Work Text:
i saved those feelings for you.
They touch a lot.
Langa doesn’t pay much attention to it, at first.
People are all different; some are like Langa, unsure of what to do with awkwardly long limbs they grew into too fast, overthinking where to put their hands when someone tries to hug them. Sometimes Langa feels like he takes up too much room and so his touches come off awkward and almost hesitant on the rare occasion he can bring himself to try.
But then there’s people like Reki- people who touch the people around them like it’s the easiest thing in the world: an arm thrown over a shoulder here, ankles knocking under a table there. A ruffle of hair while he delivers a smartass comment, brushing something off someone’s sleeve. Easy. Reki never seems to hesitate like Langa does.
Langa doesn’t pay much attention to just how much they touch until he’s knocking Reki to the dirt at the end of the mine, throwing his arms around him and pressing as close to him as he can.
He then has three thoughts one right after another.
Number one: Just the thought of Reki waiting for him at the finish line is enough to get his heart going triple time in his chest.
Number two: People are staring but he doesn’t care because Reki is clutching him back just as tightly and he has the boy he loves in his arms.
Number three: Fuck. He loves Reki.
Fuck.
I.
In the days following Langa’s realisation, he does his best to not think about it anymore.
Reki doesn’t make it easy.
Their time is pretty evenly split between Langa’s place and Reki’s, which means it’s a Saturday afternoon when the first reminder pushes it’s way to the front of Langa’s brain that he’s in love with Reki.
They’re both sitting in Reki’s room, but while Langa has taken up a seat at the end of Reki’s bed, long legs dangling over the edge far enough his feet are flat on the floor, Reki has decided that Langa’s shoulder gives him the best view of the workbook currently situated in his lap.
Langa’s workbook has been tossed aside, his frustration at still not being able to read some of the questions well getting to him. He’s chosen instead to fiddle with one of Reki’s finger boards, rolling it across the leg of his jeans as the other boy scratches away at his work, humming under his breath all the while.
That’s how Reki’s sister Koyomi finds them, her cheeks flushed with an emotion Langa can’t quite place. In her hands are two hair elastics, pink to match the pattern of her shirt.
“Reki! Can you braid my hair out of my face? Mom’s trying to get the twins to take a nap and every time I try it comes out all bumpy.”
The redhead in question looks up from his work as she speaks, and he’s bounding to his feet before she even finishes, dropping into the chair in front of his desk. Langa has to fight down a pang of sadness at the loss of heat against his shoulder.
“Sure! You know the drill.” Reki shuffles his feet apart as he twists to the side, digging through the drawers of his desk before he manages to grab a hairbrush with a triumphant noise.
As Koyomi takes her place on the floor between Reki’s feet, Langa puts the finger board down on the bed and decides to turn to watch, resting his chin in his hand with his elbow rested on his knee.
Reki is talking rapidly to his sister as he pulls the brush through her hair, clicking his tongue a little when she makes a noise of discomfort. “C’mon, now, that didn’t hurt!”
Koyomi tips her head back just long enough to stick her tongue out at Reki, and she yelps when he gently knocks the brush against her nose, but she drops her head back down nonetheless a second later.
Langa’s gaze becomes fixated on Reki’s hands as he drags them through his sister’s hair, one of the hair ties around his wrist and the other in his mouth. Reki takes extra care to make sure all the tangles are out before he starts braiding, knocking his socked feet against Koyomi’s legs as he does so.
“You know, I could teach you how to do this yourself.” Reki leans around for a moment to check the front of the braid before quick fingers finish it off, tying the elastic around it. “That way you don’t have to come bother me all the time for it.”
Langa seems surprised for a moment before he catches the playful grin on Reki’s face as he tugs gently at the finished braid. Reki will do anything for anyone, and Koyomi knows this as she pouts at Langa playfully, putting a slight whine into her voice. “Langa, tell Reki that he needs to be nice to his little sister.”
Langa blinks a few times in silence before he turns his gaze from where they’d drifted from Reki’s hands back to his face. “Be nice to your sister, Reki.”
Reki makes an affronted noise as Koyomi laughs loudly, and Langa lets a small smile grace his face as he watches, shaking his head.
Langa is straightening up, rolling his shoulders a little when he realizes that he likes this. He enjoys watching Reki dote (even though he’ll deny it loudly) on his younger sister, finishing off the second braid in her hair. It feels….domestic, and a warmth spreads through his chest.
Koyomi stands up when he finishes, smiling brightly and bouncing on her feet a little. “You have your moments when you’re not annoying, I guess. Thanks Reki!”
Reki pretends to act offended, throwing a hand over his heart. “I do all this work for you and this is how you repay me? Can you believe how mean she is to me Langa?”
Koyomi laughs, ruffling Reki’s hair and squealing when Reki grabs her, tickling her for a moment before letting her go with a loud kiss to her temple that she wipes off. She fights free of Reki’s arms, bounding towards the door and throwing another smile over her shoulder before she leaves.
Langa thinks for a moment, staying quiet as Reki makes his way back to the bed, throwing himself back into his previous spot, his head going back to Langa’s shoulder.
“You’re a really good big brother.” Langa’s voice is quiet, looking down at where Reki’s thigh is pressed to his so he can’t see how Reki’s cheeks flush at the praise. “They’re lucky to have you.”
Reki sputters for a second before he shrugs, pushing the hand not tucked between their legs through his hair. “I just do what I can to help out.” He nudges Langa’s shoulder with his head so the other will look up at him, and Langa’s heart quickens at the grin Reki is giving him. “Want me to braid your hair too, Langa?”
Langa flushes, a price that comes with his pale skin, and he sputters for a second as words escape him before he shrugs, jostling Reki in the process. The warmth from before comes back when Reki digs around near his headboard, and a feeling settles in Langa’s stomach when he realises he’ll do anything for Reki as long as he grins at him like that.
He resolutely does not think about how good Reki’s chest feels against his back as he kneels behind him, their height difference even more noticeable now.
His mom comments on the small braids meeting at the back of his hair when he comes home, a small smile on her face, and he touches them fondly when she’s not looking, a reminder of the boy he loves.
Damn, Langa has it bad.
II.
Langa’s second reminder comes a few weeks later, during one of their classes, of all times.
For all the confidence Reki has out in the world, with the willingness to speak out for anyone he thinks needs protecting, that confidence falls the minute school is concerned and their teacher tells them that the project they’ve been working on includes a presentation, and everyone has to present.
In front of the class.
Langa only notices the hitch in Reki’s breath because he’s so tuned into everything about the other boy, and he glances at him out of the corner of his eye, and Reki quickly shoves his hands under his legs so no one can see the tremble that’s taken up in them. Langa’s heart hurts for a moment when Reki catches him looking and forces a smile.
Langa knows that Reki has rough days- days where he literally has to pull himself out of bed, and days that can’t- those are days Langa brings over Reki’s favorite from Joe’s restaurant and sometimes they just enjoy each other’s company in the little world they make in Reki’s room, sometimes they skate, sometimes they do nothing at all.
The reminder on Langa’s phone set to go off thirty minutes earlier than the time Reki has designated to taking his anti-anxiety meds flashes across his mind for a moment as he studies the redhead across from him. Langa isn’t the best at being comforting, but he’s learning, and he spends the rest of the class thinking of a way to make Reki more comfortable.
-
“Man, I wonder how many days it’s going to take to get through everyone’s presentations?”
Langa is sitting against the fence on the roof, drinking one of the sodas Reki bought from the vending machine earlier. The redhead in mention is sprawled out, his feet to the side as he lays back against Langa’s chest. Langa glances down, and the tremor in Reki’s hands is back just slightly as he fumbles with his own soda tab.
A hum comes out of Langa before he can stop it, and he reaches down to open the soda for Reki instead, fighting back a blush as Reki grins up at him in thanks. “At least two days. Wonder how many days we would have to miss to get out of it entirely?”
Reki laughs, shaking his head and sliding a little deeper against Langa, taking a drink and absentmindedly dropping his hand down to cover one of Langa’s where it’s resting on the concrete of the roof. The blue-haired boy has to fight back a flush as Reki laces his fingers through Langa’s loosely. “Dude, I’d say at least like five? But there’s no way in hell Mom’s gonna let me miss five days of school in a row unless I'm really sick.”
There’s a twist of something in Langa’s heart at the mention of Reki being sick like that, and his mind flashes back to Canada, to cold hospital rooms and machines he doesn’t understand, to his dad looking smaller than he’s ever seen him, to-
His mental slide is stopped by Reki squeezing his hand hard, and when he can draw himself back to the present, Reki is looking up at him in concern, his feet moving in what Langa knows is an anxious tic. “Yo, Langa, where did you go for a minute there?”
Langa doesn’t really know how to respond. He doesn’t know how to talk about what happens when he gets in his own head, how cold he gets even though he runs cold anyway.
But Reki…
Reki is a warmth against his side, and in a moment of boldness (or weakness) he doesn’t even realize he had the capability of experiencing, he slides his arm around Reki, keeping their fingers entwined as he does so. “Nowhere. Sorry.” He looks down at the redhead, and Reki has this look on his face he gets when he wants to press an issue, but a moment passes and it disappears.
He squeezes Langa’s hand, settling better against the taller boy. This means Langa can feel Reki’s whole body twitch when he opens his mouth to speak.
“How about when we present, I’ll go before you do? So you can see what to do and then just watch me the whole time you go?”
Langa hates being in front of people too- his Japanese still isn’t the best, and his accent means some people still can’t understand him, but if doing it would make Reki more comfortable….
Langa would find a way to move a mountain for Reki, because he loves him, and he wants to make sure the world is perfect for him and that he’s uncomfortable as little as possible.
“Langa, dude, you don’t have to-“
“Just let me do it.”
He cuts Reki off, which is a rarity, but he supposes today is just a rare day. Reki stares at him for a long time, long enough for anxiety to start building in Langa’s chest, but it quickly dissipates when Reki flushes, the red brightening up his tan skin in a way Langa can’t stop staring at.
Reki is laughing and saying something, but Langa doesn’t catch it. Instead, all of his attention goes to how nice their hands look tangled together on Reki’s stomach.
It’s a good contrast- Reki’s tan and freckled fingers tangled together with Langa’s pale ones. Reki’s always been the warm and Langa has always been the cool, and maybe that’s why they work so well together.
Reki is warm: bright colors in his clothes, his red shock of hair, his smile when he’s talking about skating, his skin tan, even more so now that it’s starting to get even warmer outside. His skin runs warm, and his hand is always grounding when he presses it to Langa in some way.
Even on his bad days, when Reki is not as bright and bundled instead in blankets and most of his skin hidden away, he’s still bright enough to contrast Langa’s cool.
He’s always been this way- pale skin, powder blue hair, eyes that make him sensitive to the sun because they’re so pale. His skin has always run a touch too cold, something that’s made their little skate group comment more than once that his nickname of ‘Snow’ just always seems to get more accurate.
They compliment each other so well.
Langa doesn’t say anything else the rest of lunch, letting Reki ramble about something his twin sisters did this morning and how Langa has to see the video, man, it’s so fucking cute.
Langa loves him, and he wants to tell him when Reki sheepishly thanks him the day of presentations, but he’s pretty sure he gets too lost in warm amber and a small smile that he likes to think only he gets to see to say anything. Instead, he tucks the feeling down into his chest, where it aches but is warm all at the same time.
Langa loves him, and he’ll do anything to keep that smile on Reki’s face.
III.
The third time Langa gets reminded of just how deeply he’s fallen in love with Reki happens on a Tuesday afternoon.
They’re in a small shop tucked back off the road some, their boards tucked under their arms as they look around. Reki is bouncing around the shop, a bright spot in the dim lighting, and his eyes never stay still for too long, looking over any piece of metal he can.
Langa’s eyes don’t leave Reki.
A few weeks ago, Reki had mentioned getting his ears pierced, telling Langa that Cherry’s look “cool as hell, man, I wanna look that cool.”
Langa’s own ears were pierced a while ago, but most of his earrings got lost somewhere in the move, and he’s been almost a little nervous to wear them skating- just the imaginative feel of metal in his ears dragging the ground when he has to bail is enough to make him wince.
“Langa, what about these?” Reki has found a pair of gold studs in a display case, and his grin is huge as he beckons Langa over with a hand. “Or are these too lame?”
Langa starts to answer him, but whatever train of thought he has is cut off when Reki loops his arm through his, warm fingers brushing the cold skin of Langa’s wrist.
The gold would look good on Reki, but Langa thinks something else would fit him more, so he takes a second to glance around the cases himself. There’s so many options, almost enough to make him overwhelmed.
His eyes catch on a pair tucked near the back, a silver base and backing but red stones nestled in the middle, and he uses the arm not entwined with Reki’s to point to them. “Those. They would match your hair.”
Reki bounces on his feet then leans up on his toes to see them better, his hand slipping down to grasp Langa’s as he does so. “You know, I think you’re right!”
The grin he gives Langa is enough to force a small blush to his cheeks, and he shrugs as he very slowly laces his fingers with Reki’s, looking back down at the display case.
Reki motions with the hand not gripping Langa’s tightly for one of the employees coming over, and he rattles off what he wants quickly, pointing to the earrings in the case.
Langa’s looking at a pair of silver hoops a few places over from the red studs Reki has picked out, and he startles when Reki tugs on his hand. He looks over, and the redhead is grinning at him. “They said they can do it now! C’mon, dude, let’s go.”
They follow the employee to a different part of the shop, Reki’s fingers tapping a rhythm on the back of Langa’s hand, his palm warming the taller boy’s where they’re pressed together.
Reki moves to sit in the chair the employee motions for him to take, and Langa once again mourns the loss of heat as he does so. He shifts on his feet a little as Reki leans back in the chair, and Langa can tell he’s slightly anxious when his feet begin to move.
Before Langa really knows what he’s doing, he’s moving to sit on the end of the chair, hesitating for a moment before awkwardly sticking his hands out to the other boy. “Here, if you, if you want.” He fights back a blush as Reki blinks at him a few times, and he shifts where he’s sitting as Reki grins at him, taking his hands and lacing their fingers together tightly.
“You act like this is gonna hurt more than some of the shit we’ve been through on our boards.”
Langa shrugs, too focused on their hands to catch himself. “It doesn’t hurt too bad, it’s just a pinch and then it’s done.”
He looks up when Reki’s hands go slightly slack in his, and the other boy’s face is a little red under his tan, eyes wide. “Langa! Are your ears pierced?” Reki cranes his head some to try and see even though Langa’s ears are covered by his hair and he ends up apologizing quickly when the employee tells him to keep his head still.
Langa shrugs sheepishly as he shifts on the seat, keeping an eye on the employee currently marking Reki’s ears with a pen. “My earrings got lost in the move. I never really got around to getting any more.” He hesitates then squeezes Reki’s hands as the piercer moves to pierce the first stud through Reki’s ear, and he moves his thumbs over his hands at the redhead’s wince. “See? Not too bad.”
Reki makes a face at him, shifting in the seat as his feet continue to tap against the floor. “I mean yeah, dude, I’ve had worse, but it still hurt!” He grips Langa’s hands hard for a moment as the piercer moves around to the other side, doing the same to his other ear. “Okay, shit.”
Langa blinks at him a few times before he shrugs, giving Reki the smallest of smiles. “At least it’s over.” He really doesn’t want to let go of Reki’s hands, but he knows he’s been holding them for a long time, so he slowly lets them go and refuses to believe the emotion that flashes across Reki’s face is disappointment.
The redhead stands, stretching his arms up above his head before they flop down against his sides, and he’s bouncing on his feet as he watches Langa stand. He grabs the sleeve of Langa’s shirt once he’s close enough, and Langa wants so badly to hold his hand again, but he knows he shouldn’t, so he just tips his head quizzically at Reki.
“Since your ears are pierced already, why don’t we get you some while you're here so that you can start wearing them too. Then we could match Langa!”
Langa doesn’t even try and fool himself into thinking that he wouldn’t do anything Reki asked, and he rubs a finger under his nose for a moment before he speaks. “I did see some small hoops I liked earlier.”
Reki’s grin is bright enough that Langa feels he’s actually staring into the sun, but that thought is stopped short when Reki takes it upon himself to grab his hand and drag him back into the front, their fingers loosely tangled together again. “Awesome! Maybe once these heal up I could get some too. Like you and Cherry! And maybe we could go together on some pairs so we can just share or mix them up!”
Langa knows trying to get the small silver hoops Reki buys him into his ears is going to hurt, but matching the boy he’s hopelessly in love with is going to be worth it.
Reki grins at him when he sees him in the morning, red studs shining in his ears and the small silver hoops tucked against Langa’s prominent in the photo Reki snaps of the two of them before they race to the school.
IV.
His fourth reminder isn’t as overwhelming as his previous three. It comes more gently, and the situation he finds himself in on a Sunday morning is to blame.
They had went to S the night before, and they had decided to crash at Langa’s apartment on their way back since his mom was going to be working and they would be able to sleep without Reki’s little sisters bursting in to try and wake them up.
Langa comes awake slowly, mumbling something to himself under his breath as he forces his eyes open enough to see what the weight pinning him down to the bed is.
It’s Reki, because of course it is. What else would it be?
Langa is laying on his back, and one of his arms is tucked under Reki’s pillow. Or, what would’ve been Reki’s pillow had he decided to use it. Apparently he decided Langa’s chest was more comfortable, because there’s messy red hair splayed across Langa’s t-shirt, and a tan arm thrown over his waist that’s tightly gripping him.
Sleep makes Reki look younger than his age, his face relaxed and his cheeks flushed as he breathes our quietly through parted lips. He’s got one of his legs tucked over Langa’s too, and the blue haired boy, for once, is warm.
Shifting where he’s laying, Langa hesitates for a long moment before slowly bringing his hand up from under Reki’s pillow, and his fingers tremble slightly as he very slowly runs them through the other’s hair. His other hand moves to rest on Reki’s arm over his waist, long pale fingers brushing tan skin ever so gently.
Reki makes a soft noise in his sleep, and Langa worries for a moment that’s he’s woken him up; instead, Reki just tucks himself closer, his cheek rubbing against the fabric of Langa’s shirt before he settles. As his eyes threaten to close again, Langa has a thought slowly slide into his mind.
I want to do this forever.
The thought should be scary- he’s never been one to think much about his future, never really deciding on what he wants to do, but he knows he wants to do this. He wants Reki asleep in his arms, a too big t-shirt hanging off one of his shoulders because he steals it out of Langa’s drawers before they go to sleep.
He wants to be able to run his fingers through bright red hair, across freckled skin warmed by the sun, across sleep-flushed cheeks. He wants to press soft kisses to Reki’s mouth when they wake up and when they go to bed.
He wants to see Reki in his clothes when they’re out, he wants to let the world know that he belongs to him, he wants the safe feeling that comes with Reki’s presence.
He just wants Reki.
He’s not used to wanting things either, not since his father died and he realized wanting him back wasn’t going to actually bring him back. Wanting things never really got him anywhere except a fall into an anxious pit, so he stopped long ago.
But Reki has always been different. From the moment Langa first laid eyes on the other boy in the street, he just knew his world was about to be tilted on its axis.
He’s okay with it though. He spent so long not feeling….anything. When the universe took his father, Langa was convinced it took all of his own emotions with him.
Reki, with his bright personality and loud emotions and easy touches, somehow, brought them back to him. Happiness, contentment, excitement, love. All brought back by the warm bundle of a boy in Langa’s arms.
Langa continues running his fingers through Reki’s hair, his own eyes closed, and so he misses when the smaller boy wakes, blinking slowly and making a barely audible noise as he presses back into the rhythm of Langa’s fingers. “….feels good.”
His fingers want to still, and as his cheeks color a bright red, Langa swallows hard as he forces his fingers to keep moving. Reki’s fingers tangle with his across his stomach, and they both let out a slow breath.
“Is this….is this okay?” Langa doesn’t know what he’s going to do if Reki says no, but he doesn’t even get a chance to try and think of something because the other boy nods, warm amber eyes drifting shut once more.
“Of course, Langa…anything is okay as long as it’s you.”
And that….okay. That sparks something in Langa, and he swallows hard as he clenches his eyes shut hard before he opens them again. The words cause a warmth to settle low in Langa’s stomach, and his feet shift against the sheets.
He wants to think that maybe, just maybe, Reki feels the same way about him. Reki is a touchy person, but Langa has been noticing that he gets more touches than anyone else in Reki’s circle. Reki is more gentle with him than other people, and maybe it’s wishful thinking, but Langa thinks that sometimes he can see the same longing in Reki’s eyes that he knows is in his when he looks at his best friend.
Miya has photographic proof of that look that Langa had to literally beg him not to share.
“You can go back to sleep.” Langa looks down at Reki, fingers gently scratching at his scalp. “I don’t know what time it is, but I can try to make us breakfast if you want.”
Reki hums at the feel of Langa’s fingers scratching him gently, and he shakes his head just barely before he tucks it back down against the other's chest. “….m’okay. Let’s just lay here.”
As he breathes out slowly, Langa nods with a squeeze of his fingers through Reki’s. “We can do that.” He glances down, and the redhead is already back asleep, but the grip he has on Langa’s hand is as tight as it was before.
In the quiet space they’ve created, with Reki asleep in his arms and the sunlight catching his hair just right so it looks like it’s burning, Langa very slowly brushes his mouth against Reki’s forehead with the confidence the other wouldn’t feel it in his sleep.
English is still easier than Japanese to him, even after being in Okinawa for months, but the words he mutters into the quiet are hard.
Hard, but worth the feeling he gets from them, loosening in his heart and settling deep in his bones. Words he never thought he would say, but words he’s confident of.
“I love you.”
The last thing Langa registers before he slides back into sleep is Reki pressing even closer to him than before.
V.
If his fourth realization came over him gently, his fifth one crashes into him like a wall.
Quite literally, actually.
Langa agreed to a beef with Miya, if only because the younger teen keeps taking pictures of Langa and Reki that would expose Langa if they ever got out. Not that they’re bad photos, it’s just obvious that Langa is in love in every single one.
They’re coming up on a curve, both of their boards even, and Miya flashes a grin over at him as he adjusts his stance. “You’re really this worried that Reki’s gonna find out you’re in love with him? Would it be all that bad?”
Langa flinches just slightly, and the words echo in his head on repeat. Would it be all that bad? Would it be all that bad? Would it be-
It’s just enough of a distraction that for the first time in weeks, Langa fumbles his board on the curve and he goes down hard, his body twisting over itself messily before the back of his head hits one of the rocks that makes up the track.
For a few moments, he doesn’t feel or see anything. His body his numb, his vision is black, and his ears are ringing so loud he doesn’t know if they’ll ever stop.
He had enough sense to bring his arms up to cover his face when he felt the board slip, which means when his body finally stops tumbling and feels like his again, he’s laying on his stomach on the track, his face hidden by his arms and a warmth on the side of his head that wasn’t there when he bailed.
Langa doesn’t have time to orient himself before there’s the sounds of boards clattering that he can just barely make out through the ringing in his ears and someone’s pulling him up off the ground. He groans as the motion triggers his ears to ring again, and he tries to bring shaky hands up to cover them, but something is keeping his arms pinned down and repeating his name desperately.
Not something. Someone.
They’re warm, and the odd scent of oil and teakwood can only mean it’s one person, and Langa doesn’t know why he didn’t put it together sooner.
Of course it’s Reki.
Langa’s head lists to the side a little bit as his vision swims again, and he lets out a low groan of pain as a different set of hands comes up to very slowly ease his head up.
“Holy shit, okay, he’s bleeding, we’ve got to- shit, I don’t….”
Half of the warmth around Langa’s stomach disappears as one of Reki’s hands comes up to brush his hair around to find the source of the warm liquid sliding down the side of the taller boy’s neck.
“I don’t think it’s serious, but Reki, you need to be careful. It’s going to be rough even if it’s not too serious.” Langa knows the voice belongs to Joe, and he forces his eyes open to blink a few times, then winces in pain when the lights of the track reach them. He manages to put together that the hands on his face belong to the older man, and his body finally catches up to the pain of bailing as hard as he does, and he slumps against Reki.
The redhead makes a noise that sounds panicked, his hand dropping from blue hair to grip Langa’s shirt. “Dude, come on, you gotta stay awake.” His voice trembles, and that’s when Langa notices that, well, all of Reki is trembling.
“….s’okay. Just a headache. Not going to sleep.”
Reki blanches at Langa’s words as Joe groans, shaking his head and reaching out to take the first aid kit being offered to him from Shadow; his pink car is parked not far away, and the driver’s door is still open. Cherry must have taken Miya away somewhere to try and calm him down,
“Kid, I don’t think you fucking know what ‘okay’ means.” Joe pops open the first aid kit, digging through it as he continues. “I’m going to warn you, this is going to hurt like a bitch.”
Langa doesn’t react, his body still seeking the warmth and safety he gets from being near Reki, his hands limp on the ground even though he badly wants to bring them up to take the ones across his stomach.
Joe takes care to clean the cut as best he can once he can get to it, wincing in sympathy when Langa makes a pained noise; he works quickly on getting a bandage in place, his eyes constantly moving between Langa and Reki.
The redhead hasn’t moved from where he’s gripping Langa tightly, and Langa can feel his whole body shaking from where he’s sprawled between his legs, and he brings a hand up to pat at one of Reki’s clumsily.
“Shadow said he can handle taking you guys back to your houses, and it’s probably best if your mom takes a look at your head when she gets home, kid.”
Joe squeezes Langa’s shoulder hard, and his eyes move to Reki’s behind him. “Do you need me to help you get him home?”
Reki shakes his head, his feet shifting as his fingers curl tightly into the fabric of Langa’s shirt. “I got it, I’ll just text mom and let her know I’m staying over. His mom picked up a shift so she won’t be there until the morning.”
Joe nods, and Langa is jostled some as he’s helped to his feet; his head still hurts but his vision isn’t swimming anymore, and the ringing in his ears is gone too. “You two call if you need anything. If you can’t reach me, call Cherry or Shadow. Got it?”
Reki nods and says something to Joe that Langa doesn’t catch, and then they’re being herded to Shadow’s car and helped into the backseat.
-
Langa wakes up the next morning with a throbbing on one side of his head, and something heavy on his chest. He shifts on the bed, and he lets out a groan before he can stop himself.
He’s immediately met with Reki’s worried expression when he gets his eyes open, and the warmth on his chest moves because the redhead is now sitting up, both of his hands on Langa’s face.
“Langa, are you okay? Do you remember what happened last night at all? Does anything hurt? Stupid question, of course your head hurts.”
He’s worried, and Langa hates that he’s made him worried. Reki’s eyes are glassy with unshed tears, and Langa has a fleeting thought that they kind of look like the studs still in Reki’s ears.
“I’m okay.” Langa hesitates for a moment before he brings his own trembling hands up to press to the outside of Reki’s, his eyes falling closed again as he does so. “I remember bailing, and then Joe bandaging me up, and getting here.”
Reki let’s out a shaky breath, sniffling as he lightly brushes his thumbs along Langa’s cheeks. “Okay. Good. Shit, Langa, I was so…” His voice breaks for a second, and he drops his head down to Langa’s shoulder, sliding his shaking arms around his neck. “You bailed and then you didn’t get up and Miya was yelling for you and you never responded. I was so fucking scared.”
Langa’s heart clenches, and he very slowly slides his arms around Reki’s waist; the sweatshirt Reki is wearing is from Langa’s old school back in Canada, and Langa files that thought away for later.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Reki is trembling in his arms, and Langa keeps one hand on his back as the other comes up to bury itself in red hair. “I didn’t plan on having to bail like that.”
He feels more than he sees Reki shake his head, and he tightens his arm around the smaller boy as his voice cracks. “Just don’t….don’t fucking scare me like that again. I can’t…I can’t lose you too.”
Reki draws his head up so he can see Langa’s face, his cheeks flushed and wet with tears; it’s now that Langa notices Reki is basically in his lap, his legs spread over his stomach so he can see him properly.
“I won’t. Reki, you won’t…you won’t lose me. Never again.”
In a bold move that he would later chalk up to hitting his head last night, Langa drops his hands down to Reki’s thighs and squeezes them hard.
And Reki’s breath hitches.
Langa notices it, and he thinks maybe, just maybe. Reki is studying his face closely, and the taller boy swallows hard before he speaks again, in English this time. “I promise.”
His thumbs are pressing into the seams of Reki’s pyjama pants which again, are some of Langa’s old ones, and his mouth fumbles over the words, his accent thick but still understandable. “I…promise too?” He’s fidgeting with the collar of Langa’s shirt, anxiety just barely visible in his face.
Now it’s Langa’s turn for his breath to catch, and he nods just slightly to let Reki know his words were right. The redhead lets all his breath out in a rush, and tan fingers grasp the white fabric of Langa’s shirt for a moment before he nods.
“Okay. I think your mom is home, and we really need her to take a look at that scratch and maybe clean it again. She might even make us breakfast if we both manage to look miserable enough.”
Langa’s head hurts, and he’s almost positive that his entire body is covered in bruises, but it’s okay. He tries to fight it before he finally lets himself laugh quietly, dragging his hands down to Reki’s knees with a gentle squeeze. “I’m pretty sure I look miserable enough for the both of us.”
“Yeah, dude, you actually do look pretty fucking miserable. I’ll fix your earrings after breakfast, don’t let me forget. They got kinda bent last night.”
Reki brushes his fingers from his ears down to the hollow of Langa’s throat before he catches himself, and he blushes deep enough to match his hair, jerking his hands back quickly and stuttering an apology that Langa tells him to not worry about.
Langa loves this boy in his lap, God does he love him, and he’s starting to think maybe Reki loves him too.
+I
Langa doesn’t know why today was the day he finally decided to act on the feelings he’s been trying desperately to push down.
He’s sitting down against the side of Reki’s bed with his back pressed to it, and Reki is laying on the floor, his head on one of Langa’s thighs.
Reki is holding a skate magazine above his head so he can read it, and Langa has his phone in one hand, watching a video that Miya had sent him a few days ago.
The sun is coming through the window at just the right angle that it’s warm but not too hot, and it’s making the freckles that dust Reki’s legs more prominent where his cloth shorts are riding up.
Langa will never confess he’s actually tried to count the freckles on those tan knees. The hand of his not holding his phone is resting lightly on Reki’s stomach, slightly trembling fingers brushing across the bright blue fabric there.
“What do you think of this one?”
Langa blinks a couple of times before he looks to the page that Reki is showing him, his hand flattening out on his stomach as he does so. “It’s alright. The colors are weird together.”
Reki grins, shifting his head some so the sun catches one of the silver hoops in his ear, a matching one to the set in Langa’s own ears. “Right! Dude, that’s what I was thinking.”
He sits up suddenly, and Langa has to move his head slightly, so Reki’s head doesn’t knock against his chin. Pale fingers slide from blue fabric, and Langa is already missing the warmth.
“I don’t know why they thought those would look good together. It literally looks like a child designed it!” Reki shakes his head, crossing his legs so he’s sitting properly in front of Langa, his hair loose around his face. “Maybe they were going for a Christmas theme or something…”
Langa hadn’t heard the last bit of what Reki was saying, all of his attention going to how good the other boy looks in the sun.
His hair looks like soft flame around his face, and his eyes are burning in the light, warm and wide as he speaks. The sun makes him seem even more tan than normal, a spattering of freckles beginning to pop up over Reki’s nose. He’s a literal bright spot in Langa’s world.
God, I love him.
“…ga? Langa?”
The boy in question startles at the tan fingers snapping in his face, looking at Reki with blue eyes wide.
“Hm?”
Reki laughs, shaking his head as he drops his hand away from the other boy’s face, letting it rest on Langa’s knee instead. “You were zoning on me, man. You good? What’s on your mind?”
His eyes are soft, fingers gently squeezing Langa’s knee before they rest flat again. He asks, but he’s not going to be too upset if he doesn’t get an answer out of Langa. They both learned a long time ago words weren’t a strong suit of Langa’s.
This means the shock on Reki’s face when Langa answers him is totally warranted.
“I love you.”
Langa’s eyes go even wider than before when he realises what he just said, and his hand comes up quickly to cover his mouth; Reki’s expression is the same, and the magazine still in his hand falls to the floor with a thud that echoes in the silent room.
Shit.
He didn’t mean to say that, and he stumbles over his words as he begins to tremble slightly, a ball of anxiety settling in his chest as glassy blue eyes meet amber, trembling pale hands still covering his mouth. “I’m sorry, I don’t, I didn’t mean, I….”
Whatever Langa was trying to say is cut off as Reki pulls his hands away from his face, dropping them down to the taller boy’s lap as they stare at each other. Reki’s breathing is shaky, and he licks his bottom lip quickly as he tightly grips Langa’s jeans.
“Langa, say that again.”
Langa’s bottom lip is trembling, and his voice is barely more than a whisper when he finally finds the strength to speak again.
“I love y-“
Warm lips are pressed against his, and it’s everything he thought it would be. There’s fingers on his cheeks, and he brings his own hands up to grip Reki’s wrists tightly.
It takes him a moment to respond, but when Reki starts to pull away with a small, uncertain noise, Langa moves. He pulls hard on Reki’s wrists to bring him back in, pressing his mouth to the other boy’s; the redhead makes another quiet noise, and he shifts onto his knees so he can press closer.
Langa let’s out a soft sigh against Reki’s mouth, tipping his head just enough that their lips fit together better, and he drops his hands from Reki’s wrists to very slowly slide them into his mess of red hair.
He’s burning where Reki is touching him, one hand gripping his shoulder hard and the other still pressed to his cheek. Reki’s mouth is just as warm as Langa thought it would be, and the noise he makes when Langa shyly brushes his tongue along his bottom lip is enough to bring the heat rushing to Langa’s cheeks.
They kiss for a few more moments before Reki pulls back with a sharp intake of breath, and he laughs as Langa chases his mouth before he can stop himself, tan fingers tangling gently in light blue hair and their foreheads still pressed together.
“I love you, too. God, I love you so fucking much. The night you bailed so hard at S and then you didn’t get up was when it hit me. Langa, I love you too.”
Langa just stares at the other for a moment before he laughs, clenching his eyes shut so the tears forming there won’t fall. Reki loves him.
“I’ve been wanting to say that for so long, I just could never….figure out how.”
Reki takes in a deep breath before he moves again, sliding himself into Langa’s lap with his arms going over his shoulders, and the grin that he gives Langa when he slides his own pale arms around his waist reminds Langa of the one he gave him all those weeks ago when they were talking about how to get out of a school presentation.
“We both know being good with words isn’t your thing, dude, it’s okay.” Reki laughs as his fingers twist in the fabric of Langa’s shirt, pressing a slow kiss to Langa’s cheek. “We got there in the end and that’s what matters.”
Reki loves him back.
Langa nods against Reki’s forehead as best he can, and his fingers are steady for the first time in a long time as they cup Reki’s flushed cheek, guiding him back in so he can chase the warmth of his mouth again.
They stay like that until the sun goes down, and then it’s Langa’s turn to be bright in the soft moonlight that filters through the window, pale fingers pushing up a bright blue shirt that’s stark against yellow sheets and the red hair it gets stuck on.
They were perfect for each other.
Warm and cool. Bright and pale. Loud and quiet.
Compliments to each other in every way and proof that opposites attract.
Two boys in love.
The way Langa always wanted it to be.