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Nigel's house is not like Will and Adam's house.
It's bigger, for starters, and it has a backyard. The grass outside is so long that it tickles Adam's calves as he walks, and he wishes that he'd worn blue jeans today instead of shorts.
The three boys circle Nigel's house, Will and Nigel in step and Adam falling behind. Adam's eyes are drawn to the above-ground pool filled with leaves near the back porch. It's mid-April, and definitely hot enough outside to warrant cleaning it out for the season. He wonders what they're waiting for— don't the Banyais like to swim? He stalls, drifting near the edge of Nigel's back porch. Leaning far over the side, he peers down at his own reflection in the greenish water. His face stares back, frowning at the slight distortion of his colors. His hair looks murky, muddy. He wrinkles his nose.
"Adam?"
The sound of Nigel's voice is so sudden, so unexpectedly near that it makes Adam jump. He loses his balance, stumbles and feels himself pitching forward in open air, headed straight for the filthy, stagnant water. He yelps—
A pair of large, strong hands grab him by the back of his T-shirt, yanking him backwards until he's steady on the porch again.
"Woah, easy!" Nigel says, clapping him on the back with a laugh. "We'll be washing your hair today, but uh, hopefully not out here, yeah?"
Adam swallows. His heart is thrumming with latent fear, as well as embarrassment. Horrified, he feels his ears turn hot, and knows that he's blushing. His eyes fix on Nigel's arm, stretched out and tanned. One of his hands is resting on Adam's shoulder. It's warm, and heavy, and much more pleasant than when people usually touch him.
"Adam? Hey, you okay bud?"
Adam tries to focus on breathing. He realizes that his hands are clenched into fists so tight that they hurt, tries to make himself loosen them. Nigel is waiting for him to reply. He swallows again, forcing out words.
"You should put a tarp over your pool if you aren't going to use it," he squeaks, and Nigel laughs. He squeezes Adam's shoulder, just once, and then he's turning away from him.
"You'd be in a shit ton more trouble if we did. You think it's bad falling into a bit of dirty water? People get trapped in those tarps. They'll suffocate you. Last year we found a dead squirrel tangled up in our tarp, my brother Petre threw the thing out."
Adam looks at the pool once more over his shoulder, following the older boy to the backdoor. "Oh."
Will snickers, leaning in the doorframe while he waits for Nigel to struggle with the lock on the door. "Man, I remember the squirrel. That thing was fucking nasty, I thought you were gonna puke."
"You're the one who was gonna puke," Nigel snaps back, and Will shakes his head.
"No, because Petre tried to get you to take it down to the woods and you nearly started crying."
"No I didn't!"
Will looks over to Adam, smirking. "He did."
Adam feels sick just imagining it, so he doesn't understand why Nigel is so defensive about whether he did or didn't vomit, but Adam decides not to say anything. Sometimes that was for the best, Will told him once. Not everything needs a response.
The backdoor opens into a small, cramped kitchen, its counters crowded with spices and ingredients that hadn't been returned to their cupboards. Adam's fingers twitch with a want to put them away, but he doesn't. Cleaning without permission is rude if you're not at home, according to Will. It makes people feel insulted and uncomfortable. Yes, even if you explain that you're only trying to help them.
"We're gonna set up in the dining room, Adam, right through here," Nigel says, and Adam frowns.
"Should I take my shoes off?" he asks before he leaves the welcome mat. Will and Nigel are both still wearing their sneakers, but he doesn't want to seem impolite.
Nigel smiles at him. Adam bites his lip. "No, bud, you're fine. Come on."
Adam follows the older boys into the dining room, envious of how comfortable his brother is in the space. He's never been inside Nigel's house before. He'd seen the outside a few times, when he'd ridden in the car with his father to drop Will off, and then to pick him up the next morning. Adam always insisted on riding along, grinning at how Nigel always waved at him from the front step as Will walked back to the car. But then Will got his own truck for his sixteenth birthday, and started driving himself to Nigel's house, and then Adam didn't get to ride to Nigel's house anymore.
The dining room is much roomier than the kitchen. Cleaner, too, aside from a large stack of unopened mail at the center of the table.
"Where's the stuff? You got it, right?"
Nigel nods. "It's all in my room, let me go grab it."
Adam watches him leave, absently tugging at the hem of his shirt. Will takes a step closer to him. "Hey."
Adam looks at Will.
"You nervous?"
"...Yes. A little. Don't tell Nigel."
Will smiles, and it makes Adam feel a little better. "I won't, I promise. Do you wanna tell me why you're nervous?"
He's nervous for a lot of reasons. He starts with the most immediate one. "This is the first time I've been to Nigel's house," he says, and he doesn't elaborate because he knows he doesn't need to. Not with Will.
"Is that all?" He sighs when Adam nods. "Hey, don't worry about that, okay? Just relax. I mean, it's just Nigel, right? You know Nigel. He likes you."
Adam nods, but he doesn't feel much better. Will chews his cheek.
"The bathroom is the second door on the right," he says after a moment, and Adam nods along. "Everything in there's working, but you need to hold the handle down for a second on the toilet. If you want a glass of water, use the pitcher in the fridge instead of the tap. The tap water tastes bad in this part of town, you won't like it. They usually have soda, too, but the Dr. Pepper is just for Ms. Banyai, so don't get that. If Nigel offers you a snack, say yes because he's got those peanut butter cracker sandwiches you like. His mom's picky about the thermostat. Nigel knows it's a little hot in here. Don't ask him to turn the air down, it'll make him feel bad because he'll have to say no. Is that everything?"
Adam takes in all the information, the unspoken rules and customs of being in a new person's house. He's very grateful for all of his brother's advice, feeling much more sure about this afternoon.
At last, he whispers "I'm worried I'll say something wrong."
Will squeezes his shoulder, just like Nigel had but on the opposite side, and smiles. "Nigel's cool, you know that. It's really hard to offend him, just say whatever you want." He blinks. "Oh! But you probably shouldn't talk about—"
"Alright, I think I got everything!" Nigel announces, striding into the dining room with a plastic bag from the pharmacy, a small leather case, and two stained towels.
Adam looks to Will, begging him to finish his sentence. Will grimaces, then quickly whispers "It'll be fine, you'll be fine," much to Adam's terror.
"Will told you not to wash your hair yesterday, right?"
He nods sharply, rubbing his thumbs over the pads of his fingers.
Nigel pulls a black hair tie from his wrist, pulls back the loose fringe at the front of his hair, and ties it into a small ponytail that sits on the crown of his head. Adam tries to swallow, and finds that his mouth is dry. "Alright bud, have a seat. We'll get this fuckin' party started."
"Go on," Will says, and Adam realizes that he isn't moving. He ducks his head and falls into the green wooden chair, pulled out from the others at Nigel's table. Nigel reaches into the bag from the pharmacy and pulls two small boxes from inside.
"This color look okay? They had a couple different blues, but I thought this one would suit you."
Adam looks at the box. There's a woman on the front, with dark blue hair. She looks mysterious, and pretty. They've styled her with dark, smudged makeup and chunky earrings. She looks cool. Adam wants to look cool.
"Yes," he says, handing the box back to Nigel. "Yes, that's the shade I want."
Nigel nods, ripping open a second box. He pulls on a pair of thin plastic gloves, and they make a pleasant crinkling sound. "I'm gonna do the bleach first, then we'll rinse that out and do the dye."
He tenses when Nigel wraps a towel around his neck, his gloved fingers dragging over his skin and tickling his nape. "Just to keep the bleach off your clothes," he says, observant enough to pick up on Adam's body language but not enough to know why Adam is so tense. "And any hairs, if we end up giving you a trim."
Nigel shakes the bottle in his hand, and the reality of his situation sinks in. "Will?" Adam calls.
Will is sitting in another dining chair, completely consumed by the task of scowling at his phone. "Yeah?"
"...Are you sure I'm not going to get in trouble for this?" he asks. He's asked this a lot of times now, enough that he can tell Will is annoyed by the repetition.
His brother barely looks up. "Yeah, I'm sure. I mean, what's Dad gonna do if he doesn't like it? Shave your head?"
Adam's eye's go wide. "You don't think he'd really do that, do you?"
Will rolls his eyes, sets his phone down on the table. "If you want me to be honest with you, I doubt he's even gonna fucking notice you dyed it if you don't bring it up." His voice has gone hard, now. Sharp. Will is angry. "It's not like he ever gives a shit about—"
He stops himself, then. Looks to Nigel, then to Adam, then to the floor. "...It'll be fine, Adam. If he gets pissed at you, I'll take the fall, okay? I'll tell him that I made you do it."
Adam frowns. "Why would you make me dye my hair?"
"It doesn't matter, okay?" Will leans forward, elbows on his knees as he looks at Adam's face. "Look, you wanted to dye your hair blue, right? You've been talking about it for weeks. Don't let Dad stop you from doing what you want to do. He does shit you don't like all the time, and it never stops him. Why should it stop you?"
He thinks that over for a moment. He can't seem to come up with a very good answer to that question. Instead he looks up at Nigel, still holding the bottle of bleach. Waiting.
"I'm ready," Adam says, his voice only wavering a little. "Do it."
-
Bleaching his hair is... uncomfortable.
The first part isn't, when Nigel is gently combing his hair and separating sections with clips. That part is wonderful. Adam goes lax under Nigel's hands, almost melting. Then he forgets himself enough to hum happily, and Will laughs at him, and it makes Adam feel so embarrassed that he can't relax anymore. Nigel doesn't laugh, though. Nigel is the nicest friend Will's ever had, in Adam's opinion.
Sure, there had been friends who got better grades, had better manners, seemed nicer. But Nigel...
Will and Adam moved to this town with their dad two years ago, when Adam was thirteen and Will was fifteen. Nigel became friends with Will almost immediately, closer and better friends than Adam had ever seen Will be with anyone. And it made him sad, because Adam felt left out. He didn't go to school with them, and when Will invited Nigel over they would go into Will's bedroom and listen to loud music and play video games, and when Adam asked if he could join them Will almost always said no.
At the time Adam didn't understand why he was so upset by that. Not just by Will's rejection, but by being excluded from spending time with Nigel specifically. Will had friends before, friends who weren't Adam. And Adam hadn't liked them, so he hadn't asked to join them when they hung out with Will. But he wanted to be Nigel's friend, badly. Since the very beginning.
Adam still remembers meeting Nigel, seeing him stooping in their front doorway, sandy hair in his face and smile all crooked and eyes lighting up with mischief, like something funny was about to happen. Adam hadn't been old enough to understand how Nigel made him feel, not really. Just knew that he wanted to be near Nigel. Always. It made Will angry, and he complained about Adam being 'clingy', but Nigel was only ever kind to him.
Now Adam is fifteen and Will is seventeen, and Will has gradually begun to include Adam when he hangs out with Nigel, and Adam understands exactly why he'd always been so interested in his brother's best friend.
The bleach smells terrible. The sensation on his scalp is goopy and unpleasant, and it itches but Adam can't scratch it. Nigel is trying to 'make sure it saturates properly', which apparently necessitates tugging and pulling at Adam's hair almost constantly.
That last part is problematic for other reasons.
He bites his lip the first time it happens, but a high sound still manages to escape.
"Sorry," Nigel says quickly. "I'll be more gentle, okay?"
Adam takes a deep breath through his nose before he lets out an unsteady "Okay," but the words were the opposite of helpful. Luckily, Will seems absorbed in his phone at the moment, so his brother doesn't see that Adam is blushing bright red.
The next tug is sharper, and it feels almost intentional. Like Nigel wanted to see what would happen if he pulled Adam's hair again.
"Nnh!"
"Sorry, sorry! Christ, you're tender headed, huh?"
Adam tries to focus on his brother's phone screen, instead of the deep voice near his ear. He's reading back through his text history with someone, but Adam can't see who it is or what they're saying at this angle. "Y-yeah."
"Well I'm almost done with this part, yeah? Then we can move on to the fun part."
He steels himself. Almost done. He can do this. "You seem to know what you're doing," Adam notes, choosing conversation as a distraction.
Nigel grabs another chunk of hair. "Yeah, I've done this tons of times. You know Gabi Ibanescu? She's a Junior, she's got that firetruck red hair?"
Adam actually starts to relax again, just listening to Nigel speak. "Mhm."
"I've been dyeing her hair since she was a Freshman."
Will snorts. "Bet she's past due for a touch-up."
"Way past," Nigel confirms.
"Gonna be faded as shit for prom."
"Unless she wants to try dyeing her own hair, or pay out the nose to get it done."
Adam frowns. "You aren't going to dye Gabi's hair for prom?"
Nigel huffs. "Fuck no."
"Is that because she broke up with you?"
"Adam!"
The scolding note in his brother's voice makes him tense, and he realizes that Nigel's breakup with Gabi was the thing that Will thought Adam 'probably shouldn't talk about'. It was three weeks ago, though. But according to the gossip he'd overheard at lunch and from Will, it wasn't a very amicable breakup.
"No, Adam, I broke up with her," Nigel insists, "Because she's a cheating fucking bitch."
Will visibly cringes when Adam opens his mouth again. "But, I heard that Charlie—"
"Nigel dumped Gabi because she's a cheating fucking bitch," Will interrupts, giving Adam a very pointed look. "He dumped her, and everybody who says it was the other way around is a bitch, too. Okay?"
Adam hums. He's heard that Gabi did, in fact, break up with Nigel, but if Will and Nigel both say otherwise...
"She's a cheating fucking bitch," Adam agrees, and both older boys laugh. With most people, he would be worried that they were making fun of him, but he can tell by Will's smile that his brother just thinks Adam is being funny. Funny is good. Funny is cool.
-
Nigel's mother comes home while they're waiting for the bleach to activate. It startles all three of them— Adam straightens like a board in his chair, and Will and Nigel both rush to extinguish their cigarettes and air out their shirts.
"Hey— oh, hi boys."
"Hey Ma," Nigel says, casual as ever. Everything Nigel does seems so effortless. It makes Adam envious. Nigel is the coolest person Adam knows.
She looks at Adam's hair, plastered to his head with bleach. At the empty bottle and discarded gloves on the table. "What are you up to, hm?"
It seems pretty obvious to Adam. "Nigel bleached my hair, so that we can dye it blue," he replies, and Ms. Banyai lifts a brow.
"And your Father gave you permission to do that?"
Adam swallows. "He doesn't—"
"Of course he gave us permission," Will says, talking over Adam.
She narrows her eyes. "Is that true?" she prods, looking Adam in the face.
He shifts awkwardly in his seat. He looks to Nigel, then to Will, and then to Nigel again. Will looks a bit panicked, and Adam feels the same way. Adam hates lying, it makes him feel sick.
"...He doesn't care what I do," Adam says at last, his eyes downcast. It isn't a lie, technically.
After a moment, Ms. Banyai sighs, then turns her attention to Nigel. "And why's the window open, huh?"
Nigel shrugs. "You want the house smelling like bleach? It was giving Adam a headache."
That was true, but they'd only opened the window once Nigel and Will lit their cigarettes. Luckily, she doesn't ask Adam about that part.
"...Okay, sure, whatever," she says at last, making her way down the hall. "I'll be in my room if you need me, yeah? You boys wanna order a pizza or something? I'm starving."
"On it!" Nigel calls after her, already pulling out his phone. "What kind of pizza do you like, Adam?"
"Dude, your mom is so cool," Will says.
"She's cooler than you."
Will blows a lock of long hair from his face. "She's cooler than my fucking dad, definitely."
"I like my pizza plain," Adam says. He knows he's interrupting the flow of the conversation, which Will had told him is rude, but Nigel had asked and Adam hadn't had a chance to answer. "Just get what you like and I'll pick the toppings off myself."
Nigel nods. "Go ahead and hose off, bud. Timer goes off in like two minutes."
-
Adam couldn't have been happier to take a shower. His hair had felt greasy all day from neglecting to wash his hair the day before, and the bleach was a sensory nightmare. He makes quick work of washing his hair out, knowing that he has another shower ahead of them after they're finished with the dye.
Nigel had shown him the hair dryer, and Adam hates the noise of blow drying his hair but he tries to suffer through it anyway. After all, the process is already taking long enough without him taking the time to air dry.
Adam stares at himself in the mirror for a long moment once it's dry. He's... he's blonde. His eyebrows look almost impossibly dark in comparison, have they always been this dark? He runs his fingers through the pale yellow curls, struggling to believe that this is his real hair, actually attatched to his scalp. It's blonde. It'll be blue, soon, but right now Adam is blonde.
He smiles. Laughs at his own reflection. He ruffles his own hair with his hands, shakes his head just to watch it move.
Oh, being cool is fun.
He's giddy over how the afternoon is going. Hanging out with Nigel and Will, listening to the two of them banter back and forth, occasionally contributing something of his own. He thinks it's going well, so far. Hopes so.
Distantly, he can hear Nigel and Will down the hall, speaking back and forth. Once he's dressed and dry, he heads towards their voices.
"...You're being stupid, you know that?"
Adam slows, listening to his brother's voice. He sounds annoyed. Adam doesn't want to interrupt them if they're arguing.
"I'm not!" Nigel protests, and it sounds like his mouth is full. Adam breathes in and smells pizza. His stomach growls. "He's too fuckin'—"
"Oh, don't give me that 'too fucking young for you' bullshit again, man, he's two years younger than you!"
Adam stops a few feet from the doorway. Are they talking about... him, right now?
Nigel sighs. "Why do you care so much, anyway? He's your brother."
Adam frowns.
"Yeah, he is my brother, that's why I know that he fucking likes you."
He freezes. His heart stops. Will knows about his crush on Nigel? And now...
now Nigel knows.
He feels on the verge of tears. He covers his mouth to cover the sounds of his now quick, shallow breathing.
"And I know you like him, too."
No.
No, there's no way Adam heard that correctly. Definitely not.
Nigel sounds unsure when he answers. Soft. "You really think he's into me?"
Adam feels like he can see the way Will rolls his eyes when his brother sighs sharply. "God, you're so annoying, just talk to him!"
His pulse is still quick, but for a completely different reason. Nigel likes him back. He'd been scared to ever think this could happen, outside of daydreams. Trembling, Adam pinches himself.
"...Yeah. Yeah, okay, I will. Sorry, I'm just... kind of fucked up over Gabi, you know?"
"I know. Adam wouldn't cheat on someone, though."
No, he wouldn't. Especially not on Nigel. Why would he, when Nigel is already so kind, so funny, so handsome? He would be good to Nigel, treat him right and make him happy. He wants to.
After a moment, Nigel laughs. "Guess I shouldn't have expected you to care about me going after one of your relatives, huh? Would've been pretty fuckin' hypocritical."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Will demands, but his voice cracks awkwardly.
"So we're pretending that you didn't get to third base with Hannibal on New Year's?"
Will stammers for a moment before squeaking "No I didn't! We just—"
"Are you talking about your cousin Hannibal?" Adam asks, finally padding into the room. "The one who visited for Christmas?"
"Adam," Nigel says, and both boys' faces are flushing red. "Shit, bud, I didn't even hear you coming."
Adam reclaims his chair, eyes fixed on Will. "You had sex with Hannibal?"
"No!"
Nigel snorts. "Depends on your definition."
Adam remembers Hannibal. He was only in town for three weeks, during their Winter Break, but Will spent nearly all of his time with Nigel's family for the entire vacation. Will and Adam met Hannibal for the first time the day after school ended for the semester, and then Will had been at Nigel's house every day, and most nights. It had never occurred to Adam that Will had been there so often because he'd fallen for Nigel's cousin, but it made sense in hindsight.
"So are you and Hannibal together?" Adam asks. "Is he your boyfriend?"
Will scowls. "No."
"Think that also depends on your definition," Nigel adds, and grabs two slices of pizza from the table. He hands one to Adam. Extra cheese, nothing else. Adam smiles.
"You can't tell dad, Adam," Will warns him. "I'm serious, you can't fucking tell him."
"I won't, I promise. I wouldn't tell him that." Adam looks up at Nigel, smiling sheepishly. "I'm cool."
Nigel smiles back. The handsome, lopsided smile that makes Adam's stomach swoop. "Yeah you are. Definitely fuckin' cool."
That makes Adam beam. He focuses on eating his pizza, trying to keep his hands from happy stimming.
Will sighs, pushing his hair back. "I don't know, I thought... he made it seem like he really, really liked me, you know?"
"He did like you," Nigel says. "Hannibal doesn't like anybody, but he liked you."
"Then why isn't he fucking texting me?!" Will groans dramatically, and Nigel laughs. Adam laughs, too, because Nigel is laughing.
"Is that why you've been staring at your phone all day?" Adam asks, and Nigel laughs again. Will doesn't seem to think it's very funny.
His brother drags a hand down his face. "Yes, okay? He kept telling me that he wanted to see me again and shit, I don't know! So I told him that if he..." Will takes a breath, rubbing nervously at his arms. When he speaks again, he sends the words out in a rush. "I told him that if he could find a way to drive down here for it then I wanted him to go to prom with me. If he, you know, wanted to go to prom."
Adam blinks, looking down at the phone still clutched in Will's hand. "Oh."
Will nods. When he laughs, it still doesn't seem like he finds it all that funny. "I guess I freaked him out."
Suddenly, this day feels like more than just an opportunity to get closer to Nigel. Much, much more.
Nigel tosses his crust back into the open pizza box, wiping his hands off on his jeans. "Hey man, it's his loss, okay? If he doesn't realize that you're a fucking ten, then I don't know how he got into that fancy ass school to begin with, because he must be fucking brain dead."
Will nods. He still looks upset. "I guess you're right."
"I think it's good that you were upfront with him about your feelings, whether he replies or not," Adam pipes up nervously. "You aren't usually very good at that. I'm proud of you."
It's a very risky thing to say, at least in Adam's opinion, but he means it. To his immense relief, Will smiles. "Thanks, Adam."
-
Their conversation is much more evenly weighted as Nigel paints on the dye and waits for it to set. Adam is still nervous. Nigel still smells like cigarettes and cinnamon chewing gum, and he's still so close to Adam. He's still touching Adam's nape and ears with his gloved hands and running his fingers through Adam's hair. Adam feels a bit more relaxed this time, though.
Will is happier, too. Laughing and talking, his phone stashed in his pocket. It makes Adam feel much better. He's having fun.
Adam watches the water, deep indigo as it swirls into the drain. It's hypnotic. He enjoys the way the leftover dye stains the lather of the shampoo, tinting the bubbles where they cling to his palms. His hair nearly looks black again when he steps out of the shower, but the second blow-dry reveals the real final result.
It's exactly what he wanted. His fluffy curls are a deep blue, dark but vibrant when it hits the light. He starts stimming as he looks in the mirror, hands fluttering as he turns his head this way and that.
"Another happy customer?"
Adam tears his eyes away from his own reflection to see Nigel, staring at thim through the mirror. He spins on his heel, throws his arms around Nigel and holds him tight without a second thought.
"I love it!" Adam says, his voice half-muffled where he's pressed to the other boy's shoulder. "It's perfect, thank you so much!"
It takes a moment for Nigel to react, like he's stunned in place, and then his arms weave around Adam's body in return, his hands rubbing between Adam's shoulder blades. "Hey, no problem. It's my pleasure. Really."
Adam pulls away enough to grin up at him. "Do you like it?" he asks, shaking his head until his fringe falls over his eyes. "It's cool, right?"
Nigel is grinning back. "Fuck yeah! You look awesome, doll. My best work yet."
Adam's eyes widen. "Doll?" He asks, and Nigel's face turns blank.
He coughs, suddenly taking a step backwards. "I got something else for you, actually. Stay right here, I'll bring it."
"You got me something?" Adam asks, but Nigel is already speeding back to the dining room.
Adam can't stop thinking about the things he overheard. Nigel likes him back. It feels too good to be real, and yet it is. His mind buzzes with all the things he should do, things he should say.
Nigel returns in a flash, hiding something behind his back. "Close your eyes and cover your nose," he says, and Adam obeys, though not without confusion. A moment later, Adam hears the sound of a spray can being shaken, the hiss of blowing air, feels Nigel's fingers gently adjusting Adam's curls. He's grateful for the warning, now that he understands what's happening, breathing within his cupped hands and blocking out most of the fumes from the hairspray. He does wish Nigel would've asked first, though. He doesn't like how hairspray feels.
"Hang on, don't move your hands yet."
Adam nods, feels the air move around him as Nigel fans the bathroom with a handtowel. Clearing the scent.
"Alright. Ready?"
Slowly, Adam pulls his hands away from his face and opens his eyes. His hair is now dusted with golden glitter, sparkling in the sea of blue. Every time he moves, Adam sees more flecks of gold catch the light, his curls like a night sky full of twinkling stars.
"Well? Not bad for a finishing touch, right?"
All of the bouncing, bubbling joy that had been simmering in his chest has been replaced. He steps closer to the bathroom counter, staring at himself in the mirror with wide, awestruck eyes.
"I'm beautiful," Adam whispers.
It takes Nigel a moment to respond, and when he does Adam realizes that he's staring at the younger boy's reflection. "...Yeah. Yeah, you are."
From his spot in front of the mirror, Adam could see his own cheeks turning pink. "Um, Nigel—"
"You know," Nigel says, clearing his throat a bit awkwardly. "You should wear it like this to prom. All that sparkle, there'll be eyes all over you."
Adam opens his mouth to say that the only person he's ever wanted looking at him is Nigel, but instead he sighs and says "I wasn't actually planning on going."
Nigel blinks. "No? Why not— you don't wanna go to prom?"
"I do," he says, crossing his arms across his chest. "I just don't have anyone to go with. And everyone says people who go to dances alone are losers."
The older boy rolls his eyes, stepping closer behind him with a smile that, if Adam didn't know him to be a very confident person, might have seemed shy. "Well first off, if anybody calls you a loser, you just tell me and I'll kick their ass." Adam laughs, and it makes Nigel's smile grow. "Second, you should still go, if you wanna go."
He hums. "Maybe, I don't know."
"Tell you what." Nigel leans on the counter beside him, looking at Adam sidelong instead of at his reflection. "If nobody else asks you, then... then I'll be your date. How's that sound?"
Adam's heart stutters. His eyes lock onto his own fidgeting hands. "Okay," he says softly. "I-I'd like that, Nigel."
Nigel breathes out an amused huff, still watching Adam. Adam licks his lips, turning quickly to press a peck on Nigel's cheek before he can lose his nerves.
He isn't expecting Nigel to chase him when he pulls away, and he makes a muffled sound of surprise against the other boy's lips. Adam freezes for a moment, frightened and shocked and exhilarated all at once. He's never been kissed before. He's not sure what he's meant to do, how it's meant to feel.
Kissing Nigel feels very, very nice though.
Nigel makes a sound of his own, though this one sounds more like a moan than Adam's yelp, lips pressing and releasing over his own again and again. The next moment, Adam is being spun until his back hits the bathroom counter, his shaking hands gripping the edge tightly. Nigel's hands brace on the counter near his own, his shoulders hunching as Nigel lowers himself to find Adam's lips again. Accommodating for their considerable height difference, Adam tilts his head upwards, feeling much less nervous when Nigel connects their lips again.
Adam feels like he's on fire, every part of him is burning up and his heart is slamming against his sternum. He kisses Nigel harder, gasping into it when the older boy sucks Adam's lower lip into his mouth for a moment.
"Guys, I just got a message from Han— oh shit!"
Nigel is laughing when he pulls away, smiling wide and his eyes still fixed on Adam. "See? I fucking told you he was nuts about you," Nigel teases, pushing back from the counter as if nothing had happened. Adam tries to make himself laugh, but he's too dazed to manage more than a loose, stupid smile.
"What did he say?" Nigel asks.
Will shakes his head, still embarrassed that he'd interrupted, but a moment later he's back to grinning at his phone. "He said that he'll try his best, but if he can't make it then he promises to come to graduation."
Adam brings the tips of two trembling fingers to his own lips, touching the tingling flesh like he's checking to make sure his lips are still attached.
"Woah, Adam," Will says, like he's finally noticed that his brother is in the room. "Your hair looks fucking amazing. If dad tries to make you change it, I'll threaten to get you a tattoo, okay?"
He smiles, reaching up to touch his curls before remembering that they're currently covered in glitter. "Thank you," he says a bit awkwardly, still reeling over his first kiss. His grin falls a bit. "You won't really make me get a tattoo, though, right?"
Will doesn't reply. His phone buzzes again and he giggles, a sound Adam hasn't heard Will make since they were in middle school. He's beaming as he shows Nigel the screen. "Look at that! He said he can't stop thinking about me lately! That's — oh my god, what do I say?"
He's already heading back to the kitchen, speaking almost frantically to Nigel all the while. "Should I say it back? I mean, I have been thinking about him, but should I say that?"
The sound of his voice fades a bit, and Adam takes a centering breath before moving to follow them.
Suddenly, Nigel darts back into the hallway, catches Adam by the jaw, and steals one last quick kiss from his lips.
"I know you and Will are gonna have to leave soon," he says softly. "But maybe next weekend you and me could go see a movie or something? Like, as a date?"
Adam's smile is wide and genuine. "Yes, I'd love to."
Nigel grins back, and Adam's knees nearly buckle when he winks. "Cool."