Just Friends (Tempest × Norum)

6

Sometime in the middle of the night, John woke up. He sat up in the bed and looked around the dark room. 

All the candles, except for one, had gone out. It cast an eerie glow, and made John feel uneasy. He couldn't remember where he was or what had happened until his hand bumped into the person in bed next to him. 

"Joey", John called out softly.
"Hey", Joey responded, "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I just woke up", John replied. 
"Oh. I haven't been able to sleep. It feels weird, you know? No tv, no radio, nothing. Just the pouring rain, which should help, but it's way too loud", Joey said, laughing.

"I'm sorry", John said.
"Eh, don't apologize. It's alright, I'm just bored."
"Now that I'm awake, I can't go back to sleep. Maybe we could find something to do", John suggested. 
"Hmm...we can always go clean out my basement", Joey said.

"In the middle of the night, while it's pouring rain, and the power is out? Absolutely not", John said.
"You're right, we can go clean out the attic."
"Joey!" John playfully smacked him with one of the pillows that was between them. 

"I'm just joking. I'm too scared to go in there right now!"
"Hmm...if we're gonna do anything, we should do something small. Like, I don't know, read a book? Or tell jokes and stories", John suggested.
"Oh yeah! I only have a few books, though. Most of them are downstairs, but I have a few scattered in here." Joey grabbed the flashlight off of the nightstand and turned it on, the night instantly hitting John's eyes.

"Watch where you shine that thing", John said, putting an arm over his eyes.
"Sorry", Joey said, and shined the light across the room. 

"Ah! I have The Tempest, and Carrie, although I'm sure you don't wanna read that one in the dark."
"Yeah, maybe we should head downstairs and find something", John said, standing up and walking to Joey's side. 

Joey took his friend's hand and led them both down the stairs, still holding the flashlight in his other hand. The light caused creepy shadows to appear across the walls, which slightly frightened both men, although neither of them would admit to it.

"Okay, here's my little library. Small selection, I know", Joey said, shining the light on a small stack of books on a shelf, "but I also have some magazines. Mainly just car ones, or the ones that have articles about us in them."
"Oh, okay. I'll take one of the magazines about us, please."
"Take your pick", Joey said, shining the light on a small stack of magazines. John grabbed the one off the top and grabbed Joey's hand again. There was a loud clap of thunder, and a bright streak of lightning lit up the entire room.

"It's cold in here. We should go back upstairs, at least there's some blankets to keep us warm up there."
"You read my mind. First, can I grab some food from the kitchen? Just stuff like chips and crackers."
"Of course. Sorry if I'm rushing you", John said, following Joey into the kitchen.

"You aren't rushing, I swear! You have nothing to apologize for", Joey said, grabbing all the snacks he could find, "I'm starving, and I'm sure you are too, right?"
"A little", John admitted, shyly.
"I'll carry all this food upstairs. How about you grab some more of those magazines with us in them?'
"Oh, sure. Can I get the light?" Joey gave John the light, which left the older man in the darkness. He watched as John walked into the living room, light shining onto the stack. He grabbed all of the magazines that featured their band. 

"Ready to go back to my room", Joey asked, standing at the bottom of the stairs. John walked over and grabbed his hand.
"Ready."

The two men stayed close together, the loud thunder claps causing them both to jump on their way up. There were no windows near the stairs, but the men could see the lightning on the floor upstairs, shining in from Joey's bedroom window. 

"Would you look at that", Joey said, "there's plenty of light from outside, we don't need this thing." With a click, Joey turned off the flashlight. John pulled the light from Joey's hands and turned it back on. 

"Not. Funny."
"Sorry, man. I've just got to make jokes", Joey said, still laughing. John sighed, but started laughing too. It was funny how two grown men were somehow scared of the dark. 

The men continued walking up the stairs, heading into Joey's bedroom. John ran to the bed and jumped under the blanket, while Joey took his time getting to bed.

"You didn't have to leave me without a light."
"That's what you get for turning the light off out there", John said, laughing. Joey smiled and shook his head as he got on the bed.

"Gimme that one", he said, pointing at one of the magazines. John gave him the magazine before snatching a bag of chips.

"I remember the day we done this photo shoot. I was so tired but we couldn't reschedule it. I looked high!"
"Let me see", John said, peering over at the image. He burst out laughing.
"You thought you looked high? Dude, I was high!" Joey gasped.

"You were actually high?"
"Let's just say I had a little fun the night before the photo shoot", John said, grinning.
"Oh my gosh! I had no idea!"
"I can hide things well, huh?"
"Yeah, dude. I never would have guessed."

I do hide things well, John thought. I've been hiding my true feelings for years.

In that moment, John felt like confessing something to Joey. With the pair of them sitting on the bed, it would be the perfect time to tell the truth to his best friend.

But John knew better. He couldn't just come out of the blue with this news to Joey. He had to wait, but he'd been waiting for years, and it killed him to keep the secret even longer.

"I'm getting tired", John said, "You keep looking at those magazines, I'm going to sleep. Good night, Joey." He moved around until he was laying on the bed.

"I'm getting tired myself. We can come back to these later", Joey said, stacking the magazines by his bed. He moved the snacks and drinks to the nightstand before laying down himself.

"Good night, John." The men laid there in silence for a moment before John spoke up.

"Joey?"
"Hm?"
"Is it weird for me to tell you that I love you? In a friendly way, of course?"
"It's not weird at all. I love you, dude."
"I...I love you, too, Joey."

The room fell silent again as the two men drifted off to sleep together.