The Boy I Love

Spot

"You want me to take my mask off," he says, quietly. I bite my bottom lip.

"Kinda," I admit. "But you don't have to, of course."

"I know." He rests his head back on my shoulder, and it's silent for a moment, until he says, "Tell me something about you."

"Like what?"

"Something personal."

"And you'll take your mask off?"

He nods. I try to think of something personal to tell... my sexuality is the first thing that comes to mind, but he already knows about that. The only other thing I can think of is... my parents. I don't like talking about them that much, but I trust Leo.

"Well... one thing that I don't tell a whole lot of people about is... my family situation. My parents haven't been super present in my life. They're... gone, a lot. I see them every couple of weeks, sometimes months. It's not like they hate me or anything- when I see them, they're affectionate and happy to see me, but... that's not too often. Not as often as I feel like it should be- I mean, they're my parents, for goodness' sake. Is it so much to ask that they exist in my life as more than bimonthly appearances?"

He hums sympathetically. "They should be there."

"Yeah. I mean, I know it could be a lot worse- I have a great life- but it still sucks."

He tilts his head up to meet my eyes. "That does suck. You deserve better."

I give him a small smile, my chest feeling surprisingly lighter now that I've actually said all that out loud. I've never said any of that before- Vick knows my parents are a little (a lot) negligent because he's at my house all the time, and they aren't, but I've never explicitly told him my feelings on it. "Thanks."

He turns towards me again and slides his arms around my waist, leaning up to kiss my cheek. I smile a little more and turn my head to catch his lips. "Now you."

He gives me a small smile, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "Are you sure you want to see?"

I almost ask why I wouldn't before changing my mind and saying, "Yes. I'm sure." Because no matter why he's hiding his face, I'll still want to be there for him (and I'll probably still be very attracted to him, and want to take him to bed the second I get the chance).

He holds my gaze for one more moment, then tilts his head down and carefully grips the edges of the mask, before slowly pulling it off his head. His hair is dark and curly, and I love it immediately.

Slowly, he lifts his face up so I can see.

The first thing I see is his eyes, of course. Still intent as ever, the effect possibly magnified now that the rest of his face is visible.

That lasts maybe a millisecond. Then it's like my field of vision zooms out a little, and I see the rest of his face.

Well- no. I see the scars.

I forget to think as I look at them. All across his cheeks, going up through his eyebrows and his hairline. Some are small, some are long and thick. It's like a child drew all over his face with a marker, they're random and disorganized and everywhere. Even his chin and lips, which I'd already seen- now I'm noticing a little nick along his jaw that I must not have seen before, and a thinner one along his upper lip that would have been halfway covered by his mask...

My gaze flicks back to his eyes, and I swallow. He's looking at me in this way that makes my heart clench- his eyes wide and scared and uncertain, like he doesn't know if I'm going to start screaming or run away or something worse. But I don't want to do any of those things. All I really want to do is what I wanted to do before- kiss him.

I start at his lips, cupping his face in my hands and kissing him deeply and slowly, not heated and passionate like the rest of our kisses. He melts into me immediately, his arms around my waist again. I pull away and look at him again, and his eyes are still wide, but not scared or uncertain anymore. Relieved, instead. Good. Better.

I kiss him again, only this time I aim for the little scar on his upper lip. Then the one along his jaw that I somehow didn't see (it was probably at least half covered by his mask, but still, I have no idea how I missed that). And then I move to his cheeks, peppering little kisses along each scar. All I can think about is how badly I want him to know that this changes nothing for me. Because it doesn't- I still want to kiss him and do all of the other things that we've both done and not done yet. And I'm so grateful he trusts me enough to let me see this part of himself, and I want to show him that he can and should trust me. Showing me his face was not a mistake. He's still perfect in my eyes.

When I'm one hundred percent sure that I've kissed every inch of every scar (and then some), I pull away to look back at his eyes. His eyes are a little glassy, and the crinkles at the corners of his eyes are there. I kiss those too, as gently as I can. Because they're still my favourite part of his face, which I can now say since I've seen all of it.

I put my arms around his waist again and tug him closer to me. He puts his arms around my neck, still smiling. He starts to open his mouth, then stops and bites his bottom lip, closing his eyes and taking a breath. When he opens his eyes again, a tear slips out. It slides through the crinkles like tracks made specifically for that purpose. Once it reaches his cheek, I brush it away.

"Thank you," he whispers quietly, barely even a breath. I kiss his forehead.

"Of course," I whisper against his skin, not caring that my lips may or may not be right over one of his scars. "Of course, Leo."

He holds me a little tighter, and I do the same, planting little kisses all over his face at random intervals.

After an unknown period of time, he asks (quietly), "So... you're not going to ask to be put in a different room?"

"Never. That never even crossed my mind. I'm still insanely attracted to you. I'm still waiting for both of us to lose a match so we can-"

"Tyler!" His tone tells me he's smiling, which of course makes me grin. I pull back enough to see his face, and my suspicions are confirmed (well, he's trying not to smile. That's close enough). I grin even more and lean in to press my lips to his. He presses back, and I nibble on his bottom lip, making him moan a little. I pull back before it goes any further and meet his eyes.

"Would this be a bad time to start making out?"

He grins a little, and I love the way it looks on him. "On the contrary. I think this would be a perfect time to start making out."

What do you think of Nick's match against Leo? How about Leo taking his mask off? Where do you think his scars came from? Any predictions? Let me know!

Thank you so much for reading!