Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.
Cheren glanced up at the source of the only sound he could currently hear, and grimaced at the sight of the time it displayed. Almost 9 o'clock. That could only mean one thing, it was almost time for him to walk to the subway station and catch a train to Kyoto University. That in itself wasn't the cause for the grievance, it was the fact that his first class, at 10am, was Art. More specifically, Creative Design. He'd been in the class for just over three weeks, and he hadn't improved at all in that time. He'd tried getting extra help with Professor Juniper, but she had two other classes to teach, she had little time to help him with a little independent study.
It wasn't that the nineteen year old was necessarily bad at art, it was just he couldn't seem to wrap his head around the subject, or understand half of the concepts. When using a model to sketch, he could quite easily capture the image wonderfully, but when it came to the 'creative' part of the design, he just couldn't do it. It was almost as if his imagination was blocked by his critical thinking, there had been various times when no matter how many questions he asked the professor, nothing sprang to mind.
Sighing, the noirette rose to his feet, carried his empty breakfast bowl and cup over to the sink, so that he could wash them when he got home. Shrugging on his jacket, the teen chewed on the inside of his cheek in worry and scolded himself for doing so almost immediately, there was nothing to be done about it, he still had some weeks to get a hang of it all. Of course he had to, he needed a creative class to be able to finish his course in the college. It was the requirements of becoming a professor himself, not of art, but of physics. It was his favourite subject and the thought of being able to teach it lifted his spirits somewhat, as he carried himself off to his train.
"Okay class, settle down." The Professor shuffled papers around her desk as the chattering students quieted into their seats, Cheren amongst them situated at the back. He preferred to sit there so that he could keep his work away from the other students, nothing against them or anything, he just wasn't fond of others being able to see his work. He glanced to the only person next to him, seeing as the other side of him was a spare seat, and saw that Bianca was doodling cats in the corner of her notebook again, and was drawing smiley faces onto them. The blonde was Cheren's closest friend, as ditsy as she could be sometimes, she was fun to be around, always smiling. Her large green hat was slightly tilted back, so that it wouldn't fall over her eyes when she leaned down to draw, her tongue sticking slightly out of the corner of her mouth in concentration, it was cute enough to make Cheren smile.
Three knocks on the door, made the male turn towards the front of the class, and Bianca look up, but it was nothing unusual, Professor Juniper was always having people drop by with questions about various things. Stepping over to the door, she swung it open to reveal a brunette male, blue jacket pulled closed over his chest, grey khakis hanging over red sneakers. Lifting a hand slightly, the teen smiled in apology "I'm so sorry I'm late, I got a little lost..."
Wide eyes, Cheren glanced at Bianca, who had the same expression of surprise on her face. The boy- it was Touya! There was no mistaking the mess of brown hair on top of that clumsy boy, marred with a similar jacket that he used to sport when he was small. The pair knew him from when they were children, they had been in the same class together in Elementary, but unfortunately, Touya's parents had made him move to the other side Kyoto for a work transfer, they had lost touch after that. Cheren and him had been thick as thieves back then, always hanging off one another, their parents often laughed about how the pair were two sides of the same coin. Touya was always the one that could get Cheren to smile, no matter how sullen of a mood the boy had happened to be in, and the taller had always been the one to apply the logic to the brunette's ideas in order to lift them off. It had broke the noirette's heart to have his best friend leave, the fact that he was here now, lifted his spirits to no end.
"That's alright, go take your seat at the back." The professor wavered to the empty seat next to Cheren, and with a nod, the brunette headed briskly over to the desk. Completely spaced, the teen didn't notice the pair as he headed over to the space allocated, and it wasn't until he had sat down did he notice the two staring at him, and squeaked in surprise.
"Cheren! Bianca! What- How- What're you doing here?" The teen pipped up happily.
"Well obviously we're in the same class as you." Cheren replied, his surprise expression shifting into a smirk.
Bianca giggled, bouncing in her seat. "It's so good to see you again Touya! It's been years! How are you?"
Lifting his backpack up onto the desk, the brunette unzipped it, and dipped his hand inside. "I'm good! I actually just moved back to this side of the city! I was doing the art course online, but now I'm closer I can actually attend!" With saying that, he pulled out a binder with one hand, and his signature red, black and white hat with the other.
"What're you studying? I might be in some more of your other classes!" The blonde asked, leaning around the noirette to see him better.
Placing the hat on his head, Touya's grin faltered a little. "Actually, I'm not in any other classes... The other courses I'm taking are online. They're all art orientated- I'm actually studying for a job in animation, hoping one day I can release my own manga!" The grin perked back up at that last bit.
"Really? That's so cool! I'll be the first one in line to buy your manga! Have you gotten a story picked out yet? Plot? Is your protagonist a girl or boy? Maybe you could-"
"Quiet down back there please!" The professor interjected Bianca's little ramble, and the blonde shrank back into her seat a little.
The rest of the conversation had to be mutters and whispers, because Juniper had insisted on the class being basically silent whilst they copied down their assignment for the end of the month, which was to draw, paint, sketch or construct something from nature which they valued as a representative to something they loved. As it turned out, Touya had lived only a little way off from Cheren's apartment, just three blocks away, but apart from that, the noirette noted that the smaller hadn't changed at all, and he was glad. Bianca's bubbling away took up most of the conversation, the male could hardly get a word in edgeways, but he didn't mind. Touya and Bianca conversing across his desk managed to keep his mind off of his dread over the assignment of which they were copying notes down for.
As the hour and a half long class drew to a close, the three of them stood at the back talking for a few minutes, as they had finished copying down the notes. After exchanging numbers, Touya's gaze shifted over Cheren's shoulder as his entire face lit up bright. "N!" He cried as he dashed passed the noirette.
"Who the Hell is..." He let his sentence hang as he turned to see a tall, green haired teen standing in the doorway. Wearing a ponytail fell just above the waist against a white shirt that was worn over a black turtleneck, the stranger grinned at the oncoming brunette, and opened his arms to let him jump onto him, the smaller wrapping his arms around the neck of the taller which almost knocked the green haired's black and white hat off.
Feeling a stab of jealousy at the embrace, Cheren moved towards the pair, Bianca following behind. "Who's this?" The noirette asked, a tiny hint of disdain letting itself show.
"Oh! This is my boyfriend of two months, N Harmonia, he attends the University too! He's taking classes in agricultural. He's studying to be able to work with animals!" He let go of the taller as he spoke, and moved his arms down to the newcomer's waist to wrap around it. For some reason, this made Cheren uncomfortable, and had to look away, but he couldn't figure out why it did so... Because it was a change he hadn't expected? Perhaps. The fact that he was gay took him aback a little, but it was no big deal to him, after all, he had discovered he was gay himself at fifteen.
"Oh, hello N! What an unusual name!" Holding out her hand, N took it and shook it with a pleasant enough smile.
"Thank you, it's short for Natural. My father has something for different names." Turning to Cheren, he held out his hand. "And you might be...?"
"Cheren." He stated shortly, taking his hand for a brief moment, before retracting it.
"Pleasure to meet you Cheren..." Stepping back, the stranger's smile didn't quite reach his eyes, until he turned his attention back to Touya, who was still hanging off him. "I've got to go, Professor , we still on for tonight though?"
Nodding, the brunette gave him a light squeeze. "Of course!"
Touching their foreheads together with a laugh, the green haired teen pulled away from the smaller. "Alright. I'll pick you up later, but I've got to get going."
"Oh! Alright, I'll see you later then."
Stepping back, the stranger nodded towards Bianca and Cheren. "Nice to meet both of you."
"Oh same! Maybe we can all hang out some time!" The blonde pipped up, and Cheren shot her a warning look, which caused her to shrink back a little.
Nodding, N began walking backwards. "Sure, arrange it with Touya. See you!" And with a flash of a grin, the newcomer turned and quickly walked off.
Crossing his arms over his chest, Cheren couldn't help but feel animosity towards Touya's boyfriend. He couldn't quite place his finger on why he didn't exactly like him, maybe it was the shock again.
Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to Bianca and Touya who were saying goodbye, as Touya had to run to catch his train home. "No worries! And Cheren." Turning towards the noirette with a grin, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. "I'll see you around too, 'k?" He then let go.
Stepping back, the taller blinked a couple of times in surprise at the hug, but forced a smile. The contact had shot a tremor up his spine as his stomach did back flips, and he wasn't sure why the embrace had effected him like that, but he assumed it was the surprise of it. "Sure thing. Stay sharp." He stated blankly as the other waved goodbye and headed off.
"What's wrong with you?" Bianca asked, turning to Cheren with a concerned expression.
"Nothing. Let's go, you've got English." He said in a bored tone that didn't match the racing thoughts in his mind. What was this feeling he couldn't shake?
Two weeks had passed since Cheren had met Touya's significant other, and he still hadn't warmed up to him. He had to grin and bear his presence whenever the four of them hung out, but so far, he couldn't help but think of all the flaws in the newcomer. How he sometimes snorted when he laughed, how he felt the need to constantly be in physical contact with Touya no matter where they were, how his long hair seemed to get in his way all the time but he didn't want to cut it. Even the way he ate his food bothered him. He ignored it for the most part, as he didn't want to upset Touya, after all, despite being apart for so long, they were back to being the best of friends.
Back up to the present, a Saturday to be precise, and Cheren was back at his apartment getting ready for Touya coming over to work on their art projects together. Part of the assignment was to write a theory essay on various things they could've chosen and how they would use art to represent it, remembering that it has to be picked from nature that the art is constructed, before presenting the final piece, so the brunette was coming on over to help Cheren make a decision. Bianca couldn't make it because of her job, but she assured them that she would be fine for a study date another day.
Setting a bowl of grapes onto the table alongside some sesame bakauke for snacks, the noirette idly wondered if Touya still liked this as a snack. It was what the brunette's mother used to make for them when they were kids. It was quick, easy, and better for them then candy and chips. He glanced towards the clock which read 4pm, and the teen straightened out his blue jacket, smoothing down his white shirt with red trimming. No sooner had he sighed at himself for worrying when he shouldn't do, did he hear the buzzer sound. Stepping over to it, he adjusted his glasses before he clicked the button to allow communication with the outside of the building to occur. "Hello?"
"Hi Cheren! It's Touya!" The happy voice sounded clear as a bell through the box, and it only served to make the teen smile.
"Hey, I'll buzz you up."
"Thanks!"
Clicking off, the noirette headed over to his apartment door and unlocked it so the other could let himself in, and strolled back into the kitchen where it was set up for them to work. He settled into a chair, and heard his door open, and a rustling as the brunette took his shoes and jacket off and put them away. Shuffling papers in front of him, the taller called out to the other "in here" to let him know which way to head. The apartment was relatively small, one bedroom, one bathroom, and a kitchen and living room adjoined, but the door to the bedroom was the first thing you saw as you enter the apartment, and he didn't exactly want Touya barging into his room.
Of course the brunette didn't, and headed straight into the adjoined room.
"Hey! Wow, already all set up?" He asked as he sat in a chair opposite the noirette.
Blinking, Cheren offered a blank look. "Well yes, I didn't see the point in wasting time with setting up when you got here."
"Always prepared... Grapes and bakauke? Just like mom used to give us." The smaller gave a laugh. "Alright, where shall we start? You picked out your theory subjects?"
"Of course." Cheren picked up the paper nearest to him, ever glad that the other recognised the chosen snacks and read out the subjects which he planned on writing on. "I picked three, each from a different genre so to speak. First, music, I'm rather fond of Skrillex, so I chose that. Second, food, I picked grapes. And lastly, science, and I chose physics."
When he finished reading it out, he looked over the page to see the brunette sat there with a wide grin.
"Excellent choices! For mine I picked friendship, paint brushes, and piano music!" He shifted around in his seat as he picked up his bag saying the words as he did so. Once on his lap, he pulled some papers out and layeredthem out in front of him, before returning his backpack to the floor. "Have you picked your final one yet?"
Avoiding his gaze, Cheren moved his pages around on the table. He hadn't picked a subject yet for that, it was hard enough choosing the supporting ones. He just couldn't think of anything that he would want to spend so much time trying to paint, he had considered physics, but he just didn't feel that enough heart would go into the artwork.
"No... It's a difficult to make, but we still have a couple of weeks to figure out. Why, have you chosen yours?" Glancing back up to the brown eyes that stared at him with enthusiasm regarding the project, he had never known anyone to be this excited about a subject. It intrigued him, and it made the noirette smile in a vague curiosity.
"Well." The brunette smirked sheepishly, before shuffling some of his papers around and held up a picture. "I've decided to do it on N." The picture clutched in his hand was just N leaning against a wall, almost as if he hadn't noticed that Touya was taking a picture of him, if it wasn't for the fact he was looking straight at the camera, one would assume it was a sneak photo.
That did nothing to alleviate the sinking feeling deep in the pit of Cheren's stomach. The moment he set his eyes on the photo, he had to force the smile to stay on his face, but looked away so the smaller wouldn't see the disappointment in his eyes. "Oh, nice. The project is supposed to be one something we love... I thought you two had only been dating a couple of months?" The question had been nagging him for a while, just how serious were the two? He had slapped himself a couple of times for wondering that, why did he care about their relationship? It wasn't his business what the other did. That was something he had tried to convince himself, but the nagging sensation in his mind never left his skull.
The question that Cheren had asked led Touya to place the picture down, redness growing in his cheeks. "Well, I love being around him, so I gathered that would be the same thing, right?"
Snapping his gaze back to the smaller, relief settled into his mind. So they weren't that serious. Wait, what was that thought for? He shook his head at himself, not really sure why these thoughts were buzzing around his mind, it was uncalled for.
"Yeah, I would assume Professor Juniper would accept that." He spoke between gritted teeth, the forced smile still worn. "Shall we begin writing?"
"Sure thing!"
With that said, the two of them began their essays. There was small talk made amongst it, but the two were so deeply engrossed into their work, that they didn't make for good conversation. The snacks were the only time the two of them looked up from their essays, even then, their eyes went straight back to their work afterwards. That was until they each finished their first essay, and had to construct a small sketch to accompany their essay.
"What're you drawing for Skrillex?" The brunette pipped up, ever eager eyes staring curiously at the noirette.
Moving some blank paper to sit before him, Cheren stared at it for a few minutes before nodding in agreement with himself at the thought of what he put down in his essay. "A butterfly. The colours could represent the beat, and how bright the music normally is."
"Oooh~ Great idea!" The smaller bounced in his seat, as he grabbed some plain paper too. "For friendship, I've decided to sketch a rocky beach. The rocks are the friends, and the sea is the fights and disagreements. Sure they wash over us, but if we're true friends, then the friends remain when the conflict is gone."
A real smile appeared on Cheren's face at that moment, the meaning had taken him by surprise. The other had clearly given this a lot of thought, and it sounded like an excellent idea.
"That's a great plan." Reaching forward, the noirette took some grapes and placed them by the side of his page. "Shall we begin the sketches, or work on more essays now?"
"I like the idea of beginning to draw now. Whilst we have the ideas still in our heads." Grabbing a handful of grapes himself, the smaller popped a couple into his mouth.
Nodding, Cheren picked up a pencil that lay just a way off. "Alright, let's begin."
Touya set about straight away, carefully lining his page with light pencil strokes as a guideline for thicker more permanent lines later. Cheren, on the other hand, stared at his page for a moment with a blank look. A butterfly. Whilst it was a good choice in theory, applying it was going to be a lot harder. The professor stated specifically that they weren't to have a reference, that they were to let their imagination do the work for this project. Shaking his head quickly at himself, he turned the paper to landscape, telling himself that he was being silly, it was just a butterfly, preschoolers drew them, it wasn't that difficult.
Pressing the pencil tip to the paper, Cheren marked his light lines in a curved angle on one side of the page, the shape of a wing beginning to take place. Once he had finished that, he stared at the other half of the page, and set about carefully and slowly, copying the wing shape on the other side. Butterflies were symmetrical right?
He was about half way through, when the brunette lifted his head. "How's it going so far?"
Looking up, Cheren pushed his glasses up his nose, as they had began to slip off slightly. "Oh, here." Picking up his sketch, he stood up slightly, to lean over the table to hand it to the smaller.
The other took the drawing, and frowned slightly at it as he studied it.
"What's wrong?" The noirette asked, a little concerned at the look.
"Nothing's wrong.. It's just, you weren't going to draw the wings in flight? I thought that would've made a little more sense." Blinking, the teen looked up, handing the drawing back.
Accepting it, Cheren placed his drawing in front of him with a nervous look. "Well.. I, uh, I can't exactly draw wings in motion unless I have a reference."
Smirking the smaller rose to his feet, and stepped over to him. "You don't need a reference silly! You have all the pictures you need, right up here." He pressed his index finger to his temple. "You just gotta know how to apply it to paper."
Furrowing his brow slightly, Cheren looked down to this drawing again. "And how exactly do I do that exactly?"
"It's easy! Here, lemme teach you."
Moving the sketched butterfly aside, Touya picked up another blank piece of paper and set it in front of them. Leaning down over Cheren's shoulder, to pick up a pencil, the taller sucked in a sharp breath at the closeness of the other. He could feel the warmth of the smaller's body radiating against his own, and felt a small jolt in his stomach when Touya brushed his arm against the other's shoulder as he moved back after retrieving the pencil. Shaking his head to try and alleviate the light headed feeling, he smiled up at the brunette, and shuffled sideways slightly to allow the other more room as he leaned down to studied the blank paper.
"Ok, so first of all, you need to clear your mind of everything. Think of nothing at all, it's as blank as this piece of paper." Resting his left arm on one side of the paper, he angled his arm onto the table so that the tip of the pencil pressed against it lightly. "Then, you bring up a mental picture of what you want to draw. So right now, I've got this picture of a butterfly flying over a field in my head. Just simply freeze frame in your mind, then you've got a still image. Then you draw." With a slight movement, the brunette began lining out the image, a small butterfly tilted to the side slightly, wings angled back, as if it was about to take off.
The sight of the almost effortless sketch made Cheren stare wide eyed, the creature looked amazing, if there was colour, he might have believed it to be a trace of an actual photo.
"Wow, how- How did you-"
"I told you, it's easy." Touya leaned back to marvel at his work. "It's just a small sketch, you can't use it as a reference, but here, let me help you with your technique."
Hands manoeuvred around Cheren's as the brunette placed the pencil into his hand, and shuffled so he was standing right behind the taller, leaning over his shoulder, hand braced onto the noirette's back for support. The feel of the other pressed up against his back took the Cheren's breath away, the warmth against his body caused a tremor to head up his spine as the contact set fire to his blood. Gulping, the noirette displayed a pokerface as the smaller wrapped his right hand around the back of the other's hand. Lifting his hand, he pressed the pencil to the paper. "Let's go with the picture I had, ok?"
With a small nod, Cheren muttered a small "yes".
"Good, 'K, so you start drawing and I'll guide some of the lines you seem to be having trouble with."
Hand shaking ever so slightly, the noirette brought up the picture of the butterfly the other drew in his mind, and began to draw the outline. Squeezing the taller's hand, Touya guided the pencil when it came to the curves, allowing the follow through to seem more natural. The electric tension Cheren could feel flowing from that same contact made it hard for him to concentrate, but with help from the other, he had an almost copy in front of him within a few minutes.
"There. Told you it was easy!" Letting go of his hand, he placed his hand on the table next to the drawing, admiring it. Dropping the pencil, Cheren lifted his hand to adjust his glasses, still painfully aware of the other against his back.
"Y- Yeah. I guess it is, thank you."
"No problem." Turning his head to look at the noirette as he spoke, Touya's face stopped just a few inches away from the other's. Cheren could feel his heart starting to pick up the pace more, as he felt the other's breath fall against his cheek, his eyes so close to his own gazing at him with pride as he turned his own head slightly to look at the brunette.
As blue met brown, Cheren held his breath as he felt a shock jolt through his stomach. He was so close to him, the brunette pressed up against his back, his breath falling against the taller's face lightly- Breath that was falling from pale pink lips that were small, yet held shape, curved upwards in a smile that seemed to be able to tell the tension in the air, as if they were begging for him to lean forward and-
"You're gunna be OK with drawing now?" Touya's voice sounded a little off, as if nervous somehow, as he asked the question, retracting from the other. Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Cheren nodded.
"Yes, I think I'll be fine, uh, thank you for helping me." He had already said thank you, his mind told him blankly, and Cheren could feel his cheeks growing warm.
"Good!" The smaller was stepping around the table now, picking up his papers. Bending down to retrieve his back, it appeared that the brunette was hiding his face from the taller. It's nothing, the teen told himself as Touya placed his bag onto the table and started to shove his project into his bag. Frowning at the sudden desire to pack up, Cheren also started to collect his papers up. Reaching for the butterfly that Touya drew, the brunette's hand paused above it also.
"D- Did you want it?" Touya looked towards Cheren as he spoke, and as the taller looked up at him, he could swear he saw a hint of nervousness in the other's features.
"Well, yes. I thought it would a good reminder for the future." That's what he was telling him anyway, Cheren didn't want to reveal that he actually had a small pile of drawings done the male alongside the many doodles that Bianca did. He had hoped to make a scrap book out of them one day, when he eventually remembered to pick one up, and give it to each of them as a gift.
"Well OK. But I'm taking yours though!" The smaller gave a small laugh, as he reached over and picked up the drawing that Cheren and him had done together. He tucked it into his bag and zipped it up, before staring at the table for a moment, and then looking up at the other.
"I'll see you in class Monday then?"
Cheren wanted to respond asking him to stay, to stay, to talk to him, to ask if he could feel the electricity in the air as well. But he knew that there was no point in asking, the other clearly wanted to leave.
"Sure thing."
Nodding, Touya picked up his bag as Cheren stood up to walk him to the door. They were silent as the brunette slipped on his sneakers and shrugged on his coat, it was as if the two of them were in deep thoughts.
Standing up straight, Touya offered a smile to the other. "See you tomorrow then." He patted Cheren's shoulder, before opening the door and stepping outside.
"Stay sharp." He returned the smile as the other turned and left.
Closing the door, Cheren leaned against it, feeling more tired than he really should, and he sighed heavily before heading off back to the kitchen. Looking up at the clock, he nodded at the 7pm time, cursing himself inside that if he had been aware of the time, he would've offered to make dinner for the brunette. No point on dwindling on it, he thought to himself. He lifted his right hand and rubbed his eye with his palm, as he tried to figure out why he had felt the way he did that day, he hadn't felt like that since...
Oh no.
Snapping his head towards his laptop which was on the coffee table in the living room area, he knew exactly who to talk to regarding this subject. He couldn't call Bianca, as great as a friend as she was, this wasn't something she had a lot of expertise regarding.
It was time to call an old friend...
Settling down onto the soft tan coloured couch, Cheren pulled the coffee table closer to him to allow the laptop to be within reaching distance. He flipped open the lid and pressed the on button, and the machine whirred to life, the screen flashing to the log in straight away. If it's one thing the male insisted on having in top condition, it was his Toshiba laptop.
After keying in his password, he clicked the symbol which brought up his Skype application, and after agreeing to log in with the saved password and name, he scrolled down and saw the name in which he was searching for, and was thankful that he was online, despite it being 4am where he was, it didn't at all surprise him that he was active.
Chazz.
The other nineteen year old guy was the one he felt was the only one he could talk to about this matter. The pair of them had met when they were in High School, both partnered together in some classes when they happened to have the same classes due to their names both beginning with 'C'. The two hadn't exactly hit it off, they were both snarky, and sarcastic, and were constantly in a battle to out do the other in assignments, often breaking out into arguments. It wasn't until Cheren had hit the ripe old age of 15 did Chazz corner the other and bluntly admit that he liked him. Of course the smaller didn't believe him and told him he wasn't gay, and that he was to leave him alone.
So he did. Until lunch time the next day. They both had opted to sit with their friends in the same small restaurant across the road from their school that day, and of course the pair had spotted each other across the room with disdain. Both of them headed up to get food at the same time, and as they crossed paths, Chazz blocked the smaller's walkway. Of course the ahoge sporting teen had harshly told him to get out of his way, but Chazz shook his head and insisted that the other give him a chance. After retorts were exchanged, Cheren demanded an explanation for the arguments they had been having since day one, and the taller simply shrugged and informed him that he enjoyed arguing with him because he'd never met anyone who could match him before on that level. Blankly staring, the smaller shook his head and sighed, admitting that it was refreshing to meet someone who could hold their own against him too. With a smirk, the taller simply tilted his head, and asked again for a chance. The reply was that Cheren wasn't entirely sure of his sexuality, so Chazz offered to help him figure it out.
With a subtle nod, Cheren discovered that he was gay at that moment, as they shared their first kiss, right in front of the salad bar.
The two were in a relationship for a year and 8 months, before Chazz got accepted into an academy across the sea in America, in which the main focus was fashion designing. The male had the intelligence to be anything, but his heart lay in clothing, making, designing, and especially wearing, and the academy was willing to take him early, despite him not being quite finished with High School. This meant the two had a tough choice, either rough it out with long distance, or split and remain friends.
Luckily the pair had developed a strong enough bond that they were able to end the relationship with as little pain as possible, and remained friends. They made a point to talk to each other once a week at least through Skype, and it was still going on, 2 and a half years later.
Shaking his head of memories, the noirette picked up his headset and placed it on his head. This is why he wanted to speak to Chazz, he knew him better than Bianca on quite a few levels, and these strange feelings were certainly on some of those levels. He nodded in agreement to his thoughts as he flicked down the microphone to sit in front of his mouth, and plugged it in.
With a deep breath, he clicked the 'call' button next to Chazz's name.
The screen opened up as the call was accepted, and sure enough, grey eyes stared curiously out of it. Almost sighing in relief, the smaller had never been quite this happy about the jet black, spiky haired's insane sleeping pattern before. The other had all night classes this time of year, and for him, he would've just gotten off class about three hours ago.
"Cherry? What's going on? You never straight out call without a message first." The voice sounded loud through his ear buds as the other spoke into his own headset, and the words caused an inner smile, his intuition was never normally far off.
Straightening up in his seat, the smaller lifted the laptop onto his lap for better comfort. "Nothing. Does something have to be wrong for me to call you?"
Raising an eyebrow, the other cracked a smile. "Of course not. It's just out of character for you to not warn me so I can put some pants on, or at least put away my pie." He lifted up a piece of fruit pie as he spoke, and set it aside.
"If you keep eating those pies, your ass is going to get even fatter," Cheren teased.
Giving him a look of feigned hurt, the other pulled his blue plaid shirt over him some more, seeing as it was unbuttoned. The smaller guessed it was because it was hot where he was, that would also explain why he wasn't wearing any pants. At least that one wasn't obvious. With a laugh, Chazz shifted up in his seat, and gave a concerned look. "I'm serious Cherry, you don't call out of the blue for no reason, what's up?"
Groaning, the teen slumped into the back of his sofa and placed a hand on his head. "...Well. There's this guy-"
"A guy?" The other intercepted excitedly. "What's his name? Is he hot? Smart? Funny? Oh God, he's straight isn't he? I bet he's perfect as well-"
"Chazz!" The male snapped. "Honestly, you're as bad as Bianca, I came to you hoping you wouldn't react like this." His words rolled off his tongue with a hint of a growl, which the other just wavered a hand at.
"Yeah yeah, I'm just getting you back for the remark about my ass" he replied, a devious smirk etching it's way over his face as he leaned back in his computer chair. "You know I'm not interested in the other guys because I /know/ none will be able to top me."
Biting back a remark about how topping him isn't exactly difficult, he settled for a simple roll of the eyes. "Whatever. I'm just confused right now. I don't know if I like him or what."
"Oh?" Sitting forward again, Chazz tilted his head slightly. "What do you mean you don't know?"
"Well." Sighing, he let his head rest against the back of the couch, and stared up at the ceiling. "I can't tell if I like him, or if I'm just happy to have my old best friend back."
Furrowing his brow for a moment, the taller's eyes suddenly widened in a revelation. "Wait, old best friend? This is Touya, right?"
Closing his eyes, he inwardly cursed himself, he had talked to the other about Touya a couple of times, but never really mentioned the feelings as it never really came up. "Yeah, it is. I just- I can't tell if I like him or what."
"...Well how does it feel?"
"What do you mean?"
"How does it feel when he's close to you?"
"I-" He paused, as if confirming it with himself before speaking. "...It's uncomfortable. Not because he's close to me, but... That it doesn't mean anything. And he has huge eyes that I can't not stare at, but that doesn't- What?" He snapped the last word as he flashed his eyes open when he heard a snickering coming from the earphones.
Chazz was sat there, smirking through the screen at the smaller and simply shook his head. "Sounds like you've got yourself a crush there."
"How did you arrive at that conclusion from one thing I said?" His words were drowned out as a blonde petite female appeared behind Chazz, placing her hands on his shoulders, she lowered herself down to be part of the screen as she asked "Who's got a- Cherry's got a crush?" With a surprised look, the blonde shifted her expression into a large grin as she waved.
"Yup!" Chazz declared proudly as the other male gave a half glare.
"Hi Des." Sighed Cheren, disdain not bothering to hide itself in his voice. "Now care to explain how you arrived at that conclusion?"
Smirk growing, the taller glancing up at his blonde room-mate, the spike haired teen gave him a 'duh' stare. "It's simple. First of all, you want the closeness to mean something-" He held up his hands as the other tried to interject. "Yes, I know this could mean in a friendship way too. But you noticed his eyes, no offence, but you didn't know my eye colour for two months, and I'm guessing you know this guys right?"
"Yeah, they're blue- but that still doesn't mean-"
"The point is, you spent some time looking into his eyes, and not just spacing out, you /noticed/ it." Folding one arm over his chest, he waved the other nonchalantly. "Not to mention you sort of blushed when you were describing it."
Feeling his cheeks grow hot, Cheren glared through the camera at the pair as Chazz smirked away and Des laughed at the revelation. So. It was true. He liked Touya.
Crap.
"So what're you going to do?" The blonde inquired as she pulled herself off of the taller and moved around to sit on the arm of the computer chair. Des wasn't just Chazz's friend, she often joined the Skype conversations, and exchanged emails with him all the time, so she was friends with him too. He didn't mind at all, she was funny, charming and quite witty when the mood fitted. She had joined the two guys in their friendship effortlessly, and a good thing too considering Chazz spent an awful lot of time with her.
"I don't know." Was the simple answer. "Thing is, he's got a boyfriend." Hearing tutting, his eyes narrowed on the other male. "What?"
"Just because there's a goal keeper, doesn't mean you can't score" Chazz laughed, before tapping down something in the text box, and sent it to him. "Here's the link to the experimental online store that we're working on. If you click my name, there's the stuff I designed, and I'm sure I can get a discount for you."
Raising an eyebrow, the smaller opened up the link and a bright blue website opened up, with white boxes in various places with directions of where to go. Finding the other's name, he clicked on it and it opened up his page.
The blue was replaced by black, and the white was replaced by red as the teen stared at the website. The design of the page had vintage lettering, grey lace draped over the black background whilst cogs and other machinery parts decorated one corner. The look of the site did not, however, take away from the small selection of about 20 pieces of clothing.
"...What is this...?"
"That my friend," came the voice in his headset, "is Steampunk. My absolute favourite style of clothing. It's based on the Victorian era of Britain, an alternate history mixed in science fiction, fantasy and horror. Isn't it wonderful?"
"That's one word for it..."
Scrolling down the page, the items were mainly colours of black and brown, but they definitely had a vintage look to them, accompanied by machine parts or pocket watches as decoration. He didn't see anything he could see himself, well, except for maybe one..
"What about this one?"
"Which one?"
"Number 12."
"Hang on..." Hearing the clicking through the headset, he heard a small chuckle as he obviously found it. "Oh this one..."
"Oh it's really pretty! You should get this one Cherry!"
"Chazz?"
"Mhmm?"
"...Can you get this for me?"
"Sure thing buddy, and don't worry, I already know your size."
He hadn't expected the item to arrive so quickly, but as Cheren pulled his chosen piece of clothing out of the delivery box on the following Monday morning, he felt a smile grow on his face. Nodding, he pulled it on, and decided he wasn't doing this for Touya, he was doing this for himself. It had been a while since he'd actually bought something to wear, and it felt nice to indulge himself just this once. He didn't work, he got his money from his parents as they had insisted that they wanted him to focus on his studies whilst in College, and they had been saving money for a long time. He had extra money had had saved from his job whilst attending High School, but he liked to save it for special occasions.
Checking himself in the mirror, he was surprised the piece suited him that well, and felt his ego grow larger somewhat as he confidently left his house. The black, leather jacket had a hefty collar which was basically popped up at the back, and coming down as it reached the shoulders. The hemline appeared torn and shredded, as if ripped from it's original cloth, it matched the look of the sleeve endings and the various parts of the jackets which looked torn also. There was a black belt that looped around the middle that had grey cogs around the holes for the buckle to go, and a chain hung from a pocket on the left breast which had black lace entwined with it, and that was attached to a iron grey fob watch, watch that had an intricate swirled design carved into the metal case. The buttons that ran up the middle to fasten the jacket with matched the fob watches design, and the inside was lined with dark blue silk.
Stepping into room, hardly anyone looked up from their respective distractions in the class, let alone comment on anything new. The only two that did, were Bianca and Touya, both of which had wide eyes of surprise, which quickly turned into large gaped smiles. With proud strides, he walked on over to his desk, and took his seat.
Bianca, was the first to speak.
"Cheren? Wow! This is- Is this new? It has to be new, right?"
Nodding, the noirette tugged on the sleeves. "Yes. It is. Ordered it on the weekend, Chazz designed it."
"I love it!" The blonde gushed, reaching forward, she stroked the leather gingerly. "It's real leather too! Oh wow! I should get him to design me things too! I didn't know he had things to buy yet! He's been holding out on us!"
"He said it's still in beta mode, that he wasn't going to tell us about it until it was finished-"
"Who's Chazz?"
Touya sat up straighter, his smile faltering ever so slightly as he asked the question, which caused Cheren to frown slightly as he turned more to the brunette.
"He's an old friend. He moved to America for college, he's a fashion designer." He didn't really feel the need to bring up the relationship part, it wasn't exactly relevant-
"Yeah, they dated for almost two years too! I miss Chazz, he was fun." Bianca pipped up these words as if she was reciting the evening news, and the noirette felt his stomach drop a little as he could see Touya force a smile.
"You dated a guy? I had no idea you were gay, Cheren." The brunette sounded nonchalant enough, but he could swear... Shock maybe?
Clearing his throat, the taller opened up his art folder which he didn't feel the need to carry a bag for, considering he had a locker down the hall which he dropped off his bag in the morning and picked up in the afternoon. "Found out when I fifteen. No big deal though, right?"
"Oh of course! I'm dating N after all~" The brunette sat back in his chair, and the noirette could see the smile grow more natural, which caused Cheren to feel a little uncomfortable.
"Hmph. I'm the only straight person here! Is no one interested in girls any more?" Bianca pouted, as she folded her arms over her chest in feigned annoyance.
Luckily, she broke the tension Cheren felt, and the rest of the class carried on as normal, taking down notes on some artists famous for their nature drawings, to help them with the project. Still undecided on the final project, questions for the professor revealed he wasn't the only one, in fact, Bianca hadn't picked a subject for hers yet either, and as the class ended, the three stood by the doorway discussing various topics as they waited for N to come and say his usual hello to the gang.
With a sigh, the noirette spotted the familiar green hair through the crowds in the corridors, and as he neared them, he seemed to almost glare at the new jacket of Cheren's. Assuming it was his imagination, the noirette suddenly found a potted plant on the other side of the hall interesting as N and Touya embraced upon meeting.
"Hey N," Bianca said cheerily to let Cheren know that the two had parted. He had told her that he wasn't a fan of PDA, and she understood, so she happily helped him ignore it.
Turning back to face them, he gave a brief smile to the taller, and was met with the same.
"I'm glad I caught you, is it OK if I see you tonight? There's something important I wanna talk to you about." The brunette took some steps back as he spoke, and glanced towards the route he normally took to walk to his train station. Odd, Cheren thought.
"Yeah sure, no problem. I'll come over yours, alright?" The taller didn't seem to notice anything strange as he spoke, so once again, Cheren assumed it was his imagination playing up.
"Cool, I've gotta go, don't wanna miss the train! I'll see you tonight!" The brunette took a couple of steps back, and looked at the noirette. "And Cheren, I really love your jacket, I think it looks fantastic on you."
"Thanks. It's appreciated." He replied, a little taken aback by the sudden compliment.
"K guys, see you!"
"Stay sharp," the noirette wavered his hand in his direction as he spoke, his voice a little drowned out as he spoke by the other two saying goodbye.
"We should get on to our classes guys, I don't wanna upset the prof'!" Pipped up Bianca as she started to head in the direction of her English class. Cheren started to walk that way too, when his arm was caught by N.
"Hold up a minute Cheren, there's something I wish to discuss with you." He held a smile on his face, but his voice seemed quite serious...
"Don't worry Bianca, I'll see you for lunch at 1." He wavered a hand towards her, and with a smile, she nodded.
"Okidokey! I'll see you then!" And with that, she turned, and left.
That left the two of them alone. Folding his arms over his chest, the noirette turned to the taller and gave him a dry stare. "What is it?"
The other didn't speak for a moment, but simply returned a complete unimpressed look. He kept his arms by his sides, and took a step forward towards the noirette before he spoke. "I wanna talk to you about Touya."
"Touya? What about him?" Cheren kept his bored look, and gave a slight roll of his eyes as he spoke.
"I wanna know what you're playing at, trying to steal my boyfriend." The words displayed a hint of a growl, as his features sharpened into a glare.
The nonchalance slipping into a confused expression, the noirette raised a hand slightly. "What the Hell are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb with me." He lifted his hand to point at the smaller. "I see the way you look at him, Touya's too naïve to notice, but let me tell you this, he is not interested."
Feeling the words snap against his naturally snarky nature, he knew he shouldn't argue with him, it would only upset his friend. "I don't know what injury you sustained to make you this delusional, but I am not trying to steal anyone." So much for not arguing.
The other let out a snort, followed by another step towards him with a smirk. "You're not fooling me, it's clear as day. You like Touya, and you're trying to take him from me. Well guess what? He's mine. And there is nothing you can do to change that."
"Don't talk about him like he's some sort of property. He's his own person." That sparked his anger alright, he didn't like it when people treated their significant other like some sort of prize to be won, that wasn't fair on them.
Folding his own arms over his chest, the taller shook his head with his arrogant smirk still poised on his face. "Whatever. He's mine, end of story, so you can quit the pathetic attempts to try and wedge between us. Besides, he would never be interested in someone like you."
Features sharpening, he narrowed his eyes. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
"That Touya wouldn't want some little nerd like you, he wants a guy that doesn't have a stick up his ass, someone who knows to have fun?"
Inside the noirette went cold. Did being interested in physics really make him a nerd? Did Touya really think those things about him? Tch, of course he didn't, they wouldn't remain best friends if he did, the thought snapped through his mind. N's just being defensive.
"You don't know anything about me," he replied coolly.
"Oh yeah?" Taking one final step towards him, he lifted his hand to grab a hold of the chain hanging off his jacket. "Then what's this for? Seems a bit out of character for you."
Smacking his hand away, he straightened out his jacket. "My friend made it for me. Big deal. It doesn't mean a thing."
"Pfft, you were showing off in some desperate attempt to win over Touya- and don't deny it, because I know the truth. Bottom line, stay away from him."
Raising his head slightly, Cheren huffed. "Or what?"
"Or I'm going to make your life a living Hell," the taller stated with a blank face, his smirk disappearing.
Retaining a pokerface, the smaller scoffed. "And I wonder what Touya would have to say about that."
Hint of a grin tugging at the corner of his lips, N took a couple of steps back. "I'll deny it if you tell him, and who's he gunna believe? Boyfriend? Or jealous former best friend? It's no contest Cheren. You can't win this one." He continued to step back until he reached the middle of the corridor. "Believe me, it's in your better interest, I know that Touya has been getting bored of you, he practically died of boredom on Saturday, it's a good thing he came to my place after." Turning, he began walking. "See you around. Or not."
It wasn't until he was out of sight that the noirette moved again. He picked up his folder that was waiting for him on an abandoned desk that sat outside Professor Juniper's classroom, and walked to the library. He didn't have a class until 2:15pm, so he studied usually until then. But today he would just sit there and read, all whilst having a strange sensation in his chest. It was only because of Chazz that he knew what this feeling was.
It was his heart breaking.
"Thanks. Yeah, you too. Bye."
Click.
Sighing, Cheren wandered on over to his couch and fell onto it, back first. Staring up at the ceiling, he thought over the conversation he had just had with Bianca on the phone. It wasn't anything unusual, he hadn't told her about the talk he'd had with N that morning, the two had discussed their project and what they were going to do that weekend. They had made plans to have coffee and go see a movie, but now the noirette thought about it, he didn't really feel like going out.
Turning his head, he saw his jacket hanging on the back of a chair at the kitchen table, and sighed again. What a waste of money that was. The moment he walked through the door he took it off and threw it onto that chair, it didn't feel comfortable any more, it made him feel exposed, ridiculous. He wished he had never talked to Chazz now...
Buzz buzz buzz.
Sitting up straight at the sound of his buzzer, he rose to his feet, only to hear the noise again. Clearly someone was in a hurry to speak to him. "I'm coming.." He said to himself as he stepped over to the box and pressed the button. "Yeah?"
"Cheren? It's Touya, I need to talk to you."
His blood turned to ice as he heard those words. They sounded urgent, and kind of upset, which led Cheren to the conclusion that N must've told him that they had argued and was coming over to tell him to leave him alone himself. "...Why?"
"Huh? Cheren, please, I need to talk to you."
Standing there debating for a moment, he hesitantly pressed the button to let him in. "Doors unlocked. Let yourself in." There was no use in delaying it, might as well get it over with.
He was sat at the kitchen table when he heard the other come through the door and kick his boots off. Walking into the room, the noirette saw that the smaller hadn't taken his pale blue coat off, which led him to believe that he didn't plan on staying long. Standing up to face the brunette, Cheren gave him a blank stare until he saw that the other's eyes were red and swollen, as if he'd been crying.
"Touya? Are- Are you OK?"
Shaking his head, he looked down towards the ground, before looking back up. "I talked to N about the talk you guys had today."
Eyes glossing over, Cheren braced himself for being told to never see him again. "Oh?"
"Yeah... He gets pretty jealous, but don't worry, you wont have to deal with it any more. I'm sorry I caused you this stress."
Clenching his jaw together, the noirette said nothing. After all, what could he say? He was losing his best friend all over again.
"I can stay for a bit right? Talk for a while?"
Snapping his attention fully back to the brunette, his features sharpened. "Don't force yourself to put up with my company. It's easier if you just leave."
Looking taken aback, the smaller swallowed nervously. "But- What? Cheren I don't want to-"
"I get it. I bore you. I'm not as fun as N is. That's fine, whatever, I hope you two have all the fun in the world without me, sorry for putting a damper on your life," growled Cheren. "You don't have to waste your evening with me trying to leave on a happy note."
"What are you talking about?" The smaller stepped forward and tried to place a hand on the other's arm, but the noirette pulled away.
"Oh you know, I'm sure N told you all about how I'm apparently trying to wedge between you both. When it comes down to it, he's your boyfriend and I'm just your former best friend."
Hurt flickered in the brown eyes opposite him, as his mouth hung open in confusion. "Cheren, I-"
"Just go. It doesn't matter." Letting his pokerface falter a little, it let through just a little of his own pain conflict in his expression. His eyes threatening to cry at any moment, but the noirette wouldn't let that happen.
Touya snapped his mouth shut and shook his head in disbelief. "I never stopped seeing you as my best friend. Ever."
"Oh don't even. Best friends wouldn't let their boyfriends shove their best friend out of the picture over a jealous fit," snarled the taller, clenching his fists as he spoke.
"You- You think I'm here to tell you we can't be friends any more?" The brunette replied, taking a step back.
"It's pretty obvious that's why you're here." He looked towards the table, chewing on the inside of his cheek.
Swallowing, the smaller's eyes stung with tears. "You think I would choose some douchebag over you? I came here to tell you that I know your feelings for me, and that when N brought up your conversation today, I realised that I didn't like him as much as I thought I did."
"...What?" He continued to stare at the table, doubt clouding his mind.
"I broke up with him Cheren. For you. I wanted to talk to him today to see if we could fix our pretty much broken relationship, but the minute he mentioned your guys' talk, that was it. But whatever, it doesn't matter." The brunette snarled the words, tears falling from his bright brown eyes as he did so, and on the last word, he turned and half ran to the door.
Wide eyed, the noirette stared at the table, trying to process what he just heard, and the moment he heard the other shuffle to grab his boots, he fled to his door. Upon reaching the other, he snatched a boot away from him.
"G- G- Gimme my boot back!" The smaller choked, obvious that the tears were falling free and fast at this point, which made the noirette's chest feel heavy with guilt. It honestly pained him to see him like this, and it was all he could do do stop himself stepping over and pulling him into his arms.
"No. Not until you tell me what you're talking about." He held the boot above his head to stop the smaller's frail attempts at grabbing it from succeeding.
Stopping, he huffed and glared at him. "You w- weren't that interested in knowing b- before. Why does it m- matter now?"
Sighing, he slumped his shoulders, he was feeling like a complete idiot right about now. "Because I misunderstood you before. N had told me-"
"N- N is a bastard! He n- never let me have any f- friends until you and Bianca c- came along, it h- hurts that you would b- believe what he would s- say over me!" The brunette started shaking, and Cheren had to place a hand on his arm to steady him. "He's a selfish d- dick and I wish I n- never dated him! I've h- had feelings for y- you since you c- came back into my life, b- but I didn't want to h- hurt N over a ch- chance that you m- might like me back, and then I- I found out th- that you liked me back-"
"Wait, how did you find that out?" Lowering his arm, he tossed the boot back over to where the shoes sat. "And calm down, I can hardly understand you."
Taking a few deep breaths, Touya managed to gain some control, though some sobs still broke through. "Last night, I g- got an email from some guy named Chazz saying that-"
"The Chazz I got my jacket from?"
"Yes. He sent me a- an email last night saying that you guys were old friends and that you d- deserve to have a chance with someone he really liked. Th- That's why I was shocked to learn this m- morning that you guys had dated." Folding his arms over his chest, Touya looked over to the kitchen table, as Cheren stared in disbelief. "He said th- that he wanted to make up for hurting you in th- the past."
Blinking, the noirette shook his head with more disbelief. He... He couldn't believe that he would do this for him. To be honest, this sounded a lot like one of Des's plans, she was always thinking of ideas like this-
"Hang on, how did he get your email?" The question sprung out of his mouth as the thought crossed his mind, he didn't have time to catch it.
Touya sniffed, before pulling a sleeve down over his hand to clutch it, and use it to wipe his eyes. "He said he found it on my Facebook page... W- Which he got through your page."
"Oh... You- You really broke up with N... For me?" Curious eyes peering down into the brown opposite, Cheren held his breath as he waited for the reply.
"...Yes. I did. I had hope- I had hoped that we could be together."
"Had?" The disappointment that was eating away at his insides was killing him. Just one little change of tense, and his world seemed to be splitting apart at the seems.
Huffing, Touya resembled a child in a tantrum as he lifted his folded arms up, and then let them drop against his chest again. "Well you obviously don't like me any more."
"When did I say that?" He looked bewildered as shook his head briskly.
"Just now! You wanted me to leave!"
"Over a misunderstanding! And what's more, Touya, I would never want you to leave. Ever." The noirette confessed, taking a gulp as he did so.
Features softening, the brunette looked up into the other's blue eyes, as if daring to believe him. "You still want me?"
"More than anything else in the world." His own words surprised him as they left his lips, the disappointment melting away, being replaced by hope, longing, and above all, the need to hold the smaller. To make sure that he understood how much he truly cared about him.
A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "R- Really?"
"Yes Touya. Really." He would shout it from the rooftops if he had to, he needed to prove how much he meant those words.
Chewing on his lower lip, the brunette's lips grew a little more into a smile. "...Really?"
"Yes. Yes. Touya, I mean it." With those words said, a sudden urge took over his body as he took a step to close the space between them, and wrapped his arms around the smaller's body pulling him close. As he did so, he leaned his head down so that he could capture the other's lips with his own, feeling that this was the only way to prove that he really did care for him.
Crushing his lips against the smaller's, the other responded at first by kissing back before stepping back and separating them. Cheren remained where he was as the contact was broken, and Touya stood there looking sheepishly up at the noirette, his cheeks growing red. "I- I guess you do mean it..."
"Yes. I do." Straightening up, Cheren could feel his hormones flooding through his body from the kiss, it had been far too long since he had been intimate with anyone.
Taking the step back towards the noirette, he looked up at the taller, a fully fledged smile now poised on his face. "Good.. Because, uh, well, I wanted-"
His words were cut off as Cheren bent his head down to kiss him again, the hormones taking control of his actions, but this time, Touya wrapped his arms around the other's neck and pulled him closer.
Stumbling back into the living room, Touya had let his coat fall to the floor somewhere along the way as the pair made it to the couch, still connected at the lips. Cheren had his arms around the other's waist guiding him to the couch, whilst the other had his arms around the noirette's neck, keeping his head lowered as to not break the contact.
Fuelled by lust that had come from the anger, Cheren could barely think as he nudged the other to the couch, a little stronger than expected, which caused the brunette to stumble. Falling onto the couch, Touya had no choice but to let go, his back hitting the cushions breaking the fall, but in an instant, there was the noirette poised above him, arms either side of the smaller for support as lowered himself down to capture his lips again, keeping his head tilted up slightly to keep his glasses poised on the bridge of his nose. Tongue stroking the other's lips begging for entry, the brunette happily obliged by parting them and allowing the taller's tongue to spike inside, to twirl with his tongue as he lowered his body against the smaller's, swinging his leg over to kneel over his body for support.
Cheren felt as if he was flying, all his built up hormones surging through him as his blood set alight, the sound of the smaller's little groans against his lips made his body harden and throb, begging for some release. It wasn't just the lust, the fact that he was here, kissing Touya was enough to make his head swim with happiness.
Retracting his tongue, he began to kiss along the brunette's jawline, all the way up and around until he reached the earlobe of the smaller, where he began to nibble, all the while trying to calm his quickened breathing. He felt hands on his chest, and a quick glance down spotted the brunette unbuttoning his white shirt that he had chosen to wear that day. Sitting up so he was straddling the other's hips, he cocked an eyebrow at the other.
"What.. What are you stopping for?" He spoke the words with a hushed voice, which confirmed that the other was just as turned on as he was at that second.
"Because Touya... I'm not going to have sex with you. First day? That's just rude." He teased, of course nothing would please him more right this second than to do just that, but if it was anything, he was a firm believer that fucking on the first date wasn't right.
"But-"
"No..." The taller said firmly. "We're not. We are however, will partake in a little release.." With saying that, he undid the last two buttons of his own shirt and pulled it off, and tossed it onto the floor, before removing his glasses and leaned over to place them on the side table behind Touya. He wasn't totally blind, he was nearsighted, and the other was close enough for him to see him pretty clearly. Then, without hesitation, he grabbed a hold of the bottom of the brunette's plain black t-shirt, and pulled it up, the other complying by lifting his arms above his head, and with that off, he threw it next to his own shirt.
Sitting up slightly, the brunette wrapped his hands around the back of the noirette's neck and pulled him down again, lips making contact again during. Cheren had to let out a moan as he felt their bare chests collide, the skin contact making a shiver run down his spine. Using one hand to support himself from crushing the other, he used his own to reach down and take a hold of the other's belt buckle. At this, he paused, and leant back ever so little to peer down into those soft brown eyes. "Are you OK with this?" He felt a little worried that the other might be uncomfortable with what they were doing, afraid, nervous, and would have no problem if he-
"Yes, I'm fine." The other gasped, as he pulled him back down to resume the fierce battle the tongues seem to have inside their mouths.
Fingers fumbling, somehow the noirette managed to unbuckle the belt of the smaller, and pulled it out, throwing it besides their shirts. It wasn't until he heard the 'chink' sound of metal again did he realise that the other had pulled his belt off too. Heart racing, the taller unbuttoned the slacks of the brunette, unzipped them, and tugged down at the waist. Touya let go of Cheren's neck, and he was confused as to why, until he felt movement by his hips as the other brought up his legs, and with one quick movement, he pulled off his slacks- and his boxers too.
Breaking the contact once again, Cheren pushed himself up so that he could quickly undo his own pants to match the other, and hopping off of him for a brief second, he pulled down his skinny jeans and his own boxers, and kicked them off, before placing his knee on the side of the other side of the brunette again, not even bothering to remove their socks, to resume straddling, only this time, he could feel his erection rub against the other's as he did so, and let out a groan, half in surprise, and half in pleasure.
Resuming his position of one hand on the couch by the brunette's head, he leaned down to recapture the smaller's lips, their members rubbing against each other more as he did so, causing them both to moan simultaneously. Hot breath against the other's, Cheren could feel his erection throbbing to be touched, aching to be released, so using his free hand, he took a hold of the other's hand and guided it down to it. Realising that Touya wasn't exactly a virgin as he took a hold of the noirette's member, he let out a small "ah!" as he was gripped, and wasted no time in taking a hold of the other's.
Pre-cum coating his finger tips as they slid over the other's cock, Cheren wrapped his fingers over the shaft, and felt the other shudder beneath him. Grinning against the brunette's lips, he began to slowly move his fingers up and down the member, as he did the smaller copied his actions. Releasing his lips, Cheren began to kiss his way along the other's jawline again, this time heading down to the brunette's neck, where he began to nip at the skin. Hearing a hiss of delight from the other, he decided to continue this action, the movement down below started to pick up speed.
With every stroke of his erection the noirette felt a wave of pleasure wash over his body, and a tingle travel it's way up his spine, it truly felt like pure bliss sweeping over him. Sweat breaking out on his skin, breath hitching, Cheren could feel Touya's body begin moving below him, basically thrusting into his hand, indicating a faster movement as he pumped quicker. Obliging happily, the noirette kissed his way back up to the other's mouth, once again letting their tongues dance around each other as they felt their hot breath mingle.
Now gasping for breath in between heated kisses, Cheren could feel himself throb more, and knew that his sweet release would be coming soon, and as he heard the other's previously light moans become louder, almost pained, he could tell that he was nearing soon too. Moving his head to rest his forehead on the sofa cushion behind Touya's head, he had to bite his lower lip to stop himself from being too loud, he wasn't a big fan of screeching his pleasure to the world, but more let the low moans speak for themselves, and did so as his strokes on the his cock grew urgent, and so he mimicked the action on the brunette's shaft. There was a split second delay between the other's hot seed spilling through his fingers and the half yell of Cheren's name as the brunette orgasmed, but it gave the noirette the final push for his own release as he came, simply gasping "F-f-fuck T- Touya.." as he did so.
Trying his hardest not to collapse onto the smaller, they lay there for a moment breathing heavily, before Touya gave a loud laugh, pushing the other over so he was lying beside him, instead of on top of him. "Phew..." The brunette breathed. "That was... Intense." He gave another laugh again.
At this point, Cheren was lying with his back against the back cushions of the couch, his front pressed up against the left side of the other, his left arm draped over him. He was sweating, and sated, never before had he wanted a shower so badly. But he couldn't stop smiling, however, and as he lay there breathing in the other's scent, he couldn't think of another place he'd rather be. OK, maybe in the shower with him.
"I'm gunna get up and go take a shower... In a minute." The noirette sighed heavily.
"Oh? What about me?" The brunette feigned hurt as he turned his head so that his brown eyes could bore into his blue.
Blinking, he simply stared before replying. "You're welcome to join me if you want."
The smaller grinned widely as he nodded eagerly. "I'd love to!"
The pair lay there listening to each other breath for a moment, simply gazing into each other's eyes, and it was Touya who broke the silence. "...So, do I need to ask if we're in a relationship now?"
Giving him a bored stare, Cheren shook his head. "Of course we are."
Lighting up with sparkling eyes, the brunette nuzzled into the other's cheek. "Good."
"Hand in your projects on my desk please, remember, this is the final date to hand them in."
The professor's voice rang loud and clear across the classroom as students shuffled to find their folders containing the vital paperwork, but not Cheren, Touya or Bianca. They had arrived to class early so that they could get the project ready to hand in, and also try and guess what the other's final project was. Cheren had already guessed what Touya's was.
"How did you guess that though?"
Touya's exasperated voice cut through the low chatter and caused a couple of people to turn and see what the problem was, but he didn't care. He still hadn't guessed Cheren's and was determined to know how he had worked out what his was.
"Simple, I knew it would have something to do with me, and you have been dropping hints all week," he stated blankly. "The fact that you've been around rose stores basically every day didn't leave anything to the imagination, but what I don't get is why."
"Simple!" The brunette grin. "It symbolises that despite having a prickly and sharp personality, you hold great beauty, and I chose the colour of yellow with a red tip, which the book I read said means great friendship and falling in love." He declared the last part loud and proud, which caused Cheren's cheeks to tinge red slightly. "So, now are you going to tell me yours?"
"Nope." The taller stood as he spoke, a smirk etched on his face. "The agreement was if we could guess what it was, we would explain it, but you didn't guess it, so you're going to have to wait until we get our marks up."
Pouting, the brunette handed over his project. "Fine. But it better be good!"
Nodding a response, he picked up Bianca's project and saw that she was doodling cats in her notebook again, and smiled broadly as he stepped up to the professor's desk. As that was his final subject, it was Touya, represented by exactly what had made him realise that he craved more than a friendship with him, and what he still received in his his stomach whenever he held the smaller.
Butterflies.