Chapter Text
George was Alex’s first friend.
He was Alex’s first ever friend. Alex met him as a baby, when their mums had brought them to the playground and Alex had fallen face-first in the sand and George had handed him one of his toys as Alex bawled his eyes out.
Their mums found out they stayed three houses apart, and they had been inseparable since.
Alex didn’t remember a second of his childhood that passed without George around. They spent every waking minute with each other. They went to kindergarten together, and when the teacher made them line up and hold hands on field trips, Alex would always hold George’s.
In primary school, they sat next to each other in all their classes, and even when they were split up towards the higher years, they spent their whole lunch hour sitting in the playground eating their lunch together while everyone played around them.
In Year 3, when Alex fell down and earned himself a big bloody scratch on his knee, George washed it for him with a bottle of water, and he said, “I promise you’ll be alright.”
That was the first time Alex saw a mark.
It appeared on George’s knee, in the same place Alex had his scratch.
A few days later, when it didn’t hurt anymore and a scab had formed, the mark on George’s knee disappeared.
George made promises easily, especially with Alex. He promised Alex he would help Alex with homework, and he promised Alex that they could go out to play after he finished his math assignments. One time, when Alex fell sick and had to miss trick or treating, he promised Alex that he would give Alex half of his Halloween candy. He promised Alex the smallest things, such as hanging out after school, or sharing his special lunch, or not telling anyone that Alex had a small crush on this girl in his class when they were nine years old.
And he kept every single one of them.
Alex was always relieved to see the marks on George’s skin fade.
“I promise you it’ll be fine,” was his favourite thing to say.
“How do you know?” Alex asked.
“It’s a promise.”
Alex truly couldn’t think of anything else to do than to trust George.
And every time, it paid off.
------
It wasn’t hard for Alex to make promises to George, either.
It was hard not to trust somebody that Alex had known since he was two years old.
When they were kids, it didn’t seem like such a big deal, because they didn’t quite understand it yet.
I promise I’ll be with you on the first day of Year 4. I promise that if someone says I’m their best friend I’ll tell them that my best friend is you. I promise that we’ll trade sandwiches for lunch.
I promise that I’ll share my new skateboard, as they skipped hand in hand down the sidewalk back to their homes.
I promise that we’ll go to the pond tomorrow and feed the ducks, as they sat on George’s porch, unable to go out to play because it was raining.
Alex didn’t feel like he had a reason to stop making these promises to George.
As they grew up, people always made fun of them, because in a world like theirs, nobody dared make promises so easily. Nobody dared to risk carrying a mark around for their entire lives and being labelled as the person who failed to keep a promise.
But not Alex and George.
It became a little running joke between them, just because they trusted each other so much not to break a promise.
It was the excitement of seeing the marks fade that always got to the two of them. They would sometimes make mundane promises, promises they knew were impossible to break, just so they could see the marks disappear a few minutes or few hours later. I promise I’ll meet you after school. I promise I’ll be back in five minutes. I promise I’ll wait for you at the diner.
Sometimes, they would make promises that turned out to be motivational more than anything else.
“Promise I’ll get you some popcorn if you promise to finish your homework,” George told Alex that evening when he was going out to the movie theatre with his siblings and Alex couldn’t go because he had gotten into trouble for not handing in his math homework.
“I promise,” Alex said.
The marks appeared in unison, a little dash on the back of George’s hand and a longer one on Alex’s arm, and it made them giggle.
When George came back that night, he was carrying a bag of popcorn, and Alex held up his finished math homework at him as he walked through the door.
They pressed together excitedly, George’s hand against Alex’s arm, and watched the marks disappear.
Then Alex spent the rest of the night sitting on the living room floor with George, listening to George recite the entire movie to him in excruciating detail.
------
Alex didn’t start off secondary school being much of the sporty kind, but George was obsessed with football, so on their first week, Alex let George drag him to the football booth to sign up for tryout spots.
They both got in, and two weeks later they were on their way to their first practice session to try on their new boots and jerseys. George was small for their age, compared to Alex, though Alex was sure he was just awaiting a growth spurt; he slotted in well as a striker, while Alex took on a quieter role in the midfield.
Three times a week after school, they would head to the school field for practice.
The other two weekdays, they would go to the field, anyway, and sit there under the sky talking about nothing as the world turned around them.
Just like before, Alex didn’t remember one day of his life that passed without George around.
He couldn’t imagine having one day in his life pass without George around.
Their families were close, so even on the weekends they weren’t spared from each other’s grasp. On Saturdays, Alex and George and all their siblings, all eight of them in total, would either go hiking, or they would play football at the park, or they would somehow find something that all of them could do together. On Sundays, their families would gather for a big brunch, then spend the whole day just sitting around together.
Whenever George’s mother couldn’t find George, she would never worry, because she’d know he was with Alex. And for Alex’s mum, whenever she called George’s place, she would magically find Alex there, as well. It was a stressless routine both of their families had long settled into, always knowing that wherever Alex went, George would go, too.
Throughout all these years, Alex had begun to develop a sense of attachment to George that was so strong, he sometimes felt unsettled if he had to be away from George for longer than a few hours.
But sometimes, they were just too busy to stick by each other the entire day.
They weren’t in the same classes for all their subjects; math, for one, they took separately, because Alex was so bad at it and George was so good. They figured that out pretty early into the school year, so their teachers were quick to split them, much to their dismay.
“I have to go for an extra math class after school,” Alex said. It was close to midterm season, and Alex wasn’t getting any better at simple Year 7 math.
“Like math detention?” George asked with a cheeky little smile.
Alex rolled his eyes. “Yeah, like math detention.”
“We’ll still meet after that, though?” It seemed to unsettle George as much as it did Alex when they had to be apart. “At the field?”
They didn’t have training that day, but. “Yeah, I’ll meet you at the field. Promise.”
The dark mark appeared across Alex’s forearm, like someone had slashed him and left him with a thick black scar.
He went for his math detention with it, then afterwards headed to the bleachers by the field to wait for George.
> I’m here
It wasn’t like George to be late for anything, much less for him not to text Alex ahead so he knew, so Alex found it strange that George wasn’t showing up yet.
Alex waited until the sun started to set behind the distant trees, getting increasingly worried that George wasn’t popping up from behind him with his usual cheeky smile and mandatory joke, and there hadn’t even been a text explaining why.
> Where are you?
He scratched at the mark on his arm, but it didn’t go away.
He yearned to turn around and see George bounding his way, but the door to the main building remained still and closed each time Alex turned around.
Alex received no reply to his text.
The minutes passed like hours, and Alex realised that he wasn’t afraid of having a mark on his arm for life.
He was scared that something had happened to George. That he would somehow never get to see George again.
Alex sat there, feeling lonelier than he’d ever been.
Then, as the last of the evening sun filtered through the trees, Alex heard the main building door open.
He turned around and saw George running towards him, hugging a big pile of things. A huge wave of relief washed over him, and he felt like he could suddenly breathe again, like he had let out the breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding.
He looked down at his arm, where the mark was already beginning to fade, then back at George, who was out of breath as he climbed the bleachers and stopped next to Alex.
“What happened? Where did you go?” Alex asked.
George sat down and passed a stack of notes and a math textbook to Alex. “I went to look for my math teacher and some seniors and asked them what I could do to help you get better at math. And they gave me some of their notes and tips and my teacher gave me this book of practice questions that has the full answer key and not just the answers. And he said that if you ever need any help, you can go to him. Here.”
Alex smiled at the pile of papers in his lap. He flipped through it briefly and saw page after page of written notes, some covered in the red ink of teachers’ corrections.
“Thank you,” he said. “You didn’t have to do that. I’ll figure it out myself.”
“I just don’t want you to drop out of school and leave me all alone here,” George said.
“I could kiss you, George Russell.”
George made a face. “Ew. Don’t.”
Alex laughed. George was a very smart student, so Alex couldn’t think of any subject he could help him with in return. “I can help you with your history homework,” he said, anyway, because history was his favourite subject, and it was the one he was best at.
“Okay.” Alex knew George was only accepting it so he could pacify Alex. “But you don’t have to. Alex, you’re my best friend and I’m always gonna want to try and help you.”
Alex smiled. It was a promise George never had to make verbally, but one Alex knew he’d keep anyway – George would always, always be there for him.
George might not have let Alex kiss him – not that Alex really wanted to, anyway – but he let Alex lean on his shoulder as the sun set ahead of them.
And to Alex, just having George by his side would always be enough for him.
------
They weren’t too far into secondary school when everyone around them started dating.
They were in their early teens, so it wasn’t all that surprising. But George and Alex only hung out with each other and not anyone else, so they usually just sat down in the school halls during free periods while everyone else found little corners to make out in.
“Do you have a girlfriend, Alex?” George asked one day as they spent their lunch break at one of the quietest benches overlooking the back door carpark. “Or a boyfriend?”
Alex found the question ridiculous. “You know I’d tell you immediately, Georgie.”
George laughed. He poked his fork into his cold pasta. “Yeah, well, I just thought. You know, since everyone else’s finding the love of their life or whatever. And here we are, just...alone.”
“George, we’re fourteen.”
“Do you like anyone?”
“No,” Alex said. It was the truth. “Do you?”
George shot him a lingering, meaningful look, and Alex thought for a moment that George did have a crush on someone and just didn’t know how to tell Alex.
George was talkative, but only because he was earnest, and he always gave anyone he was speaking to his full attention. He always cared, and he always put in the effort to listen and remember little details. He had the softest light brown hair and the most intense but gentle blue eyes. Anyone would take a liking to him if he tried. Alex didn’t see any reason for him to hesitate if there was a girl or boy that he liked.
“No,” George eventually said.
“You have a crush on someone,” Alex said, nudging him in the arm. “Tell me. I tell you everything. You have to tell me who you like.”
“I don’t like anyone.” There was the pinkest blush hanging on George’s cheeks as he stood up with a giggle, and emptied his lunch plate into the bin.
“George!” Alex jogged after him, but George started running, his laughter decorating the air over the sound of the school bell ringing to signal the end of lunch.
“We’re late for class!” George yelled.
“No, we’re not.”
They weren’t, but George spent their last three classes of the day smiling quietly to himself, like he had just discovered a secret to his liking.
And as Alex watched him, minute after minute as the day passed in a flash, just like it always did when George was by Alex’s side – he realised that maybe he’d changed his mind.
Maybe Alex did like someone.
That night after dinner, when the rest of their families were asleep, they snuck out to the playground like they always did. The playground where they had first met, Alex as a blubbering kid and George as a kind child. They sat on the swings, and the sound of the creaking chains was the only thing that disturbed the silence of the night.
“So are you gonna tell me who it is that you like?” Alex asked.
“It’s no one.” George still sounded secretive, and he still had that little smile on his face.
“Well, if you like someone, you should go for it,” Alex said.
“You think so?”
“Yeah. I think you’re amazing, Georgie. Anyone would be a fool not to pick you.”
George laughed; it was a calm, gentle sound. “Thank you, Alex.”
“Promise me. Promise me that the next person you like, you’ll go for it, and no matter what happens, you’ll try to be happy.”
Alex didn’t expect George to agree, but George only looked across at him for a while, his eyes travelling up and down Alex’s height, before he said, “I promise.”
The bigger the promise, the more conspicuous the place the mark seemed to sprout up in.
That night, it appeared on George’s neck, like it was the heavy mark of a knife. Alex reached over to touch it, and though George couldn’t see it himself, he did the same, his fingers brushing against Alex’s.
Alex could’ve sworn he felt George shiver when their fingertips touched.
“You promised.” Alex smiled.
“Yeah,” George whispered.
“Tell me who it is,” Alex said again.
“You don’t know them. They’re in my math class.”
Alex pulled away and settled back into his own swing. “So they’re good at math, then. It’s no wonder you like them.”
“We can’t all be bad at math, Alex,” George teased.
“When are you going to tell them?”
“I don’t know.” George sighed. “I just...don’t want to change or ruin anything. You know?”
Alex knew, but in a slightly different way. Him and George had always been fiercely protective of their friendship, and they had always placed it above anything or anyone else. Sometimes, Alex was afraid that if either of them started dating, then things would change between the two of them.
He was pretty sure this wasn’t what George was referring to, but at least Alex understood it, in a way.
He felt a slight tug on his heart, a small disappointment that George was interested in someone else. But he refused to let it devour him, he refused to let his silly little undeveloped crush take over his thoughts.
“What if they don’t like me?” George asked, further fuelling Alex’s imagination that it was someone else and not Alex, for there would be no sound reason for Alex not to like George back.
“Then it’s their loss, Georgie,” Alex said. “If nothing else, you’ll always have me.”
George sighed again. He hopped off the swing and went behind Alex’s and, although Alex obviously had the ability to do it on his own, started pushing Alex’s swing into the air.
“That will always be enough for me, Alex,” he said.
The nights always seemed to be less dark with George around, so Alex stayed out with him that night, listening to his voice ring out in the still playground air.
------
George was like a ray of sunshine.
He was like a ray of sunshine, and he lit up every space he was in, and when he laughed, he made Alex feel so happy.
Alex didn’t remember when he’d started feeling this way, like a plant that would wither if he was out of George’s light for too long.
But every year on his birthday, every year since they were five years old, instead of the birthday song, George would make Alex sing You Are My Sunshine , which only served to cement that fact.
When George turned fifteen, they had a football game on the day of his birthday, so they spent the weekend two hours away from home in a student hostel. They arrived the day before the match, and at midnight of George’s birthday, they snuck out to the back carpark of the hostel and sat in the middle of the concrete lot with a small slice of chocolate cake.
The single candle lit up George’s face like an angel’s halo as Alex sang You Are My Sunshine to him. His smile was wide and youthful, and Alex felt rejuvenated by it, energised by it, and it made him feel like it was daytime again.
The shadow of George’s eyelashes quivered over his cheeks in the unsteady flame of the candle as he closed his eyes to make a wish. When he opened them again, they were bright and eager, but only for a few moments before they were both cast into darkness when George blew the candle out.
George started a little lecture about the match they were going to play the following day as they shared the slice of cake with a single fork. He talked strategies and he told Alex things he’d heard and read about the opposition team, most of which Alex already knew but never really minded hearing repeated in George’s voice.
Their teammates and some of their other friends always said George talked too much, but Alex never really thought so.
Math concepts seemed so much easier to understand when it was George trying to teach him. The weather was so much nicer with George trying to describe it to him despite him being able to see it for himself. Classes were less boring when they sat at the back together, gossiping about the teacher.
Team strategies for their football matches seemed so much more interesting and memorable when George explained it to him, so much easier to remember than when their coach did.
Alex had never been much of the sporty kind, so it was ironic that it was through the sport they played that he realised he was in love with George.
He often got distracted during training, or even worse, during a game, when he was preoccupied by the way George led up front, the way he directed other people to get into position, and his eager eye for goal-scoring opportunities.
Other times, when George engaged in tactical discussions, Alex would be so absorbed by the way George’s hands moved when he was trying to make a point.
Just like that night.
“Do you think we’ll win?” George was always so passionate about football, and he was always so happy when he spoke about it, and it was those same eager eyes that pulled Alex back to reality.
“I don’t know, Georgie, but we’ll certainly try,” Alex said.
“I’m gonna score a goal for my birthday.”
Alex smiled. “Is that what you wished for?”
George shook his head. He passed the fork back to Alex and hugged his legs to himself. “No,” he said quietly. “I wished for something else.”
“What is it?” Alex nudged him in the arm.
“I’m not supposed to say it aloud or it won’t come true.”
“I’m the exception because I’m your best friend.”
George sighed. He leaned his shoulder against Alex’s, and he was quiet for a while, which was slightly unusual. Then he asked, softly, “Alex, do you remember when we were in Year 4, you had a crush on a girl in your class?”
Alex smiled. “Yeah.”
“Have you liked anyone else since?”
“Not really.”
“Do you still remember how it felt?”
It’d been almost six years ago now, and Alex had been merely a kid and it was nothing but a silly little crush on a pretty girl – but Alex remembered the feeling. The little rush and the warmth on his cheeks. The excitement he felt when it was art class and he got to sit next to her. When she looked at Alex and Alex felt the immediate need to tell George.
When she looked at Alex and Alex felt the immediate need to tell George.
Alex had known George since he was two years old.
It had been thirteen years of being together, seeing each other every day, and sharing everything from homework to toys, to food, to clothes, and to countless secrets.
Everything that had ever happened to Alex, everything he had ever felt or done – George had been by his side. And even if he hadn’t been, he would be the first to know, and not anyone else. They had shared their entire lives with each other.
Maybe there had always been a part of Alex that was in love with George, and he just hadn’t known.
So maybe Alex did remember how it felt. In fact, he understood how it felt better now than before.
“Do you?” George asked, and Alex realised he hadn’t replied, and instead was just staring at the mark on George’s neck.
Alex cleared his throat. “Yeah. Why? Does this have something to do with your wish?”
George raised his hand to the mark on his neck just as Alex managed to pull his gaze away from it. “I know how it feels now, too. So I just wished that I would have the courage to keep this promise.”
Alex took one last bite of the cake and put the fork down. “George,” he said, not knowing where he’d suddenly found this courage. “I...is it okay if I have something to tell you?”
George turned to him, his attention now fully focused on Alex and his own troubles immediately flying out the window. Alex knew this conversation had been about George, and it was something that was obviously important to George and mattered a lot to him, but yet he was so willing and so quick to throw it aside because Alex had something he wanted to talk about.
He was – he was always so kind to Alex and he always cared about Alex so much and Alex just felt so grateful to have had him since before he could even remember.
“What is it?” George asked.
Alex felt his voice get stuck in his throat. He swallowed hard, and the look of concern on George’s face deepened.
“I just, um…” Alex shifted his gaze to the ground. “I don’t – I don’t want this to change anything between us. I hope it doesn’t, but...but I understand if it does, and –”
“Just tell me.” George’s voice was soft. He reached for Alex’s hand and grasped it, but seemed to realise Alex’s aversion, so he moved to hold Alex’s wrist instead. “Alex. You can tell me anything, you know that, right?”
Alex peered up at him. He raised his eyebrows slightly, the corners of his lips lifting in an encouraging smile. And of all these years, if there was one thing that had always been consistent, it was that Alex had never had any reason to doubt his and George’s friendship.
There was never one thing that Alex couldn’t tell George, never one thing that he was too embarrassed to let George know. Never one thing that Alex ever thought would be too silly to tell George. Never one thing that he thought would change what he and George had with each other.
“I...I think I like you,” Alex whispered. “I like you. Like, more than a friend. And I know you like someone else, and I want nothing more than for you to go for it and for you to be happy, but a small selfish part of me wants to have you for myself. And I’m sorry, and I want you to be happy with the person you like because I made you promise me and I don’t want you to have that mark on your neck forever and I just want you to be happy, George.”
George was very, very quiet for a while, and it scared Alex.
His hand moved back down to curl around Alex’s, intertwining their fingers. Alex didn’t dare to look up. He didn’t dare to meet George’s gaze. Especially not when he was blushing as hard as he thought he was.
“It’s you,” George said softly. “You’re the person I like. I...I didn’t want things to change between us, either. But I promised you I would go for it, and I would try to be happy, and today I wished I would have the courage, and...I guess my wish came true. Alex, it’s you, and if it’s you, then that’s more important to me than anything else, and I’ll always have the courage to go for it. So...Alex. Do you...do you wanna be my boyfriend?”
Alex peered up at him. He was breathing heavily and his cheeks were red and his hand was beginning to be clammy in Alex’s. The mark on his neck began to fade as Alex set his eyes on it, the colour of George’s skin slowly creeping in from the edges as the grey faded back to brown. And as Alex watched it, he knew that George was telling the truth.
George smiled as Alex reached out to touch it again, to touch the spot where it used to be. His other hand reached for Alex’s, too, so he was tenderly holding both of Alex’s hands in the space between them.
“Yes,” Alex whispered. “I want to be your boyfriend.”
The smile on George’s face grew until it became a big, cheeky grin. He pulled Alex’s hands closer to his chest. “Really?”
“Really.” The word felt like a sigh of relief from Alex’s lips. “Hey. You said the person you liked was in your math class.”
George giggled. “I didn’t think you’d like me back.”
“So you chose someone that’s good at math? That’s the furthest from me it can possibly be.”
“Exactly.”
“George.” Alex gave his hands a squeeze. “I just...I’m so happy that this isn’t going to change us.”
“I know we’re young, Alex, but I really can’t imagine spending my life with anyone else.”
Alex smiled. He felt himself start to lean forward, and George did the same to meet him. They hovered closely for a few moments, breathing on each other’s cheeks, before they burst into soft, coordinated giggles.
“What?” Alex asked, though he knew perfectly well why they were laughing.
“Kinda wanna kiss you,” George said.
“Kiss me, then.”
“It’s kinda weird.” George squirmed for a bit, then settled with his face extended out towards Alex, like a sunflower towards the sun. “You kiss me.”
Alex leaned in close again, but George leaned back and away from him, the blush on his cheeks deepening. “George!” Alex exclaimed. “Do you want me to kiss you or not?”
“Why is this so weird and awkward?” George giggled. “I mean, we’ve known each other since we were babies. Kissing shouldn’t be this hard.”
“I think it’s precisely because we’ve known each other since we were babies, Georgie.”
George’s giggles subsided into a soft chuckle. He reached out with one hand and gently cupped Alex’s cheek, his gaze dropping to Alex’s lips, like he was contemplating trying to kiss him again.
Alex wanted to do the same.
The two of them knew each other better than they knew themselves. They had shared every single thing with each other from the first second they’d met and George had tried sharing his toy with Alex. Alex wanted nothing more, he’d have loved nothing more than to now share his first kiss with George.
He mustered enough courage to close the gap between their faces, and this time, George didn’t pull away.
His lips still tasted like the chocolate cake they’d just finished. They were soft and hesitant but they closed around Alex’s and they turned up into a smile. George let go of Alex’s hand and slid his palm up the side of Alex’s neck, making Alex lean closer, and he smelled so good and he looked so happy and he started giggling, making Alex pull away.
“That’s enough for now, I think,” Alex said with a smile.
George grinned back at him. He didn’t seem to take any offence at all. “Maybe it’ll get easier,” he said.
“It always gets easier with you, Georgie.”
George slid closer to Alex and hooked their arms together. He leaned his head on Alex’s shoulder and sighed, and Alex’s heart started beating just a bit faster, making him realise how much he had always loved George.
“You’re my favourite person in the entire word, Alexander,” George whispered.
Alex felt his heart soar with a kind of happiness that he didn’t remember ever feeling before.
The night was silent and the air was still, but as they sat alone in the middle of the carpark under the stars that were creeping onto the sky, Alex felt more alive than he had ever been.
*
They did end up winning that football game, and the kiss they shared afterwards was a lot less awkward and a lot more sweaty.
It just came so naturally this time, just the two of them, hidden near the back door to the hostel as everyone took their showers inside. George had won the match for them with the single goal he’d scored, and he seemed to be keen on using up the last of his energy on pressing Alex against the wall and giggling against his lips.
“We should probably go inside,” Alex whispered, when they were forced apart one too many times by people walking in and out the back door and nearly catching them. “We’re gonna miss our bus.”
“Mm.” George pulled away, breathless. “Now I know why people like making out so much,” he said.
Alex pushed off the wall so he could peck George on the lips one more time, then he took George’s hand and started dragging him inside.
They sat together at the back of the bus on the journey back home, pressed together against the window that Alex was leaning on. George fell asleep with his head on Alex’s shoulder and his hand gently grasping Alex’s, and it felt better than any win they’d ever had and any win Alex knew they’d ever have.
------
Nothing changed between George and Alex, which just made the whole thing so much more surreal.
They still hung out every day at school, in every single class they shared and every lunch or free period. After school, they still went to training together, or they would sit there under the swirling evening sky. The only difference was that now, they would hold hands.
They still made mundane promises to each other, little promises they saved for each other just for the fun of it. I promise to give you a kiss later , as they separated for math class. I promise I’ll hold your hand on the way home , only for the mark to disappear just five minutes later as they chose to walk the long way home instead of taking the bus.
I promise to sing you to sleep, was George’s favourite promise to hear.
And the sight of George slowly drifting off to sleep as Alex sang You Are My Sunshine to him was Alex’s favourite thing to watch.
George’s passion for football only became warmer throughout their years in school. The smile on his face as he ran on the pitch, the wind blowing his soft golden brown hair back on his head, just planted a seed of warmth in Alex’s heart that he knew would never, ever stop growing.
It was his love for football that led him to be scouted for the college varsity football team towards the end of secondary school, and instead of letting it stress him out and affect his performance on the pitch, it only served to make George more passionate and for him to shine even brighter.
George’s favourite subject had always been math, but as their GCSEs approached and the possibility of George getting a sports scholarship to one of the best universities in the country after college seemed more and more likely, George started showing a stronger interest in history.
Alex wasn’t nearly as good at football as George was, so he’d been intending to major in history, anyway, since it had always been his favourite and he could see himself doing history for a really long time. George didn’t say anything about it, but they had been so inseparable throughout the years that Alex genuinely wondered if George was considering majoring in history just because of Alex.
There was only one classroom building in the entire school that had roof access. George and Alex liked to go up there in the evenings, after most of everyone else had left. They would sit up there and watch the sky turn sunset pink.
“Will we still play football together in college and uni?” George asked one evening, when they were up there on the night after their last GCSE paper.
“Of course.” Alex knew he wasn’t going to get any kind of scholarship, but he also knew that as long as George was on the team, he would try his best to get in, too. “If we get into the same schools.”
“You know what, Alex?” George said. “Maybe I’ll major in history, like you.”
“Why?” Alex asked. “You have to do what you like, George. I’m always gonna be here no matter what it is.”
“It’s just that if I get the football scholarship, then it doesn’t really matter, you know?” George sighed. He leaned back so he was lying down, his head propped up on his arm. “I have football, then I can do whatever else I want.”
“It doesn’t work like that, George. You have to do something that works for you so you have something else besides football. I always thought you’d go into engineering.”
George was quiet for a while. Then he tugged on the back of Alex’s shirt and his arm so Alex was lying down next to him. “Alex,” he said softly, turning on his side and breathing on Alex’s cheek.
“Yeah?” Alex turned so the tips of their noses touched. A smile grew over George’s face, and though it was turning dark, the blue in his eyes was still bright and lively, and it still jumped out at Alex in all its beauty. “Hey.”
“I love you.”
Alex was momentarily taken aback by how suddenly George had said it; it wasn’t that he didn’t want to say it back or he didn’t feel the same way, but he just – hadn’t expected George to say it, and he hadn’t expected for it to make his heart skip as hard as it did, and it made him wonder how long George had been waiting.
It made him wonder how long he’d been waiting, and he just hadn’t known.
“I love you, George,” Alex whispered. He moved to close the gap between their lips, and George was smiling as he pushed Alex back so he could lean over Alex, his arms resting on Alex’s shoulders. “I think we’ve always known.”
“Yeah?” George was still smiling when he pulled away, and he looked beautiful. He looked like everything Alex had ever known and everything he would ever know. He drummed his fingers gently down the side of Alex’s face, and his blue eyes seemed to sparkle in what little light drifted up from below. “Alex, I…”
“What’s wrong?” George had always been there for Alex, every single day since they’d become friends. Every single day, he had treated Alex’s problems as his own. Alex wanted nothing more than to be there for George, too, for as long as George needed and wanted him.
“It’s just that...you know.” George took Alex’s hand and held it tight. “It’s nothing. It’s silly. But I just don’t want to be away from you.”
“It’s not silly.” Alex tapped him on the nose. “George. Don’t base all your decisions on me, okay? Do what you want to do, and I’ll be here always, no matter what you choose. Okay?”
George leaned in for another kiss, this time longer and firmer, his body pressing against Alex’s. His lips parted for Alex’s, and he sighed into the kiss, sending a shiver up Alex’s spine. His hair was slightly overgrown and soft beneath Alex’s fingers, and he gasped softly when Alex gave it a little tug.
“I love you,” he whispered. “You’re right. I think I always have.”
“I will always love you, George. I promise.”
Promises had always come few and far between, but ‘always’ promises were even rarer.
Given the nature of these promises, they took a lifetime to be fulfilled; for as long as Alex had lived, he had never witnessed any mark that appeared from an ‘always’ promise disappear as long as someone was alive. Alex didn’t know if it was true, and he hadn’t seen or heard of enough of them to be sure, but as far as he knew and until he was shown otherwise, he believed that they were practically permanent until death, which was when a person’s marks would be completely cleared and they would appear to be just like they were on the day of their birth.
On top of that, these marks always appeared somewhere conspicuous, and that day, Alex’s formed on the inside of his right wrist, a big slash that looked like three quarters of a heart.
Alex showed it to George, and George smiled.
“I will always love you too, Alex.” George lay his head on Alex’s chest with another soft sigh. “Thank you. Thank you for always knowing what to say. Thank you for always understanding me better than I do myself.”
“It just makes me very happy to see you as happy as you are,” Alex said. “And I don’t want you to stop being happy.”
George tucked his head beneath Alex’s chin. “I won’t,” he said. “As long as I’m with you. I promise.”
Alex watched the mark form on the back of George’s hand, which he was holding. It made him smile.
“I love you,” he murmured into George’s hair.
“I love you, too.”
Alex’s favourite nights were the ones he got to spend alone with George.
He hugged George close to his chest, relishing the warmth of George in his arms and the scent of George’s hair in his nose. It got cold that night, but Alex trusted that as long as he was with George, it would never, ever be able to get to him.
------
With prom that year came the dreaded time of saying goodbye to everyone before they dispersed for college.
It was breakup season at their school, and Alex knew that for most of the couples they knew, prom would quite literally be their last dance; most of them had broken up ahead of going their separate ways to college.
Alex thought that he and George had nothing to worry about. They were going to the same school. George was on a physical science track, and Alex was on a humanities track. It wasn’t the best college in the area, but it was decent, and at least Alex could still go to school with George.
George, on the other hand, was obsessed with the thought that he and Alex would end up just like all those other couples. He was constantly occupied by the thought of whether Alex would be giving up something for him, constantly bothered about wanting to keep Alex close yet worrying that he would be robbing Alex of something else.
But it wasn’t like Alex was giving up anything that made him happy.
It was that he didn’t know anything else that would make him happier than being with George.
And Alex just felt so lucky that he was even given this opportunity in life.
Alex accepted that it was something that nagged at George, and in turn becoming something that George nagged at Alex about. But it soon became overwhelming, and although Alex knew George did it out of pure concern and love, he found it hard not to be suffocated by all this doubt.
One week before prom, it all bubbled over into a little fight, which ended up in Alex and George not talking for a few days. Alex was frustrated that George didn’t trust their relationship, a relationship that had been thirteen years in the making. George was frustrated that he was unintentionally smothering Alex by being too worried about letting him go.
George was supposed to be Alex’s prom date; Alex really couldn’t imagine anyone else ever being his date, even if they hadn’t been a couple. It was sometimes intriguing how things had just seemed to fall into place so well that Alex simply couldn’t imagine them turning out any other way.
But just two days before the event, Alex found all their plans still completely derailed.
It wasn’t their first fight, but Alex couldn’t help but feel so deflated, the same way he felt whenever he had to be away from George for longer than a few hours.
When they were younger, despite being attached by the waist, the two of them had their fair share of arguments. Sure, they fought and they yelled, but at the end of the day, it was George’s backyard that Alex found himself in, silently waiting for George to come outside so they could go to play and forget anything had ever happened.
As they’d grown older, the arguments petered out, but just like anyone else, the two of them didn’t agree on every single thing. They disagreed about what was better for each other and what they thought was right and wrong, and they fought over making decisions for each other because after all, they knew each other better than they knew themselves – but at the end of the day, they would meet each other with forgiveness, with all of the love and none of the resentment, whether it was spoken aloud or silently accepted without any fuss.
Most times, it was either of them appearing at the other’s door with a Tupperware of their mum’s lasagna as a peace offering.
It had been years and years of this, and Alex didn’t see any of it as a problem that would ever be too big for them to overcome. Their relationship aside, George’s friendship meant more to Alex than anything else in the world. He had always tried to understand George and George had always tried to understand him, and he didn’t see that ever changing.
George was the kindest, most big-hearted person Alex had ever met, and it was Alex’s greatest honour to even be able to call him his best friend, much less the love of his life. There was no fight, no disagreement, and no argument that would ever outweigh the love and respect Alex had for George.
So on prom night, instead of his mother’s lasagna, Alex went to George’s front door with a single sunflower. George’s favourite flower.
He was a ray of sunshine, anyway.
I promise I’ll take you to prom . The marks that took some time to disappear, Alex always treated them as little personal tattoos from his George. That one, a small slash across the back of his left wrist that peeked out from beneath the cuff of his suit, wasn’t any different. Alex was pretty sure it was going to disappear in a moment.
George opened the door still wearing his pyjamas and evidently not ready for prom, in contrast to Alex wearing his suit. His face lit up when he saw Alex and his sunflower, and he put in zero effort to hide it, knowing that he had no need to feel embarrassed or prideful around Alex.
“Georgie,” Alex said softly, handing over the sunflower. “Will you still go to prom with me?”
The sunflower worked just like the lasagna, and though George didn’t say a word in response, he scampered upstairs to get changed while Alex waited for him in the living room.
He came down twenty minutes later scrambling to get his well-pressed suit on and his bow tie straightened. He was holding the sunflower in both his hands as he bounded up to Alex and stopped in front of him with the biggest smile on his face.
“Let’s go,” Alex told him, and his smile grew impossibly bigger, and his eyes crinkled so much at the sides, and he looked so beautiful, Alex was taken aback for a few moments.
They went to prom together with matching black suits and bow ties, and baby blue handkerchiefs in their breast pockets and complementary blue daisies around their wrists – exactly like they had planned all along.
George’s father drove them to school as they sat holding hands in the backseat, watching the mark on Alex’s wrist slowly but steadily fade away.
They had a nice dinner, fancy by their school’s standards. George didn’t say a word throughout the courses, but he leaned into Alex when Alex held his hand, and it was enough for Alex.
There was a large disco ball hanging over the dance floor, slowly rotating and casting little bright diamonds everywhere. George’s face sparkled under those diamonds, though he was the brightest one in the room to Alex. He smiled at Alex as they took turns to twirl each other around, and his giggles, though soft, were louder than the buzz of the rest of the dance floor.
The room settled into a gentle rhythm as the upbeat songs gave way to slow love songs. George pressed close to Alex, his arms around Alex’s waist and his cheek pressed on Alex’s shoulder. They still hadn’t said a word to each other, but having known George all his life, Alex trusted that everything was already fine between them. They’d had time apart, time to think and time to forgive, and everything was going to be okay, and the both of them would always know that.
“I’m sorry, Alex,” George whispered into the crook of Alex’s neck.
Alex kissed him on the edge of his jaw. “I love you. You know?”
George hadn’t been noticeably tense, but he relaxed in Alex’s arms, and gave a soft sigh. “I love you so much.”
The dancing soon got boring, which was something they both silently but mutually agreed about. The school hallways were strikingly quiet after they snuck outside and closed the door behind them.
They walked down the dark, empty halls, hand in hand, their footsteps echoing sharply off the linoleum walls. The wider hallways gave way to narrower ones in the classroom buildings, and they found the row of lockers where Alex’s locker used to be, where they used to meet up after math class.
“Alex,” George said softly as they stopped in front of the familiar locker tainted with the outlines of the different football-themed stickers that Alex had tried and failed to peel off. “How...has everything been okay? I feel like we haven’t talked in so long.”
“It’s been okay,” Alex said. “It’s just…I don’t like it without you.”
“Me, neither.”
“I’m sorry,” Alex whispered, taking both of George’s hands as they leaned on the locker. “I’ve doubted myself so many times and you were always here to catch me and you always told me that I have the right to feel what I feel. So do you, Georgie, my love. So do you. And I’m sorry that I made you feel otherwise.”
“I’m just so scared of losing you,” George whispered.
“I am, too.” Alex knew George was always easily affected and influenced by things that happened to people around them, more easily than Alex was. Alex wasn’t just going to ignore that. He was going to help George through it just like George had helped him so many other times. “George. I know that everything that’s happening...it’s all just so weird, and I know you’re scared it’ll happen to us, too. But it won’t. Georgie, I don’t remember a day in my life that I’ve been without you. And I don’t ever want to be.”
“I’ve told you this before, but –” George sighed. “I know we’re young, Alex, and we still have our entire lives ahead of us. But just like you, I don’t remember one day I’ve been without you. And I’ve thought about it, and – I don’t have any reason to be afraid of losing you. I trust you, and you mean more to me than anything else. For everyone that’s separating for college, I guess it’s good for them, because they’re figured out what they want, and maybe they just haven’t found the right person. But it doesn’t matter to me. Because we’re not them. We’re us. And it’s nice to know that I’ve already found the person I’m going to spend the rest of my life with.”
Alex cupped George’s jaw with his hands and pulled him close so their noses were pressed together. “I love you so much, Georgie.”
“I love you, too,” George whispered. “Alex. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life bothering you to hell.”
Alex giggled, and the smile it put on George’s face was so stunning, Alex forgot how to breathe for a second. He moved to kiss George, and George pressed him against the row of lockers, his hands landing on Alex’s waist under his suit jacket. His lips worked eagerly on Alex’s, and Alex – Alex just missed him so much, and he hadn’t known what to do with himself, and he suddenly felt complete again.
“I’m not gonna miss this shithole,” he told Alex between breathless kisses.
Alex smiled. They really had no idea if college was just going to be yet another shithole.
But maybe life was just a long series of shitholes, and Alex had been lucky to find his salvation in George, and he still had to count himself lucky to have George bothering him to hell over and over again.
------
George continued to be scouted by the university football scouts throughout their two years in the local college, some forty minutes away from home.
Alex was nowhere near that standard, but he did decently in the college team, alternating between being benched and playing some truly amazing games. He had never really seen football as a big part of his future, anyway, since he had only joined the team because George wanted him to.
He was on a humanities track in college, and George did math and science. Despite taking the bulk of their lessons separately, they still met after school all the time, to tell each other about their days. They would walk through the park on their way back to the dorms, hand in hand and as slowly as they could so they could prolong the time they spent together.
No matter how tired George was, no matter how many assignments he had to complete or how exhausted he was after football practice, he would always, always find time for Alex.
It was two years of incredibly hard work and high stress, and Alex couldn’t even begin to imagine the mental strength George had in order to get through it. He was by George’s side through it all, watching and quietly supporting, but it still amazed him every time how George greeted every challenge and every new experience with the most dazzling smile.
By the end of their two years, the place at a London university to study engineering on a football scholarship was practically George’s to take. Alex’s future was a little less certain, but if his grades were anything to go by, he was headed to the same university on his own merit, to major in history.
On their last match of the season, their last match before they were due to retire from the team and take their A Levels, Alex injured himself badly, spraining his ankle while playing and spending the rest of the match sitting at the side with an ice pack on his foot trying not to cry.
George insisted on taking him to the hospital afterwards, despite Alex saying that he was fine and he would just rest his leg for a couple of days. He brought Alex alone to the ER in the back of a taxi, and sat outside as Alex got scans and his ankle all wrapped up. He was given crutches, with which he hobbled back outside to find George sitting on the same row of chairs with his phone held to his ear.
The phone was back in George’s pocket by the time Alex managed to get to him with his useless little steps. He stood up and grabbed Alex’s bicep to help him.
“Are you feeling alright?” he asked Alex.
Alex nodded. Honestly, he was just way too tired for any words. “It’s just a really bad sprain. I have some meds to collect.”
“Does it hurt?” George’s voice was really soft now, like he’d realised Alex had zero energy.
“It really hurts.” Alex was sick of trying to hold in his tears, sick of trying to be strong for the entire night. He just wanted to lie down and sleep. “I’ll just get my meds and I’ll go home and I’ll be alright after I rest for a bit.”
George watched him struggle to walk for a bit, then reached out and grabbed his bicep again. “I’ll carry you on my back,” he said.
“No need for that.”
George insisted, and before Alex could even react properly, he was already being made to hop on George’s back, and being carried towards the pharmacy with his crutches tied to his backpack. George’s own bag hung off the front of him as Alex collected his bag of medicine and placed it inside.
“I’ll carry you home,” he said as they stood at the front entrance of the hospital, without a taxi in sight after fifteen minutes. “You must be really tired. I don’t know how long we’ll have to wait.”
The watch on George’s hand told Alex it was already past eleven at night. “You can go back, if you’d like,” he told George.
“I’ll take you home. It’s only a ten minute walk.”
Alex really had no way to ever argue with George when he had his mind set on something.
The short walk to their dorms took almost twice the time, with George trudging along the side of the main road with Alex on his back despite Alex’s multiple attempts to get him to put him down. George was quiet, which Alex appreciated, because he didn’t think he could hold up a proper conversation.
“Who was on the phone earlier?” Alex asked, not thinking too much about it. Maybe George had called home for him and told his parents about it and assured them Alex was fine. It just seemed weird that George was so quiet, and Alex just wanted his voice and his laughter to litter the air on their way home.
“It was nothing important,” George said softly.
“What was it?”
George seemed to hesitate a bit, though Alex wasn’t sure if it was just because he was tired from hauling him around. Then he said, “The scout from uni? He was there during the game. He wanted to talk to me afterwards but I was trying to get you to the hospital and he didn’t get to. So he called me to tell me that they’re officially going to offer me the scholarship.”
“George,” Alex whispered. He was so proud of George. So, so proud. Even though they had been almost completely sure the scholarship would be given to George, it was amazing to finally get the confirmation. “That’s great. That’s so great. Congratulations.”
“Thank you, love.”
“You should’ve stayed to talk to him. I could’ve gotten home myself.”
“It’s alright.” George smiled as he hoisted Alex higher up on his back. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter.” Alex felt like he could cry. “It matters, George. I don’t – I don’t want you to be missing stuff because of me.”
“I’m not missing stuff. It’s not a big deal.”
“You should’ve been out celebrating.” Despite his heart bursting with pride, Alex found himself in such a complex mix of emotions that he started to cry again. “You should’ve gone out with the others to celebrate. Now you’re just stuck here with me. We should go out and celebrate, Georgie. Put me down. I can walk, and we’ll go find a diner that’s still open and I’ll celebrate with you.”
“Stop.” George’s grip tightened on Alex’s thighs as Alex tried to scramble to his feet. “Alex. We’ll get you back to your room and you’ll get some rest. Okay? It’s not important to me. I promise.”
A small mark appeared on the back of George’s neck, then immediately vanished. But the fact that George was telling the truth didn’t make Alex feel any less guilty.
“I just feel so bad,” Alex sobbed. “You should have gone out to celebrate but now you’re just carrying me home like a loser.”
George chuckled, and Alex felt the vibrations down to his bones. “Stop being silly. Being with you is the best celebration for me.”
Alex sighed. He strained over George’s shoulder and pressed a kiss to George’s cheek. “I love you so much,” he whispered in George’s ear.
“I love you too, Alex, baby.”
“I’m so, so proud of you.”
George’s cheek dimpled with his smile as he pressed it fondly against Alex’s. “Now you’ve got to get in, too.”
“I will.”
The rest of the walk home was quiet as George waited for Alex to stop crying. He brought Alex up the stairs to his room on the third floor, and put him on his bed as he went around gathering things for Alex’s shower.
He then carried Alex to the shower and back with a plastic bag tied around his bandaged ankle. He tucked Alex in bed with another smile, placing a pillow under his ankle as Alex watched him, on the verge of tears again.
“George,” he said before George could leave so Alex could have some peace and quiet. “Will you stay?”
“Yeah, sure,” George said softly. “What do you want to do?”
Alex made him look for the boxes of Easy Mac he had stashed in his drawer and microwave them. George happily brought them back in two bowls, and he sat in bed with Alex and they had mac and cheese for their long overdue dinner and it was like nothing bad had happened all day.
“This is a nice celebration,” George told Alex.
“Yeah?” Alex was sedated by the combination of the food and his medication, so he laid down on his back as George placed their empty bowls on the table. “You really think so?”
George crawled under Alex’s blanket and snuggled close, tucking Alex’s head into his shoulder. “I like it,” he whispered. “Anything I do with you is the best for me.”
“As long as you’re happy, George.”
“I am.” George pressed his lips on Alex’s, then hugged him close again. “I love you.”
“I love you so much, Georgie,” Alex murmured, sighing into the crook of George’s neck. “I’m so proud of you, and I’m so happy that you’ll get to do what you love, and I’m so glad that you’ll get to be happy, and that we can always be together. You’re so talented and so smart and I just know, I know that you’ll go far in life, and I’m so honoured to be able to watch it. And I’m sorry that I ruined your big day.”
George’s laughter was soft, but it was fond and it sent the same shivers down Alex’s spine. “Silly. Go to sleep.”
“I just want to be with you.”
“Me, too. Always. Nothing else matters to me, Alex.”
Alex drifted off to sleep, the pain in his ankle forgotten and replaced only by all the pride he held for George – all the pride he would always hold for his George.
------
Alex’s ankle had healed by the time their A Levels were over and summer rolled around – just in time for him to have fun before they left for uni.
With his results, he enrolled in the same university as George as a history major, while George decided to study engineering with a minor in history, despite Alex saying that it made no sense for him to do that.
But again, he knew he could never outargue George.
Besides, George seemed happy, and it was everything Alex wanted.
During the summer, after all their university applications were settled and having just gotten their driver’s licenses, Alex and George went on their own grad trip, just the two of them. They planned to roadtrip up to Edinburgh and back down, stopping at some places in between. According to their plans, the journey would take about a week and a half.
At the halfway point of their trip, they visited the Edinburgh Castle and wandered the old cobblestone streets of Edinburgh. Alex enjoyed watching George roam the halls of the castle, looking like a handsome prince under the tall ceilings and intricate chandeliers and sheltered by the gloomy walls. Despite being dressed in a normal short-sleeved buttoned shirt and light jeans, George still managed to look so regal in his surroundings, and the way his light hair sparkled under the natural light filtering in from the windows lining the outer hallways made him look like a prince right out of one of Alex’s favourite childhood storybooks.
They visited little bookshops and people-watched at quaint eateries, and stumbled upon a bespoke jewelry shop where they got matching woven leather metal plate wrap bracelets engraved with the symbols A + G. Out of all the places they visited, all the sights they saw, and all the things they bought, that bracelet was Alex’s favourite.
On their last night in Edinburgh, they drove out to Dalkeith and found a nice place to stargaze. They got out of the car and sat on the front hood with their iced coffees to power them through the starry night.
The stars began to appear once their eyes had settled. George stretched out along the front hood, his upper body along the windshield and his head propped up by his arm. Alex lay down next to him, leaning into him to share his arm pillow.
“I wish I could paint this,” George whispered, pressing his lips briefly into Alex’s hair. “So I can remember it forever.”
“We will,” Alex said. “This moment, this very moment, just the two of us and all these stars, we’re gonna remember it forever.”
“I love you, Alex. And I’m so glad that I have you.”
Alex wrapped an arm around George’s waist and pulled himself closer to George. Their surroundings were dark and empty, and the stars became brighter the longer they gazed up at the sky, and even though it was quiet and secluded, Alex had honestly never felt so alive.
George sighed contentedly as he pulled Alex more tightly against him. The sky shimmered and shifted, and Alex was mesmerised by its beauty, and he was so honoured to even get to witness it, much less witness it by George’s side.
“Alex.”
“Hmm?”
“One day, when we grow up, I’m gonna give you a ring with a diamond just like one of these stars, and I’m gonna marry you.”
“George,” Alex whispered. He pressed closer so he could kiss George on the lips, then rest his head on George’s chest, from which he could hear George’s heart beating. “Yeah. And I’ll say yes.”
Alex couldn’t see George’s face, but he could feel George’s smile, just like he could always feel happiness radiate from George so many times before.
It was Alex’s favourite feeling in the entire world.
“I love you, George,” he said, as George’s warm palm landed on his cheek and tilted his head up to meet George’s lips. “Thank you for coming on this trip with me. It’s been so much fun.”
“I wouldn’t do it with anyone else.”
“Me, neither. I want to spend every second with you for the rest of my life. You’re the love of my life.”
“Yeah?” George’s lips turned up against Alex’s. “And you’ll always try to be happy with the love of your life, and you’ll always try to choose him, to be by his side and let him love you?”
“Mhm. I will.”
“You promise?”
Even if Alex tried, he couldn’t imagine himself ever doing otherwise with George, so he saw no harm in making the promise. The fact that it was an ‘always’ promise failed to stop him.
Maybe they would be the first ones to prove that marks from ‘always’ promises could disappear – by living this promise over and over again and by forever being resilient in their love. By being together until they both breathed their last breath. That was what this promise was truly about.
“I promise,” he told George.
George pulled his head away from Alex’s so he could direct his smile at Alex this time. “I promise, too.”
Alex watched the mark form on George’s right cheek, a small slice of dark grey following the curve of his cheekbone. It wasn’t thick like the swipe of a whiteboard marker, but not thin like the stroke of a pencil. It was just the most perfect brushstroke made by God himself.
Alex placed his fingertips on it, and George shuddered at the touch. Alex had seen plenty of promise marks that appeared on faces. He just hadn’t expected George to ever have one, much less for an ‘always’ promise. A permanent one.
It seemed to make George even more beautiful.
“Is it on my face?” George asked. He sounded breathless, though not from fear. It was from the exhilaration of making a promise that always made George this way, the anticipation of keeping the promise that always excited George so much.
Alex nodded. “Where’s mine?”
George pressed his hand to Alex’s left cheek, cupping it gently. “Right here.”
A mirror image of George’s.
Alex was suddenly so overwhelmed with emotion, he couldn’t think of anything else to do besides lean into George again, pressing their bodies together as their lips moved in harmony. George hugged him close, his strong arm curling around Alex’s waist to pull Alex almost fully on top of him. He tasted so sweet, and he smelled so fresh and young, and Alex. Alex just kept falling in love with him over and over again.
“Now you’re stuck with me,” George whispered.
Alex smiled. “I never wanted to leave.”
George hugged him so tightly, Alex forgot how to breathe for a moment. But George suddenly flinched, then started giggling against Alex’s lips.
“I think I just kicked my coffee off the car,” he said.
They sat up and saw that, indeed, George’s iced coffee was toppled over sideways on the ground.
“What can I say?” Alex teased. “You just have a natural talent with your feet.”
George beamed. “You’re right.”
“I’ll share mine,” Alex said, handing George his cup of coffee, which was itself sitting precariously on the edge of the hood.
George took it happily, slurping from it as he touched Alex’s cheek again, brushing gently with his thumb as if he was trying to see if the mark would smudge, if it was only a dream.
It didn’t of course, just like how George’s stayed even as Alex touched it or kissed it.
The night seemed to stretch on forever as they sat under the stars, talking about all their plans, all the good times they knew they were going to spend in university. And Alex knew the start of their university lives was near, the start of the rest of their lives was near, but he couldn’t help but feel impatient for all of it to begin; he couldn’t help but feel impatient to live out the rest of it with his George, just like how the mirrored marks on their cheeks dictated.