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Reki waved Langa goodbye from the front of his house as he watched him drive away on his moped. They'd been at S that Friday night (shocker) and Langa had, as always, driven Reki home. It was something Reki really enjoyed about their nights out, even if most would argue it was the least exciting part. He got to end the night hugging his best friend, the person he liked most in the world, all the way home, where he would carefully sneak into his room to not wake anyone in the house and then flop down onto his bed and give in to his exhaustion. Hugging your favourite person being the last thing you do before a good night's sleep. What's better than that?
That night, he snuck into his room as usual, and laid down on his bed, as usual. However, this time, he found he couldn't fall asleep. Not as usual. He kept thinking about the rides home, and how lovely they felt. It was so nice, having that little excuse to hold on tight to his best friend. Sure, he hugged Langa all the time, but this felt different, for some reason. And it gave him such a cosy feeling in his chest.
But there was something bothering him. He was always the one hugging Langa from the back, but, well, maybe Reki wanted Langa to be the one to do the hugging for once.
However, it wasn't like he could just, ask to drive the moped. He didn't have a licence, and had no clue how the thing worked. He'd probably manage to crash it without even turning on the engine. And there was no way Langa would allow him to drive it anyway. Or maybe he would? His best friend wasn't really one to think twice before doing anything Reki asked him to. Really, it'd be best if he didn't suggest it...
Suddenly, a different idea came to Reki's mind. He couldn't drive the moped, but he could drive it's long distant cousin! That being, of course, the bike. No licence needed, and he knew how to ride a bike alright! He could drive it and Langa could sit on the little rack on the back and hold onto him like in all those cliché romances! Uh, not that he meant for it to be romantic, obviously. He had an old bike in the garage he could use for his plan. It hadn't been used for a while, since he skated everywhere anyway.
Wait. He skated everywhere anyway. They skated everywhere anyway. When was he supposed to bring out the bike? Replacing the moped with the bike to go to S was a no go, it was too far, so Reki had been thinking of an easier trip, but... Those were the kind they did while skating!
Reki felt like he'd reached a dead end. No skateboarding? How was he supposed to sell the idea to Langa? Ugh, whatever, he'd just said Langa would do anything he asked, right? He was going to go through with this plan, and that was final!
Reki grabbed his phone and opened Langa's chat.
01:57 AM
Me: langa!!! hang out tmrrw???
Langa🛹<3: Were we not going to?
Me: yes but. let's do smth diffrtt
Me: different*
Langa🛹<3: Ok. What do you want to do?
Me: um
Me: let's think details tmrrw.
Me: i'll pick u up
Langa🛹<3: Ok. :)
Me: i'll text u when I wake up nd then i'll tell u when im heading over so u better not sleep too late
Langa🛹<3: Alright
Me: and no skateboards
Langa🛹<3: ???
Me: gnight!!<3
Langa🛹<3: Good night Reki
Langa🛹<3: ❤
Reki put down his phone and smiled as he felt the sleepiness finally start to kick in. Tomorrow was going to be great.
~~~~~~·~~~~~~
Reki made his way to Langa's house, carrying his bike next to him. He'd been talking with Langa on the phone until not long ago and they had decided to head to a spot Reki knew of and get some ice-cream, since it was a sunny day. Although, truth be told, bad weather wouldn't have stopped Langa from getting ice-cream anyway. Reki giggled inwardly, thinking about how the promise of food had probably been what had fully convinced Langa that they should go on a no-skateboard date. Hangout. Not date. It wasn't a date. Date had just sounded like it fit better in the sentence, that's why he had said it. Shut up.
He made it to Langa's place and sent him a quick message to let him know. Barely a minute later, Langa was outside, smiling at his best friend. Reki smiled back. "Langa!"
"Reki," the other responded, and put his hand up to do their dap. Reki put his hand up as well, while the other held his bike. He grinned, and they did their special greeting.
"How are you, dude?" Reki asked.
"Good," Langa responded. "And you?"
"Great, because we're hanging out!" Reki said, his smile never leaving his face.
Langa smiled. Then, he pointed at the bike, and with his brows furrowed, he asked "Is this why you told me not to bring my skateboard?"
"Yup! I'm taking you to the place I mentioned on this thing." Reki responded, grinning even harder and looking proud of himself.
Langa tilted his head, much like a confused puppy, clearly not grasping why they would do such a thing when they could just skateboard there.
"That way, uh," Reki said, clearing his throat a bit. "You can just sit back and relax and just hold on to me while you enjoy the scenery." He looked away halfway through his explanation, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed, and then looked back at his friend. "You know, like when we go on the moped? Just the other way around."
Langa's eyes suddenly shone. He seemed to get it now. He nodded enthusiastically, and then looked at the back of the bike. Suddenly, his face fell.
"Reki..."
"Yeah?"
"...there's no rack on the back wheel." Langa finished.
"H-huh?!" Reki exclaimed, turning his head to look at the back of the bike. ...what?! This couldn't be! Langa was right, there wasn't a rack on the back of the bike! Reki had been so focused on his plan and so excited about it working that he had failed to notice this bike didn't have one! But, honestly, what kind of bike didn't have one of those things, huh?! Every single bike Reki had seen had a rack on the rear wheel! Why didn't this one?! Where was Langa supposed to sit now?!
Reki stood in silent shock, not quite sure what to do now that his plan had been completely ruined. He had been full of excitement a moment ago, and now all his confidence in any and every plan he had ever made had been shattered.
Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw Langa's expresión going from disappointed back to excited, as if he'd suddenly had a great idea.
"Reki! I know! I'll sit in the front!" He exclaimed excitedly.
"Huh? Dude, then I won't have where to sit. There's only one seat." Reki answered, confused.
"No," Langa said. "Not on the seat. Here!" And he sat himself on the handlebar.
.
.
.
"Langa... If you sit there, I can't see where I'm going while I steer the bike." Reki said, wondering how his best friend always managed to have the weirdest (and possibly stupidest) ideas.
"No, look," Langa said. "Get on the bike."
Reki did as Langa said. "Ok? Still can't see."
Then, Langa leaned slightly back so that his back was lying on Reki's chest. Reki's breath hitched. "Put your head over my shoulder," he continued.
"Alright..." Reki followed his friend's instructions, feeling weirdly tingly.
"There! You can see now, right?"
Well, Reki would be lying if he said he couldn't. Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit wary of this. "Langa, dude, are you sure you're not uncomfy?" After all, his best friend was sitting on a very narrow object, lying back to lean his weight on Reki's chest, legs dangling down and hands gripping onto the handlebar, leaving just enough space for Reki to grip it as well, with their hands only touching a smidge (which Reki was totally not thinking about obsessively). It didn’t seem like the comfiest position.
"No, I'm perfectly fine."
Reki was unconvinced. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, let's go." Langa said, determination evident in his voice.
"...you're that serious about getting ice-cream, huh?"
Reki couldn't see his friend's face properly, but he was sure the other was pouting. "You promised you'd get me some, so let's go."
Reki laughed. "Ok, ok. Let's go." In the end, Langa might have stupid ideas, but Reki wasn't really smart enough to not go through with them.
He started on their way to Reki's surprise spot, and found he quite liked the way they were sitting. While he was still worried about Langa's comfort, and this wasn't what he had planned for (Langa wasn't hugging him from the back, he would have to think of something else to accomplish that), the feeling of Langa leaning against his chest made him very happy indeed.
The wind blew through their hair because of the speed at which they were going, and it was a nice cool contrast to the warmth of their bodies being pressed together. Because of their closeness, when Langa giggled, Reki could feel the slight trembling running up the boy's back.
"What is it?" He asked him.
"Your hair tickles," Langa answered.
Reki smiled at that, and soon they were both laughing as they made their way through the near-empty streets.
This lovely moment lasted about ten minutes, when suddenly Langa's eyes, which had been closed for a little bit to enjoy the wind, widened like plates.
"Reki-" he said.
"Hm?" Reki asked, happiness evident in his tone.
"Rock-"
Reki had barely started to ask "Huh?" when suddenly he felt his body flying off of the bike and plummeting to the ground. Langa fell right next to him, and the bike did a weird sort of loop before falling on the ground, making a small crashing sound.
They lay down on the ground, groaning in pain. So much for a lovely moment, Reki thought.
...well, he sighed, nothing a bunch of ice-cream couldn't fix.