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Spring has arrived in Paris, however late it may be; it’s the middle of May, and the sun is finally, finally making its return through the scattered clouds.
Eliott is thrilled; warm weather means he can finally get out of the dark studios at school and do some drawing outside, where the light filtering through trees makes everything more beautiful. Lucas, on the other hand, has his bac to study for, which means that he’s holed himself up in his room, denying every attempt from Eliott to get him outside.
No distractions, Eliott. I can’t memorize all this with birds constantly chirping in my ear and the sounds of cars passing by. I’ll do that once I’ve passed.
Eliott really admires Lucas’ level of focus and determination. He just wants him to relax a bit; he knows that Lucas can spiral into a dark hole when he studies for too long. And he doesn’t want his best friend to forget how to function in society come summer.
(And maybe Eliott just misses Lucas and wants an excuse to see him more. Maybe he wants to see the sun hitting Lucas’ face, illuminating his golden skin, making him look angelic. Maybe Eliott just loves Lucas too much to let him overwork himself to death, bac results be damned.)
Eliott had stormed into Lucas’ shadowy room, found him hunched over his desk with his hair sticking up in every possible direction, grabbed his arm and hauled him out of the apartment.
“I can’t believe this. I’m gonna fail the bac because of you,” Lucas grumbles, sitting next to Eliott on the curb, playing with a piece of grass, ripping it up and letting it fall to the concrete.
“You are not going to fail,” Eliott retorts, opening up his backpack and pulling out two lollipops he’d brought with him. He sticks one in his mouth, offering the other to Lucas. “You want one?”
“No, thanks,” Lucas says, squinting at the sky as the sun beats down on them.
Eliott can tell that Lucas still isn’t really there. He’s here, sitting right beside Eliott, but his eyes look distant, and it’s obvious he’s still thinking about biology and calculus and philosophy, when Eliott’s goal in this was to take Lucas’ mind off of everything, even just for a half an hour.
He takes the lollipop out of his mouth with a light pop noise. “Lucas, don’t worry,” Eliott says softly, nudging his shoulder against Lucas’, and Lucas looks at him then. “You’re the smartest person I know. You’re gonna pass with flying colors, and then you’re gonna go on to be the world’s greatest doctor, or author, or astronaut, or cranberry farmer there ever was. Okay?”
Lucas laughs, and it’s the most beautiful sound Eliott has ever heard. He wants to capture it in a box and play it every second of every day, letting it echo off his walls in a nurturing melody.
“Can’t say I’ve ever thought about being a cranberry farmer, but I’ll keep it in mind,” Lucas says. And he adds, quietly, “as long as you’re there, too.”
Eliott’s breath hitches.
“I’ll be there.”
Lucas gives him a small smile, and then goes about tearing apart a new blade of grass. Eliott can’t help but stare at him; in this light he’s so ethereal, the sun making the ends of his hair glow, sending flecks of gold into his blue eyes.
“Are you sure you don’t want the other lollipop? They’re cherry, your favorite,” Eliott says. “I figured you’ve been running on coffee and would want something sweet.”
Lucas bites his lip. “Could I just have some of yours?”
“Oh, uh. Sure,” Eliott says dumbly, taking the lollipop out of his mouth and handing it to Lucas, and Lucas takes it, sticking it in his own mouth with no hesitation.
It shouldn’t affect Eliott so much. And yet, the simple act of Lucas sharing his lollipop is sending his brain into overdrive, and he can’t stop thinking he has in his mouth what I just had in my mouth, which is probably why he blurts out the dumbest thing he could have possibly said.
“You know, it’s almost like we kissed now.”
Eliott snaps his mouth shut as soon as the words leave his mouth. Lucas’ eyes widen, and he doesn’t say anything, just takes the lollipop out of his mouth as his jaw drops slightly, sticking the almost-finished candy on the ground next to him.
“I’m sorry, that was— that was so stupid of me to say, I’m sorry,” Eliott rushes to say before Lucas can reply.
Lucas is still looking at him, with a look of bewilderment and shock covering his face. But then it changes, from surprise into something that Eliott can’t really put his finger on.
“No, it’s not,” Lucas says in a low voice, his eyes flicking down to Eliott’s lips before they meet his eyes once more. “It’s not stupid.”
And then, before Eliott can even make sense of what Lucas said, Lucas grabs his face and kisses him. It’s barely there, a fast press of lips that lasts a second, and Lucas pulls all the way back, letting go of Eliott’s face and letting his hands hang idly in the air.
It happens so quickly that Eliott isn’t even sure it was real; all that’s running through his mind is Lucas, kiss, Lucas, lips, Lucas kissed me.
Lucas kissed me.
Eliott lunges forward, taking Lucas’ face in his hands, and he kisses him again, smiling against Lucas’ lips when he feels him start to kiss back after the initial shock. Their teeth bump together, and Lucas laughs and pulls away, resting his forehead against Eliott’s.
“I guess I didn’t misread it,” Lucas breathes against Eliott’s lips, running his fingers along the hair at the nape of Eliott’s neck. Eliott smiles, rubbing his nose against Lucas’.
“No, you didn’t.” Eliott runs his thumbs over Lucas’ cheekbones, reveling in the way it makes Lucas’ eyes flutter. “I’m completely crazy about you, Lucas.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” Eliott says, kissing Lucas again. “I’ve only ever felt this way about you.”
Lucas grips Eliott’s arms, sighing, and his breath smells like cherries. “Me too,” he whispers, “I only want you, Eliott.”
Eliott almost says it: I’m so in love with you that sometimes I can’t even breathe when I’m next to you. But instead he just pulls Lucas close to his side and presses a kiss to his hair, inhaling his scent.
“You know,” Eliott whispers into Lucas’ hair, “I think this could make you fail your bac.”
“Eh, last time I checked you don’t need to pass the bac to become a cranberry farmer, so. Worth it.”