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“open your window hoe” (3:07am)
That was all the text read, and Parrot was unsure whether to feel offended or concerned.
On one hand, no. He was not going to open his window, because it was early November, the middle of the night, and god dammit it got cold quickly this time of year.
On the other hand, maybe? Parrot sure wasn't convinced, but he would be lying if he said that he wasn't even a little intrigued.
While he was sitting in his bed, weighing the pros and cons of opening his window, it occurred to Parrot who exactly the text had come from. He sighed and heaved himself out from under his blanket. He'd gotten pretty bad at saying no to Spoke, hadn't he.
Stumbling towards his window, Parrot was just able to brace himself for the cold gust of wind that blew past him as he pushed open his bedroom window. He wasn't, however, mentally prepared to suddenly be face to face with Spoke.
The same Spoke who, just a month ago, had tiredly confessed his alleged crush on Parrot, and then had promptly passed out and forgotten about it. The same Spoke who had been Parrot’s best friend for their whole lives, up until said incident, and since then suddenly Spoke had appeared more like a dumbass Parrot had the misfortune of falling in love with. Or maybe the Spoke who Parrot had been a little in love with their whole lives. It was still a little unclear.
But now their noses were inches apart. And Parrot's bare chest was cold.
Spoke just grinned. “Hi.”
“What are you doing here.” Parrot grumbled, ushering Spoke in and promptly closing his window. Spoke laughed, far too loudly for the time of night, and shrugged, shaking frost out of his hair.
“Bored?” He provided, eyes boring into Parrot as the taller drudged back across the room to his bed.
“Dude, I’m so tired.” Parrot mumbled, not wanting to turn Spoke away but desperately wanting sleep. “I can't, I—”
Parrot heard Spoke humming from across the room, “That's chill.”
And before Parrot could even process it, Spoke was away from the window and next to Parrot again, abruptly shoving him down into his bed. Parrot coughed, the air knocked out of him, but sunk into his mattress nonetheless, his sheets still warm from his body heat from earlier. Just as Parrot was getting comfortable and warm again, Spoke stunned him once more, falling into Parrot's bed and curling up on his side next to him. And suddenly, Parrot was a little too warm.
Parrot gaped, his face heating up as he watched Spoke nuzzle his face into Parrot's mattress.
“Bro— what—” He stuttered, but suddenly couldn't form words when Spoke looked up at him through his lashes.
“What?” Spoke asked, inching higher up in the bed so he could rest his head on the same pillow as Parrot.
“Do you—” Parrot looked away, promptly deciding to lay on his back and stare at the ceiling. “Um” He continued eloquently, “The air mattress is, uh, in my closet.”
In his peripheral vision, Parrot watched as Spoke shrugged half-heartedly, eyes fluttering closed. “If you want.”
Parrot didn't really want. Well, he did want. He wanted a lot, and it almost hurt, but he didn't particularly want the air mattress.
“Okay.” He mumbled, and let the room fall silent. Despite his lack of shirt or blanket, and despite the frigid temperatures and the cold air Parrot had invited in alongside Spoke, Parrot remained almost excruciatingly hot.
He was staring so pointedly at his ceiling that he was sure he wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon. After throwing a quick glance over to Spoke and seeing his eyes still closed, Parrot figured it was safe enough to shift onto his side and face his friend as he tried to fall back into slumber.
As Parrot rolled onto his side, however, Spoke inched closer. The shorter hummed and contentedly rested his head just underneath Parrot's chin, throwing a leg over Parrot's hips.
Parrot froze.
Spoke's whole body shook with his quiet laughter.
“It's fine, bro.” Spoke whispered onto Parrot's skin, as he gently took one of the taller boy's hands and draped it around himself.
They were cuddling. That was fine.
It sure wasn't helping with Parrot's temperature skyrocketing, but he could work with it. He was just determined to get to sleep.
Maybe noticing how boiling Parrot was, Spoke tentatively placed his hands, still freezing from the walk over, on Parrot's chest, dragging them across from his abdomen to his collarbone. It helped with the heat. It didn't help with the internal freak out.
Parrot shuddered as Spoke's hand brushed past his waist. He buried his face in Spoke’s hair
“Fuck.” He groaned.
“Hmm?” Spoke hummed, moving his head back to look into Parrot's face. “You okay?”
Parrot wished he could just fall asleep. Instead he shrugged. “Tired.”
Things were quiet again, just for a little while longer, and Spoke took his place under Parrot's chin back. A couple minutes went by, and once Spoke's wandering hands settled on Parrot's hips he finally felt like he was dozing off.
Spoke was the one to break the silence.
“Tired enough to admit you have a crush on me too?” He mumbled, lips brushing Parrot's neck. That wasn't subtle at all. Completely unlike what Parrot was used to. Parrot's eyes shot open, all the heat he'd accumulated in his body rushing to his face as he sat up in his bed, staring at Spoke incredulously.
“What?” He asked, finally.
Spoke looked up at him and rubbed his eyes. “Nothing.”
But Parrot was persistent. “No, what?”
Spoke let out a heavy sigh, sinking into Parrot's mattress. “Come back to sleep.” He deflected, “I'm cold, bruh.”
Parrot grabbed his blanket, left unused, on the other side of the bed, and threw it haphazardly over Spoke. He leaned against his headboard. “I was never asleep.”
Spoke sighed again, hoisting himself into a sitting position to face Parrot. “Yeah, neither was I.”
Parrot smiled slightly. “I know.”
Spoke narrowed his eyes, peering back. “I know you know.”
Parrot's smile fell. He watched silently as Spoke coped with the sudden loss of the cuddling, wrapping himself tightly in Parrot's plush blanket. Parrot swallowed. “Why didn't you call me out?”
It seemed that hadn't been a question Spoke had been prepared for. He looked away. “I figured—”
He shrugged. “I figured you'd talk to me if you wanted me to know you knew.”
Parrot scoffed. “That’s stupid.”
Spoke glared back, although he looked harmless wrapped up in Parrot's blanket. “You're stupid.”
“I'm in love with you.”
The words tumbled out before Parrot could stop them, or even process them.
Spoke just stared at him, wide-eyed, his mouth forming a perfect ‘o’. Parrot regretted saying it immediately
Parrot laughed nervously, leaning his head further back against his headboard. “That's a little stupid too, though, isn't it—”
Parrot's babbling was promptly shut up, after Spoke threw off his blanket cape and flung himself across the bed. Straddling Parrot's lap, all Spoke said as he grabbed Parrot's face was, “Shut the fuck up,” and then he was kissing Parrot like the world was ending.
“Shit,” Parrot managed to say through the kiss, and as Spoke pressed him into his headboard, Parrot forgot all the embarrassment he had been feeling just moments before.
And he supposed he wouldn't be going back to sleep.