"Mac, Dennis! You'll never believe what I just found!" Charlie ran into his living room where his two best friends were currently playing on his NES, fully noticing that he was there.
"What, dude?" Dennis asked, eyes still glued to the screen as he tried to throw Mac off of his game by bumping into him. Dennis was a sore loser, but Mac was considerably worse, visibly throwing a fit and being rude to everyone for the next day or so.
At least the richest of the group only reacted by calling bullshit on the other's victory.
Standing in front of the television, he received groans from his friends, but he really wanted his friends to come see what he had discovered. Mac threw down his controller, slumping against the sofa, upset with Charlie interrupting their game.
"Okay, so you guys know how there's that hill that we always used to ride our bikes down?" He paused for a moment, waiting for his friends to nod in recognition, before continuing, "so we've never been to the other side and I just went! There's a really cool small lake and a tree for shade—I thought you'd enjoy that, Dennis—and a tire swing too! You could have fun with that, right Mac? You always say you can do the best tricks out of all of us."
His friends gave excuse after excuse to stay inside, continuing to play video games, but Charlie was sick of it. It was always 'Mac and Dennis doing this', 'Mac and Dennis doing that', and he was done.
He missed the way they had been as kids where the three of them didn't pick favorites amongst themselves and practically excluded someone at their own home.
"Please, guys? We never do what I want to do and while I'm okay with it normally, I just want to show you guys what I found!"
Giving in, Dennis just got up, turning the game console off to which Mac groaned, but Charlie was elated. "Sure, Charlie. We owe you one for ignoring you all day."
It had been more than one day, but some admission of guilt was better than none. Giving Dennis a chaste hug, he ran over to Mac, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him up. They had grown accustomed to his touchy-feely nature over the years and Mac no longer pulled away, shouting that he wasn't gay, and Dennis was no longer was surprised by the hugs, even going straight to hugging Charlie when he was down.
He grabbed Dennis' hand as well, leading the pair outside and in the direction of the hill. It was only a short walk away, so it wouldn't be all that bad in the blistering sun. The sun was beginning to set, so it would start to cool down soon anyways.
As they arrived at the lake, Charlie looked at his friends for a reaction, hoping they'd like it and was pleasantly surprised to see both of them genuinely smiling. He had to admit, honestly, that he completely understood their content smiles. Just looking at the nebula reflecting off of the pristine lake and how the moonlight bathed everything in a silvery-white gleam.
It was perfect.
Mac was the first to speak, sitting down at the base of the hill, "this is beautiful, man. I- I don't know what to say."
Following his lead, Dennis and Charlie sat down as well, just looking at the sight in front of them.
"Then don't say anything at all. Just enjoy it."
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And then there were two.
Dennis had left a bit after they had arrived, knowing his mother would be worried sick if he didn't make it home before ten, leaving Charlie and Mac still reclining.
They had switched gears, no longer focused on the lake, and more focused on the stars and the subtle glances they shared.
"You know, Charlie. I feel really conflicted," Mac said, rolling onto his side to face him. It wasn't often that Mac had a moment discussing his emotions, so Charlie knew this had to be huge. His brain went to the worst case scenario, worried that maybe Mac would say that he didn't want to be friends anymore or that he hated his guts, but he just rolled over to face his friend, shooting him a small smile.
"What's on your mind, Ronny?" Mac had sworn that nickname off years ago, but Charlie, who had a hard time with change and only had known him as Ronny for the longest time, was allowed to use it when they were in private.
"Do you ever feel like you're awful for just having emotions? Like I know I shouldn't care all that much, but I'm going to go to hell if I don't do something to fix them."
Charlie wasn't always the person to pick up on hidden meanings of things, but he knew that Mac had to be talking about having a crush on a man because nothing else fit. He was far from surprised, but didn't want to tell him that and invalidate his feelings.
"You like a guy, don't you?"
He just nodded a bit, covering his face with his hands and letting out a small groan, obviously not enjoying being this candid.
"There's nothing wrong with that, you know, and I don't think you'd go to hell. God made you like a guy for a reason, after all, and why would he do that as a trick?"
"Dude, you have no clue what this is like. It shouldn't matter to me that he won't ever like me back, but it still hurts!" He admitted, mumbling into his hands that still covered his face.
Gently moving his hands away from his face, Charlie wiped the small tear tracks that had begun to form, "you don't know he won't like you back, though. You should give it a shot and talk to him."
Charlie never liked seeing his friends hurting and always wished he could do more than help wipe their tears away and provide comfort, but it especially hurt to see Mac like this. They were there for each other through thick and thin and he had only seen him cry a handful of times, most of them from being injured.
Mac stayed quiet for a while, just staring at him, eyebrows knitted and deep in thought before speaking the last thing that Charlie would have ever expected to hear come out of his best friend's mouth. "Can I kiss you?"
"What?"
He was thrown off guard entirely, but Mac didn't falter and Charlie bored just how much strength it probably took for him to ask it. "Can I kiss you?" He asked again, enunciating each word as if Charlie hadn't clicked what was said the first time.
He nodded gently, still entirely stunned.
Mac leaned over to the shorter boy, pressing their lips gently together and cupping the side of his face. Charlie had seen him kiss women before and it was feverish and sloppy, like he had a point to prove, but this was nothing like that. It was nothing more than lips gently slotted together as their hearts fluttered.
Placing his hand slowly on top of Mac's, Charlie softly ran his thumb over his knuckles, softly caressing them.
Part of Charlie knew that the kiss was only a few seconds long as Mac pulled away, but part of him wanted it to be ages, so that's how he perceived it. Their hands still hadn't moved and their heads were still very close, noses brushing each other gently every few seconds.
"I really like you, Charlie."
Being a smartass, he just decided to push his buttons a bit, "oh no, I could tell." Mac just playfully glared at him and he continued, noting how adorable Mac's annoyed face was and how he never wanted to forget it, "I really like you too, Mac."
"Good." Mac said simply, going in for another kiss.
