"no, wait."

he should have expected the reaction. the disregard. the polite indifference to something that should be private; still, the contradiction of secrecy is stamped on the box in the form of a kyle's home address.

"kyle!" noah chases him. purposefully, he lets the box collide with the other's back. "we can have fun together. i just thought that karaoke date ended really well, and y'know."

noah rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, eyes flickering from the box to kyle. he holds the box in one hand although the grip is awkward around its hard corners. with a grunt, noah hoists himself on to kyle's back to force a piggyback ride.

he shakes the box in front of kyle as if to clarify the implication.

"it's a gift for us!"

kyle lopez

"hell yeah it does, man! hell yeah we're trying it out now!"

noah hoots and hollers: a man on top of the world. a prince atop a beautiful saddle and mount. but the path is bumpy- and so is misunderstanding. each step of the staircase causes him to cling tighter as noah's exuberance pauses in greyscale.

"song requests?" noah's back becomes more upright, more parallel to kyle's. genuine confusion smacks him in the face and pushes his brows together. "are you like, trying to make this a musical or something?"

as the initial confusion wears off, he descends closer to kyle. his chin rests on the other's head as he thinks.

kyle lopez

at kyle's confusion, noah smiles. he's a little embarrassed at himself, and a small note of a laugh gets caught in his throat. his forehead dives into kyle's mess of brown hair and he rubs his head against the other affectionately.

noah slithers off kyle's back when they enter the bedroom. the door is closed and with such sealing, the quiet greets them like a tide brushing against the shore. no dogs. just the two of them.

he tears the tape off the box, the cardboard peeling alongside the adhesive. for safe landings, noah throws the gifts on the bed: karaoke staples from that memory. without waiting for further explanation, noah grabs kyle with a smirk.

"you're my gift too." he tosses the taller man on to the mattress and follows soon after.

kyle lopez

noah's laughter is clipped by the tightening of kyle's legs. the hoodie is lost. the pesky peel of his clothes urged away from his bare body. they crash into each other. where the skin meets, it brands. it's a comforting heat: one that singes first but pulses sweetly afterward like the glow of some careful candle.

"but?" he kisses him back. noah's question lingers: a teasing shadow inbetween lips. his arms sneak behind kyle's back. "you can judge my performance, aight? it's practice for the contest." with a snicker, noah urges himself upon him, locked at the lips.

like their mattress, the two sink into their day.

kyle lopez