"Are you sure about this, Liao?"
"Yes, I'm sure, Dun." Liao sighs into the phone wedges between his cheek and shoulder as he shifts some stuff around in his room. "You know as well as I do that this is the only way the two of them are ever going to talk about all of this. They won't do it at school because they have public images to uphold and neither of them, especially your cousin, is willing to put that into jeopardy. If they can't be men and talk about it willingly, we'll treat them like kids and put them in time out until they can resolve their problems."
"You know they won't like the idea once they realize what's going on."
"It doesn't matter if they like it. I'm not doing this to satisfy them, I'm doing it for the good of their futures." Liao explains. "If they can't put aside this feud before Cao Cao graduates next month, then they never will. This needs to be handled before it goes any further out of control and I need your cooperation for this, Dun." He sits on the edge of his bed and shifts the phone to his other ear.
"After my last confrontation with Cao, I'm not sure he'll be very willing to let me take him anywhere." Dun explains. "How can you be sure he'll even go along with this? Lu Bu has never questioned you because you're such good friends but Cao is a different story."
"He'll trust you. Family forgives at lot quicker than friends do, I know that personally." Liao says. "Just make sure you can get him over here by seven tonight, okay? My parents will only be out of town this one weekend and I'm not missing this opportunity to finally fix this mess."
"Alright, I'll see you tonight then." Dun sighs.
"See you then." Liao hangs up the phone and lies back on his bed in relief. "I really hope this isn't a big mistake on my part but this needs to be done." He hears a knock from the other end of the house and glances at his clock nearby, finding it reading 6:16. "That must be Lu Bu." He sits up then stands from the bed and quickly exits the room. "Better get him in here then." He swiftly walks down the hall and across the living room to the front door and opens it, finding Lu Bu with a duffel bag hanging from his shoulder. "You got here quicker than I expected." Liao chuckles as he lets the other in.
"How can I pass up spending the weekend with my best friend when his parents are out of town for once?" Lu Bu chuckles as he sets his bag on the couch. "I'm saying now that you won't be getting any sleep these next few nights as far as I'm concerned."
"Let me guess: video games, movie binging, and so much junk food we might gain a few pounds." Liao states with soft laughter.
"You bet." Lu Bu plops onto the couch. "Is Dun going to be joining us as well or is it just the two of us?"
"It will be the four of us actually." Liao corrects. "Dun is bringing someone along as a funny way of forming a double date for the weekend. Don't mind, do you?"
"Nah, I'll need someone to play with while you disappear with Dun to make out in your room." Lu Bu snickers, causing Liao to blush and glare at him. "Relax, I'm just joking. The more the merrier, I say."
"Cool cause their on the way right now as we speak," Liao states "so we'll need to make room in the living room. Mind helping me clean up and set up?"
Lu Bu shrugs and stands from the couch. "I'm at your command, sir."
Liao simply rolls his eyes and the two begin moving stuff around to give extra space including pushing the couch and chairs back, moving the living room table into a back room, and laying out some comforters, pillows and blankets on the floor, chairs, and couch. They are mostly done when there is a knock at the door.
"That must be Dun." Liao says then turns to Lu Bu. "You wanna go put your bag back in my room for right now? He doesn't know you're here and I want it to be a surprise more or less."
"Consider me a ghost then." Lu Bu quietly snickers as he plucks his bag off the couch and swiftly disappears into the back hallway.
Once Lu Bu is in the bedroom, Liao walks over and opens the front door, finding Dun and Cao on the other side. "Glad you two could make it." He chuckles as he lets the two in.
"I wouldn't miss spending a weekend with my little geek." Dun chuckles then pecks Liao between his eyes. "I'm just surprised you wanted Cao Cao to join us after everything."
"That's my mother's philosophy of forgive and forget." Liao states. "We're all mature guys here, so this had to happen eventually." He then turns to Cao Cao, noticing him carrying his and Dun's bags. "Let's get those somewhere out of the way for right now. Follow me." Cao hesitantly follows Liao down the back hall to the boy's bedroom. "Just set them down in here wherever you like."
Cao simply shrugs and enters the room as Liao opens the door and only stops when he bumps into someone after Liao closes the door. He drops the bags and looks up, surprised to find Lu Bu standing before him and jumps away. "What are you doing here?" He asks.
"I should be asking you the same thing, Cao Cao." Lu Bu growls. "I can only assume your cousin brought you."
"Yeah, only cause Liao wanted him to for whatever reason." Cao mutters. "Evidently he wants to forget about my treatment of him the past few years and start over."
"Why am I not surprised?" Lu Bu sighs. "He's too naïve for his own good." He walks past Cao and tries to open the door, only to find it locked and growls under his breath. "God damn it."
"He locked us in here, didn't he?" Cao inquires and Lu Bu simply nods. "Wonderful, I'm stuck in a room with someone who absolutely hates my guts."
"Don't act like you're the victim here, you spoiled brat." Lu Bu snaps. "You're a lot better off than most of our classmates, so don't even try to pull that shit."
"Or so you say." Cao murmurs as he walks to Liao's bed and sits on the edge, refusing to look at Lu Bu. "Just because we're classmates doesn't mean you know me that well."
"So you've forgotten already that we were friends since First Grade?" Lu Bu irately asks. Cao refuses to answer and Lu Bu huffs. "I guess your dad's money has gone to your head too. You used to be like the rest of us as kids, running around and getting involved in trouble all the time and not caring what the consequence was. Now you hardly acknowledge that part of your life, treating it like it makes you some kind of black sheep to your family."
"Are those the only reasons you hate me so blindly?" Cao's question seems to only cause the tension in the room to rise but Lu Bu turns his back to the other, not wanting the other to see him as he thinks back to the day this hatred started between the two of them.
Lu Bu and Cao Cao had been invited to a party by one of Cao's older cousins. They two were finishing eighth grade and Cao Cao's cousin was a high school student. They did not think anything of it and went, thinking they would start making impressions on their eventual classmates. Being a high school party, alcohol played a key role in all that happened that night including the split in their friendship that was only worsened by Cao's sudden family wealth later on. The two had a few cups of drink early in the night and became separated at some point during the festivities. Cao Cao began to feel tired and his cousin tells him to go sleep it off in his room but he finds Lu Bu in there already. Not wanting to spook his friend, Cao decides to wake the other and is surprised by Lu Bu's behavior when he wakes.
"Well, if it isn't Cao." Lu Bu chuckles dizzily. "I figured you'd come looking for me." He hiccups, causing him to bounce slightly. "Enjoying the evening?" Cao simply shrugs then is surprised by the leg that bumps into his side. "Why not lay down for a bit and relax?"
"I am starting to get a bit dizzy." Cao sighs then moves to lie down but ends up tripping and falling on top of Lu Bu. Too tired to move, Cao simply looks up at Lu Bu from the other's chest as the other laughs.
"You weren't wrong about that. You kinda missed the softer part of the bed, buddy." Cao blushes and glances away, softly murmuring an apology. "It's fine. I'm not complaining."
Cao looks back and finds himself glued to the dark brown eyes looking at him, almost in a trance of some sort. He always had this small curiosity in the back of his mind despite his family history and values. If his father even knew about this sliver of curiosity, the man would most likely disown him in a heartbeat but the four cups of beer he had before made him forget this small fact. He moves closer to Lu Bu's face and pecks the other on the lips, causing him to flush even redder than he was from the alcohol.
"W-what was that for?" Lu Bu asks, seeming surprised but very calm about what just happened.
"You mean you've never been curious about kissing a guy before?" Cao chuckles as he rests his chin on the other's chest. "Not even once?"
"It's not that, I just…" Lu Bu stutters then shakes his head "I thought your dad…"
"Dad's not here right now, is he?" Cao inquires as he straddles the other.
"N-no…"
"Then don't worry about him right now, Lu Bu." Cao chuckles. "We'll be in high school ourselves in a few months. Let yourself loose for once, see what it's like. This won't be our last party like this, so why hold back?" Lu Bu smirks then sloppily kisses Cao, who returns the kiss and eagerly nips on the other's lip during the contact. The two eventually pull apart in need of air and Cao grins. "That's what I'm talking about.
The rest of the night is somewhat a blur to Lu Bu aside from a few graphic details he recalls in bits and pieces but he was sure of one thing: he went to the party a virgin but did not leave it as one. He remembers waking up beside Cao Cao completely nude and vulnerable and did not understand what had happened until later that same day. That morning was the last time Lu Bu saw Cao Cao when he walked the other home, secretly promising never to speak about that night until the other was ready to talk about it. He never was. When they started their freshman year, Lu Bu was hurt to learn that Cao's father had rubbed off on him over the remainder of the summer and expressed a great dislike for male relationships. That was when this entire feud began and Lu Bu never had the will to blackmail the other to his peers. He could be mean and a bit pushy at times but he was not heartless, not like Cao Cao had become.
"Or is it because I was such a hypocrite before?"
The tone in Cao's voice had changed suddenly and it was quite obvious to Lu Bu. He was not pompous or overbearing like he normally was. He sounded…heartbroken. He turns to the other to find him holding his face in his hands, his shoulders slumped, and his body shaking. It seems like the other is about to cry. Ignoring his better judgment, Lu Bu rushes to the other's side, sitting on the bed beside him and instinctively embracing him. They may not have been close friends anymore but it still hurt him to see Cao so distressed, it was not like him.
"It's not like I really had a choice in all of this." The statement surprises Lu Bu and he forces the smaller man to look at him, feeling some of his heartstrings being tugged violently when he sees tears building in those dark eyes. He has not seen him sincerely cry in so long, so why was he crying now?
"What do you mean?"
"I never realized how close we were to one another until that night." Cao Cao murmurs. "And it scared me to the point where I was avoiding you to try and figure it out for myself. I thought it was just a moment of weakness but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how sincere the feelings were. If I were anyone else, I would've been thrilled but…"
Lu Bu's arms tighten around Cao. "Your father…"
"After what he did to two of my brothers for having the same feelings, I was afraid of the same happening to me. I didn't want to hurt you the way I did but I couldn't risk my father finding out." Cao is pulled against the other and willingly buries his face into his shoulder as he sniffles then tightly grabs the other's shirt as he begins to sob, gently being comforted by Lu Bu. "I-I never wanted you t-to hate me. I thought yo-you'd understand after what happened t-to De." He softly stammers between sobs. "T-there were so m-many times I wanted to s-say I was sorry but y-you didn't want to e-even sp-speak to me."
Lu Bu's insides clench painful at the words, realizing this was as much his fault as it was Cao's. The other tried to speak to him on several occasions but he always blew him off. He let his hate cloud his judgment so much that he never thought about listening to his former friend. He was not willing to learn why this sudden change occurred that hurt him so much. He remembers one of the last times Cao willingly approached him to speak to him and the guilt he feels only sinks deeper at the memory.
Lu Bu was hanging around after school, wandering the halls and waiting for Liao, who was a freshman at the time, to find him so they could ride home together after his club meeting. He was mindlessly roaming through the halls when he was approached by Cao Cao. He gave him a rather venomous glare as he walked up to him.
"Well, I'm surprised to find you here, Cao Cao." Lu Bu grumbles, crossing his arms as he looks the other over. Cao was a head shorter than him, he always had been since middle school, and he was wearing his signature black leather jacket with his family's name embroidered on the left half, placed about where his heart would be if he had one.
"I've been looking for you, Lu Bu." Cao states with a small smile that made Lu Bu burn with anger. "There's something we need to talk about."
"I thought I told you already that I wasn't interested in speaking to you." Lu Bu sharply remarks. "After the clear stand you took freshman year, I figured you'd be trying to avoid me more than anything."
"That's what I'm here to discuss actually." Cao sighs.
"And by discuss, you mean elaborate on the same point, right?"
Cao seems to be surprised by the comeback or he looked like he was at least. "You seem a bit more cynical than I remember you being. Whatever happened to the Lu Bu from our middle school years?"
The one little comment made something snap in the back of Lu Bu's mind as he suddenly grabs Cao Cao by his jacket and roughly pins him against the lockers nearby, eyes burning with anger as he glares directly into the other's nearly black eyes. "He died along with my heart after your damn proclamation about orientation, you arrogant asshole!" He growls, his grip tightening on the jacket. Cao's eyes seem to reflect genuine fear as they look back at Lu Bu's intense gaze. "You don't seem to get that being such a hypocrite is going to earn you some enemies. Trust me, you got your point across back in our freshman year and I can't believe I ever considered you a friend!" He throws Cao to the ground and turns then walks way as tears begin to spill, not seeing Cao Cao beginning to cry as well. "Do both of us a favor and leave me alone, you bastard!"
"I…I'm so sorry." Lu Bu whispers as he tightly hugs Cao. "I was so upset about everything that I never thought about the whys behind your words. You were struggling just as much as I was and I didn't make things any better for you. It never occurred to me to ask you because I was so heartbroken by it all."
"Then why didn't you expose me?" Lu Bu looks down at the other in surprise as the smaller male looks up. "You had the motive and the means, so why didn't you just tell everyone how much of a hypocrite I was?"
"Because I promised myself I would never sink that low." Lu Bu murmurs then leans down to touch his brow against Cao's. "After that night at the party, I promised that I wouldn't speak a word until you were ready to talk about it. It didn't matter how bad you hurt me with your words or how heartbroken I was, I wasn't going to break that promise and ruin your life because of something so ridiculous."
"Lu Bu…"
Cao leans up and softly kisses Lu Bu and the other returns the gesture, wrapping his arms around Cao's neck and laying back on the bed, pulling the other down with him. Cao carefully straddles Lu Bu and lets his hands wander down the other's chest and sides and back up again. After a few minutes, the two pull apart for air and Cao nuzzles into Lu Bu's neck. They remain like this for a few moments before Cao speaks up.
"Lu Bu..." The larger male hums in response and Cao shifts onto Lu Bu's chest to look the other in the eyes. "Do you think we can…start over?"
"You mean…" Cao nods. "What about your father?" Cao sadly looks away but looks back when he feels a hand on his cheek. "Nevermind…we'll take care of that when we get to it." He gently pecks the other on the lips. "I'd be happy to give us a chance."
"Are you two quite done…what the hell?!" The two turn to the door and find Xiahou Dun standing in the door way, looking very bewildered as Zhang Liao quietly giggles behind him.
"I told you I should've entered first." Liao says and slips past Dun into the room. "I see you two managed to solve your differences…and then some."
"Yeah," Lu Bu sighs as he and Cao Cao sit up "I guess I owe you one, Liao."
"You owe me nothing, Lu Bu." Liao states. "I'm just glad you two won't be fighting anymore." He walks over to the still shocked Dun and hugs him. "Are you really that surprised by this?"
"I knew you wanted them to talk out their problems but I walk in on my cousin straddling your best friend." Dun groans as he pinches the bridge of his nose. "I half expected one of them to have murdered the other to be honest."
Liao sighs and shakes his head then looks back at the two. "Are we good to go then?" Lu Bu nods and stands after Cao Cao climbs off him then approaches the two. "Great because we managed to finish getting everything together, so this weekend can officially begin. I just hope the couch can fit the both of you."
"We'll manage." Cao sighs as he walks up to Lu Bu and hugs him from behind, causing Liao to giggle.
"The fact he's shorter than you makes this a bit funny, Lu Bu." Liao says.
"He's always been shorter than me."
"Does that mean he's the girl in this relationship?" Dun asks. Lu Bu shakes his head, surprising the two. "How the hell does that work? He's a foot shorter than you."
"What can I say Dun?" Cao chuckles as he peeks around Lu Bu. "I like a challenge."
Dun sighs heavily and walks out of the room. "That's it. I'm done with you two for the night."
"Get back here." Liao laughs as he pursues Dun. "Are you really going to be like this?"
"After that comment, I'm not dealing with them any more tonight."
"Just tonight?"
"We have to deal with them in the morning, don't we?"
"Good point."
Lu Bu and Cao Cao simply chuckle as the taller of the two turns to embrace the other. "Are you sure about this?" Lu Bu asks.
"Yeah," Cao sighs as he looks up at Lu Bu "it's time I stop hiding behind lies for once in my life."
Lu Bu smiles and pecks Cao between the eyes. "There's the Cao Cao from middle school."
"Get your mushy stuff done and get out here, you two." Dun calls out from the living room.
"Let's no keep them waiting." Cao chuckles then leads Lu Bu out of the room, eager to spend this weekend of freedom with the new light of his life.