Chapter Text
Most nights, Link slept a dreamless sleep. Dreams were few and far between for him. When he did dream, he could hardly ever remember them. This morning he woke from one of the most vivid dreams he’d ever had in his life. Link didn’t know what to think about it; why would he dream of kissing his best friend? The very same best friend that was currently still asleep on his bedroom floor.
Rhett and Link had been best friends since they were kids; inseparable from the time they were six. Now they were eighteen; seniors in high school. Link just had his birthday and decided he wanted to keep it low key this year. He invited Rhett over for pizza, pie, and to watch movies. To sleep over like he had countless times before. They stayed up late eating junk and laughing too hard at each other’s dumb jokes.
Link’s head was spinning. Why would he dream about Rhett? About kissing him? Link was straight and so was Rhett. Link didn’t look, or think about Rhett in that way. He was sure Rhett had never thought about Link that way. Hesitantly, he looked down at the sleeping Rhett. He was tangled in his sleeping bag, long limbs all over the place and mouth agape. Rhett was a full head taller than Link; taller than all the other guys they knew. Better looking than them, too. The girls loved Rhett. Link did alright with them. More than alright, really, but the girls seemed drawn to Rhett.
Link didn’t want to admit to himself that dream Link seemed to really enjoy kissing Rhett. Dream Link kissed Dream Rhett back with more fervor and heat than the real Link had ever kissed a girl. It was just a dream, though. Right? Why was he thinking so much about it? Why did he keep looking at the sleeping Rhett’s mouth? Why did he want to know what it’d be like to kiss him for real? What would Rhett think of him if he knew what Link was thinking about? Link was sure it’d ruin their friendship.
Link decided to go to the bathroom; he needed to leave the room for a moment. He did what he needed to, washed his hands, then splashed some cool water onto his face. “Get it together, Neal.” He told himself while looking in the mirror. The dream meant nothing. He didn’t want to actually kiss Rhett. That would be totally absurd. He was totally and completely straight. A tiny part of him knew better, though.
When Link got back to his room, Rhett was wide awake. “Hey, bo. Sleep good?” he asked Link. “Ugh. Yeah. I guess so. Why do you ask?” he replied. Rhett gave Link a funny look. “Just wonderin’ man. It’s a pretty normal question” Rhett sat up and looked at Link, wondering why he was so defensive. Link was looking everywhere but at Rhett.
Rhett got up off of the floor and sat down on Link’s bed. Why did Link suddenly feel so warm? Rhett was just sitting on his bed like he did a thousand times before. “What’s wrong, Link? Something’s bothering you, I can tell.” “No, I’m good. Nothing's bothering me.” he tried to tell Rhett. He wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince Rhett or himself. “You’re lying to me, brother. You know I can always tell. You ain’t good at it.”
Link finally let himself look at Rhett. He knew he was an awful liar. Rhett knew him better than anyone one. He knew he could see right through him. Rhett was looking at him with such concern. Something fluttered in Link’s stomach. Finally, Link sputtered “I had a real weird dream. I dreamt I was kissin somebody.”
Rhett quirked an eyebrow. “A dream’s got you so worked up? Musta been some kiss.” Link felt his face go red. “Yeah, it was. I don’t usually remember my dreams.This one was different I guess.” Rhett pressed on. “Well aren’t ya gonna tell me about it?!” Link’s eyes went wide. Why was Rhett asking him this? Couldn’t he tell that Link was uncomfortable? “Uhh you don’t want to hear about my kissing dream. It’s not important. Forget I ever even told you!” Link couldn’t read Rhett’s face. “I do want to hear about it. Who were you kissing, Link? I won’t judge ya. You know that!” Link shook his head. There was no way that he could tell Rhett that he dreamt of kissing him.
“Alright, if you ain’t gonna tell me, I’m gonna guess. Will you tell me if I guess correctly?” Link thought about it for a second. He shrugged and nodded his head. There was no way in hell Rhett would ever be able to guess. “Alright. Let me think…Jamie?” Link shook his head no. “Of course not. Why would it be her? Oh! I know. It’s Tara!” He looked at Link for confirmation. “Nope. Hmm I’m just going to spout off names. Heather, Lainie, Samantha, Katie…?” Link was almost amused that Rhett was trying so hard but he knew he’d never be able to guess. “You ain’t even close, bo.” He told Rhett.
Rhett thought about it some more. Who else could Dream Link have been kissing? Rhett had his own kissing dreams a time or two. It was always with the same person. Maybe the kissing dream was similar to his own. Rhett thought about kissing the person in his dream a lot. At times, it was all he could think about. The possibility of it ever happening was zero, he told himself. Maybe he’d just say it and see how Link would react. Before he could bring himself to say who he wanted, he threw a few more names at Link. “Jennifer? Angie? Heather?”
Link was kind of laughing at Rhett’s eagerness to know. All he could think about was how Rhett couldn’t be more wrong. All of the girls that Rhett mentioned were attractive, of course, but none were better looking than Rhett. Wait! What? Did Link just think that? Did he find Rhett attractive? What was going on in his head!
Rhett decided he’d had enough. He could tell that behind the laughter Link was struggling and he needed to know. He was just going to say it. “Link, were you kissing me in your dream?” Link’s eyes got as wide as saucers and all the color drained from his face. Rhett got his answer. Now he needed to decide what he was going to do with that answer.
Before Link could say anything, Rhett leaned in to kiss him. Link froze. “What the fuck is happening?” he thought. But, before he could think any more, he found himself kissing Rhett back. Soon enough, their lips were parted and their tongues found each other. Rhett and Link had each kissed a lot of girls, but nothing compared to what they were doing now. It was like a whole new world opened up and neither could get enough of the other.
Soon, Link pulled away and whispered, “Rhett,” he began, “how did you know?” Rhett let out a chuckle and shrugged. “I’ve been having the same dream for years. Maybe not actually a dream. More like a fantasy. I never thought I’d be able to live it, though.” Link couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Rhett thought about kissing him? For years? How’d he go so long without knowing? He leaned back in to kiss Rhett again. It was a quick one this time. Link pulled back, smiled and said “Well, now you can live it whenever you want.”