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“You play guitar?”
It was Chase’s first time in Hunter’s apartment. Most of their hangouts were either at his place, or some abandoned locale, so he’d been excited to check out his best friend’s home.
The place looked pretty normal: there was a small kitchen near the front door, with the living room directly adjacent. The beige walls were largely bare, save for a clock hanging in the kitchen. The only real glimpse of personality was the old guitar case leaning against the couch.
“Huh?” Hunter turned away from the glass of water he was pouring, then frowned when he saw where Chase was looking. “Oh, uh, yeah. Sometimes.”
“That’s so cool dude! Will you play me something?”
If Chase was paying attention, he would’ve noticed Hunter almost drop the glass. “No.”
“Aw, why not?” Chase asked. “Got stage fright or something?”
He’d meant it as a joke, something that Hunter would snark back at, but was only met with tense silence.
“Wait… do you actually have stage fright?”
“I- Shut up!” Hunter retorted. “I don’t like playing in front of an audience, okay?”
“Even an audience of one?”
“...”
“Aw, dude… as much as I’d like a song, I won’t make you do it if you’re actually uncomfortable. You know that, right?”
Hunter was quiet for several moments. Finally, he sighed. “You get one song.”
“Woohoo!” Chase fist pumped the air. “I’m sure it’ll be awesome , man!”
“Yeah, yeah…” Hunter went over to the case and opened it to reveal a deep-purple acoustic guitar. He gently removed the guitar and sat on the couch to adjust it. When he was done tuning the strings, he strummed a few chords, took a deep breath, and began to sing.
“Don’t stay up too late, but I’ve got to let you know that you’ve been on my mind …”
And just like that, Chase was enraptured.
Hunter’s voice was low and breathy, and he carried the words beautifully. His fingers moved nimbly over each string, as though playing was second-nature to him.
“I hope it’s mutual ‘cause I think I could get used to this …”
Chase could hardly believe what he was witnessing. Hunter’s speaking voice was normally so flat , yet his singing was so soft, so passionate, like he actually cared about giving a good performance.
Like he actually cared about what Chase thought of him.
“Say the word and I’ll be on the way. If you need me, I’ll be here to stay …”
As the song came to a close, Hunter’s voice gradually grew quiet until it ceased entirely. When he was done, he looked over at Chase, and startled like a deer in headlights. “...Why are you looking at me like that.”
“Like what?” Chase asked with feigned innocence. He knew full well that he had a tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve; there was no way he wasn’t looking at Hunter with the most lovestruck expression.
“Like…” Hunter gestured helplessly. “You know.”
“I don’t, actually. Care to enlighten me?” Chase was absolutely having too much fun with this.
Hunter huffed in annoyance. “Never mind.”
“Okay, okay.” He could’ve stopped there. Should’ve stopped there, probably.
“Why a love song, though?”
Never let it be said that Chase knows when to quit.
Hunter, now red as a tomato, spluttered indignantly. “Wh- what do you mean ‘why?!’ You asked for a song and I just happened to know that one, it doesn’t mean anything!”
“Oh really?” Chase asked with a smirk. “You sure there isn’t anything you want to tell me?”
“Quite sure,” Hunter scowled.
“Alright, if you say so,” Chase said with a shrug. Internally, though, he was absolutely ecstatic; Hunter had played him a love song. A genuine, sappy, cute-as-hell love song.
A song about wishing one’s feelings were requited…
Chase was by no means an expert on relationships, but he was quite certain that was not something platonic bros typically did.
Holy shit, does Hunter actually have a crush on me?
Chase had joked about it a few times, sure, but he’d never actually entertained the idea. He always just chalked Hunter’s defensiveness up to general emotional repression.
If Hunter did like him back, though… well, there was no chance of Hunter making the first move, so either Chase had to work up the nerve to confess or they’d be stuck in this weird limbo forever. And seeing as how the second option wasn’t particularly appealing, that left confessing his feelings to Hunter.
Yep, all he had to do was ask out his closest, most repressed friend in the entire world. No big deal. Surely it couldn’t be that hard, right?