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"Do you want just cheese or also salami?"
"Just cheese. The orange one," Ryan sniffled as he sat on the kitchen counter, wiping his nose with the sleeve of his (well, Chad's) hoodie.
"Okay," Chad nodded his head as he put the pathetic sandwich into the sandwich maker, immediately hearing the cheese sizzle from the heat. He knew Ryan liked it the most this way, with a side of ketchup to dip the toast in. He glanced at the blond boy, whose eyes were fixated on the floor as he dangled his feet slightly.
Ryan showed up like this, looking like a sad wet kitten, an hour ago or so. Chad was taken aback, because, as long as they've been friends for, he hadn't seen Ryan broken like that. Sobbing and shoulders shaking and tears on his cheeks and shit... He was worried, to say the least. It took a concerningly long amount of time calm Ryan down, too.
Chad had no clue what to do, because no matter what he said to the boy, it didn't help. No comforting, no joking, nothing did the trick. Eventually he just... Started rocking Ryan back and forth and holding his head gently. He got the idea because he remembered Evans holding his cat like that, babying him while whispering various cutesy petnames. And Chad would've done that, too, if he wasn't a coward. Instead, he just shushed the crying mess until he finally calmed down, his breath unsteady, eyes red from crying.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Chad had asked after a few minutes, leaning back slightly to look at Ryan, but he shook his head. "Can I do anything?"
"Just... Please, hold me like that."
And he did, and holding him had felt so natural that Chad wondered why in the world he's never done it before, considering how much he cares about Ryan, and at that moment, he decided that from this day, he's going to give Ryan much, much more affection. He realized, only now, how much the smaller boy loved hugging pillows - he was probably too scared to ask upfront. Of course.
Then, Chad wanted to take proper care of Ryan, starting from getting him something to eat. While they were getting up, Chad also quickly gave Ryan one of his hoodies, seeing the boy tremble from the cold. It was late September, after all.
Now, as Chad was waiting for the sandwich to get done, he made eye contact with Ryan and shot him a warm smile. Ryan smiled back faintly before looking at the floor again, playing with the strings of the hoodie.
"Hey," the taller of the two said quietly, walking over to the other boy and standing in front of him, ending up between his legs.
"Hi," Ryan said, a bit confused, looking up at Chad.
"How come we've never, like... Hugged?"
"We do hug, everytime we do our greeting. And goodbye."
"Yeah, but I mean like, a proper snuggle."
Ryan blinked, surprised at the question. He shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't think you were the type, and the last thing I'd want to do is make you uncomfortable," he explained awkwardly.
Chad felt... Almost mad at himself. Did Ryan really see it that way? Whenever they hugged, he felt all warm and fuzzy inside, and his heart beat just a little faster, and it was so comfortable and Ryan always smelled so nice...
That's it. If he made Ryan scared to approach, he was gonna be the one to initiate it. Like he did right now, wrapping his arms tightly around the smaller frame, and Ryan immediately melted into the embrace, hugging Chad with both arms and legs, like a little monkey or koala bear. Chad smiled, his lungs feeling weird, as if moss had covered them, and a swarm of butterflies swatted their wings right in his stomach, fluttering more furiously when Ryan hid his face in the crook of Chad's neck and let out a small groan that signified his comfortable-ness.
This felt amazing, and they would have stayed like this for all eternity if it weren't for Ryan's toasts almost burning. Chad quickly, but reluctantly, parted, leaving Ryan alone and disappointed, as he quickly grabbed the hot sandwiches and placed them on a plate, squeezing a bit of ketchup next to them and handing the dish to Ryan, whose mouth nearly watered.
"Thank you," he said, looking up at Chad with a small smile before going down on his meal, acting as if he hadn't eaten in weeks.
"Anytime," the taller boy said, so far proud of what he'd done to help.
While Ryan was busy eating, Chad decided to make some tea, preferably peach, since Ryan liked it - after pouring some water in the kettle and turning it on, he started searching one of the cabinets. And finally, the last bag of peach tea! As for himself, he chose simple earl grey.
While he waited for the water to boil, he turned to face his best friend once again, witnessing him putting the plate on the counter.
"Are you still hungry?" He asked, ready to make more sandwiches.
"No, I'm good. Thank you."
Chad hummed. That meant dessert. Thankfully, he had some wafers left from the last time Ryan was over - the dutch ones, with caramel in the middle that went really soft after you put it on a mug with tea for a while. Ryan loved them. Chad promised to take him to the Netherlands one day so they could taste some authentic wafers instead of Walmart ones.
Finally, he heard the kettle click, which meant that the water was done boiling. Quickly, he poured the hot water into the two cups, grabbing them and handing the bigger one to Ryan - it was really ugly, with a defaced snowman, and Ryan loved it.
"Peach?" The blond asked, carefully taking his tea.
"Duh," Chad smiled at him as he opened one of the cabinets once again, taking the wafers and then making his way over to his living room, looking at the other boy, who got the sign and followed, careful not to spill the hot beverage.
As Evans sat on the couch, Chad set the snacks and his mug on the coffee table and kneeled next to the TV, looking through the various VHS tapes which laid on a shelf under it. Furrowing his brows, focusing, he tried to pick what he thought Ryan would like best. He went with Goosebumps. Classic.
After turning the TV on and playing the casette, he sat next to Ryan, the old couch dipping under his weight.
"Oh, I love that episode!" Ryan said enthusiastically as he focused on the screen, smiling faintly, taking a sip of his tea.
"I know," Chad grinned proudly.
Danforth couldn't help but look over at the blond boy every few seconds, making sure he's fine - he seemed to be so, his small figure curled up on the couch as he drank from the cup, slurping slightly, already done with the first caramel wafer. However, Chad still felt he could do better. And so he did.
He laid down on the couch, catching Ryan's attention, and opened his arms, gesturing invitingly to his friend who didn't hesitate for a split second - setting his mug aside, he laid down on Chad, head on his chest and arms wrapping around the taller boy. Chad could hear his, as well as Ryan's, heart beat faster, but he reciprocated the hug, his thumbs rubbing cirlces on Ryan's back lazily. It seemed to comfort the boy a lot.
Once again, he wondered, why hadn't they done this before? It felt so effortless, and their bodies fit together perfectly, like a jigsaw, like they were made for one another.
"Comfortable?" He whispered, hearing Ryan's breathing finally get steady.
"Yeah, very."