Archive of Our Own ^beta

[1]

The challenge had been- well, it could’ve been a lot worse. Some would even say it went pretty well, considering they had won.

Lighter doesn’t exactly disagree with that, he just personally thinks the challenge would’ve been better, perfect even, if he hadn’t gotten a durian smashed into his face.
And worst of all, he couldn’t even be mad at Mortar for that. Not only had he been knocked off by a damn pumpkin, the poor guy had felt so guilty that he immediately ambushed Lighter after the challenge, crushing him in a tearful hug.
Which admittedly hurt a lot more than the durian did.

In the end, it took the combined effort of Lighter, Apple Bomb and Guitar Pick to pry the big guy off of him, and then only because Lighter admitted that he had a hard time breathing. Comic Book tried to help, bless his heart, but couldn’t really do much.

Lighter huffed as he replayed the events of the day in his mind. Lying in his surprisingly comfortable hotel bed, he honestly wanted nothing more than to sleep right now.
But he couldn’t, because someone was playing annoying party music stupidly loud at like eleven at night.

Listening to that, as well as the sound of the others footsteps, loud knocking and a bit of yelling, Lighter knew he wouldn’t be getting sleep anytime soon. Which pretty much just left him alone with his thoughts.

That wasn’t something bad exactly, Lighter wasn’t going to pretend he was someone with a lot of baggage. It was just really, really boring.
Like, mind numbingly boring.

He still tried his best to keep his mind occupied though.
Like thinking about his teammates and the impressions they had left on him so far. Or the events of the day, what happened, how things could’ve been better or worse.

Which had brought him to after the challenge.
The whole thing had been rather embarrassing. He was honestly glad that everyone who wasn’t helping him, or wasn’t Comic Book, had been distracted. Dice and Popcorn had been occupied fighting over something petty, Flora had been… staring at the wall, completely lost in the sauce and Bookmark had already left, vacating the room in favour of getting some peace and quiet after the chaos.

Which had only left-
Lighter’s breath hitched, and he sneered physically.
Which had only left him.

That stupid wimp!
Don’t think Lighter hadn’t seen it. The way Almond Milk had watched the ordeal, a satisfied smirk on his face as he stayed out of the way for once in all the time the two had known each other. Oh, he thought this was sooo funny, didn’t he!

Frustration built in the back of his throat, and Lighter quickly bit down on his blanket before a frankly embarrassing noise left him.
Well, if he thought he could get away with that then that idiot had another thing coming. As soon as Lighter got his hands on him he’d be sorry.

An image formed in Lighter’s mind, involuntarily.
Almond Milk and him, in the cafeteria, in the lobby, on the challenge grounds, just them two somewhere. Arguing, of course.

Well, less arguing and more insulting each other back and forth.
Lighter having the upper hand, cornering Almond Milk, pushing the other back while still ever coming nearer.

Eventually being face to face, Lighter leaning down in a mocking way, still shouting at each other.
And then-
Lighter physically flinched, broken out of his made up scenario.

… what?
Huh, excuse me- what was that!?
Lighter sat upright, rubbing his hands across his face, as if to physically push the thought away.

That just came out of nowhere. Had to.
Because there is no way that on god’s green earth Lighter would willingly think about… kissing Almond Milk.

So why did he think that?!

Pushing the palms of his hands into his eye sockets, Lighter let out a frustrated noise. His mind was probably just still… in turmoil from the challenge.
Yeah, that was it. He was just tired and not in his right mind. Tomorrow, things would be normal again.

Doing his best to push the thought away, Lighter pulled his comforter over his head and turned away from the door, as if that would help somehow.
Fine, Almond Milk would get away with it, this time. But next time Lighter wouldn’t be so kind.

Doing his best to drown out all the noise around him, he slipped into a restless sleep.

[2]

One good thing about participating in a reality game show that let you stay in an expensive hotel was apparently that the food was absolutely fire.

Like genuinely, it was so good that Lighter went for seconds, twice, as well as indulged himself in a small piece of chocolate cake.

Sitting down at one of the tables, it didn’t take long before two people joined him. The first one, the one he was more expecting was Mortar. Guitar Pick was the other, a bored expression on her face.

Swallowing down, Lighter greeted them.
“Hey big guy, Guitar Pick,” he took another bite, “what’re you doing here?”

Mortar peered down at him over the absolute mountain of food on his plate.
“Ah, I just-” There was still a bit of guilt on his face. “I just wanted to make sure you’re alright.”

He wrung his hands nervously, but before Lighter could say anything Guitar Pick spoke.
“There’s no need to worry, he’s fine… right?” She gave him a pointed look. And well, there was no need to lie.
The fruit hadn’t even left a bruise after all, it had mostly just surprised and knocked him off balance.
And yeah, it was because Mortar had ducked, but if a spikey-looking projectile came hurling at Lighter at high speed he too would’ve ducked. I mean it did, but Mortar was supposed to- ugh, whatever.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Lighter waved him off, shoving more food in his face. “Didn’t even hurt, I was mostly just surprised.”

“Are you sure?” Mortar still looked unsure.

Lighter just gave him a half-grin.
“100% sure, just enjoy your breakfast buddy.”

And as if just remembering that there was a huge pile of food in front of him, Mortar immediately perked up and grabbed his fork, his guilt seemingly forgotten.
Lighter was probably still going to check up on him later, but for now they lapsed into a comfortable silence.

He honestly felt good, despite the bad sleep he had gotten last night, and his thoughts had finally calmed down. For just a moment, Lighter thought that maybe today could be a good day.
And then Almond Milk walked into the room, and Lighter felt his grip on his fork tighten involuntarily.

Or well, he was actually dragged in by Comic Book, but who cares? What matters is that he was here, and that it annoyed the heck out of Lighter. That stupid wimp!
Who does he think he is, pretending to be better than Lighter, talking back to him and giving him those damn thoughts!

Oh, maybe Lighter wasn’t going to be merciful afterall.
Maybe he should just storm up to the other and give him a piece of his mind. See how he liked tha-

“What are you looking at?” Guitar Pick’s monotone voice snapped him out of his thoughts. His attention now on the girl, she just looked at him for a moment, then turned to follow his line of sight, before turning back to him with a raised eyebrow.

“Why were you staring at Almond Milk and Comic Book?”

Lighter spluttered.
“Hey, I have no problems with the hero weirdo! But that damn wimp has been causing nothing but problems for me!”

“... what problems?”

“I-” Lighter faltered, a light blush spreading across his face. Wow, he really shot himself in the foot right now. What was he supposed to say, that he had imagined kissing Almond Milk last night while trying to sleep.
Never. Never ever, nuh huh.
No, he just needed to think of something else-

His train of thoughts was interrupted when Mortar gasped, an excited look on his face. He then turned to Lighter, loudly asking, “Wait, do you like him?!”

For a moment, all thoughts and reactions failed Lighter. Because HOW in the absolute heck could the guy possibly have come to that conclusion? Like genuinely?

“Mortar, what the f-” “Does he like who?”
Lighter flinched as the voice that was haunting his dreams last night suddenly sounded from behind him.

Whipping around, he came face to face with the man of the hour, Almond Milk, who had an annoyed expression on his face.

They… weren’t as close as they could’ve been. But finding the other closer to his face than he expected, especially after Mortar’s comment, brought his entirely unwanted thoughts back to the surface.

Feeling his blush worsening, Lighter did the first thing he could think of and pushed Almond Milk onto the floor.
“Wouldn’t you like to know, nerd!”

Blood was still rushing to his face, and distantly he heard Mortar gasp, as well as Guitar pick saying, “Woah, calm down.”
Not that he cared, his attention on the wimp before him.

Gah, why was he even wasting so much thought on this?!
He didn’t like Almond Milk. He didn’t!
And anyone suggesting otherwise was an idiot, simple as that.

Lighter felt a hand being placed on his arm. Quickly slapping it away again, ignoring Guitar Pick’s slightly offended look, he grumbled, “This is stupid, I’m leaving.”

Picking up his tray he stormed out of the room. He’d just eat in his own room and return the dishes later, it’s not like anyone actually cared.

He just… needed to cool off. Get his thoughts in order. Then he’d be back to normal.

Sometime later, back in the cafeteria, Guitar Pick was picking at her food. Mortar was next to her, animatedly talking with Apple Bomb about something.

She was distracted, just a bit, as she gazed across the room where Almond Milk had been pulled into conversation with Comic Book and Bookmark.

He was acting entirely normal.
So something was up with Lighter. She had a… hunch. Nothing concrete yet, just a distant idea. Humming, she took a bite.

This was certainly going to be interesting.

[3]

“Are you sure this is going to work?”

Have you ever experienced that phenomenon where a phrase or an action activates a part of your brain you previously didn’t know existed?

“Trust me, this is going to be awesome!”

Lighter certainly experienced that, as right as he exited the elevator he heard the voices of probably the two most reckless competitors on the show coming from somewhere out of view.

Before his brain even had the chance to catch up his body was already rushing down the hallway and oh boy, it was good that that happened.

God, he didn’t even know what Apple Bomb and Comic Book were trying to do. Comic Book was standing on top of the stairs, the ones leading to the contestants rooms, holding a… stop sign? Where the heck did he get a stop sign from!?
Apple Bomb was standing at the bottom, their phone camera focused on the other, a manic grin on their face. Both of them looked ready to… do something, I don’t know.

“What are you doing?!” Lighter shouted as soon as he processed whatever this was, startling both of them. Apple Bomb simply tripped over their own feet, almost dropping their phone.
Comic Book on the other hand, in his surprise, accidentally launched himself over the railing, forcing Lighter to practically dive just so he’d be able to catch the guy before he hit the ground.

It was a disaster, there isn’t much else you could really say.

“Hey, what was that for?!” Apple Bomb asked, an indignant tone in their voice.

Lighter felt like he could blow a fuse.
“Are you kidding me? ‘What was that for’, what was any of this?!”

Before the other could respond, Lighter continued on.
“No, genuinely, what was this supposed to be?! Because it didn’t look like anything that was going to end well.”
And he was still holding Comic Book, who looked more than a bit dizzy. The stop sign had somehow managed to get lodged in the railing during his fall and it looked- rather stuck.

Apple Bomb opened their mouth, before pausing. Then a salty expression crossed their face. “Well, it was going to be awesome!”

He could only sigh. “Uh huh, somehow I don’t believe that.”

The explosive only let out a noise of frustration and indignation.
"Whatever! Why are you even here, shouldn’t you be busy flirting with Almond Milk?!”

And Lighter had to admit that he almost dropped Comic Book at that point. Excuse me?? What in the actual f- he gets why Mortar would think so, he’s a hopeless optimist, but Apple Bomb?!

Finally putting the one he was holding on his feet again, he directed his entire attention, and anger, onto the influencer.
“What did you just say!?”

They seemed startled, before quickly starting to grin, as if now having the upper hand.
“Yeah, go flirt with Almond Milk. It’s sooo obvious that you like him.”

“I do not like that wimp, I don’t even want to be near him!” His hands had balled into fists, he was just itching to punch that stupid grin off their face. “And if you think that, maybe you’re just an idiot!”

“Yeah sure, that’s why you willingly sat next to him on the bus. I bet you’re so happy that he’s on the same team as you.” They put their hands on their hips, leaning into his space mockingly. “Who knows, maybe he even likes you back, don’t know why else he would always get in your space like that.”

“Uh, guys?” Lighter distantly heard Comic Book trying to get their attention, but it didn’t even register for him. All he could focus on was this goddamn idiot in front of him, and the absolute bull claims they were making.

“Boy, if you don’t shut your damn mouth-” “Oh, what’re you gonna do? Punch me? Better hit me hard. Better knock me out in one shot!”

“Guys!” Comic Book’s voice broke through their fight, but before either of them could react someone else's much more tired voice reached them.

“What is going on here?!” CD Case stood at the end of the hallway, an incredulous look on his face. Lighter basically launched himself away from Apple Bomb in an attempt to save face, but the hole he had dug himself was already too deep.

What followed was one of the most exhausted thirty minute lectures he ever had the displeasure to be a part of. And he didn’t even feel like he could blame CD Case, that guy was just kind of really pathetic, plus he wasn’t even listening in the first place.

As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn’t stop thinking about Apple Bomb’s words.
It couldn’t- There was no way anyone else thought he liked Almond Milk, right? He didn’t, he didn’t like Almond Milk, didn’t have a crush on him, didn’t think the way his face scrunched up when he smiled was cute-

Nope, nonono, did not. No, the only thing more annoying than the others’ smile was his stupid laughter, Lighter was sure of that.
Because the only thing Almond Milk was to him was a stupid wimp who kept getting on his nerves.

And no amount of ‘knowing looks’ Apple Bomb was throwing his way was going to change that.
He was sure of it.

[4]

Lighter had had it up to here with Almond Milk. What was the guy’s problem anyway? He was actually minding his own damn business for once.
Sure, Almond Milk was still on his mind because the guy seemed to live there rent free nowadays! But he was definitely minding his own business.

But then Comic Book appeared out of nowhere, Almond Milk in tow, spouting some nonsense along the lines of “Here, I’m sure he can help you” before pushing the nerd into him.

…
Ok, so he wasn’t actually annoyed at Almond Milk. For once. Especially since he had been surprisingly apologetic about the whole situation, an embarrassed blush on his face.

It was more his… general existence in regards to Lighter. Because as had become clear, most of his teammates seemed to think for some reason that he had a crush on the other.

After sending the wimp running with little more than a halfhearted threat, Lighter decided to at least try and do something about it.
He didn’t know how much talking to Dice would actually help, but as the team leader she at the very least had the ‘authority’ to tell the others to buzz off. Politely.

Those hopes diminished just a smidge when he finally found her and saw her full on bickering with Popcorn about… something, probably the whole leader thing again.
Popcorn had been constantly on her case about it.

And well, Popcorn had always been a particularly stubborn object.
But, so far she hadn’t been one of the contestants who had been accusing him of having a crush on the nerd, so he was still holding out hope.

“We are not doing that.” “Oh, come one, it'll be fun-” “It won’t be fun when you’re d-!”

“Can I interrupt you two for a moment?” Lighter forced himself between their yelling, effectively shutting them both up.

“Ugh, what is it?” Dice responded, obviously at the end of her string. “I swear, if you’re also here to suggest stupid ideas that could get us killed, you can leave again, I’m already dealing with one idiot.”

Ignoring Popcorn’s offended ‘Hey!’ he laughed, “No, I’m not that stupid. I’ve just been having…” He sighed, trying to push down the embarrassment. “Problems with the rest of our team and thought ‘Hey, maybe our great leader can help!’, so yeah.”
He may be stroking her ego a little bit, but he honestly just didn’t want to think about any of this right now, so he’d do whatever.

And Dice did look a bit proud of herself, but before she could respond a certain someone butted in. “Hey, what about me? I can help as well!”

Lighter didn’t even hesitate to shoot back. “I highly doubt you would help, even if you could.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Dice interrupted, “what is it? I’ll see if I can help.”

“Well-” he started, then paused again. Popcorn was still here. Did he trust her to not mess things up?

“Come on, just spit it out dude!”

Definitely not.

“Can you leave?” “Whaaa, come on, you can trust me!” Popcorn told him optimistically.
Lighter only scoffed in return. “I trust you as much as a goldfish, which is to say not much at all.”

“Hey, I’m pretty smart!” she shouted in return, indignant.

“You sure about that-”

“Oh my god,” Dice was now the one to interrupt the bickering, “just spit it out, how much worse could she possibly make it?”

Lighter gave her a look, like she was the stupid one. “You’re underestimating her that much?”
He once again ignored the offended noise Popcorn made.

Dice just gave him a pointed look.
God, why did she have to be here. Isn’t her playing her loud party music at who knows in the morning enough? Why must she constantly become his problem?

He sighed. “Look, I just want you to talk to our other teammates. They’ve been constantly on my case for something nonsensical and stupid and I don’t know how to stop it.”

Dice hummed in thought. He was purposefully not looking at Popcorn.
“I’ll see what I can do. What exactly are they annoying you with? I’d rather have the full picture.”

Running his hand down his face, Lighter could once again feel a light blush spreading. Well, here goes nothing.
“They have gotten it into their heads that I, for some reason, have a crush on Almond Milk. I know it’s nothing serious, but it’s been getting on my nerves.” He shuffled in place as another thought crossed his mind. “Plus, if they keep playing ‘Matchmakers’ it could negatively affect our performance during the challenges.”

“Oh, that is a fair point, I’ll see what I can do about i-” “Wait, you two aren’t dating?!”

Honestly, if you had physically kicked Lighter in the stomach it still would’ve knocked less air out of him than Popcorn’s shocked exclamation.
Turning to the other, both of them looking equally shocked somehow, it took a moment before he was able to form words again.

“What on earth made you think that!?” he straight up shouted at her, his entire face flushing while embarrassment climbed up his throat, making his voice crack.

“Well, I just thought-” “No, you didn’t think, what the hell! You have never, not once, seen me actually be nice to that guy. But somehow everyone thinks I like him, you even think we’re dating. How does this make any sense?!” He wasn’t in love with Almond Milk. Couldn’t be, he refused. Maybe he didn’t hate him as much as he was acting like, but he definitely didn't like him. Surely not.

Popcorn, while definitely thrown off, didn’t seem as off kilter as Lighter. “Oh, don’t act like you aren’t the type to use ‘tough love’, I’ve seen how you interact with Mortar.”

If the ground just swallowed him up right now, he would die happy. Or maybe Popcorn, then he wouldn’t have to deal with her insanity anymore. “Sure. Sure! Fine! Then you could’ve joined the ‘He has a crush on Almond Milk’-crowd. Where on earth did the dating thing come from?!”

“Oh come on, I see the way you look at him.” Lighter was about to have an aneurysm, what was she talking about. “Everytime you get smug at him your eyes go all soft. I thought you just decided to not say anything in case you ended up on different teams.”

“... and the times I’ve punched him!?”

Popcorn just shrugged. “Playing it up for the theatrics? He never really seemed hurt, so I assumed it was a form of teasing.”

“I-” Was this really how other people saw them? He, well he really did never hit Almond Milk that hard. It was always more to annoy him, than actually hurt him. But he never thought others would interpret that as teasing, heck, maybe even flirting.

Looking over at Dice wasn’t helpful either, as the moment they made eye contact she just shrugged and said, “Well, I’ve never been great with romance, but I can kind of see what she means. You two have a… strange bond.”

“Really?” Lighter felt like his face was about to melt off with how warm it was. He was blushing so badly.

“I have to agree with Popcorn here, sorry.”

There were probably a bunch of things he could’ve done right now. Deny it furiously. Yell at them maybe. But his embarrassment and the heavy feeling of confusion that sat in his stomach like a stone just- completely robbed him of his energy.

So what he instead did was just, turn around and leave the way he came from.
Distantly he could hear confused spluttering from the other two, but it barely registered.

“Hey, where are you going?” one of them, he didn’t know who, shouted after him.

“To my room. I don’t- I have no idea how to process any of this, so I’m just, not going to.”
Leaving the pair behind, he trudged through the halls.
He had so much to think about.

[5]

Lighter felt like he was going insane.
Since his… conversation with Popcorn and Dice the day before, he had practically locked himself in his room.

He had spent most of the time since then just, pacing in the small space he had, from his bed to the dresser, from the dresser to the window and from the window back to the bed. He wished had something to keep his mind, or at least his hands busy. But he had neither so he just kept pacing while examining all interactions he had ever had with Almond Milk in his mind.

He knew for a fact that used to heavily dislike the guy.
The first time they had interacted he’d just been acting so incredibly snobby that Lighter wanted to punch him straight in the nose.

He hadn’t in the end, but he did make it one of his goals to knock that snob down a couple of pegs. So when had that changed?

Because it did change, at some point Lighter’s goal had changed from making the guy's life hell anytime he was around to simply annoying the shit out of him. Maybe it had been something his mind subconsciously picked up, and he had just slowly cooled it down in response.

Maybe it was because despite his snobby exterior Lighter had seen glimpses of what was underneath time and time again. That Almond Milk cared, that he would help others, even if there was no reward and no thanks and even when he was utterly and completely out of his depth.
And maybe Lighter had recognized that, even if he hadn’t wanted to admit it.

Maybe falling in love without realizing is actually quite easy.

But that didn’t mean Lighter had a crush on Almond Milk. Being halfway decent to someone didn’t mean anything. Like okay, he was kind of cute, but that would be an entire superficial thing. Lighter had found plenty of people physically attractive without it ever meaning anything.

Gah, he needed to get his mind off of this entire thing. Some fresh air and a bit of exercise could probably do him wonders right about now.

That is how he found himself chilling on one of the benches in front of the hotels around an hour later. He had gone on a run, and honestly felt a lot better. His previous turmoil was more of a distant thought at the moment.

And of course that had to be ruined.

He had been messing on his phone when a sudden voice startled him.
“Heyyy, there he is!”

Quickly turning to find the source, he saw Flora stumbling towards him with Bookmark in tow. Except it didn’t seem like Bookmark was exactly happy about the situation either, the way she was trying to get her arm out of Flora’s deathgrip.

“Man, I need to talk to you,” she said happily, as calm as ever.
Bookmark on the other hand looked a bit panicked even. “Flora, I don’t think this is a good idea…”

She looked incredibly anxious, like, she was actually shaking.
God, that was because of him wasn’t it. And now he needed to play nice or else he’d scare her and feel like absolute crap afterwards.
Lighter sighed, before giving Flora the driest look a could muster.
“Look, I am not in the mood right now. Whatever it is, you have 10 minutes.”

Flora just smiled. “Tiiight. So it’s about you and Almond Milk.”

He just let out a long groan in response, while Bookmark facepalmed with her free hand. He was so ready to just abandon the conversation already and bail, but for some reason decided to stay put.
“Well, at least you’re straightforward about it. Just spit it out.”

“Okay.” At this point she finally let go of Bookmark’s hand so she was able to gesture freely. Bookmark stayed put, surprisingly. “Don’t worry, we’re not here to like, accuse you or tell you how to feel. But I thought we could offer you some support and let you know that it’s okay.”

Lighter audibly snorted at that, because what?
He looked over at Bookmark and she too just looked confused. Genuinely, what was Flora talking about?

“That’s very nice,” he leaned back, trying to find the right words, “but, you do know that I’m gay. That I know and have fully accepted that I’m attracted to men? I mean, thank you, but there’s no reason to reassure me.”
Call it a gut feeling, but something was telling him that that was not quite what she meant.

It took a few moments for her to respond, a concentrated look on her face as she seemed to mull over his words. But nothing could’ve prepared him for what came out of her next.
“No- that’s not- I just thought you’d have a problem liking a nerd, you know, as a jock.”

…
That was quite possibly the dumbest assumption anyone has ever made about Lighter’s lovelife. Not the worst, but it was so stupid he couldn’t help but laugh. It wasn’t even that funny, it was just weird, but after all the emotional turmoil he’d been going through recently it just caught him so badly off guard that he doubled over in laughter.

Bookmark on the other hand looked even more confused and flabbergasted than before, her mouth hanging open in disbelief before she buried her face in her hands, embarrassed that she was involved with this at all.

Flora also looked confused now.
She asked, “Is that not the problem?”, which only caused Lighter to laugh louder and Bookmark to let out a long groan, before she dragged her hands down her cheeks.

“Hey Flora,” she started, carefully, hoping to distract the other, “you know, I think we’ve been helpful enough for Lighter already.”
He’d been slowly calming down, but was still letting out wheezing laughs. “How about we go for a snack? I heard they were going to serve brownies in the cafeteria today.”

The other immediately perked up at that. “Yooo, we should totally do that! Let’s go.”
But before she could grab the other girl’s hand again, Bookmark quickly pulled it away. “How about you go on ahead, I’ll make sure Lighter is okay and then I’ll come after.”

“Sure man,” Flora responded, not even questioning it before heading into the hotel.

Shuffling over to sit next to the man, Bookmark hesitated for a second, then comfortingly patted him on the back.
“Sorry about her.”

The other just waved her off, coughing into his fist.
“It’s fine, I don’t really know what I expected.”

“No one could’ve expected that, so don’t beat yourself up about it,” she reassured him. She almost stood up, but hesitated at the last second, a nervous but thoughtful look on her face. She turned back to him. “Can I ask you something actually?”

“Shoot.”

“Are… Do you- Do you actually like Almond Milk?”

He paused for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face before he leaned back and just sighed. He was blushing again. He’d been doing that an awful lot lately, to be honest.

“I… I don’t know. I’ve been… rethinking a lot since yesterday, and it’s just all been very confusing.”

Bookmark hummed in response, before asking, “And if you did, would you be okay with that? Would you be content?”

Silence stretched between them for a bit as Lighter thought the question over, his eyes following the clouds in the sky. Would he be? Content, happy, maybe even satisfied? Or would he set himself up for heartbreak? Even if there was a chance Almond Milk liked boys, how big were the chances that he liked Lighter? Not very high, if we’re being honest.

In the end, he just shrugged, and Bookmark accepted that as his answer. As she stood up, she once again turned to him. “Want to come with? I don’t think they’ll actually have brownies, but we could all get snacks together.”

“Sure,” he readily agreed, pushing himself off the bench, “I need something for post-workout anyway.”

They quickly entered the building, leaving the small park in front of the hotel in silence.
Behind a tree some feet past the park bench, a book was snapped shut.

[+1]

It was late afternoon.
Lighter was, for once, simply lounging in his room, relaxing.

He didn’t feel… great, but he didn’t feel terrible either and right now he’d count that as a win. Things have been calm since his conversation with Bookmark, and he would enjoy that for however long it lasted.
That was probably why he didn’t think anything of it when someone knocked on his. Not questioning it was his first mistake, but it didn’t matter now since he did open it.

And immediately regretted it.
Almond Milk was standing on the other side, sporting an unreadable expression and with his hand raised as if he was about to knock again. Lighter didn’t want to admit it, but he froze.

Several moments passed, the two just looking at each other, before Almond Milk coughed awkwardly and asked, “Can I come in?”

It at least broke Lighter out of his trance, once again a light blush on his face.
“Uhhh.” Why would Almond Milk want to come into his room? “Sure?”

He stepped aside, letting the other enter. For all of Almond Milk’s usual directness, he seemed unsure for once, nervously playing with his fingers. Lighter gave him a moment to adjust as the other looked around the room.

It wasn’t anything special, it was obviously a hotel room, but it very much looked lived in by now, which added a certain feeling of coziness to it.
Lighter drummed his fingers against his side, impatient.
“So, what do you want?”

“Right,” Almond Milk sighed. He seemed unsure.
“So I’ve heard through the grapevine that is our teammates, that apparently you like me?”

And oh, it took all of Lighter’s willpower to not immediately sink to the ground. Though his deepening blush could probably still give him away.
“Well, that’s one way to be direct about. You also know that most of our teammates are dumb as heck though? They have a tendency to see things that aren’t really there.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
That caught Lighter a bit off guard. Looking at Almond Milk, the other refused to meet his eyes. He was blushing as well.

“What do you mean?”

“I, uh,” he seemed to contemplate something for a moment, before he straightened up and looked Lighter directly in the eye, “I overheard your conversation with Flora and… Bookmark. In front of the hotel.”

He what.
“Huh?” Lighter didn’t respond. He didn’t know what to say.

Almond Milk’s blush was a lot heavier now, but he refused to break to break eye contact. No, the nerd even had the audacity to look smug about this.
“So you’ve been ‘rethinking’ things?”

“I- What- I didn’t- No!” Lighter managed to stutter out, his stance changing, tense and defensive. “I haven’t done anything! You probably just have something in your ear you stupid wimp. Why would I ever like you!?”
Ah, yes. His one true fallback.
Denial.

But the other didn’t take the bait, obviously too self satisfied with the situation.
“Well, there’s no need to deny it. Of course you’d fall for me, considering how great I am.”

“Shut up,” Lighter growled. He was still as red as a tomato, despite his apparent aggression and the way his shoulders raised as if he were ready to charge.

“Don’t worry, I have decided that I will continue to graze you with my presence, if that is what you w-” “I said, shut up!”

Before Almond Milk could react, or even register what was happening, Lighter charged at him, taking a hold of both his hands, both their worlds tilting sideways as the taller tackled him to the ground.

Pining his hands to the floor, their faces were barely inches away from each other.
Almond Milk gaped in surprise, but Lighter wasn’t done yet.

“Listen up wimp! I don’t like you! I don’t have a crush on you, I don’t think you’re cute, I don’t like the way you laugh a-and smile and I am not…” His ranting quickly lost its steam as he realized the position he put them in, Almond Milk’s speechless expression and heavily red face looking up at him.

In that moment, some last bit of resistance that had still been inside seemed to break, and his next words barely came out as a strangled whimper.
“Oh my god I’m in love with you.”

For a moment, they just stayed like that, Almond Milk pinned under Lighter as they both processed what just happened.

Weak laughter left the shorter.
“You know, being mean to someone you like usually doesn’t work.”

“So you don’t like me back?” Lighter asked quietly. He’d have to be fine with it. He dug this damn grave himself after all.

“I didn’t say that.” The man pushed his hands off the floor, the other still holding on to them even though there was no force behind it. Carefully he cupped Lighter’s face, his hands shaking, as if unsure on what to do.
“How about you take me to dinner first?”

Lighter couldn’t help but lean into the touch, laughing quietly.
“After the next challenge?” he asked carefully.

The smile he got in response set a hurricane of butterflies free in his stomach, and a knot he, despite everything, didn’t even know existed slowly started to loosen in his chest.
“I’d like that.”

Overcome with emotions, he closed the last gap still between them and pulled Almond Milk into a hug, turning them to their sides as they laid together on the floor of the hotel room.

God, this was going to be a disaster.
He couldn’t wait.