I want the K
— 3. Nose Kiss
Saturday night, and somehow they had ended up at Bailey’s place the night before their big road trip. He couldn’t lie it made him a little nervous but he was excited. Ahead of them was the whole summer and finally, they were going to spend it together. Even if the thought of Wynn driving them everywhere made him doubly anxious. Tonight, Bailey was happy to have a familiar face in the house. Someone to talk to when the conversation settled at the dinner table. He was taking Wynn to church tomorrow before they set off in the morning. Another thing to be excited about. Another piece he never thought he’d share with anyone. Bailey was already set on taking them both to London towards the end of their trip. Going to the museums that he hadn’t been to since he was younger, freer. For now, they’d climbed out of Bailey’s bedroom window and were sitting on the rooftop.
“Can’t you see it?”
“No, it’s not there. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Bailey elbowed him, “there!” To their right, far up in the space beyond their world, was the stars that made up Hercules. The Big Dipper was an easy spot, but even that was a challenge to make Wynn see. He snorted as Wynn pulled a face and leant back against the tiles. “Hercules is right there…ahead…to the right.”
Wynn looked at him exasperated. “You’re just making these up now, Hercules is a film.”
“And a constellation.” He leant over to grab Wynn’s phone that was precariously balanced between them. Somehow Wynn had gotten control of spotify tonight and was playing bassy remixes of popular songs. None of it was terrible per say. He flicked through a few playlists until he found SG Lewis, an artist they could both agree on. “You’ll be able to see the stars better when we’re away from all the lights…” Bailey had the whole summer to convince Wynn that the constellations were real. “I mean, I know you’ve seen them.” They’d spent last summer laying in-between the long grass in the fields, and watched the stars from across the sea. Only then they’d been a little too preoccupied to talk about the stars themselves. He was talking a thousand miles per hour, maybe it was the sugary soda he’d had at dinner, or maybe he was just excited for what was to come. “Now you get to hear me talk about them…for weeks.”
He swore Wynn groaned, whether he did or not Bailey flicked his nose. Laughter on his lips, echoed only by Wynn’s own amusement, neither of them could keep quiet for long and not long after Bailey got a text saying to keep it down. He flipped his phone onto silent and shoved it into his sweatshirt pocket. No-one was going to keep them down, not tonight, not for the rest of the summer. When Wynn complained that his nose hurt, Bailey leant over and left a chaste kiss.
“Where do you want to go first? I mean…other than breakfast.” Bailey was dead-set on pancakes for breakfast, before church, with lashings of maple syrup. “Maybe we should rent Hercules…” Two years earlier they could’ve just rented it from Blockbusters, streaming it came with a minefield of adverts that Bailey could never quite get rid of, and he definitely didn’t have enough cash for their trip and movies. He wanted to spend it on food, cultural experiences if Wynn would let him, and maybe a few souvenirs.
“Breakfast, then we decide tomorrow?”
Bailey hummed in agreement, skipped a couple of songs on Wynn’s phone until he settled on one he liked. “50/50 split for music. So I’m not listening to your…elegant playlists the whole way.” He grinned, bit down on his bottom lip as he gazed beyond Wynn to the stars above. They were just visible tonight, half obscured by the clouds and a little faint from the light pollution. Definitively there though, making Bailey feel small and insignificant. Except he wasn’t. All night played through the tinny phone speaker and Bailey, mouthed along dramatically. Linked his hands with Wynn’s and dangerously, attempted to dance.
“We got all night, yeah du du du.” Bailey sang, despite how foolish and reckless it was, Bailey nearly slid off the roof, they both nearly did. He fell into Wynn in a fit of laughter as the song ended for another, a remix of of a song that vaguely linked to what they’d been listening to. They didn’t untangle themselves immediately as he lay with his head on Wynn’s chest, he could feel the beat of his heart, it matched his own racing pulse. Maybe. He leant back just enough to see Wynn’s smile to which, his chest squeezed uncomfortably. Bailey had never understood this flurry of nerves, not when they’d known each other for six years. “Maybe we should sleep.”
“Maybe,” Wynn agreed.
