Work Text:
pathetic, weak, unworthy
‘How long do you think it will take them to start dating?’
Shadow’s voice snapped Cherry out of his thoughts. He looked at the screen in front of them. Reki and Langa were racing, but as always, they did it relaxed, with jokes and laughter, not really caring about who would win.
‘I hope it will take them less than us’ Joe nudged Cherry with his shoulder with a playful grin.
The three men were standing a bit far from the crowd, near the wired fence of S. In front of them, Miya was standing near the finish line, watching the race.
Cherry just rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's teasing.
‘I think they’re already dating’ he said instead of snapping back to Joe.
The two other men looked at him stunned. Shadow reverted his gaze to the screen and squinted his eyes.
‘Really? And what makes you so sure’ Joe raised his brows, trying to read something in Cherry’s face.
‘Intuition’ he replied dryly, focusing on the screen again.
worthless, stupid and a disappointment
Reki and Langa were close to the finish line. Shadow went over to Miya to see the two teenagers end the race. Joe shifted his head to see something above the crowd, but his gaze kept reverting to his boyfriend.
‘You okay?’ he asked, trying to see some expression under his mask.
so fucking fragile, toughen up already
‘It’s fine’ Cherry cut him off quickly ‘Don’t worry about me’
‘Okay’ Joe knew him for too long to believe him, but luckily he changed the topic without any questions ‘You know what was their bet?’
‘How would I?’
On the screen the boys were racing, overtaking one another every now and then, but the distance between them was never vast. Langa was looking at Reki most of the time. Cherry easily recognised that gaze. Joe often gave him the same one.
‘I thought that you knew everything, genius four-eyes’ Joe chuckled, but fell silent after Cherry glared at him ‘Reki seemed pretty excited about winning. I'm a bit curious’
Just then, the two skaters completed their race. Reki jumped off his board with a cheer. It seemed like he was that night's champion. Langa stopped next to him with a bright smile a second later, and as soon as he stepped off his board, Reki lunged himself at him, almost sending them both to the ground. And while Langa was still able to hold him, their lips connected. It was short, barely visible on the monitor but definitely intentional.
‘Told you’ Cherry managed to murmur to Joe before the crowd exploded. Countless gasps blended into a few, like an out of tune melody on an old piano. Reki came back on the ground and looked at Langa with confusion, but the other boy just shrugged. People began shouting, wanting to tell their friends, who weren’t looking at the monitors, what was happening.
are you fucking listening to me?
Cherry hated that melody. The sounds overlapped, creating an overwhelming mess. He frowned and tried to tune it out, but it was too loud, too familiar. His eyes darted to the screen, trying to find something to pay attention to. A group of less popular skaters were next to Reki and Langa. They were shouting. From afar, Cherry couldn’t make out what exactly, but he could’ve guessed. One of the skaters got too close. He swung his hand and it landed on Reki’s face, making a loud crack.
That will teach you a lesson!
The crowd just got louder.
I expected you to be better!
Reki wiped off his bloody nose and stood in front of Langa, who was paler than the snow. Cherry took a step back and allowed the fence to dig into his body. When he turned his head, he saw that Joe wasn’t there.
Now you’re crying? Should’ve thought about this earlier!
‘Fuck off’ he murmured to… who exactly? Himself? His thoughts? His father that he hasn’t talked to in almost ten years? He needed to focus on the present, he needed to…
You need to be normal! Not a fucking faggot!
He took a deep breath and looked in front of him to search for familiar, green hair. Joe was next to Reki, pushing the aggressive skaters away.
You won’t run away!
His vision was getting fuzzy. He leaned on the fence and clutched his body. He heard glass shatter and sharp pain on his cheek. His ribs felt like they were on fire.
‘Snap out of it’ he huffed ‘It’s not real’
He tried to find Joe again, but instead saw one of the skaters getting knocked down with a board. He saw a flash of blue hair, then his whole face. Even with the mask on, he could picture those flaming red eyes in his head.
Come on, you don’t want to bore me, don’t you?
He felt pressure on his throat and yanked his mask down, desperately trying to breathe. All of the sounds blended in two voices attacking his ears, overwhelming him. He shut his eyes, trying to escape, but that only made the pain stronger. As soon as he opened his eyes again, he saw familiar figures looming above him. The shattered bottle that one of them was holding had blood on it. The other one raised it’s hand and he flinched, making his head hit something metal. He shut his eyes when he felt a touch on his shoulder. Except it wasn’t burning or stinging. It was… gentle. He felt another hand at his back. It was slowly moving in a soothing-like rhythm. He tried to move away from the touch, from the sounds in his ears, but the hands were holding him steadily. Some words started to break through the screams. Eventually, he realised the hands holding him and the voice murmuring to him belong to Joe. He could make out his green curls now. He shut his eyes and pressed his forehead into his boyfriend's chest.
‘...worry, you’re safe with me. It’ll be okay, just breathe…’
Breathe. Of course, just breathe. He took a shaky breath. And then another one, following Joe’s hand on his back. After a moment that felt like comfortable eternity, Cherry raised his head and leaned his back on the fence with an exhale.
‘Feeling better?’ Joe stood next to him, lightly brushing his shoulder.
The other man was only able to nod as he put his mask on, shielding the emotion on his face from everybody’s eyes.
‘Are Langa and Reki all right?’ Despite his efforts to sound collected, his voice was weak.
‘I… Yeah, they are. Shadow took care of them and… Well, nevermind. I’m worried about you now’
‘You have no reason to be’ Cherry averted his gaze.
‘Don’t lie to me. Something is clearly bothering you’ Joe’s eyes were full of worry and sadness. Cherry sighed.
‘I just had too many thoughts in my head’ he swallowed ‘Everything stacked toghether and that.. fight brought back memories that were too much for me too handle’
‘Do you want to go home?’
Cherry nodded and Joe pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before taking his hand and leading him out of S.