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“Why didn’t you dodge me…?” Reki groaned, pushing himself up off the pavement. He looked over his shoulder at Langa, who in response just broke out into laughter. His hair was all rustled from the fall, and his cheeks were slightly flushed, but he didn’t look upset by the crash in the slightest. Reki raised an eyebrow, turning to face the other.
“Did you hit your head or something?” Reki asked. Seriously, this guy, smiling like–
“You’re amazing, Reki.”
Reki could only blink at him. “Huh?”
Langa smiled, continuing his praise. “You know all the details of my skating. And you made me my very own board.” Reki frowned.
“Why this all of a sudden?”
“You’re good at teaching, too. It’s all thanks to you that I learned how to ollie.” Reki just looked away. He wasn’t used to receiving compliments from anyone who wasn’t family.
“That’s from your natural potential and effort,” he argued. Langa just tilted his head, his smile still holding strong.
“Reki, you taught me that skateboarding is fun!” Langa admitted. Reki opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He couldn’t fight the small smile that found its way to his face. Even if he wasn’t used to it, hearing this kind of thing from Langa…
“Reki, you always go beyond my imagination. The idea of the spinning tracks, and the beef with ADAM, too–”
“That’s enough!” Reki interrupted him by shoving his hand forward, fingers spread out. He hid his face with his other arm. He felt sweat tricking down his face, his cheeks red-hot. He looked away from Langa, eyebrows furrowed. “That’s really enough…”
“You usually don’t talk, yet you’re talking so much in a situation like this,” he complained. It’s not that he didn’t like hearing Langa talk. No, it wasn’t that, but the bombard of praise? That was a different story altogether. Seriously, where was he even planning to go with this? Langa just kept smiling at him.
“Can I talk a bit more?” he asked, annoyingly as calm and composed as always. “Lately, I lost sight of why I was skating. No matter who I skated with, or where I skated…” Langa brought a hand up to his chest, looking down at the pavement. “I didn’t feel it. Nothing.”
Reki stared at him. He wasn’t used to Langa being so open like this. Sure, he knew that Langa talked about his emotions much more than he did, but…
“But it’s different now,” Langa said, looking up at Reki once more. He had a smile on his face, and Reki continued to just listen wordlessly. He was starting to get an idea of Langa's point here, and if he was right, then…
“...I like you, Reki,” he said, tilting his head. His cheeks had gone a soft pink, and Reki soon felt his own heat up as well. Even though he was expecting it, hearing Langa actually put it into words… It caught him off guard. He was never good in situations like this. Saying how he felt out loud was never his forte. But it seemed as if Langa was okay with that. Langa looked off the side, shifting how he sat.
“I like you a lot. I want to keep skating with you. And… I want to do more than that, too. I want to spend time with you, no matter what we’re doing, because I know that if it’s with you, I’ll enjoy it no matter what,” he confessed, absentmindedly licking his lips. Reki gaped, silence quickly making its way between the two of them. Then, he laughed.
“Yeah, I like you, too, dude. You’re my best friend.” he smiled, crossing his legs. Langa looked back over at him, his smile slipping. Reki’s eyes widened, and he awkwardly stammered, “I-I mean, like, you’re probably the best friend I’ve ever had. I want to keep skating with you, too, and–”
“No,” Langa interrupted, leaning in a bit to grab Reki’s attention. “Not like that. I like you, Reki.” He extended a hand and placed it onto one of Reki’s. His skin was warm, and his touch was gentle. Careful. It made Reki’s face go even redder.
Oh.
Oh.
Reki looked up at Langa, frozen. Langa’s confidence seemed to waver a bit at that, but he didn’t pull away. In fact, Reki could’ve sworn he moved in even closer. He swallowed, but his mouth felt dry.
“I…” he started, voice much quieter than usual, “I like you, too.”
Langa smiled, and he put his other hand on Reki's shoulder. Reki intertwined his fingers with Langa’s, internally cringing at how sweaty his hands felt. They got closer, and even though Reki knew that it wasn’t really that big of a deal, he still felt nervous. It was obvious Langa felt that way too. He wasn’t sure who finally initiated it, but eventually, their lips were pressed together. It felt kind of awkward, and Reki was quite sure what to do with his free hand, but for all he knew, it definitely wasn’t bad. It was a quick thing, and soon the two were separated once more, hands still held together. They just stared at each other.
Then, Reki laughed. And soon Langa was too. He wasn’t quite sure what they were now, or what they would do after this. But what he did know, was that he wanted to keep skating with Langa. To keep being with Langa.
For infinity.
Yeah, that sounded good.