Nicky and Jonah were walking home after a nice Subway dinner Friday night after school because Priya didn't have enough gas to take them both home, only she told them that with the same suggestive wink Nicky's seen too much of lately, so he had a feeling she probably could've helped them out instead of making them walk in 10 degree weather. Priya did seem to think she was helping, though, in her own way.

        Jonah seemed content in just his navy blue letterman jacket to protect him from the freezing cold wind and the snowstorm that was beginning to pick up, but perpetually cold Nicky couldn't feel any of his fingers or toes, and his ears were burning bright red without a hat to cover them. He'd only worn a sweatshirt, stupidly thinking Priya would be kind enough to drive him everywhere so he wouldn't have to step outside in the arctic tundra that was Minnesota in the late winter. Now his fingers were going to fall off just because he decided to trust that his devious friend wouldn't pull anything dumb. He was wrong, obviously.

        "Are you cold?" Jonah asked.

        "No," Nicky said, though he could barely get it out though his chattering teeth.

        Jonah narrowed his eyes skeptically at Nicky, which kind of warmed him up for a second. Then, he silently unzipped his jacket and handed it to Nicky.

        "I'm not wearing your letterman, dude," he said, pushing it away with a laugh.

        But Jonah just thrusted it forward again, this time stopping in his tracks. If this was anybody else, Nicky would've just shrugged and stood out in the cold for as long as it took out of spite, but this was Jonah. He tried his best to cross his arms and give Jonah his best 'try me,' glare, but the second they made eye contact, Jonah smiled, and Nicky immediately faltered.

        He begrudgingly grabbed the jacket and pulled it on over his sweatshirt, and, for the sake of his sanity, ignored the vanilla scent that overtook his senses. "You're the worst," he told him.

        Jonah just shrugged and started to talk about his practice he had that morning before work, where he got checked so hard by a guy on his own scrimmage team he couldn't move his arm all the way up without crazy pain erupting in his shoulder. Nicky wasn't a very empathetic person, but the stories Jonah told sometimes made him want to march over to his school and kick everybody's ass like he nearly did at the Subway a while back. It hurt to hear Jonah talk so casually about it, and sometimes Nicky could tell he was covering up how deep their jokes cut. But Jonah was still smiling, so Nicky let it go, not wanting to ruin the mood.

        They soon fell into a comfortable silence, walking in sync and listening to the sound of their sopping wet shoes crush the snow piling up beneath their feet. Jonah's hand fell out of his pocket and brushed Nicky's, which led to his heart practically jumping out of his chest. He pretended he didn't notice and left his hand by his side, a part of him wishing he had the courage to grab Jonah's.

        "Hey, Nicky?" Jonah spoke up, causing Nicky to jump and snap his eyes up to Jonah's.

        "What's up?"

        "Do you trust me?"

        "I guess so," he said, knowing it was a complete understatement. He didn't want to admit that he trusted Jonah more than anyone. He could barely even admit that to himself.

        "Then why didn't you tell me who you like that day when we were skating at the pond?"

        "Jonah-" Nicky groaned, only a little bit annoyed that he ruined the kind of perfect walk they were having.

        "Is she ugly or something? Is that why I can't know? You know I won't judge if she's ugly," Jonah told him.

        Nicky chuckled lightly and shook his head. "He's not ugly."

        Jonah's eyes went wide for a second, and Nicky didn't realize why until he thought back on what he said. He went back to normal seconds later, almost like it had never happened, but Nicky really couldn't tell if that was because he was cool with it, or if it was because he's Jonah and it probably hadn't sunken in yet. "She's a he. That's good to know."

        The thing about Nicky is that most of the time, he couldn't give a shit what other people's opinions regarding him and his sexuality were. His siblings all knew, Baba and Mama knew, everyone knew, they just didn't care, so he didn't care. Sure he got shit about it at school— his prep school was filled with two thousand clones of the same stick-straight white boy— but he kept to himself, so it never really mattered.

        But Jonah was different, and he didn't know if he could handle losing Jonah for something as stupid as that.

        So he just replied with an uncharacteristically small, "uh...yeah."

        "Is he...both?"

        Nicky rolled his eyes. "It's a guy Jonah. I like guys."

        "Oh," Jonah mumbled, staring at Nicky again with those same wide, brown puppy dog eyes. He didn't look surprised, just curious, like he was trying to figure out what was going through Nicky's head and he just couldn't get it. Nicky wasn't going to let him get it, anyway, no matter how hard he tried.

        With his eyes still scanning Nicky, Jonah asked, "so what's wrong with him? is he some old man on the internet with money?"

        "No... what?"

       "Is he in the witness protection program so you can't tell me his real name?"

        "No."

        "Is he a serial killer and-"

        "Jonah," Nicky cut him off, "he's seventeen, not a criminal, and not ugly. And that's all you're ever gonna know about him, okay?"

        Jonah nodded and they fell back into silence, but only for a second or two.

        "What's he look like?"

        Nicky sighed as he ran a hang through his hair, which had been tangled up by the harsh winds that would likely be his cause of death out there if Jonah didn't cause it first. "Really?"

        "I just wanna get a visual. Plus, he's in our grade, so maybe I know him. Does he go to my school or yours?"

        At this point, Nicky was ready to give in, mostly because he knew Jonah wouldn't. "He goes to your school."

        "Tell me more," Jonah eagerly requested, suddenly exploding with energy as he bounced a bit on his toes while they walked.

        "Fine," Nicky sighed. "He's really tan- like, almost as brown as me, and he's got dark brown eyes, too. They could be black they're so dark, but sometimes we'll be outside and the sun will hit them, and they'll turn golden."

        "Woah," Jonah whispered.

        Nicky nodded, trying not to grin at his friends amazement. "I know, right? And he has the brightest smile I've ever seen. He's always smiling, even when there's nothing to be happy about, and every time I see his smile I feel like I'm filling up with like... like..."

        "Electricity," Jonah finished for him, nodding like he understood.

        "Yeah," Nicky said dreamily, "like I'm filling up with electricity."

        Jonah thought for a moment, then frowned. "I can't figure out who it is. Sorry."

        Nicky nearly said it. He was dangerously close to grabbing Jonah by the shoulders and shouting, "it's you, dumbass!" right into his face, but he just shrugged. "That's alright. I don't think I have a chance with him anyway."

        "Any guy that turns you down is an idiot, Nicky." He grabbed Nicky's hand and laced their frozen fingers together. Nicky was glad he couldn't feel his hands, because if he could, he'd probably have a heart attack. "You've always got me, though."

        Nicky gave his hand a squeeze, taking note of the way his smile grew just a little bit more and praying it wasn't just his eyes playing tricks on him.

        "And you've got me."

———————

Bruh boys are literally so dumb this chapter isn't an exaggeration.

So winter break is over, which means updates may be a little less frequent, but they'll still be coming probably weekly. But how were your guys' breaks/holidays?

Thanks for reading!! Love you alllll

~Teddy