#molee

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It was cold. Mo didn’t need to be outside in order to see that, his cozy spot on an arm chair while gazing out of the fogged up window could tell him that much. There was fuzzy, pearly snow covering every inch of the street and lampposts, a white haze tinted everything in an otherworldly glaze. Yes, Mo knew it must be absolutely miserable outside.

So why, Mo tiredly questioned to himself, is Lee trying to convince him to go outside?

“Come on, dude. It’d be cool!” The boy who's currently just wearing sweats and a blue t-shirt had been trying to convince him for a good twenty minutes now, Mo is sure.

“Yeah, cool. Totally cool. In fact, so cool it’s cold.”

Lee leveled him an unimpressed look, “that… was not funny. Plus, you said we could-“

“No, I said we could if it wasn’t a blizzard. I don’t need you getting sick, with your feeble body.” Mo shifted to face Lee.

Predictably, Lee bristled. Shoulders pulling up to his ears. “Ugh, I’m not that skinny, dude.”

Mo stared at Lee.

“Oh, don’t give me that look! I’m not!”

Mo continued to stare at Lee.

Lee huffed. “…oh whatever. Anyway, you promised-“

Mo’s eye twitched. “I did not promise-“

“And so, I’m gonna go out. To your roof. With or without you.”

Stubborn as always, his Lee. Well… Mo had said, earlier, that if it slowed down they might be able to go out to the roof and watch the snow fall. And it did slow down… ugh. Mo sighed.

Lee was already walking up the stairs to Mo’s room, steps creaking as he went. “Lee, c’mon man. Put on some warm clothes, first!” He hurried to follow the soon-to-be-eighteen year old. “Man, put on a damn coat.” He said, once he met Lee at the entrance of his room. Lee stopped midway from crossing the bedroom to the window, and turned to glare at Mo.

“If I have to, then you do too.”

Mo shrugged. “Okay.” He tells Lee to wait, walks out across the dark hallway to a closet, and rummages through the coats before finding a thick, fluff-on-the-inside brown jacket and black coat for himself. He can hear Lee’s light footfalls trail to the doorway. Mo threw the brown jacket to Lee, and the brunette squawked as the sound of fabric smacking a hard surface sounded. Mo couldn’t help but chuckle.

He heard a low grumble, and he swears it sounded like “ugh, you ass.”

“Mhmm…” Mo hummed in response. “Oh and put these on.” The gloves and scarf he had scavenged for hit their target and another squawk let out behind him.

Soon enough, Mo was buttoned up in a black coat and a beanie snug around his head. He turned around, and saw Lee’s scrawny self swallowed in the overly fluffy big jacket, with too-big black gloves and an scraggly red scarf hanging around his shoulders. And Mo couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle as he saw Lee’s face, which… quite honestly reminded him of a grumpy, unimpressed cat. His brows furrowed and an angry frown pulling at his lips.

Lee huffed. “Dude.”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry.” He was not sorry. He’s pretty sure Lee knew that, too, if his brown eyes narrowing was anything to go off of. The guy was just too easy to annoy, it was cute… Mo cleared his throat in the silence, before shoving Lee through the door and into his bedroom, ignoring any and all complaints Lee had about the manhandling. He swiftly unlatched the window, and slipped through out into the cold.

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Lee followed Mo, ducking through the window and out into the little platform before turning to climb up, onto the top of the roof. Lee remembered they used to climb all sorts of things when they were younger. Trees primarily, but sometimes they’d climb the roof on Mo’s former house, too. That roof was flatter than this one, but this one’s not much harder. It was also Lee convincing Mo to climb things, back then too. Lee always had more of a penchant for danger out of the duo, and that little fact always made Mo grumble.

Once the two seventeen year olds were sat, hip-to-hip, shoulder-to-shoulder, Lee shivered. Hard. Mo let out an exasperated sigh that got swept up in the howling winds, and Lee’s attention shifted from Mo’s lips to Mo’s hands as the shorter male grabbed onto Lee’s scarf, and started wrapping it snuggly around his neck. “Ugh, dude! I could’ve done that myself.”

Mo stared up at Lee, almost like he was daring Lee to further protest the warm feeling in his chest blossoming under Mo’s caring hands… or, maybe just looking at him. Because Lee said something, and you look at people when they talk to you. Lee huffed, glancing away, face growing warm.

It’s just the biting chill of winter, Lee told himself.

When Mo was finished fixing his scarf, Lee couldn't help the feeling of coldness that followed the absence of that touch.

The trees along the road swayed with the wind, and the roof was covered in a thick, fuzzy blanket of snowfall. The sky was pitch black, with no moon or stars but the white particles that descended slowly, at a leisurely pace. Everything but the ground below, the tops of a few trees along the empty street, the roof itself, and Mo, was caught in a hazy cold film. And despite the shivers, Lee couldn’t help but mumble the word, “beautiful,” as he stared out at the night sky.

Mo hummed a low note in response, and Lee glanced at him, but Mo was already looking at him. No particular expression in his brown eyes or thick brows, just… looking. Staring, with a small glint in his eye that Lee couldn’t understand for the life of him. And Lee couldn’t help but stare back, as well. Eyes catching on the way Mo’s lashes sparkled with frost, a flush painting his nose, cheeks, and ears in a pink glow. Little puffs of air trickled out between lips that had the beginnings of a mustache.

“So… what’re you going to do, after high school?” The question was so sudden Lee almost jumped. Almost.

He shrugged. “I dunno, dude. I think I’m gonna take it easy, or something.”

“And what? Just going to wait for somethin’ to find you at home?” Mo lifted an eyebrow up.

“Pfft, ass. No, maybe… I dunno. I don’t really know what I wanna do, and… nh-nevermind.”

That made Mo glance back at him, side eyeing Lee. “Hm? What is it?”

Lee avoided his gaze. “It’s nothing, Mo.”

“No, what is it, man?”

Lee closed his eyes, tightly. So tightly he sees sparks, before letting out a slow breath… he can do this. Mo won’t- won’t look at him strangely, right? Right. Totally, yeah. “I… okay, this is gonna sound really weird. But something feels… feels like something big, is gonna happen. Soon.”

Mo didn’t respond. Lee didn’t look to see his reaction. “I knew it sounded crazy.”

“Wh- no, Lee. Well, I mean… yes, it does-“

Lee frowns harder.

“No, wait let me finish. It does sound a bit crazy. But I don’t think you’re crazy, alright? And maybe you are right.”

Lee didn’t respond, just stared straight ahead. Fear. That’s what was making his stomach feel queasy, right now.

“Lee, is it somethin’ bad?”

He shrugged and finally met Mo’s concerned eyes. Honestly, he doesn’t really understand it. The feeling, that little shiver along his spine that said something major was going to happen. “…it doesn’t really, I dunno… feel all that good, I guess.”

“Well…” Mo trailed off, staring down a tree in front of him. That poor tree, Lee thought. The aforementioned tree gave a shudder.

“Well, whatever it is,” Mo began, and turned to look Lee in the eye. “I’ll be here.”

He said it so seriously, Lee couldn’t help but grin. “Really?”

“Of course, Lee. I’ll always be here.” Mo smirked. “We made a pact, remember?”

Lee groaned, “ugh, do not remind me of that. Dude, that was so embarrassing.”

“Us swearing we’ll always be together is embarrassing?”

“Yeah! We weren’t even friends for that long,” plus Lee got on his knee when he pinky-promised Mo that. Now that is embarrassing.

“You were so small then. Practically infant sized.”

Lee’s face burned. “Dude!” He slapped Mo’s shoulder.

“Heh, and now you’re the size of a bean pole.”

Lee squinted at Mo, glaring.

Mo just laughed harder.

And slowly… Lee’s frown broke, twitching up into a grin as he laughed alongside Mo.