the night it all changed pt. 2

Back in my apartment, Oikawa was shifting through my old CDs. It was just like old times. 2:00 AM and we were both too awake to fall asleep. The drugs had worn off long ago, but we were still riding out our wave of ecstasy. It was simply from the joy of each other's company and the thrill of the music. Oikawa put on Otis Redding—our favorite musician as teenagers. It was all thanks to my grandfather, who put us on to his music after a visit to the American South.

"Remember this song?" he asked.

"How could I not? It brings me back to your front porch, sitting out there in late September. Such good times."

He skipped to the next one. "This?"

"Ah, yes. Sophomore winter formal. The two of us left our dates to listen to this album by the tennis courts. Do you remember that? We were douchebags."

He laughed. "This?"

"The night we celebrated our tournament victory. We stepped outside and listened to this one on your headphones. Kunimi called us gay lovers."

"Was he wrong?"

"I don't know. You tell me."

Oikawa slipped beneath my bed sheets. Then, he whispered, "I have something I need to tell you."

I ran my fingers along the veins of his hands and looked back at him. He was smiling like a lunatic—a beautiful madman, the kind of crazy you want to consume yourself in.

"Is that so?" I smirked, recognizing my own awkward yet brazen inhibitions.

He leaned his body against mine. I felt his laughter against my side, his nose sliding along my jaw, his lips pressing my ear.

"It's almost bedtime, so hurry up," I mumble back, feeling my cheeks turn red.

"I am in love with you." His smile grew a little wider. "I've known such a long time, but I had to wait until it was the right time to tell you."

I trailed my fingers across his cheek. He stayed perfectly still for me.

"Say my name," I whispered.

He closed his eyes and leaned forward. "Hajime. Say mine?"

"Dummykawa."

He snorted at my response, but he took my hand into his. "So..."

We were so close that our foreheads touched. "Yes?" I asked, almost fully knowing what he was about to ask.

"Will you please tell me you love me? I'm kind of dying here." We broke into laughter, and I had to compose myself to give him the response that I also had been waiting to admit.

"I love you. I love you. Until the world explodes, I love you. Now, would you kiss me already?"

I placed my hand on the back of his neck. He did the same and pulled me toward him. And he kissed me. He kissed me. And he kissed me. And I kept kissing him back. And then I'm in his arms, and we're stripping each other's clothes, at first quickly—to make up for lost time—and then slowly, because we no longer had to worry about that; the entire world was now in the palm of our hands.

Oikawa's sweet, marble lips pressed against mine, and I was savoring everything about him—those lips, his soft skin, inability to hold back a smile, and the bold yet delicate personality that I fell in love with. I discovered the beat and rhythm of his body, just like the music in my room, when I placed my hand on his chest, feeling the rapid beating of his heart.

In between every kiss, I told him I love him. He told me he loved me. We repeated those words.

Again and again and again... Over and over... and I was no longer afraid of losing him.