Sugawara turned to the side, double checking that he'd grabbed his journals. Not personal journals. For school. Because who had personal journals, especially if they were a male? Everyone thought guys shouldn't have journals so why couldn't he?

"Suga? Are you ready?" Sugawara turned around and smiled. Daichi held out a hand. "I'll carry them."

"Mm. No." Sugawara slipped his bookbag on and lifted his other bag. "I've got it."

"Don't be stubborn." Daichi grabbed the other bag and the hand Sugawara had been clutching the bag with.

Suga repositioned his hand to lace his fingers with Daichi's and rolled his eyes. "You're more stubborn."

"I guess."

Sugawara laughed and led him to the front of the house. His mother was standing there, worried. Daichi let go of Sugawara's hand and pushed on his book bag lightly. Sugawara held out his arms and stepped forward. His mother held him tightly, mumbling to him. "It's okay mom… yes. I'll be safe. I will call you. Of course. I love you."

She let go of him and kissed his forehead. "Just be careful."

"I will." Sugawara smiled. "Just think of it as a really long sleepover." Daichi reached and grabbed his hand again. Sugawara held their hands up. "See? Daichi will protect me."

"Mm." She turned to Daichi and smiled. "Please be careful with him."

"Of course. I wouldn't want him hurt either." 

"Thank you." She turned to Daichi's mother, who was staring at Gin. "Excuse me."

"Hm?"

"You'll take care of him, right?"

"Yes. He's a very sweet boy and I will no doubt love having him in my home."

"Great. Thank you so much."

"No problem." She smiled and gestured for the two teenagers to leave for a moment. Daichi led Sugawara outside and they got into his mother's car.

"So…"

"This is awkward." Sugawara pointed out. He leaned over to rest against Daichi. "But I'm excited."

"That's great." Daichi rubbed Sugawara's hair, pressing his fingertips into his scalp.

"Mm. You're always rubbing my hair… is it soft or something?"

"It's soft. A little dry but it feels nice... Not trying to sound weird."

"It's not weird you dork." Sugawara looked up and smiled. "Nice eyes."

Daichi tapped his nose against Sugawara's and smiled. Finally it was quiet and there was no more pain. Just them. Being kind. And gentle. Daichi started to lean down but his eyes flicked up to the windshield. He saw his mother walk towards the car and she froze, making eye contact with him.

She backed up, smirking.

Sugawara sighed, frowning. "Oh come on. Don't tease me like that."

"Tease you? What do you mean?"

"You just tried to kiss me, didn't you?" Sugawara questioned.

Daichi blushed a bright red. "Possibly."

"Pfft." Sugawara grabbed Daichi's cheeks and smiled at him, almost like a mischievous grin. "Do you want me to kiss you?"

Daichi smiled back. "You want to?"

"Well yeah. You're the one making it awkward." Sugawara paused. "This is so cliche oh my God."

"Suga come on." Daichi leaned forward and pressed his lips into Sugawara's. Suga immediately began laughing after, blushing furiously. "Was it really that bad?"

"No, no it's just that neither one of us said that we liked each other. We just kind of decided."

"That's not true actually." Daichi laughed. "You actually told me last week that you liked me while you were loopy."

"THAT'S SO EMBARRASSING OH MY GOD!" Sugawara burst out laughing again, clutching his sides again. "Nooo. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to embarrass you in front of everyone." Daichi eased Sugawara back up. Sugawara kissed Daichi again, trying not to laugh again. Daichi spotted his mother getting closer again and pulled away. "Shh."

Sugawara giggled again and pressed a hand over his mouth. The driver's door opened and Daichi's mother got in. "ALRIGHT!" She turned around and grinned. "You two ready to have some fun?"

"Huh?"

"I dunno, going straight home seems boring. Wanna go grab something to eat for dinner? Pizza?"

"Oh!" Daichi turned to Sugawara and grinned. "She does this sometimes. Do you want to?"

"That sounds great." Sugawara smiled, calmed down. Of course he didn't want to eat. He'd have to figure out how to throw up somewhere later.

Daichi's mother reached in her purse and pulled out Sugawara's medication. "I don't know why your mother has me holding onto this but here. I trust you to use it properly."

Sugawara took the bottle and thanked her. He popped one of the pills into his mouth and took a swig of his water. "Gross."

Daichi laughed and pulled Sugawara closer. Well as close as he could, accounting for their seat belts.

****

Daichi opened a door and pointed inside. "This is your room. Mine is just past the bathroom next to your room. My parents sleep in the basement. Yes, it's finished so don't worry."

Sugawara nodded and threw the paper bag with an extra comforter on the bed. "Thank you."

"No problem. If you have any questions, you know where I am." Daichi smiled down at him and stepped away. Sugawara nodded and stepped into his room, setting his bags down. He went around the room and started looking around.

There was a shelf across from the bed, filled to the brim with books and movies. On top was a series of constellation globes and seashells. He grabbed a chair and stood on it, looking closely at all of them. He didn't realize how much Daichi's family liked these types of things. Unless it was just decor.

He smiled and climbed back down. He opened the cabinets and just saw pillows and small stuffed animals. He grabbed a small bear and left the room, knocking on Daichi's. The door opened and the brunette stared at him. "You alright?"

Sugawara held up the bear and grinned. "This is cute."

Daichi blushed and laughed nervously. "Y-yeah. The cabinets have some of my old stuffed animals."

"You have more? Can I see?"

"Sure." Daichi opened his door completely. It revealed his kind of messy room. On the bed were a few larger stuffed animals, mainly bears and even a few animated character plushies. Sugawara looked at Daichi and bit his lip. Daichi chuckled and nodded. "Go ahead."

Sugawara jumped on the bed and held the toys to his chest. Daichi chuckled and sat down in his desk chair and continued clicking away on the keyboard. "I didn't know you liked stuffed animals."

"Eh… just something I collect sometimes. I can get some for you if you want."

"Mm. It's alright." Sugawara got up and pulled on Daichi's sleeve.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. I wanted to know if we could kiss again… it felt nice."

Daichi raised his arm and pulled Sugawara closer. "Hang on just a moment."

"Okay." Sugawara put his head down and watched what Daichi was doing on his computer. For a moment he watched Daichi and enjoyed the tender touches along his back. Daichi looked down and smiled.

"I stole your first kiss, didn't I?"

"And the second."

"Pfft." Daichi pecked his lips. "I have no experience with kissing people so I'm sorry if this sucks."

"Nope. It doesn't."

"You're so sweet…" Daichi kissed Sugawara's smile again, slower this time so that he wouldn't seem too rushed and like he wanted to hurry it up. He liked Sugawara a lot and liked kissing him. He was sweet. Just like sugar.

I'm going to start yelling at someone online 🧚😌