Work Text:
"What made you take notice of our Cheng Xiaoshi?" Qiao Ling asked with a teasing smile. Lu Guang turned his head away, red creeping up his cheeks.
They had spent the day remodeling and cleaning up the shop together and having finally finished, were currently flopped onto the couch to recuperate. Xiaoshi was off grabbing some drinks and Lu Guang was absolutely trying not to think about the way sweat had stuck his dark curls to the back of his neck.
"Who says I took notice of him? He invited me to play basketball first."
Qiao Ling laughed and leaned closer, eyes sparkling. "But there must have been something that attracted you. You don't just go from strangers to best friends like that."
Lu Guang cleared his throat, still looking away from her. "Maybe... his innocence. I like how generous he is with his attention."
He turned back to see Qiao Ling smiling distantly at her feet. "He's used to being alone, you know. He puts on a brave front with his smiles and all, but he's really scared of people leaving him."
Lu Guang's heart flip flopped in his chest. He opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the the sound of the door banging closed.
"Ugh it's so hot outside, you guys. I can't believe you made me go get the drinks," Xiaoshi waltzed into the room, stopping short at the silence hanging over the two of them. "Whatcha talking about?"
"Nothing," Lu Guang said quickly. “Are you sure you got the orders right?”
Xiaoshi became so indignant that he forgot about the conversation entirely.
Xiaoshi had grown accustomed to wearing his hair long. It was stupid how it got in his face and tickled Lu Guang's neck wherever he leaned close. Lu Guang thought about it constantly. How soft it looked, how the curls fell just so. He looked down at the shopping bag he had brought home from the convenience store and saw that he had purchased hair ties. Embarrassed, he shoved them into a drawer in his desk and tried to forget about them.
"Lu Guang? I think I might cut my hair. It keeps getting in the way." Xiaoshi was twirling a piece between his fingers as he spoke. Lu Guang tried not to stare.
"Don't you like it long though?"
"Yeah," a sigh. "But it's impractical."
Lu Guang stood and walked over to his desk, fishing out the hair ties. He extracted one from the pack and approached Xiaoshi. "Here." He reached out, shaking just a little, and gathered Xiaoshi's hair into a small ponytail, carding his finger through the silky stands just a moment longer than strictly necessary. Xiaoshi had fallen silent, his usual chatter suddenly cut short. He turned to face Lu Guang and smiled. "Thank you."
If the hair ties were meant to make it harder for Lu Guang to daydream about running his fingers through Xiaoshi’s hair, they had failed miserably. He now tried not to think about how devastatingly cute Xiaoshi looked, with his long bangs falling around his face.
Ever since Xiaoshi had begun having nightmares, they had established a ritual. Whenever Xiaoshi's strained whisper of "Guang Guang?" floated up from the bottom bunk, Lu Guang would climb down into Xiaoshi's bunk and wrap his arms around the other man until the shaking subsided.
"I'm sorry," Xiaoshi forced out between heaving breaths. "I keep waking you.”
Lu Guang stroked the dark hair gently. "Idiot. Don’t say that.” Xiaoshi's arms tightened around him as he mumbled into his shirt.
"I don't want you to leave."
Lu Guang pressed a kiss to the crown of his head. "I won't. I won't leave."
Xiaoshi raised his head to look at him, eyes shining with unshed tears. Lu Guang's heart squeezed and he cupped the other man's cheek gently. He brought them closer, heard Xiaoshi's breath hitch, and then they were kissing. The kisses were soft, insistent. I'm here, I love you, I won't leave you.
Their tongues found each other, twining together lazily. Lu Guang pulled back to look at Xiaoshi's face, at the naked emotion shining in his eyes. He felt like he was cracked open, all his reasoning leaving him. "I love you," he murmured, hands brushing a lock of dark hair behind an ear. Xiaoshi smiled finally, his cheeks wet with relief. He pressed a kiss to Lu Guang's mouth and whispered against his lips, "I love you too."