Tangerine

The only fucking chapter this will have

...

David didn't know what to do.

He had woken up in Kevin's bed. No, they were not dating, and no, he wouldn't sleep with anyone he wasn't with. From the fuzzy bits of memory he had from before this, nothing other than sleep had gone on then. Weeew.

He had just gotten himself a bit too drunk on their outing the night before, and Kevin had enough thought to bring him home. Thank the stars he had been nice enough to not leave him there, but also how dare they do this to him.

Kevin. Yes, the man beside him right then. David felt his face flush with color, hands tightening around the blanket on his chest. He didn't have a crush, he had the farthest thing from a crush, he was just...

Nervous. And his head hurt. And everything else, too.

Maybe he shouldn't have been out that night. But how could he not be, when his friend had asked him out oh so nicely? Sitting up, David held back a surge of sickness while he tried to leave as fast as possible. He couldn't vomit in his friend's bed- he was a guest, how unmannerly would it be to immediately cause issues when he knew he probably couldn't fix them? Kevin was...

Well, was he a nice person? David hadn't gone that far with him. That thought stung, oddly.

He made it to the bathroom, expelling his sickness with long hurls. It was gross, so gross, and he hated all of it. The strong taste of alcohol and salt stuck in his mouth after, and he swore he would never drink again after that. Not a hard promise to make, since he barely did anyway, but still.

The sound of footsteps could be heard, drawing near. Soon, he spotted the same man he had hoped to get away from earlier in the doorway. Did David wake him up? And, did he really have to show up now? There were many, many better situations to be caught in. His cheeks flushed in embarrassment, but Kevin looked indifferent.

"You doin' alright, pal?"

He nodded then turned away from him, now suddenly aware of how his eyes had caught him and stuck as soon as he came into view. Goddammit, David. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He cursed himself internally, rolling the ball of self-doubt over his thoughts as he chastised himself for not better hiding his crush.

Crush. As if he had been taken back to middle school again, back to giggling about who likes who and silly drama over boyfriends and girlfriends- or anyone in between, he never wanted to discriminate.

Good lord, did this make him gay?

Shut up about your sexuality crisis right now, David. There's a man crouching beside you and it's making the issue with your face a thousand times worse. His eyes met hesitantly, and he immediately wished they hadn't.

Beautiful. David could very well be the only person who had ever thought his eyes were beautiful, but they were. Pretty greens almost the same color as his own, his face couldn't grow hotter and he thanked his body for that. Kevin, still seeming indifferent over everything, spoke again. Maybe he was gay.

"You can stay the night again if you want, y'know. My beds open."

Be still his beating heart. Did everything about him have to be so annoyingly perfect? Yes, David knew he would be the only person to think this about Kevin, shut up about it. The bar had sunk to its rightful place in hell, and he would be limbo dancing with Satan right then for the chance for just a look his way from this man. He received it, albeit with a different emotion than he wanted, but still. David knew he had to speak, why hadn't he already? Whoops.

"Oh- yes, please, if it's fine with you."

He cleared his throat, turning away. A hand covered his face, and he grimaced as the smell of toilet cleaner wafted over him. Right, he remembered what it had just gripped onto and hastily pulled it away.

"But- the guest bedroom would be better, right? You need a bed.."

"Who said I wouldn't be using it too?"

What a disgustingly smooth flirt.

He sat up suddenly, smoothing out his hair with another hand he didn't trust was clean. He had to get out of there, before he said something that royally fucked up everything he had right then. The friendship was nice, but anything further was...

Scary. It scared him. David wanted this man, wouldn't it be fine to just.. ignore how he felt for however long he had to, preserving /this/ meant more than anything else. Preserving him. Preserving them.

"Gonna speak, doll?"

He groaned, hands in his face as he sat there. Surely Kevin knew, right? David was a mess right then, face cherry red past the hands that were trying their best to hide that. They didn't do much, it was obvious what his issue was.

"No. I don't think I ever will again."

"Can I kiss you?"

What. Huh. He sat up, hands gently parting for him to peek through them. After taking a few moments to look over Kevin's expression, he took it as a serious question and nodded. It was like he had just spent the whole time he had been near stressing over and avoiding how he felt about him, just for him to ask to kiss like it's nothing!

This man would be the death of him, David was sure of it.

Soon enough, lips pressed against the side of his face. He relaxed finally, melting like putty in the man's embrace. His hands held still in the air, twitching slightly with every new pull and touch. Soon, the whole right side of his face tingled with the sensation of something that had been there- then he went down, and David had to hold his breath.

Lips and teeth swapped places between which hit spaces on his neck, and David felt the blooming of something in his gut as teeth frequented the space more. He felt...

Needy. His hands, no longer still, grabbed Kevin and pulled him closer.

Unfortunately, though, the man pulled away soon after that. David pushed a whine through his teeth, eyes turning to look down at him. Great god, had he done something wrong? His mouth opened so he could speak, but soon another made contact with it.

Oh. They were kissing!

Another thing he had assumed he'd either have to initiate or let never happen for the sake of his pride- but Kevin did it for him, lifting the dirty work out of his inexperienced hands. Such a nice, thoughtful gesture.

Also, there was a tongue in his mouth now. How funny.

David pulled away once the taste of cigarettes had become too much- which, honestly, had just been a few minutes. He didn't smoke, okay? If he wanted to feel nicotine all over his buds, he'd get a pack of Marlboro himself.

He stood up slowly, noting that he no longer felt sick, just.. dazed. His head swirled with thoughts, and it felt like pushing through a semi-hard putty trying to make sense of them. Kevin, of course, didn't seem to be experiencing the same emotions- shit, he didn't seem to be experiencing everything. Maybe David wasn't wrong to be so worried over everything, his friend's expression refused to change no matter what. Even with the new addition of pink to his cheeks.

Friends.

Could they be called friends now? Friends didn't kiss, right? Or what if they did, and he just didn't have enough to know that? To be fair, he only had about five he did speak to often- and one he couldn't, since he had been cooped up in Antarctica for a few months, but that was a story for another day. Looking down at the still crouched man, he extended a handover.

"..are we dating now?"

"Are we not? Was yesterday not a date?"

David paused. Was it a date? He would know if it was a date, right? Right?

He sunk back to the floor, and Kevin took his face into his hands. Suddenly, for the first time in what felt like hours but had probably only been 30 minutes, his head cleared. Maybe this was it, all his stress and worry meant nothing because this had been what it was for- and this was good. It was here and it was his and it was everything he wanted it to be. It had been worth it, anything would be worth it for him.

They kissed.
Again.