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When Igor woke up that morning (could it be counted as a morning? To be honest, it was already 1 pm when he finally opened his eyes) in his room, he couldn’t have even imagined that roughly 6 hours later he and his sister would be invited to a meeting at Aiden and Arina’s house, regarding a missing cat, making a war plan to rescue the kitty.
Aiden and Arina’s parents had gone on a holiday, as well as Igor, Saki, and Eva’s, leaving the two teenagers to look after the brand new kitten they had taken only a few weeks before. The Plisetsky-Altin family had always been fond of cats, sometimes even having multiple at a time. Aiden or Arina couldn’t even recall a time from their life when they didn’t have a cat in the household. With the old one passing away and the age of 8, they’d for the first time in years been left without an animal in the house, so they quickly adopted a new one from the local shelter.
And now that very kitten, named Gav by Yuri after a Russian cartoon from his childhood, was missing.
Aiden and Arina had already searched the whole house, leaving no chance that the cat was hiding in any corner or under any blanket, and now they had gathered their friends to start searching the neighbourhood. It was summer, so one of the windows had been open the whole morning, that’s where they suspected Gav had escaped through.
As Igor sat next to Aiden, he felt his face grow hot red. The blond next to him seemed so worried, his eyebrows risen high to his forehead and his voice slightly trembling. God, he looked so good like that. Well, he always did, but Aiden was also always very well reserved and didn’t show much emotions, unless when pulling another stupid prank with Igor on either one’s sister or Eva. Those were the few occasions Igor could enjoy Aiden’s face lighting up, smiling , with his hair falling in front of his face, and usually, before he even realized what was happening, he found the two of them giggling madly on the floor, clutching their stomachs, tears streaming down his own face from laughing.
But it wasn’t like he had a crush on Aiden or something. No way, Igor was straight… Or so he thought. After all, even if he did like Aiden, there was no way his feelings would be responded. They were best friends, had been pretty much since birth and even though he knew Aiden was gay, he would never EVER love Igor, like Igor loved him. He was totally out of his league, with his gorgeous blond hair and dark eyes in which he could drown in every moment he saw them and his soft hands which he would sometimes brush when they were planning another stupid joke or his amazing smile-
“Igor, IGOR! Are you daydreaming? We’re on a rescue mission here, will you pay attention?”
His sister, Saki, was waving her hands before his face, waking him from his coma-like dreams of Aiden’s lips and how they would taste like. He brushed the thoughts off and answered: “Sorry, what were you saying?”
“We were dividing ourselves into groups. Arina will go and print some missing posters just in case and will go put them out around the streets. Me and Eva will take those same streets, looking for Gav. So we thought that maybe you and Aiden will take the small forest behind the shop, maybe he went there after the smell or something.”
Igor swallowed. Go searching for the cat, ok, but with Aiden? He couldn’t believe he was even thinking of the possibility of feeling so flustered at the thought. Only a few weeks ago he wouldn’t even had such a problem, but after he realised he might be falling for Aiden, he couldn’t even take half an hour alone with him.
And the worst thing in the situation was that Saki knew that, she was the only person Igor had told about his feelings. She knew, how horrible it was for him to be alone with the blond and now Saki was making them go search a goddamn cat together, in a warm summer evening, in the sunset, in a forest, where anything could happ-
No, where nothing will happen, because Aiden didn’t like him like that, Igor was sure of it. And he shouldn’t, either. He had to get his shit together and get over this stupid crush once and for all.
He nodded and, looking at Aiden, said: “Yeah, sure. We’ll find Gav,” but still managed to make to give Saki the angriest glare, at which the girl responded with a mischievous smile.
“So that settles it. You four better get going before it gets dark. I’ll quickly make a poster in photoshop and print a few dozens out,” Arina said, getting up.
The two pairs made their way out of the front door and the garden. Saki was already calling for the cat, in hopes that maybe Gav would be in the garden, even though Arina and Aiden had already searched it multiple times.
They made their separate ways on the street, Saki and Eva turning towards the other houses and their gardens in the neighbourhood. Aiden and Arina lived in the last house of a dead-end street, the rest of the neighbourhood staying to the left, and a small footpath on the right leading to the shop and the woods behind it. The street itself ended with the side of a small hill, too steep to climb, even for a cat, as there was barely any plants or soil to step on.
The path ran between different garden walls and the hill and was too narrow for two people to walk next to each other, so Aiden ended up walking in front and Igor was left in the uncomfortable situation of having to stare at his backside, all of which was gorgeous, from the blond hair falling over his undercut, to his ass and legs.
Aiden’s butt was exactly what Igor ended up staring at for approximately 5 minutes, until they reached the woods and Aiden stopped and turned around. Only that Igor didn’t notice that and walked straight into his crush, bumping back in sheer horror, of Aiden having noticed what he was staring at.
But instead, when he looked at the boy’s face, ready to come up with an emergency lie, he saw Aiden’s tear-striped face and his red puffy eyes. How hadn’t he noticed his best friend crying, was he really so deep in his dreams? Guilt took over his whole body as he placed a hand on Aiden’s shoulder, afraid that if he stepped closer he wouldn’t be able to resist his urge to grab the boy into a tight hug and possibly never let go again.
At that thought, Aiden did exactly that.
“Igor, I was supposed to look at the goddamn cat, dads left me in charge of feeding him and making sure he didn’t escape and now he did exactly that. You know how papa feels about cats, he’ll literally kill me if he goes missing. Not to mention, Igor, I love that cat too,” Aiden whimpered into his shoulder.
Igor was as confused as ever, never having seen Aiden cry before. He slowly put his hands that had been hanging in the air in shock on Aiden’s back and carefully said: “Aiden, dude, we’ll find him. There’s five of us out looking for him and barely any cars drive around here. I’m sure he’s just walking around, right in the close neighbourhood and we’ll find him before tomorrow.”
Aiden pulled out of the hug and looked Igor seriously in the eye: ”Thanks, Gosha, for coming to help.”
At that very moment Igor would’ve almost died at Aiden calling him his petname and it was nearly impossible to avoid cupping that sad, desperate face into his hands and kissing those trembling lips. But luckily, Aiden turned around again took out his phone, turning on the flashlight to light their way to the woods, that were already dark.
And now was the moment Igor remembered his fear of dark, something he had been hiding and trying to get over for years. But as he stepped between the woods, Aiden in front of him, calling for Gav and making hissing noises to catch the cat’s attention in case he was there, he felt oddly at peace, like being in a dark forest with Aiden was the most natural thing ever.
That, until the light turned off and panic took over Igor’s body. Where was he? What was he doing? Had the phone run out of battery or had Aiden dropped it? Igor stopped immediately, turned to whichever direction he thought the other boy was and let out a faint “Aiden! What happened?” before feeling firm hands around his shoulders.
Somebody, presumably Aiden himself had grabbed him from behind. Slowly turning around, Igor saw that he was right. He made out the light hair framing Aiden’s face and thanked any heavenly force it was dark and he didn’t have to see the other boy’s face.
“Oh thank god you didn’t run off. I dropped my phone and then heard somebody move on the moss, I thought you’d walked in a different direction,” Aiden said, but weirdly, didn’t let go for a few more seconds, until Igor shrugged under the grip.
“Let’s just find the phone. You said you heard something move? I wouldn’t want a murderer sneaking up on us,” Igor tried to nervously joke. This whole situation was uncomfortable enough already, and if he could avoid searching for a black cat in a dark forest, then he would do so.
He saw Aiden’s hair descending and figured he was kneeling to search for the phone, so he did the same and started gently patting the ground. Feeling a cold block under his finger, he picked the object up and fairly enough, it was Aiden’s phone. Clicking on the home button, the screen flickered to life and he showed the faint light towards where he thought Aiden was kneeling.
“Hey, Aiden, I found it,” and turned the screen back to himself to turn on the flashlight only to have it snapped back by Aiden a second later. Long enough for Igor to catch a glimpse of Aiden’s background that seemed oddly familiar.
“Hey, Aiden, can you give me that for a moment?” Igor asked dumbfoundedly.
“What for?”
“Um, I thought I’d go in front for a while?” Igor said unsurely, almost as if asking himself if this was actually the lie he was going to roll with.
“Um, dude, no need. I can handle holding the light,” Aiden mumbled back, hurrying to get the flashlight on.
That sounded weird to Igor. Aiden never tried to hide anything from him, there was really no need. And the two of them used each other’s phones all the time, he even had his own fingerprints saved on Aiden’s phone to unlock it.
He stepped a little closer, tilting his head and asking: “Are you alright? Why can’t I see the phone? You know you’re acting really weird,” he said but also admitted to himself that so was probably he.
“I said you don’t have to see the phone. It’s mine. I can refuse from giving it to you if I want.” Aiden was now slowly walking backwards, keeping the short distance between himself and Igor.
“Aiden… Just give me the goddamn phone. What even would you be hiding there? I’ve used it countless times.” Igor was now moving faster and so was Aiden. Forgetting every insecurity he had in himself regarding Aiden, he made a few longer steps and was now right in front of the other guy. Igor tried to grab the phone out of his hand, but Aiden dodged and stepped to the side. Ramming right into a tree.
His shoulder hurting and the phone loosely between his fingers, he found no way to run and just stood there, watching Igor stand next to him, his head turned and an apologetic look in his eyes. But quickly re-judging the situation, he realised that Aiden must not be seriously injured, so he used the advantage and hopped in front of him, attempting to snap the phone out of Aiden’s hand again.
In one last attempt to save himself, Aiden let go of the phone, dropping it on the ground and grabbing Igor’s hand. With the other one, he tried to push Igor away, only to have it taken hostage by Igor. There they stood trying to tear their hands free and meanwhile cursing and shouting.
“What the hell is your problem, dude, just let me see it!”
“No fucking way, let go of me, it’s my goddamn phone you idiot!”
“So? We’re best friends, Aiden. Whatever gay porn you’re hiding there, I’ve seen it and you know that.”
“It’s not fucking porn, but you still don’t have to see it.”
“I swear to god Aiden what the shit is wrong with you right now?”
“IT’S YOU OKAY. IT’S YOU! You are what’s wrong with me. Take the goddamn phone.” Aiden shouted and let go of Igor’s hand, letting him take the phone. But before Igor did so, he stopped. What did he mean, it was him that was wrong with Aiden?
He picked up the phone, but standing up, he looked at Aiden, who was angrily scoffing to his shoulder. Oh god, he hated Igor, he actually hated him. It didn’t even matter, if he didn’t recall ever doing anything to anger Aiden, but he hated him and-
“What… did that exactly mean?” Igor asked, swallowing hard and locked eyes with Aiden.
“Igor, fuck, you’re so oblivious. I like you. I like you so much. I have you as my fucking lockscreen. But I didn’t want you to find out like that. You know, I think I never wanted you to find out, well, of course I did, but still. You’re straight. How the hell is anything supposed to work out when I have a crush on my straight best friend and he knows it?” Aiden seriously said.
Igor stood there, absolutely shocked.
“Oh,” he said, lacking any words to describe what he was feeling. Then, whispering a quiet “Fuck”, took a deep breath and stepped closer to Aiden.
“You know, I might as well stab myself in the stomach, but, Aiden, I’ve had such a deep crush on you for the past few months, I thought I would explode. But you’re way too good for me…”
“Gosha, but you said you said you were straight?” Igor saw the pure confusion on Aiden’s face.
“I thought so, too. And I still don’t know how to define myself because you’re the only guy I’ve ever liked,” he took another step and was now right in front of Aiden. He looked at the phone in his hand, before offering it back: “Here, you didn’t want me seeing it. I won’t look. I shouldn’t have pushed you either. Though I’m actually thankful that I did…”
Aiden took the phone and shoved it into his pocket, but when he let his hand fall back, Igor’s was still there. Since they were now standing so close, he sent an asking look at Igor, who nodded, barely noticeably. Their fingers intertwined and so did their other hands. They stood there like that for a few minutes, until Aiden spoke up: “Um, Igor? Do you think we could, um, you know, uh, kiss?”
Igor could just feel his face turn hot and red. Quietly, he responded: “Please. I would like that so much.”
Neither of them really knowing how to start, they both waited a few moments, but then both crashed together at the same time, their noses getting in the way and Igor accidentally biting into his own lip. Nevertheless, as they both slightly tilted their heads and found a comfortable position, they shared a few seconds lasting tender kiss, then pulled back simultaneously and rested their foreheads together.
“You have no idea for how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Igor said, smiling.
“Oh I think I do,” Aiden responded. They stayed like that until they were interrupted by something meowing above their heads.
Aiden stirred and grabbed his phone, turning on the light and directing it to the branches of the tree under which they were standing, but still holding on to Igor’s hand. And sure enough, there was Gav, clinging onto the thin branch, glaring straight into the flashlight that made his eyes reflect back to the two of them.
He looked at Igor, who was smiling brightly his family trademark smile, the one he had gotten from Victor and shared with so few people, and melted a little. Could this night have gotten any better?
The branch was low enough for Igor to reach on his tiptoes and after getting Gav to let go, Aiden wrapped the kitten into his jacket and handed him over to Igor to call the others and tell them they found the cat.
And like that, holding hands and quietly chatting, Gav meowing and trying to escape Aiden’s grasp, they walked back to the house.