It started by accident.
Jamie was looking through a photo album of his mom's when he stumbled upon a picture that looked familiar. And not just because it's a picture of him and Mason when they were younger. Pulling out his phone, he scrolled through his camera roll until he found it. Holding the pictures side by side, he saw that the two of them were posed the exact same way. Seven years apart, at the same park picnic table, Jamie and Mason sat side by side, mouths overstuffed with burgers. There was even the same dribble of ketchup on Jamie's chin.
That was a few months ago, and since then, numerous pictures have been replaced with reconstructed grown-up versions. One by one, the photo album gets altered, but Jamie's mom doesn't go into it often enough to notice the change, so they step up the stakes and switch out framed pictures on walls and around the house.
They have a bet going on how long it'll take Jamie's mom to notice. Jamie thinks it'll be after Christmas, but Mason thinks she'll notice before. Whoever loses has to make the other dinner- a proper dinner, not something frozen and reheated. Jamie really hopes he wins because he is not good at cooking.
Recreating the photos is fun, especially if one of them is making a goofy face or is upset- the overexaggerated theatre-esque crying face Mason pulls has Jamie giggling as he takes the picture. Jamie relieves years' worth of memories with each picture they retake, most of which were made with his best friend.
One of Jamie's favourites is one from when they were eight and just finished third grade. They were giving each other a full, tight hug, cheeks pressed together, and grinning at the camera. He doesn't think much of it until Mason sets up his phone's camera on a timer and pulls him into a bear hug, and- oh.
Mason is very warm, and his body is firm. And he smells good.
Jamie knows Mason has been working out more recently, and he's seen glimpses of the changes to his best friend's body while in the locker room at school, but he'd never thought much of it. He never paid attention to what that meant. Now, he has a muscular, masculine body pressed fully against his, and Jamie is not prepared for how it makes him feel.
His heart is racing, and his mouth is dry. He barely remembers to hug Mason back.
He gets a moment of reprieve when Mason steps away to look at the picture, and Jamie takes the time to suck in a shaky breath. It's just Mason, he tells himself. You've hugged him before.
"You forgot to smile," Mason says.
"Oh."
Mason's warm eyes go concerned. "You okay?"
"Yeah, sorry. I just zoned out for a sec."
"Okay. We'll try it again."
Jamie doesn't know if the extra time to prepare is better or worse. On one hand, he knows what to expect. He knows how Mason's body feels against his. On the other hand, he knows what to expect and how Mason's body feels against his.
He tries so hard not to think about it. To take the picture and get it over with. But Mason's cheek is scratchy with a hint of his five o'clock shadow, and Jamie's sharp inhale has his lungs filling with Mason's cologne. Suddenly, all he wants is to nuzzle his face into the crook of Mason's neck and breathe deeply. To press open-mouth kisses against his throat.
The thought makes him panic, and his arms tighten around Mason. He remembers to smile, though. He probably looks deranged, but at least he's smiling.
To his surprise, the picture looks good.
He tries to push the memory of Mason's body against his to the furthest, darkest corner of his mind, but it keeps coming, creeping back whenever he's alone in bed at night and when Mason's within two feet of him.
His hands sweat when Mason sits next to him on the couch and slumps into him while they're gaming, and his face goes pink when Mason messes up his hair. He almost falls out of his seat when Mason pulls off his hoodie, and his shirt rides up to expose the six-pack that's starting to appear.
It's easy to figure out what's happening to him. Jamie is crushing hard on his best friend. Shit.
He tells himself it's fine. That it was just the one picture like that, and the rest are normal.
Until they find one where Jamie is kissing Mason's cheek.
Jamie's face goes hot as he realizes he's going to have to give his best friend- and recent crush- a kiss. Mason's cheeks also start to go pink, but he pushes on and starts listing what they need to do to recreate the photo.
A week later, when the sun is out, Jamie finds himself in his backyard in just his swim trunks and a rapidly beating heart. Mason shows up with one-quarter of a watermelon and sets up his phone with a timer on the camera. Sitting on a chair, he takes a large bite from the middle of the wedge, holding it to his mouth as watermelon juice drips down his chin. Kneeling beside the chair, Jamie steadies his nerves, then grabs Mason's head and tugs him sideways to kiss his cheek.
It's messy, and Jamie gets watermelon on his own face, but he keeps his lips pressed to Mason's cheek until he hears the shutter noise.
Swallowing the fruit in his mouth, Mason turns to say something but then freezes when he realizes how close their faces are.
The air- the small space of air- between them is thick.
It's hard to tell with the sunglasses Mason is wearing, but it looks like Mason's eyes dip down to Jamie's mouth. His tongue darts out to wet his lip, and now Jamie's looking at Mason's mouth. At his dusky pink, totally kissable lips. At the trail of juice that Jamie wants to lick away.
"Let's see how it turned out," Mason says, abruptly turning away.
Jamie doesn't know if it was his imagination or not, but it seemed like Mason was starting to lean in before he turned to the camera. He wishes it wasn't. Wishes that Mason had closed the gap between their lips and-
He cuts himself off. There's no point thinking things like that. Mason doesn't like him like that. He wouldn't want to kiss Jamie.
"Jamie, why are all your school photos recent pictures of you?"
Mentally cursing themselves for changing the old school pictures before the ones from senior year came out, Jamie frowns and digs out his phone.
U won
:D
What's for dinner?
Jamie looks around him and wonders if he tried too hard.
Knowing that he's terrible at cooking, he asked his mom for help and looked up recipes, tips, and tricks online. He followed videos with step-by-step instructions for cooking buttered rosemary steak, garlic parmesan risotto, and whipped potatoes. The table is fully set with a tablecloth, cutlery- in the correct order- and even a flower centrepiece.
It looks… a lot better than he expected it to turn out.
It also looks like it's set up for a date, but he doesn't have time to change anything.
The doorbell rings.
Swiping the flowers off the table, Jamie puts them on the counter on his way to the door.
Mason is standing on the other side, wearing a nice shirt and dark jeans. Suddenly realizing how nice Mason looks and that he spilt chicken stock on his shirt, Jamie feels significantly underdressed.
"Hi. C'mon in."
Mason steps in, and, okay. He smells good, too.
"I'm, uh. I'm gonna go change real quick, but the table's set."
As he's changing, Jamie's stomach is doing weird things as he anticipates the not-date. Dressing to the same level as Mason, he goes back down to the kitchen and the attached dining room where Mason is waiting.
"This," Mason says, gesturing at the plate in front of him, "smells amazing. Looks it, too."
"Thanks." Jamie smiles shyly. He sits at the other prepared seat and waits eagerly for Mason to try it. He watches as he takes the first bite, his eyes widening. "How is it? Is it bad?"
"Fuck, dude. No," Mason says with his mouth full before swallowing. "This is incredible."
"Really?"
"Yes. Have you not tried it?"
"No."
"Then try it. If it weren't for the mess in the kitchen, I'd think you picked this up from a restaurant."
That's pushing it, Jamie thinks. But then he takes a bite, and wow, that's good. "Holy shit, what did I do?" He checks the recipes still open on his laptop as Mason laughs and tugs him back to the table.
They finish dinner, and it's really nice, even with the romantic atmosphere.
And the chocolate cake Jamie made.
As he's getting ready to leave, Mason kisses him on the lips and says, "Thank you for dinner. It was really lovely."
Maybe he does want to kiss Jamie after all.