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A pebble hit his window. Sunny didn’t have to look out to know it was Kel again. Always dragging him out, wasn’t he? Sunny opened his window and held his hand up at the grinning boy outside, a signal to wait. He pulled out a coat and put on some cozy pants — summer nights could get unfairly cold, especially close to the woods as they were.
He unnecessarily ran downstairs and all the way to the front door. Kel was sporting the same grin as always. But not the orange uniform. It was still a bright orange clothing, but not the same as usual. His hair also looked softer and shinier, though not from grease.
“HEY, SUNNY!” He (basically) yelled, giving Sunny a bear hug, making him notice that he wasn’t stinking today. He smelled like baby product. “So- I was thinking- we’ve basically already destroyed Hobbeez, going there every day to read and play everything and all…”
Sunny nodded in agreement, stepping outside and closing the door.
“So I was thinking about doing something else today!”
“Like what?”
Kel scratched his head with a cheeky smile, already leading the way.
“A movie! I got the tickets already! And also Hero told me there would be a meteor shower so we could go see it, though it’s gonna be kinda late.”
“Lots of watching today.” Sunny commented.
“Well, if it turns out it’s boring we can always ditch out! I got tons of backup plans!” he gave a cheeky wink.
“Such as figuring it out on the spot.”
“Such as figurin’ out on the spot!” Kel agreed, wrapping his arm around Sunny to give him another hug. He wasn’t going to complain — Kel was warm, the air was cold. “You know me well!”
Sunny snorted and leaned into the warm hug before breaking it off. The rest of the walk there, Kel talked about his life — taking care of Sally, how Aubrey now owed him a whole pizza, how his cactus made a flower and Basil shed a tear of pride for him, how he aced Hero’s cookie recipe. His stories were short and easy to follow, and especially entertaining when he reenacted the events for Sunny.
“... We should actually go get some of ‘em back home, if I manage to be sneaky! Then you can rate my cook amazingness.”
Sunny nodded.
“They probably won’t compare to Mari’s so let’s take the ones from the store as a 7 and you rate from there, okay?”
Sunny nodded again, slower this time. It had been a while since he had Mari’s cookies, since she’s been away, in college. For some reason, they always tasted nostalgic. Maybe because she used to bake them all the time when they were kids, but she didn’t have the time anymore. Kel hummed quietly for a second, then asked:
“D’you miss her? You seemed kinda sad when I brought that up.”
Sunny nodded quickly. Of course he missed her. Always.
“Well, at least she’s gonna be back for your birthday! And Hero too! Hehe”
He nodded, then pointed at the building in front of them.
“We’re here.”
“Oh!” Kel checked his wrist watch — since when did he have one? — grabbed Sunny’s hand and sprinted to the place. “Hurry, hurry!”
He handed the box office lady two tickets, got them popcorn and sodas, then hurried inside a dark room. The film had already started and most of the seats were vacant, so they sat in a pretty great spot and readied themselves. It was a horror movie based on a story Sunny had heard of before.
A man, rich but dissatisfied with his life, made a pact with the Devil — his soul, in exchange for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasure. A great deal of the movie was spent in his theologian friend’s point of view, who had to watch someone dear to him be haunted by his mistakes and corrupt with sin, or something along those lines.
For all of the protagonist’s unlimited knowledge, the movie still made him quite dumb — falling for traps, not understanding anything, having overconfidence and hubris. Maybe that was the point but it sure did feel like he had sacrificed his soul for no real reason. In spite of the stupidity, the horror atmosphere was well done; long shots of flickering lights, noises in the distance, the kind of thing that would freak you out home alone.
But Sunny wasn’t that easily scared and, with Kel loudly holding his breath, chuckling out a soft “oh, man” when Faust made poor decisions or couldn’t outrun his demons, he could only chuckle along and relax. Until some demon jumpscared everyone.
“Ohh, man! Those were some good effects they got!” Kel exclaimed, as they left the room. “Argh, got popcorn stuck between my teeth…“
“You can get some floss when we stop by your house.“
“So- Uh… Did you like it?”
“For someone with infinite knowledge, he wasn’t that bright.”
“Eh, you think so?” Kel pondered.
“If I change my name the devil won’t know it’s me?” Sunny shook his head in disapproval.
“Oh, the ideas were definitely pretty stupid, but he was super desperate. I think people can do crazy or stupid things when they are scared or mad or…” his tone changed from light to nervous-joking, “in looooveee… you know?”
Sunny nodded, remembering the time he and his sister had a fight and he broke the violin his friends had gifted him the year prior. What for? Frustration? He was glad he hardly ever had outbursts like those.
“Emotions are terrible.”
“They can be a fuckin’ bitch.” Kel asserted confidently.
“Hero would freak out if he heard you talking like that. He’s gonna shove soap in your mouth again.”
“Yeah, but I was like, 7 when that happened AND I cursed mom AND mom and dad did that when he was young, strict parenting and all that…”
“Plus you’re probably stronger than him by now,” Sunny added, earning a satisfied nod from Kel.
“Plus, with all the stories I heard of how college is like, I’d hope he became desensitized to some bad language!” suddenly, his eyes lit up, “DUDE! I haven’t even told you all of ‘em yet, right?! I always end up forgetting- So, Hero’s roommate stole the door-”
“The… Door?”
Kel nodded and continued with the story of Hero’s crazy roommate. Like stealing cupcakes Mari baked for Hero food and eating then in front of him and shitting on the toilet lid, throwing the shit into the trash and not cleaning the mess. Each event somehow managed to one up the previous one. They culminated in Hero getting into his first real fist fight, in which he got badly beaten up and the administration finally moved to do something.
They arrived at Kel’s house in the blink of an eye.
“AH- wait for me for a little bit, okay? Do you need anything?”
Kel squeezed his shoulder a little bit, which was normal if not a little distant for Kel standards, but for a second Sunny became hyper aware of it. He shook his head.
“Just remember to floss.”
“OH YEAH- I completely forgot! Uh- Wait here, okay?!”
And then he sneaked into the house, managing to not wake up Hector. So much for a guard dog, Sunny thought. He looked at his own home. All the lights were turned off, as expected since it was 1 or so in the morning, and Mari wasn’t there. She would give him a lecture if she knew he was staying up so late, but it was for good reason. Hanging out with Kel.
The Flores’ residence’s door opened again, and Kel came out with a huge bag. And a huge smile.
“Didn’t take long, did I?”
“Kel, can’t you see my hair’s greying?”
“Pfft-” Kel shoved Sunny lightly, “Greying hair and baby face, that’s a fine look.”
“Fine wine, since I aged so well.”
“Mari would like that one!!” he laughed, leading the way again.
When Kel calmed down, he asked in a soft voice:
“Are you having fun?”
“Too much, my face is hurting.” Sunny jokingly complained.
It was hurting, though. He didn’t smile very often, so the couple smiles of the day were already straining his face.
“Well, that’s because you don’t use those muscles enough, they are atrophying! You gotta smile more! I like your smile!”
“Oh.”
That was a normal compliment. Mari had told him that many, many times, especially when he was younger. So did his parents and some teachers, the friendly ones. Somehow this instance of the compliment felt abnormal to Sunny. He became hyper aware of his fingertips and of the grimace he had on.
“We should do this more often, then.” He offered.
It was a logical, nice offer. Of course Kel would accept. But Sunny’s heart was freaking out, like it was some kind of big risk.
“YEAH!” Kel exclaimed, holding up his arms for a moment.
A thought started to dawn in Sunny’s mind. That going to the movies, holding hands and watching stars sounded an awful lot like a date. He let out an exasperated sigh, making sense of his heart’s little freak out: his head and heart must have unconsciously misunderstood the situation and interpreted everything in a romantic light, even though it was obviously platonic. So they were acting like it.
Plus, if Kel liked him, he wouldn’t be subtle. Relieved with his conclusions, Sunny asked:
“Where to?”
“I was thinking our hang out spot by the lake. It’ll be really pretty, I think.”
He nodded.
They got to the lake as the star show started. Kel emptied his bag, putting cookies and bottles of water and orange joe side by side. Sunny crouched and took of one the cookies. It was chocolate chip, kind of warm-but-not-really from the microwave, kind of soft. Kel was looking at him with focused and anxious eyes.
“... Good.” A grin. “8,5.”
“I can live with that score.” Kel laid on the tall grass, grabbing Sunny’s shoulder and bringing him down with him.
And then took his hand and intertwined their fingers.
There’s platonic hand-holding , Sunny reminded himself. And Kel must be so used to physical contact he just did this without noticing. Meanwhile Sunny could feel his and Kel’s heartbeat because of the hyper awareness. It’s fine.
“Are you making any wishes?” Kel asked, voice just fine.
“Hmhm,” I got distracted, "you?”
“Uh-hum. That moments like this continue happening forever.”
“Isn’t it spoiled now that you said it?”
“Well, then I just wish on another shooting star! If it doesn’t work I’ll make it work!”
Yeah, this wasn’t anything to worry about, just good old Kel being the Kel he loved. Although his heart was still annoyingly loud and distracting. It was probably better to not think of Kel or hearts for a moment. So, letting his mind wander, watching the show above, Sunny landed on:
“One of these meteors could hit the Earth.”
“Wha- Sunny! Why this all of the sudden!” Kel asked, kind of laughing.
“It’s the cosmic equivalent of watching missed shots fly by.”
“Captain Spaceboy’s battles!”
“Ohh.”
“Epic. Well, the cosmic equivalent of anything, no matter how lame, will be epic.”
“Uh-yup.”
Kel snorted and the rustling of the grass indicated he was shaking his head.
“You think of the weirdest things, I love it.”
They stayed in comfortable silence for a moment.
“I love… Uh… Hum…“ Kel gulped. “Haaa…”
“Hm?”
“Nothing.”
The silence came back. Now a little bit more relaxed, Sunny could comment on what happened a little while ago. Throughout all that night.
“Someday, your normal physical affection will be mistaken for romantic acts.”
“Oh- Pfft” he started to laugh, “It’s being easier for a certain someone to mistake my romantic affection for normal physical affection.”
In a complete 180º Sunny’s heart froze. Did Kel even realize what could be understood through his words? In spite of popular belief, he wasn’t that dumb. Was he? The grip became a bit firmer, making Sunny’s heart freak out once again. Maybe he was talking about someone else, not him. Sunny’s heart still freaked out at that, in a different and more painful way, but it was the better option to deal with.
“Who did that?”
“Someone really smart.”
“Doesn’t sound like it.”
“Yeah, but he’s a bit dumb with feelings, like me.”
He’s a bit dumb with feelings, like me.
...
He’s a bit dumb with feelings, like me. What?
“Oh, okay, good luck,” Sunny pretended to not be completely dumbfounded by that answer.
After a strange quiet moment, Kel suddenly sat up, letting go of Sunny’s hand for a moment, and leaned over him to look him in the eyes. This… This is worse than the hand-holding. Nothing felt cold anymore, everything was burning to the touch, like he was covered in hot sand and naked and exposed-
“Okay, Sunny, listen,” He took a deep breath, “I- Would- you- Would you go and do this with anyone?”
“This?”
“Go out in the middle of the night, watch a movie in the theater, lie down and stargaze… Hold hands while doing it- Everything we’ve been doing.”
“... Too dangerous to do with a stranger.” Sunny tried.
“I- I mean, yeah, I guess so- then, Hero- would you do this with him?”
“I don’t,” His voice broke for a moment. “Don’t think Mari would like it.”
Kel only stared at him more intentely. Some stares could really make your face burn. Everything was really burning.
“But you do it with me,” he paused, seemingly embarrassed by his own words for a moment, then he shook his head, “you do it with me because I don’t have a girlfriend?”
Sunny could only stare back. Logicing away everything Kel said could only go so far. His his chest felt like it was exploding, his guts were burning. He took a deep breath to calm down, but Kel pressed on.
“Would you do it with Basil? Or Aubrey?” He asked.
He used to hold hands with Basil a lot, but that changed with time, and doing this with Aubrey seemed like something his child self would like, not him now. He had a crush on Aubrey in the past.
“Don’t think so.”
“Yeah,” Kel agreed, softly, “I wouldn’t either.”
The point behind all that was too blatant to ignore anymore.
He lifted his hands up to halt the 'attack'.
“You’re saying that you like me and that I like you.”
“Well,” Kel’s voice became bashful, “you’re blushing a lot, so… Am I wrong?”
“...”
Is he wrong?
The two of them stared one another down, neither knowing what to do. So Kel gulped, took a deep breath and leaned down a bit.
“It would be pretty weird for a friend to want to hold hands and go stargaze alone, but it wouldn’t be impossible,” he argued, “and it would be pretty weird for a friend to blush so much when his dude friend is on top of him saying he likes him.”
“Even if he’s pretty?”
“You find me pretty?” The seriousness in Kel’s voice disappeared in a second.
Sunny snorted. But then Kel leaned down further, and touched their foreheads, wearing a cheeky smile. It was a bit hard to look at him like that. To be there. The tips of their noses touched. Kel’s breathing was way too close to Sunny’s face. He was definitely melting away.
“Someone saying you like them and insisting on it and pushing it when you don’t would be annoying, right?” Kel continued, quietly. “But…”
“I’m not-”
A slow realization hit Sunny. This was actually happening, Kel meant those words, and he was less than 10cm away from Sunny’s lips- he turned his head around and hid it with his hands.
“Uh? Sunny? Are you okay?” Kel asked, cluelessly, “Did my hair poke your eye or something?”
Sunny shook his head.
“Wait- no to which one of these questions?”
Sunny didn’t answer. Kel got off of him in a second, sitting next to his head instead.
“Sorry, I know you don’t handle emotions very well,” he apologized, although Sunny could still hear a clear, calm smile in his voice. “I don’t either but, you got it way worse…” There was a sinister pause, “Do you like me that much?”
Sunny choked in nothing. Kel giggled.
“Oh, man, oh,” now sounding a bit shaky in his voice. “My god. I just used all of my courage on that.”
Sunny took deep breaths, tried to calm his heart, get his brain back working. But then, Kel reached out to his face and caressed it, erasing all progress.
“Don’t touch me, it’s too hot.”
…
“... Gotcha, Sunny,” Kel said, sounding very content. “Wait- It’s for now, right?”
Sunny nodded, and Kel audibly sighed in relief, which made Sunny’s insides all fuzzy and weird.
“Then tell me when I can touch you again,” Kel asked, like that was normal, “Want some water?”
Sunny nodded and forced himself to get up and down the whole bottle.
“Oh wow, you were thirsty.” Kel opened an orange joe and started tapping his feet. “It’s okay to take your time with it- I had years.”
“Since when?”
“When I was 14, after that one sleepover I- uh- cried? Remember?”
Sunny nodded. It would be hard to forget that, since that was the only time Kel cried in front of him, for a serious reason at least. A conversation between two less prodigious younger brothers and their perfect older siblings. He and Kel had gotten a lot closer since then.
“It was the first time I had… Opened up to anyone.” Kel scratched his head, and he was probably wearing that awkward smile. “And being understood and your way of dealing with it was, uh, very important. And, it happened I guess.”
“Hm.”
“By the way, the gang already knows I like you.”
Sunny's ability to formulate answers dropped to 0.
“Heheh, they… Figured it out. And told me I should probably try to be more direct. I didn’t have the bravery for that though… Until tonight.”
“… Oh.”
The sky was slowly turning lilac.
“It’s sunrise already,” Sunny said, not very worried with how his parents would handle his misdemeanor. Kel didn't seem to worry either, though he probably should.
“Sunny?”
“Hm?”
“I really like you.”
The heat came back, but bearable this time. Just- warm, fuzzy and soft. Maybe, maybe welcome. Sunny forced himself to not look away from Kel’s happy, peaceful expression, and how the sunrays made him look kind of angelic.
“I like you too.”