30 Quills: Crossing The Line (#10 ~ The line between friendship and love …)
I have been stalking the amazing kaciart who draws so many many wonderful things of DC and Marvel comics characters. (Follow her tumblr, its beautiful! ♥.♥)
Her Billy/Teddy art has totally gotten this pairing stuck in my brain. I got in the mood to read some fic of them and quickly discovered that despite how long the comic has been around, the YA fandom is still really small. T^T So I decided to try my hand at writing something. Prompts are from LJ's 30_Quills challenge. Here goes nothing~
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Crossing The Line
by~Minumi
#10~The line between friendship and love . . .
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"You wanna catch a movie some time?"
Teddy hadn't quite meant to blurt that out in the middle of their conversation. Well, really it was more like the middle of Billy's animated rant on the inaccuracies of the summer's latest hero-based epic. The guy got so passionate whenever he was arguing a point he felt absolutely right about. It was such a far cry from the neurotic bumbling persona Billy was during their training sessions with the others.
For weeks the pair had just fallen into step as they headed towards the subway to catch the train home. It was then that Teddy was privileged with glimpses of Billy's sharp wit and more often than not cynical humor that the other boy seemed to tone down around the around the others. Teddy wasn't quite sure what he had done to inspire this small confidence; but he was sure that this was making it increasingly difficult to ignore his growing attraction for the boy named Billy Kaplan. Of course, this spontaneous outburst was not how he had envisioned revealing said attraction to his new friend.
"W-What?" Billy was staring at him, shock evident in wide eyes.
Teddy had realized pretty early on in puberty that girls didn't do much of anything for him. Boys on the other hand, well, it was safe to say he'd had several misguided motivations for staying friends with Greg for as long as he had.
With Billy though, he wasn't really sure if the guy even realized when he was flirting half the time. And damn, if that didn't make Teddy just want to do something all the more, touch him, kiss him, smile like a frickin' love-struck idiot; maybe a combination of all three. Instead, he would just flirt back, nonchalant and subtle, afraid to go too far, to reveal too much. Billy never rebuffed him, though his responses were coy at best, oblivious at worst. Even while Teddy liked to think he was confident and unashamed in what he felt, he couldn't seem to escape the niggling fear of losing his place in the scheme of things; of being found out, of being pushed away . . . rejected.
Billy was not Greg. He probably shouldn't have to remind himself that so often. It was obvious in everything Billy did, in everything he said, but mostly in everything he didn't. Billy didn't make him feel like he had to work at being worthy of his company. That made Teddy's smile feel easy, even if his guts had decided to do jumping jacks as he elaborated for his still shocked companion.
"A movie, and maybe we could get something to eat too, you know . . ." He shrugged broad shoulders as if he wasn't more nervous than he'd ever been in his entire life.
"Are you," Billy lifted a skeptical brow, pointing a finger at Teddy momentarily before turning it on himself, "Asking me . . . out on a date?"
Teddy watched the way color peaked over the bridge of Billy's nose and wash across his cheeks, the way his easy grip on the strap of his backpack tightened until it was white-knuckled, and quickly began to second guess himself. He could make a joke of the whole thing in this very instant, take it all back, poke fun at the Billy's undeniably hopeful tone and be exactly the asshole that Greg had always wanted him to be, or--
He took a deep breath, looking away to keep the nervous tremor from his voice.
"Uh, yea. I mean, walking home with you these past few weeks-- it's been cool and well-- I uh, you're just fun to hang with, you know, and I guess . . . I'm kinda into you . . ."
Finally he dared to glance at Billy's face. It was even redder than before and were those freckles? God, Billy had freckles and Teddy wanted to do something again--
"O-Oh. You're . . . into guys?" Billy's voice kind of squeaked at the end and he blinked disbelieving. Now Teddy was getting anxious.
"Um, well yea . . . aren't you?"
Silence. Silence that dragged on as Billy blinked red-faced, and fidgeted until he turned to stare at his shoes. For a long moment, Teddy watched as he felt something constrict in his chest.
"Sorry-- sorry. Forget I said anything," he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, heart sinking, "Yea, I'll be chewing the foot in my mouth. You just continue what you were saying . . . This isn't awkward. Not. At. All. Geez--"
Teddy huffed a nervous laugh and shoved his hands deep in his pockets. He looked anywhere but at Billy as they continued their walk to the station. Dammit if he didn't want to just morph into the sidewalk forever. How could he have misjudged so badly? Maybe his attraction for Billy had just made him see reciprocation that wasn't there simply because he wanted it so badly.
Great, training was going to get really awkward. The others were going to ask, and how the hell was he supposed to explain this one away? Sorry guys, I came on to our teammate, who turned out not to be gay, which by the way I am, and fuck . . .
He hoped Billy wouldn't turn all phobic around him now. The guy didn't seem like the type to react that way. (He was not Greg.) In fact, he didn't seem to be anything other than mortally embarrassed at the moment, but Teddy had already misinterpreted him once, how was he supposed to predict how--
Teddy's self-deprecating litany was interrupted by Billy's shy stammer, "I-It's a half day at school this Friday, isn't it? We could, uh, catch the matinee at the cinema on 89th and Archer . . ."
It was Teddy's turn to blink now. When he whipped his gaze back to Billy he was sure the guy's face would catch fire it was so red. He felt his own face warm up with the rise of a strangely triumphant giddiness, a broad grin stretching across his lips.
"Yea, my school let's out at one. There's this awesome pizza place called Caffe Positano on that same block. Wanna meet up there?"
"Mine doesn't let out 'till one-thirty, but it's pretty close."
"I don't mind waiting. So, ah, what movie were you ranting about before?" Teddy was sure the grin on his face was goofy as hell as he bumped his shoulder into Billy's, unable to help teasing, "Since I'm guessing we would do well to avoid its 'repugnant lack of appreciation for canonical history?'"
Billy clicked his tongue in annoyance, bumping him back and shifting his backpack higher on his shoulder. He tilted his head in thought one way then the other, scratching the bridge of his nose, clearly stalling.
"Um . . . I can't remember?"
Teddy's snickering only got louder when Billy swung his bag at his head.
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Fin
~30 Quills Fic Index~