We went walking tonight, it was something different. He said he wanted something different, but I don't know how he feels about it. Usually he's more expressive than tonight, talking about his day or asking me about mine, but right now he's silently walking beside me, gazing up at the night sky as we walked together.
"Isn't there a park nearby, Tsukki?" He finally said to break the silence. "I'd like to stop by there if we can…" He trailed off and went silent again, still expressionless, it pained me to watch him, so I turned away and looked ahead of me as we neared the park close by my house. Without a word he sat down on a bench near the entrance. I followed and sat right next to him, leaving barely any space between us, because that's how we always sat ever since we were younger, it was an instinct.
It was not an instinct, however, for him to lay his head on my shoulder and close his eyes, still as silent as when we first left my house, and sigh deeply.
"Are you…" I began, searching for the right words to say, "Do you feel alright…?" It took him a while to reply, but I was patient and waited until he was ready, because something was obviously off today.
"I…yeah, yeah. I just…" He paused. "I don't know, really." His eyes opened, and he lifted his head from my shoulder before moving my arms and positioning his head on my lap, smiling slightly. "Why, are you worried about me?" I didn't exactly know how to respond, so I was honest.
"Yeah, I am, Yamaguchi. I mean, why wouldn't I be? If someone like you is usually extremely talkative, and then just doesn't talk for a long period of - "
"Tsukki." He stopped me from my rambling as I felt his warm hand press up against my cheek. I looked down at him, but said nothing. " I get it." He finally said before removing his hand and laying back down. We sat like this together for a few minutes, I wasn't keeping track of the time, until he eventually dozed off. On any other day I would've woken him up to take him home, but somehow, he looked more peaceful then I've ever seen him. It was…calming, probably more for him, though. I sat and stared down at him until I realized how uncomfortable laying on me probably was.
"Okay…" I whispered to myself, cautiously inching out from underneath him. "Let's go back now." I had stared down at him for long enough to realize that he'd be more at ease in bed and not some damp park bench. I scooped him up into my arms, an embarrassing bridal-style, and began to walk back. This had happened once before, we were a lot younger, and it wasn't with the same…compassion as tonight. He was as light as always…
I continued down the road back to my house, unconsciously humming with him in my arms, it made me snicker thinking that this was just like a scene from one of those cheesy dramas that he likes. I finally reached my house, stopping at the steps, and just as I did his eyes flickered open. Neither of us said a word, but we both kept eye contact as I set him down gently and he sat. I sat down right next to him, and we simultaneously gazed up when drops of rain hit our outstretched legs.
He smiled, I looked over and did the same, "You know you snore like an old man when you sleep, right?"
He snorted when he laughed, "Do not, you're lying to me."
"I'd never."
"Yeah, okay." He said with a small laugh.
Eventually, we headed inside, being as quiet as possible as to not wake my family, and made our way to my room upstairs. He immediately jumped onto my bed and sighed deeply, I laughed and closed the door. As I sat on the edge of my bed, he slumped against my back, groaning quietly.
"Something wrong?" I couldn't see his face, but he sounded bothered.
He leaned against me with all of his weight, which still wasn't much. "Practice today was rough. My whole body is sore."
"Yeah, I'm pretty exhausted too."
There was a minute of silence before he got off of me, off of my bed, and went over to my bookcase, obviously looking for something. He picked out what looked to be a movie, smiled, then turned to me.
"Dirty Dancing?" We hadn't seen this movie in years, it was always one of his favorites, though.
"Sure." He walked over to my TV and placed the disk in, making sure to turn the volume down. It was almost 3 am and we probably didn't want my mom to come up and start nagging us to get to bed. The movie began to play and he rushed over to my bed, facing the TV while laying down. I joined in, taking my glasses off and leaning on his side. He didn't seem to mind, I sighed deeply.
"I forgot how much I loved this movie." He said, keeping his eyes wide and glued to the screen all the while.
"Yea, you didn't want to stop watching it after we first saw it." I don't remember if I dozed off after that or not, being as late as it was, but he remained awake, getting my attention after the movie ended.
"Ah, you've got to lend me this sometime, so I can watch it every day! Haha…" He sprawled out over my blankets and closed his eyes. I couldn't help but reach over and touch his hair, spinning it around my fingers. He obviously liked this, because after a minute, he got up and laid his head in my lap, looking up at me with his wide, brown eyes. I kept messing with his hair, I hadn't ever paid this close attention to it, but I noticed some small things. Like how it was weirdly soft, and smelled like him, a scent I couldn't describe with words.
I don't remember when all of this started, us acting so much more friendly, but I suppose it didn't really matter, to him or to me. I wasn't going to bring it up, or at least I didn't plan to. I just wanted to enjoy what this was. Simply us.
