Chapter Text
After that day, Reki found himself becoming more and more drawn to touching Langa. He was already pretty touchy but he found himself constantly trying to touch Langa. Whether they were skating or eating at Joe’s, Reki brushed up against Langa constantly. Every time their hands met, Reki felt that spark again. He started hugging him whenever he could. Something had changed for Reki and he couldn’t quite place what it was but he just knew he couldn’t get enough of Langa. They had every class together except one: art. It’s not that Reki would consider himself an artist but he guessed he was good at it. Plus, it was the closest thing subject to building skateboards. Nevertheless that meant Reki was in advanced art and Langa was not. They practically spent most days and nights together so one class shouldn’t have been that big of deal, right? Reki frowned, it was that big of a deal. He didn’t want to admit it, but he missed Langa. After art class was lunch, so Reki waited patiently for the other boy to arrive. He found the coolest video of some Canadian skater.
Reki’s heart dropped in his chest. Langa entered the classroom with another boy’s arm wrapped around his shoulders and, worst of all, they were laughing. He did not like that. The other boy, Ito, Reki didn’t know very well even though they both had been in the same class for years. Reki barely knew anything about him. Well, he knew one thing, he currently had his arm wrapped around Langa. He saw red.
“Oh hey Kyan! Langa and I were just talking about you! Do you want to eat lunch with us?” Ito asked.
Reki’s stomach flipped. Eat lunch with us ? He said it in a way that almost sounded like he was inviting Reki to join Langa and him? Not the other way around. He could feel his thoughts creeping up through his body. Reki breathed in and out trying to calm himself down.
“No, I’m good. Have fun you two,” Reki said, his voice laced with malice. He walked by Langa.
“Wait, Reki.”
He kept walking ignoring the other boy. It was better to remove himself before he lost his temper.
Reki did not want to think about how seeing Ito with Langa made him feel or act. Sometimes when things get too loud in his head, he freaks out. He’s done it since he was a child but Reki still had a hard time controlling it, and that situation with Ito definitely was one of those situations. He felt bad, really bad, because he made Langa upset. That’s how he ended up here slumped over the bar at Sia La Luce avoiding his best friend. He could tell that Joe was surprised when he showed up alone and not after hours looking like a bus hit him. This was the second time in their friendship that Reki had screwed up this bad. He knew he needed to speak to the other boy but didn’t know what to say. “Hey, I’m jealous you have another friend,” was so stupid and unwarrented and clingy. Saying something like that would definitely push the other boy away sooner. Reki knew Langa would figure out that he was too cool for Reki someday. Joe slid a plate of pizza in front of Reki on the counter.
“The more you guys come here to mooch, the more likely I’m going to want to start charging you,” Joe said, attempting to crack a joke. Reki didn’t feel like laughing.
“Thanks for the pizza, Kojiro.” Joe frowned at Reki’s response.
“So what happened with Langa?”
Reki sat up straight. “What! How did you know?” He asked indigently. “I didn’t even say anything yet.”
Joe smiled. It wasn’t like the smile he made while flirting or the smile he made at Kaoru when he thought no one else was looking, but it was coated in understanding and sadness. “I just had a feeling. So what happened?”
Reki picked mindlessly at his pizza. He knew Joe wasn’t going to judge him for what happened but part of Reki was embarrassed, “I got upset when I realized Langa had another friend.”
Joe cocked his head to the side, “What do you mean? You know Langa has other friends like Miya, who's your friend as well.”
Reki shook his head.
“No, not like that. Ito is in our class at school and they met in art class. The other day, he had his arm around Langa and they were laughing,” Reki said mournfully. Joe’s face twisted into a smirk.
“What’s with that face? I reacted poorly and made Langa upset and now I don’t know what to do. I feel like I’ve been screwing up constantly ever since Langa came out to me an-”
“-came out?”
Reki flushed. He probably wasn’t supposed to say anything.. Fuck, now he had screwed up even more. Langa would probably never forgive him now.
“So he finally told you? I’m glad. I hope you reacted we-”
“-Finally told me? How long have you known for?”
Now, it was Joe’s turn to blush. He scratched his head and shrugged sheepishly.
“Kaoru and I have known for a bit. At first, we only suspected but back when the two of you were fighting about Adam, Langa told us.”
Reki narrowed his eyes. Is that why the other boy had acted so weird when he mentioned Cherry and Joe? Reki felt his heart sink in his chest. Why hadn’t Langa told him first? Weren’t they close enough?
“Hey none of what now. I can see your brain overthinking,” Joe said waving his hand in front of Reki’s eyes. Joe sighed. “I’m going to tell you something I told Langa. You need to communicate with him. If you never open a dialogue you might spend years wasting time.” Joe’s eyes flashed with something like regret.
“I don’t know what I’m feeling so how could I even begin to communicate that to Langa?”
“Well, what did you feel yesterday when you saw that boy with Langa?” Joe asked.
Reki paused and attempted to gather his thoughts. He knew he didn’t like seeing It with his arm around Langa. Raki knew he didn’t like the way his stomach sank when he thought of Ito taking his place at Langa’s side.
“I just didn’t like it. I know it's not realistic to be Langa’s only friend so I have no right to be jealous of their friendship.”
“Are you jealous of their friendship?” Joe asked, emphasizing the word friendship.
“What else would it be?”
A wary smile flickered across Joe’s face.
“You don’t seem to have any problem with any of Langa’s friends, right?” Reki nodded. “You don’t feel threatened by me or Miya? And the only times you’ve reacted this way was with Adam and this other kid at school?”
“Well, Adam’s a literal predator so my concerns are totally valid.”
Joe laughed. “You don’t need to tell me. I think the only one who hates Adam more than us is Kaoru.”
Reki nodded in agreement. If anyone had the right to hate Adam it was definitely Cherry.
“Listen Reki, why is it that you’re bothered by your classmate and not Miya?”
“I’m friends with Miya, too?”
Joe shook his head, “I don’t think that’s exactly it.”
What did Joe mean? Was he trying to tell Reki to befriend Ito too? Or maybe he was implying it was because Ito was closer in age to Raki than Miya or even Joe? No, that didn’t make sense.
“I don’t get it.”
Joe took a deep breath like he was considering his next words very carefully. He locked eyes with Reki.
“Reki, do you like Langa?” Joe asked.
“Yeah, of course! He’s my best friend in the entire world. Skating with him is the best.”
Joe sighed. “I meant, do you like him in a romantic way?”
Reki’s heart skipped a beat. Like Langa in a romantic way? He hadn’t ever considered the possibility, or at least not consciously. Suddenly, everything made sense. The feeling of anger when he saw Ito with him. How he felt around Langa. How Reki wanted to spend every moment with him.
“Shit, you’re right.”
“I’m glad you figured it out. It took me a lot longer back in the day,” He paused. “So what are you going to do about it?”
“What? There’s no way I can tell him.”
Joe cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Well, maybe not but you shouldn’t lie to him. I’m sure he’s just as torn up about what happened as you are. Only you can make the decision.:
Reki’s heart sunk in his chest. There was no way the other boy felt the same.
“Do you think he’ll still be my friend after I tell him?”
“What makes you think he doesn’t like you back?”
At that, Reki almost passed out.
That night at S, Reki stood at the bottom of Crazy Rock with Miya waiting for Langa and Shadow to have their beef.
“Hey slime. What’s with you and Langa today?”
Reki’s eyes widened, “What do you mean?”
Miya shrugged, “Well, you’re not up there with Langa like usual. Do you have to wish him luck with your ‘DAP’ or whatever?” Miya sounded like he didn’t care but Reki could tell there was concern laced in his voice. Reki didn’t respond. “You’re not fighting again, right?” From the large television screen, the beef began.
Reki watched as Langa skated down the hill. Shadow worked as hard as usual but Langa was too fast. He glided over the concrete and Reki could swear he could see snow falling as Langa sped towards the factory.
As Shadow and Langa headed through the factory toe-to-toe. Langa pulled ahead and as he skidded to a stop, he smiled widely and waved at Reki. Reki’s stomach fluttered and almost ran towards the other boy. He fell back when a group surrounded Langa. Reki pushed his feelings down. He’d let Langa enjoy the spotlight. Anyways, there was no way Langa would notice if he left.
He didn’t see the heart broken expression Langa wore when he realized Reki left.
Reki knew he needed to fess up. The longer he hid his feelings, he knew Langa and he would only only grow further apart and that was the last thing Reki wanted. Langa was everything. He knew Joe was right that they needed to talk. Reki’s heart pumped quickly as he raced along on his skateboard. The humid air hung around him like a blanket. Going to school on days like these should be illegal, Reki thought to himself. As he rounded the corner, he spotted Langa waiting in the usual spot. The other boy looked more spaced out than usual but his face lit up when Reki pulled into his sight, Reki was surprised to see Langa waiting for him after what happened at school and then again at S.
“I’m glad to see you,” Langa said, after last night was left unsaid but hung in the air as heavy as the humidity. Reki tried not to let those few words float through his body, producing hope. Reki didn’t know where to begin but he knew he couldn’t sit through a whole day of school with these thoughts racing through his mind.
“We should skip school today.” Langa’s eyes widened. “I think its too hot to be stuck in that stuffy classroom anyways.”
Langa nodded in agreement, “Okay.”
They skated together to their usual spo;t. Like normally, no one was around. They salted together in silent tandem for a bit. The sound of their wheels on the concrete normally helped calm Reki’s brain but today they sounded like the beat of war drums. Reki tripped his skateboard sliding into his ankles. It wasn’t the worst pain Reki had ever experienced skateboarding but he felt his eyes begin to water. All these feelings of the past couple days, especially understanding his feelings for Langa, and not handling them well. Reki did not want to lose the other boy.
“Reki, are you okay?” Langa asked, sliding to a stop in front of him. Reki took a deep breath in and out.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Langa narrowed his eyes at him, “If something’s broken, we can fix it.”
That did it. Reki’s tears began to overflow. Just hearing Langa say that pushed everything over inside of him. Langa deserved so much better than Reki who was sobbing like a toddler for no reason at all.
“What’s going on, Reki? You’ve been acting weird these past few days. If something is going on, you can tell me,” Langa wrapped an arm around Reki’s shoulders. Reki let the other boy hold him for a few seconds and then, Reki pulled away. He wiped his eyes.
“I need to tell you something but you have to promise not to hate me,” Reki rushed out.
“Promise not to hate you? Nothing you could say could make me hate you?”
“I highly doubt that,” Reki mumbled. Langa sat down and motioned for Reki to join him. Reki sat down beside him. It was better this way so Reki couldn’t see Langa’s inevitable look of disgust. “I’m sorry about what happened the other day with Ito. I reacted poorly.”
Langa shrugged, “It’s okay. You really didn’t need to apologize.”
Reki frowned. That was not what he expected to hear at all.
“Still… I need to be more upfront with my feelings.”
Langa only hummed in response.
“There’s something else,” Reki paused not quite knowing how to approach the subject. “This isn’t an excuse for my behavior, but I wanted to explain. Please, please don’t hate me.” Reki could feel Langa’s gaze on him.
“I told you. There’s nothing you could say that would make me hat-”
“-I like you,” Reki interrupted.
“I like you too,” Langa said.
“No!” Reki tensed up. “You don’t get it! I mean I like you, as more than friends!” Reki hung his head down fearing the worst. Would Langa even want to talk to him now?
“You’re such a dummy,” Langa said. Reki turned to face the other boy. Langa’s eyes were wide and sparkling. It was almost the same expression he wore when skating.
“Huh?”
“I like you in that way too, dummy,” Langa said smiling. Reki’s heart started beating faster in his chest. Langa returned his feelings? He almost couldn’t believe it.
“You’re serious?”
Langa smiled even brighter, “You make me feel like I’m skating, even when I’m not.”
Reki blushed, “I feel the same way.”
Langa outstretched his hand towards Reki and Reki intertwined their fingers. Langa pulled him closer and quickly kissed him. Reki felt like the world stopped spinning. Kissing Langa felt like skating but only better. All he could feel was Langa. They were in their own world.
“Let’s go on a date.”
Reki couldn’t stop smiling.