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“Hey, Langa?” Reki whispered, clutching Langa’s shirt tightly.
“What is it?” He whispered back.
“Can we go home?”
Langa eyed Reki’s scrapes and bruises, then gave him a small smile. “Of course. We need to get you cleaned up.”
“Thank you.”
“Hey! Joe, Cherry, Miya! I’m taking Reki home now.” Langa told the three of them, helping Reki stand up.
“Have a good night, you two!” Joe called as they started to leave.
“Bye!” Miya and Cherry waved.
“I guess I should probably get both of you home as well,” Joe said to Miya and Cherry. He grabbed the handles of Cherry’s wheelchair, and the three of them headed to Joe’s car.
Langa and Reki were down the track a ways, almost back to the main road. “Oof,” Reki grunted. He was wincing with each step.
“Please let me help you walk. You probably sprained your ankle or something.” Langa said, stopping.
Reki continued a few more steps, before losing his balance and falling over.
“Fine.” He agreed as Langa helped him up once more. This time Reki put an arm over Langa’s shoulder and used him as a crutch.
“What am I gonna tell my mom?” Reki worried. “She’s gonna ask how this happened and I can’t tell her about S.”
“Do you wanna go to my house instead?”
Reki looked up at him. “Y-your house?”
“Yeah. My mom’s not home tonight. No one will see you all scraped up. Except me.”
Reki looked thoughtful for a moment, then broke into a wide grin. “Alright. Let’s go!”
They walked for about ten more minutes before finally arriving at Langa’s house.
“I just realized… I don’t think you’ve ever taken me here before.” Reki noted, stepping through the doorway. “Your house is so cute!” He exclaimed.
Langa blushed. “Really?”
“Yeah!” Reki replied, almost falling over yet again.
“You need to sit down before you break any bones.”
They resumed their Langa as his crutch walking position and Langa led Reki to his bedroom.
“Sit on my bed. I’ll go grab the first aid kit.”
Reki sat down on the blue comforter, wincing at the contact. His whole lower half was going to be bruised in the morning.
He looked around at Langa’s room. It was soft and cozy looking. He wanted nothing more than to get under the covers and take a nap.
Langa came back into the room, arms full with first aid supplies.
“Do you want to change your clothes? They’re pretty dirty.”
Reki looked down at his muddy hoodie and pants. “Yeah. That would be good.”
“Here. You can borrow some of my clothes!” Langa handed him a light blue t-shirt and a black pair of sweatpants. “These should fit you.”
“Reki took the clothes, not making eye contact with Langa. “Thanks. Where should I change?”
“The bathroom is the first door on the right.”
Reki headed to the bathroom. He took off his muddy clothes and put on the clean ones. Before going back to Langa’s room, he brought the shirt collar up over his mouth and nose and inhaled deeply.
It smelled like Langa. He closed his eyes and smiled softly.
He was then interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Reki? Can I come in?” Langa called through the door.
“Uh, yeah!” Reki called back.
Langa walked in and opened the closet door. “We should get all that mud off your face before we bandage your cuts.” He grabbed a washcloth and ran it under warm water. “Sit up on the counter.”
Reki hoisted himself up, underestimating the amount it would hurt. “Ow.”
“Are you alright?” Langa asked.
Reki nodded.
“Alright. This might not feel great. But we can’t have dirt in your scrapes.” Langa reached with one hand to cup his face gently, then began wiping the dirt off with the washcloth.
“You’re right. That does not feel great.” Reki replied, eyes squeezed shut. Langa ran the wash cloth over a particularly deep cut, and Reki inhaled sharply, gripping Langa’s shirt tight.
“Almost done.” Langa comforted him.
With a few more wipes, Langa set the wash cloth down on the counter and pulled out a little white tube from his pocket. “Antibacterial ointment. So you don’t get an infection.” He used his finger to apply the cold gel all over Reki’s face, then grabbed the box of bandaids. He placed six total on Reki’s face. One on his chin, one on his jaw, one on each cheek, one on his nose, and one on his forehead.
Once he was done, Reki turned around and looked in the mirror. “Ha! I’m more bandaid than face!”
Langa wondered how Reki could be so flippant about his own injuries.
“Do you have any scrapes on your arms or legs? What about your ankles? Your wrists? Can you move them properly?” Langa asked, stopping Reki’s laughter.
Reki scanned the worried look on Langa’s face. The slight pout to his lips, his brows knit, his eyes big like a little kid.
“I’m alright Langa. Really. It’s what happens when you skate.”
“But…”
“I wouldn’t lie to you.”
That made Langa believe him. “Ok. If you’re sure. Now tell me. Where else needs attention?”
Reki blushed at the way Langa phrased the question. If his knee wasn’t stinging he definitely would have come up with a funny answer.
“I think my right knee might be scraped.” He rolled up his pant leg to check the damage. Sure enough it was pretty gashed up.
Langa grabbed the ointment and applied it to Reki’s knee. He then took a large band-aid and covered the scrape.
“Is that everything?” Langa asked.
Reki didn’t reply.
“Reki?”
They made eye contact, and Langa noticed the tears welling in Reki’s eyes.
“Reki? Are you alright?”
“Thank you.” Reki said quietly. “For taking care of me.”
“Reki, I…”
“I’ve never had anyone do this before. I always put on my own bandages.” He grabbed Langa’s hand and held it in his. “So really. Thank you. You don't know how much y… um, this means to me.”
“Of course, Reki. You’re my best friend. That’s what you do for your best friends.”
“Right.” Reki said, dropping Langa’s hand. “Best friends.”
Langa noticed his drop in tone, and decided to try something. “Hey um, Reki. Can I kiss the band-aid on your knee? Ya know, so it heals faster.”
Reki smiled. “That makes perfect logical sense.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” Langa bent over and gave Reki’s knee a peck. “You’ll be better in no time now!”
Reki giggled and a red tint creeped into his cheeks.
“Hey, maybe you should kiss the band-aids on my face too. So the scrapes heal faster.”
“Right. So they heal faster.” Langa agreed. With slightly shaky hands, he placed his fingers on Reki’s jawline, and stepped closer to him. He leaned in slowly, then placed his lips gently on Reki’s forehead.
Reki wrapped his arms around Langa’s back carefully.
The next kiss was delivered to Reki’s nose.
“That tickles,” he whispered against Langa’s face.
Langa kissed each of his cheeks. Then his chin. Finally, he placed his last kiss on Reki’s jawline.
He took a step back, and Reki opened his eyes.
“Reki…”
Reki took him by the back of the neck, and he kissed him. A real one this time.
Langa melted into the kiss, his legs almost giving out. He stabilized himself by placing his hands on Reki’s legs, but it did nothing to make him less nervous.
Neither of them had ever kissed anyone before. They weren’t quite sure if they were doing it right, but they didn’t care. All they could think about was how warm and safe and happy they felt. Finally. Finally was all that was on their minds. Finally I’m his. Finally he’s mine.
When they broke apart, they just looked at each other for a moment.
Then Reki asked, “Can we go to sleep now?”
Without any words, Langa helped him off the counter and led him back to his bedroom.
“You take the bed. You’re injured.” Langa insisted.
“It’s plenty big enough for the both of us,” Reki argued. “Besides… I want you to hold me.”
Langa blushed furiously. “Well. Anything for you. Only cause you’re hurt.”
“Right. I’m sure that’s the only reason.” Reki teased, slipping under the covers.
“You are the worst.” Langa said, getting into the bed next to him.
“I know.”
They wrapped their arms around each other, and for the first night since their fight, Reki could finally sleep completely soundly.
Everything had fallen perfectly into place.