A/n: This is for yousuckatlov3 on tumblr for making a post that gave me the idea! (yousuckatlov3 . tumblr post/59366393776/can-someone-please-write-a-fanfic -where-the-dead)
Disclaimer: I own nothing, it wasn't even my idea. Besides, if I owned DPS the ending would have been way different.
Though the cave in the woods had initially been just a place to hold club meetings, the newly resurrected Dead Poets Society had taken to using it for an unsupervised place to hang out or blow off steam. Which is how the boys came to be sitting inside it playing Truth or Dare on a Saturday night. Laughter filled the air as Neil finished reciting his lines for A Midsummer's Night Dream in a terribly done Russian accent.
"Okay," he half shouted over the laughter of his friends. "I'm picking Charlie. Truth or dare?"
"First of all, it's Nuwanda. Second, dare," he said dramatically.
Neil rolled his eyes. "Okay, Nuwanda, I dare you to go outside and howl at the moon like a wolf." Charlie grinned.
"Easy!" He rose from his seat on a rock and scrambled out of the cave. Cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify the sound, he let out a scream. "Ah-ooo! Ah-ah-ah-ooo." He was about to complain about the simplicity of the dare when a howl responded to his own. With an undignified squeal, he flew back into the safety of the cave. There was a round of laughter as he clutched at his heart before telling them to shut up. "Todd!" he exclaimed, the other boy cringing. "Truth or dare?"
"C-can I pass?" he asked hopefully. His question was met with a chorus of no's combined with Cameron's "Just pick one, already."
"Um, okay. Truth, I guess." He prayed that the question wouldn't be too embarrassing.
Charlie smirked, the glint in his eye making Todd cringe again. He just knew that the boy had picked a painful question, otherwise, why would Charlie look so happy with himself. "Do you like Neil?" Todd swallowed hard.
"Of c-course. He's my best friend," he stuttered out, eyes fixed to the ground, refusing to look at the boy in question. If he had looked, he would have seen the touched smile that flitted briefly over Neil's face before Charlie spoke again.
"That's not what I mean, and you know it," Charlie said firmly.
"What do you mean, then?" Neil asked, noticing that Todd seemed unable to respond to the boy's exclamation.
Charlie smirked. "I mean, do you like Neil, Todd." He sent his friend a hard look as the boy's face turned pink. "The way Knox likes Chris," he added. Cameron gasped at the thought, looking scandalized. Meeks and Pitts shared a look as Knox looked at Todd in surprise that quickly became a shrug and nod of understanding acceptance. Neil glanced at his roommate, watching as his already pink face turned a violent shade of red, before turning to Charlie. His eyes wide, he shook his head no, mouthing to him, "Shut up!" They had a quick battle of facial expressions and silently mouthed exclamations that Neil won. He looked from Charlie to the other boys and back, slightly inclining his head.
Taking the hint, the boy stood. "Who wants to go sneak in the kitchen and grab some cookies?" he asked, pulling Cameron from his seat.
The other boys hastily agreed, rushing from the cave to give Neil and Todd some space. Neil stood and moved cautiously to where his friend sat attempting to curl in on himself and disappear. He sat down next to Todd, their arms almost touching. "If I'd known he was going to ask that we never would have played."
Todd peaked over at Neil before again turning his face away. "You hate me now, don't you?" he whispered softly, feeling as if he could be sick from the humiliation any second.
"No," Neil replied firmly.
"N-no?" His shock had caused him to actually look at the other boy, who held his gaze steadily.
"Exactly. No." With a smile he added, "You really have problems understanding that word, don't you?"
"Only when you say it," Todd said so softly that Neil almost missed it. Almost. The boy shifted his hand until their fingers brushed lightly as they sat between them. Todd glanced at him in confusion but didn't move away. "Are we still friends?" he asked.
It was Neil's turn to look confused. "Of course we are. Why wouldn't we?"
"Because it must make you uncomfortable knowing I…that I have these f-feelings I shouldn't. I've tried not to, I swear."
"I'm not uncomfortable. I'm actually," he paused, collecting himself, "really relieved." Todd looked at him quizzically. "I thought I was the only one feeling like this. When Charlie…I thought you'd be disgusted at the idea. But you weren't. And that has to mean something, both of us feeling this way."
Todd frowned. Surely he hadn't heard that right? There was no possible way that Neil, nice, funny, amazing Neil, could like him. A small voice in his head reminded him that Neil didn't even so much as glance at the rude magazines the other boys would sometimes pass around. He decided, for once, to listen to it, and asked hesitantly, "So, you actually like me?"
"Yes."
"Not just as a best friend?" Todd hoped he didn't sound as pathetic to Neil as he did to himself. If his friend's warm smile was anything to go by, he didn't.
"I like you the way Knox likes Chris," he replied. Feeling bold, he added, "I think I want to kiss you now. Is that okay?" Todd's eyes got wide in shock. He nodded slowly in affirmation. Neil leaned forward a little before chuckling at the other boy's still wide-eyed expression. "Close your eyes," he whispered. Todd complied immediately. Neil leaned forward slowly until their lips were only a hair apart. He realised that it could never be taken back, the kiss. They could deny their confessions until their dying day, but it wouldn't erase the kiss. He decided it didn't matter and closed the gap between them.
Todd inhaled sharply at the sensation. The kiss was short, nothing more than the simple pressing together of lips, devoid of teeth, tongue, or urgency. Neil's lips were a dry warmth against his that lasted hardly a few wonderful seconds before they were gone. He exhaled shakily as he opened his eyes. "Wow," he breathed.
"Todd?"
"Yeah?"
"Was that…that…that was your first kiss wasn't it?" A blush spread across the boy's face. "Yeah, I had a feeling." Neil felt Todd's hand move slightly beside his. Taking hold of it, he intertwined their fingers.
"Hey, Neil," Todd asked quietly, peeking shyly at the boy seated next to him.
"Huh?"
Todd looked away quickly before turning back to look at him fully. "Who was your first kiss?"
"Lucy McKay. Her family went to our church when I was a kid." Neil chuckled at the look on his friend's face. "And because I know you're curious, no. She kissed me. I stole her doll so she tackled me. Then she kissed me and ran away. We were seven. You know, it's weird."
"What is?" Todd asked with a frown. Neil's eyes flickered across Todd's face before he grinned.
"You're the only person I've wanted to kiss since then." Neil loved the red flush that tinted the other boy's cheeks at his words. He wasn't at all prepared, though, for his response.
"M-maybe we should do it again," Todd stammered, face burning. "Just to be sure, I mean."
"How…forward. Not at all what I've come to expect from you, Mr. Anderson." Neil grinned enthusiastically, hoping the boy next to him couldn't hear his pounding heart.
"Carpe diem," Todd said softly before Neil's lips were once again on his, the boy's hand cupping his cheek. "It's getting late. We should head back," he whispered as they broke apart. Neil agreed, commenting on how glad he was that they shared a room. Clambering out of the cave, they headed back to school grounds, walking hand in hand until they reached the edge of the forest.
A/n: Thanks for reading! Drop me a review!