Quarter Mile

Suits

Beck had never bought a suit before. He'd never even been to a school dance. So Parker offered to go shopping with him, so that he'd have a bit of guidance.

The two boys skipped their last class a week before homecoming and headed to the shopping mall. It was relatively quiet, considering it was a Thursday afternoon.

"What about this one?" Parker pointed out a navy blue suit displayed on a mannequin.

Beck shook his head. "No, Dakota's wearing navy blue."

"Aw, you could be matching!" Parker said enthusiastically.

"No way," Beck laughed. "As much as I love Dakota, there's no way I'm matching with him."

Parker had to turn away from Beck to hide his smile. That was the first time he had heard him say the L word.

"I like this one," he heard Beck say from behind him. He wiped the smile from his face and turned back around to find Beck looking at a mannequin sporting an all-black outfit. The suit jacket, long sleeve button up, tie, pants and shoes were all black.

"It's very you," Parker offered. "Try it on."

They found all of the individual pieces on the racks and made their way to the changing rooms.

"Here," Parker said as he handed Beck the shirt and tie. "Show me when you're dressed."

While he was waiting for Beck to change, Parker decided to message Macey.

Parker
hey, was wondering if u would go to homecoming with me?

His knee bounced as he awaited her reply. Macey was just about the only person who made him nervous. He couldn't help getting all flustered when she was around, and the boys always had him on about it. He had liked her for a long time now, and he was pretty sure she liked him back, but it was a case of neither of them wanting to make the first move. Maybe Parker would have the courage to ask her out at homecoming.

Macey
thought you'd never ask!!

A stupid smile spread across his face and he blushed.

Parker
amazing, ill pick u up at 7?

Macey
see u then x

"Thoughts?" Parker's head whipped up at the sound of Beck's voice. The blonde was standing in front of him dressed in the black suit, his tie undone.

"I think I'm catching feelings for you, Beck," Parker said in a serious tone. Beck laughed and shook his head. Parker laughed too. "Seriously though, you look very handsome."

Beck blushed. "Do you think Dakota will like it?"

"Are you kidding," Parker said as he stepped towards Beck and reached up to help him with his tie. "He's going to froth over you."

"Be serious, Parker."

Parker paused tying his tie and looked him dead in the eyes. "He's going to love it."

Beck stepped back once Parker was finished with the tie and looked at himself in the mirror. Neither of the boys said anything for a while; Beck just stared at himself in the mirror and Parker watched from behind.

"I love him," Beck whispered after a while, still looking at his reflection. He didn't want to look at Parker. He didn't want to see the 'I told you so' smirk that was undoubtedly written on his face.

But, there was no smirk on Parker's face, only fondness; a genuine smile.

"I know," Parker said, the same thing he had replied to Dakota when he had confessed to him on the field. He did know, he could see it from a mile away. He saw it coming the day that the pair met, the way Beck looked at Dakota gave everything away.

Beck finally turned around to face his best friend. "It's crazy, Parker. I wasn't looking for anything at all. But suddenly, there Dakota was, right in front of me, and he's everything I've ever needed."

Parker sat down in the middle of the changing room floor, pulling Beck down with him. Beck felt slightly uneasy until he realised there were no other people in there with them.

"Tell me about him," Parker said. They were sitting cross-legged, facing each other.

"You already know him, Parker," Beck replied, matter-of-factly.

"I want to know about him through your eyes."

Beck fiddled with his thumbs. "Just the mere thought of him keeps me insanely restless at the oddest hours of the day. I'll be awake at three in the morning with him at the front of my mind, or I'll be in class talking to someone and he'll pop in my head to say hello." He looked up and Parker nodded, signalling him to continue. "I don't remember who I used to be before I met him. And it's so hard for me to put into words because I love him in ways I have never loved anyone else."

"Can you try?" Parker asked. Beck looked up to the ceiling, as if searching for the words he wanted to say. It felt really good getting everything off his chest.

"He makes it so easy for me to love him, and that scares me. I don't know if I could ever stop. I haven't figured out how to sit across from him without falling deeper and deeper in love with him. I love when he catches me staring and his cheeks light up like a Christmas tree and he furrows his eyebrows as if to say 'why are you looking at me?' But he knows damn well why I'm looking at him. How could I not?"

Beck looked around to make sure they were still alone. Parker smiled at the growing enthusiasm of Beck's words.

"I am utterly in love with his beautiful ignorance. How does he not know how perfect he is? And I'm in love with how he crinkles his nose when he laughs really hard and the way he looks at me like I'm his entire world. I'm in love with how fascinated he gets when I tell him about the stars and how he loves strawberry milkshakes more than life itself. And I'm in love with the fact he still asks me to pinky promise my promises, because if I pinky promise, he knows it's gonna happen. I'm in love with everything he is and everything he ever will be. I'm in love with the fact that he knows who he is and what he wants to be and where he wants to go next. He's so extremely smart and curious and determined and I'm in love with him. I am in love with Dakota. And as dark as I am and as dark as my life is, I will always find enough light to love him with everything I've got."

Parker looked as if he was in a trance. He had listened to every single word that Beck had said and wished he had something like they did.

"Are you boys okay?" A female voice came from the entrance to the changing rooms. Both boy's heads snapped up to see the store manager looking slightly confused as to why they were on the ground.

"Oh, yeah, we're good," Parker assured her. "We were just talking about how much he loves his boyfriend," he pointed to the blonde opposite him. Beck's eyes widened and he back-hand slapped Parker's arm, earning an 'ow' muttered from Parker's mouth.

The store manager smiled warmly. "Well, if you're buying the suit to impress him, it's going to work. You look great," she said.

"Thanks," Beck said, rubbing the back of his neck. Once she had walked away, Parker and Beck stood from the ground and Beck started to walk back to his changing room, but was stopped by Parker grabbing his wrist.

"I'm so proud of you, you know. I just wanted to tell you because I know no one else has."