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Fugo could only guess why Mista had suggested watching a horror movie. Maybe he’d wanted to prove how macho he was or maybe he’d thought he was renting a rom-com and couldn’t be bothered to return the DVD to the store once he’d realized his mistake. Whatever the case, he’d invited the rest of the team to watch the movie with him, and it looked like everyone was going to be joining in.
It’s not like Fugo had anything better to do. He’d spent most of his day helping Bucciarati review some papers while the others tended to their business. Mista and Giorno had handled shopping and Narancia and Abbacchio had made the rounds and handled missions.
If it had been up to Fugo, he would have chosen to spend the day with Narancia. The two of them had just started to make some changes in their relationship. They’d been friends for years, but recently, their friendship had begun to blossom into something else. It still wasn’t clear exactly what was forming between the two of them, but whatever it was was both mutual and exciting. Even still, Fugo hadn’t pushed things too much. Despite how well it was all going, he didn’t want to risk ruining the friendship by rushing everything else. So for now he’d have to settle for spending what time he could with his best friend and letting things progress naturally.
But, Fugo wasn’t the boss, so he wasn’t the one who divvied out assignments. Today, all he could do was internally rejoice when Narancia came back home in one piece.
The two of them were currently seated side by side on the couch while Mista popped the DVD into the player. “This movie’s supposed to be really scary.”
Narancia laughed loudly. “Maybe if you’re a baby. I bet I won’t be scared!”
“It can’t be worse than anything we’ve ever faced,” Giorno noted thoughtfully as he sat on the floor with a bowl of popcorn.
Bucciarati nodded. “That’s true. We’ve seen some hellish things over the years.”
Fugo felt himself tense a bit. ‘We,’ Bucciarati had said. Sometimes he felt like that word included everybody but him, especially considering that horrific week back in 2001.
But before that thought could get away from Fugo, Narancia leaned over against him and he felt a sense of calmness washing over him. “And none of this is real anyway,” Narancia added. “Movies can’t be that scary since they’re not real.”
“Well, I’m man enough to admit that even movies can freak me out sometimes,” Mista said with a huff as he plopped onto the floor next to Giorno with the remote. “We good to get started?”
Fugo sighed, but whether it was from exasperation or from the contentedness that came with having Narancia’s weight on him was a mystery. “Just hit play.”
And that’s exactly what Mista did. The movie started out tame enough, as horror movies tended to do. A stereotypical family foolishly moved into a house where some kind of horrible murders had taken place, and it was all downhill from there. The demonic killer hid in the shadows of the house and attacked the family one at a time, subjecting them to psychological terrors before brutally murdering them.
Fugo glanced around the room near the end of the movie and scoffed when he saw that Abbacchio had fallen asleep while Mista had covered his eyes with his hands. A shrill scream suddenly came from the TV and Fugo saw Narancia flinch in his peripheral vision. He reached over and gently patted him on the leg, earning him a frazzled little grin.
The movie ended in a bloodbath, as Fugo had anticipated. “Well, that was… something,” Mista said with a nervous chuckle.
“I’m going to bed,” Abbacchio stated nonchalantly, like he hadn’t just been asleep two minutes ago.
But, Fugo let out a little yawn of his own after that. “I guess I will, too.” He stood up from the couch and glanced down at Narancia. “Good night.” He’d said it loud enough for the room, but it was clearly directed at one person.
“G’night,” Narancia whispered.
He made his way up the stairs to his room and closed the door so that he could change into his pajamas and get in bed. He’d been asleep for maybe an hour or so when a nearly imperceptible knock woke him up. Fugo rubbed his eyes and sat up with a little groan. “Come in.”
The door slowly, almost creepily cracked open. Fugo hadn’t thought he’d been that bothered by the movie, but his heart did quicken a bit. But then the door opened enough to reveal who had woken him up and he felt his heart melting instead.
Narancia slid inside and closed the door behind him before tiptoeing over to the bed. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Fugo echoed. “What’s going on?”
“I uh,” Narancia averted his eyes and began wringing his hands. “I couldn’t sleep. Too scared…” His eyes widened with realization and he turned his attention toward Fugo. “Scared that you were scared! That movie was kind of really terrifying, so I was worried that you might've gotten freaked out.”
Fugo bit his lip to keep himself from grinning. “That’s very thoughtful of you, but I’m fine.”
“Right, of course,” Narancia mumbled.
“But maybe,” Fugo paused before he could finish that thought. This was a threshold that hadn’t been crossed yet in his and Narancia’s ever-evolving relationship. Once they took this step, there would be no going back. Were they ready for that?
Fugo glanced up at Narancia’s frightened face and felt his own fears beginning to fade. At that moment, he knew he had to break the unspoken barrier between them in order to quell Narancia’s fears.
“Maybe you should stay here tonight in case I do get scared. That way I won’t have to get up and come to your room.”
Narancia’s face lit up. “Really? Are you sure?”
Fugo nodded and scooted over. “Yeah, there’s room for both of us. Come on.”
“Thank you!” Fugo suppressed another chuckle as Narancia practically scrambled into the bed next to him. Once he got situated, he let out a contented little sigh. “Mmm, you have soft pillows.”
“Mhmm.” Fugo reached forward and gently brushed Narancia’s bangs out of his face. “Get some sleep.”
Narancia closed his eyes with a grin. “Wake me up if you start feeling scared.”
But Fugo didn’t respond to that. Instead, he kept himself awake to watch Narancia slowly drift off. Once he heard Narancia’s breathing become steady and slow, Fugo whispered, “You don’t have to be afraid. I’ll protect you.” He then leaned forward and planted a little kiss on Narancia’s forehead. “I’m not going to be scared anymore either.”