Work Text:
16 years old
Ok, you can’t blame someone for trying. Everyone knew some relationships were bound to happen through drama and hushed tones of the inevitable high school halls. It wasn’t a totally foreign concept.
And he had all but fallen trap to those cursed, glossed lips. Pathetically baited.
He’s not sure how he hadn’t realized it before. The more he dwells on the thought, the more he wishes to forget.
Yep. That bad.
He just couldn’t wrap it around his head. What had gone wrong?
Surely she was happy. He had given her what she asked. She asked him to skip his practice for sports. Enough times to have him kicked out. It didn’t matter that he was one of their best, no exceptions for ones who held no grit or determination anymore.
A great loss. His chance at a scholarship ruined for a girl. Looking back, it definitely wouldn’t have been worth giving up any of that.
“Oh, hey babe!” She giggled nervously as her hand raised to cover her mouth. The little action had his heart fluttering, but paused when he noticed her fallen face. “Hey.” He offered a soft smile himself. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing.” She shrugged, but her face still held that same expression of sadness. But who was he to refuse the only one who loved him? The only one who returned the love he gave? Of course it didn’t matter what he thought. Just seeing her smile each time he gave something to her was enough. It was the chivalrous thing to do after all.
Though over time, the very thing he feared wormed its way into his heart. The little warmth that fluttered in his chest turned cold. His girlfriend kissing the very person who had encouraged his dismissal in the team, at the very party she begged him to take her too. At least now he could see why she was so desperate for it. He scoffed beneath his breath before turning away.
It was only a matter of time, anyway. He could feel her gaze turn forced whenever they met recently, the light only returning slightly when he brought her something. Vaguely, he remembered a saying he read, one he thought was ridiculous. “If you truly love someone, you’d let them go.” That sort of thing. He’s probably heard it a million times too, but it never truly applied to him until.. well. Now that his head is a bit clearer, he sort of gets it now. He knows first loves don’t usually last. This thing he had with the girl was an experiment at best, but he did care for her to some extent. Forcing her to be with him when she clearly lost interest was something a jerk would do, so with a lighter heart, he supposed it was much better this way.
18 years old.
“Mhhh…” He snapped out of his self pity and glanced at his friend...well, boyfriend who had, after their night of drunken confessions, fallen asleep atop his chest. His heart fluttered at the soft snores he let out, that is until he flinched at the sharp feeling of pins and needles on his arm.
“Kai,” he grumbled, poking at his cheek. His boyfriend only muttered incoherently before snuggling impossibly closer, and God, had his arms always been this firm under all those layers? More importantly, why was one wrapped around his neck while the other splayed across his chest?
I mean, not that he minded much. Kai always did run warm, and with renewed clarity he came to find themselves without a proper cover.
“Ugh, come on, Char Char. Five more minutes,” Kai yawned. He had half a mind to yell at him, morning breath and everything, but eventually settled with staying there. He might overthrow their bodies, the two getting close to dangerous dangling territory on the couch, but he never knew when he’d next accept or receive hugs from his boyfriend what with his crazy list of extracurricular activities and his own fucked up schedule. Five more minutes it is, then.
“Alright, you bugger. But only five minutes.” With that final note, he returned Kai’s embrace, stroking at the bare skin from the shrugged sleeve of his jacket before drifting.