Chapter 1: Routine
Chapter Text
Arnie’s knees were tucked against his chest as he leaned against Dennis’ headboard.
“One day, Arnie. I keep telling you.” Said his friend, sitting at the corner of the bed and wiping at the cut on Arnie’s shin.
A disregarded droplet of blood ran onto the sheets. “Yeah, you do. And so does Repperton, as you can see,” Arnie nodded toward his injury, but there weren’t any more genuine points to make. Now, he didn’t expect some invigorating conversation, and Dennis didn’t respond. Instead, he moved to his bedside table for the roll of bandages.
The feeling of the rough fabric seemingly wounded Arnie’s skin even more from dragging his pants back over his legs. Although he expected this, he still didn’t stop himself from crying. The pressure of Dennis’ arms wrapping around his chest was sudden and unavoidable. He expected this, even after questioning when Dennis had come back into the room. Yet Dennis only held on tighter, without words, until Arnie could open his eyes again.
Their routine was finished, and with nothing other than next semester’s electives or Scrabble strategies left to discuss, the two sat beside each other on the now-disarranged bed. When Dennis arbitrarily started to grin though, Arnie glanced over just as he plucked the broken glasses from his nose. The mass of tape in their center was already starting to peel off. Dennis was speaking again, ‘Just like I told you, right?’, but Arnie only watched as the frames of his glasses drooped further and further into two, eventually breaking the tape apart completely.
Until he noticed why he was smiling, Dennis’ eyes still stayed fixed on Arnie. “Well, if you wanna start somewhere, maybe that was for the best.”, He chuckled, and suddenly Arnie was looking back at him.
Chapter Text
“Hey, where are we going again?”
Dennis closed his Charger’s door as Arnie buckled his seatbelt in novel anticipation. He didn't respond until Dennis began driving, seemingly too preoccupied by fidgeting with the dirtied bandage wrapped across his right hand’s knuckles. An injury that Dennis hadn’t seen before. Just as he was deciding if he should ask Arnie about the circumstances, the same right hand was being waved in front of his face.
“Dennis- Dennis, there! How about you keep your eyes on the road?”,
Arnie grinned, hearing Dennis’ curses under his breath while he accelerated the car again. If nothing else, Arnie’s voice was a much more apparent distraction.
Once he pulled over to the nearest empty street, he spoke again. “What's got you in such a good mood? Just tell me where to drop you off, yeah?”.
Instead of a quick reply, or a remaining smile, Arnie only looked down at his hands again. A bead of rain landed on the windshield in the apparent silence, with his friend nearly whispering “Just, go back to my place,”
Again, Dennis decided not to ask.
The windshield wipers began to creak against the car’s windows. Without words, Dennis drove in the near-torrential weather, and Arnie watched the movement of the blades in succession. For the past few minutes, Arnie’s hands had moved to various surfaces of the vehicle’s interior, fidgeting that became expected. But now, the area he adjoined was Dennis’ forearm.
His grip on the wheel tightened at the abrupt touch, bemusedly clearing his throat before speaking. “We’ll be there soon, Arnie,” Dennis said without awaiting a reply. He hadn't taken his eyes off of the road since the last, although he knew Arnie had been looking at him.
Now, Arnie’s resting hand pulled Dennis’ arm closer, swiftly leaning across the center console until their lips met.
Dennis instinctively moved his empty hand to the small of Arnie’s back at the sudden action, while concurrently trying to shift his foot to the brake of his car. Yet just as quickly, Dennis pulled back. “We already look like a couple of queers, Arnie, let me at least stop this wreck from happening,” Dennis spoke hesitantly, “Just like you said.”. He nearly parked the car in the middle of the street as he attempted to look at Arnie again.
Arnie felt it again. A wound being pressed into, what he couldn’t stop himself from doing. “We’ve probably looked that way for a while,” Arnie hurried and pushed himself into the corner of his seat. Their routine could begin again, with Dennis silently hugging Arnie until he stopped crying.
He noticed that the rainfall had ended. “I’m- You’re my only friend, you know that, Dennis, you know-” Yet Dennis was the one kissing him, holding on tighter once more. His lips moved for longer now, and Arnie was too focused to shut his eyes. He watched Dennis’ hand grip onto his own, and felt when his tongue began filling his mouth. With the quiet yelp that Arnie let out, Dennis pulled away with laughter.
Immediately, Arnie started saying an apology, even though he was grinning as well. And, without noticing, Dennis continued to hold Arnie’s hand upon the center console as he put the car in drive.
“I’ll love you the best I can, Arnie,” He kept his eyes on the road, “But, you're gonna need some more practice.”
Notes:
trying to make these chapters longer !