Chapter Text
Yes, Madi has seen the edits.
When he was in that supermarket with Ray and Kaleel, he was on the come up. He was on the cusp of making it big. He could feel it! So, yes, he decided to take the plunge and hold Ray by the neck and lean down impatiently and so on. He needed the clip, okay? It had sounded like a good idea in his head, but as soon as it was in motion, Madi knew he had fucked up.
The camera had caught an entirely different story; a lightning quick reel of Madi standing over the shopping cart and attacking Ray’s face like a missile, Ray swerving him with an easy laugh. But to Madi, the moment was achingly slow. He remembers every detail, from the way Ray’s neck felt so small and warm against his hands to the feeling of his head tilting up almost magnetically, his eyes meeting Madi’s with expectation.
His face is what Madi remembers the most. Sure, he had talked with Ray plenty of times by then and had gotten used to seeing the face he had only known from a screen. But he had never seen him so… close. His eyes were so round and shiny, his skin so clear and soft, his complexion so boyish and light that he couldn’t help but zero in on that beauty mark sitting right above his upper lip. Huh. Was that always there?
If you asked Madi, he’d tell you he did it for the clip. Madi, however, knew better. He knew that at that moment, where he could’ve pulled away or slowed it down for emphasis or done literally anything else, he simply forgot the camera was there. For the first time in the stream, he forgot about the clip. All he could think about was leaning down and finding that mark with his lips. So, naturally, he did it.
Of course, Madi only realized he was a complete fucking idiot when Ray jerked away and barked out a laugh of surprise. Then, to his horror, he looks up and there’s that fat fucking camera live-streaming his homoerotic slip, Geo behind it with his jaw slack and looking straight at Madi. Kaleel wore the same expression, his hand creeping up to his face as he tried to stutter out anything to smooth the situation out while still staying in character. Naturally, he landed on “…Madi, what the fuck?!”
By that point, Madi was so embarrassed and awkward and all of a sudden couldn’t find the damn words to convey that he was joking and instead stood there shifting from side to side in the middle of the Walmart hallway. By the time the stream moved on, Madi had mentally clocked out. He already knew his chat would be clowning him, and he could already picture all of his friends and family jumping up and down at the chance to call him gay. Oh god, if this got back to his dad…
As if he could hear Madi’s thoughts, Ray turned his head just enough to catch Madi’s eyes from where he was absentmindedly pushing the shopping cart. Madi’s breath hitched, waiting for him to joke and speak his mind like he always did, but all he caught was a flash of a smile— the kind that made his big eyes crinkle and his white teeth show— before he turned away again, asking, “Yo, chat, I’m confused. Do y’all want soft or hard shell tacos?”
Madi gulped dryly, trying to piece together what the fuck that meant and why he wanted him to do it again. From his peripheral, he could see Kaleel pause and do a double take as he witnessed the make-Madi-flustered show for the second time that stream. Madi refused to meet his eyes, forcing Kaleel to let it go. They were not going to talk about this. There was nothing to fucking talk about.
Of course, Kaleel loved an opportunity to drag the joke and brought it up that night as the house ate dinner around the kitchen.
“Please tell me y’all have seen Madi’s 1000 IQ clip from today in the supermarket” he asked, garnering a chorus of chuckles as Madi tried to laugh along and pretend he wasn’t completely fucking horrified.
“That shit is genuinely everywhere. Like, girls making edits typa everywhere. Reggie and I were laughing so bad at it today” Rakai laughed, crossing his arms against his stomach as he chuckled at it for the hundredth time.
“Y’all know big daddy Madi needs to hit his clip quota” Madi smiled, not looking up from his phone screen (which he has so carefully put on do not disturb).
“Clip quota? Yo, it looked like a dick quota to us” Reem said, making the whole kitchen laugh and choke yet again.
Madi put his phone down on the counter he was sitting on, laughing breathily and looking up at Reem.
“What, y’all ain’t ever kissed your boys?”
“Hell no!” Reem laughed. “Yo, you might actually be gay.”
Madi rolled his eyes playfully, chuckling again as he could feel himself getting back into the swing of things.
“I don’t know,” Madi mused, “but Ray better lock his door tonight.”
The table burst into laughter, a series of ayooo!’s emerging in succession. Finally, Madi could put back on his easy smile and joke with his boys. He never got flustered like that; hell, not even with girls. All he had to do, he thought, was play along and let it fade into the background as everyone eventually forgot about it.
Of course, that’s when Ray came down the stairs, his hoodie wrinkled and his hair tousled from sleep.
“Oh, look who it is!” Reggie laughed.
“Hey y’all,” Ray said softly, his arms stretching above his head until his pale skin peeked out from under his jacket. Madi tried not to notice.
Ray dragged his feet across the room and sat next to Reggie, right across from Madi. Okay, Madi thought, this is my chance to make it normal.
“Yo Ray,” Kaleel started, “we was just talking about how Madi’s gay ass was gonna sneak into your room tonight and hit another clip if you don’t lock your door.”
Ray paused before huffing out a laugh, his face splitting into that same remarkable smile, easy and comfortable. He was always so calm right after he woke up.
“Yeah?” Ray asked, raising an amused eyebrow as he locked eyes with Madi. “You gonna lean over me again?”
Madi gulped, trying to focus anywhere but Ray’s pale face, or his dumb soft hair or his stupid small frame or his lame fucking accent.
“Maybe I will,” Madi eventually shrugged, sounding more like a nervous challenge than the nonchalant humor he was going for.
“Oh?” Ray smiled. “Guess I’ll leave my door open, then.”
…
What the fuck?
Madi gulped again as he stared ahead of him at the bright-eyed, smug-faced boy in front of him, suddenly realizing that he was once again in over his head. He opened his mouth, attempting to force some lame quip out, but nothing emerged as he closed and opened his mouth again like a fish out of water. Vaguely, he registers his leg beginning to bounce up and down, his fingers uncharacteristically fidgeting as he tries to make something, anything come to mind.
Ray kept smiling at him.
“…Yo?” Reem broke the silence, eyes flicking between Madi and Ray.
Rakai laughed, his eyebrows drawing upward as he pointed at Madi. “Wait, I’m dead. He genuinely flustered.”
Madi sputters, tearing his eyes away from the man in front of him. “He’s the one being all cute and shit! What am I supposed to do!?”
“Cute!?” Kaleel exclaims, Rakai and Reggie cackling beside him.
“Yo, that’s not what I—“ Madi started, cutting himself off with a groan and burying his face in his hands. He should’ve clocked a long time ago that he was not going to look cool in this situation. After sneaking another glance at Ray from between his fingers, he decided to bite the bullet. He was not going down without a fight.
“Fuck you, Ray,” he smiled. “You really got me acting different.”
And from there, as he saw Ray in pieces in between his fingers, his hands blocking out the pictures of the laughing boys next to him, it almost felt like it was just them two in the room together.
Ray finally broke, his laugh lighting up the sea of noise surrounding him. When he looked back up at Madi, his eyes shiny and his smile wide, Madi could’ve sworn his cheeks were pink.
Madi closed his fingers over his face again. He didn’t know why, but it was a sight he felt like he didn’t deserve to see.
To Madi’s dismay, his stunt in the market did indeed become a clip. And he would never, ever hear the end of it