Lev's pov
The day had passed better than I had hoped, with me and Jentzen spending every second of it laughing and having fun together. Since it was nearly Halloween, we had even carved pumpkins - Jentzen called mine 'ugly in a cute way', which I didn't mind, as I had called his pumpkin 'ugly in an ugly way'.
Now, the two of us were sitting on the couch once again, watching a horror movie with a large blanket covering the two of us. The lights were off, and the scariest parts of the movie were finally showing up on screen.
"I'm just saying" Jentzen began, pausing to shove a handful of popcorn in his mouth. "That's the biggest knife I've ever seen, how does the killer manage to carry it around everywhere with him?" Jentzen mumbled out, his mouth now full with food. I shrugged in response. "Don't ask me, ask him!" I protested, pointing at the screen.
Jentzen jumped in shock, spilling some of the popcorn as he watched the cloaked figure swing his knife at one of the victims. I laughed, taking the bowl away from him and placing it down on the ground. "Don't get scared, it's just a movie" I teased. He frowned his eyebrows at me in response.
"Wow, thanks Sherlock, I didn't know that! Suddenly I'm not scared at all!" He retorted sarcastically. I laughed at his level of sass. "Well, if you get scared, you can hold my hand" I joked, still laughing at him. Jentzen didn't laugh back. "It's not funny, I don't care if you're joking, I might actually have to take you up on that offer with the rate this movie is going!" He argued.
I swallowed harshly, silently patting myself on the back. Even though I'd intended it as a joke, I'd managed to buy myself an opportunity to possibly hold his hand. From that point, I was praying for something scary to happen. Soon enough, the killer in the movie was back at it again chasing people around.
Jentzen flinched, turning away from the screen and burying his head into my shoulder as he grabbed one of my hands with his. My head felt like it was spinning, even though I half expected this to happen.
I raised my free hand and gently patted his head to comfort him, knowing he sometimes had a hard time watching scary movies. I almost wanted to ask if he'd like me to turn it off, but it was almost over anyways so I decided against it.
A few moments had passed with us like this, unmoving from our position as Jentzen refused to look at the screen. Finally I tapped his shoulder, urging him to watch the last few minutes of the movie. "Look, you'll want to see the ending, she survived! She made it out safely" I spoke softly.
He watched as the ending unfolded, seemingly satisfied with the conclusion. The ending credits were now rolling, and I stretched out my arms, sadly letting go of Jentzen's hand. "Wow, what time is it?" I asked. Jentzen checked his phone screen, and I saw the time of 8:45pm displayed on it.
Jentzen looked over at me nervously. Without saying a word, I knew exactly what was on his mind. He was afraid of going back home alone in the dark, especially since it was a while away from mine. Immediately I felt the urge to do or say something that would ease his anxiety about the situation.
"Hey, it's really late and I don't want you going home alone at this time of night, why don't you spend the night again?" I offered sweetly. Jentzen's face immediately relaxed. "You don't mind?" H mumbled. "Of course not!" I assured, shooting him s comforting smile. He smiled back, thanking me.
"I'm just going to call Liana and let her know" he explained as he got up off of the sofa and walked into another room. He had texted her earlier to let her know he would be spending the day here, yet he wanted to update her that he'd stay over so that she wouldn't wait up and worry.
After a short minute he came back in to the room with a smile. "Everything's all good, I can stay again, but I'll have to leave super early tomorrow morning for an audition."
I nodded along to his words. "Don't worry, that's fine! I'm just glad you can stay. Since you have to get up early tomorrow, do you wanna head to the room now? We don't have to sleep just yet but maybe we should get in to bed, it's super cold out here" I admitted, bunching up the blanket tighter around myself. Jentzen chuckled, nodding his head. I stood up and followed him into my room.
We both sat down on the bed, cross legged facing one another for some reason. I smiled, looking down at his shirt. I still couldn't get over how happy it made me to be matching with him. Today had been one of the happiest days of my life, even though the two of us had just spent it indoors doing everything and nothing all at once. Maybe that was the exact reason why I had loved the day so much - no filming, no working, no other people... just me and him.
"What are you thinking about?" Jentzen spoke up, making me zone out of my thoughts and back in to reality. "Oh, nothing" I lied, however for a second I paused. Maybe I shouldn't be so guarded, sometimes there's nothing wrong with telling the truth. "Actually, I was just thinking about today. I really enjoyed it..." I admitted, feeling awkwardly vulnerable.
I looked up at Jentzen to see he was smiling, which made me feel better. "I really enjoyed it too, I-" he began, reaching out a hand to mine before he paused and moved his hand back into his lap. "It was fun" he finished his sentence, looking away. I sighed, laying down on the bed and looking up at the ceiling.
Jentzen did the same, laying right next to me, our shoulders lightly brushing against each other. We laid in a comfortable silence for a while until Jentzen finally broke it.
"Can I be honest?" He began, still looking up at the ceiling. I shifted my head towards him, observing the side of his face even though he didn't return my gaze. "Always" I replied. He took a deep breath, looking as if he was composing himself to speak words he was struggling to get out.
"I think..... I really enjoyed today, and not because of the things we did or the movies we watched, but because I enjoy spending time with you. I enjoy just being with you - in fact, I look forward to it, and I have done for a while..." he uttered out nervously.
I screwed my eyebrows up in confusion, wondering what he was getting at. "I feel the same way, it's always a fun time when we hang out, you're my best friend and there's no one else I'd rather spend time with" I replied. For a split second I almost thought I could see a wave of hurt flash across his face, but it was hard to tell since he refused to look me in the eye.
"You don't understand what I mean..." he huffed out, seeming to grow irritated as if I was missing something he was trying to say. "I think I'm beginning to enjoy being with you too much. I don't understand why I feel this way, but you already know how much I like you... I just don't think you realise how much I..." he trailed off.
"You make me realise what I'm afraid of. You make me realise I'm scared of the ways I feel, and even more scared that you're the reason I feel these things" he mumbled out, his voice beginning to break as if he was desperately trying to hold back tears.
Is he saying...... does he mean....
I felt my breath catch in my throat, my heart fluttering inside of my chest like it would beat out of it at any second. More than anything I was scared to voice the feelings I had felt myself, but I couldn't just lay here and be so afraid when Jentzen had been so brave. I owed it to him to say something, anything.
"Jentzen..." I breathed out. "Look at me" I asked softly. He obliged, turning his head to face me. It was in the first second where our eyes met that I saw just how much his thoughts had been playing on his mind, like his silent gaze expressed a thousand of unspoken words and forbidden emotions. In this moment, I couldn't bring myself to look away.
"What if I'm also starting to enjoy being around you in a way I'm not supposed to enjoy it? I don't know exactly what it is yet that is making my mind run a thousand miles per hour, and I'm not sure I know how to properly process my own emotions, but... maybe we could begin to figure it out together?" I questioned, trying to be as honest and open as I possibly could.
Jentzen seemed almost a little disappointed at my answer, beginning to understand that even I didn't know what I wanted or if what I was feeling was certain, however a small glint of hope was still present in his expression. "So... you don't hate me?" He asked nervously, his eyes desperately searching mine for answers.
"If i were to hate you, it would make me nothing but a hypocrite."