Chapter Text
Alex squinted against the sun, turning his cap to the front and wishing he had his sunglasses. He hadn't expected to need them today, but after standing on the boarding stairs for fifteen minutes with no movement, he regretted leaving them behind.
Few places were hotter than the airside area of an airport. No shade, not a single tree, and a lot of massive machines spewing heat and exhaust.
He turned to his companion, who looked like he was on the verge of puddling.
“Take off your damn hoodie, Sebastian! Just looking at you makes me sweat!”
“Sounds like a you problem,” Sebastian muttered, not even glancing up from his phone, where he was playing a goth version of Candy Crush.
“You literally look like you’re two seconds away from dying,” Alex pointed out, eyeing the dark circles under Sebastian’s eyes with concern. He was 70% sure it wasn't just smudged eyeliner.
While most people at college had left their old identities behind and tried something new, Sebastian had fully embraced his style. He had tattoos up to his neck, a nose ring, a tongue piercing, and the only colorful thing about him was a pin of the bi flag on his backpack.
Alex, on the other hand, was the captain of his college gridball team and dressed the part. Sebastian had refused to sit next to him if he went topless, so Alex had settled for his airiest muscle shirt, with armholes so deep his well-defined obliques were on display.
They didn’t look like they’d be friends, but somehow, they’d managed to leave their old rivalries behind. Coming from the same small town in the middle of nowhere had forged a closer bond than they had expected. Especially now that Alex’s grandparents had moved into a small back room at Pierre’s, where Caroline took care of them. The house had been sold, and Dusty was adopted by Robin, which meant Alex would spend the summer living with Sebastian at the Carpenter’s Shop.
“Maybe if you hadn’t stayed up playing your stupid video games until morning–” Alex began, mostly because he had nothing better to do than complain and hated being ignored. But before he could finish his sentence, the line finally started moving.
Sebastian put away his phone and shot him an annoyed look. “I stayed up on purpose so I could sleep on the plane,” he informed Alex, as if Alex were too dumb to think of that.
Actually, he was too dumb to think of that. Now he had to sit next to a sleeping Sebastian for hours, bored out of his mind. Maybe he should ask Sebastian what game he’d been playing on his phone.
A flight attendant greeted them with an exaggerated smile, offering a basket of candies. Sebastian grabbed a handful without hesitation. Alex just smiled awkwardly and nudged Sebastian down the aisle.
Their seats were toward the middle of the plane. While Alex was busy stuffing their carry-on luggage into the overhead bins, Sebastian snagged the window seat.
“Hey!” Alex complained. “You said you were going to sleep anyway!”
“Exactly,” Sebastian replied, pulling the window shade down.
Alex dropped into the middle seat, grumbling about Sebastian’s selfishness and knowing it wasn’t worth arguing. He could only hope a nice person would take the remaining seat so he wouldn’t die of boredom. Maybe he should have brought a book – this would have been the perfect opportunity to focus on reading for once.
Sebastian put his AirPods in, and two minutes later, he was out, even though Alex could hear the dull thump of death metal coming from his AirPods.
It was a large plane, and it took a while for all the passengers to board. Alex fiddled with the safety instructions, trying to remember what to do in case of an emergency, while Sebastian was determined to be as annoying as possible even in his sleep. As if the dull bass of the death metal wasn’t enough, his head was now leaning toward Alex, resting comfortably on his shoulder and making it impossible for Alex to move.
“Next time, just bring a neck pillow!” Alex complained, but Sebastian was fast asleep and couldn’t hear him.
Before Alex could decide to wake Sebastian with a well-aimed poke in the cheek, he noticed someone stopping in the aisle beside him.
It was a man in an airline staff shirt, guiding a small, elderly lady by the arm. After quickly checking the seat number on her ticket, he helped her into the empty seat next to Alex.
Alex gave her a smile, which she returned warmly.
Jackpot!
Alex loved little old ladies – they reminded him of his grandma Evelyn, whom he couldn’t wait to see again. Unfortunately, she wasn’t great with digital devices, so they could only FaceTime when someone was around to help her, and Alex’s schedule didn’t leave much free time either.
“Hi,” Alex said, testing the waters for small talk. “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”
The little old lady, as little old ladies often do, seemed very happy to chat about the weather.
“A little hot for my taste,” she said, carefully folding her ticket away. “I can’t handle it as well as I used to.”
“It’s worse here at the airport – there's not a single tree in sight! And all that exhaust from the big machines,” Alex replied.
The old lady beamed. “Exactly! A day like this in my garden would be heavenly! I have an apple tree, you know? It provides wonderful shade, and come fall, I supply the whole neighborhood with apple pie.”
Alex happily engaged in a conversation about gardens, flowers, and apple trees. He had learned long ago how to navigate such chats and was a bit proud of it. Old women loved him – he could be the perfect son-in-law type.
This older lady, however, ruined everything by nodding toward Sebastian and whispering, “Can I just say? I think you boys are so adorable!”
Alex scowled at Sebastian’s head, still resting on his shoulder. Fine, he was a little adorable, with his sleeping pout, but he should have been a real scare for old ladies with all his tattoos and piercings. Besides, he hadn’t done anything to impress her, so it was more than unfair that he got a compliment from her.
“You really think so?” Alex asked, turning back to his seatmate.
“Don’t worry.” She gave him a wink. “My grandson is, too.”
“Is what?” Alex asked, and when she just nodded at Sebastian on his shoulder, he finally got it. “Oh, I see!” he said. If her grandson was a goth, no wonder she wasn’t put off by Sebastian’s look. Still, it must be strange for a grandmother to see a child slowly grow into something that looked like it would turn to dust in the sun. His own grandmother already got nervous when his hair grew too long.
“How did you cope?” he asked, knowing grandmothers loved talking about their grandkids.
“Oh!” she laughed, waving her hand dismissively. “Sure, it took me a while to get used to it. But now I wouldn’t have him any other way.”
“Are you sure it’s not just a phase?”
The old lady drew a deep breath and gave a nervous chuckle. “Oh, I have been lectured extensively about this,” she said.
Alex snorted. “Yeah, I know the lecture well.”
“Us old people can be very stubborn sometimes,” she said with some regret.
“Don’t have to tell me!” Alex said. “I swear, my grandfather’s head is made of pure stone!”
The lady shook her head sadly. “I am so sorry to hear that,” she said. “It must be very hard for you.”
Oh, crap. He hadn’t meant to paint his grandfather in a bad light. Sure, he was a stubborn old grump, but Alex was still grateful for everything he had done for him.
“It’s not that bad, actually,” he said quickly. “My father was a lot worse, so…”
Now the lady looked even more concerned. “Oh no! Poor dear…” She lowered her voice, as if she didn’t want anyone else to hear. “Did he… kick you out?”
“Oh, I wish!” Alex laughed. “No, he beat me a lot, so my mom left him in the end. Well, and then she died, so that’s how I ended up living with my grandparents.”
The old woman’s eyes widened in shock, stunned for a moment. Then she gently placed her hand on Alex’s arm. “Can I adopt you?” she asked gravely.
Alex was a bit surprised – it was a very kind offer, but he had always been happy with his grandparents. Besides…
“I’m twenty-one,” he said, chuckling.
The old lady kept her hand where it was and shook her head, her short curls bouncing. “I’m so sorry all of this happened to you.”
“It’s fine, it was a long time ago,” Alex said, gently patting her hand. “I’m good now.”
Once again, her eyes drifted towards Sebastian. Nodding at his pale face, shaggy hair, and black piercings – hello? – she gave a fond smile. “Thanks to him?”
Alex wanted to disagree on principle. How Sebastian managed to wrap this old lady around his finger without even being awake was beyond him. But the protest died on his tongue. Instead, he sighed deeply. “Yeah,” he admitted, wondering if it was obvious that Sebastian was the smart one between them. “Don’t tell him, but I don’t think I’d have made it to college without him.”
Sebastian had agreed to tutor Alex in his final year of high school, just enough to get him into college, where he wouldn’t have been accepted without gridball. Since then, he’d been managing quite well with Sebastian’s help.
The old woman shook her head again, shocked. “My goodness!” she gasped. “I’m so glad he was there for you. Who knows what would have happened.”
Alex shrugged with his left shoulder, which was free of Sebastian’s heavy head. Those piercings must weigh a ton. “I probably wouldn’t be on this plane right now, acting as his slobbering pillow,” he said loudly, hoping Sebastian might hear him, but all he got was a rattling snore.
“What a cruel world we live in,” the lady sighed.
Alex wondered why she seemed so sad all of a sudden. He gave her an encouraging smile. “Actually, the world has its bright sides, too, you know?”
“I’m sure it does,” she said, with another glance at Sebastian. Alex was starting to feel like shrugging him off his shoulder. Maybe if he woke up and showed his awful personality, the old lady would see what Alex was dealing with here. “So,” she said, looking back at him with a curious glint in her eye. “Do you plan on…” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “You know, now that it’s legal?”
Legal? What did she mean? Alcohol, because he had told her he was twenty-one? She probably thought those were the ‘bright sides of life’ Alex had been talking about – at least for a jock-looking college boy like him.
“Oh… no,” Alex said. “I’m not really the type, after what happened with my father.”
“It doesn’t always have to end badly!” she insisted. Alex thought his abstinence would impress her, but she seemed to be a free spirit.
“I know,” he said. “But I’m also a gridball player, and I don’t want to ruin my prospects.”
She seemed to understand, nodding slowly. “I see,” she said, before her expression darkened. “It’s not safe for you, playing that sport.”
Alex was all too familiar with this topic from his own grandparents and instantly switched to the defensive.
“I haven’t gotten hurt so far!”
“That’s good,” the lady said, shaking her head again. “But it could still happen in the future, and then what are you going to do?”
“That’s a pretty grim outlook on life,” Alex said, knowing he was sulking, but he was not in the mood to discuss his life choices with strangers, even if they were cute little old ladies who clutched their pearl necklaces when they were shocked.
For some reason, his words brought tears to the old lady’s eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, startled.
She patted his arm again, then it burst out of her. “You are such a strong young man!”
Alex looked down at his arm. Finally - a subject he enjoyed talking about. “Thanks!” he grinned, flexing a little. “I worked hard for it.”
“I’m sure you did,” said the old lady, carefully wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. “It must have taken many sessions.”
“Oh, yeah!” Alex said, looking down at his arms again. “Daily sessions. Haven’t missed one in years.”
“Daily?” she gasped. “My goodness!”
Their conversation was interrupted by a pilot announcement, warning them to put their seatbelts on. The plane was finally ready for takeoff. With a sigh, Alex noticed Sebastian hadn’t bothered to put his own seatbelt on before drifting off, so now Alex had to awkwardly fumble to find the straps and buckle them one-handed, trying not to move his shoulder too much.
He managed somehow, and five minutes later, they were on the runway.
His seatmate offered him a handful of sweaty candies, which Alex politely declined. Then the plane took off, and Alex was busy trying to equalize the pressure in his ears every few seconds.
He hated flying, not because he was afraid, but because it was cramped, boring, and uncomfortable. And the food was anything but healthy.
At least the old lady was more than willing to chat with him about anything and everything, and three hours later, when they landed in Zuzu City – Sebastian's head finally slipping off his shoulder as they hit the ground with a thud – Alex was in a pretty good mood.
“Welcome back,” Alex snickered. Sebastian had jerked awake, blinking and looking disoriented.
Pushing the window shade up, Sebastian glanced outside and grunted in satisfaction, seeing they had arrived. He pulled out his AirPods and stretched as much as he could in the cramped seat.
Alex peeked over his shoulder at the Zuzu City skyline.
“I can’t wait to see my grandparents and Dusty again,” he grinned. It had been months since he was last here.
“We still have a ways to go,” Sebastian said, his voice raspy from sleep.
“Where are you boys headed?” asked the little old lady – Florence, as Alex was supposed to call her now.
“Home!” Alex beamed. “To see our dog.”
“Your dog,” corrected Sebastian. “I never wanted that slobbering beast in our house.”
Alex replied the same as always, “Sebastian, that’s your brother you’re talking about! Also, ‘slobbering beast’ is pretty rich, coming from you,” he added, pointing to his wet shoulder.
“Call that dog my brother one more time, Alex, and you can sleep in Pierre’s back room for the rest of the summer!”
Florence chuckled in amusement. Alex was a bit disappointed that her high opinion of him remained unchanged despite Sebastian's behavior, but she seemed to have a soft spot for emos, thanks to her grandson.
“Ah,” Florence said before Sebastian could display more of his bad manners. The airline staff member had returned to help her out of her seat, as she needed to be one of the first to leave the plane due to her mobility issues. “I’m afraid I must take my leave,” she said, patting Alex's shoulder a bit wistfully. “I wish you two all the best!”
“We wish you all the best, too,” Alex replied with a polite smile.
Sebastian, ever the taciturn one, said nothing.
“And you,” Florence said, looking Sebastian deep in the eyes. “I hope you know how lucky you are.”
Alex had to nudge Sebastian with his elbow for him to say something.
“Um… sure?”
Florence seemed satisfied with this response. She waved and placed her hand on the offered arm of the staff member, who then led her down the aisle to the front exit.
Sebastian stared after her until the rising passengers around them blocked his view. Then he turned to Alex, raising an eyebrow.
“So…” he said. “Wanna explain why this old lady thinks I’m your boyfriend?”
Alex did a double-take, unsure if Sebastian was being serious.
“What are you talking about?”
“That, just now?” Sebastian said, pointing with his thumb toward where Florence had disappeared. “Her asking if I know how lucky I am? Wishing us all the best?”
Alex rolled his eyes and shook his head. “If you spent less time in your fantasy worlds and more time with real people, you’d know those are just platitudes.”
“Sure, whatever,” Sebastian said, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes again. “Wake me once everyone else has left. There’s no point in rushing to get off just to wait at baggage claim.”
And just like that, he fell back asleep.
He had a point, though. Half an hour later, they had arrived at the baggage claim, and the conveyor belt hadn’t even started yet. Most people were sitting on the floor, on their carry-ons, or leaning against a column. Meanwhile, Sebastian had gone off to wrestle something unhealthy from a vending machine.
Alex looked around, hoping to spot Florence again, but had no luck until he saw her near Sebastian. She was in a wheelchair, apparently provided for the airport’s long distances.
He quickly headed toward the vending machines, hoping to intercept Sebastian before he said anything rude. He arrived just in time to witness Florence taking Sebastian’s hands in hers and say, “Listen to me! You look out for that poor, dear boy. It’s bad enough what his father did to him, but those sports people can be really horrible to boys like you.”
Sebastian glanced over her head at Alex. A wide, wicked grin spread across his face. Noticing this, Florence turned to look at Alex as well.
Freeing his hand from her grip, Sebastian came to put his arm around Alex’s waist instead, his hand sneaking into the large armholes of his muscle shirt and resting on his sensitive skin.
“I promise you,” Sebastian said solemnly, “that no harm will ever come to my snugglepoop.”
He squeezed Alex even closer, making him squeak a little. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”
Florence seemed a bit embarrassed that Alex had heard what she said, but nodded at Sebastian’s outrageous lies.
“You’re a good one,” she said, smiling softly. “I can tell.”
Wrong! Alex wanted to scream. He’s literally the worst!
But for some reason, no words came out of his mouth. Instead, Sebastian continued to spin this bizarre tale where they were apparently gay lovers. And how, just how, had Florence even come to that conclusion? He had talked to her for three hours, for Yoba’s sake, and not once had he mentioned anything that might lead to this misunderstanding. Just looking at Alex, she should have been able to tell he was as straight as a ruler!
“I try to be, for him,” Sebastian said, looking up at Alex to throw him a wink. “I mean, I can be bad, too.”
Sebastian’s thumb was doing something very distracting inside his shirt, so Alex’s brain was unfortunately not available to comment on that.
Florence giggled. Literally giggled! Sebastian and his outrageously inappropriate behavior and dark, handsome face made her giggle!
Alex wanted to die.
“You make him real happy, I can see it,” Florence continued, driving the spike even further into his already lifeless body.
“I sure do,” Sebastian said, getting up on his tiptoes just enough to kiss Alex on the cheek. “Even though he’s quite demanding. Right, hunnybunny?”
“I… ah… gh…” Alex stammered. Something weird was happening to his body. Something very, very strange indeed. He couldn’t talk. He couldn’t move. He was unbearably hot.
Unaware of anything wrong, Florence rummaged in her handbag. “And if you ever do decide to marry, even if it’s just in secret…” She pulled out a card and extended it toward Sebastian. “I would love to send you a wedding gift!”
Sebastian took the card with fake gratitude. “That’s so generous!” he said with a smile.
Alex was burning up.
“It’s been very nice meeting you,” Florence said. Then she waved over the airport staff member to wheel her away.
“It’s been a pleasure,” Sebastian called after her.
Once she was out of earshot, he took his arm out of Alex’s shirt and punched him in the shoulder, snorting.
The burning sensation, especially where his arm had been, finally cooled down a bit and Alex could breathe again.
“We could send her a letter that we got married in like a year, and she’d totally send us a gift,” Sebastian mused, his voice back to its normal, gruffer tone. He was turning the card in his hands, looking at Florence’s name, oblivious to Alex’s existential crisis. “Do you think this would work on other people too? Are we too morally pure to start a scam, or nah?”
Alex hadn’t really heard any of that. He turned to Sebastian with wide eyes.
“Sebastian,” he rasped, unable to control his voice, which grew louder with each word he spoke, “I’m GAY!”
Sebastian’s completely inappropriate response to Alex’s big announcement was an eye roll.
“You’re not actually gay, Alex. Don’t worry, your dick isn’t going to fall off just because some old lady misunderstood our relationship. We don’t exactly look like we’d be friends.”
Of course, he had to choose this moment to be a frustrating ass.
“Listen to me!” Alex said, trying to look as serious as possible. “I. Am. Gay!”
This time, Sebastian actually took a moment to consider what Alex was saying. “Wait, are you actually coming out to me right now?” he asked, finding no hint of joking in Alex’s eyes.
“No!” Alex howled, tearing at his hair. “I’m just having a very loud, very public revelation!”
A few moments passed, during which Sebastian just stared at him, looking increasingly worried.
“You’re not serious!”
“Oh?” Alex squeaked. “So is it normal to…” he managed to lower his voice just in time. Thankfully, everyone else had disappeared towards the baggage carousel, which must have started moving in the meantime. “... pop a b-word when your annoying friend kisses you on the cheek?”
He should have known that Sebastian would immediately glance down and notice the outline of his dick through his sweatpants, looking a little fuller than it should. Mortified, Alex grabbed his chin with both hands.
“Don’t look at it!” he hissed.
Sebastian’s eyes locked with his, and maybe Alex should have just let him look. At least then, he wouldn’t be standing so close, noticing the glint of green in his eyes and how plush his lips looked when his cheeks were squished like that.
Sebastian… was actually quite attractive, wasn’t he?
“Are you sure you haven’t just been living too abstinently?” Sebastian mumbled, barely comprehensible because Alex was grabbing his face. “You’re just working out all the time and never going to any parties.”
Alex swallowed, hypnotized by those moving lips.
“Kiss me, if you don’t believe me,” Alex said, ignoring the voice in his head telling him what a terrible idea this was. “On the mouth. With tongue. I dare you.”
He knew that Sebastian would do it. He knew it, because despite Sebastian being an anti-social hermit and self-proclaimed people hater, he was surprisingly gung-ho about anything sex-related. Once, he told Alex he just enjoyed fucking people more than talking to them, and Alex hadn’t been able to look him in the eye for a week.
It was no problem now though, the looking-into-the-eye thing. Actually, Alex couldn’t not look into his eyes right now.
Sebastian slowly raised his hands, took Alex’s wrists, and moved the hands holding his jaw to the back of his head, fingers weaving through dark strands of hair.
“This is so stupid,” he sighed. Then he pulled Alex in by the back of his neck and kissed him.
And just like that, everything fell into place.
Alex had slept with two girls in his life, and it had felt nice – not addictive, but good. He had gotten hard. He had come. He had even thought he might develop feelings at some point. But now he realized that it was like comparing stale bread to a feast.
Sebastian’s tongue entered his mouth like a goddamn SWAT team, kicking in the door, and the piercing pressing into the roof of his mouth was the bullet sent straight into his brain. It didn’t compare to anything Alex had ever felt before – not that he’d had a lot of experience – but it also didn’t compare to anything he had imagined before.
It was rough, it was raw, it was unbelievably filthy, and Yoba, Sebastian really knew what he was doing. If they weren’t in the middle of an airport, Alex would push him right up against those vending machines, and–
Actually, he was pushing him up against those vending machines, and he was also kind of grinding against Sebastian in this public place, and he should stop all of that, but he didn’t know how.
Sebastian, being the first to come back to his senses, finally pushed him off, breathing hard as he looked into Alex’s wide-blown eyes.
He cleared his throat, straightening himself. “Okay,” he said after a moment. “So you’re most definitely gay.”
Alex looked down at where every semblance of decorum had gone straight out the window. “Fuck,” he swore. “Why did I have to wear sweatpants for this?”
Sebastian looked down as well, and this time, Alex didn’t stop him. It would have been moot, after rubbing against him like five seconds ago.
His voice sounded rough when he looked back up into Alex’s eyes. “This airport is huge,” he said, clearing his throat again. “There are many baggage claims that aren’t in use right now. So the toilets around those are probably empty.”
Alex stared at him, unbelieving.
“Seriously?” he cried. “You’d just…” he gestured down his body, “leave me here like this to go take a shit in peace?”
Sebastian gave a heavy sigh, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, he looked determined.
“Wrap this around yourself,” he said, pulling off that goddamn hoodie he had insisted on wearing all day long.
Once it was off, Alex understood why he had rather sweated in it.
For the first time ever, he saw Sebastian in a shirt that wasn’t black. It was baby pink, cropped, and definitely used to belong to a girl. And it revealed more tattoos than it covered.
“No comment!” Sebastian warned, tying the hoodie around Alex’s waist when he didn’t take it. “I had already packed all my clothes and didn’t feel like unpacking again. I never planned to use my hoodie to hide your damn boner, okay?”
Alex nodded, whispering, “Okay.”
Maybe if Sebastian had worn that thing before, it wouldn’t have taken Alex 21 years to figure out he might be into men.
Sebastian grabbed Alex’s hand and pulled him away, heading in the opposite direction from where their suitcases still circled the baggage carousel.
“Come on!” he said.
Alex followed.