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Skeppy swung into the room, a grin on his face that said he was up to something, and Bad put down his phone.
“Do you want to go in the hot tub?” he asked.
They were at Dream’s house, and while Bad was vaguely aware of the pool and hot tub in the backyard, it hadn’t been on his mind. It was already midnight, though the house was still very much alive since everyone there had the worst sleep schedules known to man, and Bad briefly considered if it would be weird to use a hot tub at midnight.
“Uhhh. Are we allowed to?” he asked.
“Yeah! Dream said to feel free,” Skeppy said.
Bad hesitated, and Skeppy sighed dramatically.
“Come on… I don’t want to go in by myself.”
“Okay, I would, but I didn’t bring a bathing suit,” Bad explained.
“Oh. Right.” Skeppy’s shoulders slumped, then immediately perked back up again. “I bet you could borrow one from George or Sapnap!”
“Ew! No, I am not using their swim trunks.” Bad crinkled up his nose, and Skeppy laughed.
“Or… you could wear mine and I could borrow from them?” he offered.
Bad pursed his lips, considering.
“Fine,” he said, and Skeppy grinned wide, laughing as he sauntered from the room.
“You are so funny Bad,” he said, something teasing in his tone that Bad didn’t quite get.
He got up and went along with him to his room to take the blue pair of trunks, but he was thinking about that smile Skeppy wore and that particular tone his voice got. He was doing that a lot this whole visit. He was being weird this whole visit. Not weird in a bad way just—weird. Like there was some big joke that Bad wasn’t in on.
Skeppy left to go find someone he could borrow a swimsuit from, and Bad went back to his room to change.
He found Patches on the bed when he came back, and his heart melted at the sight of her sprawled out, the little pink spot on her tummy visible.
“Aww, you are the cutest little thing, aren’t you?” he said, reaching to scratch behind her ears, and she chirped, flopping over so she was facing Bad and leaning into his hand, eyes squinting shut as he pet her.
Bad definitely didn’t regret meeting up with Skeppy and so many of their other friends. He was having the best week of his life, honestly. Still, something seemed to hang over him, and he couldn’t figure out what.
He pushed it aside and heaved a sigh as he had to deposit Patches outside his door so he could change. He knew she was just a cat, but it just felt weird to change in front of someone else's pet, so even though her sad little meows broke his heart, he closed the door on her and pulled the curtains, then put on the swim trunks Skeppy lent him.
They fit really well. Like really, really well. It was funny, for all the fuss they made about who was taller, in the end they were not only the exact same height, but the same size over all. Looking at pictures of them side by side, it was like two cookies punched out from the same cutter. Or like two peas in a pod. Bad hummed to himself, smiling and bobbing his head as he found a towel from the bathroom and put on his sandals. He liked thinking of him and Skeppy that way: like they were always meant to fit together.
He met Skeppy by the sliding glass door that led out to the back patio, surprised to see him wearing nothing but a black pair of swim trunks—and the necklace that matched the one he’d gifted to Bad on stream the other day. Bad realized he was still wearing his too, only tucked under his shirt, and he thought maybe they should take them off to get in the water, but if Skeppy was wearing his, then Bad would wear it, too.
It took them a minute to figure out how to get the cover off the tub, and then a bit of playing around with controls to turn lights and jets on, but soon enough they were climbing in together.
Skeppy took a seat on the left side of the tub, so Bad sat opposite him on the right. As soon as he sat down, Bad’s shirt poofed up in the water, bloating around him with a big air bubble under the fabric.
“Oh my goodness,” he huffed, trying to push it down, and Skeppy covered his mouth as he laughed at him.
“Just take it off, Bad,” Skeppy said after watching him fight with it for a few minutes. Bad groaned, but agreed, pulling the wet shirt up and over his head, tossing it aside on the patio. Now that he was exposed, he could see Skeppy staring at his chest and bare shoulders, and he pulled his arms close to his body, sinking into the water more to shield himself from view.
“Stop staring,” he mumbled, his cheeks blooming pink. At least he could blame it on the warm water and steam.
“Sorry.” Skeppy smiled and looked away, spreading his arms along the back of the tub and pressing his back up against the jets.
“Oh, this is nice,” he said. “Right?”
“Yeah, yeah. Very relaxing,” Bad agreed, though he was hardly relaxed at all. How could he be, when Skeppy was shirtless, right in front of him, showing off his toned arms, the tendons in his neck stretching as he leaned his head back and put that necklace on display? It was really obvious, looking at the two of them in the water together, that they were wearing matching necklaces: the long chains dangling the little charms right over their hearts.
“How are the jets over there?” Skeppy asked after a minute.
“Um. Fine, I guess?” Bad wasn’t really paying attention to them, if he was honest.
“You have to try these ones, it’s like getting a back massage.” Skeppy scooted over and patted the spot on the bench where he’d just been sitting.
Bad rolled his eyes, but got up and moved over.
“Fine. Let’s see what all the fuss is about.”
He laid back, feeling the water shoot up and down his back, two sprayers on little tracks hidden in the wall of the tub.
“Oh, wow! Dream really went all out with this thing, huh?” he said, shifting his back from side to side to get all the angles massaged. Skeppy laughed, scooting a little closer so he could slide his arm along the back of the tub, right behind Bad’s head.
“Yeah, it’s nice, right?”
Bad hummed and nodded, but he wasn’t thinking so much about the jets, anymore. Instead, all his attention was focused on Skeppy, sitting with his arm over Bad’s shoulders, his leg so close, their thighs nearly touched. Skeppy got a funny look on his face then, his smile softening and his eyelids getting heavy, and he moved closer, pressed their legs together, reached his other arm around to place his hand on Bad’s knee.
Bad pulled away, his heart pounding in his chest.
“What are you doing?” he asked, voice crackly with panicked laughter.
“What does it look like I’m doing?”
“Like you’re trying to make a move on me!” Bad yelped, but Skeppy just smiled.
“Wow, you’re so smart, Bad,” he said, and Bad felt the blood drain from his face.
“Wait. Wait, what? You’re being serious?”
“Oh my god. You are so dense.” Skeppy’s head dropped to his shoulder, shaking with laughter.
Bad just stayed frozen, not sure what to do, and soon Skeppy lifted his head, looking a little sheepish.
“Oh. Um. Sorry. Obviously, if you don’t want to, I’ll just—” He started to move away, and finally Bad snapped back to his senses.
“No!” He grabbed Skeppy’s wrist.
“Huh?” Skeppy looked at him, apprehensive, and Bad gulped, feeling his face grow warm again.
“You can. Make your move on me,” he squeaked. “If you want to.”
Skeppy’s smile broke out again, and he giggled, moving back to sit on the bench right next to Bad. Legs pressed together and all.
“Yeah? I can do this?” Skeppy put his arm over Bad’s shoulders, properly this time and not just sneakily along the back of the tub, and Bad tucked himself into his side, head turned to they were face to face.
“Mn.” Bad nodded.
“And I can… do this?” Skeppy’s other hand reached for his thigh under the water, fingers teasing under the hem of his trunks just an inch.
Bad nodded again, then gulped, glancing down at Skeppy’s lips.
“And… this?”
Finally, Skeppy kissed him. His lips were soft, more confident than Bad’s, moving with gentle authority to guide the kiss. Bad put a hesitant hand on Skeppy’s hip under the water, and he felt Skeppy smile against his lips, then kiss him a little harder, though he still felt restrained, like he was hiding the majority of his passion behind a dam and just metering out a little stream for Bad.
And Bad was thankful for that. Even this much was scary, was almost too much for him. Everything was spinning, the past week—no, years —re-writing themselves in his mind. Skeppy had liked him this whole time? Had been flirting with him? For how long? How didn’t Bad notice, when he felt the same from the beginning?
“Oh my goodness,” Bad said, pulling away with a sudden gasp. “That’s why you got me this necklace!”
“What—oh my god. Bad. Bad. Are you being serious right now?” Skeppy laughed, but there was something in his eyes that looked hurt.
Bad flushed, looking down. He should have known. Why was he so stupid?
“Uh, sorry. I’m—I’m kind of… bad at these things,” he whispered. “I just thought you, you know. I thought it was a friend thing.”
Skeppy chewed his lip for a moment, pulling his hand away from Bad’s thigh.
“Did you want it to be a friend thing?”
Bad shrugged.
“I wouldn’t have minded. But, um. This is good, too.”
Skeppy gave him a curious look, head tilting and brows folding.
“I don’t get it. You like me, right? You wouldn’t, like, let me kiss you if you didn’t. Right?”
“Of course I—I’ve always liked you. I just, I don’t know.” Bad shrugged. “I didn’t think you liked me. I was just as happy to be best friends. I thought that’s what you wanted, and I was happy.”
“Well, aren’t you happier that I do like you, you know, like this?” Skeppy reached for Bad’s necklace, toying with the charms to emphasize his point. Bad flushed and nodded.
“Of course,” he said, voice cracking, and Skeppy smiled so sweetly at him, he grumbled and hid his face in his own shoulder. He wasn’t used to that sort of attention.
“Awww, Bad.” Skeppy wrapped his arms around him, pulling him half into his lap, and Bad turned his head to hide it in Skeppy’s shoulder instead. “You really thought I didn’t like you? I was trying so hard to flirt while you were here. I thought it was obvious.”
“I told you, I’m oblivious. I don’t get that stuff.”
“What stuff, flirting? Or like… romance?”
Bad held his arms tightly around Skeppy’s middle.
“Both?”
Skeppy hummed, mulling it over, and rubbed a soothing hand along Bad’s back. Bad shivered despite the warm water bubbling all around them. He felt so exposed—and yet, he didn’t mind it, if it was with Skeppy.
“You liked it when I kissed you, though, right?” Skeppy asked.
“Yeah.”
“And… you wanna kiss again?” Skeppy pulled away, making Bad look at them.
“Obviously.”
“Good.” Skeppy settled his hands on Bad’s hips, thumbs tracing the lines of his pelvis. “That’s all we need for now. Right?”
“What do you mean?” Bad’s voice wavered, his stomach shrinking away from Skeppy’s teasing touch.
“I mean—we don’t have to rush into anything. If you don’t know what you want.”
“I do know what I want, though.” Bad leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Skeppy’s shoulders, and Skeppy’s eyes went wide, his cheeks gaining color, too. “I want you, Skeppy.”
“You… you’re sure?” his voice sounded breathy, and he almost looked cross-eyed, he was staring at Bad so intently.
Bad giggled, letting his hips settle into Skeppy’s hands.
“Yeah. I’m sure,” he said. “If you’ll have me—I’m yours.”
Skeppy let out a long, shivering breath like he was melting from happiness, and then pulled Bad in with a tight grip on his hips, kissing him again, this time with the full force of his passion, the full brunt of his love. Bad startled at first, but tilted his head and opened his lips, accepting it all. The water splashed warm around them and their bare chests pressed together, breathing heavy into their desperate kisses. When at last they pulled apart, their necklaces snagged together, chains and charms having rolled against each other between their chests.
“Oops,” Skeppy said, glancing down at the tangle. Bad giggled and kissed his chin, feeling the small, blunt hairs of his stubble beneath his lips.
“Leave it. I’m not getting up any time soon.”
Skeppy bit his lip and ran his hands up Bad’s sides.
“Good,” he said, voice low and eyes half-lidded. “Me neither.”