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Gus had arguably made many horrible decisions in his life. He was far too trusting and always ended up getting himself hurt. Especially when it came to crushes, and after the incident with Bria there was no way he wasn’t going to repress the fuck out of that shit. He always got himself hurt, he always got other people hurt, it was always his fault.
Even though Hunter constantly reassured him that Flapjack's death and his possession wasn’t his fault he still felt like it was. Even though Matt reassured him that Bria was just a bitch he still felt like what almost happened at the graveyard was his fault. Even though Willow told him her getting hurt by the pixies wasn’t his fault he still felt like it was. Even when Luz forgave him when she got caught while banned at Hexide because of him, it wasn’t enough.
He got that they were trying to be nice. He could have stopped all of those things from happening. He fucked up, he made a mistake and in the end other people got hurt. So if they weren’t going to blame him, he was going to blame himself.
He was going to make sure none of it could ever happen again. He shut everyone out. He kept to his circle. Nothing could go wrong if he kept to his circle.
Except when things started to go wrong. When a certain ugly little bitch started to become incredibly endearing, and Gus was left to suffer with that fact.
Matt was a piece of shit. Everyone knew this. Gus knew this especially. But Gus was also a hopeless romantic and Matt was an oblivious and incredibly caring person even if he’d never admit it. But it didn’t matter, Gus saw straight through him. Matt cared a lot about the people he was close to and didn’t give a shit about anyone else. Which made him both incredibly loyal and also very unhinged and rude. And Gus loved him because of it. And that was terrifying.
Suddenly there was a new huge thing he could mess up. His relationship with one of his best friends. Maybe even his whole friend group! What if-
Suddenly his ringtone went off interrupting his late-night thoughts.
“Shit, shit, shit ” He hissed as rolled out of bed and desperately tried to accept the call as quietly as possible, “Matty what the fuck do you want?”
Suddenly he was met with the odd sound of Matt's distraught sounding voice, “Sorry, I was just- needed someone to talk to. Sorry just uh family stuff y’know how it is-”
“I’m picking you up right now,” Gus said immediately as he summoned Emmeline and grabbing the jacket hunter made him that was covered in Cosmic Frontier patches, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll stay on the line until I get there just be ready.”
“Gus it’s like 2am,” Matt laughed a little, which made Gus smile, “You don’t need to fly over just because I’m upset.”
“I also want someone to talk to,” Gus reassured as he closed the window to his room as he zipped up the jacket, “Late night anxiety thoughts were just kicking into high gear, a distraction will be nice.”
“All right but don’t crash into the window this time,” Matt teased, and Gus could practically hear him smirking through his scroll, “I don’t want my whole family thinking there's a boy breaking into my room to see me at 2 am.”
“Ew, why’d you have to phrase it like that, you’re actually the worst fuck off,” Gus said disgusted, feeling his face heat up, “We’re literally just going for a nighttime fly.”
“All right lover boy,” Matt replied before hanging up to leave Gus to almost crash into a tree. Absolute asshole, saying such a thing when he knows he’s flying.
-
Gus and Emmeline flew down to the window of Matt's room. Gus tapped his knuckles against the glass, jumping back with a yelp as Matt suddenly jumped in front of the window out of nowhere with a devilish grin on his face.
“What the hell!” Gus exclaimed, shoving him a bit as he opened the window and Matt's ferret palisman - Madeline (Maddy) Tholomule, yes Matt’s the worst we’ve established this - transformed into its staff form.
“Shh,” Matt hissed, glancing back over his shoulder into the room before pulling his hood over his ears, “What’re you trying to do? Wake up the whole house?”
“Well then don’t try to give me a heart attack,” Gus glared at him as he climbed on to Madeline.
“What? Me? Give you a heart attack? Never,” Matt exclaimed in mock offense.
Gus huffed, shooting off immediately climbing over the trees, soaring above the Titans Arm, over the Isles. The Boiling Isles at night was still as beautiful as ever even with all the shit that had changed since his dad first showed him the Titans Skull when he was little. He breathed in the air and exhaled softly, letting his muscles relax as he sat down, looking up at the stars wondering what the Collector saw from all the way up there. Alone. Just as he always had been.
Gus related to him in a lot of ways after their little squad had gotten to know him better over the years. Manipulated over and over from a young age, never fitting in with anyone, never knowing what was truly going on, always just seen as some naive kid.
And neither of them got a happy ending, did they? The Collector was sent back to be alone once again, and he still kept messing up. Messing up over and over, it was only inevitable that his friends left him like how everyone left the Collector behind.
“What the hell Porter!” Matt scream-yelled as he clung to Madeline, shooting up from behind Gus almost throwing him off balance as he stood on Emmeline.
“Titan, I almost just fell to my death!” Gus scowled, regaining his balance “Do you have to yell ?!”
“You know I’m terrified of heights,” Matt huffed, flying closer to him looking out at the Titan Skull before turning pale and turning back to Gus, “This is actual hell.”
“Fine,” Gus sighed, giving into the other witch's dramatics, “Wanna go get food or something?”
“Yep, and you’re paying because you almost killed me,” Matt said immediately, taking off towards the ground while Gus raced forward trying to keep up.
“You’re the one who almost killed me!” Gus yelled over the wind, “Besides you didn’t have to follow me, I was coming down eventually, I just wanted to piss you off.”
“Don’t worry about that Augustus Porter, you’ve continued to do that since the second we met.”
“Oh, believe me,” Gus said smiling at his friend's weird ass compliment that wouldn’t be a compliment coming from anyone else in the whole entire multiverse as they neared the ground, “The feeling’s mutual.”
As soon as they touched the sidewalk Matt shoved him off Emmeline and ran ahead with Madeline on his shoulder towards the nearest 24-hour human fast-food place. Gus scrambled to his feet, Emmeline transforming back to her normal form and sitting on - well more lying over - his shoulder as he took off after Matt, knocking into him from behind as he opened the doors.
“OW.” Matt glared back at him as Gus slung an arm over his shoulder.
“Matty, there’s no way that hurt, I barely touched you.” Gus said, raising an eyebrow as they walked up towards the register.
“You probably broke my ribs,” Matt said, crossing his arms dramatically as Gus rolled his eyes and ordered their food.
Ever since the Collector had created a new portal door, Boiling Isles culture started to adopt more and more human aspects, even building off their technology. Members of the Isles could now get passports to go to the Human Realm if they wanted, though most didn’t, understandably terrified of the giraffes and possible witch hunters awaiting on the other side. Still Eda worked to legalize imports of human goods, hence the numerous new shops and restaurants popping up like the one they were at.
Once the two got their food they scurried over to the tables outside so Emmeline and Madeline could play with each other without their owners worrying about being kicked out. Matt watched with disgust as Gus drank some human drink called Coke. Gus snorted at his expression, almost spitting out soda all over the table.
“You really hate this stuff huh?” he laughed.
“It’s horrible, it feels like you're drinking what crunchy with needles feel like with a shit ton of sugar,” Matt shuddered, pulling slightly on the side of his hood.
Gus shrugged, kicking his feet under the table as he ate his french-fries - which apparently weren't even from France? Humans weren’t very literal he’d come to realize - accidentally kicking Matt every now and then earning a hard kick in the shin.
Eventually Gus got sick of the silence, wanting to be able to actually help Matt and feel useful rather than just waiting for him to bring up his problems a thousand years later.
“Hey, you wanna talk about the family stuff?” Gus asked carefully, trying not to be too pushy despite wanting to reach across the table and shake Matt until he admitted to having problems.
“Not if it’ll stress you out,” Matt said quietly, pretending to watch Madeline and Emmeline digging up something that looked suspiciously a lot like a piece of bone.
“Hey,” Gus reached across the table softly resting his hand over his friends, “You know you can talk to me about anything you wanna talk about.”
Matt sighed, looking down at their hands, “It’s family drama, you know how my family is. All living up to Steve and never slipping up. Constantly needing to be a good leader, can’t catch a break around them.”
“You’re an awesome leader,” Gus frowned, “What more do they want from you, you’re literally helping us rebuild the school.”
Matt sighed, leaning back in his chair not letting go of Gus’s hand as Madeline and Emmeline pulled what looked to be a huge segment of spine across the pavement to go rebury behind a trash can, “It’ll never be enough, I’m never working hard enough or being responsible enough for them. Just the slacker, constantly goofing off.”
“You’re not a slacker, what in the world has them thinking something so idiotic?!”
Matt didn’t say anything for a bit before sighing, letting go of Gus’s hand, “C'mon you know how lazy I am, I’m also a total asshole.”
Gus felt his heart sink, the thought that Matt would ever think that he thought so poorly of him was crushing, “I don’t think that, you’re not lazy at all! You don’t sleep half the time; you’re constantly helping Eda. This is the first time I’ve seen you relax all month, they're pushing you way to hard. And I wouldn’t hang out with you if you were a total asshole, you’re one of my best friends ever. I don’t pick out best friends who are total assholes. You worry about me, you’re always there to crack a joke when I need it, heck you put up with me dragging you out of the house at 2am, that says enough.”
Matt smiled softly, trying to smirk but it just turned into an awkward grin that Gus found - much to his dismay - incredibly adorable, “Quite flattering Porter.”
“Hey, I’m being serious,” Gus said, playfully swatting at Matt, “I don’t lie about best friend status, it’s very important.”
“I know Gus,” Matt said, reaching over to steal one of Gus’s fries, “Thanks.”
Something about Matt calling Gus by that name made his face feel warm. It was always Augustus or Porter. Gus meant that Matt actually took his words seriously and he wanted him to know that. This boy was too sweet - something most people wouldn’t associate with Mattholomule Matt Tholomule of all people - thank titan his blush didn’t show. He might as well have been knocked to the ground and kicked in the gut though, it might actually be preferable now that he thought about it.
“‘Ey, you okay?” Matt said, brow furrowed trying to figure out Gus’s expression, shit it was not helping his current state.
“Psh, what? Yeah, yeah, I’m fine!”
Matt looked unsurprisingly unconvinced.
“You know you can talk to me about shit too,” Matt said looking at him knowingly as he stole more fries submerging them in catch-up (Again, humans what are these names??)
“You’re stealing my words,” Gus said smugly, “Am I that wise?”
“You’re derailing asshole,” Matt replied, a similar smirk lighting up his face briefly before turning back to a worried expression, “I’m not teasing you know.”
Gus sighed, leaning back in the chair breathing in the night air watching Emmeline and Madeline start to rifle through the garbage. He groaned, calling them over trying to bribe them with french fries to stop digging up trash. (If he wasn’t so focused on the mischievous palisman he might have noticed Matt blushing at his actions.)
“Is Madeline growing fangs?” Gus asked as she nipped at his hand.
“Gus.”
“Okay, okay,” he turned back to him, counting in his head trying to steady his breathing. Matt waited, giving him space, “Y’know how um when we first met uh Luz got thrown in detention?”
“Yeah,” Matt winced slightly, “I feel like shit about that-”
“No, no I’m not mad at you!” Gus reassured quickly, “I was just… I don’t know it was my fault. She doesn’t blame me, but I don’t know, it’s hard to believe that when she almost got hurt.”
“But it wasn’t, you never dragged her off to the detention pit,” Matt argued, “There’s a reason we’re not building one in the new school Gus, it’s fucked up.”
“I know, I know, but I could have kept her out of it.”
“But you can’t,” Matt said simply, “It’s in the past, what happened, happened, everything turned out okay.”
“Yes, but then later on Willow asked for my help with pixies and then the pixies attacked her, she was out of school for like a week because of me. I almost let Bria get away with the gauldur stones. I couldn't even notice how she was hurting everyone, and then the whole time we were in the human realm I knew that Hunter was a grimwalker. I knew! And I didn’t tell him and then… he got possessed by- him and I don’t know. If I had just told him maybe he wouldn’t be so secretive about everything and get himself hurt. Even if I can’t change what happened to all of you, I still hurt you all.”
“Did you hurt us?” Matt questioned, “Did you set out to hurt anyone?”
“No but-”
Matt put his hand over Gus’s mouth, “Don’t. No. The answer is no, it stops at no and that is all that matters. We all got through it. You helped destroy the detention pit with Luz, Willow got better, you stood up to Bria and we became friends, and Belos is dead now. You were never the one who hurt anyone.”
Matt glared at him intensely, taking his hand off his mouth, “Don’t even try to convince me of that dumbass.”
Titan he was about to cry, all these years it felt like that had felt like this weight on his shoulders piling up. He hadn’t even noticed it till just then, when it felt like some of it left. Because his head had finally caught up to all his friend's words. They weren’t just saying them to be nice, they were saying them because that was the truth. Because they noticed that weight before he did. Because they genuinely cared and worried for him.
And here he was with his best friend who he had a massive crush on of all people telling him that outside some human fast-food place at like 3am - titan they’d been there for a while - with their too dumbass palisman once again back at the trashcan and he really wanted to kiss Matt. Really badly. Shit.
“Hey,” Gus said uselessly after a while of sitting in silence which made Matt snicker.
“‘Hey?’ Wow Porter, not even a thank you?”
Anddd he’s back to bullying him, of course.
“I was just about to,” Gus grumbled, leaning over to flick his forehead.
“Well go ahead then,” Matt said while leaning over to flick him back only to fail at the last second as Gus caught his hand.
“Nope, you’re being an asshole now.”
“Aww, what happened to not being best friends with assholes?” Matt said with a fake pout that made Gus want to push him off a cliff.
“Maybe we’re not best friends anymore,” Gus said leaning in a little, still holding his wrist.
“Hm, maybe,” Matt said with a grin that made Gus’s stomach swoop, his voice getting softer.
What the fuck-
Oh. Matt was kissing him. Okay they're kissing. Shit.
Gus loosened the grip on his wrist without even noticing, causing Matt to use his now free hand to pull him even closer somehow. Gus didn’t even know how they got to this point anymore, but he was not going to waste it. After a bit Matt pulled away, only Gus completely fell over the table sending Matt into a laughing fit.
“Dude you’re down bad,” he wheezed as Gus propped himself back up with a small huff of embarrassment.
“You’re the one who kissed me,” he muttered, crossing his arms, ears twitching slightly.
“And you kissed me back,” Matt replied slyly, “Augustus Porter you just kissed Mattholomule Matt Tholomule.”
“Titan,” Gus said with an exasperated sigh, resting his face in his hands dramatically, “I can’t believe my luck.”
“I know, it’s an honor.”
“I was talking about my bad luck idiot.”
“Like I care,” Matt said with a shrug, getting up to throw out the now empty small cardboard boxes that humans put food in for some reason in the trash before summoning Madeline in her staff form before reaching out a hand to Gus.
“Cmon’ loverboy, I’m tired.”
Gus’s whole body felt like it was on fire, “Titan, I almost crashed into a tree and died when you called me that earlier.”
“Dude, that’s fucking hilarious I’m literally never stopping now,” Matt cackled, as he pulled Gus up.
“You’re in love with me,” Gus cried out, trying to look aghast as he summoned Emmeline, “You’re not allowed to torture me like this!”
“I get to torture you cause I’ve been waiting on your useless ass to catch up for almost three years,” Matt glared at him, blush creeping on to his face that made Gus feel sort of triumphant, “And even now I’m the one who confessed.”
“Did you?” Gus asked, tapping his chin with a small smirk on his face, “All I remember is you pulling me across the table so you could kiss me.”
“That counts!” Matt scoffed, “Also I haven’t heard you confess hypocrite.”
“Fine,” he took a deep breath in and out, counting softly before turning back to the other boy, “Matt (Matty) Tholomule, I’m in love with you, would you care to have me as your boyfriend?”
“Titan, you’re so formal,” Matt grinned, big goofy toothy smile from earlier on his face that was blushing even more as he elbowed Gus in the ribs, “Yeah whatever, also that’s embarrassing for you.”
“You have no idea.”