Work Text:
"How do you deal with being in love with your best friend?"
The question had scared Parker breathless at the time. Had he been figured out? Was his secret out? Who else knew?
But no, it had simply been Reddoons having his first gay panic. He'd found Rek, deemed him good enough for his problem, then directly asked him this. Apparently missing the entire panic attack, Red didn't do the greatest job at hiding the fact that this was about Ash, and he hadn't somehow figured out his secret. Thank goodness for that.
Still, the question had been asked directly to his face and now anytime he looks in the mirror he can hear Reddoons' voice accusing him, so he ends up glaring in the mirror and silently telling him to back off his love life. It's not his fault he thinks of Branzy every second of the day. It's even less his fault that Branzy is his best friend and has been for years now, to the point they can hardly be separated. They're just glued together, nothing he can do about it.
There's nothing he can do about it except make it worse.
For example, by sitting in the cafe Branzy works at on weekends, using his precious free Saturday to do homework in the booth closest to the counter. He's been here for at least two hours already, and it's about half an hour until his best friend is free for the day. The perfect morning for finishing up his college essay, hand in his hair, bags beginning to show under his eyes, stress evident in his whole body because of the unfair deadline dropped onto him about a day ago that he now has to deal with.
But it's a good enough distraction. Lord knows he'd sneak a lot more looks over the counter at Branzy in his ridiculous pink hoodie the cafe makes him wear. He's looked over enough to know he's pushed the sleeves up over his elbows to show off his arms and the black-and-red tattoo that snakes around his left arm gorgeously.
Rek yanks his eyes back to his laptop. The cursor in the middle of his essay stares back at him accusingly. He has a problem, just maybe.
He glares at the screen. Now he can't focus anymore. How is he supposed to? He can't stop thinking about Branzy's stupid customer service smile, because he knows the much, much better smile he gives his friends, or that grin Rek swears is only given to him.
Sighing pathetically, he taps his fingers on the free space of his keyboard. At that exact moment, the devil himself appears in front of him, a shadow that forces him to look up at the amused frown of Branzy.
"You sound like you're in need of a refill." He laughs, and Rek has to shake his head with a smile of his own so the pink of his cheeks isn't visible to him. He sets down a new cup and takes the old one. "Have you taken a break yet?"
He groans in defeat. "Who has time for breaks? This essay isn't going to finish itself." Really, he'd much rather go bother Branzy in his kitchen—even helping him behind the counter sounds like a more entertaining thing than this. He wants nothing more than to go for a run before Branzy's done and they can hang out. But the sad reality is that his teachers don't care for his sanity.
Branzy hums. He scoots the cup closer inch by inch until Rek can't help but chuckle at his antics and pick it up, the hot chocolate not too hot. He really knows how to make him feel better, doesn't he? The victorious grin on his lips says enough.
"Surely you'll let me pay for it this time, right?" he says, and the laugh he gets is expected.
"You're a college student, Parker." Branzy walks away, but Rek can roll his eyes and mouth along with his usual spiel. "I'm paying for it because you don't have a job right now. Go finish your homework, freshman."
His voice booms across the cafe, and Rek damn near dives behind his laptop to hide from people who give them weird looks. He's not a freshman, thank you very much. It's also to hide the growing blush. He knows perfectly well how Branzy doesn't give these 'college student' discounts to any of their other friends, not even Clown.
He nearly jumps when Branzy's voice appears on his side again, and he looks over to see him lean against the counter. "You better finish that quick. Half an hour, you don't get a second longer, got it? We have places to be."
A laugh of disbelief shakes his shoulders. He raises an eyebrow at him but Branzy's face turns entirely serious. Okay, no space for arguments apparently. Turning back to his laptop, he hears the other return to his work as well. Half an hour. He can work with half an hour. Surely he can finish this in thirty minutes. And he knows Branzy won't be disappointed in him if he doesn't finish his work, he'll simply have this look of pity for him that Rek doesn't want from him. Maybe that's worse than him getting mad for slacking.
Hot chocolate and Branzy-fuelled essay-writing is a lot easier than whatever he was trying before. The perfect amount of whipped cream is just what he needs to crank out paragraph after paragraph, like an angel from above has graced him with a clear mind. He's not quite done at the end of said thirty minutes, but he's close, which is good enough.
The chair at the other side of the table is pulled back and he glances up just enough to see Branzy sit down, phone in hand, busy enough to let Parker continue his work. A smile pulls at his lips. Butterflies stir in his stomach. He grabs his cup, which is already empty, but it's something to hold as he stares at his screen.
He cranks out a few more sentences and finally sighs. Done. That took him long enough. He catches Branzy's eyes when he pushes the laptop shut, offering a smile, then he turns to put it away into his bag so they can leave.
"All done?" Branzy takes the cup from him, thumb running over the name he wrote onto it himself. "You look done."
"I'm done, absolutely done," he laughs. "Just some extra fact-checking and rereading and I should be able to hand it in." Even saying it is a weight off his shoulders, only helped by the fact that Branzy looks proud of him, enough to grin—that special one, for him alone—and get up.
"Let's go then."
Much to Parker's surprise, they don't go for Branzy's car. They skip it, instead walking across the street towards the city park, the number one place cafe customers go after grabbing a drink or some snack. The latter is exactly what his best friend conjures up from his backpack. Two muffins, one vanilla, the other chocolate, and he hands the vanilla one over without even looking.
"You need to stop feeding me like I'm some poor little puppy, Branzy. I can pay for a muffin, okay?" He looks at the muffin, that golden goodness staring up at him like every good thing about Branzy that he loves. That … would mean he's about to devour him, and the thought brings heat back into his cheeks.
"You are a poor little puppy. My poor little puppy, okay?"
He chokes on air. To pretend he didn't, he takes a bite of his muffin. With his mouth stuffed full, he tries his best to send the other an average, totally normal glance that isn't entirely filled with longing for something he shouldn't have.
Branzy just looks amused. "Come on, we have to get to our spot." He takes Parker's hand, which is totally normal and something they often do, something that shouldn't have him holding his breath, and pulls him off the path somewhere along the way. They make their way underneath some low-hanging branches of trees, fight their way through bushes and look over their shoulders so they can make sure no one sees or follows them, until they make it to a clearing.
Their spot. He sighs, taking it in. The grass is greener here, an old bench sitting in the middle of the field, a large boulder somewhere behind it. If they met when they were kids, this would definitely have been their favourite spot to pretend to be knights or ninjas or anything else really.
But no, they're grown up, and when they met they were around that age where they simply hung out around benches or played soccer. Before the path disappeared to time, this had been a popular spot for more people than just them. Now it's abandoned.
Branzy takes a bite of his own muffin before walking over to the boulder to climb atop it and sit down. He pats the space beside him, an invitation Parker can't refuse. He climbs, a lot smoother than the previous example, and sits down. The shape of the boulder gives him no other option than to press up against Branzy, the warmth of him making his throat grow tight.
It's comfortable, it is. Still, he can't breathe and still, nerves grip his stomach tight, a black hole appearing in his guts to swallow him whole at some point in his life.
This is Branzy, dang it. Why and when did everything change so drastically? When did that switch flip between normal best friends to whatever feeling is coursing through every inch of his body now? Why can't he just be normal about him?
Maybe it's because that smile could make any bad day better. Maybe it's his passion for everything he does, for all of his friends, for everyone he considers family. It's the loyalty and the care and his stupid sense of humour too, because why not? It's how good he looks when he's helping others, it's how good he looks when his grin gets that mischievous twist to it when he's causing trouble with Clown again, it's how good he looks when he so much as glances over at Parker.
"Don't think I don't notice all this, Rek."
His eyes shoot over to meet Branzy's. Heart sinking a little, he takes another bite of his muffin—the perfect excuse to keep quiet. He hums, prompting him to keep going. What is it with his friends and starting off conversations in ways that make his heart drop?
"You're acting weird. Different. Have been, for a while. Something's up, and I'm giving you the chance to tell me what is before I start guessing and make both of us uncomfortable."
He should laugh. What comes out instead is a noise somewhere between scared and confused. "I—what?" he says, swallowing the lump in his throat, which does absolutely nothing to help him. Branzy's wearing that expression that tells Rek he won't take any nonsense.
And what is he even supposed to say? He can't tell him, it would ruin everything they have if he does it wrong. He can't lose this.
So instead, he keeps his mouth shut and looks away, staring at the grass and pretending to be interested in the way the breeze ruffles it. It's not enough to ignore the holes being burned into the side of his head by Branzy, who refuses to let up too. He's being too obvious in his effort to try and find some excuse; anything he'll say, the other will catch.
"Parker …"
Yeah, it's already too late. He sighs, drawing a knee up to hug against his chest and rest his chin atop it. He knows Branzy would never have anything against him if it were anyone else. Maybe he'd not even care if Rek genuinely admitted he was in love with his best friend, but he's already told Rek he's acting different, acting weird. It's too late because Rek has managed to let it change them already.
"Listen, I know—I know, okay? I hope you don't think I'm an idiot or oblivious or something, but I know, Parker. We're best friends for a reason, you dummy." He smiles and Rek is too scared to look over, but it's evident enough in his voice. "For how smart you are, you can really be an idiot."
"What is that supposed to mean?" His voice sounds strained to even his own ears. Branzy is being gentle, just not gentle enough to still that dark pit of anxiety in his stomach, he can't help but still fear the worst.
"I can practically read your mind." Branzy kicks his foot against Rek's—careful, but to poke and prod at him nonetheless. "I was around when you had a crush on that girl in that other class." He kicks him again. "I know what you look like when you're in love. I know better than anyone. I also know that this is different from that crush because it's me and actually has some meaning, y'know?"
He can't quite breathe in right. "Yeah," he says dumbly. Letting his head hang, he chews on his bottom lip and tries not to explode on the spot. He could sink through the ground right now and be perfectly fine with it if you asked him.
Branzy reaches to cover his hand where it rests uselessly atop his leg. Parker could die, right now, on the spot. They're never this soft, not so outspokenly. It's the warmth that envelops him, that warms his heart, that has him unable to breathe in or out. Branzy isn't here not to judge him or reject him, if his actions say anything at all. Fingers intertwine with his own, is that a confession in itself? Is it really?
"Parker, I don't know why I have to spell this out for you, but I would be more than happy to be anything with you. I don't care if that's friends or best friends or anything else."
A whine escapes him, something he doesn't mean to let slip, from the back of his throat. Branzy squeezes his hand before he can cower away in shame. He's not equipped to deal with this. Reddoons came to the wrong guy when he asked him what to do when you're in love with your best friend, he has no clue how to even reply to this.
When their eyes meet, Parker hopes his desperation doesn't show too much. "I don't want to ruin our friendship," he says, voice rough with frustration, with fear.
"You're not ruining anything, okay?" Branzy shifts on the rock to face him properly.
"But I could be." With great effort, he holds Branzy's gaze, which is nothing but curious, supportive, calm, patient. The hand in his own is an anchor to keep him afloat before he succumbs to his own panic. "I didn't know whether you'd be mad or not. Well, okay, I knew you wouldn't be mad, but I didn't know how you'd react; if you'd be okay with it, if you'd want something—anything at all. I love our friendship, Branzy. I don't want to lose you by ruining it for something like this."
Branzy hears him, and hums as he considers what he said. He nods, pulls his hand over to rest on his lap and rubs soothing circles into his palm that Parker can only smile at this time. "Well," he starts and pauses to take a deep breath. This is where it grows or breaks, right here.
"If you don't want to ruin our friendship, let me ruin it."
He can hardly get the words out before he lets go of his hand and cups his face, trailing his jaw and grabbing hold of it with such gentleness that Parker chokes on any kind of reaction. He gives him a second longer and leans in, where their lips meet and the whole world around them melts into nothingness. His presence keeps him grounded. If it weren't for Branzy's familiar warmth, his touch, his smell, he might've actually shut down and escaped it all.
Parker can't help the way he melts entirely. Branzy is there to catch him, that hand on his chin and the slight stubble that tickles his face when they move, a slight tilt of their heads to give each other space, the way Branzy pulls him in and their lips slide together. He's not tense, no. Everything inside of him curls open like a flower in the fresh sunlight of spring, finally free.
So when they finally pull apart, not far enough to actually miss the warmth of him, Rek laughs—an honest, genuine thing. His shoulders shake with his laughter, his happiness, mirrored by Branzy's grin.
"Y'know," he starts, trying his hardest to stifle a giggle. "If it's like that … maybe I do like our friendship ruined."