HOME | DD

Description
Oscar sighed, giving him a look that suggested that he was beyond clueless. “You know, there might be a different reason why you don’t feel anything for her.”

“Really? What, you mean other than me being stupid?” Andrew snapped.

“Yes, other than that.”

“Really? Wow, what a miracle!” Andrew drawled. “Come on now, you can’t not tell me!”

Oscar avoided meeting his gaze.

“I don’t think you’re taking this seriously, Andrew,” he muttered.

“Well I need some jokes in my life, huh? Or maybe I don’t, seeing as everyone thinks my life is just one big joke! What reason could there possibly be for me not feeling anything with Judy? Everyone’s constantly telling me we’re made for each other, so what reason could there be for me not being able to do something as easily as like kissing her?

“Let me show you,” Oscar said suddenly, getting up and coming over.

Andrew got up as well, wary of what his best friend and usual tormentor was about to do.

“What’re you—”

Suddenly Oscar was right in front of him, and then Andrew was pushed back a little so that his back met the wall, and then their lips were locked together.

Andrew automatically tensed, but it took a moment for him to gather together enough wits to push Oscar off of him.

“Wh-what… Oscar, what are you doing?!” he hissed.

Oscar was breathing heavily and shakily, leaning against the wall behind Andrew by propping his arms up on either side of Andrew’s head. Their faces were still very close together, so Andrew could make out the conflict and terror and regret in Oscar’s eyes.

“I’m sorry, Andy, I-I just…” Oscar tried to force out. He squeezed his eyes shut and looked down. Suddenly he swore quietly but viciously. “I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have let that happen, my emotions… I’m sorry, man, I’m sorry I—”

“Oscar!” Andrew said quickly to get his attention. Oscar looked back up at him, fear apparent in his eyes.

Neither of them said anything for a second, and they stared at each other in silence, each trying to make out exactly what the other was thinking. Suddenly Oscar pushed off the wall and stuffed his hands in his pockets, the way he always did when he was stressed or nervous. He stayed close though.

“W-what are you thinking?” he asked hesitantly. Andrew took a moment to marvel at how much emotion his friend’s eyes showed, even when Oscar was avoiding his gaze.

“I…” Andrew started with his eyes downcast, “I’m not sure about… about anything that’s happening right now.”

“Oh,” Oscar said in defeat. He looked up with worry. “Are you mad? I don’t blame you if you are,” he said with a sigh.

Andrew fell silent, thinking. “I don’t know… I, I actually…” Andrew tried to collect his thoughts and talk properly, in order to avoid confusing the both of them.

“You don’t have to explain,” Oscar said. He gave Andrew a wavering, rueful smile. “To be honest, I’m just thanking my lucky stars you don’t hate me right now… although you might later on once it’s sunk in,” he said sadly.

Andrew didn’t say anything.

Oscar seemed to take this as his cue to leave, but before he had even taken a step he felt Andrew’s hand on his arm.

“Andrew?” he asked, turning back to face his friend.

“I’m s-sorry, I just…” and then his lips were on Oscar’s.

Oscar’s heart jolted to a stop in his chest, and his eyes closed as a reflex. In that moment, he felt something wonderful inside of him. His head filled with a sparkling fog and the only thing he could see in his mind’s eye was Andrew’s shining face.

The kiss didn’t stay innocent for long, as Oscar felt himself start to lose it, gently pushing Andrew into the wall and pressing them together. He felt all of the pent up energy and tension in him, all caused by the very boy in front of him, searching for release.

The kiss quickly got heated, with Oscar demanding more and more of Andrew by the second, coaxing the other boy’s lips into action with his own, licking and nibbling, searching for more.

Only when he heard Andrew gasp did he come to, and he pulled away suddenly, almost making Andrew fall over forwards by the sudden loss of contact.

“I’m sorry,” Oscar said panted.

“Don’t be,” Andrew said, grabbing the front of Oscar’s shirt and pulling him back to kiss him again. Oscar groaned in approval, but stopped before he lost himself again.

“Andy,” he said, breaking their kiss again, “Too fast?”

Andrew blinked a few times to clear his head a little.

“You’re right, sorry,” he panted, clearing his throat.

They didn’t say anything for a moment as they caught their breaths. Oscar was still leaning against Andrew but shifted to take some weight off him.

“That was—”

“Amazing,” Andrew supplied.

“What?” Oscar asked, surprised.

“You heard me,” Andrew breathed, pecking Oscar on the lips again.

Oscar pushed away from him and the wall and stared at him. “You haven’t been holding out romantic feelings on me, have you?” he asked Andrew. Andrew knew he meant it as a joke - Oscar's reflexive way of trying to lighten a situation - but he thought about it regardless. He sat down on the window seat next to him and ran a hand through his hair, exhaling heavily.

“I don’t know, Oss,” he said earnestly, putting his head in his hands. “I honestly think I had an idea that girls weren’t for me after Arlene, but…” he trailed off.

“Your family?” Oscar quietly hazarded a guess, looking down at Andrew with sympathy.

Andrew sighed. “I thought that… maybe I just, had to try harder, y’know? Maybe if I tried, then I’d be able to be happy with what my parents thought I needed to be happy.” He sighed again. “I guess I was wrong,” he said with a rueful smile.

“Boy am I glad you’re an idiot,” Oscar smirked.

Andrew grimaced back. “Why would you do that?”

“Because now you can actually appreciate how effortless this is going to be,” Oscar told him, sitting down next to Andrew. “That is, if you’re willing to give it a try. I know you’re worried about your family.”

“They’ll get over it,” Andrew said. He tried to make it look easy to say, but inside he was really worried about what their reaction was going to be. Oscar could see this all too clearly.

“Of course they will,” he murmured to Andrew, “You don’t need to worry about them, so long as you’re happy, I’m sure they’ll find it in them to be happy for you.”

Andrew pulled a face, but it was still only half-hearted. “You obviously don’t know them that well, mate,” he muttered.

“I know that they should be happy that you’re happy, and if they’re not then I’m not gonna lie to you: I’ll be glad if you get out of their house and away from them. That relationship is toxic enough as it is.”

Andrew smirked. “Isn’t that just like you,” he said.

“And don’t you love that?” Oscar asked with an arrogant smirk.

“Unfortunately your ego’s usually in the way of me seeing that side of you, so I rarely get to appreciate it,” Andrew said, making a face.

“Ah, right,” Oscar said. “Well, that’s too bad, because this ego ain’t going anywhere.”

“While that’s a pity, I have to admit that you wouldn’t be half as much fun without it,” Andrew told him.

Oscar smirked proudly. “Exactly.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“So… what’s going to happen now?”

“That depends entirely on you,” Oscar said, laying back on the cushioned seat and linking his fingers behind his head.

“Why?”

“Because now that I know you want to give it a try, I couldn’t care less how we went about it.”

“You know, that’s awfully sickly sweet and all, but it isn’t exactly helping our decision-making any,” Andrew told him.

“Do you really need me to tell you what I would do with it given the chance?” Oscar asked, giving him a raised eyebrow.

Andrew gave that a thought. He realised quickly what Oscar was hinting at. Knowing his forward and easy-going attitude to everything in life, he’d be 100% out there – maybe not making a public display of their relationship, but not denying anything about it to anyone.

“You’re right, I don’t,” he admitted. “But putting aside all preferences, what do you think would be best to do?” he asked.

Oscar looked up at the ceiling while he contemplated the question. Glancing at Andrew, he said, “Well, I think it would be best if we kept it on the down-low, at least for the first bit. I mean, if you want, we could tell Marge and the gang, but I wouldn’t go public just yet. You’re just getting comfortable in your skin as it is,” he said, looking up at Andrew, “And the idiots out there who disapprove would only make it horrible for you.”

“What about you?” Andrew asked with a frown. He didn’t particularly like being referred to as the weakest link in any chain.

Oscar raised his eyebrow again. “You think that the way I dress, talk and act lets me get away without a couple of comments? I’m used to it, man.”

Andrew looked down at his lap. “Sorry about that,” he muttered.

“Don’t be, you’re not amongst those idiots,” Oscar said, sitting up again. “Look, why don’t we leave this conversation for another time? We won’t say anything to anyone just yet, but if it comes up, we’ll make a quick getaway and then discuss, OK?”

Andrew pulled a face. “That doesn’t sound like all the most comforting plan,” he told Oscar.

“Sure it doesn’t, but a plan is a plan, right?” Oscar said, jumping up from the seat and offering Andrew a hand up.

Andrew stood up with a thoughtful, slightly worried look on his face. Oscar took note and didn’t move away just yet, making Andrew stand up so that they were almost touching again.

“Listen, it’s going to be OK,” he reassured him with a small smile, rubbing his hands up and down Andrew’s arms. “We’ll figure it out.”

Andrew offered him a hesitant smile. “I hope we do.”

“Now come on, we have to get to bed, or the professors are going to take our heads off tomorrow in early morning classes,” Oscar told him.

“Good idea,” Andrew said, and they gathered up their things before heading off to their dorms.

Later on, Andrew lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, thanking God that things hadn’t been anymore awkward between himself and Oscar earlier.

He really thought it was a miracle that this hadn’t ruined their friendship. Somehow it had worked out that they were still friends… just better. And this felt more right than anything he’d ever experienced with the girls he’d tried to date just to make his parents happy.

Thinking of his parents made a pang of worry about their reactions go through him, but he banished that feeling with thoughts of Oscar’s carefully pointed out facts from earlier. It was easy to do, especially with the feeling of overwhelming happiness that was threatening to make him float up off his bed any moment.

He rolled over and closed his eyes. For that moment at least, his parents could go stuff their opinions up where the sun don’t shine, and he would be all the happier for it, if that was possible. Andrew fell asleep with almost no problem, the events of that evening replaying again in his head.

A few rooms over, a lanky somebody was curled up into a tight, happy ball with his plush reindeer clutched to his chest and an ecstatic grin on his face.

Description
Oscar sighed, giving him a look that suggested that he was beyond clueless. “You know, there might be a different reason why you don’t feel anything for her.”

“Really? What, you mean other than me being stupid?” Andrew snapped.

“Yes, other than that.”

“Really? Wow, what a miracle!” Andrew drawled. “Come on now, you can’t not tell me!”

Oscar avoided meeting his gaze.

“I don’t think you’re taking this seriously, Andrew,” he muttered.

“Well I need some jokes in my life, huh? Or maybe I don’t, seeing as everyone thinks my life is just one big joke! What reason could there possibly be for me not feeling anything with Judy? Everyone’s constantly telling me we’re made for each other, so what reason could there be for me not being able to do something as easily as like kissing her?

“Let me show you,” Oscar said suddenly, getting up and coming over.

Andrew got up as well, wary of what his best friend and usual tormentor was about to do.

“What’re you—”

Suddenly Oscar was right in front of him, and then Andrew was pushed back a little so that his back met the wall, and then their lips were locked together.

Andrew automatically tensed, but it took a moment for him to gather together enough wits to push Oscar off of him.

“Wh-what… Oscar, what are you doing?!” he hissed.

Oscar was breathing heavily and shakily, leaning against the wall behind Andrew by propping his arms up on either side of Andrew’s head. Their faces were still very close together, so Andrew could make out the conflict and terror and regret in Oscar’s eyes.

“I’m sorry, Andy, I-I just…” Oscar tried to force out. He squeezed his eyes shut and looked down. Suddenly he swore quietly but viciously. “I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have let that happen, my emotions… I’m sorry, man, I’m sorry I—”

“Oscar!” Andrew said quickly to get his attention. Oscar looked back up at him, fear apparent in his eyes.

Neither of them said anything for a second, and they stared at each other in silence, each trying to make out exactly what the other was thinking. Suddenly Oscar pushed off the wall and stuffed his hands in his pockets, the way he always did when he was stressed or nervous. He stayed close though.

“W-what are you thinking?” he asked hesitantly. Andrew took a moment to marvel at how much emotion his friend’s eyes showed, even when Oscar was avoiding his gaze.

“I…” Andrew started with his eyes downcast, “I’m not sure about… about anything that’s happening right now.”

“Oh,” Oscar said in defeat. He looked up with worry. “Are you mad? I don’t blame you if you are,” he said with a sigh.

Andrew fell silent, thinking. “I don’t know… I, I actually…” Andrew tried to collect his thoughts and talk properly, in order to avoid confusing the both of them.

“You don’t have to explain,” Oscar said. He gave Andrew a wavering, rueful smile. “To be honest, I’m just thanking my lucky stars you don’t hate me right now… although you might later on once it’s sunk in,” he said sadly.

Andrew didn’t say anything.

Oscar seemed to take this as his cue to leave, but before he had even taken a step he felt Andrew’s hand on his arm.

“Andrew?” he asked, turning back to face his friend.

“I’m s-sorry, I just…” and then his lips were on Oscar’s.

Oscar’s heart jolted to a stop in his chest, and his eyes closed as a reflex. In that moment, he felt something wonderful inside of him. His head filled with a sparkling fog and the only thing he could see in his mind’s eye was Andrew’s shining face.

The kiss didn’t stay innocent for long, as Oscar felt himself start to lose it, gently pushing Andrew into the wall and pressing them together. He felt all of the pent up energy and tension in him, all caused by the very boy in front of him, searching for release.

The kiss quickly got heated, with Oscar demanding more and more of Andrew by the second, coaxing the other boy’s lips into action with his own, licking and nibbling, searching for more.

Only when he heard Andrew gasp did he come to, and he pulled away suddenly, almost making Andrew fall over forwards by the sudden loss of contact.

“I’m sorry,” Oscar said panted.

“Don’t be,” Andrew said, grabbing the front of Oscar’s shirt and pulling him back to kiss him again. Oscar groaned in approval, but stopped before he lost himself again.

“Andy,” he said, breaking their kiss again, “Too fast?”

Andrew blinked a few times to clear his head a little.

“You’re right, sorry,” he panted, clearing his throat.

They didn’t say anything for a moment as they caught their breaths. Oscar was still leaning against Andrew but shifted to take some weight off him.

“That was—”

“Amazing,” Andrew supplied.

“What?” Oscar asked, surprised.

“You heard me,” Andrew breathed, pecking Oscar on the lips again.

Oscar pushed away from him and the wall and stared at him. “You haven’t been holding out romantic feelings on me, have you?” he asked Andrew. Andrew knew he meant it as a joke - Oscar's reflexive way of trying to lighten a situation - but he thought about it regardless. He sat down on the window seat next to him and ran a hand through his hair, exhaling heavily.

“I don’t know, Oss,” he said earnestly, putting his head in his hands. “I honestly think I had an idea that girls weren’t for me after Arlene, but…” he trailed off.

“Your family?” Oscar quietly hazarded a guess, looking down at Andrew with sympathy.

Andrew sighed. “I thought that… maybe I just, had to try harder, y’know? Maybe if I tried, then I’d be able to be happy with what my parents thought I needed to be happy.” He sighed again. “I guess I was wrong,” he said with a rueful smile.

“Boy am I glad you’re an idiot,” Oscar smirked.

Andrew grimaced back. “Why would you do that?”

“Because now you can actually appreciate how effortless this is going to be,” Oscar told him, sitting down next to Andrew. “That is, if you’re willing to give it a try. I know you’re worried about your family.”

“They’ll get over it,” Andrew said. He tried to make it look easy to say, but inside he was really worried about what their reaction was going to be. Oscar could see this all too clearly.

“Of course they will,” he murmured to Andrew, “You don’t need to worry about them, so long as you’re happy, I’m sure they’ll find it in them to be happy for you.”

Andrew pulled a face, but it was still only half-hearted. “You obviously don’t know them that well, mate,” he muttered.

“I know that they should be happy that you’re happy, and if they’re not then I’m not gonna lie to you: I’ll be glad if you get out of their house and away from them. That relationship is toxic enough as it is.”

Andrew smirked. “Isn’t that just like you,” he said.

“And don’t you love that?” Oscar asked with an arrogant smirk.

“Unfortunately your ego’s usually in the way of me seeing that side of you, so I rarely get to appreciate it,” Andrew said, making a face.

“Ah, right,” Oscar said. “Well, that’s too bad, because this ego ain’t going anywhere.”

“While that’s a pity, I have to admit that you wouldn’t be half as much fun without it,” Andrew told him.

Oscar smirked proudly. “Exactly.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“So… what’s going to happen now?”

“That depends entirely on you,” Oscar said, laying back on the cushioned seat and linking his fingers behind his head.

“Why?”

“Because now that I know you want to give it a try, I couldn’t care less how we went about it.”

“You know, that’s awfully sickly sweet and all, but it isn’t exactly helping our decision-making any,” Andrew told him.

“Do you really need me to tell you what I would do with it given the chance?” Oscar asked, giving him a raised eyebrow.

Andrew gave that a thought. He realised quickly what Oscar was hinting at. Knowing his forward and easy-going attitude to everything in life, he’d be 100% out there – maybe not making a public display of their relationship, but not denying anything about it to anyone.

“You’re right, I don’t,” he admitted. “But putting aside all preferences, what do you think would be best to do?” he asked.

Oscar looked up at the ceiling while he contemplated the question. Glancing at Andrew, he said, “Well, I think it would be best if we kept it on the down-low, at least for the first bit. I mean, if you want, we could tell Marge and the gang, but I wouldn’t go public just yet. You’re just getting comfortable in your skin as it is,” he said, looking up at Andrew, “And the idiots out there who disapprove would only make it horrible for you.”

“What about you?” Andrew asked with a frown. He didn’t particularly like being referred to as the weakest link in any chain.

Oscar raised his eyebrow again. “You think that the way I dress, talk and act lets me get away without a couple of comments? I’m used to it, man.”

Andrew looked down at his lap. “Sorry about that,” he muttered.

“Don’t be, you’re not amongst those idiots,” Oscar said, sitting up again. “Look, why don’t we leave this conversation for another time? We won’t say anything to anyone just yet, but if it comes up, we’ll make a quick getaway and then discuss, OK?”

Andrew pulled a face. “That doesn’t sound like all the most comforting plan,” he told Oscar.

“Sure it doesn’t, but a plan is a plan, right?” Oscar said, jumping up from the seat and offering Andrew a hand up.

Andrew stood up with a thoughtful, slightly worried look on his face. Oscar took note and didn’t move away just yet, making Andrew stand up so that they were almost touching again.

“Listen, it’s going to be OK,” he reassured him with a small smile, rubbing his hands up and down Andrew’s arms. “We’ll figure it out.”

Andrew offered him a hesitant smile. “I hope we do.”

“Now come on, we have to get to bed, or the professors are going to take our heads off tomorrow in early morning classes,” Oscar told him.

“Good idea,” Andrew said, and they gathered up their things before heading off to their dorms.

Later on, Andrew lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, thanking God that things hadn’t been anymore awkward between himself and Oscar earlier.

He really thought it was a miracle that this hadn’t ruined their friendship. Somehow it had worked out that they were still friends… just better. And this felt more right than anything he’d ever experienced with the girls he’d tried to date just to make his parents happy.

Thinking of his parents made a pang of worry about their reactions go through him, but he banished that feeling with thoughts of Oscar’s carefully pointed out facts from earlier. It was easy to do, especially with the feeling of overwhelming happiness that was threatening to make him float up off his bed any moment.

He rolled over and closed his eyes. For that moment at least, his parents could go stuff their opinions up where the sun don’t shine, and he would be all the happier for it, if that was possible. Andrew fell asleep with almost no problem, the events of that evening replaying again in his head.

A few rooms over, a lanky somebody was curled up into a tight, happy ball with his plush reindeer clutched to his chest and an ecstatic grin on his face.