I love my dead gay son - Romeo and Juliet AU

2.3 --- Down by the river

Romeo was only trying to pick up his stuff and leave when Mercutio AND Benvolio cornered him. Mercutio particularly was pissed off at his *random* disappearance. "Dude, where the hell were you? You left your bro." At this, Mercutio faked a tear with his finger.

Romeo didn't look them in the eye. "I'm sorry, dude, I was kinda freaking out. I'm probably just still a bit drunk."

"Ok, A, smashed people don't know they're smashed, whichever kind of smashed they are, and B-"

"It's two in the afternoon. I defy even you, Bromeo, to still be drunk enough to go wandering off and flexing your bums." Mercutio finished the sentence for Benvolio.

"Look, I'm sorry guys, I had to do something. I was talking to the Friar."

"Who, Lawrence the Lanky? You're kidding me. You asked him for help?"

Romeo felt like he should be staggering against a wall or something (he had just drunk a vial of mysterious liquid), but he wasn't sure he could pull it off when he wasn't actually dizzy, so he settled for leaning against the doorframe. The rough wood dug into his shoulder blades. "Yeah, something happened last night, something to do with Tybalt, and I'm trying to remember, cos I was too blind fricking drunk, so if you would piss of and let me try, that would be really effing great!"

They backed off.

Romeo grabbed his bag and stormed out. He couldn't be bothered trying to convince a carriage to drop him off at his dad's house, so he resigned himself to striding forwards in the newly-arrived drizzle, which was steadily getting heavier.

As he dodged people and carts and barrels of apples that seemed to be there for nothing except aesthetic and to get in the way, he felt stuff starting to come back. Something really, really weird had happened...

Then again, he felt like it had been a good thing.

Within fifteen minutes he had arrived back home, had dodged his really freaked out mother and was in his room. He'd stripped off his top layers just so he could feel cleaner, and was lying on his bench, trying to think. It took a while, but over the next few hours, he knew what had happened. He would reserve judgement until he could tell his friends.

~~

At some point after they had left the party, Benvolio had slipped away to find his sort-of girlfriend, Diana. They were more like FwB  pairing really. He left had Romeo and Mercutio wandering on the green (as far as they tell) bank of the river, and they just talked about random, drunk-dude talk, until something else happened.

Paris, Juliet and Tybalt, of all people, crashed through the trees, and Juliet nearly fell into the river. "There they are! I told you they'd be there!"

Romeo snuck a glance at Tybalt. He looked different from when they fought earlier. More... relaxed. Even better-looking than he had been, if that was possible.

"Druh, are you here to fight or summing?" He was vaguely aware that there was a teeny, tiny, hint of a suggestion of a probability that a tilted bank leading down to a rather deep river was a bad place for a duel. Plus, y'know, the best sword he had just then was a stick lying next to him. Particularly when he knew that Mercutio had disappeared as soon as they had been interrupted.

"Naaaah, not fighting. Playing," Tybalt slurred. "They want me to do it."

"Do what?"

Paris sniggered, and Romeo noticed red marks on his cheek and chin. "C'mon, Tib, we dared you, yah have to."

"Do what?!" Romeo was seriously freaking out now, even with his stupid(ly) pissed brain. "Dahell?"

Juliet squealed and jumped up and down, almost losing her balance and falling into the water. Paris had to stop her by getting hold of her not-quite-slim waist, and his fingers tightened possessively around her.

"Come on, Tibby. Tybromeo forever!" She rushed at her cousin, tearing at Paris' hands, and fell flat, missing the river by an inch. She said,"You have to do it!". Her voice was muffled by the ground.

Romeo wondered if he should be worried about her - he knew she was thirteen or some shit - but he was too preoccupied with Tybalt, who was grinning at him. And moving forward. Slowly, but he was moving forward.

He was torn between backing away and closing the gap, but the decision was made for him. He could hear Paris' whispering - "He's actually flipping gonna do it," - and although Romeo didn't quite realise what was going on, he dared to hope as Tybalt sauntered towards him.

There was a brief moment of panic as Tybalt stepped right up close to him, but then he closed the distance, and kissed him. The fact that it wasn't a confused press of lips at a party made it all the better. His lips tasted like salt and beer.

Romeo wasn't sure what to do now the thing was happening, but he grabbed Tybalt's hand, and pressed more insistently. He responded, and he could feel teeth grate ever so slightly across his bottom lip, before Tybalt pulled away too suddenly.

"Ok, that's- that's enough," he said. "Just cos I like you doesn't mean you're not not-awesome, right?"

Further away, Romeo could hear Mercutio sniggering. He was probably in a bush.

Juliet had got up while they were bordering-on-making-out, not bothering to brush the mud off her dress. She protested at Tybalt's words, but Romeo still didn't get what he had been saying, not yet.

"Do you- yah wanna meet up? Tomorrow?" Romeo moved forwards, trying to get closer to his crush, but he was having none of it.

"Yeah, you know whaaat, let's. I dunno where," Tybalt slurred.

Paris hadn't said anything after Juliet had tripped - at least, not that Romeo had heard - but Juliet stepped forwards. "What about the orchard? By our house"

"Ooooh, yeaaaah, that'll be good. See you there, Bromeo." With that, Tybalt left. It would have been a grand exit, but his magnificent striding was cut short when he bashed spectacularly into an apple tree. Mercutio sniggered more.

Then Romeo thought of something. "Wait, bruh, when?"

"I dunno. Three. Afternoon. Biiiiii." And he was gone, with Paris and Juliet following like lemmings.

~~

That chapter took way too long to write... I was meaning to update three days ago. Oops. If anyone was waiting on me, I'm sorry.

Meanwhile, I just checked out the rankings (22/08/2018) and they're doing really well. The story's number 1 in Mercutio out of 40 stories (let me be proud, ok?) and 110 in parody out of 2.6k! I'm just writing this for fun, but it's nice to know.

Right now I'm waiting on my friend to get to my house, but his brother made him late in a long series of unfortunate events which I won't go into right now. Plus we're pretending to his family that he isn't hella homo. Oh well.

*Hands out rainbow bunting*