner together some place near Ted’s office.
Ted nodded automatically, following up with a vague, “Yeah, that sucks.” He hadn’t been listening, not completely. Booster complained about Rip all the time, so that was nothing new. He had been more concerned with the way that stupid Lovebug was piercing his back. Whenever Booster even made the slightest movement towards him, there was a tingling along his spine, up his neck. It was quite unnerving.
“Rip Hunter, God, that guy. He’s hiding something, something big, and one day I’m gonna find out what it is!” Booster continued, dramatically poking his fork around in the air for emphasis. Ted just nodded, pushing the food around in his plate while trying to avoid eye contact. Booster’s head cocked to the side, “You okay, buddy?”
No, he was not okay. He can’t even look at Booster, because if he does, he just imagines blatantly wrong thoughts. Dirty thoughts. Thoughts that, if Booster knew Ted was thinking about him, he may never want to speak to him again. Ted used to be able to keep these thoughts in check - these fantasies - but now they were overloading him. His chest was tight, and he had to force himself to take a few deep breaths before answering.
“Me? Yes, I’m good.” Ted felt his heart clench at just the thought of lying so blatantly to his best friend. “Great. Awesome. Splendid. Everything is dandy.”
-------------------------
It was cold outside. Freezing, actually. Below zero, as one who is not from America would call it.
“It’s like, ten degrees, Booster! Why are we out here?” Ted scurried to keep up, shuffling in his heavy winter coat. It was a generic black puffy coat, one that served him in warmth and not much else. Booster, on the other hand, had a woolen, maroon coat. Match that with the way the cold made his cheeks pale and the tip of his nose turn pink, and Ted thought it was absolutely adorable.
“I wanted to show you something!” He insisted, hopping up and down on the balls of his feet.
Ted rolled his eyes. “Then where is it?”
“It’s right here!” Booster exclaimed, dashing around a corner and pointing excitedly.
Ted followed, looked up, and then promptly decided that there was nothing special going on. He blinked. “What?”
“Right there!” Resigning himself to Ted’s ignorance, Booster groaned, before running up and standing beneath a huge sign for World’s Best Chicago Style Pizza.
Ted stifled his laughter, but only because Booster looked so proud. He’d been in this century for, what, fifteen years? And he was still consistently falling for advertising tricks like these. However, one look at the excitement on his face kept Ted from saying as much. Instead he joked, “I think that the World’s Best Chicago Style Pizza would actually be in Chicago, not Metropolis.”
“You never know until you’ve tried it! Isn’t that where you’re from? Chicago? Can’t you try it and tell us if it actually is ‘World’s Best’?”
“No, Boost, it doesn’t work like that,” Ted tried to correct him, but his own wide grin betrayed him.
“Come on, Teddy!” Booster ran back over to Ted and hung from his side, shooting him a pout.
Damn, Booster knows he can’t say no to that look. And when he’s wrapped around his arm like that? Ted would do just about anything. He knows he shouldn’t have pizza, what with all the grease, but found himself numbly being drug into the restaurant.
Luckily, they were just a to-go place, so the two of them only ordered one piece. It was better this way - Booster could eat most of it, and Ted would steal two, maybe three small bites to satisfy the inquiry of whether it really is “World’s Best.”
Spoiler: it wasn’t, but as Ted watched Booster hesitantly bite into the deep dish, strings messily dragging between his mouth and the slice, grease dripping from the side of the plate… his chest tightened. He should not be finding this attractive.
Booster finally split the cheese, chewed, and swallowed thickly before beaming at Ted. His heart beat faster, threatening to leap from it’s cage. The two of them have eaten out together hundreds of times, there is no way that this wasn’t another effect from the Lovebug. Watching people eat? That was never hot, no matter who was doing it.
Yet Ted couldn’t look away. It was gross , but then he realized that he wasn’t enjoying this because of the act of eating, but because of how happy it was making Booster.
And then he realized how screwed he really was.
————————
The bug was itchy, and whenever he was around Booster, it burned. Ted wondered if this was at all similar to how Dan had felt with the scarab.
Right then, the two of them were just chilling on the couch, several feet apart, on opposite ends.
Actually, no, that’s a lie. Much to Ted’s dismay, Booster had insisted on sharing a blanket, so their thighs were side-by-side.
With each miniscule movement, each fidget, each time Booster scratched his nose or slumped down a bit, Ted felt it. A jolt, a shock, it all went back to that damn bug.
It was like all his pre existing infatuation had been multiplied tenfold. What had previously been no more than a little crush on his best friend was now a unique brand of animalistic lust, crawling and gnawing inside, begging to break free. His heart began throbbing, beating so hard it’d burst from his chest, whenever he so much as thought about Booster.
Now they were sitting next to each other, sharing a blanket, thighs touching, and now Booster’s hands were near his knee, touching it. Oh God, oh God, Ted is going to die .
Instead of sliding his hand further up the knee like Ted wanted, Booster leaned over (close enough to feel his soft exhales upon his cheek) and asked if Ted wanted more popcorn.
He tried not to move, not to give in or provide any other fuel for the annoyance on his back. So Ted simply answered, “No thanks,” and continued to stare straight ahead.
He sat there, still as a log, all night. Booster kept laughing at the movie, but Ted didn’t even know what it was about. All he could think of was their close proximity, the feel of their brief touches, the occasional puffs of air on his cheek whenever Booster spoke.
It was driving him up the freaking wall .
As soon as the credits rolled, Ted leapt to his feet, excused himself, and promptly ran to hide in the bathroom.
What is he going to do? How is he going to get out of this? He’d lived with these feelings for years , but all the sudden, some lame space bug comes along and ruins all the careful denial he’d established. Slumping down against the wall, head in hands, Ted cursed himself and his heart, both for landing himself in this situation and for the way it was speeding up now. Short of breath, stabbing pain. Excessive sweating. He needed to calm down.
“Ted?” Booster pounded at the door. “Are you okay?”
Ted swallowed. “Yeah,” He choked. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. It’ll be okay.
Booster knocked on the door a few more times and leaned against it. “Are you sure? You’ve been in there for awhile.”
Shit . Feeling the aching spread, he caved with the thought that, okay, maybe he does need a little help. “Can you get-” He tried to speak, but it came out as more of a pant. He took a deep breath, in and out, and tried again. This was more of a whimper, “Meds in coat pocket. Please .”
He heard Booster swear and make a dash for the exit, but it was all background noise. Ted tried to still himself. His head was dizzy, and he knew he was spiraling. He couldn’t let that happen.
“Ted? I got them,” Booster called from the other side of the door. It sounded distant, far away. “I’m coming in.”
Booster kicked down the door and immediately crouched down at Ted’s side with a glass of water and his pill bottle. He downed two of them in a single gulp of water and handed them both back to his friend.
In and out. In and out.
“Ted?” Booster said, gently leaving the pills and water on the sink. “I’m gonna call an ambulance, alright?”
“ No! ” He immediately protested. If he ended up at a hospital, they’d see the thing on his back, and that would be rather difficult to explain.
Booster startled, “Ted, I can’t just sit here while-”
“Call Guy.” Yes, that was a good plan. Guy already knew all about the Lovebug, and his ring knew, like, everything in the world, including first aid.
“Guy? Why would I-”
Ted reached over and grabbed Booster’s arm. The whole area tingled where their skin met, but he tried to hold on. Booster looked at the spot, then put his other hand lightly over the top of it. “Okay, I’ll call Guy. It’ll be okay, buddy.” He pulled out his phone and dialed, waiting a few moments before saying, “Hey, I’m here with Ted. We have a bit of a problem…”
He didn’t listen to the conversation, just focused on staying up and evening out his breathing. Next thing he knew, Booster was reaching over him and unbuttoning his shirt. “W-what are you doing?”
“Guy said that it was best to remove any tight clothing so that blood can flow easier,” Booster pointed to the phone, held between his neck and shoulder. “You’re gonna have to let me undress you, Ted.”
No! He most certainly did not want Booster undressing him! That would make the problem so much worse! The bug dug into his back, painfully so, and he fought the urge to scream. Why him? Why was this all happening to him?
Booster continued to unbutton his shirt until it was fully open, then moved to do the same with his pants. Ted continued to take deep breaths while he turned to look the other way. Don’t think about how the man you’re in love with is undressing you; maybe, then, everything would be okay.
Perhaps the undressing actually worked, or maybe the meds were kicking in, but he did begin to feel a bit better. The air was easier to breathe, and his chest didn’t feel quite as tight. Slumping down, he sighed and reached out to touch Booster again, take his hand.
Booster grabbed it, entangled their fingers and squeezed gently. A deep warmth settled low in Ted’s abdomen, but he quickly bit it back. No need to start up again.
After a few more back-and-forths, Booster hung up with hurried thanks, placed his phone on the ground behind him, and scooted a little closer to Ted. “Guy’s heading over here. It’s going to be okay. Are you feeling better?”
Ted nodded, trying not to let their sudden close distance and the fact that he was mostly naked affect him. That thing on his back was twitching. It hurt. He wanted it to end.
With the realization that this space vermin had almost caused an attack, Ted decided that this had gone on long enough. In a split second executive decision, he turned to his friend, ready to confess. “Booster, I have to tell you something-”
“Knock knock!” Guy pounded on the front door. That was fast.
Ted groaned as Booster leapt up and ran to the door. Their talking was muffled from the bathroom, but it was kept short. Within a moment, the two of them were back at his side.
Guy took one look at Ted, in his disheveled, half-naked, flushed state, and said, “Damn, Boost, you weren’t kidding. He looks awful.” Ted couldn’t even protest. He surely felt terrible, and he probably looked just as well. “Why didn’t you take him to the hospital?”
Booster shrugged and answered, “He told me not to.”
“Dude, when someone with a heart disease has heart problems, you take them to the goddamn hospital.” Booster held his hands up in defense, but didn’t say anything. Instead, Guy held up his hand and pointed a fist towards Ted, “Ring: scan.”
An arcane green ray flew from Ted’s head to his toes, then prompted a diagnosis on a thin construct screen in front of Guy. “Oh, yeah, nevermind. This is because of the Lovebug.”
Ted cursed, but Booster was just confused. “The what?”
“Ha, yeah, you wouldn’t have told him. Ted, ring says you’re good as long as you don’t freak again. I’m gonna crash on the couch while you two lovebirds talk. I’ll be ready to crush the bug when you need it.”
Booster rounded on Guy. “Crush the Bug? Don’t do that!”
Guy looked all too smug as he left the room.
“Ted? Why is he gonna destroy the Bug?”
Ted sighed. “Not that Bug.” He turned around and pointed to the thing on his back. “This bug.”
He squealed. “Ew! Gross! Get off! Off!” He started hitting it, only hurting Ted in the process.
“Booster, no! ” Ted viciously protested, turning around in a force for him to stop hitting.
“There’s a giant cockroach on your back! Why won’t it-“ He let out a strangled, frustrated screech. “Why won’t it die?”
“It’s not gonna! Listen, Boost, I have to tell you-“
“Move! Let me kill it!” Booster insisted. He tried to scoot around Ted and kill the bug.
The whole thing was stressing him out, which was not too great, considering his chest still ached. Ted continued to dodge the futile attempts his friend was making at hitting his back. Resigning to his fate, and the knowledge that he’d have to give in eventually, Ted forcefully spit out, “I’m in love with you.”
At his words, Booster froze. You could hear a pin drop in the silence. Ted wanted to break the quiet, go back and say “Just kidding! You should’ve seen your face! Ha-ha!” Unfortunately, there was no joking here. He couldn’t back out now.
“You- w-what?” Booster sputtered, eyes wide as he sat, legs folded beneath him, still as could be.
“I said,” Ted reached his hand just a few inches, laid it atop Booster’s. His skin was cold, but Ted knew his own hands were still sweaty. He spoke softly, “I’m in love with you. I have been, for awhile, and this space thing - a Lovebug, it’s called - attached itself to my back to amplify and feed off those emotions. At least, that’s what Guy’s been telling me.”
“What? So this… thing… caused your-“ Booster gestured vaguely to Ted’s chest, unable to get the words out.
Ted nodded stiffly, while Booster clenched his fists and shouted, “How dare it! You could have died! And for the sake of what? So that this… this parasite can continue to drain the life from you? What the hell?”
He honestly couldn’t tell if Booster was mad at him or the bug, but for the sake of his sanity, he sincerely hoped it was the later. Still, he felt defensive, “It’s not like I gave it an open invitation to my flesh.”
“No- no, you’re right, but that doesn’t make it okay!” Booster shot to his feet and dashed from the room, shouting for Guy all the while. They argued vigorously before returning back to the bathroom, where Ted was still slumped on the floor. “Guy says he has a solution.”
Ted groaned, knowing what was going to happen even before Guy shoved Booster closer and snorted. “Yeah, make out.”
Booster sputtered, face turning red. Clearly, that hadn’t been the answer he was expecting.
“You two are hopeless,” Guy grumbled, turning and walking out. “I’m going back to your couch.”
The air was quiet, tense, all of the sudden. Booster had been momentarially outraged, but now he was so still. Was there a reason he wouldn’t look up? It was a pretty uncomfortable situation admittedly, but Ted was just tired of it all. He wanted it to end.
“Then there were two,” Ted idly spoke, unsure where to go and too exhausted to think of an answer.
“Are you at least feeling better?” Booster asked, sinking back down to the floor, but still maintaining his distance.
Ted grimaced. Was Booster going to be like this from now on? Distant? His stomach lurched at the thought. “I guess.”
There was a beat of silence where neither of them looked at each other. Booster picked at a loose thread in his jeans. His voice was a bit choked when he said, “Y’know, this is never how I thought it would happen.”
“How what would happen?” Ted looked up.
Booster was almost leaning against him, with how near their shoulders were. Their faces were close when Booster turned, slowly, and asked, “Can I kiss you?”
Ted couldn’t speak, couldn’t function. His chest was tight, heart throbbing, and it took all his willpower just to nod.
Booster leaned forward and captured his lips, gentle and teasing. It was slow, languid, as he brought a hand up to Ted’s cheek, just a touch, a brush of a finger. Soft. A caress filled with so much affection, Ted couldn’t stand it.
He felt his heart pound in excitement. This is what he had been wanting for so long. Ted grabbed Booster’s waist and pulled him closer, wrapping his arms around Booster’s back. Booster deepened their kiss, leaning forward as to flush their bodies together.
And then the panic set in. Ted pulled away. “Booster-” He began, before seeing his friend’s face, breathless and red. His eyes were gleaming, hand still on Ted’s neck. Ted gulped. He didn’t want to break this up, but he had to know, “Why are you doing this?”
Booster searched his gaze for some kind of answer. “Are you really asking me that?”
Ted shifted. “I just mean, are you doing this because you like me, or because you want to get rid of the bug?”
Looking affronted, Booster put some distance between them. “Seriously?”
“Yes!” Ted swallowed. He hated asking about this, but he had to know. “Because if you’re just doing this to get rid of the lovebug, then I appreciate it, thank you for being the best friend a guy could ask for. But I would prefer you tell me now, because if you feel the same way-”
Booster kissed him again. He kissed with more passion and fervor than Ted’s ever been kissed. He pulled at Ted’s hair and ran his fingers down his back. It was intoxicating.
But that didn’t answer Ted’s question. It was difficult, but he pulled away again. Booster gripped onto him for dear life, as if he was afraid Ted would run.
“Love this, love you,” Ted admitted, breathless. Booster smirked. “But that doesn’t answer my question. Should I just assume that-”
“Hey, Ted?”
“Yes?”
“You’re the love of my life.” Booster pecked his cheek. Ted felt his face get hot. “And up until now, I thought you didn’t feel the same. I just found out otherwise, and now I want to kiss you senseless. So can you shut up?”
Ted gulped and nodded. Booster surged forward, pushing Ted over so he could follow through on his word. The floor was hard and cold beneath his back, and the lovebug pressed into his spine uncomfortably, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was with Booster, and that was what really mattered.
Ted felt something shifting under his back and a painful twinge beneath his neck. “Ow!” He yelped, pushing Booster off him to sit up. It continued to squirm until it was free, hopping off Ted’s back and onto the floor.
He jumped up. “Get it!” Booster ran to grab a shoe and started smashing it. The little bugger was fast, zooming around his bathroom with the force of a speedster.
“Guy, come help!” Ted called, and soon enough Guy was there, hovering right behind them.
“Stand back,” He commanded. They obliged, and Guy constructed a giant boot to stomp a huge crater in Ted’s bathroom, smashing the bug and leaving guts all over the floor.
“Ew.”
“You’re welcome,” And with that, Guy turned around and left, leaving a huge crater filled with alien bug guts in the middle of Ted’s bathroom.
“So,” Booster started.
“So…”
“So.” He shuffled his feet. “Now that there’s no alien influencing your thoughts, feel disgusted yet?”
Ted laughed and pulled Booster close, kissing him gently. “Only by my bathroom,” He joked.
Booster smiled and kissed him back. It’s funny to think that this probably never would have happened if not for that alien. He had been pinning for years, and before this, there had been no end in sight.
They probably had a lot to discuss, but that was something he would worry about later. Now, he was going to kiss Booster as much as he possibly could, potentially forever.
They had a lot of time to make up for.