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Reki brought beer to the skate park at midnight, texting Langa to meet him there ASAP. He was two beers deep by the time Langa arrived. He didn’t drink often - just a couple of times at high school parties he managed to get invited to and once with some guys at S - but when he caught Koyomi sneaking two six packs to her friend’s car out front, he confiscated them and lectured her like the good big brother he was. And then he took the beer for himself.
Langa kicked up his skateboard before sitting next to Reki against a ramp. Reki handed an entire six pack to Langa, keeping the six pack he’d already started working on next to himself. Langa lifted the bottle of beer and looked it over, confused. “Where’d you get this?”
“Koyomi,” Reki said with a shrug. “She’s too young to drink. I couldn’t let her have it.”
“You are also too young to drink,” Langa laughed, twisting off the cap and tossing it into the box. Reki watched as he tilted the rim of the bottle up against his lips. He took a long sip and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “But I won’t tell anyone.”
“You’d go down with me,” Reki smirked, nursing his third beer. He didn’t drink often enough to build up any kind of tolerance, so he was quickly warming up. The world around him was slightly louder than usual and his body felt loose, a heat welling up in his stomach. “I can’t believe this is the first time we’ve drank together, dude.”
“I don’t drink much,” Langa shrugged. “I drank a lot after my dad died, but I never really had an opportunity to drink since moving here.”
“Oh,” was all Reki could manage, a wave of guilt overcoming him. He hadn’t even considered something like that. He always enjoyed himself when drunk, his outgoing personality intensifying and all of his insecurities melting away. Reki wasn’t shy or introverted, but he struggled with self-esteem: he wanted to talk to people, flirt with girls, dance the night away, but he always felt like he wasn’t good enough to do so. “Is this okay?”
“Yeah,” Langa shook his head. “It helped at the time, but I’m okay now. I have you.” He reached out to clank his beer bottle against Reki’s in a cheer, finishing his first one off and popping open a second one. Reki felt his heart beating in his chest at Langa’s words, a shiver finding its way from his neck to his fingertips. He was too buzzed for Langa to be saying things like that, but he nodded in response.
They leaned against the ramp in silence, staring up at the stars while sipping beers until they were both numb and heavy against the pavement. Reki felt free and giddy, leaning against Langa and resting his head on his shoulder. Langa let his cheek fall to press against the top of Reki’s head, pressing awkwardly against Reki’s headband. Slowly, Langa slid a finger underneath the fabric and pulled it off, the tips of his fingers combing through Reki’s hair. Reki closed his eyes and leaned into the touch.
“Alcohol always makes me want to kiss,” Langa mumbled, never moving the rim of his beer bottle from his lips. He took another sip.
“Huh?” Reki glanced up at Langa, his normally pale cheeks quite flushed. Reki felt his own cheeks heating up at the position they were in, the sentence that had just come out of Langa’s mouth, and the way his lips pouted against the bottle.
“Like make out,” Langa laughed quietly. “Does that not happen to everyone?”
Reki didn’t know if it happened to everyone, but he definitely knew what Langa meant. While he wanted to kiss Langa on a daily basis, he was able to control himself. But now that he was well past buzzed and on his way to full on drunk, he found himself desperate to lean in and press his lips against Langa’s - if only the beer bottle wasn’t in the way. “I don’t know. I haven’t made out with someone since my ex-girlfriend sophomore year.”
“The last time I kissed someone was, like…” Langa sat up straighter, counting on his fingers. “I don’t know. Probably this random guy at my friend’s house before I moved. I don’t remember his name.” This made Reki sit up, too, a pang of jealousy smacking him in the face.
“You made out with some random guy?” Reki chuckled to hide his true feelings, quickly chugging what was left in his bottle in an attempt to quell the jealousy.
“I was drunk and felt like making out,” Langa suddenly looked embarrassed, desperate to defend himself. “It’s not like I just went around kissing people. My dad had just died and I was lonely. I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize, dude.” Reki nudged him playfully. “I’ve never been there, but I know how it feels to be lonely. What I don’t know is what it’s like to kiss a guy! I didn’t know you go both ways, dude.”
“Huh? I don’t,” Langa scrunched his eyebrows and Reki panicked at the thought he’d said something wrong after Langa came out to him. “I only like guys. Did you not know that?”
“I - no?” Reki scrunched his eyebrows, too, trying to figure out how he could blame the alcohol. Instead, he was honest: “We’ve never really talked about this before, Langa.”
“That’s true,” Langa shrugged. He let out a fed up sigh, flopping back against the ramp with a bit too much force. “Well, if you ever want to know what it’s like to kiss a guy, I’m right here. Your kiss-hungry best friend, willing and waiting.”
Reki’s stomach was doing somersaults and he wasn’t sure what the fuck to say to that. “I - uh, sure. Yeah, I’d be down for that.” He was stuttering and stupid, and when he and Langa made eye contact, the temperature seemed to drop twenty degrees. He was suddenly shaking, the two boys both sitting upright and facing each other. They both instinctively finished their beers.
“Okay,” Langa said, blinking as if it was taking too much effort. “Like, now?”
“If you want,” Reki said, playing with his own fingers in his lap. Langa nodded, so they both slowly leaned in, Langa’s hand reaching out to cup Reki’s face. Reki closed his eyes as Langa pressed his lips against his, and the world seemed to freeze. All Reki could feel was Langa’s palm against his jaw, fingers curling up around his cheek, and his plush lips. After a few silent, still seconds, Langa pulled away a couple of inches and looked into Reki’s eyes.
“Was that okay?” Langa asked quietly. Reki nodded. “Different from kissing a girl?”
“I don’t know,” Reki whispered. “I don’t think it was long enough. Besides, didn’t you say you wanted to make out, not just kiss?”
At this, a hunger burned in Langa’s eyes that Reki recognized - he’d seen it before at S when Langa was challenged to races. He barely had time to prepare himself before Langa buried his fingers in his hair, pulling Reki in for a rougher kiss. Reki let out a soft grunt at the rush, stumbling forward into Langa’s embrace. He kissed Langa back with as much intensity as he could muster, ultimately giving in to Langa and letting him lead the way.
Langa parted his lips and Reki’s followed suit, their tongues gently brushing as they kissed over and over again. Reki’s movements were sloppy and loose, but Langa’s grip was strong and his movements were calculated and confident. While alcohol let Reki be free, it only seemed to intensify Langa’s recklessness. Langa nipped at Reki’s bottom lip before sucking on it, nursing the injury. Reki moaned quietly.
“Fuck,” Reki said out loud, gripping Langa’s forearm with one hand and his shoulder with the other. “Langa.”
“Mm?” Langa pulled away, looking over Reki’s face quizzically. “I’m sorry, was that too much? Shit. I’m so sorry, Reki. I got carried away.”
“No,” Reki waved his hands up in defense. “It was good. Great, even. You’re… a really good kisser. But, of course you are. You’re good at everything, dude.”
This made Langa smile slightly. “You are too. You taste so fucking good, Reki.”
Reki burst out laughing. “You are so weird, man.”
Langa shrugged. “So? What’s the consensus? Different from kissing a girl?”
“Oh, definitely,” Reki nodded dramatically. “I’ve never been man-handled before. I’m usually the… what’s it called? More dominant one. With you, I’m, uh, the sub. Not like a sub sandwich, like, uh - you know what I mean, right? Don’t make me explain it.”
“I know what you mean,” Langa chuckled, a blush still staining his cheeks. Reki wanted to dive in for more, but the kiss was purely experimentation - Reki wanted to know what it was like to kiss a guy, and Langa just felt like kissing. Their goal had been reached, and the burning arousal in his gut was no excuse to cross any lines. But he was in love with Langa, and Langa looked so cute, buzzed and blushing, and Reki was flirting with being blackout drunk. “Tell me about your ex,” Langa said suddenly, leaning back against the ramp. Both six packs were empty. “We need to let the alcohol wear off before skating home.”
“I guess you’re right,” Reki mumbled, resuming his position next to Langa, resting his head on his shoulder. “Uh, she had light hair and ran track. She was super competitive, but kind of quiet? Like, she was ‘silent but deadly.’ She took school and stuff really seriously, though, so we argued a lot about me staying out late for S. She dumped me right in front of Dope Sketch before a shift. Oka let me cry in the bathroom.”
“Oof. Harsh. Did you love her?” Langa asked, as if that was the natural next question.
“Nah,” Reki replied. He’d told her he loved her, sure, but now that he knew what real love felt like, he realized what he felt for her was nothing in comparison. “How about you? Any ex-boyfriends to tell me about?”
“Only two,” Langa resumed resting his cheek against the top of Reki’s head. “Mike, freshman year, five months. We were the only two guys out in the entire school, so we just… dated. It was weird and forced and I’m still mad he was my first kiss. Then there was Drew, sophomore year, a year and change. We broke up right before my dad died. He cheated on me.”
“He what?” Reki shot up, his head spinning in the process. He grabbed at his head in an attempt to ease away the forming headache. “Who would cheat on you?”
“Drew,” Langa said bluntly.
“Well Drew is an idiot and an asshole,” Reki scoffed. “You’re amazing, Langa.”
“Hey,” Langa smirked. “That’s my line!”
Reki laughed and they melted into comfort again, pointing at the stars and chatting until they both felt okay enough to head home. Reki unlocked the back door as quietly as he could, sneaking to his bedroom and closing the door behind him. He kicked off his sneakers and pulled off his shirt, stumbling into bed. He was nowhere near 100% sober, the room spinning ever so slightly, but he hadn’t busted his ass on the way back, which he counted as a win. His phone buzzed.
“Home,” Langa sent. “You good?”
“All good,” Reki typed back. “I had fun tonight!”
“We should drink together more often,” Langa texted alongside a tongue-out emoji.
Reki hesitated, his thumbs hovering over the touch screen of his phone. He typed out “Definitely!” before backspacing it, a rush of confidence overcoming him. He quickly typed the message he wanted to send, pressing the send button before he could convince himself not to: “If it means kissing you again, definitely.”
Reki began to panic when he noticed Langa starting to type and stopping repeatedly. He’d crossed the line, completely ruining everything between them. Should he apologize? Should he add on a “just kidding” before it was too late? Should he throw his phone out the window and consider their friendship over? As he shuffled through his options, a text came in from Langa finally.
“We don’t need to be drinking to kiss again,” Langa texted. Another text quickly followed: “I’ll make out with you sober, any time you want.”
Was Langa flirting with him? Reki felt like he’d just been shocked back to sobriety, his entire body stiff and shaking. He pulled his blankets around his body, the phone emitting a soft light in his otherwise dark room. “Wish I’d known that sooner.”
“Better late than never,” Langa wrote back quite quickly, as if he’d been waiting for Reki’s reply. “Is there anything else,” he sent, breaking up his question into multiple texts. “You want to know what it’s like to do,” he took a couple seconds before finishing, “with a guy instead of a girl?”
Reki sent back the thinking emoji. “Do you have anything in mind?”
“I can think of a couple things,” Langa wrote back after a few seconds.
“You’ll have to show me the next time we hang out,” Reki said, heart thrumming against his ribcage. He was nervous, turned on, confused, and excited all at the same time.
“You got it. Night, Reki.” Langa texted, a kissing emoji coming just moments afterwards. This made Reki squeal with delight as if he was back in middle school texting his crush. Granted, he was texting his crush, but it was Langa - his best friend, the person he was closest to and shared his entire life with. He texted a kissing emoji back before curling up in bed and trying to sleep, but their kiss was set on repeat in his mind.