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"alright, sunny! we're here!" mari announced as she stopped the car when it was parked. her dark eyes met her brothers, who had looked to just be daydreaming. sunny gave a smile and a nod, about to get out of the car before being stopped by his sisters voice. "so... a date with kel? hehe! I think it's cute he picked out a little skating rink for you guys." her smile was so genuine sunny wondered why she was even so happy about it. he guessed it was because she was just being an older sister but even then it felt confusing to him.
his face felt hot at the statement and he looked away back to the car of the door. "yeah... I don't really know how to skate though. I hope he doesn't mind." he mumbled, fists balled up on his baggy ripped jeans. mari gave a more soft, sisterly smile and took a hand off the wheel to put on sunnys. "of course he wont mind. hey! think about it this way. you guys have been best friends for forever, just think of it as any another time you're hanging out!" she suggested. sunny pondered on the idea, that could probably help his anxiety a little. but didn't that ruin the idea of it being a, yknow, date?
regardless, it was better than no advice at all, so he took a deep breath and opened the car door. "I should be walking home with kel so unless it starts raining or something you don't need to come back and pick us up." he let her know before he forgot. she gave a big thumbs up and sunny gave a half smile before closing the door and making his way through the parking lot and into the building. mari always waited until he got into buildings safely before driving away, he could always feel her eyes on his back. it was comforting in a way... sorta. sometimes it was a little annoying but that was just her protective way of showing she cared.
as soon as sunny opened the door, he was hit in the face by the smell of grease and cool air. just like the outside, the inside stayed very true to the 80s theme, old arcade games and colourful carpeting as far as the eye could see. it didn't take him much longer to spot kel, either, sitting at a table eating a big plate of nachos. he must've felt his eyes on him, because he looked up and his entire face lit up right away. unsurprisingly, kel got up from his spot at the table quickly to wrap sunny in a hug. "hey sunshine!! I'm glad you're here." kel pulled away just enough to be able to look sunny in the eye, and it took everything the boy had to not look away in hopes it would hide his red face better.
"yeah, me too. I'm not late, am I?" sunny knew that kel wouldn't care if he was a little late anyway, seeing as he himself is almost always late to everything. the clock behind him read 1:11, and vaguely remembers agreeing to meet at 1:00.
kel shook his head, a dopey grin still on his face. "of course not! I didn't get here too long ago either, haha!" the other boy was obviously very giddy, speeding through his words a bit faster, his smile reaching his eyes a lot more. his hair looked very neatly combed through, pulled back partially into a ponytail like he has it when he plays basketball. sunny hadn't noticed right away due to the intense smell of pizza and nachos, but...
"kel... did you shower for this?" sunny immediately caught the way kels face flushed a deep red, removing himself from sunny completely to emphasis himself with his hands. he smirked. the taller of the two stammered over his words for a good minute before getting himself together enough from the embarrassment enough to speak. "w-well of course I did sunny!!! I mean, this isn't just us hanging out as bros!" he defended himself, his face must've been burning like hell. cute. "this is a date after all, yeah? I couldn't just let myself not shower! that's horrible manners." sunny bit his lip at the word date. sure, thinking of it was one thing, but saying it? that made it real.
sunny gave a small smile, trying his best not to show how flustered he was himself. "well, Im proud of you then. I appreciate you taking a shower for me." he added the last bit in a soft teasing manner, kel laughing. neither of them had really gone on a real date before, how were they supposed to act? sunny couldn't wrap his brain around it. mari's advice rang out in his mind, but kel had just said himself that this wasn't just like hanging out normally! kel was still his closest friend though, right? it didn't have to be awkward.
a small silence settled over them, the loud 80s music and the other people chatting easily filling in the space for them. sunny guessed it was becoming more and more clear for both of them how little experience they had with this sort of thing. kel then cleared his throat, making sunny realize they had just been staring at each other for the past god knows how long. "so... I know you don't know how to skate but, I thought this could be fun? sorry, haha. do you... wanna? roller skate now?" kel stumbled over every other word and sunny could tell he was trying his hardest, it was endearing.
"yeah, as long as you don't mind teaching me." sunny replied softly, maybe a little too softly for a loud rink like here. nonetheless, kel smiled and grabbed hold of sunnys hand to lead him over to where they had the skates. sunnys eyes darted down to where their hands were linked, his face heating up. they had held hands before, of course, but it was different in this context! just two days ago they established having crushes on each other, that made it totally different!
if kel noticed he didn't show it, chatting happily with the old lady behind the counter. "hey sunny? you're a size 7 right?" the boy looked over his shoulder and sunny nodded hastily. kel smiled sweetly and then returned to talk to the woman. they were still holding hands. sunny had never really noticed before, but for someone who always played sports and fell down and hurt himself on the pavement more times than sunny could never be bothered to count, kel had very soft hands. as kel handed sunny his own pair of skates and they made their way back to the table kel was sitting at when he had first got there, sunny absentmindedly ran a thumb over kels hand.
sunny swore he saw kel smile when he squeezed his hand tighter before letting go so he could put on the skates. "honestly, this definitely isn't the type of place I was expecting you to choose, kel, but I think it suits you." he said in the other boys direction, tying up his skates and then sitting up. kel laughed bashfully.
"hah, ya think so? I really wasn't sure how you'd feel about it, so I'm really glad ya like my choice, sunshine!" he gave a big toothy grin in sunnys direction as he finished with his skates as well, making his face dust red. kel stood up with enough ease sunny deducted it couldn't be that hard, but, it was embarrassing how wrong he was. as soon as sunny made it to his feet, the skates made him lose balance and he scrambled to regain his footing. he shut his eyes tight and braced himself for to fall to the ground, but the hurt never came.
kel was holding him up by holding tightly onto his arms, a worried smile on his face directed in sunnys direction, who still had his eyes shut tight. "ah, shoot! it's ok sunny! I gotcha," he reassured the best he could, voice light. sunny moved his hands so they squeezed kels arms as well, opening his eyes.
his eyebrows were still knitted together from his worry of falling, but he seemed less tense when he understood he was fine. "wow. you made that look so easy." sunny smiled up at kel, but it was shaky. kel carefully moved his grip to sunnys hands so he could more easily guide him to the rink.
"yeah, I guess so! I'm still pretty surprised you've never been here before, glad your first impressions of the place could be with me." kel chuckled, and sunny hummed. the taller of them began slowly leading sunny towards the skating rink where they could get to why they were here. sunny let out low mumbles every time he almost slipped, gripping kels hands tighter. kel didn't mind it, though, humming a soft tune as he shuffled backwards closer to the entrance of the rink.
once they made it, kel came to a stop. "I can go on first so I can help you in? I don't mind if you wanna go slow." he reassured, though sunny shook his head.
he looked nervous to start skating, worried he would bump into someone or fall over, but he swallowed that fear deep down. he wouldn't let it ruin his date with kel. "no, it's ok. I don't mind going at whatever pace your comfortable with," he started, biting his lip. "but you have to promise you'll hold my hand in case I fall."
kel wanted to laugh at the embarrassed look on sunnys face, but he didn't want him to take it the wrong way, so he settled for a wide smile. "well, I was plannin' on holding your hand either way." he admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. sunny smiled and nodded to show he was ready whenever he was. slowly, kel made his way into the rink, holding his arms out for sunny so he didn't trip and fall. the lights felt much brighter reflecting against the smooth floor, and sunny hesitantly averted his eyes.
he didn’t want to rush and risk falling, but going slow just gave him more time to worry. sighing, sunny stepped one foot forward onto the rink safely, and once he lifted his other, he tilted backwards; only to be saved by kels firm grip. “woah! don’t worry, I got ya.” sunny nodded and bit his lip. damn.
finally on the rink with both feet, he kept an iron grip on kels hands. the other people skating by didn’t seem to care for their struggles, simply going around them if they were skating near the walls. kel waited patiently for sunny to be comfortable on the wheels, dark eyes trained on the other boys face. it wasn’t hard to tell when sunny was blushing considering how pale he was, his cheeks and ears tinged red. kel didn’t want to be caught staring while sunny kept his eyes on his feet to somehow balance himself, but he couldn’t help it!
sunny smiled nervously and looked back up, squeezing the hands holding his own. “alright. I trust you, kel.”
he gave a signature smile and hid the way butterflies blossomed in his stomach. sunny was a rather quick learner, only needing to be reminded once by kel to bend his knees. More Than a Woman by the Bee Gees came on over the big speakers around the rink and sunny perked up, eyes lighting up. “hey, I love this song.”
kel looked over, an eyebrow raised in a teasing manner. “really? didn’t take you for the type.”
the other boy looked away, flustered. “yeah. mari really likes old songs, so, naturally I’ve grown to like some too.” he replied, then laughed softly; looking off into the distance. “this song isn’t even from the 80s, its from ‘77. though I guess it still existed in the time this place is themed after.” sunny added the last part after a moment of thought. kel felt his heart burst at the seams with affection, really out of nowhere.
he wasn’t sure he had felt this way for anyone but sunny before. even when they were little kids, when they made flower crowns together, when kel curled up next to him during sleepovers. before, he never had to put thought into it, he was just a kid. two years ago, when kel told sunny he was a boy, he had a deep pit in his stomach that sunny would stop holding his hand when he was scared. that he wouldn’t move from his blanket nest in the middle of the night to sleep with kel because he didn’t want to by himself. instead, sunny moved forward to hug him, head buried in the crook of his neck.
its one of the most vivid memories kel can recall that he cried in front of anybody else.
it'd felt like no time at all before the sun began to set, sunny and kel chowing down on a basket of nachos they were sharing. sunny would've guessed it was around 7pm now, though the place itself was still buzzing with people coming in and going out. he and kel had been in a cycle of skating and messing around with the arcade games and claw machines. as the date itself had progressed more, they both of them became gradually less awkward, not hesitating to grab a hand to lead them to whatever they wanted to do next. beside him, kel was practically inhaling the nachos, the hair held back with an elastic coming out to hang by his face.
kel suddenly looked up and sunnys eyes widened when his face blushed a bright red. guess he got caught staring. "u-um... sorry for staring, kel, I, um..." sunny stammered, fiddling with his hands in his lap. his (boy?)friend only laughed, his own face dusted a shade of red. they both seemed to be doing a lot of blushing today.
"haha! no worries, sunshine. it's flattering you wanna stare at me in the first place." he laughed, leaning back in his chair and away from the pretty much gone nachos. "say, though, I was thinking maybe we could head back soon? maybe watch a movie?" kel suggested.
sunny hummed in thought. he supposed he was ready to leave, but sunny would go anyway kel wanted to go today as long as he held his hand on the way. "sure. my parents are out visiting relatives this week, so it's just me and mari, um. if you're worried about your parents getting mad if we stay up late."
kel smiled. "sure! I think hero is studying tonight anyway so I may as well get out of his hair while he is! plus, you have a lot of good movies on dvd at your place." he added the last part with a chuckle, making sunny smile in return.
the two boys brought their skates back to the counter and their basket now empty of any nachos in the trash, and head out of the building hand in hand. it wasn't too far of a walk, but the sun was setting and they wanted to get to sunnys house before it was completely dark in case mari worried about them. they walked in comfortable silence for a good chunk of the walk, kel occasionally swinging their hands back and forth with a dumb, giddy smile on his face.
once they turned onto their street, however, kel laughed. "y'know, sunny. this might be kind of mushy, but like, if you had told me when i was a kid about any of today I wouldn't've believed you." he looked away, as if he was embarrassed at the face he was sure he knew sunny was making. "I've just liked you for so long. you're perfect to me." the last part was added softly, sunnys eyes widening.
the sun was just about down at that point, but they were right in front of his house, so sunny wasn't worried about mari thinking they got kidnapped or whatever went through that mind of hers. sunny stopped walking and kel looked back at him with a confused look. he looked worried that maybe what he had said previously had upset sunny, but it was quite the opposite.
so, with all the courage he could muster into himself, he got up on his tip-toes and kissed kel gently on the cheek. even as he pulled back, he could feel the heat radiating off of the other boy. "kel. I'm honestly no where near perfect, and I have no idea how anyone like you could like anyone like me, but... but I really like you. and... you make me. want to be better." he struggled through his words, not used to being so open.
kel didnt say anything for a moment, just staring bewildered down at sunny. then, he leant down with his hands around sunnys waist and kissed him. sunny made a surprised noise, arms flying up to hold onto kels shoulders. neither of them had really had their first kiss before that so it was... awkward, to say the least, but to them it felt perfect.
in the moment, sunny didn't care that mari was probably watching from the window, or even kel's parents next door, or the taste of orange joe and nachos kel had been consuming not even an hour before. all he cared about is that he was happy in the moment, smiling into the kiss. upon pulling apart, still holding each other, kel had the goofiest smile on his face that made sunny wanna kiss him even more. "wow." the boy murmured breathlessly.
"yeah," sunny laughed. his face felt hot as the sun and he'd bet kels did too. "so, does that mean we're really, like, boyfriends now?" even just saying the word made sunny grin, especially in the context of him and kel.
the other boy laughed, his voice cracking while he did so. "hah, well I sure hope so!" he joked. from the way his voice shook, sunny could tell how nervous he really was, but it was the excited kind of nervous. "um, but I really do. I think you're great, sunny, and I never would have asked you out if I didn't wanna be your boyfriend."
at that point, they were both smiling from ear to ear, unaware of anything in the world going on around them. "alright then, ah, boyfriend." shoot. sunny doesn't remember the last time he smiled so much in one day. "why don't you pick the movie genre we watch?"
kel's eyes lit up, removing his hands from sunny to pump them in the air. "hell yeah! don't worry, sunshine, I'm gonna choose the best movie and both of us will totally like it! I'm like, the movie guru." sunny laughed and grabbed kels hand again so they could walk into the house, not missing the shadow of mari quickly scurrying out of view of the window as they turned.
sunny admittedly was nervous to be in a relationship, and he was a pessimist to the end, but... no matter what happened in the future, he had a feeling kel would be beside him every step of the way.