Isaac woke up because of something underneath him moving around. He propped his head up tiredly to look at the boy who was moving and heard a whispered curse come from Jess.
"Shit. I didn't mean to wake you." He said quietly from his spot below Isaac.
"It's okay." Zack took a quick glance around to confirm that they were still in the living room. "Are you alright?"
"My shoulder blade is kinda sore. Can we move to your bedroom now?" Jess asked and Isaac immediately agreed.
He got off the boy and rubbed at his eyes tiredly. Jess stood up next and Zack let his hand go to the small of the other boy's back. He guided them into his room where he shut the door after them and they both quickly climbed into bed.
It was then Isaac realized Jess was still wearing his dark jeans from before. He got up from bed and Jess looked at him with confusion. He went over and dug around in his dresser before pulling out a pair of shorts and a pair of joggers. He threw them both at Jess.
"I figured your jeans are probably uncomfortable to sleep in."
Jess smiled and picked up the shorts, tossing the joggers back over. Zack put them back in his dresser while Jess stood up from bed. He started changing and Isaac forced his eyes not to look. Once Jess was in more comfortable clothing they both climbed back into the bed.
This time Isaac wrapped his arms around the other and pulled him closer. He could feel the way Jess let out a sigh of relief and all his muscles relaxed. Zack rubbed the boy's back with one arm and the other was wrapped around his waist. Jess fell back asleep first and Isaac wasn't up long after.
They stayed asleep through the whole night this time. Isaac didn't wake up until morning.
He slowly blinked open his eyes and glanced around. There was light shining through his window and he briefly thought about getting up to close the blinds so Jess wouldn't wake up.
The darker haired boy was laying down on his arm. His limb felt numb but he didn't care. Jess's arm was loosely laying over his stomach and that alone made him happy with his own feeling dead.
He looked around for his phone, only to find that it wasn't in the room. He sighed, knowing he's going to have to get up. Isaac knew Jess needed to be home by nine so he needed to get up to see what time it is.
Slowly, carefully he started to pull his arm out from under Jess. The boy scrunched up his face but didn't seem to wake up. He started to sit up but paused when the hand that was laying on him gripped his t-shirt.
"Where are you goin?" Jess's voice sounded hoarse from sleep and he opened his eyes.
Zack sighed and fell back onto the bed. "I need to go find my phone so I can check the time."
Jess hummed. "Don't go. Use mine, it's on the nightstand."
Zack looked over, he had already seen it when looking for his so he knew where it was. He reached over and clicked it on.
"It's 8:05." Isaac moved the phone over towards Jess. "Do you want to set an alarm for nine so we can leave?"
Jess hummed. "Set one for nine thirty. My password is 0617."
Zack's eyes widened a little but he unlocked the phone and went to the clock app to set an alarm. "Nine thirty?"
"Yeah. Nine's too close. I wanna cuddle longer."
Isaac smiled. "Okay."
He set the alarm and then turned the phone off and set it aside. He then slipped an arm under Jess and pulled him over so the other boy was laying on top of him. Jess hummed in content and nestled his face in Zack's neck.
Zack let his hands rub Jess's back up and down. One hand moved up to lightly scratch his neck at his hairline. He let out a sigh.
After a moment, a perfect moment, Jess spoke tiredly. "You're not gonna totally regret your life decisions and start avoiding me after this are you?"
Zack felt his hands still for a minute. He cupped the back of Jess's neck and kissed the top of his head. "No, I'm not."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Really."
Jess seemed to relax then. They laid quietly for a while longer. Eventually Zack thought Jess was going back to sleep but he wasn't worried. He was comfortable enough to lay there rubbing the boy's back for a while.
"Are you alseep?" Jess didn't reply but rather responded by making a noise in his throat. It had Zack cracking a smile. "Did you mean it when you said you really liked me?"
"Of course I meant it, moron."
"So... does that mean you'll be my boyfriend?"
Jess's eyes widened and he whipped his head up to look at Zack. He had to scoot down a little and propped his head up on his arms over Isaac's chest so they could have this conversation face to face. "Are you being serious?"
"Of course I am." Zack's hands were on Jess's hips and his left one was drawing little circles through the material of Jess's shirt. It made it very hard to focus.
"You want me to be your boyfriend?" Jess asked, still looking a bit shocked.
"Yes." Isaac grinned. "I want you to be my boyfriend. If that's okay with you."
Jess felt a little smile of his own. "It's only okay with me if that means you're my boyfriend too."
"That's part of the deal, silly." Isaac chuckled lightly.
Jess smiled wide. His beautiful smile that Zack liked so much. "Then sure. I'll be your boyfriend."
They both sat with wide smiles at one another. Jess decided to raise himself up on his arms, planting them on either side of Zack's chest, and leaned forward. He connected their lips and Isaac immediately returned the kiss.
His hands were sill gripping Jess's hips as they kissed and when they pulled away they were still there. Jess rested his forehead on Zack's and they both smiled at one another.
"Do you want to do anything before you have to go home?" Isaac asked and Jess shook his head.
"I just wanna stay here, with you."
Isaac smiled and wrapped his arms around Jess's waist to pull him down. Their torsos pressed against one another and Jess's hands went up to cup Isaac's face while they kissed.
When they pulled away this time Jess moved so he was laying down again. His head rested on top of Zack's chest and Zack's arms were still wrapped around his waist.
The didn't leave Isaac's bed the whole time. They'd move on occasion to kiss or change positions but they stayed right there. When the alarm went off Isaac was laying his head on Jess's shoulder blade as the boy was laying face down next to him. They both groaned at the beeping noise.
"Do you have to leave?" Isaac asked after turning off the alarm. Jess smiled while sitting up.
"Yeah. My mom went out last night so she might be sleeping all day. That means I'll have to take care of Daisy."
Isaac sighed but nodded, he really wanted to spend more time with Jess but he wouldn't take away his time with his sister. "Okay, I'll take you home."
They got out of bed and Zack lead the way out of the house, stopping briefly to grab his phone off the coffee table. When they got in the car, after starting it, Isaac reached over to hold Jess's hand. He intertwined their fingers and then pulled his hand up to kiss the back of Jess's. He noticed the way the end of the other boy's ears turned pink and grinned.
They started the drive in quiet. Isaac was the one to break it. "How long does your sister stay?"
"Until tomorrow afternoon."
Isaac looked in thought. "So can I come by after she leaves and pick you up to go out?"
"Like take me out?" Jess looked over at him.
"On a date, yes." Isaac clarified for him.
Jess smiled and it made Isaac's stomach flip. "Sure. I can text you when she leaves."
"Okay."
When they reached Jess's house Isaac moved over to park by the curb. Jess looked out the window at his house and then turned around to face Zack again. He leaned over the center console and kissed Isaac one last time.
"See you."
Isaac couldn't help the smile that overtook his face. "Bye."
Jess opened his door and got out. Isaac watched the boy walk up to his house and didn't leave until Jess had made it inside. Then he drove off, silently cheering to himself.
I have a boyfriend.
Jess was his boyfriend. He grinned wide at the thought. He never thought this would actually happen.
He then frowned because he realized something. He knew he would probably see his father when he got home and he wasn't sure what to say to the man. Isaac wanted to tell him, obviously, but he wasn't sure where Jess stood on if they could tell people and who. He decided to just wait until tomorrow when he could ask the boy himself, in person.
With that in mind he continued home with his bubbly smile.
When he returned to his house he took note to the quietness and the fact the kitchen light was still out. His dad hasn't woken up yet. He went into the kitchen himself, being the first to flick on the lights that morning.
He made himself a bowl of cereal and as he was halfway through eating it his father made his first appearance. The older man walked in and smiled at Zack immediately. "Good morning."
"G'morning." Zack smiled back at his dad. "How late were you out last night?"
"About one. I was surprised you were asleep when I got home." He spoke and something in his voice was different, knowing, as he started to make himself a bowl of cereal.
Isaac looked down at the table, his cheeks turning slightly pink. "Um, yeah."
"Did Jess already go home?" Dave made his way over to the table and sat down across from Isaac.
"Yeah. I just got back from dropping him off a little bit ago actually. His little sister is coming over for the day so he needed to be home this morning."
"Ah." His father hummed. Zack waited for the questions that he was sure were to come. His father had seen them on the couch, him asleep on Jess, surely he was curious about their position. He never asked.
"Are you going to be home much today?" Zack asked after a long silence.
"I plan on it. They might call me in at some point though."
Isaac hummed with a nod. His father still looked exhausted and he wondered if the man would ever get a normal sleeping schedule back.
"Do you have plans today?" Dave looked up with interest.
"Not really. Unless someone texts me I just kinda plan on staying around here." Zack shrugged.
"Sounds about right." His dad mused. "I'm probably gonna go back to bed after breakfast. Sorry, I won't be much fun today."
Isaac gave his dad a smile. "Don't worry about it."
His dad hummed happily and that was the end of the conversation. When Zack finished his breakfast he washed his bowl out and then walked back to his room. Once he did he pulled out his phone for the first time all morning to check it.
He had a text from Jace asking to hangout. Ki offered his house as the location. Andrew had already agreed and he and Jace had left to go to his house. That was at nine. It was a little over ten when he replied saying he'd be there soon.
He had to shower and brush his teeth before leaving but he did eventually make it to Jace's house. When he walked up to the door he didn't bother knocking, no one ever did.
"Honey, I'm home!" Isaac walked into the house with a natural grin at the familiarity.
"Isaac, darling!" Ki's voice, a few octaves higher than usual, came as the boy appeared at the top of the stairs. He ran down to embrace Zack in a hug. "How was work, sugar?"
They both laughed loudly at his horrible impression of a middle-aged woman. Amongst their laughs Zack heard extra snickers coming from the couch. He looked over to see Victoria was on the couch grinning at their interactions.
"Are you laughing at our love, Vicky?" Ki asked, having noticed his little sister when Zack had.
"That's exactly what I'm doing." Victoria said with a playful grin.
"How dare you." Ki scoffed and turned his head to deliver a big, sloppy kiss to Isaac's cheek. The boy scrunched up his face at the damp feeling.
"Gross."
"Oh shush." Ki ruffled his hair. "It doesn't make you a faggot if it's with the homies."
Zack faltered then. His chest suddenly hurt. Ki laughed off the words but Isaac had trouble doing so as well. They hurt him to hear.
The boy then turned to start up the stairs, not seeming to notice the affect his words had on his friend. "C'mon, Andrew will get impatient if we take too long."
Slowly, Isaac got himself to push it back. Ignore it. He went up the stairs, following after Ki. He knew Ki wouldn't say it to actually offend him. If he knew, he wouldn't be like that anymore. He had to not be like that anymore.
This was Ki, his first ever close friend. The boy he's been friends with since the third grade. He didn't have it in him to actually be mean to Isaac. He wouldn't say things like that to Zack if he knew.
At least, that's what he told himself as he climbed up the stairs after Ki. He walked into the bedroom and saw Andrew leaning over trying to swat at Jace's controller while also focusing on the TV and playing with his other hand.
"NO! GOD DAMNIT ANDREW!" Jace screeched and shoved the other boy. Andrew fell out of his chair laughing as Jace grumbled about dying. "I'm done playing with this idiot. Someone else better play or let's just turn this stupid thing off."
"Let's play Uno!" Andrew perked up and Ki agreed immediately. The two resembled children, radiating happiness while digging through Ki's bedside table for the game.
Jace turned off the game and set the controllers down on top of the console. Zack sat in the chair next to his and he returned to his soon. About that time, Ki stood tall with the Uno game in his hand.
"Found it!"
"Yes!" Andrew quickly found a seat on the floor, opposite to the chairs where Zack was sitting. "You two get off those chairs and sit on the floor."
Zack rolled his eyes but pushed the chair back and sat on the hardwood instead. Jace followed after him, still glaring at Andrew. The boy just shot a smile back at him.
Ki sat down next to Andrew, across from Jace, and began passing out the cards. After everyone had an even amount and there was a pile in the middle, the war had begun.
They were all competitive and that made card games difficult to play. Swears were said and insults were thrown as the game went on. After an almost-win from Ki and a game restart because Jace accidentally flashed his cards to Zack they were all heated. When Andrew put down his final card in triumph, Jace threw his cards at him. Andrew laughed happily and after exchanging a look, Ki and Zack threw their cards at him too.
"I'm not cleaning this up." Andrew said after chuckling. "I won."
"They're Ki's cards!" Zack said quickly and went to stand and bolt out of the room.
"Oh hell no!" Ki leaped up and wrapped his arms around Isaac's legs, pulling the boy down to the ground.
"Ow!" Zack said between wincing in pain and laughter.
Jace started laughing too and Ki moved to glare at him, his arms still coiled around Zack's legs. "You're helping too."
Jace groaned but helped pick up the mess without complaints. Andrew sat staring at them all smugly and pointing out the cards they missed. Jace had flipped the boy off many times when the mess was finally cleared from the floor.
After putting the cards up they all went to sit down. Without any discussion or arguments Jace and Andrew sat in the gamer chairs and Zack and Ki sat on the bed. It was almost like they had assigned seats because they all usually sat in the same place and they rarely switched it up.
"What now?" Ki said into the silence.
"Movie?" Jace looked over with raised eyebrows.
"Sounds good to me." Ki said with a shrug. Zack and Andrew mirrored his action when the attention was moved to them.
They were in the process of picking a movie when there was a knock at the door. Ki spoke in response. "Yes?"
The door opened up to reveal Vic, as they all were expecting. Ki's parents didn't knock. The dark haired girl smiled at them all. "Is anybody hungry? Mom's making hotdogs."
"I could use one." Andrew said. "When will they be ready?"
"About ten minutes."
"We'll be down then." Andrew said and Victoria nodded.
Her eyes shifted over to the TV before she left. "What're you doing?"
"Picking out a movie." Zack answered her but Jace did at the same time with a different sentence.
"Throwing pillows at gremlins." And then he threw a pillow at the door. Zack didn't know how he had missed when Jace had reached over to grab a pillow but somehow he had.
Victoria shut the door as a shield and then opened it again to grab the pillow. She ran over and started beating it over Jace's head who was quick to hold up his arms in defense.
"No! I'm sorry!" He cried but it was irrelevant to the girl.
"Too late!" She said with a happy smile. Jace was laughing too.
Their dynamic made it seem like they disliked each other but Isaac knew Jace looked at Vic like she was his own little sister, just like him. Vic was a bit of a mystery but Zack knew that at least she didn't mind the boy being around.
When the pillow battle had finally stopped Victoria left to go back to watching TV in the living room. The group spent some time arguing over what to watch before Andrew left to get his food. Ki asked if Andrew could grab him one too and the other boy immediately agreed.
When he came back he had six hot dogs on his plate. Jace noticed first. "Good Lord, man, how hungry are you?"
"It's not all for me. She wouldn't let me take any less. She said to make sure you and Zack both eat and added four more to my plate."
They all laughed because that was exactly what was expected of Mrs. Lendev. She was a worried mother hen and treated them all like they were her own. After losing his, Zack had grown really grateful for this.
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Some friend group moments there for Zack.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!
Love you ♡
- Z