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“Why is there a bone sitting on the counter?” Reki asks, unable to keep the burning question inside anymore. Reki feels like he’ll go crazy if he doesn’t get an answer. Langa looks at him in confusion, which doesn’t help Reki feel any closer to salvation. He points to the bone sitting innocuously on the kitchen counter a little desperately. He absolutely cannot focus on making their afternoon snacks with the bone taunting him.
“That. Right there. Why is there a bone sitting on the counter?”
Langa follows Reki’s direction, seemingly nonplussed at the bone sitting on his counter.
“Oh, that,” Langa says simply. Reki wants to tear his hair out. “We had chicken the other night. It’s the wishbone.”
“Okay,” Reki drawls out, reaching deep into his well of patented Langa Patience. He loves Langa, he really does, but sometimes he wants to shake the other boy. “Why do you have a wishbone on the counter?”
“You’re supposed to keep the wishbone until they dry out so you can break it. It’s like, a luck thing,” Langa explains. Okay, that makes a little more sense. At least it explains why his friend is keeping a bone on his countertop. Reki had been slightly concerned.
“Why though?” Reki questions. “Does it not seem odd to you?”
“Not really,” Langa shrugs. “It’s a tradition, I guess. You and another person each hold an end and pull while making a wish. When the bone snaps, whoever’s holding the bigger piece has their wish come true. It’s fun.”
“Oh,” Reki’s suddenly a lot more interested, going over to examine the bone closer. It doesn’t look like anything special, but people have made wishes on stranger things, he’s sure. “That does sound kind of cool, actually.”
Langa hums, finally turning fully away from the cutting board where he’d been chopping some fruit to face Reki. “Do you want to do it? I’m sure my mom wouldn’t mind.”
“Yeah! Let’s make a wish!” Reki cheers, moving back so Langa can grab the bone. He positions himself in front of Reki so they’re facing each other.
“Okay, grab the other end like-- yeah. Now you just think of your wish and pull until it breaks.”
Reki does as he’s told, grabbing his half of the bone. He finds himself staring into Langa’s eyes. Those pretty blue eyes, brighter than the sky and deeper than the ocean, that Reki loves so much. Langa is looking back at him, that small happy smile he wears when he’s content sits on his face. Reki knows what he wants to wish for.
I wish he loves me back.
They both pull on the bone, and it doesn’t take more than a few seconds for it to snap. Reki holds a slightly larger part in his hand than Langa does. It doesn’t register at first until Langa laughs.
“Beginners luck, I guess,” he smiles at Reki, and Reki’s pulse pounds in his chest.
“So what happens now?” Reki asks, excitement coursing through his veins and bouncing up and down a little.
“Now your wish hopefully comes true.”
Langa takes the bone from Reki’s hand, turning to toss the two pieces away. He washes his hands, gestures for Reki to do the same, and then goes back to preparing their after-school snack as if nothing happened.
I really hope it does, Reki thinks.
Langa and Reki are having lunch in their usual spot, taking turns showing each other videos or swapping stories when Reki says it.
“Oh, look! It’s 11:11!”
“Yes? Are we late for something?” Langa asks, confused. He didn’t think they had anything to do during their lunch hour, but it’s always possible he forgot.
“No! It’s a wish thing!” Reki explains quickly, the excitement palpable as he pushes his phone closer to Langa’s face. “When the clock reaches 11:11, you make a wish! It’s like, a lucky number or whatever.”
“Oh.”
“Hurry before we miss it!” And with that, Reki closes his eyes, presumably making his wish. Langa stares at him, taking in how the sun shines on Reki’s face; highlighting his hair, showing off his freckles, basking him in a warm glow that never fails to steal Langa’s breath away. He could stare at Reki all day, for the rest of his life, and it wouldn’t be enough.
He knows he probably missed the time by now, but Reki’s eyes are still closed, so Langa closes his own and makes his own wish.
I wish that Reki loves me just half as much as I love him.
When he opens his eyes again, Reki is staring at him. Langa tries not to blush and fails spectacularly. With his eyes open now, Langa can see how the sunlight makes Reki’s eyes even brighter, even livelier than they usually are. Langa loves every part of Reki, but his eyes just might be Langa’s favorite physical part of him. The eye is the window to the soul and all that. Langa feels like looking into Reki’s eyes is like looking into the sun. Warm, bright, beautiful, and so all-encompassing that Langa feels like he can’t even breathe sometimes.
He never wants to look away.
“Did you make a wish?” Reki asks.
“Yeah, I did.”
“Well then! Let’s hope our wishes come true!” Reki holds out his water bottle for a cheers that Langa reciprocates with a smile.
I really hope it does, Langa thinks.
Langa stays up late that night, staring at his clock like a hawk, waiting for the time to tick by. He’s certain he missed the time this afternoon, he won’t waste his second chance. The second the time ticks to 11:11, Langa closes his eyes and makes his wish.
Please let Reki feel the same. Please.
Ever since Reki made that first wishbone wish Reki finds himself making wishes more often. It’s like a new floodgate has been opened. Finding the random four-leaf clover, blowing dandelions, tossing a coin into the fountain at the mall, a leaf falling from a tree, a ladybug that lands on his leg. He’d made the 11:11 wish with Langa on a whim, maybe wishfully (ha) thinking that making the wish with Langa right there would strengthen it somehow. And while Reki doesn’t hit every 11:11-- time goes by so fast sometimes-- he still gets a lot of them.
Reki thinks Langa has been making more wishes, too. Because he’s never done this particular thing before, even though a situation has come up before, oddly enough. It’s the only explanation Reki can think of for what happens on this random spring day in the middle of the week.
The two of them are hanging out in Reki’s shed after school. Langa had busted one of the wheels on his skateboard the previous weekend at S, so Reki is fixing it for him. Reki pauses when he gets a bit of sawdust in his eyes to rub at his face until his eyes stop watering. He must have been rubbing pretty hard, because when he stops, one of Langa’s hands comes up to cup his face.
Reki freezes, and it feels like his entire body short circuits. His heart skips a beat or two before picking up at twice the speed, his breathing hitches and stops completely, his limbs are stock still, his eyes are open wide and staring at Langa. Langa moves closer to Reki, their faces only a few inches apart, and for one heart-stopping second, Reki thinks he’s about to be kissed.
Langa is so close. Reki can see every detail of his beautiful face, could count every one of Langa’s downy eyelashes if he wanted to. Reki tries not to think about how very much he does want to. Langa’s hair is falling into his face and Reki wants to push it back, tuck it behind his ear, and run his hands through it. He wonders how soft it is, if it’s as soft as it looks.
“Hold still,” Langa says, as if Reki hasn’t been doing his best impression of a statue for the past few seconds. “You have an eyelash on your cheek.”
It’s then that Reki notices that Langa isn’t looking into his eyes, but instead his gaze is focused on Reki’s cheek. Reki makes himself breathe. Still cupping Reki’s cheek, Langa’s other hand comes up to gently pinch below his eye, snatching up the errant eyelash.
Langa releases him, and Reki’s face feels oddly cold without the pressure of Langa’s hand on it. He feels bereft, afloat, lost, without the weight of Langa’s touch.
Reki is so, so gone on Langa.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
Langa adjusts his hand so the eyelash is sitting innocently on the tip of a finger. Reki stares at it when Langa holds the hand aloft as if expecting Reki to do something with it.
“What?” he asks, because Langa is even looking at him expectantly, but Reki’s mind is still empty apart from the always playing track of Langa’s name.
“Make a wish,” Langa says simply, moving his hand closer.
“Oh,” Reki understands now. “Okay.”
Reki doesn’t look away from Langa’s eyes as he does. They hold each other’s gaze; golden amber staring into ice blue. The inches between them feel electric. The time it takes for Reki to make a wish and blow the eyelash from Langa’s fingertip feels infinite.
I wish we can be together, Reki thinks, and blows.
Langa gets a text from Reki just after midnight. Langa was lying awake, staring at his ceiling after having done his almost nightly ritual of making a wish at 11:11. It’s the weekend and he hadn’t been able to sleep, too caught up in his thoughts. The text comes as a welcome distraction, especially since it’s from the person running through his mind.
‘Come outside!!’ The text reads. Fondness bubbling in his chest, Langa goes to his window that thankfully faces the front yard. Sure enough, Reki is standing in front of his house, backpack slung over his shoulder and skateboard in hand. Langa opens his window, beckoning Reki closer. He comes without hesitation, and that simple fact makes Langa’s heart race.
“I told you to come outside,” Reki pouts.
“What are you doing here?” Langa asks, eyes flicking from Reki’s eyes to his pouted lips before he gets ahold of himself.
“There’s supposed to be shooting stars tonight!” Reki exclaims, pout replaced with an excited grin. “Come up to the roof with me so we can watch them!”
And really, it should be embarrassing how quickly Langa caves. “Alright.”
Langa pulls on some socks and shoes, not bothering to change out of his pajamas. He climbs out his window, closing it most of the way but making sure to keep it cracked so he can get back inside. He boosts Reki up so he can grab the edge of the roof and pull himself up. Reki reaches down to help Langa up, grasping Langa’s arms and pulling.
Once they’re both on the roof, they move carefully to the middle, away from any edges. From his backpack, Reki pulls out blankets, layering two of them on the roof and laying down. He pats the space beside him. Langa follows Reki’s example and lays down. Reki pulls out another blanket and uses it to cover them from the chilly night.
“When are the shooting stars supposed to go?” Langa whispers. It feels wrong to speak louder into the quiet night sky.
“Soon, I think. The news said after midnight. I didn’t see any on my way over here, so we haven’t missed them,” Reki matches Langa’s whisper.
Langa nods, not saying anything else. It’s another thing he loves about Reki; that they can sit here without saying anything to each other and not feel uncomfortable. Langa never feels the need to breach the silence between them. Talking has never been one of Langa’s strong suits, and he loves that Reki never expects it from him, never pushes him. It took some time, some tears, and some pain, but the two of them have gotten a lot better at communicating with each other. Reki has learned that not all of Langa’s silences are bad ones, Langa has learned that not all of Reki’s smiles and cheer are real, and they’ve both been trying to express themselves more freely.
It makes the times like this when they both feel at ease in the quiet, content to just sit with each other, all the sweeter. None of it feels forced, doesn’t feel fake, doesn’t feel bad. It feels like acceptance, like happiness, like kindness.
It feels like love.
The stars, while not as bright as they are back in Canada, are still beautiful. Stars always are.
(They probably seem even more beautiful because he’s looking at them with Reki. Langa is okay with that. Everything is more beautiful with Reki by his side.)
Langa looks away from the beautiful to the even more beautiful sight of Reki.
If Langa thought Reki was stunning in the sunlight, he looks divine in the moonlight. Reki shines in the sun, but he glows in the night. Like there’s not a thing in the world that could dim him. Reki carries the sunshine with him and bestows it on everything in his vicinity. The stars and moon reflect sparks of luminescence in his honeyed eyes. The constellations in the sky match with the freckles across his cheeks and nose. The dim glow from the streetlights doesn’t quite reach them up here, but it creates a sort of backlight around Reki. It makes him look almost fuzzy around the edges, like a dream.
Langa knows he’s staring and that he should look back at the stars, but he can’t help it. He always wants to be looking at Reki.
It’s because he’s too busy looking at Reki that Langa misses the first shooting star. But Langa does get to see the changes in Reki’s expression when he sees the shooting star and that more than makes up for it.
The night sky is made brighter by the shooting star, and it lights up Reki’s face in the most enchanting way. The childlike wonder that takes over Reki’s face makes Langa’s breath catch. Reki’s eyes, always so expressive, are glowing watching the star fly across the sky. His eyes widen, his jaw drops, and he smiles so widely it has to be impossible for his cheeks not to hurt.
Langa wants to kiss him. So badly it burns in his chest as hotly as the shooting star burns across the sky.
“Langa!” Reki cries, forgetting to be quiet. He sits up, pointing up at the sky. “Look! Don’t miss them here they come! Oh, wow aren’t they beautiful?”
It’s a miracle that Langa can tear his eyes away from Reki for even a moment, but he does. He doesn’t want to disappoint Reki by missing this. The stars are beautiful. Streaks of white tearing across the sky, leaving brilliant trails behind them. They keep coming, one after another. If Langa weren’t already breathless from watching Reki, he would be from the stars.
“They are,” Langa agrees.
“Make a wish,” Reki says. “This is like, the ultimate wish maker.”
Reki closes his eyes, lips moving just barely while he mouths his wish.
I really wish this turns out good, Langa thinks. The thought barely finishes in his head before he’s leaning closer to Reki, hands reaching for his face. Langa surges forward, cupping Reki’s face in his hands as gently as possible. Langa turns Reki to face him, Reki’s eyes opening in surprise, but he doesn’t say anything. Langa lets his own eyes fall shut.
And he kisses Reki.
Langa kisses him, and for one horrible moment, Reki freezes. Langa is starting to pull back when Reki grabs fistfuls of his shirt and yanks Langa towards him again. Their second-- still first? Their lips never disconnected, after all-- go is much better. Reki kisses back and Langa tries to imbue all of his feelings into it. All of the fondness, the happiness, the joy, the love.
Kissing Reki feels like magic. If Langa thought before he never wants to look away from Reki, he really never wants to stop kissing him.
Langa can’t tell how long they sit there on his rooftop kissing and he doesn’t care. It feels like the two of them are frozen in time, a stolen moment where nothing can touch them.
Time feels infinite with Reki.
They pull away eventually, but neither go far. Their sides are pressed flush against each other, just a few inches between their lips. It’s incredibly distracting. Langa opens his eyes to see Reki’s still closed. Langa examines his face; Reki’s flushed cheeks, red going all the way down from his cheeks to his neck. Reki’s lips are red, too, and slightly swollen.
Reki’s eyes flutter open. Those bright expressive eyes that Langa loves, and right now Langa reads hope in them. It’s enough to make Langa try to speak.
“Reki, I--”
“I think I’m in love with you,” Reki interrupts him, and what?
“What? ” Langa croaks out, still holding Reki’s face, unable to let go.
“I think I’m in love with you,” Reki repeats. “At least a little. Possibly a lot. I just-- you mean so much to me, Langa.”
Langa kisses Reki again. Because he can. Because he has to.
“Go out with me?” Langa asks, lips brushing against Reki’s as he speaks. “Please?”
“Yes, of course,” Reki breathes. His eyes are shining brighter than any shooting star ever could.
“I think I’m a little in love with you, too,” Langa confesses.
“Good,” Reki laughs, and it comes out still sounding breathless. “I’d hate to be alone in that.”
“Never. You’ll never be alone in it. We’re infinitely together, remember?”
“Yeah. Infinitely,” Reki agrees.
Infinity with Reki feels like something that Langa won’t even have to wish for.