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"Give us a hand up, old bean?"
"Of course!" Blenkinsop beamed, clinging onto the branch with one hand as he reached down to curl his fingers around Maltravers's wrist, gripping him tightly as Maltravers braced one foot against the tree, shifting on one leg, before bouncing up on his toes and using the momentum to scramble up onto the thick branch. Blenkinsop held on to his arm as Maltravers settled down next to him, in the space he always left between him and the tree trunk, their thighs pressed together as they swung their legs and watched the grass below.
"Thanks, old top," Maltravers said, nudging him gently and laughing as Blenkinsop slipped his hand away and lurched sideways, flailing his arms as he pretended to fall.
"Steady on there, chap," he grinned, as he righted himself and knocked their shoulders together, his hand falling onto Maltravers's leg just above his knee and staying there. Beneath them, the sprawling grounds of their boarding school stretched out in the early summer sun, rolling fields and ancient hedgerows and the main house just visible through the leaves of the old oak tree, but they were blissfully unaware as Maltravers smiled back at him until Blenkinsop blushed and licked his lips and looked away, swinging his feet with more force.
His hand was still on Maltravers's thigh. His fingers flexed as he realised, brushing against the coarse fabric of the uniform trousers, and Maltravers glanced down as if noticing it for the first time. Blenkinsop stared at his hand like it had betrayed him.
"I say, isn't that Bertie and Gussie over there," Maltravers said, after a long, silent moment, and they both immediately hunched down to peer through the leaves; as Blenkinsop spotted their classmates strolling along the opposite side of the field he felt a warm, slightly damp hand cover his own, the fingers soft and familiar and clutching him tightly.
He swiftly sat up and glanced over at Maltravers with wide eyes, finding him staring intently at the blanket of leaves in front of them. Blenkinsop cleared his throat and faced forward, taking a deep breath before shifting slightly closer so they were pressed together from shoulder to ankle, splaying his fingers so he could lightly squeeze Maltravers's thigh.
He felt the sharp breath Maltravers took, his short gasp barely heard over the rushing noise in his ears and the rustle of wind through leaves above, the tree shielding them from the world. "I say," Maltravers started, a little breathless, and then he turned a fraction towards Blenkinsop, enough that his gaze could drift between Blenkinsop's wide unblinking eyes and his mouth, the lips pink and slightly parted.
Blenkinsop's gaze dropped to the dappled grass beneath them, slowly sliding up to his own scuffed shoes and crossed ankles, up to where Maltravers's hand was still covering his own, lingering there for a long moment before drifting up and up until he suddenly caught Maltravers's eye and they froze, staring at each other. Maltravers bit his lower lip, wetting it, and Blenkinsop's gaze flicked down, watching the red skin slide out from under his teeth.
He swallowed, his cheeks burning red and his chest heaving as he stared at his best friend. Maltravers stared back, and he gave Blenkinsop a tiny smile and squeezed his hand, and Blenkinsop finally found the courage to lean over and squeeze his eyes shut before pressing his lips firmly against Maltravers's mouth.
It was clumsy and a little awkward, their noses bumping and neither knowing what to do with their hands. Both clung onto the branch with their spare hand and kept their eyes shut tight for the few seconds that they stayed like that, a sweet crush of their mouths together, before Blenkinsop pulled back and swiped his tongue over his lips.
"I say, that was rather... good," Maltravers whispered, barely a murmur under the swish of the leaves, and leaned in to kiss him again. The angle was better, tilting his head in the opposite direction and the feel of Blenkinsop's lips against his own was, oh, better than anything he'd ever felt, better than a lie in on a Sunday or pancakes for breakfast, warm and tingly in every place they touched and then Blenkinsop pressed against him harder and made this noise somewhere in the back of his throat, sounding a bit like he was in pain but it was breathy and deep like a hum and it made Maltravers feel like something molten and heavy was coiling in his stomach.
"Gosh," Blenkinsop breathed, pulling away just enough to speak. "One moment, old bean, let me..." he said, not taking his eyes off Maltravers's mouth as he scooted back along the branch, pulling one foot up and over and nearly falling out of the tree - Maltravers gasped, laughed, and then gripped Blenkinsop's knee to hold him steady. Blenkinsop beamed gratefully at him, finally getting his leg over the other side of the branch and facing him properly, and they grinned at each other for a few dizzying seconds before Maltravers leant closer and Blenkinsop met him halfway and they kissed again, the third time even greater as Blenkinsop reached up to tentatively rest his hand on Maltravers's neck, his thumb brushing against his cheek.
Maltravers tried to pull him closer, curling his fingers around the back of his knee and tugging until Blenkinsop got the idea and broke the kiss to shuffle nearer, close enough that his knee nudged against Maltravers's thigh and he could place his hand on the other side of his waist, and it was easy because it was Maltravers, the boy who had held his hand on their first day of boarding school and told him to stop crying because there was going to be apple pie and custard for dessert, who skived off Maths with him to go look at the newt pond and who made him laugh so much during detention that they were grounded, but they didn't mind because they just stayed in their dorm room together all weekend and played with the toy soldiers he kept hidden under his bed.
"Open your mouth a bit," Maltravers said suddenly, then blushed and ducked his head when Blenkinsop just looked at him. "Monty said that Archie told him that Melanie likes to kiss with her mouth open, and I want to try that. With you, not Melanie, she's terrifying," Maltravers blurted out, his cheeks flaming red, and Blenkinsop swooped down to kiss him again - a simple press of their lips until Maltravers lifted his head, melting into the kiss and unthinkingly sliding his hand halfway up Blenkinsop's thigh as they both leaned into it, and then Blenkinsop opened his mouth slightly and Maltravers copied him, just breathing each other in, eyes closed and perfectly still as Maltravers thought this couldn't possibly get any better, the feel of Blenkinsop's mouth sealed so hot and wet and tasting faintly of buttered toast against his own - then Blenkinsop brought his jaw back up and yes! that!, the slide of his lips against his mouth, leaving a hot tingle in their wake and Maltravers moaned happily, prompting Blenkinsop to try that again and oh.
Open-mouthed kissing was brilliant, Maltravers decided, and was just considering pulling back to tell Blenkinsop this when there was a brush of something against the tip of his tongue - Blenkinsop's tongue, he quickly realised, and Blenkinsop must have been talking to Monty as well as he pushed his tongue into his mouth, sliding it against his own and it was slightly rough and warm and slippery and gosh, it felt, he didn't know how to describe it, kind of wet and fiery at the same time, his whole body lighting up as they explored each other's mouths and Blenkinsop made that noise again, deep and growly and rumbling through Maltravers's skin, making him feel shivery and boneless and really quite spiffing, actually.
With a soft moan Maltravers let his eyes flutter open and pulled away, just enough to remember how his lungs worked. They stared at each other for a long second, utterly lost, before the world rushed back in with a sudden burst of wind through the tree and the shout of their classmates in a distant field.
"I say, old bean," Blenkinsop said, breathless and beaming. "I rather approve of this whole kissing lark."
Maltravers grinned back. "Practice makes perfect, what?" he said, and pulled him in to try that again, parting his lips immediately so Blenkinsop could lick into his mouth and they kissed, slow and quiet and completely lost in each other.
"Best friends forever, right?" Blenkinsop said, as Maltravers experimented with kissing the corner of his mouth and his cheek and his jawline.
"Forever," Maltravers agreed, and kissed him sweetly.