𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆

-2-

Oh shit.

I'm too scared to look over at Craig, even though I can feel his eyes on me. Suddenly, I'm grateful for the amount of fur on my hood, making it much easier to hide my face, which was definitely covered in a heavy layer of blush by now.

There is no way in hell I just called Craig Tucker, the target of all of my hidden affection and subject of my thoughts for the past few years, pretty. Out loud. I wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. I couldn't even think about saying anything beforehand, I had no time to prepare myself, I just had to go and run my mouth, and now Craig could be mad at me or disgusted. Or it could be worse, maybe Craig won't want to be friends anymore, something we'd only just recently gained the status of in the first place. My heart is beating out of my chest and I worry that tears will start building in my eyes, just another excuse for further embarrassment.

"Kenny." His voice starts out small, but as he says my name more, it grows solid and loud like usual. "Kenny! Look at me man, c'mon?"

After a second of repeating it's fine, you're alright, to myself mentally, I wipe at my eyes and turn to face the man I care so deeply for. Oh who am I kidding? We're not men, we're still just boys. Boys who were never taught how to express their emotions.

We meet eyes, and I can see his image blur with my vision as the tears return, and when I try to speak, I have no voice. But Craig just stares at me, his cheeks and nose rosy from the cold while mine are from embarrassment, his hands wringing together over and over again to achieve some bit of warmth. I look down at my own hands, covered by hand-me-down knit gloves from Kevin and reason that Craig could've left by now if he was actually mad at me, and if I've gotten this far, what's a little more courage? I look back into his blue eyes as I reach out for his hands, a somewhat awkward move, but Craig's face seems content.

"I-" I clear my throat and start over, "Craig... I think I'm in love with you."

"Aw come on, be a little sure of yourself, Kenneth. Don't just think, know." He replies, smirking.

"Well obviously I only added that so it would be ever so slightly less shit if you reacted poorly. Plausible deniability, you know?"

"Big words for you Ken, plausible deniability, huh? I think it's your lucky day though, because I... love you too."

My voice raises as I ask, "You do? Really?" and all Craig can do is smile.

I made Craig Tucker smile, and it's the most beautiful thing in the world. Scratch that, the universe.

"I have to revise my statement from earlier, not only are you prettier than this sunset, which is truly beautiful, such an honor to see it, and with you? Even better. But, you know what's prettier still? That smile of yours. Man, I could just stare at that smile for hours."

This has me thinking about my own smile, the real one that shows all my teeth, gaps, chips, and cracks included. I've never particularly liked that smile, and maybe that's why I never did it. That or there wasn't much to be happy about, not genuinely. Either way, I bet Craig wouldn't mind my smile.

So I brave the cold, taking off my hood and the warmth with it so I could ask him, "Boyfriends?"

"Boyfriends." Craig grins.

Then, I do something unexpected, I feel myself leaning in right before I kiss him, a simple peck of the lips, no more than a second long, but it feels like magic. I know that as I pull away I'm smiling, and I grab his hands again. I must've dropped them at some point without realizing.

Craig Tucker could have my heart.