Matchablossom

After Stitches

"Cherry." 

Cherry looked up at his boyfriend, Joe who was holding his arm gently. The two stood in a secluded area, close to the start line. Cherry pulled his arm away from Joe's grip gently, holding Carla tighter in his free hand. Cherry turned away from him, pulling his ponytail over his shoulder. 

"I'm fine," Cherry reassured, letting Carla drop gently on the floor before standing on the board. 

"No you're not. You just got out of hospital and you're already going up against Langa in a beef." Joe sighed, turning Cherry to look at him. His eyes scanned the fresh stitches over Cherry's eyebrow which stood out painfully. 

Joe knew he wouldn't be able to talk Cherry out of the beef, nor could he convince him to take a longer break from skating, he was scared of Cherry getting hurt again, causing his stitches to rip or gaining more injuries. He knew he was overthinking, Cherry almost never got hurt, and if he did it was only a few minor scratches. He was one of the most careful skaters Joe knew. 

"Fine.. but I'm not looking after you when your stitches rips." Joe threatened. The stitches on Cherry's face weren't the only ones he had, Joe wasn't worried about those as much, it was only a scratch. The ones on his stomach and arms were the ones which worried Joe. If those ripped, Cherry would be in pain and would have to get them redone. 

"I know. Now stop overthinking and wish me good luck or something." Cherry pulled his mask up, accepting a good luck kiss on the top of his head from Joe, feeling an arm slip around his waist before being pulled into a hug. 

"Good luck Kaoru." Joe whispered, dodging a kick from Cherry. He reluctantly let go of Cherry, holding onto his hand until Cherry had skated away far enough, feeling their hands slip from each other. 

Joe was quick to join the others at the starting line, standing next to Reki who was practically bouncing up and down with excitement. Langa had raced everyone in their small friend group except for Cherry, so everyone at S were waiting in anticipation to see who would win the race. Cherry was an experienced skater but Langa's skating ability was practically unmatched, he was able to beat Adam twice. 

An argument beside him caught Joe's attention. Miya and Reki were arguing about who would win. Reki was defending Langa and his ability to beat almost everyone at S, whereas Miya was thinking logically and adamant about Cherry winning. Joe couldn't help but smile at the two, they could barely go a day without small arguments like this. 

"Cherry is going to win. Reki, I know you want to defend your boyfriend but Cherry is way more experienced." Joe spoke up, leaning against the rock behind him, turning his attention back to Cherry and Langa who were holding their boards, waiting. 

Reki turned red but before he could say anything to defend himself, the sound of the alarm, alerting to the start of the race, rang, followed by the three lights above the course turning from red one by one, then eventually, green. 

The two skaters were off, jumping on their boards in unison before disappearing down the gravel track. Their departure was followed by gasps and murmurs from the crowd, everyone mentioning the speed they had gained in a short amount of time. They wanted to see if any of them would fall at the first corner. 

As predicted, the skaters remained on their boards but Joe couldn't help but notice the slight shaking of Cherry's legs as he crouched, making the corner easier to pass. Joe stood up from the rock, wanting to follow the race on his board so he could be there quickly as he could if Cherry fell at all. But he believed in Cherry's skating ability, which forced him to stay where he was. 

"Cherry will be okay." Reki reassured, hopping onto the rock next to Joe. Joe nodded, not exactly paying attention to him, his eyes glued to the screens above them. Langa was in front of Cherry, but only slightly. Cherry had time to catch up.