✪ | trashy innocence

     Maybe his face will be… scorching in the mornings, then. Ba dum tsh. Either way, Lack kept nuzzling into him and cuddling him like the end of the world was near. He was just so, so happy he could hardly contain himself.

“I-I’m fine!” Was his insistent reply, though really, he was a mess. He was just going to deny his embarrassment to the ends of the earth, even despite the fact that it was so very obviously apparent he was. RIP Finn.

     “Heh, I know it’s a lot t’ask, but ya don’t gotta be shy.” He reached out, grabbing the other by the hands to pull him in the bed with him. A little pushy, but hey, he wanted to sleep. And what better way to sleep than with cuddling? Almost immediately, basically without even letting Finn settle, he coiled around him like a damn snake. Leg hitched over his hip, arms wrapped around him tightly… Yep, Lack was cozy. Finn’s comfort level was probably debatable, though.

“W-well, I-- Ah!” He couldn’t even finish his sentence before he was pulled onto the bed. And he was pretty much immediately curled around, too. If his face wasn’t scorching before, it was now. What were you even supposed to do in a situation like this? Was he supposed to get a bit more comfortable by moving around? Stay completely still? Burst into song? That last one was a little joke he told himself, but still.

     He turned back around to see the other just standing there awkwardly. He smiled again, letting out a lighthearted laugh. “It’s okay. There’s a first time for everything, right?” He ruffled his hair a bit before going over to his bed to practically fall face-first into it. Now you could really see how tired he was. He rolled around until he was in the right position, sprawled out all over one side. 

“W-well... yeah,” The boy murmured, still far too flustered and unsure. Help this boy. Just, help him. He stood there , still, watching the other as he got comfortable on the bed. Was Finn supposed to go over there too? That was what was said before, right? Oh, grief. Help him, really. 

“I-I’m fine, tha...nks...” He kind of trailed off, because--’babe?’ That was--that was absolutely new. Now his face was a burning red. At this point, Finn just basically waddles over to the edge of the bed, looking around sheepishly.

     He opened up the front door to his house, switching on the first hallway light he got to. “Well, this is it.” It was surprisingly nice, actually. Not extraordinary, but it wasn’t inexpensive, either. He slipped his shoes off and dumped his bag at the door, guiding the other up the stairs into his room. There were pictures of him and Basalyo as children on the wall; how cute. Though, there was only a couple of his mother. “I have spare pajamas if you need some,” He giggled for a bit, then continued. “My shirts are probably dresses on you…”

“A-ah, this is... nice,” Finn took his time in glancing around, examining his new surroundings with interest. It was a little more extraordinary compared to his own residence, that was something he couldn’t help but notice. He did notice the bit about the pictures, as well, but... still, he thought it was best not to ask. Wait to be told about things, instead, if there were things to tell. He figured it would be the same thing about himself. There would probably be questions at some point, right? After all, most people live with their parents, not their uncle... or at least, he thought so, anyways. “O-oh, uh... I-I think I’ll be okay,” Because they probably would be dresses on him. He didn’t typically wear actual pajamas anyways. He normally just lounged around at night in a t-shirt and boxers.

     He waited patiently for the boy to get a response from his uncle. At his smile and confirmation, he couldn’t help the heat on his cheeks from rising once more. “Well, no ones at the house since my dad is on a business trip, so we have that to ourselves.”

     “You’re really quick with texting, damn…” He pulled out his own phone from his back pocket, sliding it to the password screen to type in the password. Compared to Finn, he was ungodly slow. “I’m not quick at typing… Hn…” He turned his phone back off and stuck it in his pocket again.

“O-Oh,” Well, that was a bit of a surprise. But there was nothing wrong with that, right? Actually, if anything, that was a good thing, considering Finn wasn’t too good with handling people. And it was three in the morning, to boot; not a good time to possibly meet a parent for the first time, huh.

“W-Well, I kinda... type a lot on my phone, s-so,” He explained, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish expression. He spent so many hours either on his phone or his laptop, so. Just writing, or surfing the internet in general, really. Instead of sleeping, half the time. Whoops.

     “…I like it. It’s perfect.” Lack smiled wide, leaning down once more to press another kiss to his head. “Is–Is it okay that you get home so late? You won’t get like, yelled at or anything, right? You could just stay the night at my place. …I-If you want to, i mean…” It was evident that Lack was very eager to spend time with the other, even now, at three o'clock in the morning. 

“R-really?” Well, he was glad it wasn’t a disappointing half of a heart. It looked messy, but if it was acceptable, that was good. A flustered expression made itself apparent on his face, but at the mention of home, it shifted into a thoughtful one. “W-well, um...” Finn took a moment to think, recalling what he’d said to his uncle before. “I-I told my uncle I’d just be out for a-a couple hours, I... I-I’d have to ask him, but... I-I have my phone, so! I-I could... try that.” Because he knew plenty well that, while he might not get yelled at, his uncle would be extremely worried if he didn’t show up, without warning. But he knew he’d at least be able to get a response--his uncle had said he’d stay up until Finn got home, after all.

Immediately, he pulled his phone out of his pockets, and was quick to send a message. He spent a lot of time on his phone on occasions, so he wound up being quick when utilizing it. It took a few minutes for a response to be returned, but a small smile spread its way onto his features once he read it.

     “Y-Yeah–Right, Right.” He slipped the paint can out of the others hands, lifting it up to paint half a heart around their initials. This was so mushy for him; anyone else that knew him would probably think this absurd for him. But, at heart, Lack was a true romantic. Even if he wasn’t that good at expressing it most of the time. But, if there was one thing he was good at, it was being clingy and cuddly. God, he’s like a damn puppy. 

The younger boy watched carefully as half a heart was painted around the letters, feeling his face flush up all over again. There wasn’t anything wrong with this, it was just... so strange of a feeling, to be doing something like this. He never expected he would be. At the rate things were going, he kind of just expected to be alone for who knows how long, but... seems like that wasn’t the reality anymore. Which, definitely was a good thing. Absolutely.

     “O-Of course–” He let go of him to shuffle back into the gap between the two signs, sticking his head out to wave him in. He had his feet against one side and he was resting his back against the other. In front of them were the initials “AL”, which would be confusing to most, since everyone generally calls him Lack. He never really told anyone his first name. Around the red paint were copies of the same initials, though scribbled out with other colors. Basically all of them were scribbled out, except maybe two or three. None of the others were in a heart, however.

The boy gave a light nod once he was beckoned back there, making his way over into the gap and taking a quick look at his new surroundings. It was a tad bit cramped, but it wasn’t unbearable. Especially considering how small Finn was. The different initials didn’t go past his notice, but he figured that was something he should wait to be told, not ask about. There were indeed plenty of things scribbled out, though.

“Ah--” Finn watched carefully, before taking the can into his hands with a mildly nervous expression. He was afraid he was going to wind up making a mess on accident, or something. But still, the nervous look on his face changed to that of determination as he took a firm grim on the can, pressing his finger down and--hey, it worked! There was a little splotch of paint from where he had tested it out, and now he felt more confident about the spray paint business. So, sheepishly, he looked at the initials in front of him, before lowering the can underneath them to slowly paint his own, ‘FW.’Now, he looked proud of himself. 

     “O-Oh, that, uh…” He lifted his head a little, his eyes shifting to the side. “I put my initials there, and if you said yes you could… I dunno… Put yers under mine… In a heart… Or somethin’……” He covered his face with one hand, trying to hide his increasing embarrassment. “You don’t–You don’t have to… I do it for the important ones…” And, in the situation when they said no, he simply scribbled it out with another layer of spray paint, which was… Quite a lot, actually, if Finn were to look. 

“O-oh... Oh...” Now, he was thoroughly flustered. That was a pretty cute gesture, actually. It was unexpected, certainly, but ... He couldn’t deny that he had kind of always wanted to do something along those lines. It was like in movies, where people would carve each other’s initials into a tree. Except, this wasn’t a tree, obviously. But it was still along the same lines as that, right?

“I-I can... I can do it...” Finn murmured, gaze shifting downwards slightly from embarrassment. “I-I mean-- You’ll have to help me, I-I’ve never spray painted before, b-but...” This obviously meant a lot to him, and so Finn didn’t want to object or make him feel like this was an unwanted gesture or anything of the sort. Because it wasn’t. It was unexpectedly sweet, really.

     “I, uh… I’ve never been on a real date. I’ve only really brought people here, so, uh… If you have any ideas… I-I’d be glad to hear ‘em.”

     His guys were generally all people he’s grown up with, so they’ve been together through thick and thin. And when their “boss” or another member likes someone, they accept it and move on, making sure no one picks on them too. “Yeah..! No one will mess with ya anymore, promise. It’ll be happy… Er, nice…” He was so jumbled up, he couldn’t even find the right words for his sentences. It was either that or maybe he just skipped english a little too much.

“O-oh, um...” More surprise there. He debated on whether or not saying his, er. ‘Ideal date’ was a good idea or not, but... Finn thought it was a kind of ridiculous thing to think of, so he decided to push it to the back of his mind for now... Maybe some other time.

This certainly was a change of pace, but it sure was a welcome one. Things were finally starting to turn around for the boy, and he was glad. Or, well--saying ‘finally’ was a bit much, because things had gradually turned around ever since he moved away from home. But things were getting much better much faster now, it seemed. “Y-Yeah... it’ll be nice,” He reaffirmed, giving a gentle nod in response. This seemed so genuine, after all. 

     “Yeah, I mean it. I’m sure.” He listened to the other babble on and felt a sudden wave of relief wash over him. “You mean it? You’ll date me?” His eyes lit up right away in excitement. “Shit i… I didn’t expect that..! Not that I’m not happy or anything, exactly the opposite, actually–D-Does this mean you’ll go on a date with me? Like, a real date, to the movies or something?” He was talking a mile a minute he was so excited. It took him a minute to realize he went and held the others hands during that excitement. 

     “I’ll make it up to you–I dunno how but… I will! I already told my guys about how I was feeling and they were chill about it. So, like… You don’t have to worry about me being a dick anymore, okay? I just… sorta did that because, uh… Well, I didn’t know how to come to terms with shit and, uh… Other reasons too.” He didn’t really wanna drop the bomb that he was still getting over his mother’s death from a few years prior. 

“Y-Yeah, I mean it!” Finn nodded, confirming what he said as he shuffled around sheepishly. “L-Like, a real date, to wherever! I-I’m not picky... I-I guess, I mean, I-I don’t know where people r-really like to go on dates, but...” He really didn’t have much of a clue, other than the typical stuff you’d see on movies or TV. There was one thing he’d like to do, but... maybe it was weird, or silly. Something like that. He’d just keep it to himself.

“O-oh...!” Well, that kinda surprised him. They were all okay with it? He must’ve gotten lucky and moved to an area where that didn’t kind of bother people as much. Or maybe all of them were just good enough friends to have it not be a big deal. Either way, he was relieved. Of course, this didn’t excuse any prior behavior, and he knew that, but he was still willing to give things a chance moving forward. So now, there was a slight smile creeping across his features. “M-mmhm.. W-well, things will be great from now on, r-right? So. T-that’s what matters most!” Look at this bean go.

     Upon the other making his way over, he leaned in slowly and pressed a kiss to the boys lips. Shakily, he moved his hands from behind his back, revealing a small bouquet of assorted flowers. “I, uh…” After he broke the kiss, he cleared his throat, cheeks clearly burning almost as bright as his hair. “…Here.” He was clearly embarrassed, practically shoving the flowers into the others hands with trembling hands. 

     With no doubt, he knew the other would be confused at least; or even angry. For months, Lack has put this kid through hell, and he kinda expected to at least get punched by him or something for this. “I– um…” He really didn’t know what to say without sounding like a complete douchebag. “I’m… I’m sorry… Mm… This is hard…” He scratched the back of his head to try and find words for what he wanted to say. “For everything, actually… God, I’m a fucking douche, ah…” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes; biting the bullet, so to speak. “I think I’m in love with you.”

Finn was still absolutely baffled, but once he suddenly found himself being kissed, he was entirely, one hundred percent confused. His eyes were wide with surprise, and he didn’t know what to say, let alone do, whatsoever. And then there were suddenly flowers in his hands, too? Wait... was this--?

He stood there, shuffling about in place as he listened in carefully, a deep burning sensation filling up his face. This couldn’t be what it seemed like, right? But--no, but it was. This was definitely, without a doubt some sort of confession. Well, Finn could certainly say that he never saw this one coming, not from a million light years away. And once he heard the words ‘in love with you,’ everything was confirmed then. Oh, god, what was he to do in this situation? He’d been put through hell before, that was true--but at the same time, he’d seen good, too. Would it be wrong to give him a chance? God, Finn didn’t know. He didn’t want to just stay quite the entire time, though. Shit. What to do?