Day sixteen: courageous

"That one? Are you sure?"

Makoto nodded, holding the dvd case in his hands. Tonight was the night that he was going to try to get through an entire horror movie, with minimal screaming and hiding behind his lovers or his hands. He had chosen one that didn't look (or sound by the synposis on the back of the case) as awful as the ones that Haruka and Rin were showing him from Nagisa's personal collection they had borrowed.

"It's in, are you positive you want to go through with his?" Rin said, sitting back down and pulling a blanket over the three of them.

With Haruka on his left and Rin to his right, and the popcorn in his lap, the redhead pressed play on the remote, promptly starting the film.

He almost wanted to stop five minutes in.

Haruka squeezed his hand, eyes still wide open at the fact that he had just watched someone being torn apart by a horde of zombies, her screams still fresh in his mind. And it was just five minutes in.

"You okay?" Rin rubbed his back. "I can feel you shaking, we can turn it off-"

"No, I'm fine," he reassured, taking a deep breath. "I can do this."

"Please just don't bite your tongue to stop yourself from screaming, I don't want to have to clean up blood and take you to the emergency room," Haruka sighed, putting more popcorn in his mouth.

"Well that would make an interesting story to tell at least," Rin snorted.

Makoto only groaned.

Halfway in, and Makoto was fighting off every urge in his body to just cover his eyes and leave the room.

He envied Haruka and Rin, who were eagerly watching, even making comments every now and again, from 'how fake was that blood?' to Rin screaming at an actress to 'get the fuck out of the room' while he was a foot away from the screen.

The two did jump at times, due to the horror movie mechanic of loud, sudden noises, which made him jump as well but tried his best not to cry out and scramble away to hide.

But knowing that Makoto was uncomfortable and doing this to prove that he could get through at least one movie without running away and hiding, Rin and Haruka had their spare hands on Makoto's back, rubbing comforting circles.

At least it did calm him down, just a little bit.

"Alright, that's the end," Rin stretched his arms into the air, letting out a satisfied sigh when he felt his bones pop. "And you didn't leave or cover your eyes once, Mako...hey, Mako?"

Makoto's face was pale, not blinking or moving at all. He was breathing, thankfully, but his fists were clenched and Rin nudged him, gaining no response.

"Uh...Haru?"

"Makoto," Haruka tried, shaking him. "Makoto, it's over."

"...it is?" the tallest quietly said, accompanied by sighs of relief.

"Yeah. Are you sure you're okay? We thought you were a goner."

"I just want to watch kittens and get in bed now," he whined, and Rin and Haruka's heart melted.

"And ice cream?" Makoto nodded. "Alright, come on big boy, let's go." Haruka got up, Makoto with him, Rin at his other side, leading him to the bedroom.

With soft kisses and getting Makoto in his pajama pants, Haruka got him comfortably in bed with his computer, going to the emergency 'happy' folder he had saved for occasions like this, or whenever he was stuck while working.

Rin came back with the carton of ice cream, getting himself into bed and nuzzling into Makoto's side, laughing when he touched his bare chest with cold hands.

"I have the best boyfriends," Makoto smiled, Rin feeding him a spoonful of the frozen treat and looking at the kitten on the computer screen chasing its tail. "But no more scary movies, okay? I think just this once was enough"

"Agreed." Rin and Haruka chorused.

"But I am proud of you for getting through it," Rin said, nuzzling the teacher's side. "If we did this back in high school, you would've been gone way before things were just getting good."

"Remember when we decided to marathon every horror movie we had when Mako went to go visit his parents during our second year of college and he came back early when we were getting through-"

A loud whine came from Makoto, covering Haruka's mouth with his hand.

"Please stop, that was awful." he removed his hand, getting an apology kiss.

"But you do remember what we did to calm you down, right...?" Rin smiled, setting the carton on his bedside table and placing his cold hands on Makoto's chest, nibbling on his shoulder.

"Ah, that's right..." Haruka shifted, placing kisses on Makoto's jaw. "It calmed you down right away."

Makoto let out a quiet gasp, tilting his head back onto soft pillows and eyes fluttering shut when he felt Rin's hand slip past the waistband of his sweatpants with ease.

Maybe watching one or two horror movies once in awhile weren't so bad after all...

Author's note: this was actually a last minute day change so it probably/hopefully isn't as awful as I think it is, but who knows?