Watch Let's Play's for four hours straight and you end up with hardcore Ray/Michael feels at 1am. This is what happens.
This may turn into a story, I'm unsure yet. For now It's just a oneshot, it really depends on where my feels take me next.
The ceremony was beautiful. Meg had planned the whole thing from start to finish with the help of Lindsay. Meg had just become Mrs Megan Free. As bride and groom made their way to the floor for their first dance, Michael noticed the happiness in Meg's eyes. He truly was happy for his best friend. He even had the honor of being best man, and standing at the alter with the person who had been his rock for the past few months.
Michael had recently gone though a divorce, and at such a young age he wasn't happy about it. Unfortunately it simply hadn't worked out between Michael and Lindsay. Thankfully, they were able to put their constant bickering and arguing on hold for this one day. Michael took a sip of the sparking white champagne that Meg had chosen and caught Lindsays eye from across the room. She was wearing a beautiful long purple satin gown which complimented Meg's white wedding dress with embroidered purple flowers. Michael managed to force a smile, and he received the same courtesy. A look that once held everything between them, but now nothing. It still hurt to think about the break up, but Michael was more or less over it, or so he told himself. It was officially final, and all he had left to do was move on from Lindsay.
As Gavin and Meg held each other, and moved to the sweet melody of their first dance, Michael sighed and placed the crystal glass down. Lindsay was now busy speaking to another wedding guest, he felt the need to leave the room. Standing and adjusting his wonderfully smart suit, he made his way across the room, through the groups of people now gawping at the happy bride and groom as they shared a wonderful moment together. Michael remembered back to the exact same moment in his life, where he and Lindsay shared their first dance. The memory still slightly haunting him.
Michael stepped outside into the brisk winter air and took a deep cleansing breath. The sun had already set and the moon was bright in the night sky. He had to admit, Gavin had picked a great place to get married. The hotel Madison wasn't cheap, but it was brilliant. With the reception taking place in a penthouse party room, Michael saw no reason not to step outside and admire the view from forty stories up. The balcony stretched for a good ten feet. It was wide, and decorated in beautiful blue and white fairy lights. The music filling the night air still, but not loud enough to interrupt Michael's cleansing of thoughts. It was outside that he noticed Jack, Geoff and Ray, all stood laughing and joking about something.
Michael walked over to his group of friends and smiled, hands still stuffed into his pockets like an awkward schoolboy. His strawberry blonde locks, while not in his usual 'I don't give a fuck' messy style, were still relatively wild. Geoff nodded at Michael as he approached and greeted his friend. Jack enjoyed the last few drags of his cigarette and the previous conversation gradually came to a stop. Ray, as Michael had noticed, looked particularly sharp tonight. They were all wearing matching suits, of course. Since they were all part of the wedding ceremony.
After a few minutes of mindless chit-chat, Griffon came outside, with her jacket wrapped firmly around her body, she walked over to the group of lads and linked arms with her husband.
"Geoff, baby. It's late, we should get back to the room." She smiled sweetly, almost forcing Geoff away from his previous stance. Geoff said nothing, instead he nodded in his drunken state and waved goodnight to his work mates, giving them a slurred "G'night lads."
Michael, Ray and Jack all shared a small laugh at Geoff's expense, wishing him a good night as well. Jack soon made his escape as well, letting the guys know that he should probably go in search of his wife. Griffon was right, it was getting late and Jack had the added worry of getting children to bed at a decent time. He quickly stubbed his cigarette out on the small metal ashtray and said his goodbyes. After a moment of silence, Ray turned to Michael.
"Just you and me now buddy." Ray laughed, turning to face the night, he lent on the balcony barrier and gazed down at the expanse of city below him. Gosh everything seemed so insignificant from this height.
"Seems like it." Michael laughed, joining his friend at the edge of the balcony. He too, leaned and peered over the barrier. "One of them is a drunken mess, the other one has kids, and the last one just got married."
"Cheers to the single life." Ray held his bottle up and then drank, gaining a smile from Michael in the process. He sighed happily as the alcoholic liquid warmed his body. He definitely wasn't quite as drunk as Geoff, but his vision was hazy, and his body was beginning to rebel against his brain.
By now, the first dance had finished, and the music had gone back to the old classics. 'Every Breath You Take' by the Police now filled the night, with party guests drunkenly singing at the top of their lungs as they danced the night away. Michael looked over his shoulder thought the wall length windows and noticed that everyone was enjoying themselves. Good for them, he thought, trying to push the thought of Lindsay to the back of his mind.
As Michael looked back at Ray, a familiar sense of comfort filled his body. Ray was always the person that Michael felt good standing next to. Of course, Gavin was his best friend, but Ray was laid back and happy all the time. He never seemed to have a care in the world, and Michael loved that about his friend. It was easy for Michael to relax around Ray, it was easy for Michael to do anything around Ray. In fact, Michael though, that if it came down to it, he would probably do a lot more with Ray than just be friends.
Gosh, there were the thoughts again. For the past few weeks, Michael had tried to avoid these thoughts. Admittedly, the alcohol had helped to an extent, but now Michael did not have a drink in his hand, and the few that he had consumed, really hadn't had much of an effect. And now Ray was stood right in front of him. And the thoughts were back.
Michael felt a warmth rush to his cheeks as he tried to hide his obvious discomfort with the situation. There was Ray, stood enjoying the view of a clear sky over busy Houston, Texas, without a care in the world. A bottle of beer in his hand and a smile on his face. And there was Michael, an obvious awkwardness to his stance and the thoughts of kissing his friend running thought his mind like a horrible memory.
It didn't matter how hard Michael tried, whenever these thoughts started, there was no way to stop them. He fantasized about Ray, although he wouldn't openly admit that, not even to himself. Ray had a special place in Michael's heart, but Michael wouldn't admit that either. God it was so difficult to look Ray in the eye, Michael avoided it at the moment, at all costs.
Of course, Michael had considered what is would be like to kiss someone. Who hadn't? It was a passing thought, something you contemplated and then wrinkled you're nose at, and maybe even laughed at. But Ray, oh Ray was a mystery. He was persistent in Michael's mind. It had become more of a passing thought, with Ray, it was now genuine consideration. Michael fought it as often as he could, passing it off as just a stupid lapse in his brain, but deep down he knew that these constant thoughts meant something a little more than contemplation.
He was thinking about it, far too much. The kiss had now turned into a heated make out session in his mind and there was truly no way to stop it. As Michael looked at Ray, he felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment. He had no idea why, it wasn't as if Ray could read his mind. In fact, Ray probably couldn't even notice a difference in Michael's demenour in the darkness of the evening.
"I'm gonna head back to the room." Michael blurted out, words somewhat smearing into one. He stood up, almost too fast and wished Ray good night.
"Woah, wait." Ray laughed, standing up to meet his friends posture. "What's wrong? Why do you suddenly want to leave?"
"Well we're not talking about anything..." Michael lied, the image of Ray's naked body now splattered across his mind. God, this was getting out of control. "I just... I'm tired, I guess."
"No, you're not tired Michael. Stop lying to me." Ray shook his head, a smile still upon his lips. "You've been acting weird all week. Is it the wedding? Is it Lindsay or something? Look, Michael, I totally get whatever you're going though and you know I'm here for you right?"
"Right." Michael nodded, unsure of what to say. It was sweet, that Ray tried to give Michael some sense of comfort. If only he knew the real reason for Michael's odd behavior. It was just a passing thought, Michael told himself yet again. It was just a passing thought. There was nothing in it.
"Are you gonna tell me what's going on?" Ray questioned, snapping Michael out of his distant contemplation. Michael simply stood and shook his head, shrugging off the question as if it were nothing. Ray knew not to push any further. He didn't want to anger Michael, not tonight at least. Everyone had drank far too much alcohol and emotions would indeed be running high. Ray would ask Michael again when they had sobered up completely. He knew something was wrong with Michael and he wanted desperately to be there for his friend. "Okay, fine. I'll drop it for now. You know I'm here though right?"
"Of course I do." Michael nodded. An awkward silence filled the gap between them before Ray shook his head, laughing his sweet laugh.
"Come on Michael, bring it in." Ray tried to make light of the situation, as he usually did. He opened his arms with an enticing and equally cringe-inducing smile on his face, taking a step closer to Michael he attempted to get Michael to join in, to lighten up and enjoy what was left of the night. If anything he just wanted to lighten the whole situation. Things between them seemed to get heavy with just a few simple words, and Ray always fell back on stupid humor to get everything level again, and that stupid humor involved his typical 'bring it in' for a ridiculous 'bro-hug' which Ray claimed to have invited. Michael couldn't stop himself from laughed and hugging Ray.
As they wrapped their arms around each other, it turned from a simple friendly hug, to something slightly more intimate in a matter of moments. While their bodies were stiff against each other at first, and Ray cleared his throat to make it less awkward, Michael couldn't help but melt into Ray's embrace. It was rare that he got to be this close to his friend, rare that he got to enjoy Ray's scent, rare that they could be so open with each other.
It was just passing thought.
It was nice to feel Ray's embrace, Michael thought. It was nice that the hug was lasting longer than a few seconds. It was so nice, in fact, that Michael felt his arms slipping further down, and instead of the usual stiffness of a male to male hug, Michael arms relaxed at the bottom of Ray's back, his face burrowed slightly in Ray's neck, and Ray, for some unknown reason, was doing the same.
It was just a passing thought.
It was pleasant that Michel could run his fingers up the crook of Ray's back, pleasant that he could feel totally relaxed around his friend, pleasant that he could entwine his fingers in Ray's hair and enjoy the feel of every inch of Ray's body. It was pleasant that Michael could feel Ray's body respond, arching towards him slightly, the moment becoming every so slightly more intense.
It was just a passing thought.
That passing thought filled Michael's mind, and somehow, his subconscious mind had merged with the reality of his life. In his mind Ray and Michael were kissing, and in reality, they were kissing. Everything seemed to melt into one and all at once, Michael found his lips upon Ray's. Unplanned, untimely, even uncomfortable. It wasn't a perfect first kiss moment, but they were kissing. God, they were kissing. Michael's heart began to beat slightly faster as the reality set in. Ray wasn't pulling away, he was urging this kiss forward, running his hand across Michael's back, holding the young man close to him. Neither of them had any idea how this had transpired, or why. But they were going with it.
It was just a passing thought.