Chapter Text
Till hadn’t always been a heavy drinker, but the constant college parties he attended made sure he became one. It wasn’t easy to down five cocktails. Especially those made by Hyuna’s heavy hand. Till drank them like they were water and not pure ethanol. Truthfully, the only reason he even attended these parties was to promote his band. The free alcohol and hanging out with his childhood best friend, now roommate, was a bonus.
Ivan was somewhere in the crowd of rowdy twenty something year-olds. He also got invited to parties often, being the football team’s star player and all that. Even though he only had three drinks, it seemed that it was affecting him more than Till. He said he’d go grab another drink for them. Ivan really was too sweet sometimes, he indulged Till’s every request without complaint. It was easy to forget he was an asshole dressed in a college jersey.
And just as Till was starting to forget that, he heard him.
“Till!” A hand circled his waist pulling him snug against the warm body behind. He knew, Ivan purposefully annoyed Till for his own amusement.
He leaned his head, meeting two half lidded black eyes. To someone who didn’t know Ivan they might say they were creepy. But to Till, who had known him since they were four, the dark oceans that were his eyes felt oddly nostalgic. Almost like that one time when he finally visited home after two years. Ivan caught him staring, those two infuriating dark eyes crinkled at the realization.
“I brought you a drink.” He whispered in Till’s ear. Ivan’s lips grazing his piercings. An involuntary jolt ran through Till at the sensation.
Ivan handed Till a cup. It was the only cup he was holding. “You didn’t get something for yourself?” Till said, as Ivan snuggled into his neck.
“Hyuna said I can only get one, so I brought it to you.” He mumbled into his pulse, letting out a huff. ”Something about me being too drunk.”
“Besides I could get wasted on you.” There he goes again with his sappy shit.
Maybe he really was drunker than Till gave him credit for. And maybe he was also more inebriated than he’d initially thought since he let Ivan cling to him. He could feel himself flushing from the alcohol.
Till chose to ignore Ivan, only muttering a quiet “Thanks..”
The sixth drink in his hand was tinted pink and smelled slightly like raspberries. That was what he could make out from the overpowering smell of what was likely to be tequila. At some point in the night they had run out of vodka, so Hyuna had to make up somehow. Till took a small cautious sip, while Ivan wrapped a second arm around his waist.
“Till! Ivan!” Mizi called out excitedly. Her pink hair matched his drink.
“Oh hi, Mizi!” Till waved at her, his voice might’ve raised a pitch or two.
“Hello, Mizi,” Ivan didn’t even bother to detach himself from Till as he greeted Mizi.
That’s why people thought him and Ivan were together, but that's just how Ivan was. He was the type of drunk that clung to people, and Till just happened to be an easy target.
“Dude fuck off!” Till finally turned to push Ivan off him. The loss of warmth left him feeling exposed.
For a second Ivan looked at Till like the world had ended, before that same annoying smile plastered itself onto the bastard's face. “Five more minutes, please?” He mocked, arms open, inviting Till in. Instead of embracing him, Till flipped him off.
“Sorry Mizi, how have you been?” He awkwardly scratched at his head.
She glanced behind him at Ivan, and Till honestly didn’t want to know what he was doing to warrant Mizi’s attention. He was probably moping, Till noted.
“I’ve been well, me and Sua finally got together.” A grin slowly crept up her face. Till’s heart sank.
“Oh wow! Really?” He tried his best not to sound devastated. But how could he not, he’d had a crush on Mizi since high school. He had talked Ivan’s ear off about her so many times at sleepovers when they were younger. “I’m so happy for you!” He said through gritted teeth. He heard Ivan chuckling behind him. Till wanted to strangle him.
“So my loser sister finally managed to score?” Ivan’s voice was soft despite the insult.
Mizi laughed and Till couldn’t help but notice that it was the most beautiful sound in the world. Or was the most beautiful sound in the world. Now it just reminds him of what could’ve been. “No, no, I was actually the one that asked her out.” Mizi corrected.
“Of course, she wouldn’t have the guts to confess.” Mizi gave Ivan a complicated look.
“She would say the same thing about you.” She glanced at Till. And it felt like some sort of inside joke he wasn’t a part of.
“Enough of that!” She clapped her hands, “I came here to ask if you guys would play truth or dare with us?”
“Us?” Ivan and Till asked in unison.
“Oh, just me, Sua, Hyuna and Luka.” She spat the last name out with distaste.
“Why not?” Till needed something to distract him from the heartbreak.
They were huddled on the couch. There wasn’t enough space for all of them so Ivan opted to sit on the ground between Till’s legs. It might’ve looked funny from the outside. The football team’s golden boy sitting between some emo scrawny guy’s legs. Who also happened to be the lead guitarist of the college’s favorite band. Till wasn’t going to downplay himself, especially when being compared to Ivan of all people.
He idly played with Ivan’s hair. Mizi was saying something, but the noises started to blur into an incoherent cacophony. Alcohol pumped through Till’s veins. Both he and Ivan had downed a couple more drinks. From what Till had counted, Ivan was on his sixth drink for the night, and Till had lost count after the ninth.
Somewhere in all the dizziness, his sole focus landed on the guy between his legs. Ivan was practically melting under Till’s touch. It would be a lie to say it wasn’t endearing. Face squished against Till’s thigh, he chased Till’s hands when they moved away. And when he kept his hands away for too long, Ivan glared at him through his long eyelashes with his cheeks tainted pink. It wasn’t fair for a guy to be both so pretty and handsome at the same time. Practically the whole college drooled at the sight of his best friend. And maybe Till was a little jealous.
A faint sound somewhere from his left made his head involuntarily jerk in its direction. Luka was laughing, at what exactly, it alluded to Till. At second glance, or maybe third he really couldn’t focus, he noticed that the others seemed to be giggling too.
“What’s so funny?” Till tried and failed to sound threatening.
They all stared at him, and Till felt a little self conscious at all the appraisal. “Oh nothing, Romeo~” Luka teased.
A low rumble traveled through Till's leg, straight to his chest, somehow messing with his heartbeat. Ivan was laughing, and he couldn’t look away. The way his eyes crinkled and his head lolled to the side to look at Till. It made him want to punch Ivan in the face.
“Whatever, whose turn is it?“ Till waved them off.
“Yours,” Sua’s tone made shivers run down Till’s spine. “And I’m the one asking.”
“Dare.” He said decisively.
A sinister grin plastered itself on her face. “I dare you to kiss my brother.”
The group fell silent, and the once relaxed Ivan in his lap stiffened. “What?” Ivan breathed. God, he must have been clearly so uncomfortable to be the subject of Sua’s fucked up dare. Hot gazes burned straight through him. They must be seeing his racing heart from how the blush darkened on his cheeks.
“Ivan?” The name left his mouth dry.
Ivan wouldn’t look at him. His ear tips were reddening, contrasting nicely with his dark hair. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” Words slurred together slightly as he spoke. There was a hint of rejection laced through them. As if Ivan already knew Till’s mind.
It really got on his nerves when Ivan would downplay himself. Didn’t this guy know practically everyone wanted to get in his pants? But here he sat between his legs, worrying Till would reject him because he wasn’t good enough. Contrary to popular belief, he was straight but he could make an exception this one time. Ivan was the only guy Till was willing to kiss. A calloused hand gently landed on Ivan’s cheek, turning his face to look at Till. The once calm dark seas of Ivan’s eyes were now turbulent tides slamming into Till. He could barely wade his way through.
“You think too much.” And it was true, he had the tendency to overthink stuff. “Can I?” Till asked for permission, trying to sound suave like how he’d fantasized so many times with Mizi.
There wasn’t a response, instead a large hand pushed itself up using his knee. Another landed next to his head, pinning Till against the couch with Ivan’s broad frame. God Ivan looked imposing from where Till was pinned underneath. The rush of his heart must be explained by an unwarranted fight or flight response caused by his best friend fucking looming over him.
“Are you sure,” Ivan was leaning in closer, breath ghosting his lips. “Till?”
A very undignified squeak left Till’s mouth in response. If you looked close enough you could almost see smoke coming out of his ears. And like an amp breakup, Till’s mind had gone fuzzy. Till closed his eyes. It would just be a kiss between two guys. Straight girls kiss each other all the time. Why couldn’t Till do it too?
There was an agonizing second where nothing happened and Till sat with his eyes closed. Then a weight settled in on top of him and a pair of lips moved against his own. The weight against him was far too heavy, almost crushing him as he settled in his lap. There was a slight scratch of Ivan's snaggletooth as Till angled his head to reciprocate the kiss.
When Till pulled away from the brief kiss, Ivan filled his gaze. He was red, not flushed, straight up red from head to toe. It was getting hard to breathe, probably from Ivan crushing him against the couch.
A cough reminded Till they weren’t alone. The others were staring at them with mocking grins. The situation might’ve looked funny to them, but to him it was mortifying. Till hid his burning face in the nearest place he could find. Which just happened to be the crook of Ivan’s neck. His heartbeat was in Till’s ear, it was going as fast as his.
“There, I did it!” He exclaimed, muffled by the other’s skin.
“Well, technically Ivan kissed you” Luka annoyingly countered.
“Shut up!” Till screeched.
He should’ve pushed Ivan away by now, but he couldn’t bring himself to. It was probably because they both currently shared the same embarrassment, and it was easier to deal with it together.
They definitely drank too much.