“Pass that, will you?” A raven haired boy held out his hand expectantly, waiting for his redheaded friend to pass the lit cigarette his way. The redhead stared long after their fingertips brushed, watching the way the other boy’s long, slim fingers curled around the cigarette, or the way his mouth twitched as he took a long, slow drag, or the way he softly exhaled, blowing the smoke from his lips.

Both of their faces were red, noses watering from the cold. It was the last snap freeze before spring truly hit, according to weathermen all across the city.

“Can’t believe we’re going off to college soon,” the redhead said, roughly jerking his gaze away from his friend. “Crazy, right Darwin?”

“Fucking unbelievable,” Darwin drawled, sliding a half-full bottle of cheap whiskey his friend’s way. The redhead drank obligingly, missing the way Darwin’s gaze traced up and down his lean, reclining form, lit from behind by the city just visible over the edge of the roof. When he passed the bottle back, he was rewarded with a new, freshly lit cigarette from the box tucked in Darwin’s pocket.

“18 years in this godforsaken city, and now we’re about to get the hell out of here. Fucking crazy, Adam,” Darwin laughed. “Guess we’ll need to find a new rooftop to get drunk on.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Adam replied, taking a long drag of the cigarette, cupping his hand around it to shield it from the biting wind. It really was too cold for this, but the whiskey was warm enough keep the chill at bay. “Even if they lock the roof access in the dorms, that’s never stopped us before.”

“You’re right,” Darwin said, laughing again. Adam leaned towards him as if pulled by an invisible force.

“I can’t believe it’s really almost over,” he said softly. “Everything is going to be different now.” Darwin turned, looking surprised to see his friend so close, but didn’t lean back. Instead, he slid the bottle back towards Adam’s open, expectant hand, and watched his friend take another long drink.

“Very different,” Darwin whispered, unable to look away from Adam as he clumsily swiped a shirtsleeve across his mouth. “How drunk are you?”

Adam didn’t answer, just shrugged and passed the bottle back, leaning dangerously far into Darwin’s space again. This time, though, Darwin leaned imperceptibly closer, just enough that when Adam inevitably tipped over, Darwin’s shoulder was there to catch him, as if he’d done it a thousand times before.

“Sorry,” Adam mumbled into Darwin’s shoulder, pushing himself back up and away from his friend. But before Darwin could say anything in response, Adam was already leaning back in, this time intentionally. In the moment it took Darwin to register that Adam was moving again, their lips were already pressed together, sloppily but gently. Before Darwin could react, Adam was already flying back, swaying dangerously, face even redder than it had been before.

“S-sorry,” he stuttered, hands flying to cover his face. It was hard to make out what he was saying with his hands muffling his voice, but it sounded like a string of apologies, interspersed with creative and colorful curses.

After a minute passed with no response from Darwin, Adam finally uncovered his face, but kept his gaze on the roof between them. He was opening his mouth - likely to launch into another wave of apologies - when he heard jeans scraping against the rough concrete. Finally, he looked up to find Darwin leaning in to press their lips together once more.

This time, Darwin was the first to pull back, minutes later, breathing ragged. They just stared at each other, each looking for some sort of answer in the other’s eyes, but whatever they found apparently wasn’t enough, because in unison, they began to speak.

“Did you just-” Adam began, mouth agape.

“How long-” Darwin started, cutting himself off. “ You first,” he continued, waving a hand at Adam.

“You just kissed me,” Adam said, mouth still wide open. Darwin laughed, arms wrapped around his stomach. Adam stared at him until he was done.

“Yeah, I did,” Darwin responded, still smiling. “But you kissed me first. Speaking of, how long have you wanted to do that?”

“I don’t know, um, a year maybe?” Adam rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, looking back down at the roof. “What about you?”

Darwin leaned back and looked up at the sky, taking his time with his answer. Adam fidgeted with his jacket, his shoes, his dropped and forgotten cigarette, anything he could reach.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Darwin said at length. “A while,” he added. “But I can’t give you a timestamp. Hope that doesn’t bother you,” he said with a lazy grin. Adam shook his head vigorously, earning another laugh from Darwin.

“So,” Adam began hesitantly, waiting for Darwin to fully turn back and look at him. “What does this-” he gestured between them “-mean for us?”

“It’s like you said,” Darwin told him with a grin. “Everything is going to be different now.”