Aaron T. x Aaron Z. - One-shots

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3rd person POV:

The black car disappearing down the street was a memory that seemed as though it was burned into Aaron T's mind. His hand falling as it was pushed away, falling limp by his side, his heart pounding heavily in his chest as the words "I don't want to be just your friend," rang, burning with the disappearing tail lights.

It took weeks before he fully understood the ramifications of his own decision, the fact that Aaron Z. wasn't about to show back up with a new excuse to try to kiss him. The realization cemented the last memory he had, leaving him shaking as it felt like the world crashed down on him.

Everyone he knew now continuously questioned what was wrong, told him he was different, or found him fighting with his own mind when he'd thought he'd had a moment alone. Those moments it felt like a battle raged in his head, confusion mingling with regret while he felt himself falling apart.

Z was gone.

T wanted to say that he didn't know what he'd been feeling for him, for a long time he really didn't understand. He'd tried, a hundred times over, to tell Z just that. It was distance that told him what he should have already known, it was distance that had Tae pulling him from the ground where he'd sat, curled up while he felt his mind overwhelm itself.

He hadn't even realized there were tears falling fast down his face, or that his body was shaking uncontrollably until Tae had pulled on his arm. "T, hey man, come on, pull it together," but he couldn't, it was the same thing he'd seen with Tae not long ago, still saw written on his face though he hid it now. He definitely hid it better than T did. The truth was, he needed Z far more than he wanted too.

He didn't speak, even as Tae managed to get him up and onto a bench. He sat though he didn't look at his friend, he let his head hang, let the tears he now knew were there continue to fall.

It wasn't like he could fall apart at home, not with his family there eager to burst in and see what was going on or yell at him to be quiet.

Tae was moving, but T stayed still, not caring to look up to see what he was doing. More than anything, he felt bad that Tae was trying to help him even while he was feeling something so similar. The only real difference was that T's pain was from his own confusion, Tae's was because Robaire had been forced to study in France for the year.

He didn't pay attention to Tae moving, so as he heard him speak, his eyes slowly opened, confusion filling his head again. He couldn't express how tired he was of feeling so very confused.

"See? I told you he's not okay. He just doesn't understand what he feels... you see?"

The confusion grew, it took everything in him to lift his head, to try to figure out what Tae was talking about. He'd assumed the words were directed at him, but they didn't make any sense. Who wasn't okay? Who didn't understand.

The answer was him. He knew that the moment his eyes met with a pair of eyes so painfully familiar he felt as though the breath had been knocked out of him. His hands held tight to the bench for a moment, his body trying desperately to find some sort of calm. All he could do was cling to the fact that Z stood there, staring at him, worry clearly etched on his face. He could see Tae standing nearby, but with a look between them, he silently bowed out, leaving them alone.

T was moving before he had a chance to really process that Tae had left, his arms immediately around Z, his fingers gripped tight to his shirt as he felt a sob leave him.

"T? Breathe..." His eyes shut, his face buried in Z's shoulder as he tried to listen. There was comfort in the fact that his arms now held him too, he felt his body relax, as though a piece he'd been missing had fallen into place. They'd gone from hating each other, to something that had confused T to his very core... something that told him it probably wasn't ever hate.

It was two puzzle pieces not fitting quite right, but once turned just the right way, they'd fit together perfectly.

"Don't leave me, Z," he breathed out, his fingers gripping tighter yet as though he might pull back and turn away. The tail lights driving away were bad enough, he couldn't handle watching his back do the same.

"I'm here," The words sounded hollow, but T still clung to those too, hope filling him to the brim and spilling over. Slowly, he lifted his head, staring up at the Z. It took a minute before Z returned the stare, the muscles in his jaw tensing for a moment before their eyes finally met.

It was like something in T's mind clicked, something shifted and fell into place. Stupid was hardly the word for what he was, they'd never been just friends, they'd never even been enemies as he'd once thought. The signs had been there all along, and all along he'd ignored them.

He was done ignoring them, his hand finally releasing it's grip on Z's shirt. It reached up instead, resting on the side of his neck, his body lifting onto his toes. He could see the surprise on Z's face as he moved, but he didn't stop, didn't allow himself to worry about rejection.

Instead, he pressed his lips against Z's, his eyes falling shut as his thumb gently moved over his cheek. It felt nothing like the times before, where the spiders... or dragonflies... or whatever they were had erupted in his stomach only to make way for more confusion.

The confusion was gone, the weird feeling in his stomach brought a heat with it as he felt Z kiss back, his hand pressing against T's lower back.

Z had always been forced to take initiative before, push him and pretend he needed a reason to kiss him. T was determined now to change that.

The kiss grew deeper, more desperate for a moment before Z actually broke it, T attempting to follow him only to find a hand over his mouth. And there was that look, that cocky smirk he'd always hated that he'd found so attractive. Well, now he knew that was what he thought, before he'd just thought that he'd found it annoying. It was still annoying, in an incredibly attractive sort of way.

"Interesting way to treat someone you wanted to be just friends with," Z's words were followed by a sigh of frustration as T pulled back from him, his arms crossed over his chest as he scowled at him.

"Crazy," he practically pouted, one arm unfolding just so he could push Z's shoulder before it moved right back to crossing over his chest. "You've said it yourself, I'm stupid, but I like you." He didn't care if he had to scream it for the entire world to hear at this point. Without him, it felt like he was losing his mind. "I..." he hesitated, not because he didn't want to say how much he liked him, but because yet another realization washed over him. "I love you, Z." It was the truth, the evidence of it was written all over every one of his actions from the moment Z had left. In the way he'd fallen apart, and especially in the way he'd reacted to just seeing him.

The smirk that had been on his face had faltered, for a moment another look of surprise before a smile-a genuine smile grew in its place. His arms were back around him, T letting his arms unfold from his chest so they could wrap tightly around his neck instead. "I love you too, T."

Only four words, and T felt whole again, as though his missing piece had fallen right back into place.

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