Work Text:
[TAKES PLACE AT END OF FALL 1]
The sound of good music blasted through the speaker, the ambiance was warm and lively despite the cold weather outside. The student council had organized a party for a reason Luka had forgotten even though Deja had told him at least five times. To be honest, it did not really matter. Luka liked a good party even though he was somewhat shy at times. He would be part of these people who genuinely used the dance floor to dance instead of just awkwardly standing by the sidelines while nursing their drink.
He, Deja and —miraculously— Cameron had arrived at the party at roughly 8:30 pm and the party was barely starting at that point. Now, it was 9:30 pm so the music was more animated and more people were dancing than before. Percy and Elio joined them somewhere around 9:45 pm, Jamie did not want to indulge in all that non-sense so he stayed at their dorm to bake.
While Percy was chatting with Deja and Cameron, Elio gravitated towards Luka. For some reason, he could not help but eye the man’s outfit: a black cropped shirt that clung to his torso paired with wide jeans pants and his usual pink shaped accessories. He really looked good according to Elio, but it’s Luka so it was not surprising.
Elio had just finished his punch when the music faded to another song, a dynamic drumbeat followed by a groovy baseline could be heard. The man saw out of the corner of his eyes how Luka seemed to have frozen in recognition and as soon as the first accordion notes started to play, that frozen expression turned into a huge grin.
“Oh my God!” Luka beamed as he finished his soda in one gulp, causing Elio to look at him with a confused but amused look. “This is my song, guys! I gotta go!” And without any explanation, he ran off to the dance floor, still looking super excited.
Elio blinked in confusion and looked back at his friends with a chuckle, silently asking what was up with his friend. Deja shook her head and waved her hand dismissively.
“Don’t bother, that’s one of Luka’s childhood songs… “Lambada” I think. I bet he requested the song to the DJ too.”
The group looked back to Luka who was dancing his heart out and singing the lyrics perfectly on beat.
“Woah… He really doesn’t play about this, huh?” Percy noticed with a hand on his hip. He then glanced at his best friend and nudged him with his elbow, “You should join him, dude. I think Luka is the only one who can compete with your dancing skills.”
Elio, who was zoning out till then, blinked and looked at Percy with a slightly dazed expression before focusing back onto the present moment.
“What?”
“Luka. You should dance with him. On the dancefloor,” Deja answered as she crossed her arms with a knowing smile on her face.
“Yeah, Percy and Dee are right! You two are the only ones crazy enough to dance so shamelessly,” Cameron added with an amused look.
This time, the group did not have to beg Elio. He nodded with a laugh and waved at his friend before running to Luka. As soon as he reached the other man, Luka’s eyes widened in surprise and excitement.
“Lio? You’re here to dance?” He asked, a bit out of breath.
“Yeah, man! You can’t be the only one having fun,” he laughed before letting Luka grab his hands. “The beat’s cool too!”
The two men laughed together as they held each other while dancing. Luka had the time of his life when he tried to teach how to dance the lambada —which was difficult because he had never learnt it himself despite seeing his older relatives dance it as a joke. Elio could not help but glance at Luka’s expression —the other man was too busy laughing to notice it anyways— and he could bet anything that he had never seen Luka this radiant before. It made his chest feel warm for some reason.
***
Luka and Elio’s dance subsided as “Lambada” stopped playing through the speakers and faded to another song. Elio stared shamelessly at the other man who was winding himself down with his hands now — it was true that dancing this energetically could be tiring. Why did he find this sight so alluring though? He gulped before looking away and awkwardly sipping on his punch, not knowing what to do with his thoughts. It was only after a few seconds that he gathered the courage to speak to Luka again.
But… Huh? Looks like he’s been beaten to it by someone else…
Indeed, Luka felt a man tapping on his shoulder which made him turn around. Another man stood before him; Luka could notice his tan skin, his brown curls, but most importantly his witty green eyes accompanied by a polite but seductive smile. Luka tilted his head as a sign that he was listening.
“Hey, excuse me!” The stranger started loud enough for his voice to be heard over the music, “I saw you dance earlier on ‘Lambada’, you got some moves! And you got the lyrics too?”
Luka felt his face heat up a bit, he felt a bit embarrassed to have been eyed up like this. However, he still felt proud that a complete stranger had noticed his skills. Elio, on his part, still had his smile on, though the grip on his cup became slightly stronger. He was glad Luka was socializing with people. To be honest, everyone should socialize with him: he was truly amazing and fun to be around! So he just observed — for now.
“Oh, yeah!” Luka beamed in answer, “Well, I used to sing it when back when I was in Brazil and—”
As soon as the word ‘Brazil’ was uttered, the tone shifted. Elio saw from the sidelines that the stranger’s eyes lit up as if Luka had told him he found a way to solve world hunger. And this was when things went downhill for Elio that night, the two men switched languages totally.
”No way?! You’re Brazilian? Me too!” The stranger said, which caused Luka to let out a gasp of amazement.
“Yes I am! I’m from Recife.” Luka seemed to get more and more excited now. Elio thought it was cute, but the fact he was not the one instilling that reaction in the man did not sit right with him. His eyes narrowed and he sipped on his punch again.
“I’m from Rio myself,” answered the stranger with a charming smile before extending his hand. “My name’s Rafael! And it’s nice to meet you, um…”
“Luka! My name’s Luka.” That’s what Elio guessed his friend said in Portuguese before Luka grabbed the man’s hand and shook it amicably. But then, the stranger twirled Luka around and brought him closer to his chest.
No way! How can that stranger do that to Lu so shamelessly? Elio asked himself as his scowl started to become painfully visible on his face. He did not know why, but for some reason he wished he was able to speak Portuguese just to be able to butt into the conversation. He already did not like the idea of being left behind but he hated even more the idea of Luka being stolen from him. Wait… “stolen”? What the hell am I on about? Lu is his own person, he can let whoever flirt with him, I don’t care.
I don’t…
Elio saw Luka giggle at some bullshit the stranger said.
... care who flirts with him.
He saw that man put a hand on Luka’s shoulder and let it linger for way too long.
No. Actually, I hate this.
He felt like his body acted on its own when he strided toward the new-found duo before placing a slightly shaky hand on Luka’s free shoulder while trying to keep his friendly composure on.
“Hey, Lu. Deja hit me up, she’s looking for you,” he said, the only evidence of his lie being his tense tone. “Let’s go together, yeah?”
This cut the conversation between Luka and Rafael stopped in its tracks when they heard Elio’s voice stiffly cutting through the music. Luka immediately noticed that Elio was not as joyful and happy-go-lucky as usual… If anything, he seemed annoyed.
“Oh, hey,” Rafael said while still not leaving Luka’s side. “Who are you? Are you Luka’s friend or should I consider you as competition?” He ended up asking shamelessly which caused Elio’s head to whip up at the man in surprise and Luka’s eyes to widen in surprise and also flattery.
“Competition? What?” He asked, incredulous.
“I’m just saying that Luka is upholding Recifenses’ reputation by being this charming. You should shoot your shot before someone takes him first.”
Was this guy serious?! Why would he care about Elio shooting his shot? That was not his business in any way. He internally scoffed when he saw Luka smiling at the comment. After what seemed like an eternity of conversation in Portuguese between Luka and that man — and what also seemed to be an exchange of phone numbers — Elio finally managed to grab Luka and walk away.
Luka looked at Elio with a confused and slightly worried expression. It was the first time the man saw his friend so upset. But why would he even be upset? He was just being flirted with so there was not any reason for Elio to be mad according to the man.
“What was he even talking about?” Elio finally asked as they navigated through the crowd.
“Oh, Rafael? Well nothing much, he was just flirting with me,” he answered with a shrug. “He gave me his contact, maybe I’ll text him,” he ended up musing out loud.
This simple thought made Elio stop in his tracks, causing Luka to bump into him and letting out an ‘oof’ sound.
“Why would you talk to that guy?” Elio asked, slightly more pressed than usual,
“Because… He seemed nice? Why do you even care, Lio? ”
Elio huffed and kept on walking. He hated himself right now; he hated himself for being such an asshole to Luka. But he also could not manage to brush off how that “Rafael” guy was so shamelessly flirting with his friend right in front of him.
“I'm just worried ‘bout you, man. I know guys like him. They're players and… I don't want you to be hurt because of an asshole like him.”
“Elio, I'll be fine… And it's the first time I meet another Brazilian guy here. I have the right to want to talk with him, no?”
Luka tilted his head while the other man avoided eye contact and muttered a ‘yeah, probably’. This made Luka frown in worry: he had never seen Elio this annoyed before. He wanted to open his mouth to make things better but, before he could say anything, they had already reached Deja’s spot. The young woman immediately understood there was some tension in between the two and thus looked at Elio with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh, hi you two. Y’all having fun on the dancefloor?”
Both men nodded but none said anything for a few seconds before Luka started to make small talk with Deja. It was only after Elio made some quick excuse to walk away that Deja finally asked the real questions.
“What’s up with him?” She asked with a confused expression, “I’ve never seen him so tense before.”
“I don’t know…” Luka shrugged before looking at the other man’s who had already joined his own roommates. “He’s been acting weird after we stopped dancing… and when that guy flirted with me.”
“Since a what did what to you?” A voice said behind them. It was Cameron, they somehow managed to draw from their already low social battery to come here — but maybe the delicious food and their friends’ presence was what gave them the courage to come.
Luka let out a soft sigh before explaining the situation to both of his friends: how he and Elio were dancing and how everything went downhill when Rafael came along and lightly flirted with Luka. He explained how he had never seen Elio this upset before and that it made him worried.
Deja and Cameron looked at each other before looking back at Luka with a slightly strained expression. Deja was the first to speak up as she shook her head.
“Y’all are so painful to watch I swear… Luka, he was being jealous.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed while Cam and Lu looked at her with wide eyes. “I mean, it’s so obvious even from your words alone.”
“You really think he was being jealous?” Cameron insisted before biting into their food.
Deja nodded and explained herself, saying that the way Elio immediately tried to jump in to protect Luka was definitely a sign of jealousy. Luka looked at his best friend with bewildered eyes. Elio? His straight friend? Being jealous about him? There was literally no way Elio would ever look at him this way. But at the same time… Deja’s words seemed very convincing. He quickly shook his head to dissipate the thought, he should not get his hopes up.
***
Elio walked through the crowd with way more energy than usual. His head was filled with confusing thoughts; of course he felt angry at that Rafael guy but he also felt guilty for being this cold to Luka earlier. The man’s worried face kept replaying in his head every time he closed his eyes and this broke his heart. He was so deep in thought he did not realize right away he had bumped into Percy.
“Hey, Elio!” The latter started but his smile faded when he saw his best friend's conflicted expression. “Woah… What’s going on, dude?”
Elio grunted and shook his head before muttering it was nothing. But Percy was having none of it and grabbed his friend’s wrist before guiding him to a more secluded area of the party. He looked at Elio with an unimpressed expression and urged the latter to speak.
“So, what’s up? And why aren’t you with Luka?” He asked as he crossed his arms.
Elio looked away and sighed before answering a simple: “I messed up… I think.”
Percy’s eyes widened slightly but he did not say anything, letting the other man talk his frustration out.
“We… We were dancing with Lu. Everything went fine but then this fucker came along,”
“This fucker?” Percy echoed with a somewhat worried tone.
“Yeah, that Rafael guy who flirted with Lu.”
“He did… what?” This time, Percy’s expression changed totally. He could not help but stifle a laugh when he understood that the situation was not as serious as he thought he was. “You’re telling me you’ve been brooding for all that time just because someone flirted with Luka?”
Elio felt his ears burn when Percy broke out in laughter. He scowled even more and crossed his arms, signaling for his best friend to shut up.
“You don’t understand, man! It’s very serious! He was doing that… like he wanted to provoke me or something.”
“Well looks like that guy succeeded because you’re acting like a jealous boyfriend right now.”
Once again, a wave of heat hit Elio and he actually found himself speechless for a few seconds. A jealous boyfriend? Why would he do that? He and Luka were not even dating and… he was straight. There was no way he’d be…
His denial was stopped by an image of Luka appearing in his mind. He thought of his adorable face and he felt his own heat up even more. He quickly shook his thoughts away before focusing back on Percy — who was snorting at the sight of his best friend being lost in thought.
“I… I gotta apologize to Lu,” Elio mumbled before rubbing his face, like he had realized how confused the poor Luka must have been.
Percy chuckled once again, still not believing how oblivious Elio was being right now.
“Yeah, sure. Go find him, I’ll find something to do.”
And just like that, Elio ran to find Luka — even if it was possible he had already left by then. Percy, on his side, went back to the buffet to take something to drink, but he did not forget to do something very important first.
Perce:
> Yo, Dee did y’all leave yet?
> Elio might have finally realized he’s the biggest dumbass
Dee!:
> No we didn’t lmao. What did Elio discover anyway?
Perce:
> That he was being jealous earlier with that guy
> He’s like… literally running to find Luka now, watch out lol
Dee:
> HAHA WHAT
> Alright, I’ll keep Luka here then
> Thanks Perce ♡
Perce:
> Don’t thank me, yk I’m the best ;)
Elio kept on running and bumping into people as he tried to find Luka. His thoughts were messy and confused but one thing remained clear: he had to find Luka before it was too late.
Thankfully, Luka was still here with Deja and Cameron. Elio noticed how he seemed a little less lively than before and he blamed himself for that. He took a deep breath before walking towards the group. He could barely hear his own voice when he called out for his friends, his hearing was obstructed by the deafening sound of his own heartbeat. He found himself frozen when Luka finally looked at him with wide, confused eyes; it had only been a few minutes since Elio had left to cool off but now he felt way more nervous than before, Percy’s words playing over and over in his head.
“Um… Luka,” Elio began, not knowing what to say. He saw with that Deja and Cameron subtly walked away to leave the two of them alone. He gulped but glanced back at Luka who was looking at him with a slight frown. “I…”
“Are… you feeling better?” Luka asked before tilting his head. “You worried me back there.”
Elio nodded quickly but his demeanor remained nervous, he was hyperaware of how cute Luka appeared before him and it suddenly made it hard for him to think straight.
“I… Yeah— Wait, no. It doesn’t matter right now,” he let out a sigh before speaking again. “Look, man… I wanted to apologize, I— I acted like a jerk earlier and you don’t deserve that. You’re the sweetest guy, Lu, it’s normal people will hit on you so… I shouldn't have reacted like that back there.”
Luka pressed his lips together as he felt himself blush. He did feel hurt by Elio’s sudden coldness but he could not bring himself to be mad at him — who could be mad at Elio? Even though Luka would usually take time to forgive someone who wronged him, he always forgave Elio and today would be no exception.
“It… It’s fine, Lio. I was just confused,” he said with a lower voice, not daring to meet the other man’s eyes.
A small smile appeared on Elio’s face. Luka called him ‘Lio’, it was a good sign, right? He took a deep breath and hesitantly reached for Luka’s hand with his own —which the latter grabbed sheepishly. Elio and Luka had already held hands before, both were fond of physical contact and Elio was secure enough to not be weirded out by it. It always felt natural before but now… It felt weird in a good way, his hand was tingling and it made him feel giddy inside.
“I don’t deserve your forgiveness,” Elio joked to hide his guilt, “I’ve seen you get mad at people and it took them way longer for you to forgive them.”
“You… You’re different,” Luka admitted quietly, his gaze averted because he could not trust himself to look the other man in the eyes. "I don't like the idea of being mad at you."
Elio blinked, a bit confused by Luka’s shyness, but it eventually made him smile. The fact that Luka placed him above —almost— everyone else felt so good. “So that means that Rafael guy doesn’t matter to you at all?” was what he wanted to ask, but he knew that would upset Luka even more. And to be honest, he knew the answer deep down. Right now, what mattered was to make Luka smile again and forget about that stupid incident.
The two men stayed close to each other, their hands still interlaced even though both of them seemed to have forgotten about it. They remained in a peaceful silence despite the music coming through the speakers. Elio was the first to speak up to break the silence.
“Hey, you still wanna dance or what?” He asked with a more light-hearted tone than earlier.
“Hm? Oh, well… That’d be a great idea actually,” he said with a genuine smile that made Elio’s heart skip a beat.
“That’s cool. Let’s go then!”
The two men walked back to the dancefloor, hand in hand and looking at each other with big grins on each of their faces. Elio could not help but feel warm inside. Now that the situation was cleared out, he kept thinking about Percy’s words: “You’re acting like a jealous boyfriend”. He grumbled which made Luka look at him weird; Elio laughed it off and gave some excuse before diving back in his thoughts. This whole event made him look at Luka differently, in a way that was scary but also very pleasing.
Their hands did not part as Luka started to dance and brought Elio to him. It felt nice, seeing Luka laugh and dance again. He was so lively, it was reassuring to see. The two of them laughed and laughed as the night went on. It was obvious that neither of them wanted to be anywhere else.