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Gem hadn’t had much to drink. Maybe one or two, but it was just a little liquid courage to help her relax. She still felt new in the group, the party Xisuma was throwing was the first time she was really letting go in front of the Hermits and - of course - he would be there.
Not that him being there was a bad thing. He was a Hermit, of course he’d be there, but it made Gem feel nauseous in the best way possible. She liked being around him, liked teasing him and winding him up, but liked making him laugh and watching him smile. She just wasn’t sure how to act now, when the usual lines of working and playing were tossed aside and they were in close proximity, in darkened rooms, and slightly inebriated.
If Gem hadn’t had those two drinks, she probably wouldn’t have agreed when False invited her to play a game of Truth of Dare. It was a harmless game, but she somehow doubted the Hermits would treat it as such.
# # #
“Dare!” Bdubs yelled - because of course he would. Of course he was too proud to ask for a truth, of course he wanted to show off, of course--
“Seven minutes in heaven.” Tango said immediately, and if the room hadn’t been so dark Gem would have said with confidence that he looked at False when he spoke. All she could do was say that she assumed the pair shared a glance.
“Do I at least get to pick who with?” Bdubs asked, and Gem smiled at that. He sounded just a smidgen less confident in himself now.
“Nope. Gem, get up.” False replied, confirming to Gem that the two had looked at each other. Was this a plan? Had they been planning this whole thing? She was about to say something when she felt two hands underneath her armpits, pulling her up to her feet, and she realised what was happening. They were offering up her - her! - to spend the seven minutes with Bdubs. She couldn’t do that, she liked him. She liked him and she couldn’t be shoved into a closet in the dark with him for any amount of time. This was a game, the thought that she would end up doing something with Bdubs for him to just think of it as a game hurt like hell. Hadn’t False listened when she’d rambled about how much she liked him? Didn’t she know what she was doing?
“Oh no, it’s not my dare, I’m not doing this.” She said, drawing a line in the sand and making her position firm.
She could have sworn she saw Bdubs’ face fall in the corner of her eyes.
“Sure you are, you’ll have fun!” She heard the encouraging words from Stress behind her and she swallowed. “You’ve done nothing but truths all night, loosen up a bit!”
“If you really don’t want to, you don’t have to.” Bdubs said. “I can forfeit, or I can do a different dare, or--”
“Nope, you picked dare.” Tango reminded him. “You don’t have to do anything in there, you can argue about birch wood for all we care, but a dare’s a dare.”
“If you’re really against it, Gem, we can pick someone else.” False said. She had to admit after Tango’s reassurance that the game wasn’t an expectation to do anything she felt better about the idea, though she hoped it would be a polite conversation about the wonders of birch rather than an argument.
If Gem hadn’t had those two drinks, maybe she’d have accepted False’s offer to back down.
“No, Tango’s right, I can use this time to finally bring Bdubs around to the happy, birch loving life I know he can lead.”
Bdubs scoffed, but he stood from where he’d been sitting cross-legged on the floor - opposite Gem in the circle their friends had formed - and he offered out a hand.
“Shall we?”
# # #
Bdubs tapped his fingers against his thigh, and he cursed Keralis for suggesting the three of them dressed up as the Powerpuff Girls. The blue dress felt constricting - though he was certain that in complete darkness this close to Gem anything would have done. As his fingers continued to tap he took in a deep breath, timing it with the rhythm against his leg, then exhaled. How long had they been in there? Thirty seconds? Five minutes? He had no idea.
If it was anyone else he might have been okay, but Gem? Tango and False had shared a glance while picking he would go with him and he knew that they’d picked Gem deliberately. He hadn’t exactly kept it a secret from the Big Eye Boys how he felt about her - despite her affection for birch - and now he was paying for it. Now she was paying for it. She hadn’t wanted to be in here with him and that was fine, it was as clear cut of a way to figure out that his feelings were unrequited as any. Now he just needed to get over it. Easier said than done, he supposed.
“I’m sorry.” Bdubs muttered quietly, deciding that a casual conversation might feel a little less awkward than sitting in the dark, knees just barely brushing. “You should have let me forfeit.”
“It’s fine.” Gem replied, and he could have sworn her voice shook when she spoke. He turned his head as if to get a better look at her but it was dark and even this close he could barely see. Immediately his mind began to race through possibilities - was she upset? Did she really not want to be there, was she afraid of the dark? Was she claustrophobic?
He couldn’t let her sit there and suffer in silence if the last two were true - though if it was the first there was hardly anything he could do but squeeze himself further into the corner and try not to take it too personally.
“Are you okay?” He asked, the confidence and bravado he had shown in front of his friends completely gone as he focused on Gem. Despite the darkness, he could just about make out her shaking her head, and he swallowed. Gem, sweet Gem, she didn’t deserve to be in this situation because of him. “Can I help?”
“I don’t think so.” She whispered, and his stomach fell into a deep pit. If he couldn’t help, it had to be his fault, and he wanted to apologise a hundred times over (though he knew that would never be enough). He was about to open his mouth to begin that process when Gem continued.
“I’m so sorry, Bdubs.” There was a sniffle. The sounds of the party were distant echoes by now and all he could think about was how it sounded like she was crying. The fingers tapping on his thigh stilled and his hand moved ever so slightly, resting atop her knee. It wasn’t as if she needed a reminder that he was beside her, but he wanted to provide one all the same. “We’re friends, I shouldn’t be thinking like this, I don’t want to ruin it.”
“Ruin what?” Bdubs prompted gently, and when his hand wasn’t pushed away he squeezed ever so gently. Gem beneath his fingers felt so right, but everything about this situation was so wrong. “You couldn’t ruin anything even if you tried. Heck, I’d forgive you if you rebuilt my entire house out of birch.” He joked, trying to lighten the mood, and it worked: he heard Gem let out one tiny laugh.
“If I tell you while we’re here, do you promise to forget as soon as we step outside those doors?”
“I promise.” Bdubs said solemnly. “There’s nothing you could say that would make me change how I feel about you.” And that was true. He wasn’t sure there was anything Gem could do or say to make him want her any less, even if he needed to find a way to do just that. He hoped without action his feelings would simply fade, though he had no idea if that was true or not.
“I think False set me up.” She told him, her head now hanging low. “I told her and Stress I liked you. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, I’m not going to try anything, but maybe if you could tell me we’re just friends I’ll be able to move past it.”
Bdubs’ heart stopped, his breath caught in his throat, his entire body stiffened and he let Gem’s words repeat in his mind over and over again. He had to be certain that they were real, had to be certain that he’d heard her correctly, had to be certain that he wasn’t just going mad sitting in the closet. Gem… Liked him? Bdubs wasn’t an insecure man, but such a revelation had him second guessing every part of himself. What did she like? His voice? His appearance? His building and decorating abilities? He liked those things about himself, but why would Gem? Why would--
“Please say something.” She beseeched, her voice shaky and tearful, and in an instant Bdubs managed to maneuver himself in the tiny space to be kneeling rather than sitting, his hands reaching to find hers in the darkness and hold them as tightly as he could. Gem was crying, she was afraid she’d ruined their friendship, and he needed to assure her that he wanted their friendship to be ruined.
“Okay.” Bdubs said, taking in a breath. He had one shot to get this right. “Okay. You like me?”
“I’m sorry.” She croaked.
“Don’t be, just give me a moment to figure out how to say this.” He told her, squeezing her hands even tighter for a beat. “It’s okay, I promise.”
Now the hard part came. How did he put into words how he felt about Gem? Saying ‘You like me? I like you!’ didn’t feel like enough. They only had a handful of minutes left yet he felt he could spend hours describing her beauty back to her, how her eyes were dazzling emeralds, how her hair reminded him of the most beautiful of sunsets, how her skin glowed and how even in the densest of forests the sun seemed to find her through the leaves and make her look like an angel. He could spend weeks talking about her buildings, the intricate details in every corner, the way they all felt like home. Her landscaping abilities and her work with nature - that was a topic for the ages. He could sing her praises about how her hands worked with utmost care to ensure every leaf, every log, every flower was positioned exactly perfectly.
One of his hands left hers, reaching to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear instead. It would have been perfect, but the plastic she wore to give her ear a pointed tip for her costume had caught him off guard and he struggled more than he wanted to admit.
But it broke the ice, it broke the silence, and the pair giggled when he finally managed to complete the small gesture.
“Come visit me tomorrow.” Bdubs eventually settled on. Tomorrow, when they had more time, when they had the freedom to do whatever they pleased, he could tell her everything for as long as she’d listen. He’d take her to the top of the mountain and sit with her until the sunset, telling her everything he loved about her and ensuring that when she left she would feel like the most important woman to have ever walked the world.
She was the most important woman to have ever walked the world.
“Okay.” She replied, nodding her head.
For a moment the silence returned, Bdubs still holding one hand and with the other still lingering beside her face. He moved it a little, cupping her cheek, and he let his thumb brush over her skin.
“Can I kiss you?” He asked, his voice the quietest it had ever been. The request was just barely audible to him, he wanted to be certain no one heard the question but her, but the reply was even quieter. The response Gem gave was leaning forward, and even in such deep darkness he could see her eyelids flutter closed.
He did the same, breathing in through his nose as he brought his lips to hers and pressed a brief, chaste kiss to them. It was intoxicating, and he found himself immediately desperate for more.
The door hadn’t opened, no one was telling them to leave, so he took his opportunity and ran with it.
The second kiss was much easier than the first, knowing that the line had already been crossed. His lips pressed firmly but gently against Gem’s, the warmth of her mouth beckoning him deeper and his lips parted in response. It was less than a second before their tongues were curiously and timidly exploring each other’s mouths but they were no foolish teenagers. The movements were slow and deliberate, with unspoken words and unmade promises filling each touch. Bdubs could feel the restraint in Gem’s motions and knew that she would sense the same in him. It was only a matter of time until the door opened and despite the urge to go further - for hands to roam their bodies and search out the contact and friction they so desperately craved - they held back. Time could be made for that later, the heat pooling in his stomach could be dealt with when he wasn’t mere moments away from being in front of his friends once more, right now he wanted to pour every ounce of emotion he could into the kiss.
He heard a knock behind him and he pressed harder against Gem, his teeth colliding ever so slightly with her own as they both sought more. They needed more, but the door opened outwards and there was no hope of holding it shut for those extra few moments.
Bdubs eventually pulled away - if only to save Gem from any potential embarrassment - and the hand on her cheek swiped away any remains of tears. As the door opened a crack and light streamed in he could see the adoration in her gaze. It was a look he would commit to memory for as long as he would live.
“Seven minutes is up.” Tango’s voice came through the slight opening. “I’ve got my eyes shut, just in case.”
“Lord, Tango, what did you think I was going to do to the woman?” Bdubs laughed, moving back from Gem to sit alongside her for when the door eventually opened all the way. “I’m a gentleman! We’re both decent, you can let us out.”
If, when Tango finally did open the door, he noticed the wet cheeks of Gem or the red lips of the pair - or the touch of lip gloss that seemed to have found its way onto Bdubs’ face - he didn’t mention it. He just offered a hand to Gem to help her get back to her feet, and chuckled quietly as he cast Bdubs one final glance.
“Gentleman. Sure.”