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Benji had carefully set the blanket on the ground a few minutes ago. He was being super giddy and secretive all day. His partner had no idea what he was planning until they walked out and saw everything set up and him just standing there. Tristan immediately grinned as they noticed the stargazing book that fell out of Benji's hands. He was blushing at them and chuckled sheepishly.
The blanket had a slight dampness from the evening grass, but Tristan didn't care as they flopped onto it with exaggerated drama, their black lace sleeves spreading wide like bat wings. Benji adjusted his glasses, always a nervous habit, and crouched beside them, fingers fidgeting with the spine of the astronomy guide. "You," Tristan declared, pointing a polished black nail at him, "are an enormous dork."
Benji's laugh came out half-strangled, the sound dissolving into the quiet hum of crickets. He pushed the book toward them, its pages fluttering open to a dog-eared section on summer constellations. Tristan squinted at the tiny print, then at Benji's hopeful expression, and finally at the sky, where the first few stars were winking awake. "Okay, Professor," they teased, nudging his knee with their boot. "Educate me."
He didn't need prompting twice. Benji launched into an explanation about celestial navigation, his hands sketching shapes in the air between them. Tristan watched his fingers trace invisible lines, connecting stars that, to them, still looked randomly scattered. It should've been boring. But the way his voice hitched when he got excited, the way his glasses slid down his nose as he gestured too wildly, Tristan found themself leaning in, elbows propped on their knees.
A breeze rustled the trees at the edge of the field, carrying the scent of earth and distant rain. Tristan shivered, though they'd never admit it. Benji, mid-sentence about Orion's Belt, noticed instantly. Without a word, he shrugged out of his oversized flannel and draped it over their shoulders. The fabric smelled like him, faint citrus from his shampoo, the chemical tang of the computer lab where he spent too many hours. Tristan pulled it tighter, suddenly very interested in the stitching of the collar.
"Anyway," Benji said softly, "you can actually see Jupiter tonight if we-" He stopped. Tristan had tilted their head back, exposing the pale column of their throat, their eyes reflecting the emerging stars. Benji's breath caught. He'd planned this, the blanket, the book, the whole romantic setup, but now, faced with Tristan's quiet intensity, his carefully rehearsed facts deserted him. The sky could wait. He cuddled closer to Tristan with a deeper blush just so he could cuddle like they did in the motel so long ago.
Benji's arm brushed against Tristan's as he settled beside them, the warmth of his body seeping through the thin fabric of his t-shirt. Tristan didn't pull away. Instead, they leaned into the contact, their shoulder pressing against his, the weight of his flannel still draped over them like a second skin. The stars above blurred slightly as Tristan blinked, their lashes catching the faintest glimmer of moonlight.
"You were saying something about Jupiter," Tristan murmured, their voice softer than usual, less edged with their usual playful bite. Benji swallowed, his throat bobbing visibly in the dim light. He'd spent weeks memorizing constellations, rehearsing the perfect way to point them out, but now all he could focus on was the way Tristan's fingers absently traced the hem of his shirt, the way their knee bumped against his whenever they shifted.
"Yeah, uh," Benji stammered, pushing his glasses up his nose with his free hand. "It's... it's right there, actually." He pointed weakly toward a bright spot in the sky, his hand trembling just enough to betray his nerves. Tristan followed his gesture, their head tilting slightly, but their gaze flicked back to Benji almost immediately.
"You're not looking," Benji said, half-laughing, half-breathless. Tristan smirked, their dark lips curving in a way that made Benji's stomach swoop. It always did when they looked at him with those lavender blue eyes.
"I am," Tristan countered. "Just not at the sky." The admission hung between them, charged and quiet. Benji's pulse thundered in his ears, loud enough that he was sure Tristan could hear it. The crickets seemed to pause, as if holding their breath alongside him. He pouted slightly.
"Triisss" was the only thing that came out of his mouth before Tristan laughed and kissed him gently, smearing a slight dark purple smear onto his own lips.
Benji froze the moment Tristan's lips touched his, his entire body going stiff like a startled rabbit. The kiss was soft, barely there, just the faintest press of Tristan's dark lipstick against his mouth, but it sent a jolt through him that made his fingers twitch against the blanket. When Tristan pulled back, their smirk widening at the dumbstruck look on his face, Benji could only blink rapidly, his glasses slightly askew.
"You-" he started, then stopped, his voice cracking. Tristan's laugh was low, pleased, their fingers coming up to brush the smudge of purple off his bottom lip.
"Cat got your tongue, pup?" they teased, but there was something uncharacteristically shy in the way their eyes flickered away for just a second. Benji, still reeling, reached up to touch his own mouth as if to confirm what had just happened. His fingertips came away with a faint shimmer of glitter.
"I- you-" Benji tried again, then huffed, shaking his head. "You can't just do that." Tristan raised an eyebrow. "I think I just did." Then they grinned. "And you know I do what I want. We've been together for months now."
Benji's fingers hovered near his lips for another second before he finally managed to form words. "Months of you not kissing me," he pointed out, his voice regaining some of its usual cadence despite the lingering tremor. Tristan shrugged, their shoulders lifting beneath the oversized flannel, but their smirk softened at the edges. "Yeah, well," they said, plucking at a loose thread on the blanket, "figured tonight was special enough."
The admission settled over them both like the first warm rays of dawn, quiet and undeniable. Benji's breath escaped in a slow exhale, his fingers flexing against the blanket before he tentatively reached for Tristan's hand. Their fingers tangled together naturally, as if they'd done it a thousand times instead of this being the first. Tristan's nails were cool against his skin, the polish chipped at the edges from their habit of picking at it when anxious.
"You planned this," Tristan said after a beat, their thumb brushing over Benji's knuckles. It wasn't a question. Benji ducked his head, his dark hair falling into his eyes. "Maybe," he muttered, then glanced up through his lashes. "Was it... okay?" The vulnerability in his voice made Tristan's chest tighten. They squeezed his hand, harder than necessary, just to hear him yelp. "Dork," they said fondly. "It's perfect."
Above them, the sky had fully woken, stars peppering the darkness like scattered salt. Jupiter glowed steadily near the horizon, forgotten by both of them. Benji shifted, his knee pressing more firmly against Tristan's, and when they didn't pull away, he dared to lean closer, his shoulder pressing along theirs. Tristan exhaled through their nose, a quiet, amused sound, and tilted their head to rest against Benji's.
"You smell like that cheap ramen you eat at 3 AM," Tristan murmured, but there was no bite to it. Benji snorted. "You smell like cloves and that weird goth store downtown," he shot back. Tristan's laugh was a quiet puff of air against his temple. "Fair." They fell silent again, the weight of the moment settling comfortably between them. Nothing else mattered but the fact the two of them were together in that moment.