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“Have you ever played gay chicken?” Daniel asked.
Wheeler looked over at his friend next to him on the couch. He was staring down at his lap. “The one where you go in for a kiss and the first one to back out loses?”
“Yeah.” Daniel made quick eye contact then looked back down at his lap. “I mean, we also did the version where we would slide our hands up each other’s thighs.”
Wheeler cocked an eyebrow at him. “You used to play gay chicken?”
“I mean, we always ended up chickening out,” Daniel said defensively. “You?”
“Never played it.”
Daniel quickly turned to face Wheeler. He seemed distraught. “What do you mean you never played gay chicken?”
Wheeler was taken back by Daniel’s sudden shift in intensity. “I dunno, I just never did. I didn’t have many guy friends in high school and we were secure enough in our sexuality that we never felt the need to, I guess.”
“No, no, no… this isn’t about being secure in your sexuality, it’s just a funny game, okay? I’m super secure in my sexuality. Always have been. Straight as a line.”
“I just think it’s odd that there’s a game where you prove how straight you are by doing gay things with your friends.”
Daniel’s eyes flicked back and forth as though scanning through his mind for a response. “I– it’s not gay, though. That’s the whole point . If you chicken out, that means you are gay because your trying to show that you aren’t gay.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I feel like it makes perfect sense.”
“You said chickening out means your gay and yet earlier you said you chickened out all the time.”
Daniel’s face got hot and he balled his fists. “I’m not– you know what? We’re playing it right now.”
Wheeler rolled his eyes. “Really?”
“Yes!”
“Alright,” Wheeler sighed, shifting himself to be fully facing Daniel.
Daniel intensely stared Wheeler in the eyes. “Okay.”
“Okay.” Wheeler slowly started moving closer and Daniel followed suit. Their noses were about an inch away from each other when Wheeler closed his eyes.
Daniel jerked away. “Wait, hold on, hold on, you can’t do that!”
Wheeler opened his eyes, confusedly. “What?”
Daniel searched for an answer. “You can’t close your eyes! That looks like you’re into it!”
“It’s definitely weirder to have your eyes open.”
Daniel thought for a moment. “Okay, you’re right. Let’s try again. That one didn’t count.”
Wheeler rolled his eyes and started moving closer, once again.
Daniel closed his eyes, tight, trying to imagine a girl. Not any girl in particular. He wasn’t crushing on any girls at the moment. He just imagined a girl he saw in a Loreal ad earlier that day. Good enough. Daniel then felt a hand go up his thigh. He pushed Wheeler away. “Woah! We didn’t talk about that!”
“You literally said you did that with your friends.” Wheeler was starting to get frustrated. Part of him wanted to just grab Daniel and kiss him just so he would stop being so weird about it. “I don’t understand why you won’t just do this!”
“We never did both at the same time!”
Wheeler grabbed Daniel’s shoulders and shook him. “Who cares! It’s just a kiss! It’s just touching! It doesn’t mean jackshit.”
Averting his gaze, Daniel pursed his lips. Quietly, “Maybe it means something to me.”
Wheeler dropped his hands from Daniel’s shoulders and folded them in his lap. “What?” he asked, softly.
Daniel, a panicked look in his eyes, got up from the couch they were sitting on. “Never mind. I’m just gonna go.”
Wheeler watched as Daniel made his way to the front of his apartment. “Danny, where are you going?”
Daniel grabbed the doorknob. “Home. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Before he could turn the knob, Wheeler rushed over and grabbed his hand. Daniel looked at Wheeler with a softness in his eyes. Wheeler returned the look.
“Don’t go.” Wheeler lightly squeezed Daniel’s hand.
He looked down at the sight of his hand being held by his friend’s. He smiled. He wanted to freeze time. “Then make me stay. What’s stopping me from driving five hours back to Buffalo right now? We could never see each other again and forget this ever happened.”
Wheeler held tight to Daniel’s hand, as he took his other hand and placed it gently in the crook of his neck. “You’re right. Maybe it’s not just a kiss.”
Daniel felt frozen in place. He couldn’t move. He wanted to move. Whether that be towards or away, he couldn’t tell. He just felt the warmth of Wheeler’s hand on his neck and all inhibitions melted away. He tried to think about how he felt about Wheeler. He’s a friend. A great friend, even. Throughout all their fights and the things they do that piss each other off, they still slept on each other’s couches and road tripped to each indy show together. Every match they’ve ever had together was one for the books. Their in-ring chemistry is something that can never be replicated by anyone else.
But what about this? This moment, here and now? Outside of the ring. Out of their ring gear. What did Daniel feel about Wheeler?
Daniel filled the gap that separated him and Wheeler, pressing his lips against his friend’s. The kiss was gentle and light. They separated after a few seconds. They stared at each other, wordlessly, for a few seconds more.
“Does that mean we win the game?” Wheeler asked.
Daniel giggled and ducked his head into Wheeler’s chest. “Shut up ,” he groaned.
Wheeler took a finger and brought Daniel’s chin back up, revealing the heavy blush that sat in his cheeks. “Can we, maybe, play it again?”
Daniel kissed him again. “And again.” Kiss. “And again.” Kiss. “And again.” Kiss. A much longer kiss this time, in which Wheeler wrapped his arms around Daniel’s waist.
Wheeler separated from Daniel, but still had his arms around him. “You know what I wanna do right now?”
Daniel smirked. “What?”
“Let’s go get Sonic,” Wheeler said, completely matter-of-factly.
“Yuta, seriously?”
“What? Mozzarella sticks sound really good right now.”
“We just kissed and now you’re thinking about food?”
“We get Sonic all the time together. How is this any different?”
Daniel felt himself get flustered. “Because– I just– this was a big deal for me.”
Wheeler sighed and pursed his lips. “This is a big deal for me too. I really like you, Danny. I always have. As both a friend and whatever this is going to pan out to be. I just don’t want anything to be different now.”
“What is this, then? What are we now?” Daniel asked, softly.
Wheeler thought for a moment. “I think… whatever we want to be.”
“What if what you want us to be is different from what I want us to be? What then?”
“Then we will figure it out.” Wheeler interlaced his fingers with Daniel’s and brought his hand up to his mouth. He kissed the hand of Daniel. “Can we not worry about that right now? It’s almost one in the morning, I’m hungry, and I want us to get Sonic like we always do because nothing has changed in our friendship besides the fact that we kissed, okay?”
Daniel threw his head back, laughing. “Yeah, you’re right, nothing has changed. Including how relentless you are.”
Yuta smiled and put his arm around Daniel. He grabbed his keys off a hook near the doorway and opened the front door. “Let’s go.”
As they crossed the threshold, Daniel stopped. “I love you.”
Yuta turned around to look at him. He softly smiled. “I love you, too.”
“Good.”