❝ PRETTY FACE ❞
March 14th, 2021
REAL LIFE — THEO!
RANBOO WAS REALLY FUCKING TALL. Two teenagers meeting up for the first time, best friends for months, living in the same city, missed chances again and again, and all Theo could think about was how fucking tall Ranboo was compared to him.
It was fine, at first — with Ranboo sitting in one of the booths that Pizza By the Slice had to offer, Theo standing by the door. For the first few seconds, Theo could almost let himself believe that he has the height advantage between the two of them, until Ranboo stood up to greet him and Theo had to crane his neck to look up at him, giving him pain at the back of his skull.
". . . Holy shit," Theo said simply.
Ranboo's mask moved but he didn't speak, so Theo assumed that he was smiling. Theo hoped he was smiling, at least, because if not then Theo might worry that he wasn't worth smiling about.
". . . You're shorter than I thought you would be," Ranboo blurted.
Theo blinked, processed, and then turned around to leave.
"Wait, please don't be mad at me, I'm sorry—"
The whole situation was a lot funnier than Theo's brain was letting him think it was; still, it was easy to laugh when Ranboo sounded so panicked about having already messed up their friendship, so Theo turned around and walked over to him, a silent way to show Ranboo that he wasn't actually upset with him.
"Thin ice, Beloved," Theo warned. Ranboo nodded quickly.
His hair was fluffy up close, soft brown-blonde locks that Theo wanted to run his hands through to see if they were as soft as his brain was leading him to believe; Ranboo was wearing an all-grey mask, different from his half-black, half-white signature mask he wore for pictures and videos; his jacket was all black, except for the half-white hood that Theo believed to be Unus Annus merch; he was wearing his sunglasses, too, blocking Theo from seeing his eyes.
He looked exactly like Theo imagined him to.
"I, uh, I already ordered pizza, it's just plain cheese," Ranboo said as they stood there.
"Thanks," Theo said. ". . . Do we hug now, or . . .?"
"Do you want to?" Ranboo asked.
". . . Not right now," Theo admitted. "When we say goodbye. Or see you later, I guess."
Ranboo nodded, understanding. "When we say see you later," he agreed, and they sat down in their booth.
It was strange, seeing Ranboo in person. Theo could literally reach out and touch him if he wanted to — no more hiding behind a screen for either of them. And it was . . . it was awkward, Theo could admit that.
It shouldn't be awkward. It should be fun, seeing his best friend in person for the first time, but being behind a screen gave Theo a layer of protection that he didn't know he utilized until it was too late. Maybe they should have planned ahead, or maybe Theo should have taken a few pills to keep his face feeling like it was being heated by the sun. Either way, Theo wasn't having very much fun right now, especially as he noticed a server bringing a pizza their way and he realized that he was going to have to eat in front of Ranboo.
Theo's eating habits were a rather sensitive subject.
The server set the pizza down in front of them, receiving a thank you from both boys as she walked away. Theo pulled a slice onto a paper plate provided to their table as Ranboo did the same, the cheese practically following off of his slice with how hot and melty it was. Theo smiled slightly as Ranboo desperately tried to save the cheese before it fell off his slice of pizza entirely, grumbling under his breath.
Theo picked at the cheese that had fallen off of his own pizza, quickly lifting his mask just the smallest amount so he could place some of it into his mouth. He caught Ranboo's eye and looked down, wiping his hand on his pants. "Sorry."
"No, it's— I mean, we could just turn a different way from each other to eat?" Ranboo suggested nervously. Theo shrugged, turning to the left and taking his plate with him. Ranboo shuffled so he was facing the right.
"Do you still want to go to an arcade today?" Theo asked after taking a bite of his pizza. "I know a cool one nearby, it's only a ten-minute walk."
"Sure, sounds fun. I just need to text my parents so they know where I'm going," Ranboo agreed. Theo hummed softly.
He could almost pretend that they were in a Discord call together instead of being less than a foot away from each other. His shoulders relaxed at the thought, tension dissipating from his body at the thought. Theo could handle a Discord call. He was in one every single day of his life.
They split the pizza in half, four slices for each of them, warning each other when they were going to turn around to get their next slice so the other could pull up their mask. Theo thought that it might be a little ridiculous, the lengths they were going to hide their faces from each other, but if it made them both feel more comfortable with this meet-up, then who was anyone else to judge?
In just under an hour, the pizza was finished and Theo was relieved that he could now face Ranboo and stop looking like a total idiot. His neck was no longer in pain now that he didn't have to twist it when he was getting another slice of pizza, either, so there was that.
"I like your glasses," Theo noted as they cleaned up their table as best as they could, trying to make the employees' jobs easier.
"Thanks! I like your mask!" Ranboo said cheerfully. Theo smiled. His mask was all black, save for the Spider-Man logo in the bottom right.
Ranboo paid the bill before Theo could even protest, and then they were off, feet hitting the pavement as they headed for the arcade. Ranboo sent his parents a text about where he was going; realizing he had the right idea, Theo texted Techno the same, receiving a thumbs up in reply.
The walk down Union St. turned into the walk down Columbus Ave., the wind pushing against them as they wandered. Ranboo pointed out Stella Pastry, but after a moment of debating, they moved on, deciding not to stop there.
"We already ate," Theo dismissed. "Plus, I don't know, I don't like the look of it." He shrugged.
"Fair enough," Ranboo sighed. "But you owe me a brownie."
"Deal."
They passed by Vallejo St. and Nick's Corner Store, where Ranboo nearly ran into a five-year-old kid who was running around without parental supervision. Theo shepherded the kid toward his parents before Ranboo could even process that he had almost killed a child with his height before he returned to Ranboo's side, shaking his head.
"Try not to kill the children?" Theo suggested.
"He ran into me!" Ranboo protested as they crossed the street with a crowd of people.
They made their way past Europa, making Theo shiver. It had been the hotel he and Techno had stayed at after Theo was outed to his dad, a last-minute type of deal, and Theo would rather sleep outside than at the 1-star hotel again. He and Techno had made fun of it for weeks following their stay, but there was a reason there were over half-a-thousand reviews leaving horrible comments.
They made their way onto Broadway and passed the Beat Museum and Osmanthus Dim Sum Lounge. If they were smarter, they would have eaten closer to the arcade that Theo was leading them to, but truthfully the only thing on his mind had been meeting Ranboo so you couldn't really fault him for not thinking ahead.
"We should go to the museum later," Ranboo commented. Theo hummed in agreement.
A quick turn onto Kearny St., past the Little Szechuan, a Chinese food restaurant, and they reached the Broadway Beach Arcade. It was secluded, a little run-down, and had a few scathing reviews in the books, but to Theo, it was home.
His mom and dad had taken him and his siblings there a long time ago. It was nice to remember what having his family together was like, even with the present tainting the memories of the past.
Theo pulled Ranboo inside, paying for tokens before Ranboo could offer to pay himself. He must've spent at least fifty dollars on the two of them, much more than he needed to spend at the arcade, but they could just give any extra tokens to a nearby kid if they didn't use them all.
"Skeeball!" Ranboo cheered, pulling Theo toward the back of the arcade, where several skeeball machines were set up, lights flashing and scores set at 0. Theo took the machine beside Ranboo's chosen one, giving the other some space.
"Loser buys slurpees at the front," Theo challenged, rolling out his shoulders as he looked up at Ranboo.
"Deal," Ranboo agreed.
Even having gone without playing for a few or so years, Theo was scarily good at skeeball. He always aimed for the higher scores while Ranboo kept it safe, sticking with 10 or 20; Theo went for 40, 50, and 100, and had a 90% success rate if his score was anything to go by. Luckily Ranboo wasn't a sore loser, because as much as Theo liked him, he wasn't going to sacrifice his skill just to make Ranboo look good.
"How the hell—?" Ranboo muttered as their final scores flashed on the screen, Theo thousands of points ahead of him. Ranboo sighed. "What flavor slurpee do you want?"
"Cherry!" Theo quipped, going to find them a place to sit down.
Ranboo came back with two plates of nachos as well as the slurpees. Theo hurried to help him carry everything to the table before it could fall, sitting across from Ranboo as soon as everything was situated. He swung his legs underneath the table, finding that his feet didn't touch the ground. He was extra careful not to kick Ranboo, who had to stretch his legs out to be more comfortable sitting down with his height.
"What flavor did you get?" Theo asked, taking a sip from his own cup.
"Cherry too," Ranboo told him. "The only other flavor was grape."
Theo wrinkled his nose. "The fuck?"
"That's what I thought too!"
Theo grinned, taking a quick break from his slurpee to eat some nachos, thanking Ranboo for thinking ahead and getting them snacks.
"You know— this is weird, okay, but I like when the chips are sitting in the cheese and they get soft," Theo said, motioning to his nachos.
A pause, then a gag. "That's disgusting, Theo."
"No, it's good! And the cheese is cold and—"
"Oh, my God—"
"Just— you gotta try it, man, at least once," Theo defended as Ranboo shook his head rapidly.
"I would rather drink nothing but cherry-flavored medicine for the rest of my life."
"That's a bit dramatic," Theo muttered.
"I thrive off of drama."
They tossed their trash and explored the rest of the arcade. Theo stopped in front of a claw machine, spotting a red panda stuffed animal buried between other animals; he would have made an attempt to get it if it wasn't for the fact that the machine ran on real money and not the tokens that Theo had already spent fifty bucks on. He sighed sadly and moved away from the machine, joining Ranboo at the Connect Four video game the arcade had set up.
"Forfeit this time?" Theo asked.
"Uhhh . . . loser gives the other five of their tokens," Ranboo decided. Theo nodded.
The game was a little complicated to use, but the two got the hang of it rather quickly, and soon Ranboo was in the lead 1-0 in a game that was best of three.
"How did you not see me winning that one?" Ranboo asked.
"Look at me, I'm Ranboo and I'm tall," Theo mocked.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Ranboo exclaimed as Theo made a move, dropping the red piece on top of Ranboo's blue one.
It wasn't long until Ranboo had won the game, 2-0. Theo ducked away to use the bathroom, leaving Ranboo standing at the Connect Four game screen; when he came back, Ranboo had disappeared.
Theo frowned, looking around. Ranboo was tall, but not tall enough to be seen over the machines. "Ranboo?" he called out.
Theo wandered around the arcade, an uneasy feeling growing in his body, twisting his stomach into knots. Ranboo had said he would wait by the game, but either he had gotten distracted or something bad had happened to him. Theo couldn't imagine how someone could kidnap a 6'6 teenage boy, but weirder things had happened.
A hand on his shoulder startled him, making Theo yelp and spin around fist raised until he realized that it was just Ranboo. Ranboo took a step back, hands held up in front of him — holding something out toward Theo.
"What the hell?" Theo demanded in a quiet voice. "Don't do that!"
"Sorry!" Ranboo exclaimed. "Just— here!"
He pushed the object into Theo's hands. Theo glanced at it, realizing that it was the stuffed animal he had been eyeing earlier. He blinked, looking up at Ranboo.
"This cost real money," Theo said.
"Yeah, I know. I spent, like seven dollars trying to win it," Ranboo admitted.
Theo swallowed. "You spent real money on me."
Ranboo tilted his head. "Yeah. To make you happy? I saw you looking at it, figured you wanted it. Did you want it?" he asked nervously. Theo nodded. Ranboo sighed in relief.
"Thanks. Thank you," Theo stammered, not knowing what else to say.
Ranboo's mask moved again, the hidden smile making Theo feel warm. "Of course, Thee. Come on, I want a rematch at skeeball."
A rematch. Seven dollars spent on a stuffed animal, and all Ranboo wanted was a rematch? Fuck, Theo would even let him win this time if he wanted.
Theo followed Ranboo toward the back of the arcade once more, cuddling the red panda close to his chest. He decided to name it Sapnap, for obvious reasons. He missed the smile that Ranboo shot his way, finding the sight of Theo holding the stuffed animal to be adorable.
The Broadway Beach Arcade only had so many games to play, and there was only so much skeeball one could play before they grew tired of the repetitiveness. So, almost in synch, Ranboo and Theo once again hit the streets, heading down to the beach and texting their respective guardians where they would be headed like the good children they tried to be.
Techno texted him another thumbs up. Oh, how Theo loved their communication.
Theo was thankful that he hadn't worn sandals to the meetup, but at the same time, he wasn't looking forward to finding a mountain of sand in his shoes when he got home. Above them, the sky was growing dark with grey clouds and the wind was picking up, a sure sign that it would start raining soon. Luckily he and Ranboo were wearing jackets, or Theo might be concerned about one of them getting sick.
Theo kicked sand toward Ranboo, grinning as Ranboo stumbled back, nearly falling over. "Theo!" he complained, straightening up. Theo would be scared of the height difference if he wasn't sure he could take Ranboo in a fight.
"Get sand-on, bitch!" Theo quipped, running a few feet away before Ranboo could enact his revenge.
"I'm telling Techno," Ranboo threatened.
"He would congratulate me," Theo argued. Ranboo paused before he nodded in agreement. "Come on, there's this great photo spot under the bridge, I have to show you it," Theo said, tugging on Ranboo's arm and pointing to the tunnel under the Golden Gate Bridge ahead of them.
Ranboo stopped in his tracks, nearly making Theo fall over when he couldn't move him. Theo let go of him, looking over at Ranboo with confusion. Ranboo hesitated, just for a moment, and then raised his hands and pulled off his mask and glasses.
And, holy shit, was it even fair that he was so beautiful?
The first thing Theo noticed about him was his eyes — they were a striking grey, matching the clouds in the sky, and Theo felt like he was looking into a painting with the way the colors moved together, forming a type of grey that might just become Theo's favorite color; his mouth was shaped to form a crooked smile, and Theo knew it would look just as beautiful as his eyes; his face was turning red from embarrassment, and Theo realized that he was staring and not saying anything, which was probably freaking Ranboo out.
Ah, well. Theo was never the best with words.
Theo pulled off his mask, glasses, and hood, dropping his hand nervously and gripping the mask between his fingers. Ranboo blinked at him, quiet, before he smiled — and Theo was right. It was a crooked smile, lips pulling up further on one side, but Theo loved it more than he knew how to describe. He was a stupid teen boy with a crush, not a poet.
Theo felt exposed, but with Ranboo he felt safe. It was a strange feeling, to feel an impending sense of doom but at the same time feel like nothing could hurt him again. He was self-conscious of every little blemish on his face, every bit of acne he'd been neglecting to take care of, but at the same time, he didn't feel judged. Ranboo was looking at him, but with admiration, not disgust. Theo could only imagine how he himself looked — wide eyes, red cheeks, stupid shy smile. If Ranboo never figured out that Theo had a crush on him, he might be more oblivious than he let on.
"I like your freckles," Ranboo blurted. Theo's face burned more, blood rushing to his cheeks, and he smiled.
"I like your eyes," he said softly. Ranboo smiled again, that stupid pretty smile, and Theo relaxed. "And your smile. I like your smile."
Ranboo looked down, face reddening even more, and Theo grinned in triumph. Take that, Pretty Boy — Theo was a better flirter.
Wait, was this flirting? Or was Theo just being dramatic because he's gay?
"Secret spot?" Theo offered.
"Please," Ranboo agreed, letting Theo finally drag him under the bridge.
Thankfully, they were the only two under the bridge. They could hear the cars passing overhead and the waves lapped at their shoes if they got too close, but it was peaceful. It was quiet without other people around and Theo found himself sitting with his back against the short wall separating the ground from the ocean, on a little raised platform that kept his shoes away from the water.
"This is nice," Ranboo noted, sitting down next to him. "How'd you find it?"
"My mom liked taking pictures of places," Theo said. "She took a picture of this beach and I noticed this spot in one of the photos. We snuck out after dinner one night to explore it." Theo smiled at the fond memory, turning to face Ranboo and patting the wall. "See?"
Ranboo turned, seeing the initials J & T carved into the wall. Jodi & Theodore. Mother and son. Theo traced the E with his index finger before dropping his hand, turning back around so his back was to the wall once more.
"We came here whenever things got bad. I came out to her here," he said, sighing softly. "She told me she loved me, even if she didn't fully understand, but she would do her best to try. It wasn't the reaction I wanted, but at least she didn't hate me," Theo murmured.
"She loved you, Theo," Ranboo said.
"I know." Theo picked at his nails, trying not to look at Ranboo. "I miss her."
"She knows," Ranboo murmured. Theo wasn't religious, but the thought of his mother knowing everything that had happened to him and being proud of him for who he was made his chest hurt. He swallowed, trying to change the subject.
"Anyway, not even Techno knows about this spot, so you're pretty special," Theo admitted. Ranboo smiled, a quick quirk of his lips that Theo was unable to resist smiling back at.
Ranboo turned away, putting on his mask and glasses again. "Can I take a picture of us?" he asked. Theo's brows furrowed. "I have this thing— it's weird, but my contact photos for everyone in my phone are a picture of me and them. Everyone, even the freaking— I have a photo of me in front of my bank for my bank's number," Ranboo explained. Theo smiled at him.
"Promise not to post it anywhere?" he asked.
"Cross my heart and swear to die if I do," Ranboo agreed. Theo scooted closer to be in the frame better.
"You know I'm not in your contacts, right?" Theo asked as Ranboo pulled out his phone.
Ranboo handed the device to him. "Number," he instructed. Theo chuckled softly, typing in his number and handing the phone back to Ranboo.
"You aren't smiling," Ranboo said as he held up the phone, showing both of them in the frame.
"I don't like my smile," Theo said simply. Ranboo didn't reply, but Theo could feel Ranboo's need to tell him that he had a nice smile radiating off of the other after that comment.
"Three, two, one . . ."
Ranboo looked the photo over and smiled. "I like it," he decided. Theo didn't like it, by the pure fact that he was in the photo, but he let Ranboo make it the contact photo for his number without protest.
The moment the contact was saved, Ranboo's phone chimed. He scanned over the text he'd received and sighed; Theo's heart sunk, recognizing the sigh as one of disappointment. He made the sound frequently himself. "My parents want to head home now," Ranboo told him. "They're picking me up in five minutes."
"I'll walk you up to the parking lot," Theo offered. "I'm only, like, ten minutes away from here, so it'll cut my walk time in half."
"Are you sure?" Ranboo asked. "We can give you a ride home!"
Theo shook his head. "Seriously, it's fine. I should be heading home anyway before Techno starts spamming me that dinner's ready," he said. Ranboo nodded quietly.
Theo walked Ranboo to the nearest parking lot, where his parents were waiting. Not ready to meet Ranboo's parents, Theo said goodbye before Ranboo could offer. He didn't want Ranboo's parents to offer to give him a ride and have to refuse them too. It was hard enough saying no to Ranboo.
"I'll see you later!" Theo said as he walked in the direction of his and Techno's apartment.
"See you later!" Ranboo called back, waving at him. Theo smiled slightly.
He pulled on his mask as he walked down the sidewalk, remembering that he should have been wearing it for a while now. It's not like anyone would see the photo of him without his mask on anyway, which was actually nice to think about — no one besides Techno knew that Theo and Ranboo had met up today. It was their own little secret, and they didn't have a photo to show Twitter. It was like they were two normal teens, meeting up because they were friends, not because they were famous.
Theo was still reeling from the fact that he'd seen Ranboo's face by the time he got into his apartment building's elevator. Ranboo was pretty — really pretty. But honestly, Theo knew that even if he had had crooked teeth and warts and was bald, Theo still would have found him pretty. Because it didn't matter what Ranboo looked like — he was an amazing friend, a great person, and Theo adored him, to put it simply. Theo adored him so much that it hurt sometimes, being so close yet so far away from him.
Theo got off of the elevator and found his and Techno's apartment, unlocking the door and pushing it open. Floof greeted him with a bark and Techno poked his head out of the kitchen.
"Hey. Have fun?" Techno asked.
Theo pulled off his mask and glasses, setting them by the door. "Uh . . . yeah," he muttered.
Techno frowned, taking a quick glance at the Mac and Cheese to make sure it wouldn't boil over, before looking at Theo again. "Yeah?"
Theo paused, swaying from side to side slowly. "I, uh, I think I like Ranboo. Romantically," he said, raising his voice so it carried over to Techno.
Techno paused, looking confused. "Uh, congrats, I guess. You're officially the last one to know."
And that should have been comforting, in a way, Techno's casual acceptance of Theo's crush. But all Theo could think about was how he was going to mess up his and Ranboo's friendship, how things weren't going to be the same around him because things never went well for Theo. Bad Luck Theo, everything went wrong when he was around—
Techno's arms were around him, pulling Theo into a loose hug and murmuring for him to breathe, and that's when Theo realized that he was having a panic attack.
Theo was sure that Techno was meant to be comforting him, but the feeling of the hug only served to remind Theo of one crucial detail about the day — he and Ranboo hadn't hugged before saying see you later.
Maybe it was a goodbye after all.