Work Text:
(Matty POV)
“Well it was YOUR spell that set off the alarms!” I yell. “Well if someone hadn’t started screaming, I could have had a chance to make them stop!” Gus argues back. “I wasn’t just yelling! It was an expression of strength! I’m sorry for having some style when I break the rules, unlike you.” I glare at him, he rolls his eyes and chuckles in response. “Sure Matty. Ya, know you're always so dramatic. It’s not going to be that big of a deal, we’re just in detention, and it wasn’t like SUPER illegal.”
I cross my arms in response to him calling me “Matty”. And also, not him calling me dramatic, that is objectively false, and extremely rude and obnoxious. I notice Gus rubbing the back of his neck, a little nervous habit I’ve seen him do before. It made my chest tighten in a way that was undoubtedly weird, but annoyingly warm.
A few minutes passed and we were both sitting with our backs against the cold wall of the detention pit. The silence is oddly comfortable, being there with Gus is nice. I mean it has nothing to do with him, I was gracious and stopped complaining to him.
“You’re lucky I’m too tired to hex you.” I grunt, crossing my arms. “Ooh lucky me.” Gus replies as he purposefully bumps his side into me. Against my will, my face flushes in response.
“If you lean on me one more time I’ll turn you into a toad or something!” I threaten. Gus just grins and teases me in response “Oh, very creative Matty!”, he leans over to bump my side again. My stomach does that warm fluttery thing. That I HATE! At least I think I do.
“You know what, you’re kind of warm.” Gus says almost as shocked as I am to hear that. “Is that a compliment?” I ask, pretending not to care.
“I don’t know, Matty.” Gus lets out a yawn. “It’s a statement.” He offers, as he lets out a gentle yawn. His yawn makes me feel like my heart is trying to punch its way out of my ribs. But I won’t let it. “You know what else?” Gus asks. “What dork?” I joke. “I kinda like when you talk. Well when you’re being a little less dramatic.” He explains. My stomach starts twisting itself, as my mouth starts to dry. I wish it would stop but I sort of liked the feeling. Which is stupid. “Huh.” Is all I manage to get out, and not without my voice cracking.
At that, Gus adjusts himself and leans against me again, and this time he stays there, and closes his eyes.
Really? Great! Now I have to sit there with some jerk literally asleep on me! And Titan knows I’m not going to move and risk waking him up. Because maybe I’m sort of glad he is asleep on me. I mean it is super cold in here, and he is warm and cuddly. I just am glad he is here to keep me warm. It's a biological need to regulate temperature, nothing more.
He seems comfortable, I’ll just endure it for his sake. This is way too close though, I should move, or say something. His soft breathing is really quiet, but I can hear it, the rhythm is sort of calming. Actually, I think I’m just going to stay right here.
He smells like cedarwood and old paper. Probably because he’s annoying and reads books and stuff. It’s not comforting, it's just dumb. His hands are softly laying on top of him. It’s not like I think about him holding my hand or anything like that. Well if he asked to hold mine, I would say yes. But just to be polite, of course.
This is a lot. I start to clench my teeth and shut my eyes tight. Maybe if I can do that, I can keep the feelings that are starting to explode out of my pounding heart, all inside.
Gus moves a bit, which snaps my eyes back open. As he gets comfortable again, I hear him say “Matty” softly under his breath. My chest squeezes again. I can’t believe he just said my name. He is definitely asleep, so that means he must be thinking about me. I don’t know how I feel about that part, my stomach responds with a small flip. I should be mad he called me “Matty”, but maybe it was ok, or better than ok. It sounded different when he said it. Nothing like my old “friends”, if you could even call them that.
My jaw loosened. My muscles relaxed for the first time all day. My eyes started to flutter closed. I kept trying to fight them, but I eventually gave in. I leaned into him a bit more, making sure our hands touched slightly, sending goosebumps up my arms. Just this once, I let myself slowly drift off.
- - -
(Gus POV)
I open my eyes to see Matty curled up against me, our faces almost touching. Oh. Immediately a light blush crossed my face.
I silently wonder how long it took him to give in and fall asleep too. At that I chuckle and roll my eyes with a smile, knowing I won. I always knew he was a softie somewhere in there. Maybe very deep, but in there.
My eyes gaze over him. I like him when he isn’t talking so much, and I can just enjoy him. Everything feels still and quiet. Like we are the only thing that matters. The space between us feels like the charged buzz left behind after you cast a spell. The way his head sort of drooped in my direction made my chest ache, like a memory I’m waiting for. I remember saying he was warm before I fell asleep, and I didn’t even realize how much I meant it until I woke up cuddled up with him. He’s a pretty boy.
I’m also kind of freaking out because I just realized how close his hand is to mine, and how a few of our fingers are touching, almost linked. Did he put his hand there, or did I? Either way, I was super glad, but if he didn’t mean too I can’t have him wake up like this, and why wasn’t I letting go?
I take a deep breath, using the old trick Willow taught me. I don’t move, but I don’t panic. I just let the warmth wash over me. After all, I’ve probably had a crush on him for months. But right now, we’re pretty perfect in an imperfect way. And I kinda like that.