cuddles - mairi

one

kairi remembers the very first time they cuddled, depending on how loosely you defined cuddle. at the very least, it's the first time they slept in the same bed together.

-

freshman year brought many challenges for him. he started at a new school that year, he didn't have many friends, and his reputation was severely lacking to put it lightly. in hindsight, kairi could laugh at the small problems that kept him from sleeping at night and made him bite his nails down to their beds with stress.

but he remembers most vividly joining the soccer team. he needed friends, sitting alone in the library with the small lunch his mom had packed and the rest of the kids who couldn't merge with a social group wasn't going to keep cutting it. tossing and turning in his plaid-clad twin size bed late that night, kairi decided joining a club was the quickest way to make connections with other students and maybe even meet a reliable friend or two.

the small japanese boy jumped excitedly up the next day, a renewed vigor and pep in his step. the plan swirling around his head and a small smile gracing his facial features for the first time in awhile longer than he'd like to admit. he got dressed and brushed his teeth in such a way that he'd accidentally made his gums bleed. he shook off the minor setback and left the warmth of his home to get in the carpool with his neighbor that his mom had arranged. nothing could've broken his mood.

except, of course, the list of clubs. it was posted on a tackily decorated bulletin board, this month seemed to be harvest-themed. kairi pushed away the large, paper pumpkin covering the list of extra-curriculars that seriously needed to be dusted. he skimmed through the list; a frown beginning to set in on his face. the list seemed to go on and on, with no real contenders sticking out as options for him. there was art (which kairi of course had no real skills in besides coloring inside the lines), future farmers of america (kairi was very much happy with his modern day luxuries and suburban home thank you very much), feminists for women's empowerment (sure, kairi was a simp but come on), or french club (which kairi ruled out for obvious reasons).

kairi let out a heavy sigh. he was fucked, again. maybe he was being too picky. maybe he could try-

wait a minute. another obnoxiously large paper ear of corn covered a second page directly below the one that had already disappointed him. this page was subtitled fall sports and was obviously a continuation of the first page. he skimmed the list again, his new high school offered a very average sports catalogue; golf, basketball, cross country, and soccer.

kairi carefully considered his options, he wanted friends so he'd need a sport that would hopefully boost him up the metaphoric food chain, basketball and soccer seemed to fit that bill. unfortunately, kairi wasn't exactly built for basketball: skinny, mildly unathletic, and standing at just 5'4. Soccer it was. he looked at the head coaches name attached to the sport and headed down toward the chemistry classrooms to find out more information on conditioning and try-outs.

kairi let out the breath he didn't know he was holding, he could do it. he was going to do it.

-

conditioning came and went, and so did try-outs. kairi didn't like to brag but he worked his ass off. he forced himself through conditioning and went home and ran another few miles before collapsing in his bed, only to look up on his phone soccer tryouts tips and ways to get the coaches to notice you.

and it all payed off, thankfully. kairi made the team. in fact, he didn't even make the frosh team, he made junior varsity. god, he almost cried when the list was emailed to him in third period. a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. kairi had done it.

practices were tough, but his teammates were tougher. they'd all seemed to have formed bonds during their previous years together on the team. nonetheless, 3 other freshman had made jv. mattia polibio, alejandro rosario, and alvaro romero. the 4 of them worked nicely together on the field; good communication and a willingness to work together, which some of the other more aggressive players struggled with.

and sure, kairi still spent a lot of his lunches cooped up in the library, but now he had someone to tip his head up and say hey to in the hallways during passing period. things were getting better.

-

things were definitely getting better. all the grueling miles and much-needed water breaks the 4 boys spent together during soccer practice had created a kind of friendship between them. kairi doesn't really remember how exactly it happened but somehow the 4 of them ended up at the same lunch table one day, along with 2 other boys who'd been dragged to sit as well, robert georges and roshaun diah. and god, it felt good to sit at those dinky, little picnic benches.

-

as time went on, kairi found himself getting incredibly close with the boys. mattia, in particular. kairi felt he could tell the tall boy any of his problems and desires, and he didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. kairi couldn't quite put his finger on why he always felt the need to be close with the boy, or to tell him every-

oh. kairis thought was interrupted by mattias daily "goodnight kai!" text followed by an absurd amount of heart and thirst emojis. he'd be lying if he said his heart didn't flutter at least a little.

-

the first soccer game. god, who could forget? kairi hadn't felt anything like it before. the sharp adrenaline that flowed through him as mattia passed him the ball and his muscle memory aided him in scoring a near-perfect goal, leaving the poor goalie suffering from minor whiplash. he heard the crowd go nuts and his boys screaming his name. but one deep, vaguely accented voice seemed to cheer him on especially loudly.

-

they won the game, but kairi of course had to slip and pull his back during the teams aggressive celebration in a muddy puddle. coach promised his back would be fine in a couple weeks, but kairi's ego would surely be bruised for a lot longer. mattia, alejandro, and alvaro all came with him for a celebratory mcdonald's feast reguardless. who knew victory tasted like big mac sauce but coursed through him like mcdonalds sprite? nothing could compare to the pure joy he felt covered in mud in that empty fast food restaurant at midnight that stormy friday night.

"you guys are all coming to my house right?" mattia asked them, not bothering to swallow his food as he spoke. kairi almost kicked himself for finding it kind of endearing. alejandro and alvaro nodded but didn't bother to look up as they continued to gorge themselves with food that they would probably regret eating later. kairi nodded his head too, and pulled out his phone telling his mom to not stay up for him and that he'd be home before she got off work the next day because he was staying at a friend's. and yeah, it probably comforted the small boy more than it should've to be able to call mattia a friend and not just a teammate.

-

the night was filled with gossip, childish dares, dick jokes, and more junk food. when ms. polibio finally came in at around 2:30 to insist the boys settle down for the night and quiet down, the soccer players naturally continued to fuck around and not actually lay down until at least 3 that morning. mattia pulled the extra blankets and pillows from the hall closet.

"alright ale, you and alvaro can share this air mattress and then I'll just sleep on the floor, alright?" mattia looked around to 2 nodding heads and 1 with a disapproving face.

"where would I sleep? I can't kick you out of your own bed, mattia," kairi insisted and shook his head no.

mattia only laughed, "kai, youre not kicking me out, I'm offering it because you hurt your back, remember?" kairi still shook his head no and began to lower himself to the smaller bed on the floor, only mattia grabbed his under his first it shoulders in order to make him stop and pull him back, "no, no, no. come on, we'll share it if it means that much to you, okay?"

kairi guiltily felt pleased as the idea of the hardwood floor against his sore back made his skin crawl. he smiled up at him and nodded. he made his way to the end of mattias bed and pushed himself against the wall so mr. 6'1 over there could have as much room as possible in the small bed.

-

kairi liked to blame his exceptional sleep that night on the very nice mattress mattia had or from the exhaustion of the soccer game, but deep down he knew why he really slept so perfectly that night.

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04/08/20 - 1548 words
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a/n
hm. this is my first fic lmfaoo it's not great and it also hasn't been beta'd so if you see any mistakes or have any constructive criticisms dm me! also updates on this will probably be slow unfortunately :(

xoxo