Heinz knew he had never been "handsome", or society's definition of handsome, anyway. He had come to accept this, he supposed. But sometimes, looking at yourself in the mirror, you can't help but notice every single little flaw that affects your appearance.
Heinz had simply meant to get dressed, to change out of the clothes he had worn to bed into newer, fresher ones. But, passing by the mirror, he noticed something in his back, in the way it almost looked like is was starting to hunch over, that made him pause. Of course, upon closer inspection, the mirror revealed that his back was perfectly normal, and even if iti was /i starting to hunch over, it wasn't noticeable. But, when inspecting his back, he noticed several other things in his appearance that bothered him.
He was too thin. With his shirt off like that, he could see the faint outline of his ribs, which became even more prominent if he tried to stand up really straight. His arms were cylinders, and when he tried to flex, he just ended up looking ridiculous. He was 16 years old, yet he had the body of a 10 year old.
He hated some of his facial features. His nose came to a sharp point which made it like it wasn't even a human nose anymore. He had high cheekbones and a long chin, which, combined with his thinness, made his face look sunken and almost sickly. His eyes were too big, his hair was always too messy, the list could just go on and on.
There was a soft knock on the door, followed by the voice Heinz most wanted to hear. "Heinz? Are you ready yet?"
He looked down at himself and realized he still had yet to put a shirt on, but before he could retrieve it from the bed, the door opened, revealing the smiling form of Perry. Heinz instantly perked up, and even though he still was feeling less than confident, he put a smile on for Perry.
At the look of Heinz standing half naked in front of the mirror, Perry naturally had to tease him. "Oh, checking out your hot bod, are we?" Perry grinned, moving to sit on the edge of the bed in the middle of the room.
Heinz looked away, embarrassed to make eye contact. "Yea, something like that..." He couldn't hide the sadness in his voice, but he hoped Perry hadn't picked up on it.
But, of course, Perry was the one person in the world who truly understood Heinz, and he picked up on the sad tone right away. Perry looked at him concernedly, before opening his arms and gesturing for him to come over. "Hey," Perry said gently. "Come here..."
Heinz obeyed, of course. He walked forward until he was standing in front of Perry, draping his arms over the other boy's shoulders. Perry wrapped his arms around Heinz's waist and put his chin on Heinz's stomach, looking up at him. Perry's touch sent shivers up him spine, and Heinz had to stop himself from curling up in his embrace right there.
"You know how much I love you, right?" Perry said softly.
Heinz looked away, too embarrassed to look at Perry. Even after everything they had gone through, Heinz sometimes still wondered what Perry saw in him. Perry, who, just a couple months ago, was the most popular guy in school. All the girls threw themselves at him and all the guys wanted to be his friend. He could've loved anyone he wanted, but he chose Heinz over everything. Heinz, who was too thin, too ugly, too quiet, and, in Heinz's mind, didn't deserve to be loved.
"Hey..." Perry said, bringing Heinz's attention back to him. "What's wrong?"
Heinz answered with his own question. "Why did you choose me?" he asked, sadly.
Perry should've taken offense at the question, but he was more concerned about Heinz's frame of mind. Perry frowned at him, pulling away a bit to look at Heinz properly. "Heinz, I thought you were over this..."
"I am, I am..." Heinz said with more confidence than he felt. "I guess some habits are just hard to break..."
Perry suddenly placed a small kiss on his stomach. Heinz almost recoiled. That was not the answer he was expecting. "You wanna know what I love about you?"
Perry moved to place another gentle kiss on Heinz's hip, where he'd been holding him earlier. "Well, for starters, I love the way we fit together perfectly, and I can hold you like this."
He placed a trail of kisses until he reached the middle of Heinz's chest, right over his heart. "I love how strong you are, and how brave you are, and how you can stand up to everything." Heinz shivered from feeling Perry's breath on his skin.
Perry continued, now having to stand up, until he reached the top of Heinz's shoulder. "I love the way you look when your wearing a shirt that's just a little too big, and the top of your shoulder just pokes through."
He moved then to Heinz's neck, which Perry knew was one of his sensitive spots. Heinz let out a long sigh, relaxing more into Perry. "I love the way you melt when I touch and kiss you," Perry said, a little more sensually.
He trailed kisses along his jaw until he reached the top of his ear. "I love the way your ears turn red when your embarrassed."
Perry moved to kiss his cheek, which was bright red. "I love the way you blush when I'm doing something that makes you feel loved." He noticed a stray tear falling down Heinz's cheek, and kissed that away as well.
He kissed Heinz's nose. "I love the way your nose wrinkles when you're smiling or laughing."
Heinz's eyes, which were closed. "I love the way your eyes shine when you're doing something that makes you happy."
Perry moved to kiss the top of his head. "I love the way your hair looks in the morning when you've just woken up."
And finally, Perry placed a gentle kiss on Heinz's lips, which he held there for longer. "And I love the amazing things you say that make me fall in love with you more and more every day."
When Perry pulled away, Heinz was finally smiling, even though tears were falling down his face. Perry kissed him again. "Of course, there are tons more reasons, but I think we'd be here all day if I were to list every single thing." Heinz laughed.
Heinz had never felt more loved than he did right then. And he realized he was loved ibecause/i of his faults and his quirks, not iin spite/i of them. He never thought he'd find someone like Perry, who saw him at his worst, and still loved him and cared for him. It was the greatest feeling in the world, and Heinz didn't want to be anywhere else right now.
Needless to say, Heinz never needed to ask that question again.