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The cold seemed to sit on the two men standing in the winter night air, arms folded as they leaned on the wooden rail of the porch they stood upon. Behind them was the lights, warmth, and sounds of a bustling Christmas party within the comforts of the house the men were visiting, and yet, neither one seemed to feel any form of longing to go back to that, at least, not right now. Instead, they just kept standing there, peaceful silence between themselves as they stared into the beautifully clear night sky.
Garroth almost lost himself in the stars above him. Nights prior, they'd been covered by the clouds as snow poured from the sky for days on end, but tonight had been lucky, and he couldn't bring himself to miss out on such an opportunity. Stargazing was actually something Laurance had introduced to him, back during their high school days. That reason was the one that made Garroth assume why the man was out here, elbow to elbow with himself. And yet, despite both of their eyes being to those stars, Garroth couldn't help but admit the warmth of his best friend by his side... or maybe just knowing he was there... was comforting and what he, admittedly, wanted more than the natural spectacle.
Unfortunately... both men were too caught up in the moment not to be startled by a blue-haired intrusion.
"Merry Christmas, guys!" Dante yelled out excitedly, lunging himself forward, almost between the duo. Garroth, still slightly out of it and originally taking this to just be a seasonal greeting, turned to return the sentiment... only to then realize that he'd heard a playful tone in his ex-roommates voice and see the reason why. And it made his heart do things that he couldn't quite explain.
Dante's move between the men had been completely purposeful, as now he dangled a honestly rather scraggly piece of mistletoe in that area, noticeably having as much as his own body as far away from it as possible. It reminded Garroth of how an extremely picky child would hold a piece of undesirable food.
"Oh my. Where did this come from?" Dante spoke in a ribbing voice. "Well, I guess you guys just have to kiss now." He snickered to himself, clearly expecting an extreme reaction from his two friends.
Garroth was slightly afraid his face had scrunched up in disgust. Was that how he truly felt about the concept of kissing his best friend? ... He wasn't sure. But he knew that, regardless, it would give Dante what he wanted, and no matter what, preventing that was more important than however he felt. When he looked to Laurance for his own reaction though, he knew that whatever expression was on his face completely fell as he saw the brunette's blank stare at the flora.
There was silence, uncomfortable and awkward this time, until finally, Laurance spoke up.
"How about this, Dante," he prompted, determined look on his face as his eyes narrowed and lips attempted to hide a smirk. "If we go through with this... You have to get in on it too. And I don't mean with some chick inside, or whatever. I mean right here. Right now. With either Garroth, myself, or the both of us. That sound fair?"
Garroth was worried by the fact that he couldn't tell if he was serious or not. Nonetheless, it made Dante chuckle and smirk, clearly amused by the "deal."
"Sure-" Before the blue-haired man could finish his mocking response, Garroth felt Laurance press his lips to his own.
Everything seemed to freeze in that moment. Garroth, Laurance, Dante, the stars, the snow... even time itself. Garroth found himself... his mind... staying in this moment... savoring it. He didn't want it to end. And yet it did all too quickly as the other man pulled away, only sparing the blonde a quick glance with those shimmering blue-green eyes before unleashing the wicked grin he'd been restraining from his face.
In a blink, he turned to face Dante, devious smile growing with each second.
"Come here and pucker up, loverboy! It's your turn now!"
Dante stood there, stunned as his mouth hung agape. "W-WHAT!? You aren't... What about..." He was speechless.
"Deal's a deal, Dante. And you wouldn't want to go against tradition, now would you?" Laurance slightly approached him.
"NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOO!!!" With that, the blue-haired man bolted back inside, almost barreling over Travis in the process, who had been standing in the doorway the entire time. Laurance was quick to follow, cackling like a cartoon villain as they dashed through Aphmau and Aaron’s house.
Garroth stood there in a daze, hand lightly over lips as his face became more and more consumed by the dark red spreading across his cheeks. His head raced as fast as his heart.
Laurance just kissed me- I miss his warmth by my side- I liked it- I wish it was longer- Is this normal?- I want- Does this- I...
So lost by what had just happened, he didn't notice Travis join him on the porch. The Norwegian man was laughing to himself, but as he saw Garroth's face, he slightly lowered his volume.
"I... I think I like Laurance," Garroth breathed.
That made Travis completely silent as he took a deep breath and tried to retain his composure. After a few seconds without sound, he burst out loudly, startling the blonde back into reality.
"IT TOOK YOU THE SECOND KISS TO FIGURE THAT OUT!?"
"Wha-What!?" Part of Garroth wanted to hush up the white-haired man before him, but the other was so appalled that it welcomed the outburst.
"DUDE, DO YOU GUYS NOT REALIZE HOW YOU ACT AROUND EACH OTHER!?" With that, Travis gave himself a second to collect himself and lower his voice. "Even back when I was rooming with you, you'd be calling each other things like 'Honey,' constantly complementing each other's looks, be very physically affectionate between yourselves, and always be there for each other the most out of anyone, even your so-called crushes! Back around the play incident, even though y'all acted mad, it, like, only lasted for a day. I'd think if y'all were actually miffed about it, you'd have more of a reaction whenever it gets brought up, or at the very least, y'all would've actually gotten after Lucinda and Cassie at the time! Honestly, if I wasn't so familiar with how stupid y'all can be, I'd think you guys were dating. I'm sure everyone would."
"If that's true, then... why would Dante do that and not expect Laurance to live up to his word...?"
Travis let out a tired sigh. "I love Dante, but he's an oblivious idiot. He was probably too fixated on making you guys squirm to consider any potential repercussions or even consider that y'all would take it even slightly seriously."
"Hm..."
Quiet now hung in the frosty air, quite welcome after that almost breathless rant.
"... Do you think you'll tell him?" Travis then asked.
"... Tell him what?" Garroth already knew the answer, but was reluctant to say his own.
"That you like him."
"... I don't know... I don't even know if I'm ready to be in a relationship." Garroth bit his lip, avoiding Travis' eyes. "All of my past relationships have been... not that great, and... I've never dated a man before... On top of that, it was only earlier this year that I actually got over my crush on Aphmau, and that's one that I've held on to since I was little kid..."
"But...?"
"... I can't help but feel as though I've held feelings for Laurance just as long... even if I wasn't aware of it..." Garroth finally brought his teal eyes to meet Travis' green ones. "I'm sorry, I don't know where I'm even going with this."
"It's fine... It's fine if you're not ready. But I seriously do think that it's better if you tell him how you feel... sooner than later. Bottling it up or waiting around too long... while some may think it honorable, it can just be damaging." He spared Garroth another glance before turning to leave. "Just think about it. I'll see you inside."
The blonde couldn't help but notice the slight sorrow in his friend's eyes as he walked off. And with that, it was just him, standing in that winter night air, as he turned his head back to the stars.