Learn How to Love (Boy x Boy)

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟔

I scrambled up into the treehouse, throwing my bookbag over my shoulder and across the floor. Luke glanced up when I crawled inside. He was reading one of the books I had given him, legs crossed as he sat in my beanbag chair. His ears were lopsided, one flat against his head and one upright. His tail was dangling over the edge of the chair, the tip brushing against the floor. 

"You were gone for so long," whined Luke, closing his book. 

"It was a normal school day, and then I had to walk Sadie home," I said, slipping off my shoes. I had something behind my back, a gift for Luke. I wasn't the best at comforting him, so I picked up one of those weighted stuffed animals from the store on my way home from Sadie's house. It was a yellow stegosaurus with green stripes and plates on it. I was so scared that I had been a horrible hugger yesterday, so I decided to get him a support stuffie. According to the Internet, they worked really well for touchy people. He'd also have something to cuddle besides me when we went back to normal.

Luke perked up. "What's that?" His tail tip began flicking, slowly twitching back and forth in anticipation. 

I shut the trap door behind me. "Be patient. It's a gift."

Luke's eyes lit up. "Really?"

I nodded. I pulled the dinosaur out from behind my back and slid it behind my air mattress. Luke craned his neck, trying to see what it was. I glanced over my shoulder. "I said be patient," I said, scolding his snooping. I sat back against my air mattress. "It's for later tonight, bedtime," I added. I rose to my feet and brushed off my hands. The floor was pretty dusty. I never really cleaned it before, but I'd have to sweep and dust the whole treehouse sometime soon. I didn't want Luke sneezing his head off. 

"What do you think of the books?" I asked, flopping down on the ground in front of him.

Luke shrugged. "They're... interesting. It's kind of strange, reading about some of their experiences and realizing that I had ones that were similar. I never thought of them as gay, though, you know?"

I nodded. I'd had a similar experience reading through the stories. "What's your favorite one so far?"

Luke held up the smallest book. It was by Harley Edworth, a gay celebrity. "I really like his stories. He's descriptive, and it kind of makes me feel like I'm a close friend of his that he's telling this to. Does that make sense?"

I smiled. I loved this side of Luke. Whenever Luke flicked a pencil at my head, or threw a paper ball across the room, I never once imagined that we'd be sitting in my treehouse talking about queer shit. Seriously, it was almost so surreal that nearly three weeks ago Luke and I were arguing about dumb crap no one actually cared about, and now we were sort of forced together. The thing that kept bothering me was that if my grandma had never cursed him, we wouldn't be here right now. Was the curse a good thing? I loved listening to Luke talk about stuff he enjoyed. He got so eager whenever he found something he enjoyed, like pasta or dinosaurs, and could go on about it for ages if he wanted to. 

"Hey, Kylar?" Luke asked softly. 

I looked up, broken out of my trance. "Hm?"

Luke shifted back and forth in the beanbag. "I was reading Harley's book... and he had a chapter about like his gay awakening and shit. He was at a party or something and got picked for seven minutes in heaven with another guy. It was his first boy kiss, and he said that made him realize he was queer."

I nodded. "Yeah, that happens with a lot of people. What about it?"

Luke scratched at the side of his head. "I was wondering what it felt like."

"What, kissing?"

"W-Well, kind of? But I want to know what it's like to kiss a guy."

I blinked, startled. "Oh, uhm. What do you mean?"

Luke's brows twitched with frustration. "I don't know how to explain it. I just- does it feel different to kiss a guy than a girl? Is there a difference? Which do you like better?"

I shrugged. "I've only ever kissed one or two guys before, and I'm gay so I'm pretty sure I prefer kissing dudes. You already know that you don't like kissing girls, you cried for like half and hour over the fact yesterday." Luke flushed, embarrassed. "Besides, it's up to you to figure out whether you like kissing at all. Some people are aromantics, or asexuals that don't like kissing or sex at all."

"Well it's not that- I like the idea of kissing guys and stuff, I just don't know where to test it out."

I scoffed. "Why would I know? I don't have like a database of every fruity guy in town."

Luke fidgeted uncomfortably. "Well, I was wondering if we could kiss. O-Or something like that I guess." 

 A hot blush spread across my face. "Hm?"

Luke crossed his arms and slumped into the chair. "You know what I said. I want to kiss you, just to see if I'm okay with it. I wasn't okay with Melanie, and if I kiss a random dude I'm scared they won't be as supportive as she was. I don't want it getting around that I just don't like kissing."

I nodded absently. I hated that I saw the sense in what he was saying. Was I really about to kiss Luke fucking Salazar? You know what, why not. If we were going to end this curse, than he needed practice I supposed. Or at least a general idea of what to do so that he could get a boyfriend and get rid of the cat ears. It was weird. I felt like I had been focusing more on Luke himself rather than what the curse did to him. Sometimes it was hard to remember that he had been cursed, and that half of the stuff he said could very well be a side effect of the curse itself. That was too upsetting a thought, so I shoved it away.

"I guess. Just to see."

Luke relaxed. "Really?"

I nodded and stood up, dusting my shirt off. I shuffled over to the beanbag chair and cupped Luke's face in my hand. Then I tilted my head, and pressed our lips together. I heard Luke squeak beneath my mouth, and my groin ached painfully. I tugged on his bottom lip lightly, and pulled away once he started panting.

Luke pouted. "Why'd you pull away?"

"You said you just wanted to see if you liked it."

"Well I did, so now I want more."

I tried to ignore what he had said and sat back down. "I don't know why you're upset. Now you know you like kissing guys. Problem solved." I picked at a loose thread on my sock. I glanced up, somewhat scared to meet Luke's gaze. He was staring me like... well, like a cat. But like a cat that had just seen a mouse and was debating its next move. I quickly cast my gaze downwards, refusing to meet his eyes. If I pretended it didn't bother me, he wouldn't know how flustered I actually was. I was trying to put on a tough-guy persona for his sake... right?

Luke's tail swayed. I watched it, transfixed, and Luke took the moment to pounce. Literally. He leapt off of the beanbag chair and slammed me down to the ground. His knees thudded to the ground on either side of my waist and his hands kept my shoulders tight against the ground. I gasped in surprise as the impact knocked my breath away, and only had time to grab a few choked gasps of air before Luke kissed me.