Lander - Before vs. After

Hot Lips (Easter Special)

"Hey, Zander!"

The purple-haired boy turned to see his best friend calling to him, grinning, with his hands behind his back.

"Hi Luke," he replied, walking up to him. "What do you have there?"

"Well, to celebrate Easter, I got you a gift," Luke said somewhat nervously, bringing his hands out from behind his back. He was holding a small box neatly wrapped in white wrapping paper decorated with multi-coloured eggs.

Zander took it, touched that he'd gotten him a gift for the occasion. He carefully opened it, taking care to not rip the paper, to reveal a small, clear box with red candies inside. The label on the box read "Hot Lip Candies" and, when he looked closely, he could see that the candies were shaped like red lips.

Before:

Zander studied the box closely. Beside him, Luke was a flustered gay mess, trying to summon his courage.

"Um," he started, catching the lavender-eyed boy's attention. "A-are you willing to trade these for your-" he cringed, bracing himself for Zander's inevitable disgust. "For your hot lips?"

Contrary to his belief, Zander was just as much of a flustered mess as his friend. He couldn't stop the red that flushed his face. Was Luke, his best friend that he'd been in love with for years, asking him for a kiss?

"I-I, um," he stammered.

Luke immediately assumed the worst. "I'm sorry," he apologized hastily. "One of my friends dared me to say that along with the gift. It was stupid, sorry."

"Oh." So it was just a dare. For a moment, Zander had gotten his hopes up. He'd thought that maybe Luke felt the same way about him. Obviously that was too much to hope for. Why would he ever love Zander? "Well, why didn't you back out of the dare then? If you didn't mean it?" A sliver of bitterness slipped into his voice unbidden, but Luke was too busy with his own thoughts to notice.

"Oh, uh..." he trailed off, recalling the threat his 'friend' gave him. That if he didn't do the dare, he would tell Zander he loved him. Luke just couldn't bear the thought of their friendship being ruined by a stupid feeling, and he absolutely did not want Zander to find out from someone else. So he went through with it, although it seemed to him like digging his own grave.

"He...threatened to expose my secret if I didn't do it," he admitted.

Zander's mood shifted from bitter to angry. How dare some dude force Luke to say something under the threat of exposing his secret! Something that manipulated Zander's emotions too, no less! Luke must've felt so awkward saying that to his best friend. He growled.

"Well then, he's a jerk that doesn't deserve to spend time with you," he said.

The corners of Luke's lips turned up into a faint smile when he heard that. One of the things he loved about Zander was how loyal he was, and how protective he got when his friends were treated badly. "Thanks," he said. "Sorry for what I said again."

"It's alright," the pianist replied. "Happy Easter."

Despite how the dare had turned out, Luke smiled. "Happy Easter."

After:

"Er, you give me your hot lips," Luke said, blushing, "so I wanted to return the favour."

Zander was sure his face was turning the colour of the candies. "Thank you," he managed.

"Was it too much?" Luke worried, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, one of my other friends dared me to say that. I told him about my idea to give you candies, and he dared me to say that to you. I shouldn't have gone through with it."

"Luke." The pianist put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. It just surprised me, that's all."

The drummer visibly relaxed. "You're sure?" At Zander's nod, a relieved smile crossed his face. "Good."

Zander smirked. "Can I have a hot lip right now?" He asked.

"Of course," Luke said. "They're yours now."

"Okay," Zander said, pulling in his boyfriend for a quick kiss before pulling away.

Luke laughed. "Zander!"

"You said I could," the shorter teen said slyly.

"True," Luke admitted.

"Well, I have to meet up with Hailey," Zander said. "Thank you for your hot lips."

His boyfriend smiled. "You're welcome. Happy Easter, Zander."

A/N: Hello! Sorry this is a bit late, I just started writing it yesterday. I got the idea for this when I was shopping with my family and I saw red lip candies on display. I thought, "Imagine giving that to your partner and saying, 'I got you hot lips because your lips are hot'!" It probably wasn't that exact wording, but close enough. Hope you enjoyed!