By the time the whole shower fiasco was over and the boys had gotten dressed, it was getting late and the sun was beginning to dip low in the burning sky, flame-licked orange just beginning to give way to cool purples as the light began to dim. Nate was adjusting his flannel for the fiftieth time that hour as if the slightest change in the angle his collar hung at would alter the entire look of his outfit. He studied himself critically in the mirror with a slight pout before tossing up his hands in defeated exasperation.
“How does this look?” The brunette asked his friend once more, holding out his arms for examination despite the fact that Moon only took one, quick glance at him before responding.
“No amount of fixing is gonna make you any less ugly.” The Korean teased with a smirk before subtly returning his attention to his own mirror, pretending not to be focused on perfecting the minute details of his own look as he carefully maneuvered the tips of his hair into an upward swoosh. Nate merely groaned in agreement before flopping listlessly back onto the mattress, resigning himself to a lifetime of rejection and imperfect flannels with a huff of disappointment, missing the frown that suddenly came over his friend's face.
“You look fine, dude. No homo.” Moon assured earnestly, just as he did everytime Nate came complaining about his looks to him - And he meant it too, though he’d never admit it. He just didn’t get why the boy thought he wasn’t good looking. The way his deep, glowing amber eyes caught the sun, revealing hidden golden flakes, and played off of warm brown, untamed hair was mesmerizing. Not to mention the way the honey tones contrasted against pale, mole-speckled skin, all with soft cheeks and full, pink lips that puckered adorably when the boy pouted. The runner was, admittedly… Well, he wasn’t ugly, that was the point. He would totally get with Nate. If Nate were a girl, obviously.
“Easy for you to say, Mr. sex-on-a-plate.” Nate scoffed, looking only mildly irritated as he rolled over onto his stomach then scrambled into a sitting position. “Look at me, I’m Moon. I have muscles and perfect hair.” The brunette mocked, holding his arms in a body builder position for a moment before combing a hand through his hair and shooting the older boy a “sex” look with half lidded eyes and parted lips. “No homo.” The boy barely managed to get out before Moon chucked a shoe at him and he lost his voice to giggles as he barely dodged the item before bursting out laughing at his own joke, holding his stomach as he rolled on the bed.
“Get up, dude. We’re gonna be late.” Moon growled, but it sounded pathetically unthreatening when he failed to stifle his own laughter, Nate’s giggles had always been contagious. The boy wheezed out one more laugh before the Asian warningly shook another shoe at him, an unspoken threat to chuck it if he didn’t get moving, and he finally pushed himself off the bed with an overdramatic grunt of effort. The Korean pushed open the front door and made his way down the steps, pausing to check the time and let Nate catch up with him. His feet hit the sidewalk and he paused to enjoy the familiar, warm scent of a summer evening that flooded his nostrils.
The bright digital numbers printed across a ridiculous selfie of him and Nate read 7:52, letting him know they weren't running too far behind schedule, considering Gavin’s house was about a fifteen minute walk away. Walking would be a must since neither of them were responsible enough to be a designated driver nor had enough cash to call a cab - And he had already seen plenty of Nate nearly dying in a car crash for today, thank you.
“Is that last Halloween?” Nate quipped, appearing behind Moon and leaning over him to get a better look at his phone, a light smile tugging at his lips as he gazed at the lock screen. The photo featured an irritated looking Moon wearing a cheap wolf ear headband and Nate wearing, not only a red cape, but also a shit-eating grin as he slung an arm around his companion.
“Yeah, when you made me wear the stupidest matching costumes to ever be spat outta hell.” Moon huffed sarcastically, putting the device away and beginning to walk in the direction of Gavin’s home, Nate keeping pace beside him.
“I gave you all my Reese Cups in return! It was a fair deal!” Nate protested indignantly, apparently insulted by such mockery of his amazing costume selection. “Besides, you liked it.” He asserted smugly, earning naught but an incredulous scoff from his friend. “You may look annoyed but, trust me, I can tell.” He concluded cheerily, shoving his hands into his pockets as the cool evening air began to settle over the town.
“How do you know? I’m literally rolling my eyes in every picture we took that night.” Moon defended, but he knew the boy was right, it had been nice to just do something cheesy and stupid with his friend. They had even won the prize for “Best Couples Costume” and he still didn’t know which was better, the actual prize, which had been a motherload of candy, or pissing off Will and Grayson, who had been trying really hard to win. Either way, the spoils had been worth not correcting the judges and, honestly, the whole night had been fun. Though, hell would freeze over before he admitted that to Nate or anyone else for that matter.
“I’m your best friend. It’s my job to know these things.” Nate stated confidently with a curt nod of finality before breaking into one of his stupid I-have-an-idea grins, sending a wave of foreboding over his companion. “Let’s go as a devil and angel next year! You’ll be the devil, obviously.” The teen chirped, before pausing to gesture at a familiar street sign that let them know they were approaching their destination.
“‘Cause you’re such an angel!” Moon snickered, nearly choking on his own spit at the ludicrousness of the claim.
“I am! I’m sweet, and adorable, and innocent!” Nate informed the older boy eagerly, counting the traits off on his fingers as he spoke. Moon opened his mouth to retaliate, ready to tell the boy that at least one of those things wasn't true, but his unspoken words were drowned out by a sudden blare of music, the heavy beat of a bass drum seeming to vibrate him to the core as the sound thundered out of a familiar house at the end of the lane.
“Guess we found the party!” Nate yelled to be heard over the music but was still practically inaudible, leaving Moon to read his lips as he grimaced and covered his ears. The Asian merely nodded, unwilling to battle with the music to be heard as they moved further down the street, their pace slowing as they took in the flashing lights glinting out of the windows and flooding the dark lawn with their neon beams.
“Did Gavin get a new car?” Nate spoke again as they finally came to a halt in front of the madhouse, gesturing to where a shiny sedan sat in the driveway, the white gleam of a strobe light glinting off its untainted black paint in a pattern of sickeningly quick beats. Something stirred in the back of Moon’s mind, like his brain was trying to put together a puzzle he didn't have all the pieces to yet. He couldn’t remember seeing the boy in question with such a vehicle before but it could easily belong to one of his guests or maybe the teen’s dad could’ve gotten it for him. Either way, the Asian couldn’t explain why it stuck out to him so much so he decided to shake the odd feeling off with a shrug.
The front door of the house abruptly swung open, the blast of the unmuffled music quite near deafening as Moon resisted the urge to stumble back at the sheer force of it. With it came the smell of booze, cheap perfume, and an overlying odor of sweat; the classic party scent the Korean had become so accustomed to over the years - The familiarity of it was almost welcoming in a way.
A boy with short cropped black hair stumbled out to greet them, dangerously sloshing the golden liquid filling a red solo cup he was holding as he swayed with the beat of whatever song was playing, cackling drunkenly as he gestured them forward.
“Gavin!” Nate greeted with an obviously forced smile, mouthing a silent “why are we here?” to Moon as their host smacked him a little too roughly on the back, sending him stumbling and earning another round of scratchy snickers. It wasn’t that Gavin was a bad guy, he just didn’t know where to draw the line and had crossed Nate’s one too many times.
“I can’t believe you two honeymooners crawled outta your sex-den long enough to come!” Gavin joked easily as he guided the two inside, shoving them through the doorway and into the crowd before they even had a chance to think of a comeback.
Moon groaned at his friend’s crappy joke as people brushed past him, jostling him roughly about and separating him from Nate almost instantly as he lost the boy in the crowd. Personal space didn’t seem to be a thing anymore as far too many people were crowded into one area, pushing past him with no real destination. He struggled to maneuver through the throngs of teens in search of anyone he knew, becoming more uncomfortable by the second. He was already regretting coming and he hadn’t been there longer than five minutes.
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