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Gale has been standing in the Brady family's kitchen for at least fifteen minutes now, stuck in a conversation with one of Brady’s sisters. He doesn’t know how to excuse himself politely, and she's good at rolling the discussion forward practically by herself. He wonders why she doesn’t just ignore him like she did the other boys Brady invited. Does she have a crush on him? But she's two years older!
His friends are all in the basement, playing video games, but Gale offered Brady's mom a helping hand with distributing the snacks. He followed her to the kitchen, but he never made it back to the others, because Lena just latched onto him. She asked him about his hair and things got out of Gale's control. So here he is, clutching a blue plastic bowl filled with chips, standing awkwardly in the open space between the kitchen island and the counter. Leaning on the island, Lena blocks his way out.
Gale's mind can’t help but worry that he’s gonna miss out on something. It’s a miracle that he was even invited. Having an actual friend group instead of individual friends is a new experience for him. And most of these boys are on the soccer team. They're much more social than he is. He’s pretty sure Brady only invited him because Bucky asked him to sit with them at lunch and he overheard them talking about this.
Bucky...
Gale sighs, a painful sensation twisting in his chest. Will he have any more opportunities to be close to Bucky today? He curses himself for his eagerness to make a good impression on Brady’s mom, because if he hadn't done that, he would be with Bucky now, and he wouldn’t have lost a single moment together. What if Bucky gets too into the game they're playing and won't talk to him any more tonight? What if Gale is pushed to the side of the group, excluded from it all? Forgotten?
If only he could tell Lena that he doesn’t like girls, he could be free. Or maybe not? Maybe she just wants to make friends. Why would she even like Gale, when he's so - so doll-like. Almost like a girl, except he’s thin, tall and flat, and his voice keeps getting deeper. But his lips look like a kiss emoji. He especially hates how pale his cheeks are, because he knows just how bright pink they blush when he's embarrassed or excited. Lately, his cheeks are on fire all the time.
The reason why is loud, chatty, and so attractive that Gale feels a tingling sensation in his stomach every time he sees him.
Thinking about him is enough to make heat rise to Gale's face already. Him, him, him. His bright smile, his dark blue eyes, his curls, his silly jokes and the games he plays with Gale in secret when they share a desk in school. The way he always chooses Gale first to be on his team in P.E., and how he claps Gale on the back or fistbumps him when they score. Once, he even gave Gale a hug after a particularly nice basketball play. It was one of the best days of Gale's life so far.
Gale can feel this... this fire growing inside of him. It has never been this intense before, never so desperate that he couldn’t feel hunger, thirst or tiredness when he thought about it. But that’s how it is nowadays. Is this what love is? He thinks about it every day, every hour. I'm in love, goes his mind, and each time, it feels different, sweet and bitter and unbearable. One minute, he never wants it to end, then the next, he wishes he could tear it right out of his chest.
How does no one else see it on his face?
"You’re not like Johnny's other friends." Lena tells him in a sweet voice, drawing his attention back to the present. He has no idea what she said in the past few minutes. "You’re much nicer. Smarter too."
Gale hugs the bowl to his stomach, pulls his shoulders up and gives her an embarrassed smile. "Thanks."
"Actually, do you wanna -"
Gale never learns what she was going to suggest, because a cheerful voice interrupts her question.
"Buck! Are they holding you hostage?" Bucky calls out from the top of the stairs leading to the basement, based on the echo.
"I'm here!" Gale yells, and promptly wants to bury himself under a pile of sand. I'm here? That wasn’t even an answer to Bucky's playful question, it made no sense at all. Oh God, what does Bucky think of him now? He must think that Gale’s a weirdo, socially awkward charity case, but Gale’s not like that at all, he’s usually calm and funny. He just wants to be liked so much that he loses all common sense, apparently.
Before he could beat himself up over it, footsteps approach, and Bucky walks into the kitchen. Gale's face brightens automatically. He smiles, and Bucky smiles back before he directs his eyes at Lena.
"Hey, Lenny, how's it going?" He says, flicking her long hair as he walks past her. Tar coils in Gale's throat at the sight, but he swallows it down.
She blushes, but doesn’t look pleased to see Bucky. "We're kind of busy, Bucky."
"Oh, busy?" Bucky teases, glancing between them and smirking. Gale widens his eyes in an expression that's meant to convey a heartfelt hell no.
"You’re so childish." Lena huffs, but Bucky doesn’t look at her again.
He stops next to Gale with a hand on the kitchen counter, and uses the back of the other to swat Gale's arm. "Hear that, Buck, I’m childish."
Gale's blood turns into an electric current in his veins. He stares into Bucky’s eyes, mesmerized by the playfulness shining in their blue depths. "Where's the lie?"
Bucky grins at him for a long moment, then reaches into the bowl Gale's holding, grabs a few chips and pops them in his mouth. It takes Gale a second too long to realize that he shouldn't watch him so intensely, so revealingly. He casts his gaze down before he looks back up, unable to keep his eyes off Bucky. He’s sure he's super obvious. Still, he can’t help but lean a bit closer until his elbow brushes Bucky's arm, as if by accident.
God, he has no idea how he gets away with it without Bucky flinching away from him. After all, he’s aware of Bucky's reputation as someone who has a new girlfriend every week. Rumours are, that's what he did last year in his previous school and what he plans on continuing this year. It's only October, so he’s still single, but Gale’s sure it won't be for too long.
A sad voice in him wonders if he'll stop trying to befriend Gale when that happens. He won't have space in his life for new friends when dating takes up all his time. Perhaps that will be for the better. Gale's hopeless crush on his clearly heterosexual best friend could die then. It will be harder to say goodbye to the best friend part. He has never really met anyone else he felt so attuned to. No one has matched his puzzle piece like Bucky does. They're on the same wavelength.
He hears a huff from Lena. "Okay. Whatever. See you later, Gale."
"See you!" Gale says in a haste, feeling guilty as she walks away. But it only lasts for a split second, because next thing he knows, Bucky's ruffling his hair.
"Way to go, Buck." He teases.
Gale bats Bucky's hand away because he loves its touch so much he can’t stand it, but Bucky just pushes Gale's hand back and they end up hand-wrestling for a moment before Gale drops his arm.
"Do you think she likes me?" He shudders.
Bucky makes a jokingly spluttering sound. "She likes all pretty blonds."
Flames light up on Gale’s cheeks. He can feel the heat rolling off his skin, mixing with Bucky's warmth because they're the same height and they're standing so close. Pretty... Bucky thinks he's pretty.
"But the question is, do you like her?" Bucky asks, and his voice sounds off. Clearly wanting her all to himself, which is fair enough, she's beautiful. It must be painful to pine for her when she doesn’t feel the same. Gale knows exactly how that feels, ever since his first day of this school year when he got seated next to the most fun person in their entire year.
"I don't." He replies. But I like you. I like you. I really, really -
"I think you dodged a bullet there." Bucky snorts, and something eases in him, makes him relax until he’s like water, loose in his body, confident and at ease while he’s with Gale. He throws an arm around Gale's shoulders and fishes his phone out of his pocket. His scent fills Gale's nose. "That reminds me of this TikTok..."
As they lean over the small screen, their heads bend closer together, almost touching. If Gale was brave enough, if he thought he had even a morsel of a chance, he could turn a few degrees and kiss Bucky. His lips would be salty from the chips, he figures. Would there be a trace of soda sweetness there or only the salt?
He swallows, barely seeing the video, but he laughs along with Bucky. They fall silent, except for the occasional chuckle, as one clip plays after the other. Standing there alone at the kitchen counter, close enough in their loose half-embrace that Gale could convince himself for a moment that Bucky is his.
Oh, what a sweet daydream.
A text pops up on Bucky’s phone. It’s from someone named "Luis Vutton", misspelled like that.
'your round goes to Buck if youre not here in -5 minutes'
"Asshole." Bucky snickers and texts back a middle finger emoji. To Gale's disappointment, he pulls his arm back and takes a step away. "We're doing a FIFA tournament. I got you first, then Brady. Looks like he can’t wait to get his ass kicked by me."
Gale gives him a lopsided smile as he falls into step with him, walking back to the stairs. "What about you, ready to lose on your first game?"
Bucky grins at him. "Quite the confidence for someone who knows nothing about soccer."
"Shut up, I know plenty." Gale bumps into Bucky. It’s true - since Bucky befriended him, Gale has watched so many soccer games and read so many articles that he feels like he knows more than enough.
"Nerd." Bucky bumps him back. His comment doesn’t make much sense, but Gale's stomach flips all the same. "You're still up against the defending champion though."
"That so?"
Bucky hums as he starts descending the stairs. "I'm a natural. Got the hands for it."
He stops two steps down from Gale and turns to hold one of his palms up. Gale doesn’t even think about it, although he should have because he’s being weird, but he presses his own palm to Bucky's. His hand isn’t small at all, but the tips of his fingers only reach the last knuckle of Bucky's.
Bucky gives him a smile that's so amused and giddy that his eyes become half-moons. "See?"
"You comin', or what?" Brady’s voice calls, and they both drop their hands.
Bucky gives Gale a wink, then bounds down the stairs. Gale needs a deep breath before he’s ready to follow him.
If only daydreams came true!