Hello there! This was originally posted as a gift for a friend on AO3, though I came to realize that I haven't been active on here in quite some time. I'm more active on AO3 and I post there with newer garbage. I decided to post it here as well to show that I'm not entirely dead. (✿◠‿◠)
Well, enjoy this sappy-and-totally-cliché fic!
Prompto had been sitting on an old wooden dock watching Noctis fish a lake dry. It was dusk, the clouds drifting by steadily and the sky was painted a rich golden pink color. It breathed of natural warmth, the sound of the lake waters lapping at the shore, there was a chill wind that breezed by his cheeks ever so softly. The scent of humid algae in the air made it more natural.
Nothing like watching your best buddy fishing at a musky lake.
Noctis had been wishing his fishing pole around for quite some time, the only time he had ever caught something was around ten minutes ago, and it was a puny catfish with an equally small sized Crag Barramundi. Prompto would laugh at how badly he failed, how they've been sitting out in this humid area just taunting and mocking each other.
"Where's the big one? Thought you said you were gonna catch it with ease and show it to Gladio and Iggy?" The blonde deadpanned, Noctis scoffing. "I'm trying. This stuff is not as easy as you think it is."
"But you like it."
"That a problem?"
Prompto looked to the side. "Nope. No problems here."
His violet-blue eyes twinkled in slight excitement but in a matter of seconds they lost their luster. Normally Prompto would be snapping away pictures at any moment he'd get, yet, he sat there solemnly grinning. A sad smile.
Prompto rubbed his lips together hesitantly, catching glances at the raven every second he got.
'I need to tell him.'
"Hey, Noct-"
"Shouldn't you be snapping away or something?" Noctis turned over to meet his steady gaze. Prompto snapped out of his little haze and stuttered a 'right!' before reaching into his pocket and getting his camera. In that moment the water began tussling and spat out where Noct kept his bait at. As soon as he heard the water splash his steel blue eyes brightened and he took ahold of the reel.
The tug was harsh enough to make Noctis stumble forward.
"I think I've hit jackpot!"
"Holy shit, dude!"
Just like that Prompto was at Noctis' side looking at the wild roars of the water. Suspense clung at his heart and he wanted, so wanted to see his best friend pull up this monster.
That is if it went how it was supposed to.
The fish - or whatever that thing was - tugged at the string roughly that Noctis had to steal his ground, a flash of worry evident in Prompto's eyes.
"It's heavy!" The raven rasped as he held the rest of his breath to keep his ground. He was slipping closer to the edge of the dock and Prompto shouted at the prince in worry. "Noct! The line's gonna snap!" He nearly cried. The freckled man wrapped his arms around the prince and pulled as hard as he could.
Within the blink of an eye both of them were pulled straight into the water. They crashed into the salty waters. Thank the six that it was shallow where they were, Noctis landed on his bottom while Prompto landed on the raven's stomach, air immediately leaving his lungs.
"Fuck…" Noctis groaned. Prompto scrambled to his hands and knees without a second to waste. "What the hell was that?"
"Like I'd know."
Water had clung to their clothes like desperate hands clawing at something. "Aww man! Now my hair's messed up…!" Prompto whined, his once styled blonde hair now drooping in his face in wet strands. "Speak for yourself." Noctis huffed.
From Prompto's point of view, Noctis didn't look bad being soaked in water. His stringy black locks drooped in his face to the sides of his jawline, the droplets trickled down his neck so finely, black shirt and pants gripped at his pale skin and revealed the slight crease of his muscle underneath.
Prompto bit his lip. "You okay?" He gave a skeptical glance to his friend. To tell the truth he was very worried, what if that thing had tugged them even further? Did he fracture anything or is he feeling okay? Even when Noctis answered "Peachy." he still felt brood linger there.
A long pause until Prompto chuckled into a loud laugh. Noctis glared at him until he felt the contagious feeling of laughter take him and they both laughed together.
It was a song of cherished happiness, melodic laughter.
Who knows how long they've been sitting in these shallow waters laughing their asses off. Then Noctis sneezed and Prompto retorted jokingly.
"Don't give me your sickness!"
"Can it." The prince rolled his eyes and shoved the blonde away playfully, it only made him laugh harder. Noctis was the first to get up and he helped the blonde up. As they walked to the shore Prompto stole a few more glances.
"Dude, I don't know what that was but, like, that was crazy."
"Yeah, I don't think I've faced something like that before."
Whatever it was it gave the Prince of the Country a run for his money. He sighed in defeat knowing that something as monstrous as that would probably never make its appearance in a while. The two sat on the edge of the dock swinging their legs over the end and Prompto frantically checked for his camera if it was damaged by the water in any sort of way. Shiva's grace, it was perfectly fine; he let out a sigh he didn't even realize he was holding in. At least that one thing he cherished would be safe.
'Okay. I really need to tell him. No stalling.'
Prompto flickered from the water below to his friend, to his admired person.
"Uh, Noct?"
The black haired prince turned to him. "Yeah?" Those blue eyes trained on him, solely on him; it stopped his train of thought, the many words getting stuck in his throat. Everything and everything came to a halt to him. A frigid chill slithered down his spine but a warm hand squeezed at his heart and lungs. Suddenly, it became hard to breathe.
'No, don't chicken out just yet.'
Truth be told, he had no clue where to start with this. So many scenarios were being played in his mind and myriads of words entangled together like an knot.
'Maybe I shouldn't say this right now...'
"Nice weather?"
"Guess you could put it that way."
'Yup. Totally on a swell start.'
"Is there something else you want to talk about?" Noctis rotated himself to fully face Prompto's direction. "You wouldn't call me unless you have something to say."
Prompto chuckled lowly. That weak faint chuckle that sounded pitiful kind. It rattled at his heart with how foreign his voice sounded when it was this defeated. Prompto fixed his ethereal blue eyes onto stormy blue ones feeling courage drop and rise constantly. "Yeah. So… about earlier." The blonde started.
"Remember that motel back at Old Lestallum? I-I don't mean to repeat the same thing again and… y'know." He broke off his visual link from the other's and continued staring at the water. His reflection was clear, vivid, it wavered. It's how he felt; feelings splashing all over the edges of his being, the wavering of the water was like his spirit faltering. Prompto was just like the water.
"It's just from time to time… I've felt better. At being by your side - everyone's. Iggy, Gladio. You." His voice began to sink and he brought his knees to his chest. "I feel like I can be at everyone's side, by your side. I won't ever be on the same level as them, I get that, but it's just… something."
"Like what?" Noctis peered over, he was nonchalantly sitting with an arm slung over his knee, but there was a tint of fret etched into his voice. Gods, Prompto didn't mean to make him worry, he should be the one worrying if anyone.
"It's not anything like last time where I felt like I didn't belong or anything… I think. Geez I'm bad at this." The blonde laughed it off, but anyone could see that it wasn't an everyday laugh.
Noctis gave him all the time he needed to continue.
"It's been a while now and I need to come clean."
Prompto turned to face Noctis, an indistinguishable flame flickering in his eyes.
"I-I have always liked spending time with you. Like, remember when we were kids or teenagers or whatever? It's been there, too. When we'd always get in trouble with those teachers catching us ditching class on the rooftop and we'd always manage to slip away somewhere? It's been there, too. I love being around everyone: Ignis' cooking, Gladio's hunger for adventure and wildlife, and being with you. Going on adventures and quests, joking around with you guys, totally kicking ass at King's Knight. But, um, it's different."
It felt like a faucet continuously turning on and off; he didn't know when to say it all and he didn't know when to keep going on it, and when he did it would just burl out. Prompto's face was on fire, no doubt.
"What do you mean different?"
The silence was deafening.
"I mean w-what I mean. Noct, I…"
Like you.
Love you.
Tongue tied. Loss of breath. Words stuck in throat. Voice is gone. Mind is absent. Life was fading; any of these would fit the puzzle, he felt as if he was experiencing everything. The hand around his heart compressed into an uncomfortable measure and Prompto swore to the Astrals that his life was being stolen right before his eyes.
"I just, well, y-y'know I..."
Not wasting a moment in his life, Prompto grabbed Noctis by the shoulders with a vice like grip and reeled him closer until their faces were merely four to five inches away from colliding. No turning back.
"I like you."
Noctis' eyes grew wide. Prompto was as red as a tomato.
'I fucked up.'
"Like, I really, really, really like you. Like, like-like kind." Now the faucet had been turned on, he just couldn't stop letting it all flow like a run-off. Every word that trailed from the freckled youth's mouth only made his face grow hotter, and red to become a permanent skin color for him. Noctis looked absolutely puzzled, like a deer in headlights.
'I fucked up.'
"And I-I knew that if I told you sooner that I would have jeopardized our friendship and that you'll totally ask if I swung that way or if I just like b-both and then y-you'll begin to think I'm such a weirdo and I'm certain I totally screwed everything over and now I'm just rambling non-stop aren't I? Ohmygods…"
He covered his beating red face within his hands; he was so shaken up!
"You must think I'm a total weirdo now." Prompto couldn't even whisper, his voice sounded so foreign to him, so far away that it made his frame waver. There wasn't a response for a minutes.
For Prompto, it felt like an hour.
'I fucked up.'
He felt so distant, so out of place. The world had stopped rotating, he was ghosting away like he had always done. It's over. It had to be. Everything they've done together has to stop now because of him. It's always been because of him. It's always his fault. But how can he know for sure when he isn't entirely certain would will happen, if it will all be cast aside as a joke.
The area was warm even with the breeze blowing against his wet clothes, but inside Prompto was cold.
'If only I could disappear right now.'
Suddenly, Prompto felt warm arms wrap around him and a chest pressing against his side. Noctis was hugging him. It caught him by surprise. Prompto wished to shift away and leave the sudden embrace but the dominant side of him accepted it and leaned inward.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He heard Noctis say with a voice that was no louder than a careless whisper. He sounded pained.
"I'm not going to think less of you in any way. What were you so afraid of?" Noctis' voice was so close to his ear now.
"That you'd want to stop being friends with someone like me - some low commoner. That I'd just trample over our friendship and ruin everything like I always do... Like I've always been the burden. That you wouldn't want to spend time or be around me anymore."
The arms around him tightened, then Noctis withdrew and gazed into those eyes as vast as the wild blue sea.
"Don't you ever say that. Don't ever say that you're a burden, that you aren't anything important to us, to me. Alright? Don't you ever."
The prince held strength in his voice.
"I won't let anything happen to you. I won't let something like that just break us apart, you're my best friend. Do you really think I would just abandon you like that? Over something like this?"
Prompto took a moment to think it over before shaking his head slowly.
Whydidn't he think of this sooner? They were best friends, Noct wouldn't just cast him astray like that, right? Then he felt Noct's hand on the side of his face, the warmth, that blissful touch that could set his heart aflame whenever it wished. He leaned into it.
"I was scared. I was scared of telling you how I feel around you, how you make me feel. H-how much I want to be by your side for forever." The blonde's voice quivered. "Everything you do is amazing. You're amazing."
There was a thick line of feelings roped around his neck and strangling him. Prompto wasn't going to cry, no, but his voice got so damn hoarse that it felt like he'd been crying for ages.
Despite all of this he continued. "I- I'm just a coward that runs away every time I feel frightened. Heh, even now I want to run off and take cover in our sleeping tent. It's kind of funny, really. I wish things had been different." The gunner had never emitted such a defeated appearance before.
Prompto has never looked so vulnerable, not even when he'd been at a disadvantage in battle.
A plethora of thoughts savaged his mind:
'I'm supposed to protect you, to make sure that you're safe on your journey. Not fall in love with you.'
'How could I mess up something so simple?'
'How could I just tell you everything without feeling guilty or anxious?'
'Without closing up?'
He waited and waited in this void of anxiety for an eternity just to hear any noise from the black haired boy. It's when he heard the other sigh, that's when Prompto held his breath and prayed to the stars above.
"Why didn't you just tell me sooner?"
The blonde faced the prince, though to his surprise it was not horror or rejection written on his face.
"Why didn't you just tell me? If I knew you were hurting this much or if I knew you that you felt this way I could've- Gods... Why didn't you say something?" In those eyes were concern and his once calm voice was now dripping with firm distress. The man had caught a hold of both of Prompto's wrists and firmly held them. It confused the gunslinger, why did he care so much?
"I thought that things would change and that you wou-"
"None of that matters now! Prompto, you know you can tell me anything because..."
The hold on his wrists gripped tighter until Noctis took his hands away.
"Prompto, I…" The raven said his name hesitantly and released a reckless sigh, Prompto could see his lips thinning and his Adam's apple bobbing as he was struggling to get something out.
Just like that, Noctis leaned in slowly and pressed his lips against Prompto's.
Time had stopped.
The Earth they knew had crumbled away and they were floating.
Light was shining only from their frames and his heart blossomed with intense warmth; a flame ignited in his chest and settled.
Prompto's eyes flared in surprise before he closed them and let their actions take course.
Sparks flew as their kiss ignited into a passion filled session, electricity conducted through his skin with every feathery touch Noctis gave.
Tender, warm, ginger: that's what it felt like, he wished that it could never end.
Noctis withdrew and gazed deep into Prompto's eyes, the blonde instantly getting lost in those vast azure orbs suffocating him. Noctis said silently and pressed their foreheads together and held the other's face with both of his hands. "I would never hate you, I could never hate you, alright? Six, what ever made you think of something so stupid?"
Noctis smiled as he told him. "I like you too."
"You do?" Light as bright as the sun's lightened up his blue-violet eyes. Tears stung the corners of his eyes.
"How many times do I have to say it to get it across?" Noctis weakly chuckled in defeat. "I love you, Prompto." He closed his eyes. "I love you. Gods, if I only told you sooner, if I wasn't so focused on all these things… I have been so hauled up on what to do. Six, on what I want."
He wasn't wrong: his country was taken from him, he found out that his father was slain and he's the one with the weight of the world resting on his shoulders. To find out that he's being hunted by the opposing country. To cave in and soak in his insecurities and thoughts on how he would save his dying country, how he would settle things. If things could ever be fixed. It was all just a disaster.
Noctis usually was terrible at explaining inner emotions, but here, here he let his mind shut down and his mouth run amuck.
"There's so much I adore about you, whether it's your laugh, your face, your eyes, your stupidity, how much of a dork you are, I like it all. I love all of you...!"
If this was all a dream Prompto wouldn't be able to live with himself. It was surprising to hear for real, from a person he's loved for a while. He wasn't dreaming no matter how many times he was nearly screeching 'somebody pinch me!' inside, he wasn't dying and reliving a fantasy, he was sitting here and being coddled with truths by his crush. By his close and cherished friend.
"I'm an idiot." The raven released a trouble breath. At first it took seconds for Prompto to respond, after all that he's heard he didn't know where to start. Suddenly, Prompto crashed his lips to Noctis' and left a long tender kiss. When he removed himself he got a good glance of how surprised Noctis had been, a quick snort leaving his mouth. "Yeah, a big one at that." His blue eyes gleamed.
Noctis leered close to the blonde, a smirk evident on his face. "Yeah? And what does that make you?"
"Uh, a super-mega-ultra-idiot?"
"Works for me."
They laughed in unison, the true sound of happiness and cherished warmth in it. Prompto's laugh was a tune that Noctis never wanted to stop listening to. He delivered a quick peck to the golden haired boy's lips on instinct.
"I've been meaning to do that for a long time." He smirked.
"W-well don't do it unexpectedly!"
The prince raised a brow. "Why? You don't like it?"
"Nope. I love it."
"Pfft, weirdo." The raven playfully shoved him friend away as they both cracked up. Prompto didn't know where to start, It's as if the Six had blessed him. Then it hit him, wouldn't Noctis be jeopardizing the peace between the countries by being with someone like Prompto instead of Luna?
"What about Luna? What's going to happen?"
Noctis fell silent for Astrals know how long before opening his mouth carefully. "What's going to happen is that I'm going to bring everything close, put everything back together. Nothing's going to happen to you or get between us. Even if I do go along with this peace treaty and marry Luna, I'm not going to leave you."
"But-!"
"I won't let anything happen to you."
Noctis pressed his lips against Prompto's once more. "I love you, and that's all that matters right now."
He was all that mattered right now; they had each other and that's all that ever mattered as of right now. They could go straight back to camp and show off their pride… but then again that wouldn't be a wise choice, not to mention it being too early for it. Maybe waiting a little while before coming out to Ignis and Gladiolus.
There was so much to discuss: if Luna would understand the situation, if life would grant them a happy ending. Would they be able to stay together, they weren't certain. Moreover, that didn't matter then, that didn't matter; what mattered is what occurred in the present.
In the meantime, they had each other.
Prompto kissed Noctis with a smile, his heart fluttered with life.
"I love you, Noct."
"I love you too, Prompto."
Their minutes grazed by with tender kisses and bubbly laughter despite their wet clothes. It was then that Noctis sneezed and they knew right away that they had to get back to camp before they contracted some kind of sickness. Definitely needed a new change of clothes too.
Walking around in those damp fatigues would feel uncomfortable and Noctis would certainly catch a cold from it.
They began heading back to camp, the raven smirking behind his lover.
"Has anyone ever told you how soft your lips are?"
"Are you serious?"
"Dunno. Am I?"
"I can't believe you right now, dude."
Shoving and joking pushed aside, Prompto was enlightened. He had never felt so empowered before, so cherished and cared for until now. Prompto stole another quick glance at his lover before giving a wild smile and praising the Six.
"Oh, wait! This is the perfect chance to take a picture!" Prompto beamed as he took out his camera. "Does it have to be now?" Noctis raised a brow.
"Aww! It'll be quick, c'mon!"
"If it'll make you happy."
Prompto rushed over to the Prince's side and placed his arm around his shoulder. "Say cheese!" He smiled but Noctis smirked and kissed Prompto on his cheek, the blonde instantly flushed red; he looked like a bashful kid who had just seen something so embarrassing.
Click!
The picture came out just as it showed: hilarious and heart warming. Maybe he'd get back at Noctis for another day, but a picture like that would do.
It would be remembered for the rest of his days.
Prompto didn't know where it had begun, but he was thankful that it wasn't ending anytime soon. Their feelings weren't just mutual, they would last out for as long as space stretched.
They headed back to camp and Prompto was the happiest he had ever been in his life.
I really like you.
I really love you.