Days Go By | lavashipping

*****

Just how they both will remember the sunny Sunday, the day after that, when they went for the milkshakes Kai wanted.

That day they were luckier. While the ground still recalled the previous rain, the sky was clear and the forecast promised it to stay like so. All they had to do was hope it won't abruptly decide to rinse and repeat.

But it was also a rather warm day and since he already had a cold drink in his hand, why hold back? They didn't get to walk far from the shop when Cole was already finishing his milkshake, head tilted far back to get even the tiniest last remaining bit. No one likes to waste something as delicious, of course.

Kai stared at him in judging disbelief, shaking his head. However, once Cole looked at him, with an empty cup in his hand, he could see a smile on their face which was different than usual, only Cole couldn't tell why.

"You know this isn't a race or anything, right? You don't have to drink it all at once."

"What? I was thirsty!"

Instead of a reply, Kai simply chuckled and shook his head some more. "Dumbass."

"Sorry, what was that?"

"You have some on your mouth, by the way," Kai said, switching the topic and pointing at his face.

"Really?" Cole was about to wipe his mouth off when Kai stopped his hand.

"Oh no, that's good, I've got it." And before Cole could say anything more, Kai's lips were on his. It was such a brief peck and it was still strong enough to steal all of Cole's breath away, to wipe his mind clean.

"No wonder they keep putting chocolate and caramel together," they commented as if they didn't just turn Cole's word upside down and spun it like a huming top. Cole had no idea what to do with his body. He just stood still, as if frozen. The milkshake wasn't strong enough to give him brain freeze but Kai somehow managed to turn him into a statue. Did that just happen? It was so quick, maybe he just imagined it, maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. "You okay?"

Cole had a hard time forming words in his mind. "Uhh... Sorry, I wasn't paying attention, did something happen?"

Kai chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "You weren't paying attention?"

"I'm- I'm afraid I wasn't, actually."

"All right, let me repeat myself then." Some force pushed on the back of his head and he obeyed without any struggle. Mirroring Kai, he leaned in until their lips met again. This time it wasn't such a quick moment that passes at the speed of a simple blink; this time Kai made sure the kiss lasted longer. Every time Cole thought about this moment he expected himself to be more steady, to probably even be the initiator but in reality, he found himself unable to stay in place because his heart was most likely going to create a giant hole inside his chest. He pulled away, leaving his forehead to lean against Kai's, he wanted to stay close. His eyes remained closed, perhaps because he was afraid that opening them would mean shattering something. Something that didn't deserve to be shattered, that, on the contrary, deserved to be kept in a chest worthy of its preciousness.

"Did I make myself clear?" he heard Kai say. Their voice was so soft, yet so... He wasn't able to pinpoint it exactly but Cole was sure that hearing this sound of his voice more often would cost him a lot of self-control.

"I think so, yeah," he heard himself mutter. "Let me just, uh, save this to my memory."

"Of course."

It took him a while to recompose himself which he sort of hated because he was the one supposed to make Kai bashful, not the other way around. And now he was swept off his feet and it was all Kai's doing. But euphoria was spreading through his veins and he couldn't even pretend to be sour because Kai kissed him, for the third time as well, and he felt like flying meters into the sky. It all felt so real and as much as good news that was, it was also probably the only instance in which he could feel saddened it wasn't a dream because there he could probably fly up into the air with delight. This way, he had no idea what to do with himself - there was a limit to the wideness of a smile and he would probably never dare to skip happily all around a place with random strangers. He wanted to pick him up and spin him around and explode and float and so many things all because of a simple contact.

"I thought you said no kiss before the second or third date, though," Cole mentioned once they resumed their walk, as difficult as it was to just walk away from the tree that got to be the witness for their first and second kiss.

"And isn't this a date?" Kai replied, putting the straw back into his mouth as if their conversation was about something as casual and mediocre as the instability of the weather.

"It's a date?" Hearing his own excited, hopeful voice would have made him feel a little foolish any other day but today was far from being any other day.

Kai shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not."

"This is the best day of my life," he breathed, unsure whether or not he was glad Kai heard him.

"Well, that's certainly one of the things today is."

Cole grinned, his smile perhaps even brighter than the sun was that day. There wasn't even a hint of regret for finishing his drink so quickly. Not only thanks to the reward he received for it but also because Kai let him get a sip of theirs and everything was fine and nice and it was all sunshine and rainbows.

Cole felt as if he was back in his teenage years as he lay in his bed like a starfish, staring dreamily at his ceiling while he replayed the moment in his head over and over and over again. He felt light as a feather, filled with something he hasn't felt in years. There was some sort of freedom to it, as if some shackles he wasn't even aware of having on himself were finally gone. Like a balloon set to fly and fly and fly. Feeling as if he were in heaven, Cole quickly picked his phone up and dialled a number.

"Hey, guess what!"

"What?"

"Someone I liked for a long time kissed me on the lips today!"

"No way! Just today I kissed someone I liked for a long time on the lips!"

"Seems like we both had a great day then."

"Seems like it."

There was a moment of silence as Cole kept the phone by his ear, thinking about everything, thinking about him. Even before it was almost impossible to get Kai out of his head but Cole was sure that he would never be able to stop thinking about him now. He was burned into his mind.

"I don't want to hang up," he said finally.

"Me neither. Wanna video call?"

"Yes. Master, yes."

Life was good. Life was wonderful. He wanted to scream into the sky.