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Wylan walked through the crowded halls of his best friend's home, pushing awkwardly past people as he went. Nina was nowhere to be found; for all Wylan knew she could be on the roof.
He ducked into a doorway as a line of drunk girls hurried past him, trying to get out of their way. Almost immediately, something caught under his foot, and he stumbled into the room behind him.
“Shit,” he muttered, trying to catch himself before he toppled over. His feet scuffed the floor, heels pressing into the bottom of his shoes as he stumbled.
And then his back hit something, solid but not unmovable. He squeaked, turning to look at the person who had saved him from his fall.
“I’m so sorry-” he began, eyes catching on a tall boy's face, a boy who’s dark skin glittered with pale eyeshadow that bounced off the lights like a disco ball. Wylan stared at him for a second, but only a second, because he then realized that behind the boy was a crowd of people, all watching him.
Wylan froze. There were maybe 25 people in the room, a room which he now recognized as the largest in the house. They blinked at him, music thrumming behind their still, unmoving heads. Red cups made residence in each person's hands, including the boy who Wylan had run into.
“I'll just-” Wylan began to turn, but a voice called out to him.
“Wy! Hey, there you are!” Nina emerged from the crowd of people. “Come, join us!” She gave him a look, one that told him he knew better than to argue with her.
He sighed, body still tense but less so than before now that Nina was there. “Join you?”
“We’re about to play a game,” someone else piped up, a shorter boy with dark hair. Wylan recognized him as Kuwei, a boy he had shared classes with from an early age. “Jesper, come sit back down.”
The boy in front of Wylan, the tall one with the glittery face, shuffled awkwardly. He smiled at Wylan, teeth on display. “Come join,” he said. “You’ll probably have a more enjoyable time in here than you would if you stumbled into another room.”
Wylan highly doubted that, but he shrugged, looking up at the boy he now remembered to be Jesper. ”Okay,” he mumbled, retreating toward the group, toward Nina. “What are we playing?”
Nina grinned, shoving a cup into his hands. “You’ll see,” she said. “Alright, circle time, babes!” Gesturing with her hands, Nina ushered everyone into a misshapen, lopsided circle on the floor. Wylan was squeezed in next to her, shoulders brushing against three other boys who seemed to want his spot.
He looked up to see Jesper across from him, Kuwei at his side. The taller boy grinned in his direction, lanky legs spread out across the wooden floor.
Pulling an empty bottle from behind her back, Nina placed it in the center of the circle. A chorus of excited whispers rang out around them. “Does anyone not know how to play?” she asked, letting the bottle clank onto the floor.
Wylan looked over at her. “What are we playing?” he asked again, quietly. Someone to his left chuckled, and another person to his right groaned. He flushed red as Nina shot them both glares.
“Seven minutes in heaven,” Nina explained, reading out for the bottle. “I’ll spin this twice, and whoever it lands on has to play.” She looked around at the group. “No one has to do anything in the closet. Just sit there for seven minutes, I don’t care.” Pausing, she directed her stare at a group of rowdy boys Wylan knew only as ‘the jocks.’ “Please don’t get it on in my closet. Seven minutes is not long enough, and I don’t want to walk in on anything.”
“Hurry up and spin it!” someone shouted, words slurred drunkenly. Nina rolled her eyes and leaned in, twisting the bottle.
It spun for what seemed like a decade. Around and around it went, bottleneck searching for a target.
And then it landed on Wylan.
His eyes went wide, nerves rushing through him. Someone gasped, another person broke out into laughter. He stared at the bottle.
“Oh,” Nina said. “Well, then.” She hesitated, looking at Wylan for a sign of consent to spin it again. She was giving him an out, a chance to go back on participating.
He stared blankly at the ground. “Spin it,” he muttered.
She did. It circled once, twice, three times, and then settled directly across from Wylan, directly on Jesper.
Red creeped onto Wylans cheeks, and he pressed his face into his shoulder. He watched as Jesper processed what had happened, looking from the bottle to Wylan and then back to the bottle.
“Well, then,” Jesper said, his voice smooth and soft. He looked at Wylan, and Wylan found himself looking back through his eyelashes as the other boy stood and stepped toward him, extending a hand. “Off to the closet we go.”
“Right,” Wylan gulped, taking Jesper’s hand. Rough fingertips brushed his own. “Never thought I’d return there.” He muttered the joke under his breath, but Jesper must have caught it, because he laughed as he dragged Wylan gently toward the looming door.
Nina yelled a warning behind the two of them, something about the timer starting as soon as the door closed. Wylan couldn’t hear her; his heart was beating so loudly it was all he could hear.
The darkness closed in around them as Wylan blindly walked into the small space. Jesper shut the door, closing it with a click. “So.”
“So,” echoed Wylan, pressing himself into the wall. “Jesper, right?”
“Jesper,” the other boy confirmed. “You’re Wylan.” He said it like he knew it for certain. “Nina talks about you a lot.”
“Does she?” Wylan didn’t know what to make of that. “Good things, I hope?”
A deep, echoing laugh came from Jesper, one that bounced around the small space. It was warm, comforting, something Wylan could listen to on repeat. “Of course,” he said. “Only the best.”
“Right…” Suddenly insecure, Wylan ran his tongue over his teeth. “Well, sorry if I don’t live up to it. Nina likes to over exaggerate.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Jesper said quickly. He seemed closer now, warmth radiating from his body and onto Wylans. “To be honest, I think you’re even better.”
Wylan inhaled. “You barely know me.”
“But I'd like to,” was Jespers instant reply. “We could talk? Or we could…” he trailed off. “Never mind. Let’s just talk.”
Glad for the darkness, Wylan tried to ignore the red flush that crept onto his pale, freckled skin. “I-” he stammered, looking up. Jespers shadowed outline stood before him. “We could do that.” He reached out, fingers brushing Jesper’s coat sleeve.
“Yeah, we could.” Jesper whispered. “I’ll be honest, if you get any closer I won’t be able to focus on talking.”
There was a second of silence, and then Wylan took a deep breath.
He stepped closer. His grip tightened around Jespers arm, pulling on the fabric. “Yeah?” There was a tension around them, one that was far too intense for the little amount of time they had known each other. Maybe it was the close, forced proximity, or maybe it was pure sincerity in Jesper’s voice. Whatever it was, it pulled Wylan in. “Is it okay if I-”
“More than okay,” Jesper interrupted, his hand falling on Wylan's cheek. “Only if you’re okay-”
Standing on his tiptoes, Wylan smiled. “Shut up,” he said.
Jesper did.
The two leaned in toward each other, lips touching with a spark that Wylan wanted to capture and use to light up the space around him. It was a soft kiss, a sweet kiss, yet it was still filled with a want for more than Wylan had never experienced with anyone else. Their lips dragged gently across each other, breath exchanged as they let themselves be vulnerable.
When Wylan pulled away, he sighed. The feeling of Jesper’s lips on his lingered, and he longed to feel it again.
“Wow,” said Jesper. His hand still cupped Wylan’s cheek, rough thumb sliding over his smooth skin. “We should do that again.”
Wylan giggled. His stomach flipped as Jesper pulled him closer, swirling with the beating wings of a thousand butterflies. Lips pressed against his once more, this time deeper than the last. Jesper drew him in, a hand on the back of his neck.
Pulling away the second time was harder than the first, but Wylan did so just as someone knocked on the closet door.
“Times up!” called a familiar voice, and Wylan groaned into Jespers chest. “I’m opening the door now!”
Light flooded in. Wylan glanced up at Jesper, who was smirking down at him. He realized his hand was still scrunched around Jesper’s sleeve, and he blushed as a chorus of gasps drifted toward them.
“Sorry,” he whispered, stepping backward. He started out the door, and Jesper grasped his wrist, pulling him back in.
“Let’s get out of here, yeah?” Jesper smiled, and his eyes were lit by something that Wylan could only equate to hope. “If you want, that is.”
The dozens of other eyes in the room melted away, and suddenly Wylan was only aware of two things- Jesper’s stare, and his fingers on his wrist. He gulped, and then nodded firmly.
“Right, then,” Jesper said, turning toward the crowd. He winked at Nina, and entangled his fingers between Wylan’s. “We’ll be off.”
He and Wylan hurried out the room and toward the backyard, the cool nights air blasting onto their heat flushed cheeks.
“What now?” Wylan asked, turning toward Jesper. “I didn’t think you’d be interested in anything outside of the closet.”
“I’m interested in you,” Jesper replied. “We could… finally have that talk?”
Wylan grinned. “Sure,” he said, and then he kissed Jesper again.