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The crowd roared in applause one last time before the Pegboard Nerds, Parsberg and Odden, left the stage. As they made their way backstage, Odden's cheerful expression turned into a downhearted one. Parsberg instantly noticed the change in his partner's behavior and placed his hand on Odden's back.
“Hey man. What's wrong?” Parsberg asked.
Parsberg knew that was a dumb question to ask because he already knew the reason why Odden was upset. While they were performing, the Nerds witnessed a member of the audience tense up as if they were in immense pain, and then suddenly faint. The dancing crowd had to part as numerous security guards rushed over to him to dragged his unresponsive body outside. It was an unsettling moment for both of them, but they had to keep playing their music to keep the mood alive.
Odden looked down and let out a sigh. “I'm just worried about that man. I hope he's alright.”
Parsberg gave Odden a few soft pats on the back. “I'm sure he is fine.” Parsberg began. “This place is a bar. The dude was probably too drunk to stay conscious.” He took a glance at Odden to see if his reassuring was bringing his friend any comfort. Unfortunately though, Odden still looked dispirited so Parsberg decided to take a different course of action.
“Listen, you preformed really well out there even with all that chaos. I think you deserve a strawberry milkshake, don't you think?”
“Parsberg, it's 3 AM. Where are we going to find a place open this late that will sell us strawberry milkshakes?” Odden took a deep breath. “I guess it wouldn't hurt to go looking though...”
So the two Nerds quietly snuck their way out of the club, making sure they weren't spotted by their fans. As much as they loved doing meet and greets with their fans, they didn't really feel up for it right now.
They traversed through the city, stopping at every open eatery but to no avail. All the restaurants they stopped at either didn't sell milkshakes or were out of strawberries. There was also one restaurant that had the nerve to try to sell them caramel flavored milkshakes instead of strawberry.
The Nerds had spent two hours walking around town. Now it was nearly five in the morning and both of them were really tired. However, Parsberg was still determined to get Odden a strawberry milkshake. “Come on. Let's go try that 24 hour diner down the way.” Parsberg started to walk away but he was stopped when Odden reached out and grabbed his arm.
“Parsberg, I know you're trying to make me feel better and I'm really grateful for that but... I'm just too tried to go on. I would rather go home and call it a night.” Odden cast his friend a small smile. “We could go looking again in the morning. Alright?”
Parsberg crossed his arms over his chest. “Hmph. Fine.” He grumbled as he turned around and headed in the direction of their home. Of course they couldn't find a place that sells strawberry milkshakes when Odden needed one. It if were any other day, they could have easily found a place.
Thankfully for the Nerds, the club they preformed at was in their hometown so they had their own house to return to and nice soft beds waiting for them instead of the questionable beds and horrible room service that they have to deal with while they are out on tour.
As they slowly trudged their way towards their home, Parsberg glanced over at Odden and took in his friend's appearance. Odden's head was drooped low and his glowing eyes were dim and fixated on the ground, looking sad and lost in thought. Parsberg hated seeing his partner in this sad state. He wanted to scoop Odden into his arms, carry him home, and shower him with affection until he was happy again. But he highly doubted that Odden would allow that to happen. A pair of blue hands waving at his face broke Parsberg out of his trance and back to reality.
“Um, Earth to Parsberg. We are home... and you're the one that has the keys to get in.”
“Oh, right. Sorry...” Parsberg silently cursed himself as he got the house keys out to unlock the front door. His cheeks started to feel a little warm. That wasn't the first time Odden had caught him staring and it definitely wouldn't be the last. But no matter how many times he gets caught, he always feels very flustered afterwards.
Parsberg opened the door and both the Nerds headed inside. Odden was so tired that he didn't even make it to his room. Instead, he decided to inelegantly slumped onto the couch and wrap a blanket around himself. On the other hand, Parsberg went walking around the house, checking to make sure their house was secure for the night.
While Parsberg was walking through the kitchen, he noticed that there was a couple bags of groceries left on the counter from when went shopping earlier. They left the house in such a hurry that they didn't have time to put away all the stuff they bought. Parsberg started taking out all the groceries when something in the bag caught his eye: strawberries. An idea came to Parsberg; If he had all the ingredients, he could make Odden a strawberry milkshake instead!
Parsberg went through the list of ingredients in his head and gathered them all up. Much to Parsberg's luck, they had just enough ingredients to make two strawberry milkshakes. He got out the blender and mixed all the components together. Once that was done, he poured the contents into two drinking glasses.
Parsberg walked out of the kitchen and into the living room where Odden was still slumped on the couch, barely staying awake. Odden's eyes flickered open as he heard his friend approaching him. He smiled at Parsberg but his smile turned to shock once he saw the milkshakes.
“Parsberg... you made strawberry milkshakes for us?” A big smile appeared on Odden. “You sure are stubborn sometimes. I told you to not worry about it until tomorrow.”
“I know... it's like you said earlier. I just want you to be happy so... here.” Parsberg held out a strawberry milkshake for Odden, who happily took it from him.
“What did I ever do to deserve such a wonderful partner?” Odden sighed. Hearing him say that unexpected compliment caused Parsberg to blush a lot which Odden took noticed of. Odden smiled and patted the couch space right beside him, offering Parsberg a place to sit. This caused him to become even more nervous but he happily sat down beside him.
The two Nerds sat beside each other in silence while they drank their milkshakes. Even though the milkshake tasted great, Parsberg was more interested in watching his friend. He noticed that Odden's eyes didn't look sad anymore. Instead, they were glowing bright and were up-turned. Odden pounded down his milkshake in a matter of seconds. After he was finished, he looked over at Parsberg and smiled brightly.
“Thanks, Parsberg...” Odden stared at his friend for a while, seeming to be questioning something in his head. But before Parsberg could ask him what was on his mind, Odden leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Odden pulled back and cast Parsberg a shy look. Parsberg eyes widened and he lifted his hand up to where Odden had kissed him. A smile broke out across his face.
“Did you like that? If so, maybe you'll like this as well...” Odden reached out and wrapped his arms around Parsberg's neck before leaning forward again. He gave Parsberg another kiss, but this time on the lips. Odden pulled back a little bit to look at Parsberg. Now Parsberg was too flustered to talk and could only stare at his best friend in shock. Never in a million years did he think that Odden would ever have interest in him. Parsberg felt his face heat up again for which seems like the thousandth time today.
Odden's laughter ripped Parsberg out of his shocked state. “Wow, man. I've never seen you so flustered before.” Odden teased. Parsberg grumbled something under his breath and pulled his cap down to hide his embarrassingly purple face. “I have to admit, you are very adorable when you're flustered.”
Parsberg tossed his cap off to the side and looked over at Odden. “Alright, that's it. It's your turn to be flustered now!” He quickly reached out, grabbed Odden, and pulled him into his arms and onto his lap. Parsberg started nuzzling Odden's cheek with his own cheek which made his friend giggle. “P-Parsberg! Your beard is tickling me!” Odden could barely talk without giggling in between every word.
Parsberg then began to trail kisses from Odden's cheek down to his neck while Odden wrapped his arms around Parsberg's waist to hold him closer. After spending ample time exchanging kisses, Parsberg wrapped his arm around Odden's back to hold him in place, leaned forward, and pressed a kiss onto the heart Odden has on his chest.
“Eep!” Odden exclaimed as he brought up his hands to cover his now purpled face.
“I had always wondered if your heart was a sensitive spot...” Parsberg then took his hand that wasn't currently wrapped around Odden's back and gently ran it through Odden's fluffy red hair. His hair felt like soft clouds between his fingers. Odden sighed, closed his eyes, and rested his head against Parsberg's shoulder, enjoying the feeling.
This was everything Parsberg could have wanted. For years he had been afraid to express his feelings around his best friend. But now he is realizing that he had nothing to fear at all. Parsberg loved Odden, and Odden loved him back.
He glanced back down at Odden, who had fallen asleep in his arms, and gave him a kiss on the forehead before slowly leaning back on the couch. As he started to drift off to sleep, Parsberg made a mental note that he should make Odden strawberry milkshakes more often.