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When Gon froze, mouth hanging open and eyes widening in fear, Killua knew it was over.
For a few beats of silence, Killua just stared at Gon. He had no idea how to react. No one had prepared him for this. The heat from the stage lights made it impossible to think straight and sweat dripped down his back.
Then he shifted his gaze from Gon’s petrified face to where Bisky stood just past the curtain, out of view from the hushed audience. Her hands were covering her mouth in horror and it was obvious that she had realized what was happening.
Gon had forgotten his lines.
They were fucked.
Bisky locked eyes with Killua. Her expression hardened, and she mouthed at him, “DO SOMETHING.”
So, Killua being Killua did the only sensible thing a person can do in the middle of a live performance when one’s best friend acting-as-Romeo is supposed to murder you acting-as-Tybalt but won’t because he can’t freakin’ remember what to say next.
He grabbed Gon by his cheeks and kissed him.
On stage.
In front of two hundred people.
-0o0-
“What were you thinking?!” Bisky half-whispered, half-shrieked at him the second the scene was over.
“I did what you told me to do and fixed the problem!” Killua snapped. “You know Gon would have never remembered his part. The play would’ve been over if I didn’t act right away.”
“It might as well be over anyway! Your part is Tybalt, Killua! Tybalt, not Juliet! And Tybalt can’t kiss Romeo; did you somehow forget Tybalt is Juliet’s cousin?! Or the fact that Romeo and Juliet are already married at this point in the performance!”
Killua pulled on the collar of his costume with a scowl. His cheeks were really, really warm, but he couldn’t tell if that was from the crowd of actors and stage crew members bustling around them, his irritation with Bisky for yelling at him when all he tried to do was help, or if he was still flushed from the kiss itself.
The kiss.
Killua’s ears burned. He lowered his eyes to his pointy costume shoes, heartbeat loud and heavy in his ears. He kissed Gon. He kissed Gon. On stage, in front of all those people!
If he could drop dead right now, he would.
“What are we going to do?!”
Killua blinked at Bisky; her hands were curled into fists as she pulled at her hair. “We can’t just ignore what happened! And now Gon as to face Palm but he can’t tell her he killed Tybalt like the script says because the two of you made out instead of trying to kill each other!”
Killua’s stomach dropped. Palm was Juliet. Gon and Palm were supposed to constitute their ‘marriage’ in the next scene- which would be an awkward part to act out for a number of reasons on its own without Romeo and Tybalt kissing right before then- but clearly that couldn’t happen anymore.
“Maybe Gon will ignore it and just keep on with the normal script?” Killua suggested weakly and Bisky glanced at him sharply.
She rubbed her forehead, expression pained as she said, “I mean, that wouldn’t be ideal, but theoretically it could work-”
“That’s not going to happen,” a new voice cut it.
Killua and Bisky’s heads snapped up simultaneously. By the edge of the curtain stood Leorio, one of the faculty advisors. His hands were shoved deep in the pockets of the navy suit he was currently wearing.
“And why is that?” Bisky asked, tone angrily defensive. Killua instinctively stepped out of hitting range. He was in enough trouble as it was.
“Because,” Leorio said as he squinted out at the stage. “Romeo is currently telling Juliet that he wants a divorce.”
What?!
Killua and Bisky looked at each other, panic setting in, and sprinted forward to see just what the hell was going on.
Together, the three of them watched from the side as Gon interacted with Palm. The message was clear:
Romeo didn’t want anything else to do with Juliet. He was going to elope with Tybalt instead.
Leorio whistled quietly. “You must have made quite the impression on our Romeo, Killua.”
“Shut up!” Killua hissed. His face radiated heat like he was in the center of a supernova and he wanted to melt into a puddle and die. How was this possible?! Everyone in school was going to make fun of him for weeks and his family—
The blood drained from his face. Oh, shit. His family. What would they say? Had any of them come to see the show? If so, he wouldn’t have to worry about dying here; they would murder him as soon as he got home.
“This cannot be happening!” Bisky’s wailed. The sound of those insane heels of hers clacking against the ground was enough to drive him crazy. “I’ve spent months- months- of hard work and dedication on this performance and I won’t have all of that thrown away for it to be ruined like this-”
“Jesus, be quiet, will you?!” Killua exploded. “It’s not Broadway, it’s just a high school play! And you complaining won’t fix anything!”
Bisky whirled around and slammed her fist into his side.
Killua dropped to his knees with a curse. The pain was enough to make him double over. He was going to have a bruise there tomorrow. He was sure of it.
But he had a feeling he should be more concerned with the play’s director herself then her punch; Bisky towered over him with a murderous glare, hands on hips.
“Then tell me how to fix this, Killua Zoldyck,” she snarled. “Or should I say, Tybalt. You’re the one who got us into this mess!”
“I already told you, you old hag, I was only trying to help!”
WHAM.
“Maybe it doesn’t need fixing,” Leorio said a minute later, after Killua was curled in on himself in agony.
He tried to breathe in normally even as his eyes began to tear. He was never going to yell at Bisky again. If he wasn’t careful her next hit would be fatal.
“What are you talking about?” Killua heard Bisky ask Leorio somewhere above his head. “We can’t have Romeo and Juliet without Romeo and Juliet!”
“Depends on how you see it. Plays are how you interpret them, right? You can just say this is how we…interpreted it.”
There was a weighty pause. Then, from the stage they heard Gon speaking again-
“Gon’s calling for you,” Bisky said faintly to Killua.
“Fuck,” Killua managed to choke out before he was yanked to his feet. He was immediately pushed out onto stage, Bisky’s whisper following after him-
“Don’t you dare mess up again!”
The glare from the stage lights made his eyes twinge and he winced reflexively. In front of him was Palm- freakin’, Juliet- glaring daggers at him with complete and total non-faked hatred. She looked like she was ready to murder him and he didn’t blame her; she’d been trying to get with Gon for the past year, but Killua had ‘accidently’ messed up any opportunity that came up. This had been her one chance to actually get somewhere with spikey-haired teen.
Under normal circumstances, he could care less. Palm was a creep for chasing after someone so much younger than her. This time, though- this time he actually felt sorry for her. He hadn’t meant to do this. It had been an honest-to-god horrible accident.
Then he saw Gon.
Killua’s best friend was fully dressed head-to-toe in some lame-ass costume a senior named Machi had pulled together just last week. Killua personally thought Gon looked more like a clown then Romeo from ancient times, and hadn’t been able to keep a straight face for the first five takes with him during dress rehearsal.
Despite the getup, the sight of Gon beaming at Killua like he was only person that mattered, like having Killua here instantly solved all of the problems in the world-
That smile still sent Killua’s heart into a stuttering mess.
Gon didn’t speak. He simply held out a calloused hand.
Killua swallowed thickly. If he was going to go to hell for this, he might as well fully commit.
He stepped forward and took Gon’s hand.
-0o0-
“-AND FINALLY, KILLUA ZOLDYCK AS TYBALT!”
Killua bowed stiffly in front of the screaming audience, fake smile perfectly in place. He was met with a shattering roar of applause. The sound blasted his eardrums. It only made his already pounding headache throb.
He took his place besides the rest of the crew- between Gon and Palm, because he apparently hadn’t screwed himself over enough tonight- and linked hands with the row of cast members. Together, they bowed. Someone was whistling over the claps and Killua heard a cry that might’ve been his name, but Palm’s death-like grip on his fingers distracted him from looking up to see who it was.
He grit his teeth. Why did he always get on the wrong side of freakishly strong women? Was he cursed as a baby? With his family, it honestly wouldn’t surprise him.
The audience was still cheering as the curtain closed. The second he was hidden from view, Killua ripped his hands out of Gon and Palm’s grasps and sprinted off stage.
He didn’t look back; he didn’t want to talk, see or even be near Gon for the rest of the night. He made a beeline for the darkest part of backstage where he knew he would be safe, nimbly jumping out of Leorio’s path and dodging out of view when he heard Bisky’s shrill voice.
He could deal with that later. He could deal with everyone later. Right now, all he wanted was to be left alone.
He came to a halt in the back corner, which was the farthest place he could go from the stage itself. All of the cast members and stage crew were on stage right now celebrating what had been, for some bizarre reason, the best received theater performance of Hunter High School history. He knew he could stay hidden here and no one would ever know.
And there, pushed to the side and half-covered by wires and curtains, was Juliet’s joint balcony and bedroom piece.
Killua stared up at it, contemplating. Would he really go that far for some peace and quiet?
Yes. Yes, he would.
He found the hidden ladder and climbed it easily. He and Gon had been forced to make this thing as punishment for fooling around during rehearsal one day. The project had taken them all night, and after they were done, they had outlined their hands with paint on the underside of the balcony’s floor.
Their handprints would still be there if he checked. But he opted for collapsing on the timber floor of Juliet’s bedroom, too exhausted to move a single muscle.
He shut his eyes and let his head fall back against the bedroom wall. For a several long moments he just breathed.
That had been terrible. Not terrible in the sense of the content, because the audience had devoured the new storyline like it was the freshest thing out of Menchi’s kitchen, but terrible because he and the other cast members had literally made everything up on the spot. The whole damn storyline had been improvisation!
(And most of that improvisation starred Killua and Gon holding hands, staring lovingly into each other’s eyes and professing their true love to the rest of the characters but Killua was not going to think about that right now!)
It hadn’t helped that Bisky’s glare was digging into Killua’s skull the entire time, either. Killua honestly liked the director; Bisky was witty and could put him and Gon in their place with a single, sharp word. But she definitely would’ve sent him to detention for the rest of the semester if he ‘ruined’ the rest of her dream play.
In the end the whole thing had been way more stressful then he’d ever anticipated. He had needed the extra credit, and Gon being the theater junkie he was wouldn’t take no for an answer, but Killua would never willingly act again. He was quite happy sticking to his normal routine of doing absolutely nothing in school or out, thank you very much.
Killua grimaced. Even though he was finally offstage, he was still hot and gross. He could feel the sweat drying stickily to his skin underneath his costume-
“Killua?”
His muscles locked in place at the familiar call. It was a sound he knew better than any other.
“Killua, that’s you up there right?”
Killua clenched his jaw and swore quietly. Of course Gon would find him. Why would he assume otherwise?
“I just wanted to make sure you’re okay,” Gon’s concerned voice filtered in through the open balcony door. “You kinda ran out of there. I didn’t get a chance to talk to you.”
Obviously Gon wanted to talk about what had happened. It was only natural, but the thought made Killua’s stomach roll. If he could, he would erase this night from his memory entirely and never speak about it again.
“Killua?”
Gon wasn’t going to stop until he came out.
Killua sighed and pushed himself to his feet. He reluctantly made his way through Juliet’s bedroom doors to the balcony ledge and looked down.
There stood Gon, as Killua knew he would, still fully dressed in his Romeo costume. A relieved smile broke across his face once he saw Killua.
Killua swallowed thickly. He didn’t want to deal with this. The kiss had been a mistake, but what did Gon think about it all?
“What light through yonder window breaks?” Gon sang out suddenly, horribly off-tune. The sound made Killua sputter and he slapped a hand over his nose to muffle his obnoxious snort.
“Are we really going to do this?” he asked his best friend, grinning helplessly around his hand despite himself.
Gon continued as if nothing had happened, “It is the- uh- east, and Tybalt is the sun!”
Killua actually sniggered at that, unable to hold back. “Gon, you moron, its Juliet! Not Tybalt!”
Gon winked. “Not in this play, eh, Killua?”
Killua flushed. He mumbled, “Apparently not. It’s your fault for messing up the lines, though.”
“Yeah.” Gon rubbed the back of his neck guiltily. “Sorry. I don’t know what happened. My mind just went blank.”
Killua leaned his elbows on the railing. He tried to play it cool as he said, “S’not that big a deal. Don’t worry about it.”
Gon’s eyes flashed to his face and they stared at each other. Despite both knowing the obvious reason why Gon had tracked Killua down, neither of them spoke. Minutes passed in silence.
The heavy weight of the tension was oppressing. Killua could feel the same embarrassed heat from earlier creeping up his neck like a spider. It made him want to crawl in a hole and hide for the rest of eternity.
To distract himself, he said, “You look so stupid. Seriously, they couldn’t get another costume that would’ve looked better? I think Hisoka sabotaged the theater compartment’s wardrobe on purpose just so you would have to wear that.”
Gon’s lips twitched- the lips Killua had kissed, oh my god- “Heh, probably. But it was only for one night, so its fine.”
“Don’t delude yourself, Gon. The outfit might be gone after the show, but your tarnished reputation lasts a lifetime.”
Gon laughed out loud and Killua grinned. This, he could deal with. This was comfortable, familiar, like a box of his favorite chocolate.
But then Gon’s smile fell away and that frustratingly painful tension from before came crashing back down along with Killua’s dread-
“I didn’t mind it,” Gon said quietly and Killua stiffened.
“…didn’t mind what?” he asked cautiously.
Gon pouted. “The kiss, Killua! You kissed me!”
Oh, god. There it was. The horrible truth Killua couldn’t deny no matter how many times he tried to push it out of his mind.
“Y-yeah? So?” he stuttered, ignoring the blotchy flush that rose to his cheeks.
“So! I want to know if you did it on purpose or not!”
Killua gaped at him. “What the hell are you talking about?!”
Was it even possible to do something like that on purpose?! If so, it was news to Killua.
Gon huffed. “I mean, did you do it for the sake of the play because I forgot my lines? Or did you do it because you wanted to kiss me- and I mean me, Gon Freecss. Not Romeo.”
Oh.
Killua shut his mouth, bowed his head to hide his eyes. Technically, those two things Gon mentioned were interwoven. The question was, should he tell Gon that? Could he, even?
But Killua had kissed Gon out of the blue like that. If no one else, shouldn’t Gon at least deserve to know the whole truth?
The answer came surprisingly easy. Yes, Gon should know everything. Even if it meant putting their two-year friendship on the line and leaving everything that was good and easy in their relationship behind for good.
Killua took a calming breath to steel himself.
He could do this.
“It’s, uh, a little bit of both?” he admitted. He carefully kept his gaze away from Gon’s face as he waited for a reaction.
Gon blinked, “Huh?”
God damn it.
“It’s a bit of both, okay?!” Killua snapped loudly as he tried to ignore the mortification that was begging him to stop, stop now before Gon totally rejected him for good.
A sudden rush of energy raced through his veins. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out-
“I had to save the play or else Bisky was going to murder us for screwing around all that time during rehearsal, and- and I’ve always kinda sort of wanted to kiss you anyway, so! So I just did it, okay?! I didn’t think about it, I- I just did it, and who cares, right? The play was a success and it’s over now, so. So, there.”
He stopped rambling, too horrified to continue. He hadn’t meant to say all of that! Thank god no one else was around to hear it, but the fact that it was Gon who was here was just as bad.
He couldn’t look at Gon. If he did, he was literally going to combust from the sheer intensity of his own embarrassment and then Killua Zoldyck would cease to exist.
“…Killua.”
Killua clenched his hands into fists. “What.”
“I’ve, um, wanted to kiss you for a while now too, so...I-I mean,” he stumbled over his words as Killua’s head snapped up.
Gon’s face was cherry red, redder then Killua had ever seen it. Killua’s heart pounded against his ribcage. Was Gon being serious?
Gon coughed lightly and gave Killua a weak smile. “I’m really happy that it happened, because at least it did happen, if you know what I mean, but. Uh. Maybe we could try it again, just the two of us this time? And not a whole audience watching? Because that was sort of- er, weird.”
A startled laugh escaped between Killua’s lips. “I- yeah, that would be. That would be good.”
“Yeah?” Gon asked, and Killua could actually see his eyes light up with joy.
The sight made something in his chest tighten and suddenly it was hard to breathe. He was abruptly hyperaware of everything; the dim stage lights, the patterned wood of the balcony railing under his fingers, the musky scent that hung in the air between them…
He swallowed around the lump in his throat and managed to choke out, “Yeah.”
“Then,” Gon scuffed the ground with his foot. He said in a hopeful tone, “Then, maybe, we could try it later after we change, or if you’re up to it, we could even do it now. But, I don’t wanna push you if you’re not-”
“Gon,” Killua interrupted. “Just get up here already, would you?”
Gon laughed, expression an odd mix of relief and joy before he scrambled over to the ladder.
Killua turned to face Juliet’s bedroom doors and leaned back against the railing as he waited. His heart was racing now, flying with a euphoria that had his hands trembling.
Maybe the not-so-accidental kiss hadn’t been that big of disaster after all. Who knows, Killua thought with a strange rush of energy as he listened to Gon’s loud steps, because of this dumb play he might just get what he had been wanting all along.
Gon appeared inside the bedroom, breathless, and Killua wasted no time grabbing him by the folds of his ridiculous costume shirt and dragging him close.
For a few precious seconds, they simply stared at each other. Gon’s amber eyes took up Killua’s entire vision, and Killua almost stopped breathing. In that moment nothing else mattered- not the play, not his family, not the stupid costumes-
None of that mattered now. All that mattered was Gon, who was taking Killua’s face in his hands and was angling his head to lean in-
Gon pressed his lips to Killua’s, soft and gentle and perfect, and Killua smiled instinctively into the kiss.
He hadn’t been cast as Juliet. But who gave a crap about that? When all was said and done, he had Gon.
And as far as Killua was concerned, that was a way better finale than any story ending- William Shakespearean tragedy or not- to ever exist.