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Grunk exhales sharply into his shaking palms, trying his best to get some heat going. He's sitting on a cold bench with his arms crossed waiting for nothing in particular. He just hoped the wind would stop blowing his wavy hair into his face, and for a bus to come by. Though, they already checked earlier and no buses were coming for the next hour.
They did see a car pull up in front of them, and the pained look on his face was immediately replaced with a relieved smile. He ran up to the taller man getting out of the car with his arms wide open.
“Isaac!”
The two embrace, and Grunk couldn’t feel more grateful that the man answered his call.
“I really didn’t think it was gonna be this cold, I would have tried to get an uber sooner.” They explained after a long and very comforting hug. Isaac didn’t take his hands away from Grunk’s hips upon noticing the lack of layers he had on.
“Oh my god, you’re freezing! Here,” Isaac said as he took his puffy jacket off and offered it to the shivering boy beneath him. He didn’t even wait for a response and covered Grunk’s smaller frame with his coat as he gestured towards his car. “Let me go turn the heater on.” Grunk felt his face become hot; at least he wasn’t as close to getting frostbite now. He instantly gets shy, he has no idea why, it’s just his friend showing kindness. Either way, he climbs into the backseat while snuggling himself up in Isaac’s large coat. Their thoughts roam as they catch a fruity whiff of whatever Isaac uses on the inside of his car, and his eyes quickly find the shopping bag resting on the seat next to him.
Isaac walks back around and joins Grunk in the back who he realizes has already caught a glimpse of the bag.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that.”
“What is it?” Isaac pulls down his mask, showing his giddy smile as he grabs the bag and plops it down onto Grunk’s lap. “Go ahead.”
He’s clearly excited, and Grunk tries to hold back his own excitement as he throws his hand in and pulls out a royal purple hoodie. He turns it around to see the front and sees a small One Piece logo on the upper right corner.
“It’s really corny, isn’t it?” He hears Isaac laugh next to him, but he’s entirely too focused on the sweater in his hands to catch the slight tremble in the older’s voice. The heat in the car warms him up enough for his teeth to stop clacking in his mouth, and he swears he can even feel it warm his heart too. Grunk cringes at himself for thinking of something so cheesy.
“Thank you.” He says sincerely while turning his whole body to face Isaac.
“Do you wanna just stay in here for a bit before we have to leave?” Isaac suggests. Grunk shrugs figuring this would be their only chance to hang out, just the two of them. Something deep inside their gut was telling them that they wanted to be alone with him a little longer. Isaac had always been much more thoughtful and caring towards him, he didn’t know why but it was better to just be grateful and not question it.
He basks in the comfortable silence and leans his head down onto Isaac’s shoulder, for more warmth of course. It’s not awkward at all and Isaac even puts his arm around Grunk, pulling them in to let his head rest on his chest. Grunk can feel Isaac’s heart pounding in his ear and he tries to hold back a giggle.
Isaac is the first to break the silence, “You’re not falling asleep are you?”
“No.” Grunk replies like it should be obvious.
They hear Isaac take a deep breath. “I wanted to tell you something actually.” Grunk sits up then, humming with a raised eyebrow.
“You remember when we first met up in Austin?”
“Duh, that was probably one of the best days of my life.” Isaac’s gaze softens and he squeezes Grunk’s arm a little tighter.
“Me too.” He pauses for a moment, “It was the day I realized I fell in love—” Grunk was quickly taken aback, he definitely wasn’t expecting a love confession. He didn’t even think Isaac had a crush on anybody when it always seemed like he put in all his effort into making content. When did he have time to date? Furthermore, how is Grunk only hearing about this now?
He forces himself to ignore the slight pang in his chest and shoots Isaac a reassuring grin, “Who is she?”
They certainly don’t expect it when Isaac scoffs and covers his mouth to stifle his giggles. Was it just a joke?
“Well—I think you might know them.” Grunk is even more confused, but his nerves are calmed when he feels a hand lightly tap his thigh. He looks up at Isaac knowing his face probably turned a bright red in an instant, and he tries to remain cool but he’s only able to muster up a shaky and breathless “Oh”.
Isaac gives him a second to process it, and begins clarifying. “I’m pretty sure I was already crushing on you for a while, but it’s like I knew, but not really? Like, I didn’t want it to be real. It was better to fantasize about the possibility of love more, anyways—” Grunk listens closely to his words.
“—It’s just… we’ve known each other for so long now, and you’re in college now, too. It took me a while to fully come to terms with it—my, um, my feelings for you.” His expression appeared doubtful, and he fidgeted with his fingers. They still had trouble even believing him—Isaac hardly ever initiates serious conversations like this one—though Grunk could sense that Isaac had been planning to confess for some time now after connecting all the dots.
“I also didn’t want to fuck this up, or freak you or the guys out. But, you know, better late than never.” He finishes, finally looking Grunk in the eye and patiently waits for them to respond, if even.
Grunk has to take a few moments to ponder. He’s looked up to Isaac (figuratively and literally) since he was a teenager, and it’s not like the boy was completely oblivious. He always noticed whenever Isaac decided to sit closer to him, or when he complimented his damn ears off. The special treatment he’d received in comparison to his other friends in The Group was hard to miss as well. Of course, how could he not recognize it when the other guys would show a lot of restraint around him, too much restraint, when Isaac didn’t seem to care and would be just as touchy with him as he was with them? The extra consideration given towards them, the gifts—he literally bought them a plane ticket and flew the boy out to Texas. Maybe Grunk was just a little oblivious.
“So that’s what I was feeling in my stomach,” He says, making Isaac tilt his head.
“Butterflies.”
“Okay, now you’re being corny as hell.” The toasted car erupts in laughter, both men feeling like a giant weight was lifted off their shoulders. It was such a nice feeling, everything was falling into place so neatly.
“But—do you mean you…?” Isaac asks, his gaze lingering on the younger’s face. Grunk starts to feel the embarrassment creep up on them, and yet they feel a wave of confidence wash over them in the heat of the moment. Without thinking, they glare back into Isaac’s eyes and plant a quick kiss on his lips. He looks down at his hands, twiddling them over Isaac’s, and lets out a nervous chuckle.
“Yeah. I do.” Isaac then happily intertwines their fingers, inching his face closer to Grunk’s, as if they’d been the one to confess. Sure, he was older than him but that didn’t stop his cheeks from flushing once he picked Grunk’s face up by his chin and kissed him back, a bit longer than their first. They shared loving gazes, and in that moment the two boys felt like they’d been shot by Cupid’s bow.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Grunky.”