26

Gary follows Winston out of the cafeteria, falling behind as he checks on his social media pages, scowling softly at something he spots. Winston glances at him over his shoulder every once in a while, just to make sure he hasn't accidentally wandered off in the wrong direction or walked into a pole. But it's fine; Gary is keeping up the pace without looking up even once.

They're approaching another school building when Winston spots Jason and Samantha lingering near the entrance, just barely staying below the overhead cover. They're talking about something, mouth's moving but too far away for Winston to hear them.

For a second, he stops walking. His gaze slide from Jason to the entrance and back again, and he inadvertently rocks on his feet.

Gary crashes into his back.

"Ooof," Gary breathes, putting his hand on Winston's shoulder to steady them both. Winston doesn't look back, gaze still stuck on Jason and wondering if Jason knows he's here. If he walks by without saying hello, is that rude? Ignoring him? If he does say hello, is he interrupting him? Being nosy?

Gary props his chin on Winston's shoulder and asks, "What are you looking at?" basically right into his air.

"Nothing," he says, shrugging his shoulder to get him off and thankfully succeeding fairly quickly. Gary hums loudly, moving to stand beside him and entangle their arms.

"Why don't I believe you?" Gary drawls, following Winston's line of sight. He grins, "Ah, that's why."

"Shut up," Winston says without any heat.

Gary utterly ignores him, "You're weak in the knees, aren't you? Panicking about how to greet your soulmate?"

"Oh my god," Winston laughs, shaking his head. He grins at Gary, "You're ridiculous. And anyway, he's busy. I don't wanna bother him."

Gary hums, dragging him off. "If he's getting bothered by simple hello's, he probably is the serial killer you secretly fear him to be."

"Gary!" Winston gasps.

Gary grins at him. "Oh, come on, if you don't wanna go up to him because you're intimidated or something, we just won't. It's school, he's in the middle of a conversation; he's not gonna think you're maliciously ignoring him or something. Don't worry, we'll just quickly walk passed him and if he looks over, we'll smile at him. Okay?"

"Okay," Winston looks down at the ground for a moment. His shoes---ratty and old, misshaped and color faded beneath grime and dust---face him without any mercy.

Gulping, he looks up again.

They're getting closer to the building entrance and Jason both, and Winston's throat is dry, lips parched, mouth slightly open as he drags in a rough breath rattling his lungs in an empty chest. But Gary stays beside him, pulls him onward when Winston would falter, and they cross the distance relatively quickly despite his weak limbs.

He continues to eye them as he gets closer, and he sees the instance Samantha spots them. She points at them over Jason's shoulder, and Jason's whirls around before Winston can even gather himself and pretend he wasn't staring.

"Winston!" Jason calls, waving and grinning.

Winston inhales deeply, until his lungs feel like they're on the edge of exploding, and smiles. Hurries over with Gary helplessly pulled along, the sound of his own heartbeat echoing in his ears.

In just a few steps, they've reached Jason and Samantha.

"Hey," Jason says, leaning down as they get closer and Winston---mind blanking when faced with Jason's eyes and mouth and neck, and in general just everything together overwhelming him---kisses Jason's cheek.

It's just a quick peck.

Chaste, even.

But it's their first kiss.

When Winston leans back, his eyes wide, he stares up Jason. Jason, who is completely frozen, a blush spreading over his cheeks and up his ears. Winston doesn't breathe for a long moment, entirely unaware of anything but Jason's enraptured gaze, bamboozled expression, his blush. Winston is weak, and he can not look away.

"Hi," Winston eventually breathes, and surely minutes must have passed them by, eons written in the seconds between his breaths. Surely a whole life must have been lived while they were frozen, caught in a bubble of their own, Winston's lips tingling and his voice raspy.

"Hello," Jason says, and his eyes are still wide, and he's still frozen, still staring. Winston licks his lips, and Jason's eyes zero in on them, licking his own in turns and---

Gary pinches Winston's cheek, and Winston pats his hand away. He shakes his head, biting his lip, and forces another breath down his into his chest. "It's a nice day," Winston says aprops of nothing.

Jason blinks, thoughts visibly returning to him. He gulps, says, "Yeah," and looks around. Looks at Gary, and then Samantha, and exhales a shaky breath. That he's so visibly rattled, so obviously untethered by something as simple as a peck on the check... that Winston is responsible for this state...

Winston licks his lips again and asks, "Are you busy?"

Jason shakes his head. "No," he says, life bleeding back into him. He looks to Samantha, who mouths something to him, and frowns softly. Says, "It can wait," to her and looks back at Winston. Scuffs his foot on the ground and ducks his head a little, and Winston's stomach is swooping for some unknowable reason.

Gary says, "Alright, we have a class to get to, so..." and he surreptitiously pinches Winston again. Winston doesn't bother to hide it when he stomps, softly, on his foot. Gary drawls, "Meanie," and is pouting when Winston glances at him for the first time since---the kiss.

"Right, we won't keep you," says Samantha, her voice unexpectedly deep. Winston blinks for a moment, wondering if he's gotten her pronouns wrong, but he has distinct memories of Jason referring to her as a her on his social media. She clears her throat and mouths something to Jason again, and he squints and frowns at her.

"It's nice to see you," says Jason instead of conitning the conversation with Samantha. He steps a little closer to Winston and Winston has to tilt his head back to keep looking at his face, to stop his eyes from sliding to Jason's thick, muscular chest.

It's fine, right, that he's sexually attracted to the person he's dating?

It's normal?

Samantha glares at Jason and says, "We have a meeting to go to," and Jason scowls at her.

"We won't be late," he insists, and sidles even closer to Winston. Winston's heart goes doki-doki in his chest like he's a manga protagonist in a romcom. Jason smiles at him, softly and gently and a bunch of other synonyms, and Winston's is breathlessly standing still when Jason's face gets even closer, when he leans down and kisses Winston on the cheek.

And it is, probably, on purpose.

Winston's mind is replaying the kiss over and over---the softness of Jason's lips, the heat, the sensation of Jason's breath hitting his cheek---over and over and over. He's staring up at Jason, eyes so wide they hurt, and he when he finally manages to drag in a new breath it catches in his throat and he coughs. Jason asks, voice low and hoarse, "Was that okay?"

"Yeah," breathes Winston. "It's very okay," he adds, and his hand reaches out by his side until Gary grabs it and he has something to squeeze.

Jason smiles, and he fucking shines brighter than the sun. Winston's knees are weak, a casualty of his heart, and he clings tighter to Gary's hand so he doesn't fall on his back. "Great," Jason says, biting his own lips, and he stares at Winston for a long second before he takes a deep breath. "I'll see you soon," he says, stepping back and Winston finally has room to breathe.

"Yeah," he smiles up at Jason, a flutter in the pit of his stomach.