They always walked home from school together, unless the weather was too cold or there was a thunderstorm. Come to think of it, they were always together ever since they'd become friends their first day at the Etruria Academy For Boys. It only made sense that rumors would surface after some time.
"Say, Erk?" Guy prompted one crisp autumn afternoon. "Y'know how everyone's talking about us lately?"
"People are always talking," Erk said; it was true, the stereotype that only girls gossipped could be easily disproved by a visit to the academy. There were always rumors floating through the hallways about any given student or teacher, something that happened centuries ago in a certain classroom, even what was really in the school's lunches. "This week the subject happens to be the fact that you and I are more or less joined at the hip."
"I know." Guy brushed a fallen leaf off the shoulder of his coat. "But it's been making me think, y'know? We're joined at the hip, we know each other better than anyone, neither of us have ever kept a girlfriend..."
"That doesn't mean anything." Erk's eye twitched slightly and his stomach tightened. "The same can be said for a lot of the students here." He bit his lip; it wasn't as if he hadn't thought about that possibility ever since Serra broke up with him, or even before that. "It's just talk. Next week someone will discover an old shoe in the boiler room and everyone will be speculating about that," he said. Guy nodded, and for the next few minutes the only sound was the leaves crunching beneath their feet. Finally, Guy broke the silence.
"I wouldn't mind if we were, though," he said. Erk raised an eyebrow.
"Excuse me?"
"I mean...I've always been more comfortable with you than anyone else," Guy said. "And you've said the same about me before."
"Yes." Erk smiled a little, blushing furiously. "Guy, you realize if we give into these feelings we're just going to feed the rumors more."
"Hey, you were the one who said people are always talking and they'd get bored of us by next week," Guy reminded teasingly.
"Right." Erk rubbed the back of his head. "So..."
"Come here." Guy wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close. Their lips met in an clumsy, uncertain kiss. If anyone saw them, neither boy cared.