What if, at some point, for some inexplicable reason, Dante starts hearing Randal's thoughts.
And it happens on a regular day at the Quick Stop. He's working like usual — routine, customers, morning coffee, "pack of cigarettes, please." And then at some point Randal walks in, greets him like always, and starts his usual chatter or complains about customers, but alongside his regular banter, Dante suddenly hears Randal's voice in his head: "He looks more tired than usual today."
At first, Dante just stares at him, confused, and asks, "What did you say?" And Randal raises an eyebrow, clueless: "Dude, I said that weird customer yesterday told me he needed a fucking 'Master of the Sword,' or whatever that movie was called. Shit, as crappy as RST Video is, even I don't sell garbage like that!" And he keeps talking, and Dante figures he must have imagined it. But then, right in the middle of the conversation, Randal's voice pops into his head again: "He's so beautiful when he frowns. His hair looks so soft. I wonder if it actually feels that soft?"
Dante stares at him again, shocked — but Randal's mouth is closed. He just raises an eyebrow back, like, "what's your problem?" Dante keeps staring, completely lost, but then a customer interrupts them, and Randal just shrugs and says something like, "Alright, looks like you actually have work to do," waves goodbye, and heads back to RST. And just as the door chimes, Dante hears an echo of his voice in his head: "God, I love him." The bell rings, leaving Dante standing there in complete and utter confusion.
And now every single workday starts with these unexplained compliments in Randal's voice flooding his head, endless confessions, and Dante slowly comes to a terrifying — and for some reason, incredibly sweet — realization that makes his insides clench and a swarm of butterflies rise up to his throat, making it hard to breathe for a second: he can read Randal's thoughts. And also... Randal is in love with him??!!
At first, Dante is terrified, because what the hell, why is he even hearing his thoughts? He thinks maybe Randal is messing with him somehow, but there's no way he could fake this. And he freaks out over and over again. And for some reason, he likes the idea that Randal is in love with him. Sometimes Randal's thoughts make these comments about Dante, or voice these desires, that make Dante's face turn red and his heart clench at the mere thought that he would actually want Randal to do those things. And that scares him. And excites him. All at once.
But real-life Randal and the Randal in his head are two completely different people. The first one jokes with Dante, teases him, laughs at him — while the second one, at the exact same time, is thinking about what it would be like to just lean over the counter right now, grab Dante by the collar of his sweater, and kiss him. There are so many fantasies like that, so many thoughts, but real Randal never does any of it, never even gives a hint. And Dante is shocked that he never knew this about his best friend. Not once.
And every single day, Dante starts waiting more and more for Randal to finally gather the courage to act on his thoughts. Or at least say something. Because it's becoming almost unbearable — just being near Randal. When they're watching a movie, Dante hears his voice constantly: "He's right there. God, he's so close. I'd give anything to kiss him right here — on the couch, when he's all tired and sleepy. Or at least put my head on his shoulder. Or hold his hand. Or just… look at him."
What if, at some point, Dante finally decides to do something about it. What if they're closing up the store, and it's empty, and they're doing the last few things — Dante is tidying up the shelves behind the counter, and Randal's standing nearby, reading some magazine and chatting — business as usual, except Dante's brain is flooded with "he's so beautiful," "I love him," "I want to kiss him" thoughts again. And at some point, Dante just can't take it anymore.
He gets Randal's attention. Randal looks up from his magazine. And Dante just takes a step toward him. Then another. Crowding him, backing him up until his lower back hits the edge of the counter. God, how many times has he heard Randal's scenarios in his head about them kissing behind this very counter — when they open, when they close, in the middle of the day, in that rare moment when the store is empty, even that one scenario where Randal just kisses him in front of everyone, bold and shameless…
As soon as Randal's back hits the counter and he realizes there's nowhere left to go, real Randal laughs awkwardly and goes, "What the hell, Dante?" while the Randal in his head is panicking, not understanding what's happening, scared, and Dante's brain gets hit with thousands of tiny arrows: "what's happening?," "what if he knows?," "what is he going to do?"
But Dante ignores them. He takes that final step, presses Randal against the goddamn counter of the goddamn Quick Stop, and finally — finally — kisses him.
And his brain just explodes with the sheer volume of emotion coming from Randal. Confusion, disbelief, fear, doubt — but at the very front, there's this deafening rush of joy, this overwhelming love, that almost knocks Dante off his feet. His mind is flooded with Randal's thoughts: "What is he doing? Why? Why is he kissing me? OH GOD HE'S KISSING ME OH GOD."
Dante expects real Randal to kiss him back. But instead, Randal shoves him away, looking freaked out, and goes, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"
Dante steps back, disappointed, and blurts out without thinking: "I thought this was what you wanted…"
Randal's eyes go wide. And Dante's brain gets hit with a single, loud thought: "HOW DOES HE KNOW?!"
Then Randal asks, "What makes you think that?" and Dante just gives up and says, "Well… apparently I… started hearing your thoughts…"
Randal stares at him. "What the fuck." Then: "Prove it. Tell me what I'm thinking right now."
Dante winces. "I'm not repeating that."
Randal smirks — but then his face goes serious again. He looks at Dante. And Dante reluctantly repeats his thoughts: "You're thinking that I'm the biggest idiot ever. And that there's a cat in my hands… what the hell, Randal?"
But Randal's face changes — from disbelief to realization to pure rage. He yells, "WHAT THE FUCK?!" and starts throwing random things at Dante, who has to dodge while Randal keeps screaming: "YOU'VE BEEN READING MY FUCKING THOUGHTS THIS WHOLE TIME AND DIDN'T SAY A WORD?!"
Dante dodges another flying object. "How long what?!"
"HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN READING MY THOUGHTS?!"
"I don't know — like two weeks?!"
And Randal just lunges at him.
They end up on the floor, fighting — well, mostly Randal yelling and hitting him while Dante tries to block. Randal is furious.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING IF YOU KNEW HOW I FELT ABOUT YOU?! WERE YOU JUST PLAYING WITH ME?!"
"BECAUSE IT WASN'T FUNNY, DANTE. IT WASN'T EVEN REMOTELY FUNNY. IT WAS JUST— IT WAS JUST CRUEL, OKAY?!"
Dante stops fighting back. He just lets Randal hit him a couple of times, because… maybe he deserves it. But Randal doesn't actually want to hit him, so the fight fizzles out fast. They're just lying there, in the middle of the mess they made, and Dante hears Randal crying in his head. He's thinking about how he ruined everything. How he didn't mean to ruin anything. How he actually wanted to kiss Randal because— because these two weeks opened his eyes to something he'd been ignoring for so long. Because he actually loves Randal…
And right then, Randal looks at him, eyes wide, and asks, "What did you just say?"
Dante blinks. "I… didn't say anything."
But Randal is staring at him like he heard something. His mouth is closed. Dante's mouth is closed.
"Holy shit," Dante whispers. "You can hear my thoughts too?"
Randal nods, completely stunned.
"Okay," Dante says. And then he just… thinks.
He thinks about these past two weeks. About everything he's learned. About how he actually feels about Randal — how he loves him. About how he's wanted to kiss him too, for so long. About how Randal is so beautiful and incredible and—
He looks at Randal. Watches his face slowly turn red, his eyes start to glisten.
And finally, Dante thinks: "I love you. Please forgive me."
Randal stares at him for a second. Two. Then he whispers, "God, we're such idiots. Get over here."
He grabs Dante by the back of the neck — awkwardly, messily — and pulls him into a kiss. Dante kisses him back immediately, and it's so sweet, so right. Randal tries to pull him closer by the waist, and Dante winces — Randal definitely left some bruises from the fight. Randal laughs against his lips and whispers, "Shit, sorry," before cupping his face gently in his hands and kissing him again. And again. Dante pulls him closer, pressing against him. And they just keep kissing, happy and lost in it, forgetting about time.
When they finally pull apart, Randal looks at him with those bright, happy eyes, and Dante thinks he might actually cry from relief and how much he loves this ridiculous, wonderful man.
Randal grins and goes, "So… what am I thinking now?"
Dante braces himself to hear it — but there's nothing. Just silence.
"I… don't hear anything," he says.
Randal pauses. Then: "Shit. Me neither. I guess… it's gone?"
He pauses again. Then smirks. "Guess the universe just wanted to get us together, huh?"
He nudges Dante with his shoulder. Dante winces again — but he's laughing too. And honestly? Maybe it's for the best.
They help each other up and start cleaning the mess together, in comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts (about each other).
After a while, Dante asks, "So… what were you thinking?"
Randal's face splits into that familiar, gorgeous smirk. "That you're the biggest idiot ever."
Dante groans. Randal laughs. And then Dante smiles too.
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