BOYS OF SUBURBIA [boy x boy] [Wattys 2018]

✗ SIXTEEN ✗

"Um, hi," Sebastian said, voice small and tinny, "I'm sorry if we-"

"Shut up, Sebastian," Niko interrupted promptly, earning himself a glare. "Do you mind if we head on in for a while, Gus?"

Gus shrugged noncommittally, '"Sure," he was chewing a cigarette in between his teeth, "Just don't break anything, okay?"

Niko gave Sebastian a smug grin, which caused the latter to roll his eyes in exasperation and pursed his lips in a disapproving manner. "We could've been in trouble."

"Right, okay," scoffed Niko as Gus helped unlocked the doors for them with the keys attached to the wire on his belt. Gus opened the doors for them and let them in, then winked at Niko and send him a thumbs-up gesture before closing it behind them.

They were in the cold lobby of the swimming centre, where there was an empty counter for registration and the rental for towels and little whatnots that people aren't stupid enough to not to bring to the pool but stupid enough to forget about. A shop selling those over-the-top expensive swimming costumes that no one ever really buy unless it was a state of emergency, or in Niko's case- soiled swimming trunks (don't ask- was predictably closed, with blinds drawn and lights off, and hosted their moving silhouettes as they aimlessly strolled up and down the centre. They made it past the registration counter without blinking and with the familiarity of somebody who had broken into the city's pool way too many times, Niko skillfully navigated through the swimming centre with only a torchlight from his iPhone device.

The two boys gorged on the blank spaces of a place usually crowded with families that had too many children and bags and enveloped in the lonesome hollowness of the swimming pool. They burst into swimming pool, announcing the entrance into the community area by the clumsy, unceremonious stampede of converses stomping upon the blue and white tiles that surrounded the whole circumference of the round pool. Cold blue water glimmered in the darkness, reflecting their scintillating gleam upon the garden beach chairs that were usually occupied with people and were never enough to host the traffic flow on a Saturday afternoon. Niko hooted with delight, stripped himself free of his clothes and lowered himself onto the tile, dipping his legs in but not his whole body and exhaled aloud at the freezing coolness of the water.

"Come on," teased Niko, "We have this whole place for ourselves." He grabbed Sebastian's shy and trembling hand, the one that was holding the wine, and Niko doesn't know if the way Sebastian's fingers overlapped his as they clutched the neck of the bottle was supposed to mean anything. Niko dragged him to the edge of the pool and Sebastian eventually kicked his shoes off, rolled up his pants and dipped his feet in the water.

"Ooh, this was your plan? Are we getting drunk by the community pool we broke into? How cute" Sebastian joked - not really. He sucked in a breath when his feet skimmed the cold water, plopping beside Niko. Niko could feel the warmth of Sebastian's skin steaming from next to him."I guess it explains the wine, rather than your usual choice of vodka."

"Class it up a little," Niko uncorked the bottle and slid the bitter taste down his throat. He winced and swallowed, eliciting a head rush that caused his vision to spin. "Whoo."

"Greedy," grumbled Sebastian, snatching the wine bottle. Sebastian cringed when he drank it but he swallowed a messy shit-ton. Niko grinned as Sebastian dug out spare cigarettes from his pockets and a lighter, holding them out for Niko to see, then lit them up. Sebastian looked strangely innocent with the wine bottle sitting complacently on his lap and the cigarette poking out of his lips. Cute.

What? Niko thought. Did he just thought- no. He wasn't queer, not that there was anything wrong with being queer but Niko wasn't. However, Niko had a hard time convincing himself as smoke flowed out of Sebastian's parted lips, twisting a delicious sensation in Niko's stomach that he never felt before, awakening a lust that he had never fostered over a girl. He fucked girls. He fucked them drunk and fast, hard- he couldn't even remember the first time he lost his virginity but he had never really had a real crush. Like a mad schoolgirl sort of crush that drove him insane and made him weak in the knees. He just did what he does and get whatever release he could get. This, with Sebastian's knees pressed against his thigh, the wine being passed back and forth, was so different.

Niko and Sebastian lost themselves in the adrenaline of the moment, taking turns gulping down the wine that scorched down their throats and made their mouths dry, squirting out lines of alcohol over the pool as they laughed, cackled and drunkenly cavorted around the space they had, unbridled and unrestrained in the messy drunken disarray of chaos. They did lines by the bleachers, getting high as fuck, as they finally had the courage to plunge their whole bodies into the pool, feeling the shock of the water travel up his bloodstream and congealed his heart. They jumped out, dried themselves off, and the touch of Sebastian's hand on his cheek was hotter than any flame Niko constructed to burn his troubles and mania away, because holy fuck, getting high and drunk was so much better when you have somebody to get high and drunk with.

Sure, Niko once had Roger but Sebastian was new to this. He offered the perspective of somebody totally clean and innocent, whose fingernails weren't marred with dirt and chipped with experience. Sebastian wasn't an ignorant asshole, who made insensitive jokes about people's mothers. It was fascinating to see somebody as socially adverse and beautifully good as Sebastian crumble and surrender to the enticing darkness, revelling in the pleasures of going to hell.

Sebastian was the light being brought into Niko's darkness and Niko loved it.

(Maybe there was something wrong with him after all). 

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dedicated to heartbrokenteenidle thanks for being hella supportive!