Lander - Before vs. After

PJ Swap (Part 2)

Luke walked towards his sleeping area and stopped.

"What's wrong?" Zander asked curiously from behind him.

In response, the drummer simply pointed towards his bed. It took him a moment, but then Zander's eyes widened. "Oh," he said.

There was only one bed.

Before:

Luke felt his face burning and stuttered, "W-well, we don't have to if you-"

"It's fine," the shorter boy interrupted. "I'll just sleep on the floor."

"You shouldn't," Luke argued. "If anything, I should be the one sleeping on the floor. You're the guest here."

Zander hesitated, then nodded. "Alright," he agreed.

The two teens set up their blankets and pillows on their respective sleeping spaces and settled in. Luke laid down and pulled the blanket up to his chest, thinking about that night.

First, seeing his crush wearing his pajamas, then almost having to share a bed with him! They had slept next to each other plenty of times when they were kids, but this was different. Luke was actually somewhat glad his friend had suggested sleeping on the floor. He would have a difficult enough time falling asleep now, with his mind thrumming like a swarm of bees, but laying right next to Zander, in his bed? It would have taken him hours to fall asleep like that.

Or maybe not. He turned to face the direction on his bed, where he could barely make out a Zander-shaped figure. He might have slept more soundly that way, right next to him and feeling his breath and his warmth pressing against him.

The drummer turned away again, trying to clear his head. He tentatively broke the silence filling the room. "Good night, Zander," he murmured into the darkness.

"Night," his friend replied quietly.

After:

"Well, that's okay," Luke said after a moment. "You wouldn't mind sharing, would you?"

"No, I don't mind," Zander said, shrugging.

The two of them made themselves comfortable under the blankets. The drummer adjusted his position so that he was behind his boyfriend, with his arms wrapped around his torso. The smaller boy felt his muscles relax, soothed by the warmth and familiarity of Luke's embrace.

"I love you," he breathed, not wanting to break the perfect stillness of the moment.

"I love you too. Good night," Luke answered, burying his face in the pianist's soft purple locks.

It may have been partly because it was 1am and they were tired. But the sound of each other's breathing and the comfort of snuggling together lulled both of them to sleep in minutes.

Before (Alt. Ending):

Requested by Miau011_

"O-oh," Luke stammered, feeling his face go hot. "Well, you don't have to if you don't want to."

Zander stared down at his feet. "It's fine," he said casually, but his voice sounded a bit higher-pitched than usual. "I mean, we're best friends, right?"

"Yeah, of course!" Luke blurted quickly, trying to cover up his embarrassment. "Yeah, it's fine. We're best friends, don't worry. It's not weird at all." You just made it weird, his inner voice murmured disapprovingly.

Zander, however, didn't seem to notice. In fact, he seemed to gain confidence, like someone had just breathed life into him. "Okay then," he said.

They awkwardly got onto Luke's bed, far enough away that it could still be platonic, but close enough that Luke felt his breath hitch. Just staring at his best friend's back, with his plum-coloured hair (it looked black in the dark) and the hoodie he was wearing made his heart do flips.

Tentatively, he scooched himself closer to Zander. When he didn't hear or see a reaction, he moved closer. He was longing to be close to Zander, to hug and snuggle him; to spoon him and kiss him and have him nuzzle his head in his chest. He wanted that, needed it, craved it, but he couldn't have it.

It was like he was a child, knowing the cookie jar was on top of the fridge and desperately wanting to eat one, but not being able to reach it from such a height. He could never have Zander, not in the way couples did; he just couldn't. He was just too scared to tell him how he felt. They'd been best friends for almost their whole lives, and he wasn't going to mess it up by wanting more than that.

So instead, he just moved closer, wanting to be closer just for that moment. Like Zander had said, best friends did this, right? It wasn't like he wanted to kiss him or anything. It was just a hug, a friendly spoon between two friends. He was still hesitant, as he didn't want to make his friend uncomfortable. But he just couldn't resist the devilish whisper that was telling him to move closer.

Suddenly Zander reached behind him with his free arm and pulled Luke closer. The taller boy inhaled sharply from the action, but relaxed into it and wrapped his arms around his torso. Now they were officially spooning, and Luke's heart felt like it was running a marathon. He was both very awake and flustered, and peaceful and calm at the same time. Zander was simultaneously soothing him and making him erratically nervous.

Since it was very early in the morning, Luke decided to lean into the calm part of him more so he could sleep. Brushing his insecurities away, he loosened his hold on Zander's torso and let himself be lulled to sleep by the soothing rhythm of his breathing.