fly | madderton

ONE

The sound of the buzzer ringing through the flat made a childish squeal leave Taron's lips. He hurried to the door and studied the keypad beside it briefly before pressing down on a button.

"Hello?"

"Hey, T. It's me."

"Door's open." Taron pressed the button beside the one he was using to talk, smiling to himself. He'd not seen Richard in person since he'd left Scotland, and was beside himself with excitement. This was the beginning of their new life together. It was a million fresh starts all rolled into one, and not just for Richard. Taron couldn't believe the opportunity he was granted - to go to drama school in London. It was like a dream come true. His mum was ecstatic when he got accepted, and the first thing he did was run back to the school and tell Mr Edwards, who was similarly excited for the boy. He'd seen far too many 'disruptive' kids lose their way, and was glad to have helped at least Taron fulfil a goal.

It wasn't only Taron who was overjoyed with their new life. Richard was glad he'd been persuaded away from his parents, and away from the isolated country town he was so willing to stay in. Even just the thought of the opportunities living in London posed was enough to get him by, even if the acting didn't work out. There was a million other things he could do, and not one of them could he have achieved in the sticks, somewhere in Scotland.

A single knock at the flat door was all Taron needed to yank it open and welcome Richard in. He was polite enough to let the boy drag his bags in and shut the door before completely throwing himself onto him, almost knocking Richard over in the process.

"Missed you," Taron mumbled, his face pressed against Richard's shoulder. Richard pulled him closer and closed his eyes, taking a moment to breathe in Taron's all too familiar scent. Creepily enough, it smelt like home. Proper home.

"Missed you too, T. I'm so glad you talked me into this."

"Me too." Taron pulled away, smiling at Richard. "Come on, I'll show you your room."

Taron grabbed one of Richard's suitcases and pulled it down the short entrance hallway to the open plan living and kitchen area, with two doors spread across the back walls. Taron gestured to a third door on the adjacent wall, to the room that lined the entryway. "Bathroom," He said, pushing open the door on the right of the two. "This one's yours. It's slightly bigger, I think, but I didn't want it because of the creepy cubby hole."

A little confused, Richard looked over to where Taron was gesturing. There was another door in the corner of the room. It seemed a little oddly proportioned, like it had been squashed down from the top.

"What's up with it?" He asked, stepping over and pulling the door open. Inside was a practically empty room, containing only some bare shelving and a silver hanging rack.

"Just creepy, isn't it?"

Richard turned around with a laugh. "T, it's storage space. What's so spooky?"

Taron grinned, shrugging his shoulders. "Just is, isn't it? Come on. I'll help you unpack."

———

After about an hour, Richard was almost fully moved in. They'd made the bed first, and after helping hang some of Richard's shirts up, Taron just laid on it and watched. Richard didn't mind, he was almost glad that Taron was out of the way for him to unpack the way he liked. He was enjoying the company, too.

"Is that it?" Taron asked, watching as Richard zipped up his second suitcase.

"Yep," Richard replied, putting both of his suitcases in the 'creepy' storage room, "Thank God. I'm shattered, getting here was a nightmare." He sat on the bed and crawled over beside Taron, laying with his head on his friend's bicep. Taron smiled, lifting his hand to gently twirl Richard's hair around his fingers.

"Was it that bad?"

"Mhm..." Richard closed his eyes, moving onto his side and laying his arm across Taron's torso. "One of my trains got delayed for ages, and I almost missed my next one 'cause of it. Happened last time, too. One of them got completely cancelled and I had to practically restart my entire journey. I've just got awful luck with trains."

"Could have been worse," Taron said, turning his head towards Richard. He smiled at the sight, how sweet Richard looked in his sleepy state. "You made it here, hey? We're here. We're in London, Rich. Think of the possibilities."

Richard slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes again, smiling up at Taron. "I know... So much better than Scotland..."

There was a moment of quiet between the two, with Taron just scanning Richard's features. It was such a tender moment for him, and he was terrified to do or say anything that would cause it to end. If he could stay there forever, he would.

But something was still wrong.

"Rich?" Taron murmured, gently brushing the hair back off of his friend's forehead. Richard hummed quietly in response, bringing a small smile to Taron's face. "What is this?" He asked, still playing with the slight curls atop Richard's head. "What's going on? We, uh... We kissed, y'know?" A blush started to form on his cheeks, and although they were alone in the flat he felt his voice drop to a whisper. "We haven't even mentioned it, and now we're cuddling."

"Hm, I guess we are," Richard mumbled, smiling as he glanced down at Taron's lips, eyes flitting back up to meet Taron's. Taron smiled, gliding his hand down the side of Richard's face to cup his chin. It was Richard's turn to press their lips together, both parties moving in perfect synchronisation to get more comfortable. It resulted in Taron still being on his back, but Richard leant down over him with a knee either side of his hips. When they eventually broke apart, both had bright crimson cheeks and big grins.

"Ever gonna answer my question?" Taron asked, resting a hand on Richard's thigh.

Richard emitted a heavy sigh, looking back down at the boy beneath him. "I really think I like you," He started, smiling slightly at a lock of hair falling over Taron's face. "I think I do, but I don't know. I don't want to say I do, if I don't. I, um... I don't have much experience at liking guys."

"Let's not put a label on it, then," Taron said, gently stroking his hand up and down the outer of Richard's thigh, "Yeah? And then, whatever you decide you feel, we can label it then." Truth be told, he was a little upset that Richard was potentially leading him on, but had himself gone through the struggle of sexuality confusion. Having feelings for a guy felt wrong for such a long time, and Taron managed to convince himself that he was just a very passionate friend, and the strong feelings he was experiencing for his male friends were just that of friendship. Of course, he later realised that he was simply repressing his true self, and started acting on his feelings. A lot.

"Okay." Richard smiled, leaning down to press his lips against Taron's once more. "I think I can work with that."

ops!!

sry this took so long to get out i just had a v unmotivated week or however long and didn't want to publish this w/out more prewritten chapters. is there anything in particular ppl want to see and i'll see if i can weave it in somewhere as I have quite a few filler ish chapters to write