Ficlets: Dante's Cove, Sky High, Heroes, Poltergeist: The Legacy, CSI
::pokes LJ:: Here's hoping this works. I do have a greatestjournal under the same name as this journal, just FYI. Right now it is just a storage place for posts I don't want to lose, but it's there, for what it's worth.
Anyway, requests. This is the first half. Second half to come later, so if you're waiting for something, I'm not ignoring you. I don't feel at all equal to some of these fandoms, including ones I've written in the past, but I promised myself I would give it my best try regardless of the request. So here's hoping it lives up to your expectations. And if it doesn't, at least you can feel good about the fact that you provided me with a very effective procrastination tool. I'm going to fail my class! Whee!!
For artistic_sillie, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Nick. 200 words.
It starts with a dream. Derek, of course, and shadowy demons and all signs point to the end of the world. Nick ignores it for awhile, and when he dreams it again he tells himself the Legacy is gone and it's not his responsibility.
But he's got the ring and he knows it's a lie, and it's not even a good one.
He thinks about calling Alex, but she's still mourning Derek and the last thing he wants to do is open old wounds. Rachel's got Kat to worry about, and he doesn't want to burden them when they've both gotten on with their lives. He, on the other hand, hasn't gotten on with anything. He's just been drifting since Derek died, so it doesn't surprise him when he finds himself drifting to the steps of a church.
When he opens the door, Philip doesn't ask him what he wants. Instead he sighs and mutters something that sounds like 'bloody hell' under his breath, then steps aside and lets Nick in.
Nick's halfway through his first cup of tea before he works up the nerve to ask if Philip's had the dream too. It doesn't surprise him when Philip nods.
~
For goldatamera, Heroes, Peter, Mohinder. If you squint there's slash. 348 words.
Peter listens to the change rattle in Mohinder's pocket as he pays for breakfast, reaches for the tray of coffees and double checks to make sure they got everyone's order right. And it's still a little hard to believe this is happening; he keeps expecting to wake up back in his real life, with no powers and no purpose and no Mohinder.
He's still not sure which of those things he'd miss the most.
There's no time to think about it, though, because Hiro and the others are waiting and none of it makes any sense, but he's been waiting for this his whole life and he's not going to screw it up.
"We should be getting back," Mohinder says, and Peter realizes for the first time that he's still standing in the middle of the café gripping the tray of coffees. Mohinder's holding a bag of bagels, waving it half-heartedly in the direction of his apartment building, and it's obvious he's having an even harder time with this than Peter is. He already tried to walk away from it once, only to end up right back here. With Peter; with Isaac and Hiro and the others, too, but mostly, with Peter.
That makes him feel better somehow, and he smiles as he brushes past Mohinder and into the crisp morning air. Winter's coming, and he tugs his scarf a little higher against the wind and turns back toward Mohinder's place. A hand lands on his shoulder briefly, squeezing just a little before it disappears again. But it's enough to make him forget the cold, to forget his doubts about what they're doing and how a bunch of misfits like them are supposed to save the entire world.
He knows the doubts will come back later, when he's listening to Isaac and Mohinder argue, or maybe when they start in on him about getting his brother to cooperate again. But for now they're together and the sun's just coming up, and it's easy to believe that anything's possible.
~
For rabidfan, CSI, Nick/Greg. 1195 words.
Greg's not stupid. He's not desperate, either, contrary to what some people in the lab might think. He's not naïve and he's not married to his job and he's not going home at night to watch TV and wish for the right guy to come along and make his life complete. He's got a career he likes and good friends and plenty of prospects. So the last thing he needs is to come home and find Nick standing on his doorstep looking…well, like Nick.
He didn't need it the last time either, and he definitely didn't need it the time before that. But that first time is what got him into all this trouble to begin with, because if he'd never slept with Nick in the first place he wouldn't know what he was missing.
So he doesn't even bother asking what Nick's doing there, doesn't try to tell himself he's not going to let Nick in. Because he's not desperate, but he knows his limits, and saying no to Nick is one of those skills he's just never quite mastered.
"What are you doing here?" he asks, like he doesn't already know the answer. But he knows this game all too well by now, knows that Nick needs Greg to convince him that it was somehow Greg's idea for him to show up at Greg's door at noon when they're both on tonight.
For a second Nick doesn't answer, but he's blushing and Greg knows where this is going. Suddenly he's way too tired to deal with this, because tonight's his first night back on after they finally let him out of the hospital, and he's already jumpy enough without worrying about Nick on top of everything else.
Not that he's surprised; the first time they got back together it was because Nick almost died and he was freaked out and needed something to hold onto. But it didn't work out that time either, because they work together and Nick's still so busy worrying about what everyone thinks of him that he can't let himself just live his life. And there's no way Greg's going through that again, so he's not sure why he's standing in his living room waiting for Nick to answer him.
"I was worried," Nick says, and Greg doesn't bother to check the urge to roll his eyes. Because he's heard this speech before too, and they both know it's just an excuse.
"So worried you forgot how to dial a phone?" he asks, turning away just in case his own worry shows on his face. Because it's natural to be a little jumpy after what happened, but that isn't going to stop him from getting on with his life.
"Okay, so the truth is I miss you."
Greg doesn't have to look to see the sheepish grin on Nick's face, the one that always makes him look like he's trying not to show exactly how sure he is that he's about to get his way. Because it's annoying, but it's cute too, and if Greg looks he knows he's going to cave. He already knows how this ends, lived through it twice and promised himself both times that he wouldn't do this anymore. But no matter how many times he tells himself that, his heart never listens, so he knows better than to look.
"Forget it," he says instead, focusing all his attention on the floor in front of him. "I told you last time, I'm not sneaking around anymore. It's not worth it."
A lie, and the words actually taste a little sour in his mouth. But he doesn't take them back, and when he forces himself to look up he sees that they had the exact affect he was going for. Nick looks stung, like Greg hit him instead of just telling him the truth. His ego's his own problem, though - at least that's what Greg keeps telling himself - and he's not taking it back.
He's not falling for that Texan charm, either, not the grin that makes Nick's eyes crinkle or the way he drawls his words when he's trying to get his way. He knows all Nick's tricks by now, but then again, that's the whole problem. Because he knows all that stuff and he loves Nick anyway, can't quite seem to stop no matter how hard he tries. But that doesn't mean he's going to give in, and he starts toward the door to kick Nick out when that voice stops him.
"I don't want to sneak around anymore."
And he hates that voice, hates it as much as he loves it because he knows exactly what it sounds like whispering in his ear late at night. The memory alone keeps him awake more often than he'd ever admit, and he hates himself for letting it get to him. And that voice has promised him a lot of things, but it's never promised him that. The one thing he can say for Nick is he's always been honest about his limitations, how far he's willing to go to keep Greg in his life and it's never been enough.
"What?"
"I'm serious, G. I'll tell Grissom tonight, I swear. I'll do whatever it takes to get you back."
This time Greg does look, because he's not sure anymore that it's Nick standing in the middle of his living room sounding empty and kind of scared and God, Greg really wants it to be him. Because it's not like he ever stopped loving Nick, and if he's finally ready…well, Greg's never been all that proud when it comes to love, so he's not going to pretend it's too late and run the risk of blowing it for good.
"What about Warrick?"
"Whatever it takes. I mean it."
He thinks about asking what changed Nick's mind, but he already knows the answer. Because it was one thing when Nick almost died; after that he needed to feel alive again, so of course he turned to Greg. But that didn't stop him from being scared about what people were going to think, and when he started getting jumpy whenever other people were around Greg just cut his losses.
But this time Greg's the one who could have died, and he's not sure how he feels about having to get himself beaten up to make Nick see they're worth fighting for, but he's not going to worry about it right now. Instead he lets Nick cross the room and stop in front of him, lets him lean in and brush his mouth across Greg's. Lets him pull back to grin that charming grin of his, then surge forward to kiss him hard.
He could stop Nick and make him talk this whole thing out - he said whatever it took, after all - but he doesn't want to talk about it. He knows everything he needs to already, and even if Nick hadn't just promised him the one thing he's been waiting three years to hear, he probably would have given in eventually anyway. Because he's not stupid, but he's never been more glad that he's not all that proud.
~
For cinderlily, Dante's Cove, Toby/Adam. 1105 words.
It took him a long time to get to this point. He feels kind of stupid about it now, because he was an asshole for such a long time, and Toby didn't deserve that. Neither of them deserved that, and if he'd just stopped being so scared way back in high school, maybe things would have been different.
Maybe there never would have been a Kevin to break Toby's heart, because if he'd found what he was looking for closer to home…but that's not the way it went down. And it's hard to believe anyone could be as good as Toby is, but he's already forgiven Adam a dozen times over for being a complete fuck-up, and Adam's pretty sure he doesn't deserve any of it.
That doesn't mean he's going to turn it down, though, because he may be an asshole, but he's not stupid. He's also not really sure how he ended up here, because a few seconds ago he was minding his own business, carrying a couple beers back to the table for him and Toby, and the next thing he knew he was in the pool.
He's pretty sure nobody pushed him. Nobody he could see, anyway, but there have been a lot of really fucked up things going on around Dante's Cove lately, so he's not going to write off the possibility completely. "What the…?" he says, reaching up with one hand to wipe water out of his eyes and this is so not the way he was planning for tonight to go. Not that he had a plan, exactly, but if he did, ending up soaked through and looking like a moron wouldn't have been part of it.
"Have a nice trip?" Toby says, and Adam looks up to find him…wow, smiling in a way he hasn't seen since Kevin threw away the best thing that ever happened to him. But his loss is Adam's gain, and he finds himself grinning back as he reaches up to take the hand Toby offers him.
For a second he thinks about pulling Toby in with him, but Toby's been kind of unpredictable since the whole Kevin thing, and Adam doesn't want to run the risk of pissing him off. Not when he's smiling like that, fingers gripped tight around Adam's hand and he's imagining that grip on other parts of his body.
"I don't know what the fuck happened," Adam answers, still grinning and he probably looks stupid, but he doesn't really care. "There's been so weird shit going on around here lately."
"You have no idea," Toby says, and for just a second his expression falters, eyes going dark and that's the last thing Adam wants. He's pretty sure he doesn't want to know whatever Toby knows anyway; all he really cares about is the fact that Kevin turned out to be an even bigger asshole than him, and Adam managed to pull his head out before it was too late.
"Sorry about the beers," Adam says as he lets Toby help him out of the pool, not bothering to glance over his shoulder to see where the bottles ended up. Kevin's the new houseboy, after all, let him fish them out in the morning.
"Forget it," Toby answers, hand still gripping Adam's and that's definitely a good sign. "Let's get you dried off."
And he knows it's a risk, because they just started to be friends again and it hasn't been that long since Toby stopped moping around about Kevin. But Adam finally knows exactly what he wants, and it's taken him a long time to be able to admit it. Now that he's finally here he doesn't want to wait anymore, and he's pretty sure that Toby at least feels something for him.
So he takes a deep breath and grips Toby's hand a little harder, tugs him close and forces himself to meet Toby's gaze as he answers. "I have a better idea," he says, then he leans in and kisses Toby.
He's thought about this moment roughly eight million times in the years they've known each other, usually late at night when he's alone and there's no chance of anyone catching him murmuring Toby's name as he jerks off. Back in high school he'd always wake up feeling dirty and ashamed, and he'd find Toby and take it out on him. Like it was his fault Adam couldn't deal with the fact that he's gay, and now that he knows how stupid it was he feels even worse about it.
When Toby doesn't kiss him back he tells himself he should have known, that high school was a long time ago and he blew his chance. So he doesn't fight it when Toby pulls back to look at him, and he forces himself to look Toby in the eye.
"Are you drunk?" Toby asks, and okay, he probably deserves that. Definitely deserves it, so he swallows the urge to tell Toby to fuck off and just shakes his head.
"No, man," he says, willing Toby to believe him because yeah, it sucks that Toby thinks he'd have to be wasted to kiss another guy, but it's his own fault. "I haven't even had a beer, Toby, I swear."
"So this is…" Toby trails off, looking confused and maybe a little hurt and God, he's cute when he scrunches up his forehead like that. But Adam knows him; he's known Toby practically their whole lives, and he knows that Toby's probably assuming this is pity. That this is Adam's fucked up way of trying to be a good friend, and that couldn't be further from the truth.
So he lets go of Toby's hand and grips his shoulders, ignores the fact that his jeans are still soaked and leans in to kiss Toby again. "This is a long time coming," he whispers, breath warm against Toby's mouth and he doesn't miss the shudder that rolls through Toby. Doesn't miss the fact that Toby's kissing him back this time, either, and when those arms slide around his waist to pull him close Adam swallows a sigh of relief.
They've both waited a long time for this moment, and they're so wrapped up in each other that they don't feel the air shift around them. They don't hear the sound of feminine laughter from somewhere nearby, don't recognize Van's voice or the answering sound of another, older woman fading into the darkness.
There have been a lot of weird things going on in the Cove lately, but this one Adam's just going to enjoy for as long as he can.
~
For sockich, Sky High, Will/Warren. 379 words. I hope this is what you meant by 'outside POV'.
It shouldn't hurt so much to see them. It wasn't like they lied to her about it; Will told her the truth when he broke up with her, and it wasn't like he got together with Warren right away. He waited longer than he needed to, really, because Warren was kind of scary. But anybody could see - once Warren stopped hating Will, anyway - that they were perfect for each other, so it wasn't like she wasn't expecting it.
Seeing it, on the other hand…well, that was a different story. It was just that Will looked so happy, and she'd kind of always expected him to look that way because of her. Only it wasn't her waist that Will's arms were wrapped around, and it wasn't her being kissed out in the middle of the dance floor.
She knew she should be happy for them. They were her friends, and it wasn't Will's fault he didn't love her the way he…well, the way he obviously loved Warren. And she was over it, mostly - she thought she was, anyway - but it was still kind of weird, standing at the edge of the dance floor watching her ex-boyfriend dance with his best friend.
"Hey."
Layla glanced over to find Magenta standing next to her, watching Will and Warren on the dance floor, oblivious to the rest of the room. "I should quit torturing myself, I know."
"Isn't that the whole point of Prom? Torturing ourselves?" Magenta grinned when Layla laughed half-heartedly, bumping her shoulder into Layla's. "Come on, I think somebody spiked the punch bowl. We'll drown our sorrows until we puke."
"Eww."
"Like I said, it's Prom."
Layla laughed again and let Magenta lead her away from the dance floor, only glancing back once to look at Will and Warren. They weren't making out anymore, but they were still dancing close, just sort of staring into each other's eyes. Layla had been right where Warren was now, and at the time she'd thought it meant something. It wasn't Will's fault, but that didn't make the gnawing in her stomach feel any better. Vodka and fruit punch probably wasn't going to help either, but she was willing to give it a chance.
~
Anyway, requests. This is the first half. Second half to come later, so if you're waiting for something, I'm not ignoring you. I don't feel at all equal to some of these fandoms, including ones I've written in the past, but I promised myself I would give it my best try regardless of the request. So here's hoping it lives up to your expectations. And if it doesn't, at least you can feel good about the fact that you provided me with a very effective procrastination tool. I'm going to fail my class! Whee!!
For artistic_sillie, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Nick. 200 words.
It starts with a dream. Derek, of course, and shadowy demons and all signs point to the end of the world. Nick ignores it for awhile, and when he dreams it again he tells himself the Legacy is gone and it's not his responsibility.
But he's got the ring and he knows it's a lie, and it's not even a good one.
He thinks about calling Alex, but she's still mourning Derek and the last thing he wants to do is open old wounds. Rachel's got Kat to worry about, and he doesn't want to burden them when they've both gotten on with their lives. He, on the other hand, hasn't gotten on with anything. He's just been drifting since Derek died, so it doesn't surprise him when he finds himself drifting to the steps of a church.
When he opens the door, Philip doesn't ask him what he wants. Instead he sighs and mutters something that sounds like 'bloody hell' under his breath, then steps aside and lets Nick in.
Nick's halfway through his first cup of tea before he works up the nerve to ask if Philip's had the dream too. It doesn't surprise him when Philip nods.
~
For goldatamera, Heroes, Peter, Mohinder. If you squint there's slash. 348 words.
Peter listens to the change rattle in Mohinder's pocket as he pays for breakfast, reaches for the tray of coffees and double checks to make sure they got everyone's order right. And it's still a little hard to believe this is happening; he keeps expecting to wake up back in his real life, with no powers and no purpose and no Mohinder.
He's still not sure which of those things he'd miss the most.
There's no time to think about it, though, because Hiro and the others are waiting and none of it makes any sense, but he's been waiting for this his whole life and he's not going to screw it up.
"We should be getting back," Mohinder says, and Peter realizes for the first time that he's still standing in the middle of the café gripping the tray of coffees. Mohinder's holding a bag of bagels, waving it half-heartedly in the direction of his apartment building, and it's obvious he's having an even harder time with this than Peter is. He already tried to walk away from it once, only to end up right back here. With Peter; with Isaac and Hiro and the others, too, but mostly, with Peter.
That makes him feel better somehow, and he smiles as he brushes past Mohinder and into the crisp morning air. Winter's coming, and he tugs his scarf a little higher against the wind and turns back toward Mohinder's place. A hand lands on his shoulder briefly, squeezing just a little before it disappears again. But it's enough to make him forget the cold, to forget his doubts about what they're doing and how a bunch of misfits like them are supposed to save the entire world.
He knows the doubts will come back later, when he's listening to Isaac and Mohinder argue, or maybe when they start in on him about getting his brother to cooperate again. But for now they're together and the sun's just coming up, and it's easy to believe that anything's possible.
~
For rabidfan, CSI, Nick/Greg. 1195 words.
Greg's not stupid. He's not desperate, either, contrary to what some people in the lab might think. He's not naïve and he's not married to his job and he's not going home at night to watch TV and wish for the right guy to come along and make his life complete. He's got a career he likes and good friends and plenty of prospects. So the last thing he needs is to come home and find Nick standing on his doorstep looking…well, like Nick.
He didn't need it the last time either, and he definitely didn't need it the time before that. But that first time is what got him into all this trouble to begin with, because if he'd never slept with Nick in the first place he wouldn't know what he was missing.
So he doesn't even bother asking what Nick's doing there, doesn't try to tell himself he's not going to let Nick in. Because he's not desperate, but he knows his limits, and saying no to Nick is one of those skills he's just never quite mastered.
"What are you doing here?" he asks, like he doesn't already know the answer. But he knows this game all too well by now, knows that Nick needs Greg to convince him that it was somehow Greg's idea for him to show up at Greg's door at noon when they're both on tonight.
For a second Nick doesn't answer, but he's blushing and Greg knows where this is going. Suddenly he's way too tired to deal with this, because tonight's his first night back on after they finally let him out of the hospital, and he's already jumpy enough without worrying about Nick on top of everything else.
Not that he's surprised; the first time they got back together it was because Nick almost died and he was freaked out and needed something to hold onto. But it didn't work out that time either, because they work together and Nick's still so busy worrying about what everyone thinks of him that he can't let himself just live his life. And there's no way Greg's going through that again, so he's not sure why he's standing in his living room waiting for Nick to answer him.
"I was worried," Nick says, and Greg doesn't bother to check the urge to roll his eyes. Because he's heard this speech before too, and they both know it's just an excuse.
"So worried you forgot how to dial a phone?" he asks, turning away just in case his own worry shows on his face. Because it's natural to be a little jumpy after what happened, but that isn't going to stop him from getting on with his life.
"Okay, so the truth is I miss you."
Greg doesn't have to look to see the sheepish grin on Nick's face, the one that always makes him look like he's trying not to show exactly how sure he is that he's about to get his way. Because it's annoying, but it's cute too, and if Greg looks he knows he's going to cave. He already knows how this ends, lived through it twice and promised himself both times that he wouldn't do this anymore. But no matter how many times he tells himself that, his heart never listens, so he knows better than to look.
"Forget it," he says instead, focusing all his attention on the floor in front of him. "I told you last time, I'm not sneaking around anymore. It's not worth it."
A lie, and the words actually taste a little sour in his mouth. But he doesn't take them back, and when he forces himself to look up he sees that they had the exact affect he was going for. Nick looks stung, like Greg hit him instead of just telling him the truth. His ego's his own problem, though - at least that's what Greg keeps telling himself - and he's not taking it back.
He's not falling for that Texan charm, either, not the grin that makes Nick's eyes crinkle or the way he drawls his words when he's trying to get his way. He knows all Nick's tricks by now, but then again, that's the whole problem. Because he knows all that stuff and he loves Nick anyway, can't quite seem to stop no matter how hard he tries. But that doesn't mean he's going to give in, and he starts toward the door to kick Nick out when that voice stops him.
"I don't want to sneak around anymore."
And he hates that voice, hates it as much as he loves it because he knows exactly what it sounds like whispering in his ear late at night. The memory alone keeps him awake more often than he'd ever admit, and he hates himself for letting it get to him. And that voice has promised him a lot of things, but it's never promised him that. The one thing he can say for Nick is he's always been honest about his limitations, how far he's willing to go to keep Greg in his life and it's never been enough.
"What?"
"I'm serious, G. I'll tell Grissom tonight, I swear. I'll do whatever it takes to get you back."
This time Greg does look, because he's not sure anymore that it's Nick standing in the middle of his living room sounding empty and kind of scared and God, Greg really wants it to be him. Because it's not like he ever stopped loving Nick, and if he's finally ready…well, Greg's never been all that proud when it comes to love, so he's not going to pretend it's too late and run the risk of blowing it for good.
"What about Warrick?"
"Whatever it takes. I mean it."
He thinks about asking what changed Nick's mind, but he already knows the answer. Because it was one thing when Nick almost died; after that he needed to feel alive again, so of course he turned to Greg. But that didn't stop him from being scared about what people were going to think, and when he started getting jumpy whenever other people were around Greg just cut his losses.
But this time Greg's the one who could have died, and he's not sure how he feels about having to get himself beaten up to make Nick see they're worth fighting for, but he's not going to worry about it right now. Instead he lets Nick cross the room and stop in front of him, lets him lean in and brush his mouth across Greg's. Lets him pull back to grin that charming grin of his, then surge forward to kiss him hard.
He could stop Nick and make him talk this whole thing out - he said whatever it took, after all - but he doesn't want to talk about it. He knows everything he needs to already, and even if Nick hadn't just promised him the one thing he's been waiting three years to hear, he probably would have given in eventually anyway. Because he's not stupid, but he's never been more glad that he's not all that proud.
~
For cinderlily, Dante's Cove, Toby/Adam. 1105 words.
It took him a long time to get to this point. He feels kind of stupid about it now, because he was an asshole for such a long time, and Toby didn't deserve that. Neither of them deserved that, and if he'd just stopped being so scared way back in high school, maybe things would have been different.
Maybe there never would have been a Kevin to break Toby's heart, because if he'd found what he was looking for closer to home…but that's not the way it went down. And it's hard to believe anyone could be as good as Toby is, but he's already forgiven Adam a dozen times over for being a complete fuck-up, and Adam's pretty sure he doesn't deserve any of it.
That doesn't mean he's going to turn it down, though, because he may be an asshole, but he's not stupid. He's also not really sure how he ended up here, because a few seconds ago he was minding his own business, carrying a couple beers back to the table for him and Toby, and the next thing he knew he was in the pool.
He's pretty sure nobody pushed him. Nobody he could see, anyway, but there have been a lot of really fucked up things going on around Dante's Cove lately, so he's not going to write off the possibility completely. "What the…?" he says, reaching up with one hand to wipe water out of his eyes and this is so not the way he was planning for tonight to go. Not that he had a plan, exactly, but if he did, ending up soaked through and looking like a moron wouldn't have been part of it.
"Have a nice trip?" Toby says, and Adam looks up to find him…wow, smiling in a way he hasn't seen since Kevin threw away the best thing that ever happened to him. But his loss is Adam's gain, and he finds himself grinning back as he reaches up to take the hand Toby offers him.
For a second he thinks about pulling Toby in with him, but Toby's been kind of unpredictable since the whole Kevin thing, and Adam doesn't want to run the risk of pissing him off. Not when he's smiling like that, fingers gripped tight around Adam's hand and he's imagining that grip on other parts of his body.
"I don't know what the fuck happened," Adam answers, still grinning and he probably looks stupid, but he doesn't really care. "There's been so weird shit going on around here lately."
"You have no idea," Toby says, and for just a second his expression falters, eyes going dark and that's the last thing Adam wants. He's pretty sure he doesn't want to know whatever Toby knows anyway; all he really cares about is the fact that Kevin turned out to be an even bigger asshole than him, and Adam managed to pull his head out before it was too late.
"Sorry about the beers," Adam says as he lets Toby help him out of the pool, not bothering to glance over his shoulder to see where the bottles ended up. Kevin's the new houseboy, after all, let him fish them out in the morning.
"Forget it," Toby answers, hand still gripping Adam's and that's definitely a good sign. "Let's get you dried off."
And he knows it's a risk, because they just started to be friends again and it hasn't been that long since Toby stopped moping around about Kevin. But Adam finally knows exactly what he wants, and it's taken him a long time to be able to admit it. Now that he's finally here he doesn't want to wait anymore, and he's pretty sure that Toby at least feels something for him.
So he takes a deep breath and grips Toby's hand a little harder, tugs him close and forces himself to meet Toby's gaze as he answers. "I have a better idea," he says, then he leans in and kisses Toby.
He's thought about this moment roughly eight million times in the years they've known each other, usually late at night when he's alone and there's no chance of anyone catching him murmuring Toby's name as he jerks off. Back in high school he'd always wake up feeling dirty and ashamed, and he'd find Toby and take it out on him. Like it was his fault Adam couldn't deal with the fact that he's gay, and now that he knows how stupid it was he feels even worse about it.
When Toby doesn't kiss him back he tells himself he should have known, that high school was a long time ago and he blew his chance. So he doesn't fight it when Toby pulls back to look at him, and he forces himself to look Toby in the eye.
"Are you drunk?" Toby asks, and okay, he probably deserves that. Definitely deserves it, so he swallows the urge to tell Toby to fuck off and just shakes his head.
"No, man," he says, willing Toby to believe him because yeah, it sucks that Toby thinks he'd have to be wasted to kiss another guy, but it's his own fault. "I haven't even had a beer, Toby, I swear."
"So this is…" Toby trails off, looking confused and maybe a little hurt and God, he's cute when he scrunches up his forehead like that. But Adam knows him; he's known Toby practically their whole lives, and he knows that Toby's probably assuming this is pity. That this is Adam's fucked up way of trying to be a good friend, and that couldn't be further from the truth.
So he lets go of Toby's hand and grips his shoulders, ignores the fact that his jeans are still soaked and leans in to kiss Toby again. "This is a long time coming," he whispers, breath warm against Toby's mouth and he doesn't miss the shudder that rolls through Toby. Doesn't miss the fact that Toby's kissing him back this time, either, and when those arms slide around his waist to pull him close Adam swallows a sigh of relief.
They've both waited a long time for this moment, and they're so wrapped up in each other that they don't feel the air shift around them. They don't hear the sound of feminine laughter from somewhere nearby, don't recognize Van's voice or the answering sound of another, older woman fading into the darkness.
There have been a lot of weird things going on in the Cove lately, but this one Adam's just going to enjoy for as long as he can.
~
For sockich, Sky High, Will/Warren. 379 words. I hope this is what you meant by 'outside POV'.
It shouldn't hurt so much to see them. It wasn't like they lied to her about it; Will told her the truth when he broke up with her, and it wasn't like he got together with Warren right away. He waited longer than he needed to, really, because Warren was kind of scary. But anybody could see - once Warren stopped hating Will, anyway - that they were perfect for each other, so it wasn't like she wasn't expecting it.
Seeing it, on the other hand…well, that was a different story. It was just that Will looked so happy, and she'd kind of always expected him to look that way because of her. Only it wasn't her waist that Will's arms were wrapped around, and it wasn't her being kissed out in the middle of the dance floor.
She knew she should be happy for them. They were her friends, and it wasn't Will's fault he didn't love her the way he…well, the way he obviously loved Warren. And she was over it, mostly - she thought she was, anyway - but it was still kind of weird, standing at the edge of the dance floor watching her ex-boyfriend dance with his best friend.
"Hey."
Layla glanced over to find Magenta standing next to her, watching Will and Warren on the dance floor, oblivious to the rest of the room. "I should quit torturing myself, I know."
"Isn't that the whole point of Prom? Torturing ourselves?" Magenta grinned when Layla laughed half-heartedly, bumping her shoulder into Layla's. "Come on, I think somebody spiked the punch bowl. We'll drown our sorrows until we puke."
"Eww."
"Like I said, it's Prom."
Layla laughed again and let Magenta lead her away from the dance floor, only glancing back once to look at Will and Warren. They weren't making out anymore, but they were still dancing close, just sort of staring into each other's eyes. Layla had been right where Warren was now, and at the time she'd thought it meant something. It wasn't Will's fault, but that didn't make the gnawing in her stomach feel any better. Vodka and fruit punch probably wasn't going to help either, but she was willing to give it a chance.
~