Serendipity

Can I kiss you?

I stare up at Sydney, who turns bright red as I lean my head into his hand. His skin is soft and cool, and pleasant to the touch.

I was originally going to do it to mess around with him, but now, as I watch him bite his lip, his eyes wide, my own heart flutters.

His thumb brushes my cheek gently, and I swallow thickly. I lift one arm and hold his hand against my face as I scoot closer, pulling myself up halfway onto the beanbag, my legs curled underneath me. I place my head back down on the beanbag and let his hand go.

"What're you doing?" He whispers, staying completely still and not taking his eyes off me. I feel his fingers twitch under my chin, and I smile.

"Nothing," I mumble, lifting a hand again and running my fingers up his arm. "What're you doing?"

He blinks and I see his eyes dart down to my mouth, then back up, then back down, then away.

I tilt my head so his palm is pressed against my cheek, his thumb resting against my lips. My wandering fingers pause when they land on his shoulder, and I wait for him to look at me again so I can ask him for consent to continue through my gaze.

He blinks, then takes my hand and presses it against his chest. I can feel his heart racing to match my own.

He licks his lips and leans closer.

I glance at him, eyes attracted to the movement, and my gaze falls on his mouth. Then I notice my thoughts shifting to something I wouldn't ever have thought about before.

"Can I kiss you?"

It takes a moment for me to realize I only thought the words, and didn't actually say them. Wait-

Sydney searches my eyes, then frowns.

"Are you okay?" He whispers, caressing my cheek with his thumb and tilting his head. "You look distressed all of a sudden."

"N-no," I flinch. "I'm just..." I look up and see his face slowly losing the blush. "Sorry."

I pull away, and he lets me.

"Anyways," I sigh, snatching my controller away from Loki, who keeps trying to nibble at the joysticks. I sit down on the beanbag and cross my legs. "Where were we?"

An emotion I can't recognize in time flashes across his face, but it's quickly replaced with a smile.

"You were showing me the controls," He reminds me. "Then your mom came in and gave us iced tea."

"Oh, yeah," I nod. "And you can go ahead and press 'select'."

Sydney looks around, presumably for the controller, and I snort.

"Need some help?" I say, reaching over his lap and picking up the controller from where he balanced it on his knee. I hand it to him, then feel my face flush at how close our faces are now that his head is turned. "Uh, yeah." I pull back and pick at some lint on my pants. "Sorry."

He chuckles and presses 'select', though I see his own cheeks turn pink from the corner of my eye. "Thank you."

---

We end up playing that horror game of mine for several hours, and it takes Mom coming upstairs and asking if Sydney's staying for dinner for us to realize how much time has passed.

Sydney declined at first, but then Mom (being the stubborn and insistent woman she is) convinced him to just text his parents that he would be having dinner at my place.

And now I watch Sydney's eyes widen at the sight of several boxes of pizza sitting in the middle of the table and laugh.

"You look like you've never seen pizza before," I tease, nudging him in the ribs as we trot down the last stair. He stumbles and clears his throat.

"It's- I'm just-" He swallows and leans on the back of the chair as I guide him over to the table. "It's been a while since I've had pizza, that's all."

I pull out a chair next to the one he's leaning on and sit in it. "Hey, Mom!"

"Yes?" She lifts her head from where she's been digging through the fridge for the past few minutes to look at me.

I grin. "Thanks for getting us pizza."

"Oh," She smiles and pulls out some sparkling water. "You're welcome. I figured, since you brought over such a nice friend, the least I could do was get some pizza."

"You're the best," I say, nodding as she walks over, cradling the cans of sparkling water in her arms.

"I know," She glances to Sydney, who's still staring at the boxes of pizza. "Why don't you take a seat, honey? The table won't bite, and neither will Timmy as long as he gets his slices."

Sydney flinches. "Sorry." He slips into the chair beside me. "I spaced out for a bit."

Mom smiles kindly and places a can of sparkling water beside his plate. "Everyone does." Then she opens up the top box to reveal a beautiful cheesy pizza covered in pepperoni. "Do you want pepperoni or just cheese? I got both."

"Pep-" I begin to say, but she cuts me off.

"I know which one you want," She shakes her head. "Your taste buds haven't changed for the past four years."

"I don't have a preference," Sydney shrugs, looking incredibly shy but also like he's trying to play it off. "So whatever's fine."

"Then I'll let you serve yourself," Mom nods, sitting back in her chair. "But Timmy, let Sydney pick first. And don't take too much. You know what happens when-"

"I know, Mom," I wince. I'm not super lactose intolerant, but if I eat too much, the things that follow aren't fun. "I'll be careful." And can you please stop bringing up embarrassing things in front of Sydney? Seriously.

After a moment, Sydney reaches out and takes a single slice of pizza from the box, placing it on his plate quickly and sucking on his fingers afterwards.

Mom and I exchange a glance. Only one slice? Even when it's just between us two, we can easily eat two pizzas in one sitting. A silent conversation held by several nods and looks allows us to come to the mutual agreement that we won't bring it up, even if I'm secretly dying to.

I take my own three slices of pizza, plopping them on my plate and wiping my fingers on the napkin beside my plate.

I lift the top slice and shove the end into my mouth, groaning at the cheesy goodness.

Sydney glances at me, then at my mom as she does the same, but with a smaller bite.

"You can go ahead and start," Mom says around her mouthful, addressing Sydney.

I grunt in place of a verbal agreement, since I don't think I can or want to try opening my mouth.

"Sorry," Sydney mutters, lifting his pizza carefully and taking a hesitant bite.

The look on his face is definitely worth every embarrassing thing Mom said to me.