Chapter Text
Michael Vincent Jones waited outside the band room, sitting slumped against the wall as he always did. The cacophony of noise that blared through made Michael laugh. It was after graduation and all the seniors that held the band together had left already, leaving the band to stand on the junior's shoulders. Turned out it was not such a great idea.
“Okay okay, stop! Practice your pieces and do better next week!” The conductor’s voice rang out over the off-tune mess that was a band piece. Tap tap tap, the creaking of the door, a mad rush to the car and off he went. Michael watched the conductor drive out the school.
“Hey, been waiting long?” Gavin David Free’s voice called out. Michael stood up and slung his bag pack over his shoulder. They started walking out of the school.
“Not really. Looks like your conductor didn’t like what he was hearing eh?” Michael nudged Gavin in the side.
“Look, we just need a little bit of practice!” Gavin’s voice sounded defensive. Michael turned to look at Gavin, sandy brown hair covering squinting green eyes. He felt happy. Gavin’s eyes met Michaels.
“What’s up?” Gavin brushed his hair out of his face.
“Nothing, you’ve just got something on your face.” Michael shrugged, voice nonchalant.
“What?” Gavin stopped walking and touched his face. Michael grinned; Gavin always fell for the same prank.
“My fist.” Michael lightly tapped his fist against Gavin’s face. Michael would never actually punch Gavin, why on earth would he punch his best friend.
“Hey! You bastard!” Gavin squawked, flailing his arms around. Michael laughed and ruffled Gavin’s hair. Gavin stopped flailing and grinned at Michael.
“Hi Mrs. Free!” Michael called out as he grabbed two cans of Coke, bread and the bottle of peanut butter and jelly.
“Why hello there Michael, where is Megan and Ray?” Gavin’s mother smiled as she saw Michael enter Gavin’s room.
“They didn’t want to wait till band practice was over,” Michael replied as he set the food down on the study table. Gavin was in the bathroom taking a shower.
“Of course, have fun. Make sure to finish your homework.” Gavin’s mother smiled.
“Oh Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?” Gavin exaggerated his English accent even further and spoke with gusto. They both broke into laughter.
“If only that stuffy Mr. Sorola broke into dramatic enactment of this we would actually pay attention to class.” Michael joked. Gavin rapidly shook his head in agreement.
“Literature is so hard, doesn’t really help that we have to read this in original Shakespearean.” Gavin moaned as he dropped the book on his face. It hit his face with a slight thud. The boy groaned even louder.
“Let’s just finish this quickly then we can play that new game that you got,” Michael spoke, furiously scribbling in his book. He did not have a PlayStation 4 at home; that was one of the reasons why he always hung out at Gavin’s house. He was excited to play Rocket League on the 40-inch television that Gavin had in his room. Michael was sure it would totally beat playing it on his laptop.
“Yeah, I’ve been waiting to play that game!” Gavin regained energy and quickly sat up, back resting against the foot of his bed, pen in hand. Michael smiled. Gavin looked so animated and happy.
It was all so simple. Just two best friends, doing homework, playing video games.
“I’m absolutely knackered,” Gavin yawned as he lay his head down on Michael’s leg. It was 6:30 pm, they had been doing literature homework for about 2 hours.
“Your bed is literally right next to us Gav.” Michael protested; patting the bed he was resting against.
“But you’re right here. Now shush and let me sleep.” Gavin’s voice slurred together and he shifted into a more comfortable position.
“Get off me Gavin, go sleep on your bed!” Michael started to move away, but Gavin opened his eyes and stared up at Michael.
“Just for a while, I’m too lazy to move.” Gavin’s voice lowered to a whisper and trailed off. Michael could not move even if he wanted to. He felt bad waking up the tired boy.
Michael stared at Gavin. He found that he looked at Gavin a lot and wondered if that was normal. Gavin had a slight 5 o’clock shadow that made his baby face look more mature. The dark circles under his eyes were not bad, but Michael thought that Gavin needed more sleep. Michael could not help but run his hand down Gavin’s calm sleeping face. Gavin had soft cheekbones, a slightly crooked nose. Michael’s fingers stopped at Gavin’s lips. They were soft, supple. Michael almost leaned down to kiss those lips.
Michael quickly looked away, he could not move lest he woke up the sleeping brown-haired boy, but he was hyper-aware of his rapid heartbeats, increasing temperature and the boy who was sleeping with his head resting on Michael’s thigh. He looked up at the ceiling and hoped that those feelings went away. Michael counted the quiet breaths and his settling heartbeats before the ceiling faded to black.
It was all so simple. Just two best friends; finished doing homework, played video games and now sleeping together. It was supposed to be all so simple.