46 and 48 for the writing prompts with javid? :)
i did it after like a month or whatever but i did it
TW: it’s fucken soooooft bitches big fluff i keep writing big fluff it’s BIG FLUFF
I’ve liked you for a while now.
“What ?”
Davey wasn’t sure he could say it. Voice it. He’d just said it, but everything was so easier when the other didn’t understand. He tended to do that quite often, and it just… frustrated Jack ; how was he supposed to understand whatever he was saying ?
“Look, I’m gonna end up pickin’ up sign language just so I can understand what you’re on about.”
“It’s really not that important, Jack. I’m just messing around.”
“Huh, sure.”
Jack rolled his eyes, then went back to what he was doing. Sketching. Usually, painting was what he did in his free time ; he claimed “ he didn’t have good pencils anymore “ but maybe he just decided he’d follow every single Bob Ross tutorial, because why not ? He hadn’t done it yet. Sure, he’d always loved Bob Ross, but he’d done art on his own. Recreating paintings he loved though, that, he could do.
Either way, he wasn’t painting at the moment, was he ? Just… drawing. But Davey didn’t really take time to look at it, instead looking back down at his phone and trying to shrug it off.
Yeah… ‘quite a while’. What a phrase. How much could its meaning vary, depending on who said it and about what. Love. Yes, that’s a strong feeling, a strong emotion. Jack had been making Davey feel overwhelmed with… love, for how long ? What did ‘quite a while’ mean to him ? He’d stopped counting the days ; they’d turned into weeks, then months… years. Wasn’t that silly ? Years. He’d been head over heels for Jack, for years. No word had been spoken about it yet, out loud. Quite a while of him silently expressing how he felt, but that wasn’t just down to the signs he made with his hands. His every action was a display of affection, based on his own definition of affection. Who could tell whether Jack had noticed ? Jack, who was always so focused and cautious with his moves, how his pencil traced on the paper, had his eyes noticed movements other than those of his own hand ? Part of the other hoped so ; another part was terrified at the idea of it.
Would he have kept quiet ?
Was he fully aware, did he know anything at all ?
“Dave, focus on your phone, feels weird when you’re just starin’ at me lookin’ all sad.”
Ah, right. Jack was… observant, after all. He didn’t need to look up to know the troubled teen was making one of these faces he couldn’t even look at ; in fact, that was the reason he wasn’t looking up. But did Davey know that ? Did Davey know anything at all himself ? His heart was burning, chest tightening. He looked back down at his phone ; silence ruled over their own little kingdom for a different definition of ‘quite a while’.
A while.
Jack had moved during this while, but he was still sketching, or so his friend thought. But when looking up again, he saw the teen was just glaring at the piece he’d just made. Was he judging its worth and beauty ? It seemed so. He had this gaze he always had when he was being his own worst critic.
Quietly, Davey set his phone down on the couch before leaning in, gently tapping Jack’s shoulder.
“Hey, you can show me if you need an external opinion.”
“I…” He stammered a little, looking up at him with a frown ; furrowed brows and his eyes slightly narrowed. “I don’t know, Dave. Ain’t sketched in a while, maybe I should just do another…”
“C’mon, Jackie. I won’t be harsh, promise,” he encouraged before giving a wink. “Can’t be harsh on a pal.”
Jack stared a few seconds longer before sighing and handing out the sketchbook. He didn’t seem too impatient to see Davey’s reaction, instead looking down at his feet, and yet he was missing a sight he’d always loved witnessing. No matter how unaware of it both of them were.
A portrait, of course. It had to be Davey, right ? He definitely recognised himself, but a voice inside of him told him it was too pretty to be him.
He stuttered out a quiet “I don’t deserve it,” while his cheeks showed a nice, light shade of pink, and his lips were parted in surprise still. Causing Jack’s head to jolt back up and snatch the sketchbook from his hands, this time moving to sit closer to him and nudging his shoulder.
“ ‘Course you do, what’re you talking about ? It’s just a sketch, it doesn’t even look that good. I could’ve done much better.”
“Jack, you don’t get how amazing your art is. Seriously, you’re extremely skilled, and you always capture the right images… Make them better even.” He muttered the last part, not that the other couldn’t hear it anyway.
“You literally look perfect, I can’t just match…”
Once he’d started his sentence, he’d known he’d mess up. But he’d kept going up until it could be considered too late ; old friend silence had returned and was thriving in their shared embarrassment-mixed-anxiety.
Another, different while.
“I’m just… You look real nice, and…”
“You look wonderful too, Jack.”
“Ah. Thanks.”
And another.
“Hey… Jack. I got a weird question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Can I… kiss you, right now ?”
They both felt like young middle schoolers who’d just fallen in love for the first time ; middle schoolers and their child crushes, being so awkward and shy around them without it troubling their pure, sweet feelings in any way. These boys weren’t pure anymore ; they’d suffered from life already, but somehow this moment felt like that innocence enveloped them again. Trying to look at the other then immediately avoiding it, their hands fidgeting and nervous, sheepish giggles sometimes escaping them.
“I think you can.”
They did kiss. A weight, lifted from both these boys’ shoulders ; young fools in love, and yet their youth and will to prove themselves didn’t take away how chaste, sweet, even clumsy that kiss was. All pride they’d possibly shown elsewhere, gone - only them, their feelings, their lips, and their hands timidly reaching out for the other, eventually meeting. They held hands and kissed ; paused to breathe, kissed again.
Young fools in love, but foolishness cannot take away emotions, the purest of truths.
Tag list:@well-the-kids-do-too@racetrackcook@i-got-personality@thatfancyclam@we-dont-sell-papes@ben-cook-can-cook@not-your-cigar@nverkept@jackhasdreams@racescoronas@suddenly-im-respecsable@purplelittlepup@hopeful-broadwaybaby@broadwayandbookblog@crazymecjc@maiawakening@awwwwwwdang@albertdasillva@daveys-pet-snake@be-more-chill-evan-hansen@marcusisaprettygay