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Phoenix already regretted agreeing to come to the party… but Larry could give some incredibly convincing (and woefully pathetic) puppy dog eyes when he really needed to, so now he was standing in the living room of a girl he didn’t know (though he knew that her name was Lotta Monai, he’s heard it enough times by now), surrounded by people he didn’t like, listening to music he barely knew the words to. He checked his phone again, hoping desperately that Miles wasn’t going to duck out at the last minute and leave him to deal with this by himself… though he was quickly losing that hope, at least until-
“Miles! Oh, thank god.” He visibly relaxed when he realized he could see the other boy making his way over to him, grinning. “Hey! I didn’t know if you were coming… I thought you’d abandoned me to deal with Larry and his newest girlfriend all alone.”
“Pfft, never. Dad just had something in the oven that took longer than expected,” Miles explained. He stepped closer and pulled Phoenix into a one-armed hug, quickly sneaking a kiss right next to his ear. “I honestly can’t wait to have my own car, even though dad hardly ever says no to taking me anywhere.” He glanced around. “Is the party any good?”
“I don’t know anybody and the music sucks… but there’s a lot of alcohol so…” Phoenix shrugged, grinning. “That’s the one thing making it bearable.” He leaned into Miles’ side happily. “I’m glad you’re here… things are usually more fun once you’re around too.”
“Things will not be very fun if I see you drinking straight out of a bottle,” Miles stated icily. “I will tolerate Vodka Orange, Rum and Coke, or some sort of fruity fizz, but we’re both under drinking age. Most people here probably are…”
Looking around, there were a couple of older kids. Their presence was likely an attempt made by the otherwise underage host to make the party more appealing. The house itself was quite nice, with a decent-sized pool in the back, where people were undoubtedly going to take a dip - and hopefully nothing worse, with the alcohol around.
“Larry said something about his girlfriend having an older brother so… it’s a fifty-fifty split.” Phoenix hummed, rolling his eyes fondly. “I promise, I’m not getting that drunk… you wanna try my drink though? It’s vodka and coke… it’s not bad.” He held his cup out to his boyfriend. “It’s a nice place, isn’t it… God, could you imagine growing up with access to a pool whenever? How awesome would that have been?”
“There is a public one close to us,” Miles mentioned. “I just never quite liked going. The other kids were too loud, and… they hardly ever approached me.” He smiled a little. “Dad used to teach me how to swim there though.” He sighed. “Fine… let me take a sip. How on earth did Larry score a girlfriend who’s so well off? He’s almost always broke.”
“Have you seen Larry when he’s actually trying to get with somebody? I’ll give him credit where it’s due… the man has game,” Phoenix snorted, shaking his head. “He’s gotten really good at using the fact that he’s pretty good at art to his advantage. Turns out most teenage girls will melt a little for the ‘you’re so beautiful, I just wanted to draw you’ line.” He hummed, before playfully adding “think that would’ve worked if I tried it on you?”
“Maybe?” Miles hid behind the rim of the glass. The low light almost covered his blush. “I mean… I would have found it ridiculous. But I was… into you for a while so… It would’ve been sweet, too…”
“Really?” Phoenix grinned. “You know… I really would like to actually draw you sometime. I’ve copied a couple of photos of all three of us as kids but… it would be fun to actually draw from a live model.”
“Uh-huh.” Miles took a quick sip and frowned. “Mmh. Not quite for me, I guess… I’ll see if there’s something lighter.” He passed the glass back. “Is there anything going on aside from drinking and dancing? If you can call that dancing. I recognize a few people, but they’re not the ones I would know how to talk to.”
“Not really… I think everyone’s plan is to get wasted and do whatever kind of dancing that is… although I’d put five bucks on someone ending up naked in the pool before we go home.”
“Oh god.” Miles closed his eyes. “Why did we agree to come again? Let’s find some snacks at least then, and we should check, if maybe someone's playing Charades or Cards Against Humanity. I reckon the upstairs rooms are reserved for- couples.”
“Hey, if we get too bored, we could always go upstairs then.” Phoenix flirted, winking at him. “But yeah, there’s probably something to eat around here, let’s have a look.”
“We are absolutely not going upstairs!” Miles bristled, hoping that his deepening blush won’t be noticeable. “Not yet, anyway.” His fingers curled around Phoenix’s wrist, the gesture already familiar and comfortable after four months of official dating.
“Aww, you can’t blame me for trying!” Phoenix laughed as they headed off to the kitchen, letting his wrist slip just enough out of Miles’ grasp to take his hand instead.
The large, open-plan living room had an enormous TV that blasted music and people were dancing in front of it, where the furniture had been carefully removed beforehand. At the end of the room, there was a kitchen, separated from the living area by a counter, which, as well as the table shoved next to it, was covered in food: snacks, pizza boxes, various sweets, and sandwiches. Someone was actually working there, chopping up ingredients and stacking them on bread; they seemed to be enjoying themselves.
“Oh wow, okay this place has way better food than the last party Larry dragged me to,” Phoenix stated with much belief.
“Let’s hope the girl doesn't get bored of him for a while…” Miles took a good look around. “Is this pro catering? The sandwiches look really neat!”
“Hey, thanks!” The guy at the counter turned; his bright grin and the knife in his hand were just a touch unsettling. “Nah, I made those! I’m going to a catering school, so Cash - uh, Lotta’s bro - asked me to do some not-quite cooking here. Any requests? The fridge is stocked, and no one told me what not to use, so I’m serving caviar as well.”
“Well, I can’t blame you for that… any excuse to try the best stuff.” Phoenix laughed. “How’d you end up in the kitchen though? Did you just get bored of the party already or…”
“Cash actually paid me.” The guy grinned. “I’m guessing he wanted to eat something that’s actually food. And there’s a lot of kids around, and y’know, growing boys and their appetite. And I’m kinda enjoying it.” He laughed. “You don't get many chances to do kitchen work with music… The industry is damn cold. My mom runs an upscale restaurant and my dad’s actually a sushi chef working there, so cooking is kind of a passion in my family. I just like it less formal. And I came for some game Cash bought, not for the dancing. So? Would you like anything?”
“What do you recommend?” Miles asked, making the guy laugh.
“Nice move, nice. Let me see, we have-” He listed some ingredients; Miles tentatively picked one, and they had a little back-and-forth about the best matching options. Eventually, the aspiring chef produced a lovely sandwich on a paper plate, with an artistic drizzle of ketchup on top.
Phoenix couldn’t help the fond smile on his face as he leaned into his boyfriend’s side, listening to him and the would-be chef talking, though his curiosity eventually got the better of him and he asked: “Hey, what game did you mean?” after a second. “We were looking for something to do anyway.”
“Ah, I meant a video game, Assassin’s Creed… Been out for a month or so. Aand, I don’t think Cash is going to share.” The chef shrugged with an apologetic smile. “But I’m pretty sure something is going on, most parties have some games, Spin The Bottle if nothing else. There’s another living area upstairs, go take a look in there. How’s the food?”
“Excellent!” Miles replied, his words a little slurred through the bite he was busy chewing.
“Oh! Yeah, I’ve seen the game! It looks awesome… hope you get to try it.” Phoenix nodded, biting back a laugh at his boyfriend’s enthusiastic reaction. “God, I haven’t played Spin The Bottle in ages… or at least, I don’t remember playing it.” In hindsight, he didn’t remember a lot of the last party Larry had dragged him to, but Miles didn’t need to know how much he’d had that night. “That’ll be fun.”
Miles swallowed and squinted at Phoenix. “Isn’t that… a kissing game? Not that I go to parties, but I hear things.”
“I mean… yeah, but it doesn’t mean anything.” Phoenix nodded, before adding “if you don’t want to play though, we don’t have to… I don’t think I’m used to having a reason why I can’t play yet.” He admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Hmh.” Miles smiled at the chef and took a little bow. “Thank you for the food! It was great.”
The guy returned the gesture, grinning widely. “Do come back later if you’re hungry!”
“We’ll do. Hey, let’s grab something to drink. Then we can check out the house.” Miles gently nudged Phoenix along, leaning a little closer to him. “We can watch I guess, but I’m really not comfortable kissing random people. That’s… kind of icky, to me. I’m not judging, but-” He shrugged helplessly.
“No, I get it, don't worry,” Phoenix promised, wrapping an arm around him. “I think I forget how weird of a concept spin the bottle is… I mean, I’ve done it a few times, it’s how I ended up kissing Larry once. I love the guy, but he’s an awful kisser.” He snorted, shaking his head slightly. “Like I said, it’s fine, we don’t have to play.”
“Can’t be a truly awful kisser, after all, he’s got game.” Miles raised a brow. “I think he was just flustered by kissing another guy, who happens to be his best friend. Anyway. Let’s check out the house indeed, at least we’ll be doing something. Hopefully we’ll run into some nice enough people. We should find Larry, too. I’d like to see that girl of his.”
“God, please don’t say that’s the reason.” Phoenix shook his head. It felt like an oddly worrying parallel considering just how often he found himself absently daydreaming about kissing Miles… especially now that they were actually together. “Yeah, actually I’d like to meet his girlfriend too… I don’t think I’ve met her yet.” He hummed as they set off to look around for a bit.
It turned out that the house also had a pool table, and there was already a game going on, led by a young man, who, judging by how at ease he looked, was probably a family member. Out by the actual pool, people were drinking and talking, enjoying the admittedly stunning view of the city. There was a little pavilion-style building to the side entirely engulfed in smoke; someone probably brought a bong.
Upstairs, in addition to several small rooms, there was a more open area indeed, fitted with an actual conversation pit, and it was a relief to find that people were playing Charades.
“This place is gorgeous isn’t it?” Phoenix gushed. “How cool would it be, living somewhere like this?” For a second, he let himself admit that there was a reason he hadn’t said ‘growing up somewhere like this’… after all who did it hurt, daydreaming about the future. There was good money in being a lawyer sometimes, and if they were both working – because it was obvious in his mind that they’d still be together – maybe they could end up in a place like this… he shook his head after a second, dragging himself back to the present. “Hey, you wanna join the game for a bit before we go find Larry?”
“I’m not very good with Charades,” Miles admitted with a faint blush. “But I like watching. So if you want to join, I’ll gladly cheer you on from the side. I can join in the guessing if they let me.”
“They’ll probably let you… and it’s been a while since I got to be a dramatic theatre kid so…” Phoenix grinned, nodding. “C’mon, it’ll be fun… and if you get bored or anything, we can always just use finding Larry as an excuse to go.”
“A perfect escape plan,” Miles chuckled. “Okay!”
They politely inquired if they could play, and they were let in, though Miles got a few suspicious glances when he mentioned that he’d just like to guess.
The game turned out to be super fun, and when the other team failed, Miles scored one for his own, correctly guessing the prompt. People eventually started to playfully pelt him with popcorn, and swear at him for being too good.
Phoenix couldn’t help but feel more than a little bit proud of how quickly his boyfriend managed to guess the prompt every single time. Phoenix had been happy enough offering to get up and act on Miles’ turn, and he’d managed to get a few laughs just from how much effort he was putting into it… though he regretted getting up quite a lot when he realized another girl had joined the game and moved to sit much closer to his boyfriend than she had any real reason to.
Then again, she probably had a different opinion.
“Hi, I’m Will.” She smiled at Miles.
“Hello. I’m Miles,” he said tentatively. “Like, Wilhelmina…?”
She giggled. “No! My name is Wilsey.”
“That’s- very unique,” Miles said, trying to politely shift away from her. Her perfume certainly had character.
“Y’know, I thought I recognized you… You’re in my history class, aren’t you?” Will offered, tilting her head. “Mr. Hayes? I think I sit just behind you… you’re really smart.” She hummed, before shifting closer to him again and adding “you’re really handsome too.”
“Er, thank you.” Miles cleared his throat with a faint blush. Praise still got to him. “On both accounts. You are, uh.” He guessed she was pretty, though the make-up actually didn’t help much; but he had the vague feeling that he shouldn’t say that. And since he honestly couldn’t remember if he ever heard her speak up in class, he settled with something neutral. “You dress pretty well. It’s a nice shirt you’re wearing.” He was a little proud of himself for holding up the conversation so well.
“Aww, thanks!” Will giggled, grinning, before leaning over to him again. “Maybe if you ask me nicely I’ll let you see me without it,” she flirted.
That was Phoenix’s limit, and he was pretty sure that even if somebody hadn’t finally guessed his action, he’d have gone back to his boyfriend’s side when she started clearly trying to make a pass at him. “Hey love,” he offered, trying to give him the most casual smile he could as he retook his seat beside Miles, wrapping an arm around him. “Who’s this?”
“I don’t know,” Miles said very honestly. It dawned on him a moment later, that this was probably not a nice thing to say, so he amended. “This is Wilsey… Will, this is Phoenix.” He glanced at his boyfriend. “She sits behind me in history class… allegedly.” that last part was added in a murmur.
Phoenix had to bite back a laugh at his boyfriend’s comment, shaking his head slowly. “I kind of love it when you’re accidentally bitchy… it’s weirdly endearing.” He teased softly. “Hey, I’d say it’s nice to meet you but…” he was still a little bit buzzed and a little bit petty, so he couldn’t really resist.
“I could say the same for you.” Will nodded to Phoenix, giving him the same fake smile. “Aren’t you still playing the game? We were talking… it’s kind of rude to just butt in like that.”
Miles folded his lips and pulled his hands into his lap, feeling mighty awkward.
“Besides,” Will continued. “You really shouldn’t call your friend ‘love’.” She rolled her eyes. “It gives the wrong impression.”
“Friend?” Phoenix raised an eyebrow at that, going to continue the argument before looking back to his boyfriend and frowning slightly. “Hey, are you alright?” He asked quietly.
“Er.” Miles shifted uncomfortably. “I guess… I could use a drink?”
“Hey, there’s a bar up here!” Will offered readily. “I’ve seen some really nice stuff in there, and Lotta never said we couldn’t touch it, so… I can show you!” She leaned a bit closer, beaming at Miles. “Maybe some time away from the crowd will do you good. You’re all flushed. It’s very cute.”
“I’m trying really hard to be good right now because I don’t know if you want her to know about us, but I’m so close to starting a fight.” Phoenix muttered to himself, before glancing at his phone. “Oh hey, Larry finally texted me back… said he’s by the pool if you still wanna go find him?” he lied, offering his boyfriend an out if he wanted it.
“Oh!” Miles perked up. “Finally! We should go see him.” He turned to Will. “Thank you, and thanks for the offers, but I’m afraid I’m not interested in either.” He flashed a small grin at her and stood, pulling Phoenix up by the hand - and not letting go. “Thanks for saying hi.”
Phoenix grinned when Miles pulled him up, more than happy to lace their fingers together as the two of them headed downstairs (though he couldn’t resist throwing a smug smirk back to Will over his shoulder.) “God, what a bitch… I guess I should say he didn’t actually text me, by the way. I just figured you were sick of her.”
“Took me a moment, but I guessed.” Miles nodded. “She offered to show me her tits!” he whined, tugging on Phoenix’s sleeve. “What am I supposed to say to that? I’m- not good at handling these situations…! I bet she would have tried to lure me away so she could try to kiss me.”
“It’s kind of funny but I don’t think I’ve ever gotten jealous like that before…” Phoenix smiled slightly, shaking his head and dropping Miles’ hand for a second in favor of wrapping an arm around him. “Yeah, I probably would’ve started a fight if she’d tried that though… no way does she get to kiss you before I do.”
Miles chuckled and threw a side glance at Phoenix. “I don’t think I’d like her to ever kiss me… She’s just not my type. And besides, there are so many people around… I don’t know if a quiet corner even exists in this house.”
“Yeah, but people are too busy drinking and trying to get themselves laid to care about who’s kissing who.” Phoenix snorted, smiling as they headed out to the back garden. It was a little quieter and a little cooler outside and it felt good. “Alright, so she’s not your type, but am I?” He half-teased, unsure if he was trying to get a laugh or a fond eye roll from his boyfriend. “Would you wanna kiss me?” He teased, wiggling his eyebrows.
Miles gave him a sly grin, tipping his head to the side. “Maybe?” he offered. “How should I know? You’re my best friend, so it’s hard to say if you’d be my type. You’re probably not Larry’s, as we theorized before.” He tapped his chin, seemingly in deep thought. “Maybe I should try to kiss him, too. Who knows.”
“Trust me, not while he’s drunk… it’s not worth it.” Phoenix smiled slightly, before using the arm around his waist to pull Miles a little closer. “Besides… if we’re trying to figure out if I’m your type, wouldn’t it make more sense for you to kiss me? Y’know, to see if you enjoy it… it’s like science or something.”
“Scientifically speaking… You might be right,” Miles admitted, as a faint blush blossomed on his cheeks. “I should… sample the available material, huh?” His hands slid up along Phoenix’s and rested on his shoulders. “But…” Miles hesitated for a moment. “But what if I don’t like it? Not as in I don’t like you,” he amended quickly. “Just. Kissing.”
“Then we don’t have to do it.” Phoenix smiled, shaking his head and moving his hands to his boyfriend’s hips. “I promise, whether we can kiss or not won’t change how much I care about you.” He smiled slightly, leaning their foreheads together for a second. “I know I’m affectionate, but that’s not a deal breaker for me, not with you.”
Miles huffed a little laugh and let the tips of their noses touch. “Thanks. You are… Always so good to me.” He straightened and cleared his throat. “So-”
The next moment, the lights went out.
Miles flinched and he instinctively tightened his hold on Phoenix. They could hear the noise of confusion, a half-hearted scream, and even someone raising their voice; their tone was reassuring. By the pool, phones flashed up; the guests were laughing. Probably they were just dealing with a short blackout, or a breaker tripped.
Phoenix smiled slightly when Miles bumped their noses together, going to lean in and close the space- before suddenly they were in darkness. He’d thought for a second about still doing it before he felt his boyfriend flinching in his arms. “Hey, you alright?” He asked softly, shifting to wrap him in a hug, pulling him closer. “It’s probably just a blackout… it won’t last long.”
“I was just startled, that’s all.” Miles relaxed in the embrace. “And, you know… It is pretty dark, and we’re mostly alone, so… I’m thinking that perhaps I should conduct that experiment we mentioned. If… you’d be up for that.”
“I- yeah… yeah, we can do that.” Phoenix smiled as his eyes started adjusting to the darkness and he could see what he was doing at least enough to move a hand to Miles’ cheek. He’d been about to lean in… but the lights had suddenly gone back up, and he’d heard an all too familiar voice calling his name. “Oh god fucking damn it Larry.” He muttered under his breath, reluctantly pulling away from his boyfriend when he realized Larry was heading over to them. “Hey man.”
“Heyy!! I thought you guys didn’t even come!” Larry, blissfully oblivious to his friends’ plight, threw his arms around Phoenix and Miles, grinning brightly. “Where have you been? Hiding upstairs like that instead of mingling! Edgie, you’re a bad influence. Nerdifying this party animal here, how could you.” He patted Phoenix’s shoulder with a laugh. “Now come down, my lil’ Lotta should get to know my best buds, and it’s actually her birthday, so there will be cake! Also, one of her bro’s friends is in law school, so you can nerd out with him.” He playfully punched Miles. “Let’s gooo~”
Miles actually brightened a little. “Really? Okay… But I need to go to the bathroom first, don’t disappear on me, okay?”
“Pff, sure! The downstairs bathroom is opposite the stairs, go right ahead.”
Miles nodded and hurried away.
“I’ll wait here…” Phoenix nodded, watching Miles head off, before groaning softly. “Larry, dude, I love you… but you have the absolute worst timing.” He sighed, dragging a hand over his face. “You couldn’t have waited like… two seconds? I was finally gonna get a chance to kiss him!” He shook his head in defeat. “I’ve wanted to do that for ages now…”
“It’s not that I was aware, y’know,” Larry huffed. “So you really got it bad… I mean, I’m happy for you, really! You are… cute like that. Come along, Casanova.” He flung an arm around Phoenix and began idly ambling about. “I’m just having a hard time figuring out which one of you has the balls to do it. How long have you been dating? Four months and all you did was hold hands?”
“Oh fuck off… if it was anybody else, you know I’d have tried something by now, but… Miles is different.” Phoenix shook his head slightly. “I’m in love with him, Larry… like, I think it’s the ‘he’s the one for me’ kind of in love. I don’t want to ruin that by pushing too hard, y’know?” He whined softly. “This sucks… I want to kiss him so badly but I’m so scared I’ll ruin everything!”
“Okay, that’s… That's actually adorable,” Larry said with sparkles in his eyes. “I think you should live while you’re young, but if it really works for you… That’s cute!” He schooled his features to something more normal. “Okay, but, like, you’re not sure Edgie feels the same? You always got along well and, I mean, he’s been going out with you so- And he’s the kind of guy who’d tell you if you rushed. Then again, he’s also the kind of guy who’d hold stuff off until the wedding.”
“Larry, I’m too buzzed and my jeans are too tight for me to follow the ‘leaving stuff for the wedding’ train of thought without horribly embarrassing myself so…” Phoenix snorted a laugh. “I know he’d tell me if I pushed too far but… I don’t know, firsts are always hard, y’know? I want this so much, but I don’t want to make him uncomfortable, I’d rather just wait for a moment like… well, before you came over, y’know?”
“You’re not gonna let that slide, are you?” Larry made a face. “Well- Hmm.” He rubbed his chin. “Y’know what? I might be able to make up for that. Let’s just wait for Edgie so I can work my magic.” He was grinning shamelessly, which usually meant nothing good.
“Oh god help me, I’m going to regret telling you any of what I just told you, aren’t I?” Phoenix groaned softly. “Larry please don’t fuck me over here, I’m begging you.” He shook his head slightly. “You’ve got that ‘things are about to go really really badly’ look on your face.”
“Don’t go breaking my heart, Nicky! Trust me, I got this! Pinky promise!” Larry pulled out his phone just in time for Miles to exit the bathroom.
“Thanks, guys.” He smiled. “So, where’s-”
“Hey Edgie, what do you say to a photo?” Larry beamed. “It’s your first Christmas, right? With Nick. It’d be cute!”
“Like, me and Phoenix?” Miles blinked. “I- Actually… that’d be sweet, yeah.” He smiled at Phoenix. “I’m up for it.”
“Yeah, that would be kinda nice…” Phoenix nodded with a smile. “I don’t have many photos of just the two of us.” He still gave Larry a suspicious glance though. This was going to end badly for him, he was already pretty sure of that… but he’d at least hand it to Larry that his horribly misguided ideas usually went badly in interesting ways.
“I’ll take one for you then send it over,” Larry volunteered. “Stand in that doorway, it’s got good lighting.”
Miles pulled Phoenix over with a chuckle. “We should start taking more pictures. They say you can’t have enough, and we’ll have to have something to look at when we grow old.” He curled his arms around Phoenix’s waist.
“I really like the implication that you think we’ll at least still be in each others’ lives when we’re old.” Phoenix grinned, letting Miles tug him over to the doorway and wrapping his arms around him in response. “But you’re right… we really should take more pictures. I have a bunch of all three of us, but I don’t really have any of just me and you.” He shook his head slightly, before adding “there’s a pretty good chance this’ll end up being my phone Lock Screen for at least a while after Larry sends me it.” He smiled slightly, looking back to Larry and grinning for the photo.
“That’s right! Stick your asses out!” Larry laughed, and he took a few pictures - Phoenix wanted them, after all. “Oh hey,” he said then, glancing up. “I didn’t see that! Now, I’ll hop off, to inspect the cake, then I’ll ask Lottie when it’ll be served… Be back in a sec!” With that, he was off.
Miles looked up, not a little confused, and he blinked when he noticed the mistletoe hanging right above their heads. Someone went to great lengths to place it there because the doorway arch was so tall, the decoration wasn’t even really visible unless one tipped their heads up.
“Didn’t see- oh.” Phoenix froze for a second when he saw the mistletoe, eyes widening slightly. He had to bite back a laugh at that… he had to hand it to Larry, for all ninety percent of his ideas were terrible and misinformed… occasionally, he hit an absolute gem, and Phoenix absolutely owed him big time for this one. “I… huh. Mistletoe.” He smiled slightly to himself, hesitating for a second, before offering “is now a bad time to bring up our ‘experiment’? I mean… it is tradition.” He tried to keep his tone playful, he could always write it off as a joke if things went badly that way.
Miles glanced around, but the vicinity was deserted; he could see people in other rooms, out by the pool, but no one was paying much attention. That, and the lighting was really great; aside from the mistletoe, string lights were fixed to the doors, their soft glow adding much to the festive atmosphere.
“It is tradition, indeed,” he agreed. “And, well. Can’t say I’m not a little excited about this experiment…” His heart was beating faster as he pushed closer, tipping his head to the side, just a bit, leaning closer. What if I don't like it? But Phoenix promised… Phoenix… Oh, Phoenix, this is my first kiss, and I- I…! His hand rose to cup Phoenix’s jaw, to hold on to something, anything… Miles had never been this terrified in his entire life and wanted something more than this.
Phoenix had never really understood what people meant when they talked about feeling sparks or fireworks the first time they kissed someone… not until he finally, finally closed the space between them, catching Miles’ lips in a soft, almost painfully sweet kiss that made him feel a little like he was going to burst. Miles wasn’t his first kiss, but he was the first one that made his heart race like this because holy fucking shit he was kissing Miles! He was actually kissing Miles, and he couldn’t help but think that if he hadn’t already been madly in love with his best friend, that would’ve pushed him over the edge. He was a little breathless when they broke apart, grinning uncontrollably as he leaned their foreheads together. “That… wow.” He laughed softly, lost for anything more intelligent to say.
“Yeah… Wow.” Phoenix was once told by someone that he smiled like the sun; Miles, in turn, smiled like the moon. It was subtle, calm, and serene; but it brightened the sky just as much. He took a breath, ran his thumb over his boyfriend’s cheekbone, and looked into his eyes.
“Phoenix… I love you.”
“Miles…” Phoenix could count on one hand the number of times in his life something had completely and totally knocked him speechless, but that did. Looking into his boyfriend’s eyes and feeling the soft touch on his face was enough to make a lump form in his throat because he knew Miles meant what he’d said… and he honestly couldn’t remember the last time he’d genuinely felt loved the way he did at that moment. “I love you too. More than anything.” He smiled back at him, turning to press a kiss to his boyfriend’s palm. “Merry Christmas, Miles.”
“It’s the twenty-second, it’s only almost Christmas,” Miles chuckled. “But regardless, Merry Christmas to you, too.” He pulled Phoenix closer, into a warm embrace. “This might be the best gift I’ve ever got.”
“You’re such a pedantic asshole sometimes.” Phoenix rolled his eyes, though his voice was so fond he might as well have just said ‘I love you’ again. “Yeah? Good, because it’s definitely the best gift I’ve ever gotten.” He grinned, before adding “you do realize we both absolutely owe Larry for this now though… he definitely knew what he was doing.”
“Let’s find that troublemaker then… After all, he promised us cake!” Miles held a finger up. “And a law student.”
“There’s a pretty good chance he’s gone back to bothering his girlfriend.” Phoenix laughed, rolling his eyes fondly as he took his boyfriend’s hand again happily. “C’mon then, love… I need to ask her about letting me borrow a couple of photos for references for something anyway.”
Miles nodded and followed; somehow, the music and the crowd didn’t bother him as much anymore.