Longing for You - a PangWave fanfiction

eight

On the next Saturday, Pang invited Wave over to his apartment for takeout and a movie night. Wave agreed as long as cheesy rom coms weren't involved.

Pang picked Wave up from his grandmother's house. He insisted that he didn't want Wave to get lost on his way to his apartment. Wave didn't bother arguing with Pang.

Pang's apartment was surprisingly clean, but Wave figured that he cleaned up before he left. Pang already had several containers of steaming Chinese food sitting on his kitchen table and a whole nest of blankets on the couch across from the TV.

"I like your place," Wave commented.

"Thanks. I try to keep it clean, but you know how it is," Pang responded. He sat down at the table and started to open the containers of food. He turned to Wave and smiled. "I hope you like Chinese."

Wave nodded an sat down. "Hard not to."

They ate and chatted until all the food was gone and their bellies were stuffed. Pang stretched then stood up to throw the paper containers away.

"I'll help you," Wave said, standing up.

"No, that's okay. You're my guest. What kind of date would I be if I made you clean up?"

Wave sat back down. Well, he couldn't argue with that. He watched Pang clean up and said nothing.

"Let's sit on the couch," Pang said when he was done. He grabbed Wave's hand to lead him to the mess of blankets scattered across the living room. Pang fell into the nest, pulling Wave down next to him.

"This is cozy," Wave said.

"You can say that again," Pang said. "This is every pillow and blanket in my apartment, plus some blankets my friend let me borrow."

"That's impressive." Wave felt Pang squeeze his hand. "So what movie are we watching?"

"Since you said no rom-coms, I figured we couldn't go wrong with an old Ghibli movie?"

Wave tried not to make a face. If he were honest, he wasn't a fan of animated shows. "Sure," he simply said. He knew he would be bored, but it's what Pang wanted to watch, so he let it go.

"Cool, I hope you like Castle in the Sky."

Using the remote, Pang searched for the movie. He turned it on then leaned into Wave. Now Wave was sure he wouldn't be able to concentrate on the movie.

Wave thought about all the times he and Pang would do things like this back in high school. It was few and far between, but given the circumstance, could you blame them? Pang was the person who introduced Wave to Marvel movies. For that, Wave is forever grateful.

Fifteen minutes into the movie, Pang untangled their fingers to put his arm around Wave's shoulder. He should have seen this coming, really. The term they used back in the States, "Netflix and Chill," was a euphemism for sex, after all. Wave knew what his boundaries were on the third date, but Pang was different. They had a history together, even if Pang wasn't aware. Wave missed the way Pang would kiss him and hold him half a decade ago. He hadn't had another person like he had Pang, and he missed the simple pleasure of being near someone who wanted to be near him too.

So Wave leaned into Pang and rested his now-empty hand on Pang's thigh, low enough to be more innocent than sexy. Pang sighed contently and leaned his head onto Wave's. Pang's attention on the movie seemed to be dwindling as well, and it was only a matter of time before both men stopped paying attention altogether.

"You aren't really into this, are you?" Pang asked after a while.

"Not really, no," Wave admitted.

Pang turned his head and kissed Wave on the cheek. A sweet gesture, but Wave wasn't sure how long it would simply stay sweet. "Me neither," Pang whispered into his ear. He started kissing Wave's jaw.

Wave's breath shuddered at the contact. He turned his head to the side to finally capture Pang's lips on his own. Kissing Pang was different from five years ago, Wave noticed. He was more sure of himself, less hesitant. Both of them had grown up, but it still shocked Wave how mature Pang was now as he moved his hands from Wave's shoulder to his waist. One of Wave's hand rested on Pang's face while the other was holding on to his shoulder.

Wave felt Pang's hand on his thigh, a little too close for comfort, so Wave pulled back to look Pang in the eye. "Can we... go a little slower? Sorry, it's just been a while."

Pang quickly removed his hand from Wave's thigh. "Of course. Don't apologize. We can go as slow as you need to."

Wave nodded. "Kissing is okay but anything else is just a lot right now. I mean, this is only the third date right?"

"Exactly. I'm sorry for not asking first. Thank you for speaking up. I don't want to make you do something you're not ready for."

Wave smiled and kissed Pang on the lips, short and sweet. "Thank you."

Pang settled his arm around Wave's waist again and turned back to the movie. Wave leaned into Pang and slowly but surely fell asleep to the sound of his breathing.