Kiss Already Chapter 6

Any genre in specific?” Luke asked Clive as he scrolled away.

“Anything’s fine” ‘not that we’d be watching it anyway’

Luke had to make an impression, now that he was not alone he couldn’t go along with his usual choice of film.

“Thriller?” He asked, ‘thrillers are badass’ he thought to himself.

“Sure!” Clive replied, reaching out to grab a bag of crisps for himself.

The film started playing but Luke couldn’t concentrate, there was something off about Clive he was way more jumpier than usual and it didn’t settle well with Luke.

Clive was his guest and it was Luke’s duty as a host to make sure his guests were comfortable.
Luke was sure he was doing a good job, he had the snacks and the place tidied, what more could be done to better the situation?

He sneaked a peek to the other end of the couch where Clive sat, rather stiffly. ‘Is it the clothes?’ He cursed his mum for always using the surf tropical lily detergent, it reeked of…Barbie.

Clive was surprisingly super invested in the plot of the film, he hadn’t for once let his eyes wander anywhere else but the telly.

Luke took this time to take a good look at Clive, he could bet a tenner that Clive wasn’t going to be looking anywhere other than the screen for the remainder of the film.

‘How’s his skin so clear?’ Luke followed a 10 step skin care routine that he had picked up from Sarah but still hadn’t seen any results. He made a mental note to ask Clive about it later.

Clive was so pretty and there was nothing Luke could do about it, other than stare of course. Luke had never felt this strongly about how unfair life was to people like him.
He somehow managed to be ugly both on the inside and the outside standing in contrast to Clive who was the exact opposite.

Maybe Clive’s intentions were purely for charity rather than having any actual interest in Luke but it still hit Luke in the feels, to have someone prioritise him over many others.

How Clive managed to balance out his personal and professional life was beyond Luke, he had failed to hold up either let alone balance them out.
There was so much he could learn from Clive and just the thought of being able to have the boy by his side had him smiling .

And that’s exactly how it had been through the course of their film watching session, Clive’s eyes glued on the telly screen and Luke randomly smiling every now and then at the thought of spending more time with Clive.

It was natural. Just two friends having a good time together.
Luke liked this feeling, it wasn’t like being with Sarah it was somehow different, very very different.

He’d never feel giddy when he saw Sarah after a tiresome day at school, his heart never skipped a beat when she was smiling, he never felt the urge to look away when (and if ever) Sarah watched him intently and most importantly he’d never found Sarah’s hair incredibly soft, no offence to her.

Maybe, just maybe what Luke and Clive shared was…

‘True friendship’ Luke concluded, nodding his head.
There couldn’t be any other explanation now could there?

Soon the credits began to roll.
“Brilliant. Simply brilliant” Clive commented, shaking his head from left to right.

He reached out and tried to grab a can of coke that was more toward Luke’s side of the table and Luke being in his trance of ‘what is this friendship’ didn’t notice the boy’s struggle.

Clive tilted his head to look at Luke for some help and when Luke didn’t pay him any mind he thought to himself, ‘unbelievable.’

He decided to just abandon his position on the couch and walked over to the can picking it up and planting himself on the floor right beside Luke who was on the couch, yet to snap out of his thoughts.

‘Maybe it’s the aftermath of such a good film.’ Clive thought, forcing himself to pass that off as a plausible excuse.

Luke was startled awake by the sound of Clive opening his fizzy drink, Clive noticed this and broke the silence.

“How was it?” He asked ,taking a sip of the sugary drink.

“The film?”

‘No Luke, the weather.’ Clive didn’t know what had gotten into himself but the fact that Luke wasn’t paying him any mind bothered him. It wasn’t like Clive was attention seeking or anything but Luke’s attention…

“It was good…very…thrilling.” Luke replied as he finally realised Clive was definitely asking about the film.
Luke could have enjoyed the film, it was possible, that is if he had actually watched it.

‘He definitely didn’t enjoy the film.’ Clive for some reason was disappointed in himself, he had liked Luke because the boy never hesitated to be himself, and seeing how he faked enjoying something he clearly didn’t enjoy just for the sake of trying to fit in had Clive feeling downright miserable.

Luke sensed Clive’s discomfort and started to panic, he feared Clive caught onto the lie and wasn’t sure how he’d get himself out of this mess.

‘Oh no sorry I wasn’t really watching the film, oh what was I doing instead? Just admiring your pretty self like the creep that I am.’  Definitely not.

He didn’t want Clive to misunderstand the situation, he wanted Clive to know that he very much enjoyed Clive’s stay but he didn’t know how. He never had the right words. It was a curse, a curse Luke could have lived with all this while but not anymore, not with a distressed looking Clive who may be reconsidering his plans of befriending Luke at that very instant.

‘Maybe I should try.’

He placed his hand on Clive’s shoulder hoping to explain how much Clive’s company meant to him but Clive beat him to it by whipping  his head back, wide eyed.

“Maybe we should like, I don’t know get to know each other better first?”

Luke didn’t exactly know what to say, for the most part he was confused and looking at Clive’s face he was sure Clive was confused as well.

Clive’s heart beat hard against his chest, he panicked. Surely the physical contact was going to be the start of one of Luke’s usual night routines.

As mentioned earlier Clive wasn’t completely repulsed by the idea of having Luke ravish him all night long. He didn’t believe in his bedroom affairs having anything to do with his masculinity, he hadn’t really met anyone who would have made him think about it though, until of course he met Luke.

He believed it must’ve been common for someone like Luke to just do it with anyone regardless of gender but that’s where the catch was…call him a sappy sod but Clive wanted to have some sort of connection with the person he was  getting himself involved with. And hence the ‘maybe we should like, I don’t know get to know each other better first’.

His soul had left him when Luke stared down at him with confusion written all over his face, saying nothing and expecting an explanation from Clive.

“Sure? Like, now? It’s getting late though…” Luke had replied after what felt like decades to Clive.

Clive could feel himself relax. He looked up to the boy and sent him one of his signature smiles.

And just like that Luke felt himself relax as well, sending the boy a smile of his own not knowing why they were now smiling at each other but happy that Clive was happy.

That was all it had taken but they still weren’t aware that the others’ happiness was what made them most happy.