Lee and Nate were sitting together on the couch in Nate's basement, light from the television illuminating their tired faces. It was well past midnight, and the boys were fueled strictly by bottle upon bottle of Pitt Cola. Nights like these weren't rare for the two. It was common for them to spend summer nights absorbed in video games and junk food.
"Dude, you really suck at this game." Nate laughed, glancing down from the screen to watch Lee rapidly press buttons on his xbox controller.
"Do not." Lee argued, frowning, his focus never wavering from the television. "You're just cheating."
Nate grinned and rolled his eyes. "Oh, right. Whatever."
"SERIOUSLY?!" Lee let out a groan of anger as, onscreen, Nate killed him yet again. Blood splattered on the screen, and his character dropped to the ground. "This game is stupid." He announced, throwing his controller down on the couch.
"Dude, we just started!" Nate protested.
Lee shrugged uncaringly and took a swig from one of the many bottles of soda littering the coffee table in front of them.
"Quitter." Nate teased, shaking his head.
After hearing Nate's comment, Lee crossed his arms like a child throwing a temper tantrum, obviously not thrilled to be teased about his gaming skills, or lack thereof.
"Dude, it's alright. Everyone's bad at something." Nate told him, patting his back. "And you just happen to suck at video games."
Lee punched him playfully on the arm. "Only when you cheat!" He insisted.
Nate laughed. "Alright, alright. Whatever you say, dude. I totally cheated."
Lee grinned victoriously and then turned his attention to his vibrating cell phone, the conversation abandoned. "Hey, Robbie finally texted me back!" He told Nate, smiling slightly. His smile disappeared as he read the message.
"What did he say?" Nate asked. He leaned back against the couch, yawning.
Lee was too focused on his texting to hear the question, so he instead tapped Nate on the arm, trying to get his attention. "Dude, Nate, did you know Wendy and Robbie broke up?"
Nate sat up suddenly, eyes wide with surprise. "Wait, seriously?"
Lee nodded. "I asked Robbie if he and Wendy wanted to hang out with us tomorrow, and he totally flipped out at me. He thought I was messing with him, but I swear I didn't know!"
"That's Robbie for you." Nate sighed, shaking his head knowingly. "Do you know what happened?"
The blond shrugged. "Not yet. I'll ask." He looked back down at his phone and sent Robbie another message, hoping the goth boy would be a bit more kind this time.
Lee got a text back almost immediately. "Yikees…" He said, frowning as he read it.
"Dude, you gonna tell me what happened, or are you just gonna sit there texting and leave me in the dark?" Nate asked.
"Chill out, I'm getting there." Lee grinned, putting his phone down and elbowing his friend. "Anyway, so like, you know that kid that hung out with us at the convenience store? The one who fought the ghosts?"
"'Doctor Funtimes'? …What about 'im?" Nate asked, unsure of how he related to the topic.
"Well, Robbie was always saying how the kid had this huuggee crush on Wendy so he'd always hang around her and like, kill Robbie's vibe or something and..."
Nate cut him off. "Wait… Are you making this up, or did he really say 'kill his vibe'?"
Lee nodded, grinning. "Those words exactly. Plus some other choice phrases."
Nate shook his head, laughing slightly. "Okay, continue."
"Anyway, so I guess Robbie got Wendy mad, and this time the kid really butted in and Robbie couldn't fix whatever stupid mistake he made. Then apparently she yelled at him and pretty much wouldn't let him apologize…The dude seems pretty torn up about it." Lee frowned.
Nate scoffed. "So what you're telling me is…our best friends, the same ones who've been crushing on each other since like, the fifth grade, got broken up by some ten year old?" He asked. "You've gotta be kidding me."
"I know, right?!" Lee shook his head. "I feel bad for the guy though. I mean, I swear he's liked Wendy since, like, the very first moment he met her."
Nate nodded in agreement. "That guy…Only had eyes for the red head. You know how many times I tried to set him up with other chicks? But man, he was determined to get Wendy. Even though he was too nervous to ask her out till like a week ago." He sighed. "Gotta hand it to him though, I don't think anyone else would ever go the lengths he did for just one girl."
Lee frowned at the thought. "They were kinda vomit inducing as a couple but like…in a good way, you know?" He shrugged. "And hey, speaking of chicks…how's that girlfriend of yours doing? Heard you guys were supposed to meet Wendy and Robbie at Look Out Point yesterday, but I guess your plans probably didn't work out. Do I get to meet the lucky lady or…?"
Though he was obviously trying to mask it, Nate sensed the betrayal in Lee's question. He bit his lip and tried to push away the little feeling of panic that had come upon him. "Pssh, all in due time, guy. I wanna take some time to get to know her better before I introduce her to the crew." He told him, smiling.
"Think we'd embarrass you or something?" Lee asked. He tried to make it seem like a casual and joking question, but instead he sounded hostile.
Nate raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Dude, of course not! I'm not embarrassed of you guys. That's like…impossible!" He looked at his friend questioningly. "What's gotten into you all of a sudden? …You okay?"
Lee tried his best to shrug it off, but honestly, he was a bit hurt that Nate hadn't told him he was dating someone. They'd been best friends for what seemed like forever, and they always told each other everything, so why were things different this time?
"Yeah, man. I'm fine. I'm just surprised you didn't tell me about the girl, that's all." The blond said.
"Oh…is that it?" Nate asked, attempting to hide his unexplainable disappointment at Lee's answer.
Lee shrugged. "Yeah. I guess it's not really a big deal though. I'm over it. Didn't mean to cause a scene."
Nate sighed. "No, I get it, bro. It is kinda a big deal. Sorry I didn't let you in on the news… I know how it feels to be left out, my bad." He put his arm around the blonde's shoulders, pulling him into a loose side-hug.
"It's all good, dude, I swear." Lee insisted, smiling slightly.
"You sure?" Nate asked. "…You seemed pretty uh…jealous there for a moment."
Lee scoffed. "No way, man! ...Like I'd be jealous of you."
"Oh, c'mon, you know I didn't mean that…"
Lee felt his face turn red as he picked up on what Nate was implying.
"Knew it." Nate grinned, leaning toward him. "You're totally into me."
Lee rolled his eyes. "Wow. Just shut up, okay? Why do you even care?" The blond haired boy growled, backing away from him. "Obviously this means nothing to you, since you have some stupid girlfriend now and I'm not even important enough to meet her."
Nate looked hurt. But then he remembered something, and a wave of guilt crashed over him. He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Okay, okay, calm down. I-uh…I have a confession to make…"
Lee looked at him, harsh and expectantly.
"I…Well, I kinda don't actually have a girlfriend." Nate sighed.
Lee looked confused. "…What?"
"I made her up just so Wendy and Robbie could have some alone time together…Robbie wanted to make sure she'd go to Look Out Point with him, and I was just helping the guy out." Nate admitted. "And then I saw how jealous you looked when you found out about 'her', and I couldn't help myself." He sighed.
Lee looked at him hard, though his anger had began to melt away a bit. "…I hate you so much, dude." He muttered. "If you do that again I will seriously kill you."
"I know, I know. I swear I won't do it again." Nate said, nodding. "That was totally stupid of me and I'm sorry." He frowned. "So do you forgive me?"
Lee shrugged, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Yeah, whatever…It's fine."
Nate grinned. "Thanks, man." He leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Ew. Gross." Lee joked, playfully pushing him away.
"That's not what your mom said last night." Nate retorted, chuckling.
Lee shook his head. "You're such an idiot." He grinned.
"Guess you must have a thing for idiots, then."
Lee nudged him, and Nate, likely intentionally, toppled over onto the couch, dragging the blond with him.
"Duuuddee." Lee whined, blushing.
Nate smiled and shut him up with a kiss. It was rather sloppy and ill timed, but that didn't matter. As their chapped lips pressed fervently together, Nate's nose somehow nearly jabbing Lee's eye in the process, they knew it was something they didn't know they wanted until it happened. They had kissed before, at school behind the shed while skipping classes, at parties when they were sure everyone would be too drunk to remember, and occasionally on nights like tonight, when they were all alone, not really doing anything except enjoying each other's company. But this time felt different. The other kisses had seemed experimental and somehow casual, but this time, it actually meant something.
At first, Lee tensed up at the feeling of Nate's lips on his, but before long he had melted into the kiss, wrapping his arms around the other boy's neck.
Nate smiled in the kiss and eagerly ran his hands through the blonde's long hair.
The second kiss was better, firmer, and it lasted a bit longer.
When one of them finally pulled away, they were both grinning.
"So, uh, have I ever mentioned that I sort of…really like you?" Nate asked.
"Dude, I don't think you really need to tell me that after…" Lee raised his eyebrows and then trailed off, laughing. "Kidding, kidding. I like you too, genius."
Nate smiled and shook his head. "You know, if I ever like, really pissed you off or something...I hope we'd actually talk it over or whatever so we could keep hanging out."
Lee nodded. "Duh. Isn't that kinda what we just did?"
"Yeah, I guess so…"
Lee laughed.
"So, uh…Are things different now or are we still just…this?" Nate asked.
Lee shrugged. "What even is this, dude?" He asked.
"Good point." Nate agreed.
"Good point." Lee mumbled sleepily, kissing him again
By the time daylight crept up on them, they would both agree that nights like this weren't quite as easy to come by…But they also secretly wished they would be more frequent in the days to come.