At some point in the party, Claudia had abandoned him. She might have said something about going to the bathroom or maybe she was grabbing another drink, but either way, Miles was alone. Now, this was bad because Miles was incredibly vulnerable with no one by his side. He was trying to get better at not looking like a lost puppy half of the time, but it never really worked out.

Now alone, he sat on a counter in the kitchen with a bottle of water in one hand and his phone in the other as he leaned against the cabinets and absentmindedly scrolled through Instagram. This wasn't quite how he imagined the party going, but he didn't mind being alone so long as no one else entered the kitchen. He sighed, wondering how he ended up like this. He was never so comfortable being alone, not when he had Flash by his side. Maybe that had been unhealthy, but they were kids. They still were.

"Miles?" Speak of the devil. Flash entered the kitchen and thankfully, he seemed to be alone. Miles was already overwhelmed, but he did not need to see the way Flash would act towards him if his friends were around because that was so much worse than Flash by himself. Flash alone, Miles could handle. At least, he hoped he could.

"What do you want?" Miles said with a scoff, glancing up at the boy before looking back down at his phone. Flash moved to sit upon the counter next to Miles and as much as he wanted to push him off, he couldn't will himself to move. Part of him wanted to know what Flash had to say to him.

Flash was silent for a moment as they twiddled their thumbs and avoided eye contact with each other. They hadn't spoken a word to each other since that day in the school bathroom. After a few moments of rough silence, he finally spoke, "I meant what I said in the bathroom. I never stopped caring about you."

I never stopped caring about you, either, Miles wanted to say. Instead, he shrugged it off, muttering, "Don't care." He did. He did care, a lot.

"Miles, will you at least look at me?" Flash pleaded and he couldn't help but comply. Looking into Flash's eyes, so many feelings came flooding back. "I care about you, a lot. I didn't expect to see you here tonight, but I knew I wouldn't stop killing myself about it unless I came to talk to you. I'm sorry, I'm scared. I tried to stop the rumors and I haven't spread anything else since... since that day at your house. I'm sorry that I even started spreading them in the first place, you deserve better than that. You deserve better than someone who was too scared to even hold your hand in public or admit he was with you. I just needed to get that off my chest and then, if you want, I will never talk to you again. It's clear you're not going to feel the same way about me again that I still feel about you and I'm going to have to be okay with that."

If only the boy knew how wrong he was. Miles wanted so badly to comfort the boy, but he couldn't fall back into him again. He was weak and he knew it, but he had to stay strong. He didn't endure all of that just to go running back to Flash the moment he apologizes. There was something so genuine in his eyes, something that was making this so much harder than it had to be.

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything, I get it," Flash said with a half-smile, but there was no happiness behind his eyes.

Fuck it, Miles couldn't do this. Who was he kidding? He wasn't strong, he never was. He was absolutely weak for Flash Thompson and he had no idea why this was so hard for him.

Flash said Miles didn't have to say anything, so he didn't. Instead, he reached out and cupped Flash's face gently and pressed their lips together. The action obviously surprised Flash, hell, it even surprised Miles. Even then, the boy kissed back eagerly as his hands gripped the collar of Miles's shirt like his life depended on it. They were desperate, hungry for each other and it was clear the passion from their relationship was still incredibly present. More present than either of them had really wanted to admit. With one hand on the counter to stabilize himself, Miles tangled his other hand in Flash's dark locks and the other boy absentmindedly did the same as he tugged gently on Miles's hair.

"Your hair's getting long," Flash muttered in between scattered kisses. Miles hated how familiar this felt, but he couldn't stop it. "I like it."

"Of course, you would," Miles retorted with a laugh as the boy kissed him again.

This was so so bad for him, but Miles couldn't stop as their lips would disconnect and meet again. They were in public where anyone could walk in and see them and yet Flash didn't seem afraid. Miles should not be kissing Flash right now. He should be angry, furious, even. He should have shoved Flash off the counter when he had the chance. He didn't feel so angry when Flash's lips moved down to his neck like they had a hundred times before. Miles rested his head against the cabinets with his fingers gripping Flash's hair as the boy was certainly going to leave marks on his neck. He could handle Claudia's questions later, he just wanted to feel this right now.

"This is a bad idea," Flash remarked breathlessly as he pulled away and looked Miles in the eyes. Flash looked at him like he saw the answer to any question possible in Miles's eyes and it was intoxicating.

Miles nodded, "Oh, absolutely. A terrible one, really. Do you wanna stop?"

With no hesitation, Flash shook his head, "No, do you?"

Miles shook his head and kissed him again. Yes, he would regret this, but this was long overdue. This wasn't forgiving Flash (it kind of was), this wasn't getting back together with Flash (again, it kinda was) and it definitely didn't mean anything (yes, it did), this was just fun at the moment. A fleeting moment was all this would be. Sure, making out on a kitchen counter was not how Miles expected this party to go, but he didn't mind. This party certainly could have turned out far worse than this.

Out of the corner of his eye, Miles noticed someone entering the kitchen. With as much nastiness as he could, he shoved Flash off of him and jumped off the counter so they didn't look so... intertwined. They were both out of breath, Miles's shirt was half-unbuttoned, not to mention they were both a complete mess in terms of their hair, but they sure were trying their best to act casual as none other than Claudia entered the kitchen.

"Flash, what the fuck are you doing with my best friend? I thought he told you to stay away from him?" she exclaimed, immediately going into her typical overprotective best-friend mode. Oh, she would kill him the moment she realized what was really happening. He was dead, he was absolutely dead. "Miles, why are you such a mess? Did you guys fight? What's going on here? I wait in line for the bathroom for like ten minutes and look at what fucking happened."

"I'm fine, Claudia," Miles rushed out, his voice shaky and unsure. Naturally, the girl looked skeptical, "I swear! We were just talking. I-I can handle myself, just go back to the party."

Of course, she still didn't look convinced, but her shoulders loosened and Miles had a feeling she would leave them alone soon. "Fine, but Miles, text me the moment you're in any trouble. I don't trust you, Flash."

"We were just talking!" the boy exclaimed, raising his hands in a surrender motion as Claudia glared at him. Oh man, if looks could kill. "I swear, I wouldn't hurt him."

"Too late," she scoffed, squinting at both of them, "All right, see you in a few Miles. I'll keep my ringer on."

"You do that," Miles nodded as the girl finally left the kitchen and they both breathed a sigh of relief the moment they were alone. Turning to Flash, he said, "That is never happening again, got it?"

Flash hopped off the counter as well, trying his best to fix his hair as he looked over at the boy and nodded, "Yeah, yeah, got it. I, uh, didn't expect that from you. I thought you hated me, still."

"I do," Miles tried to play it off, but they both knew he was a terrible liar. "I mean it, Flash, this can't happen again."

The boy nodded again, "Yeah, yeah, never again. Uh, I guess, I'll see you around."

"Yeah, see you around."

As Flash left the kitchen, turning back to look at Miles one last time, Miles had the fluttering feeling in his stomach that this was not going to be the last time something like that happened. However, he wasn't sure he minded.

So, I suck at slow burn