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Meeks and Pitts have found themselves in an interesting situation.
They cared for each other, that was clear to everyone, and it was clear to themselves. They always have, and when that care eventually grew into love, it was seen as just the natural evolution of their relationship.
That wasn’t the problem. The problem was they were both insistent on not being the one to confess. Both of them stayed back from crossing the frail invisible wall that still stopped them from meeting each other in the middle. However, that didn’t stop them from pushing against it. Consistently. Baiting the other to break down the wall for them.
It had become a game of sorts. They would push their luck, both of them standing one step back from making the first move. They would do things that technically meant nothing, but they knew what intentions they had. Both of them knew what they were doing, and they knew the other one was doing the same.
Pitts would ask Meeks to meet up together, before quickly adding on that it was because he needed help studying. Along with that he would give softer compliments before he went right back to teasing.
One night Pitts found Meeks awake at night and tried to talk him down to finally get some sleep. His words were soothing, a special kind of affectionate that Meeks has only seen from Pitts on a rare occasion. It was enough to almost make a sleep deprived guy cry. In the morning Pitts just said it was because Meek’s desk lamp being on was bothering him. They both laughed about that.
Meeks would do the same. That night in their room Meeks had fallen asleep. While leaning his head on Pitts’. In the morning he played it off as not having enough energy to move and lay down by himself. Still, they both took note of how Pitts’ never did move him in the night.
That wasn’t the only way Meeks played their game. When they sat next to each other to study, he would press their shoulders together and sometimes their knees would even click together under the table. Meeks would say it was just to get a better look at what Pitts was reading. Neither of them would move from the position. There would be some days when they studied together where Pitts would get stuck in his head: fears of failure, fears of being a burden. When that happened Meeks would try to reassure him, he hoped if he tried hard enough he could summon the same affection that Pitts used to speak to him the night in their room. Affection that was soft, and careful in a deeply human way that Meeks worried that he would never be alive enough to use. When those moments ended neither of them would bother to try and explain away their actions, they just didn’t speak of it until it happened again.
They lived in the rhythm of their game, dancing around each other from morning to night. Some people would find it exhausting, the consistent movement, some would consider it running away. Not them. Meeks and Pitts would never run away from each other, that wasn't possible if they wanted to. From the moment they met they had been held together by a strong tether around their ankles. It was like being tied together for a 3 legged race. They were always working in tandem.
The two of them never confessed to each other, eventually the game just ended. One day in their room they just looked at each other, and neither of them said anything. Then they burst into laughter, an unspoken comedy found in the way they had been acting. There was no official confirmation of a shift in their relationship, no matter what they were always going to be together. Still, the shift happened, they stopped pretending like they didn’t want to cross the wall. By now the wall was long gone.
Then a new game started. Instead of the rhythm and dance of trying to hide their feelings behind hidden intentions, they were now fighting to see who was the one to make the biggest step in their relationship.
Pitts was the first one to ask Meeks out officially, they snuck out one night by themselves and hung out not doing much of anything. It was the time of their life.
Meeks was the first to suggest that they push their beds together one night. That night was a dreamless sleep, because what else could they dream about except for this? It was comfortable, it was soft.
They went back and forth like this, instead of a rhythm it was a push and a pull. The goal was one upping each other, though not in a malicious way. Never in a malicious way, neither of them would ever dare. Perhaps by now all of this was just fueled by spite and the desire to win (Along with the fact that they loved each other). Meeks had a plan though, he would be the winner, and maybe put an end to their final game.
Pitts had invited him up to roof one night, the same place where they had danced together with their radio. A signal and a connection. Pitts had wanted the two of them to look at the stars together, it was another ploy in the game. A grand gesture, a romantic outing, Meeks could see the scheming in Pitts’ eyes when he suggested it. (And joy, and love, and beauty. His eyes were beautiful, who cared for the sky, all the stars lived in there). Still, it was the perfect place for Meeks to enact his own plan.
They snuck up to the roof that night and they carefully placed down a blanket they had stolen from their room onto the ground, a comfortable viewing. They laid down next to each other and stared up at the stars. They started with a small gap between them, and Pitts used one grab to enlace his fingers with one of Meeks. Pitts used his other hand to point at the stars and explain all he knew to Meeks. Maybe it was silly, but a while ago when Meeks learned about Pitts’ interest in astronomy he had made an active choice to try to learn about it on his own as little as possible. Whatever there was to learn sounded much nicer coming from Pitts’ voice.
Meeks hung on to every word he said, but when Pitts started trailing off and the two of them started to fall into a silent, the plan was in motion. The gap between them disappeared as Meeks shifted closer toward the boy beside him. Their shoulders pressed together, their hands still holding onto each other.
Pitts turned his head and looked over at Meeks at the sudden movement “Hey Stevie.” He spoke blankly, though a smile lived on his face.
“Hey, Ger.” Meeks spoke, a grinning coming to his face, and Pitts’ immediately raised an eye at him. Pitts knew that grin, there was mischievous in that grin.
Nothing happened for a long moment, Meeks lured him into a false sense of security (In the most loving and affectionate way in the world), then he moved again. Meeks turned toward Pitts again, and this time he lifted his hand up and cupped Pitts face. Pitts just stared at him for a moment, before he wide eyed. Pitts didn’t move away, in fact Meeks saw the way he shifted impossibly closer. Perfect.
So Meeks leaned in and he placed a kiss on his lips. Their first kiss. It was part of the game, he wanted to be the one to win. It was also because he just wanted to kiss him. The two of them stayed like that for what felt like awhile, though maybe it was only a few seconds. Who could know? It was just them under the stars, time was merely a suggestion right now.
Then Meeks lifted himself up slightly by his elbows, and he grinned down at Pitts “I win.” he spoke, before he immediately turned away. He heard Pitts gasp and sit up from where they laid down.
Meeks started laughing as Pitts complained about how that was unfair. Pitts grabbed meeks by the shoulders and playfully shook him, willing the other boy to look back at him. Meeks could hear him starting to laugh too. Meeks eventually did turn back to him, but when they did the laughing just got worse on both sides.
It was stupid. The whole game was stupid. They hoped their laughter wasn't loud enough that people could hear them from inside. Eventually their laughter calmed down and they settled back into their close positions holding onto each other. They had the biggest smiles on their faces. After the laughter finally died out, Pitts spoke up again.
“Hey Stevie?”
“Yeah?” Meeks answered, before Pitts leaned down and quickly placed another kiss on his lips. Then he leaned back up and he grinned. Mischief.
“We’re tied.”