“Did you just give Forest Zhao your antlers in front of the whole cafeteria?” Ryan asked, clearly keeping his voice measured on purpose as his lips twitched.

“Shut up,” Tide groaned, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes and wishing, not for the first instance in his life, that he could manipulate time. “I was trying to get you and Cindy to stop talking about the damn arcade!”

“I can’t believe you took him there,” Ryan murmured, his voice softer now. “I remember when your mom took us there for the first time, it was better than Disney World.”

“Yeah,” Tide laughed sadly, “you used up all your pocket money on a claw machine trying to get some stuffed flamingo toy.”

“I cried and your mom went and got more tokens,” Ryan beamed, “do you remember she managed to snag two flamingos on her third go?”

“I’ve still got mine,” Tide laughed, feeling his eyes start to sting.

“Me too,” Ryan grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. “Look, I’m sorry about what happened back there. I know I get carried away but I swear I wasn’t trying to embarrass you. I was just really surprised. You’ve never taken anyone else to the arcade before, not even Hunter or Connor.”

“I know,” Tide sighed as he leaned back against the wall of the empty gym. The bleachers had been set up ready and come the evening, this place was going to be heaving, a cacophony of colour and sound. “Shit Ryan, I think I really like him.”

“Yeah?” Ryan smiled softly. He reached out to tug at Tide’s sleeve so they were both sitting on the floor with their backs to the wall, looking out across the court that could potentially decide their future. “He seems cute.”

“He’s really great,” Tide hid his grin behind his knees as he tucked them up to his face. “We talked for ages on Wednesday, he even let me walk him home. He wants to go to art school and become either a graphic designer or an illustrator. He lives with his mom and she’s crazy obsessed with crocheting, like apparently they’ve got crochet everywhere at home, even covers for toilet paper rolls!” Tide laughed and shook his head. “He told me all about the different schools he’s been to, but he didn’t really enjoy any of them. He finds it difficult to concentrate on large pieces of prose in books but can lose himself in comics because they’ve got visuals and…” Tide trailed off as he noticed Ryan staring at him. “What?”

“I’m really happy,” Ryan smiled, tucking his chin on Tide’s shoulder and nuzzling affectionately.

“Why are you happy?” Tide laughed.

“Because you trust me,” Ryan replied, causing Tide’s eyes to widen in surprise. “I’m going to tell you something now and I don’t want you to be weird about it.”

“Okay,” Tide replied slowly, his mind racing and trying to work out what it could be.

“When,” Ryan sighed and sat up straight again. “When you told me you liked guys, I was scared.”

“But you acted so cool about it?” Tide frowned, feeling a pang of hurt.

“Yeah, I didn’t want to let you down,” Ryan sniffed, “I was scared I wouldn’t be the right type of friend for you anymore. I’m not exactly the most sensitive or understanding. I worried it might mean you drifted away from me.”

“You… you gave me a shit load of gay porn on like the first day?” Tide stated.

“Yeah!” Ryan let out a barking laugh. “I panicked, I wanted so badly to show you that I could still be a great best friend, even though you liked dudes.”

“It didn’t change anything for me, or about me,” Tide murmured softly.

“I know,” Ryan nodded, “I was an idiot. I didn’t know what to expect. I just thought maybe you’d want someone by your side who really understood that stuff. But just, you never did, drift away I mean. You’re still always by me and even now, the way you trust me enough to talk about Forest the way you do. Ah, I don’t know man, I’m babbling.” Ryan laughed grimly and went to rub at his eyes with his sleeve.

“No,” Tide said quickly, reaching out to link his fingers with Ryan’s. It felt strange, he had never held hands with another guy before. “I’m happy to hear you say that. Because it’s true, I trust you with my life Ryan. You’re my best friend and literally the only person I feel I can gush to about Forest. I trust you…not to make fun of me.”

“That’s a mistake,” Ryan sniffed with a grin as he pointed at Tide’s face with his free hand. “It’s pretty much obligatory for best friends to make fun of each other.”

“You know what I mean,” Tide laughed. “You don’t make it weird that I’d take Forest to the arcade rather than someone like Kristina.”

“Jesus, the look on Kristina’s face when you put those antlers on Forest!” Ryan suddenly shouted as if only now remembering.

“Do you think I made him uncomfortable?” Tide cringed.

“I think,” Ryan began using his best ‘I’m going to be diplomatic here’ voice, “that it’s almost impossible to interact with a boy like Forest in public without making him uncomfortable. But the more you do it, the more he’ll get comfortable? Does that make sense? I think you just need to get past his defences and let him realise you aren’t going to suddenly pants him or stuff him in a locker.”

“Fuck,” Tide gritted, feeling slightly sick. “I don’t want Forest to be grateful that I don’t do that shit. I don’t want him to like me just because I’m human towards him.”

“Oh come on,” Ryan snorted, “don’t give me those depressed puppy dog eyes. You know there’s way more to like about you than that! I’m sure Forest sees those things too.”

“You think?” Tide sniffed, letting himself wallow in self doubt and pity for just a few moments longer whilst Ryan squeezed his hand comfortingly tight.

“Yeah you big dope,” Ryan laughed gently, bringing Tide’s hand up to quickly press his dry lips to the back of it. “And when I find some amazing girl I expect you to prop up my self esteem too okay?”

“Of course,” Tide beamed. He was so unbelievably glad that he had a straight friend who wasn’t afraid to still be physical with him, it made Tide feel warm and loved. A moment later, he began to hear the noises of the rest of the team echoing down the hallway, ready to start warm ups.

“You ready to thrash The West Peak Tigers?” Ryan asked with a grin.

“Fuck yeah,” Tide laughed, heaving them both up and disentangling his hand from Ryan’s to clap his friend on the back. “Let’s annihilate them.”