the blanket fort they'd made like they used to when they were kids was probably mere seconds away from collapsing in on them and their abundance of snacks and alcohol they'd stolen from alex's dad's cabinet, but still george fidgeted. this time, alex shot him a confused glance.
"are you good?" alex asked, pausing ferris bueller's day off on his macbook.
"yeah mate, m'fine. pass the quavers."
alex picked up the almost bucket-sized bowl of crisps and attempted to pass them over himself without disrupting the fairy lights which hung precariously above the two of them. they were no blanket fort amateurs: this shit took some intense interior design. "give us an architecture degree already!" alex had exclaimed earlier, after admiring their handiwork.
the fairy lights gave a soft yellow glow to the plush blankets and pillows which were supported by alex's dining room chairs, however they proved impractical. especially now, as the wire caught onto the bowl, and came tearing down onto the two of them and resembled an extreme form of festive choking. this in turn splashed crisps all over their laps and the blanketed floor.
"alex, you fucking idiot," george laughed, scoffing a few quavers from the floor.
"not my fault you insisted on dangling these lights stupidly close to where we're sat!" alex exclaimed, untangling himself from the cable.
"they look cute though," george frowned, uplifting his hand to try and sort out the lights situation. just then, the blanket which formed the roof of the fort gave way and smothered them both.
"for fucks sake!" alex groaned, rolling out of the side of the fort to reset the blankets and pillows. his homework project loomed on the desk, taunting him evilly. that could wait until tomorrow. there were more pressing matters at hand right now, like how the fuck this bloody pink blanket was going to hold up these cushions they'd inundated it with.
george tucked the lights back into the sides of the fort where the blankets met the chairs, his stomach churning and knotting itself. he frowned to himself, thinking, whilst he picked up the last remaining quavers from the floor. he eyed up the vodka which was as yet unopened. desperate times, desperate measures, he thought, cracking open the lid and taking a gulp from it.
"if this thing falls in again i swear to god," came alex's muttering, muffled by the layers of fabric and stuffing. he snuck back into the fort and got comfy again, tugging slightly on the fairy lights to check george had made them secure. "hey! i thought we were saving the hard stuff for later?" alex said, spotting the vodka resting near george. "give us some then." he reached for the bottle.
"wait," george said quietly.
"yeah?"
"i need to tell you something."
"don't remind me about that fucking history project we have due on monday, i'm well aware of it and i'm procrastinating as much as humanly possi—"
"it's not that, alex. it's... i'm gay."
"oh. ok," alex smiled. "i think i kinda suspected it a bit."
"what? no, i've always been straight as fuck!" george protested. "i made sure of it."
"you've been overcompensating mate," alex swigged from the bottle. "not even the straightest of straight men gets as freaked out as you when dared to drunkenly kiss their mate at a party."
"and when the fuck has that happened?" george retorted.
"couple'a weeks ago, at a house party. we were playing truth or dare and someone dared you to kiss will."
"i don't remember that."
"you were off your tits smashed, that's why. he was joking around 'n smiling, he even leaned in, and you freaked the fuck out and ran off. most guys would have just done it. it's all jokes anyway, the girls do it all the time," alex stated, matter-of-factly.
"it's different for girls. guys think it's hot when they make out."
"cos it kinda is. then again, it's hot when guys make out as well."
george rolled his eyes and chuckled, grabbing the bottle off alex and chugging from it again. "alex, you would literally shag anything that moves."
"you're not wrong. wouldn't bang miss keegan though, she's clapped as shiiit."
"jesus christ, who would?"
they settled into a comfortable silence of vodka giggles and the crunch of crisps. the two sixteen year olds could feel their brains dissolving into a whirling fizz, grins creeping onto their faces. suddenly, alex sat up, closing the laptop screen and turning to george.
"c'mon then, who was it?"
"who was what?"
"your gay awakening."
"fuckin' hell man, really?"
"yes, really!" giggled alex excitedly. "we've known each other for eleven years, in that time there must have been plenty of lads we've known who you've seen and thought 'shit i'd let them fuck me to cloud nine'."
"jesus, alex! and thanks very much, but i'm a top."
alex scoffed. "ha! no fucking way mate. you're a joker. anyway, who was it then? give me a few people."
george blushed, but went unnoticed by alex in the semi darkness. "um... well d'you remember jack in primary school? in year six when we were rehearsing for the end of year show we were in the same scene and we joked around a bit. i guess i really wanted to be friends with him because he was cool, but i also looked at him and i liked his hair, and he was funny. maybe i liked him but i definitely wasn't aware of it. i kissed rebecca sawyer at the disco that year, remember?"
"eww, yeah, the girl who spat when she spoke! spitty sawyer!"
"shit, we were so mean to her, yeah. not like you can talk, you kissed heather frank, everyone thought she was a bitch."
"i heard she shagged elliot jones last week, she grew up kinda fit," alex shrugged.
"i think in year seven to the end of year nine i tried so hard to convince myself that i was straight that i actually believed it for a while. and then, obviously in year ten i dated leah for a bit. yeah, she definitely turned me gay."
"oh my god i forgot about her! she was a bitch as well, did she really try and get in josh's pants when you were together?"
"yeah, god i'm glad she fucked off. so err, yeah and now... i..." george shifted awkwardly, glancing around the small fort.
"you like someone! you have to tell me man."
"you tell me who your gay awakening was first then! or bi awakening, if that's even a thing."
"well, girls, that's easy. phoebe green when we were really young. the one who got in that car accident."
"oh, jesus."
"yeah, before the facial deformities 'n that."
"alex!" george burst out laughing just before he took another sip from the bottle — now almost half depleted.
"what, it's true! she's got that scar now 'n... anyway, and then guys, i dunno. i kissed devon richards in year eight for a dare and then proceeded to have a crush on him for about a year until he left before i ever told him. and obviously there were celebrities that i saw who i thought were fit. you know in victorious? i wanted to marry jade, but then i saw beck and i was like, shit i want to marry them both."
"you and your fucking disney channel shows."
"shut up, it was nickelodeon actually!"
"oh, sorry for being poor," george teased.
"could never be my dad: big banker, top shagger. making stacks, earning shags."
"how the fuck are you comfortable talking about your dad in that way?" george looked disgusted.
"daddy issues," alex hummed. "so, what were you gonna say before?"
"ahh, fuck." george chewed his lip, debating on whether his next words should come out of his mouth. "i think i ran off from the dare to kiss will cos... i kinda liked him for a bit."
"fuck off!" alex slapped george on the arm. "shit... sorry man. him and mia probably won't last that long anyway."
"nah, nah. it's fine, he's straight anyway. i don't think it's really a crush anyway, more like yeah i'd let him shag me."
"so you admit you're a bottom!"
"you are this fucking close to being scrapped with!" george raised a hand as if he was about to slap alex, who broke down into hiccupy giggles, rolling on the soft flooring.
since he showed no sign of stopping anytime soon, george thought he might as well join him, and edged along so he lay on his back next to the other boy. once alex had calmed down, he asked another question.
"so you've never kissed a boy before?"
george shook his head slowly. it seemed pathetic. he'd never kissed anyone he'd even remotely liked before.
the golden lights glinted above the two boys, illuminating the darkness like a mirage of fireflies. alex imagined them as the stars, far away in the night sky, unobtainable and yet always watching over the movements of the earth. george envisioned a shower of fireworks raining down on his shoulders, gone just as quickly as they appeared.
"what's it like?" george whispered.
"what?" alex's head turned on its side to look at george, eyebrows furrowed as though deep in thought. he was like that quite often, alex noticed.
"to kiss a boy. what's it like?"
alex studied the curves of george's profile: the pointed nose, and the chin that protruded a little bit more than normal. he sat up on one elbow, and watched as george's eyes stayed focused on the blanket ceiling, flecks of gold adorning his sea blue eyes. slowly, alex brought his head down, their faces closer together, until they were breathing the same. he felt george's heartbeat like an earthquake, his breath warm and uneven. a hand touched lightly on his cheek. and then he kissed him. soft. warm. slow. comfortable.
"it's a bit like that."
george smiled. then he brought alex back down to kiss him again. "i like it," he whispered.
the fairy lights danced above the teenagers until they could dance no more. the teenagers kissed below the fairy lights until they could kiss no more. the raspberry tinted vodka air was shared between the two until they melted into one another, engulfed by sleep and the knowledge that he would be there tomorrow morning.
***
a/n: i thought the title was kinda punny😳 anyway look i wrote a cute one! just pure goodness! @im-momo wanted george x alex which is gonna be a big yes from me. hope u enjoyed ladz