Let's Be Friends

Pictures

Stephen had been making some slow progress with Gray. After delivering him some sustenance, Gray seemed to consider him as less of a nuisance. It was nice, they'd talk for a bit while and share a few smiles and Stephen would laugh.

That was one thing Stephen had made his mission, He had seen Gray smile, a simple act which seemed to somehow light-up the whole room, now he wanted to make him laugh. Which was easier said then done.

"Class dismissed." The teacher's voice, signified the end of the lesson, and broke Stephen of his thoughts. "Don't forget, your weekly photo project is due on Friday." He added.

Stephen sighed, he had been trying to find any means of inspiration for this project, yet nothing had quite piqued his interest. The concept itself was quite simple, take a photo of somebody, but it must be done in grayscale, and one small detail in the photo must be accented and in full color.

Honestly, it was something simple, but yet he seemed to overcomplicate it. He was brainstorming ideas as he walked into the hallway.

"Oh C'mon Why Not?" somebody loudly exclaimed from across the hall. Stephen unintentionally looked, tracing the voice back to it's source. Which seemed to be a black haired male with pale lime-colored eyes.

He wore baggy denim jeans, and a black jacket with a few white stripes, that came up to nearly his neck. He was thin, fit, and walked around smugly.

But what caught Stephen's eye was not the unfamiliar male, but instead the one he was talking to. A certain 5'4, silver haired, boy, with a sharp tongue. 

"Alex," he said, "Your being loud, stop."

"Oh c'mon Gray," Alex replied, attempting to throw his arm across the smaller's shoulders, "Why don't you come hang out with us?"

Gray removed Alex's arm, "I'm a busy person."

"Ugh, no your just a boring person."

"Call it what you want I'm not interested."

Alex faked a hurt, "Aww, c'mon. Here's a deal, you do all your studies during the week, and we'll leave you alone."

"All week?" he asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

Alex nodded.

"For what in turn?" 

Alex smiled, "You come to the party on Saturday that Ben's people are throwing."

"Ugh, that sounds awful." Gray rolled his eyes.

"But we'll leave you alone~"

Gray hesitated.

"Oh c'mon," Alex desperately attempted to seal the deal, "They'll be pretty girls there~" and upon seeing the uninterested look in Gray's eyes he added "Or guys, whatever your into." Gray rolled his eyes at Alex again. Never had Stephen seen Gray look so genuinely uninterested in something.

"Y'all will let me do my work for the whole week, no distractions, no phone calls, or spontaneous visits?"

Alex nodded.

Gray was silent, he seemed to contemplating how good of a deal this was, after a moment he looked back at Alex, "Fine, whatever."

"HAHAHA" Alex laughed loudly, "You won't regret it, I'm sure the guys will be glad too. They're never going to believe this!"

"Mm-hmm, whatever you say Alex."

Alex walked off still wearing a smile, this is when Stephen thought it might be best to talk to Gray. He thought about how to approach him, what to say, what might happen, running scenarios through his head, until he eventually found himself within four feet of the boy.

"H-hey Gray." Stephen said unsurely.

Gray turned around and looked him over, not like when they had first met, no, this motion wasn't nearly as cold. "Good Morning Stephen Ahn." he said.

Always with the formalities, Stephen smiled, "You got much planned for today?" he asked, fully confident once more.

"No, not particularly, the student I was supposed to tutor today called in sick, and my next class isn't until around two."

Stephen had an odd, quite fun sounding, thought, one that quickly found its way into a question. "Then, do you wanna hang out for a bit? Get something to eat?" 

Gray looked a bit puzzled, and didn't answer for a moment.

Stephen was trying to formulate some "It's okay" or "Maybe next time" when Gray simply replied.

"Sure."

"Really?"

"Unless your rethinking your invite?" Gray smiled.

Stephen noted his small mood change, "Nope, you've already said yes now!"

The boys walked around campus for a while, making small talk, eventually the topic of Stephen's project that was due in just two days. "It doesn't seem like a difficult task, just take a photo using a filter." Gray said, clearly not understanding how Stephen thought about this, or was he joking? Who knows?

Stephen gave a light chuckle, "It's not that easy, something inside of me just wants it to be.. to be.." Stephen struggled to find the right word, it was on the tip of his tongue.

"Perfect?" Gray finished.

"Perfect."

Gray looked up at the cloudy sky, something about him just made the whole place seem... Beautiful. Despite the dreary gray background. His grayscale plaid, long sleeve shirt just accented his hair, and drew even more attention to his eyes. Black jeans and shoes with white soles added a tad of depth to this seemingly picture like scene.

"Wow Gray," Stephen said without thinking, "I love the whole black and white gradient thing you got going for you there."

Gray looked back at Stephen, he wore a small smile from his compliment, and- though he'd never admit it- his cheeks were slightly pinkened. Stephen could feel color coming to his own face at the sight of him, and quickly ducked his head away to hide his blush. What kind of a guy is so, so..

Wait a minute, Stephen looked back towards Gray, his monochrome outfit, and the colorless scenery. "Gray?" he asked.

"Yes, Stephen Ahn?"

"Could I, umm..." he lost his words, "Maybe, perhaps..."

Gray looked at him confused. He took in a deep breath.

"Gray, can I take a picture of you?"

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YAY updates!!! I'm kinda digging this story, and I got some twists and turns planned, so expect regular updates, once or twice a week, whatever I'm feelin.

TYSM for reading, the comments on this story give me so much serotonin it's amazing (Literally gives me more serotonin than a dsmp compilation lol)

Anyway, love y'all, and have a wonderful whatever.