A Simple Touch
So, this story was floating around my 'unfinished stories' folder for a while, even though it was done, so figured why not post it? Add some more Bethan to the dying fandom.
No, I don't own MBAV or the characters. Just a fan who has fun screwing with the characters sometimes.
…
Ethan and Benny, two of the closest best friends anyone will ever meet, were currently lounging in Ethan's living room, watching a movie. A bowl of popcorn was sitting in between the two friends as they continued to watch their movie. Even completely focused on the movie, both boys seemed to be completely in sync with each other. At the same time, each boy raised the hand closest to the bowl and dived in, scraping to get as much popcorn as they could fit in their hands. In the process of doing that, their hands brushed against each other, sending a bolt of electricity shooting through them. Both boys stopped moving, hands still in the bowl of popcorn, neither looking at the other. Finally, Ethan broke the silence.
"Did you feel that?" he whispered, not looking at Benny.
"Yeah," the other boy said quietly. Both boys risked a glance at the other, eyes wide in surprise.
"You shocked me," Ethan finally said, reasoning with himself that's all it had been.
"Or you shocked me," Benny said, eyes going to where their hands were still against each other in the bowl. Ethan followed his eyes and both moved their hands away from the bowl. Both boys shook their heads, pretending that nothing happened. A silent agreement was made that the spark would never be mentioned.
…
A couple weeks passed, and both boys had forgotten about what they felt that day. Their hands had brushed since then, and neither felt anything [so they said]. Currently, Benny was playing a new video game while Ethan sprawled out on the couch, watching his dork of a best friend. He smiled as Benny threw the controller down triumphantly and began jumping up and down in excitement for beating the game. Ethan was laughing until Benny picked him up and hugged him tightly, screaming "I beat it!" over and over again in the other boy's ear. Ethan placed his hands on the taller boy's shoulders, attempting to push him away, with no success. Benny had locked his arms tightly around Ethan's torso, too excited to notice how close their bodies were. Once the taller boy had ceased all movements, his eyes widened and his smile fell. They stood there, Ethan's hands on Benny' shoulders, Benny's arms wrapped around him, silently staring at each other; slowly, in sync once again, their faces got closer and closer. Ethan could feel Benny's breath on his face as they inched closer. The front door opening snapped them out of whatever was about to happen. Jumping away from each other, the boys looked up as Ethan's parents walked in.
"Ethan! We're home," his mom said, smiling at the two boys.
"How was date night?" Ethan asked, wincing when his voice cracked slightly.
"It was fun. Benny, are you staying tonight?"
"I-I don't know," he said, glancing at Ethan. A faint blush covered Ethan's cheeks as he avoided Benny's eyes.
"All right. Well, goodnight boys."
"Night," they say together, finally meeting each other's eyes. As Ethan's parents left the room, the taller of the two plopped onto the couch. Ethan hesitantly sat next to him, making sure not to get too close.
"So," Ethan began, glancing at his best friend, "Never happened?" Benny couldn't mistake the hope that shined in Ethan's eyes, so he let a faint smile on his lips before speaking.
"Never happened." Both boys shared a smile, but Benny didn't miss the glance Ethan made to his lips before looking away again.
…
Another couple of weeks, and the almost kiss was forgotten. Or so each boy thought. Every time Benny would see a couple kiss in the school hallways or in public, he cringed internally at how Ethan and him could've been that way, and how he [almost] (for he would never admit it) wanted it to happen. And every time Ethan saw a couple with their arms wrapped around each other, he remembered how it had felt to have Benny's arms tight around him, their faces so close. Neither boy spoke of it, and assumed the other had forgotten.
"Hey E," Benny said as he walked towards him after school. "I can't come over tonight. Gotta help Grandma with some stuff around the house."
"That sucks. But alright, Sarah's babysitting so we'd probably only watch a movie anyways."
"Yeah..."Both boys began the walk home, thinking about their conversation. I shouldn't be upset that Benny can't come over. He's over all the time. What's one night's difference going to make? Ethan thought to himself, glancing at Benny.
I am not jealous that he's spending the night watching movies with Sarah. Why would I be jealous? She's never showed any interest in him. What's one night? Why do I care anyway? Benny was mentally arguing with himself. Finally he looked at his other half, willing all these thoughts away. Stopping at Benny's house, Ethan looked kind of sad at not going straight to his house with Benny.
"Well…" started Ethan, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "I guess… see you Monday?"
"Yeah. Or maybe I can swing by tomorrow, if I'm not too busy."
"Sounds good," Ethan went to make a move to leave but before he could he felt arms wrap around him in a loose hug. Before he could hug back [or secretly enjoy the contact], they were gone.
"S-sorry," Benny mumbled, cheeks flushed a light pink.
"It's fine Benny. We're friends. Friends hug," Ethan said, hoping his voice didn't give away how much that simple hug meant to him.
"I suppose you're right. Well, later E."
"Later."
…
Ethan woke up Saturday to his computer dinging with a video chat request. Groaning, he trudged his way to the computer, a faint smile on his lips as he saw who the incoming call was from. Hitting 'accept', Benny's face appeared on the screen.
"Morning E!" Benny said cheerfully. Ethan immediately became suspicious of the tone in his best friend's voice.
"Morning," he replied, muffling a yawn with his hand.
"So, I was thinking today we could go catch a movie. Just the two of us?"
"Um… sure I guess. Why?" Benny's smile grew before he spoke.
"Grandma wants me to "practice" magic by moving some of the furniture around the house," Benny said, making air quotations around practice and rolling his eyes. "So, I'm avoiding her at all costs. I'll be at your house in about 10 minutes." With that, Benny left the video chat. Ethan took a quick shower and got dressed. As he was putting on his shoes Benny burst into his room.
"Hey Benny," Ethan said, chuckling at his friend who sighed impatiently.
"Come on E! Let's get going!" With that, he bounded out of the room, and Ethan followed, shaking his head at his dork of a best friend.
…
The theater was pretty empty since it was still early in the day. Benny and Ethan had gotten themselves seats in the very back row, away from other people. Instead of fighting over the middle armrest, they decided to share it, placing both their arms right up against the other. Neither boy admitted to feeling the shock that shot through them at the contact. Ethan smiled when he felt a twitch in Benny's fingers, which were resting next to his own. Without looking, he twitched back a little. He smiled as he felt Benny's fingers twitch more. They continued to twitch fingers until the movie began. They sat there, fingers slightly intertwined as they watched the movie.
We're basically holding hands, Benny thought, not looking at Ethan. Should I be enjoying this as much as I am?
I feel like all my nerves are on high alert. This is not something I should be feeling with my guy best friend, but I honestly don't want it to stop, Ethan thought, glancing at their almost interlaced fingers, a faint smile on his face. He felt eyes on him and looked up to see Benny looking at him, a similar smile on his face.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Ethan whispered to Benny.
"Like what?"
"Like you have something on your mind."
"Oh. Sorry," with that, Benny went back to watching the movie, tightening his fingers around Ethan's some more in the process. Ethan copied him and went back to watching the movie. About 10 minutes passed before Benny felt like he was being stared at. Turning his head, he saw Ethan looking at him now.
"Like what you see?" Benny says jokingly, a smirk on his face now. Ethan just shakes his head and smirks back, still looking at Benny. Ethan's smirk fell off his face as he studied Benny. Benny noticed his best friend's change in expression and scrunched his eyes up in confusion. His eyes widened as Ethan leaned over and pushed his lips against the other boy's. He smiled when Benny kissed back willingly. When Ethan pulled back for a breath, he saw Benny smiling at him, shock in his eyes. Ethan's heart broke when he realized what they just did. His eyes widening in fright, he let go of Benny's hand and ran out of the theater, leaving a confused Benny behind him.
…
Benny ran to Ethan's house, in shock about what had happened. He assumed Ethan had gone home, but he wasn't sure, so he figured he would just start there first. He found Ethan sitting on his front porch, head in his hands. "Ethan," Benny said, relieved to see his best friend was okay.
"Benny!" Ethan said, getting up and backing away from the other boy. "I am so sorry. I just got caught up in the moment, and I swear that it will never happen again." Benny just watched Ethan, and honestly, he looked like he was arguing internally with himself. Benny sighed before speaking.
"E, nothing will change, and we'll act like nothing happened. You're my best friend, I don't wanna lose what we have. Okay? I swear its fine."
"Thank you."
…
Benny's eyes traveled from Ethan's eyes to his lips and back. Ethan nervously bit his lip as he shook his head furiously.
"No Benny. Not gonna happen!"
"Come on E, just once."
"We've already done it once and we agreed we wouldn't do it again, EVER!"
"No one will ever know!"
"We'll know!"
"Ethan! We've done it before."
"That was a spur of the moment thing remember? And we agreed to never do it again."
"So you mean to tell me you haven't thought about it, or doing it again?" Ethan just shakes his head, not looking at Benny.
"I haven't. I've blocked it out, and forgot about it."
"Well I haven't and I don't think you have either. Remember how close we were when it happened? How a simple touch sent us both spiraling into something we never planned to happen?"
"Benny…" Ethan said, a warning tone to his voice. Benny just smiled and stepped closer and lowered his voice some.
"Ethan. I know you think about it. I know I do."
"Well maybe you need to not think about it. We swore to each other that nothing would change after that happened."
"Nothing has changed. And nothing will change if we do it again."
"Benny. We can't!"
"Who says we can't? Come on E, I can see it in your eyes. You want to, just like I do."
"Benny," Ethan sighs, avoiding the taller of the two's eyes and stepping away, "we just can't. I'm going home now. I'll see you tomorrow." As Ethan turned away, he glanced over his shoulder at Benny. Benny looked at him and smiled sadly.
"You know it'll happen eventually."
…
Benny smiled as Ethan slammed the taller boy against the wall and kissed him hard on the lips. Benny placed his hands on Ethan's lower back, pulling him closer. The two boys continued to heavily make out until Ethan pulled away and looked at Benny.
"Why'd you stop?" Benny asked, afraid that Ethan had changed his mind again.
"I-I don't want things to change between us," Ethan whispered, stepping out of Benny's embrace as he came to his senses.
"Ethan," Benny said quietly, grabbing the other boy's face. "Things are gonna change and be different; especially after everything that's happened… it would be impossible for things to stay the same."
"But… what if… this doesn't work? I don't want to hate you." Benny chuckled and kissed Ethan softly.
"Fine. How 'bout this? Best friends first… lovers second?" Ethan's face heated up at the word 'lovers', making Benny laugh again before locking his arms around Ethan again. "Sound good?" Ethan just nodded before their lips locked again, neither boy pulling away this time.
Aw, this was adorable, wasn't it?
I hope the readers think so too.
Thanks for reading.
Keep the dream alive!
-JustMe133