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“Can I kiss you?” Reki asks, trying to keep his tone calm like he’s asking him to hand him the ketchup.
“W-what?” Langa sputters and his eyes are wide, wild almost. There’s something just below the surface that Reki can’t place - panic? Excitement?
Reki ignores it for now and decides to keep barreling through. “Listen, it’s just… Ugh, okay, yeah, just listen for a minute, okay? But I just … haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.” That’s not enough of an explanation but Reki is flustered and it’s starting to catch up with him.
“I just mean, um, so they were talking in-between classes yesterday about kisses, you know? And one of the girls said that you, um, you look like you have soft lips. That you’d probably be nice to kiss.”
Langa makes a weird sound almost like he’s being strangled. Reki knows he gets uncomfortable with all the attention and whispers about him and his looks.
“I’ve never kissed anyone before – Don’t comment on that, by the way. But once I heard her say that, I kinda realized she was right. And like I said, I know it’s weird, I just can’t stop thinking about it. I think if I can just kiss you and find out I will stop thinking about it.”
There. He’s said it. It’s all out on the table.
He starts to silently pray that he hasn’t just ruined their friendship, that Langa can look past this, or what he can say as damage control if necessary but,
“Okay. Yeah. I don’t - I don’t know if my lips are soft but yeah, sure, you can uh … kiss me.” Langa’s voice is soft, and even if Reki wasn’t looking at him he could tell he was blushing. Wow, Reki can’t help but think, he doesn’t even seem that fazed … he’s so cool. He’s going to let me kiss him.
Then Reki thinks again, he’s going to let me kiss him. He fidgets with his hands. “Are you sure? You don’t have to, I know it’s … silly.”
Langa nods, cheeks still a little rosy. He’s so cute when he’s blushing like this.
They’re best friends. This isn’t something friends usually do. They’ve always been pretty heavy on physical affection, he’s not denying that but even for them, kissing is just too much. Kissing is probably considered going too far.
But Langa is going to allow him this.
They’re already sitting close together, closer than needed given the amount of space they have available around them, and all it takes is turning their heads. Reki has been this close to Langa before but never like this. Now it’s different. There’s … different intentions. He swallows hard. They make eye contact for a moment before his eyes flick down to Langa’s lips. If he waits any longer he’s going to talk himself out of it.
So he leans in.
He’s worried about the angle but Langa is a team player and tilts his head just right, leans in as well to meet him halfway.
The first thing Reki thinks is oh, she was right, his lips are soft.
It’s not much of a kiss, a soft brush of lips but it’s enough to make Reki’s heart feel like it’s going to beat out of his chest. Langa pulls back, blushing deeper than before. “Well?” When their eyes meet it feels like the air just got punched out of his lungs.
“She was right.” Reki blurts out immediately. “Your lips are soft. It was … nice. Kissing you. It was nice.” Nice is an understatement but it still feels lame to even say it. What even is a cool response?
“Ah, thank you?” Langa responds and he sounds unsure but there’s a hint of amusement. “I haven’t ever actually kissed anyone either, but I think it was nice, too.”
Langa’s never been kissed before? Never? Reki’s confusion and disbelief must be showing because Langa continues. “I mean, dude, I don’t know why you’re surprised. I wasn’t as … reserved in Canada, but I wasn’t much better in social situations. People flirting with me in Canada got them about as far as any of our classmates.” That makes sense. It’s not that nobody has wanted to kiss Langa, it sounds like he’s just never been interested in kissing someone.
But he let Reki kiss him.
Does that mean something? Or is it just being bros? He feels like he’s going crazy.
Reki laughs a little, “Okay yeah, I can see that actually.”
Langa hums and falls silent for a moment, gaze falling down to an empty snack bag beside them. It still feels a little awkward, but Reki knows they’ll fall into comfortable silence or another conversation eventually. “So now that you’ve found out, do you think your theory is right?” He asks the question casually but Reki chokes and he can’t help but notice the reversed roles of their conversation that started this whole thing. “That you’ll stop thinking about it, I mean.”
He didn’t expect Langa to bring that up. God, why did he even admit that? Stupid, he thinks to himself.
Langa still isn’t looking at him, now reaching out to grab the empty bag and crumple it. No, Reki thinks, I’m so fucked. I’m never going to stop thinking about this. I already want to kiss you again.
He plasters on a fake carefree grin. And then he lies, “Yes.” Langa was nice enough to let him kiss him, but being friends with someone who apparently cannot stop thinking about kissing him all the time is probably asking him for too much. “I’m the smartest. I knew my theory was correct.”
It takes a moment before Langa looks at him again. When he does, he looks a little unimpressed and Reki feels a moment of panic. Was that the wrong thing to say? No, that’s the best answer. Langa is his best friend. He doesn’t pick up on a lot of social cues, sure, but he can read Reki damn near perfectly. Maybe he knows he’s lying.
But he doesn’t worry long because Langa bumps their shoulders together. “I’ve seen your report cards,” he teases. “Maybe you should put these scientific skills of yours to use in class.” Reki boo's at Langa in response, so grateful his lie has been believed and that they can still joke around.
“Dude, that’s lame. Class isn’t fun. It’s too boring to put effort into.” He puts enough effort in to pass and that’s enough. He’d rather be working on new board designs. Langa stares at him now. Reki feels like he’s being sized up. It looks like Langa is thinking hard on what he wants to say but Reki doesn’t think he said anything too wild.
“Class is lame and boring,” he starts slowly. “But figuring out if my lips are soft and I’m a good kisser is…?”
Oh this is it. This is the end. He’s going to die. Langa isn’t going to let this go.
Reki fidgets, flustered. “It’s different. I couldn’t get it out of my head, that’s all. I can barely get the lessons to stick in my head, these are completely opposite situations.” Langa doesn’t seem satisfied. Reki doesn’t know what he’s looking for from him right now. There’s a pit growing in his stomach. Is this going to ruin their friendship?
“Okay. Um, I’m gonna say something, okay? I don’t want us to fight again over miscommunication, and we know I’m not the best at picking up social cues, so I’m just gonna outright ask. Do you like me?”
His mind is running a thousand miles a minute. Langa is so cool for taking control of the situation. But also, what the actual fuck. He feels like he’s going to throw up.
Does he like Langa? Sure, he likes Langa a lot.
He likes Langa’s laugh, the face he makes when someone says something he doesn’t like, the way he skateboards, his passion, the list goes on. But that’s not what Langa is asking and he knows that. At some point Reki had realized that what he felt for Langa was stronger than just friendship. Reki has had a best friend before, he knows that what he feels is stronger than that. And he’s had crushes before, too, and even that isn’t exactly right.
But he’s kissed him now and honestly, he does want to do it again. And maybe that’s enough of an answer.
Reki rubs the back of his neck, still too awkward to actually make eye contact. “Oh uh, wow. Yeah, that’s really straightforward. Um, yeah. I do.” It feels scary to admit but at the same time there’s a weight lifted. “I uh, hope that’s not like, a problem?”
After swallowing hard, he finally looks back up at Langa. Langa is smiling. He’s smiling his big, wide smile. The same smile he has when one of them wins a S beef, or when they are about to eat one of his favorite foods.
“It won’t be a problem,” Langa responds and he sounds so sure, so confident. “Because I like you too.” Oh. Reki feels stunned by both Langa’s smile and his confession.
“Cool,” he says, and Langa laughs. Reki can’t help but laugh too. Once they both stop laughing, Langa reaches out for Reki’s hand and laces their fingers together. “Cool,” he echoes back.
“Hey, now I feel like I need to admit I lied,” Reki says quietly and Langa looks panicked now, goes to let go of his hand but Reki quickly grabs on tighter. “Sorry, sorry, that was a shitty way to start. I didn’t lie about liking you. I lied about the first question. I’m pretty sure I’m never going to stop thinking about kissing you.”
Langa’s facial expression changes multiple times while Reki speaks, but at least he looks happy in the end. “I knew that. That’s why I gave you another opportunity to just actually say that it was because you like me, but you missed that, too. So I just asked instead.”
Reki’s face turns bright red and he sort of wants to throw up from embarrassment. Maybe he’s not so great with social cues either, okay, sue him. “If it helps,” Langa adds. “I want to kiss you, too. So, at least you can.” He’s still embarrassed beyond belief but it does help to be reminded that even if he’s embarrassed right now, Langa likes him.
There’s another wide grin on Reki’s still flushed face and he gives their entwined hands another squeeze. “It helps.”