Archive of Our Own ^beta

Joe twirled the daisy above his head. He and Cary were lying on the grass, watching the clouds. It had been four years since everything with the train crash. Two days since Alice had broken up with him for some douche she met in a different class. Joe sighed and dropped the daisy, rolling onto his stomach.

“I’m bored, let’s go.”

Cary squinted at him, raising his hand to block the sun out. “Are you still going to be Mopy Dick over her?”

Joe shrugged and pulled at some grass. Cary rolled his eyes.

“Then no. We’re not going anywhere.”

Joe sighed dramatically and flopped down, folding his arms under his head and propping his chin up on them. He stared quietly at his friend. He and Cary had gotten closer over the years as Charles got more involved with his filmwork and Preston moved away to a different state. Joe tilted his head a little.

Cary was dressed in loose black jeans held up with a studded belt. He had kicked off his worn-out old converse, and had pulled his shirt off to stuff under his head as a pillow. One leg was propped up. The sweat from the sun was glistening on his chest.

Thinking about it, Cary was quite handsome. After struggling with his teeth for years, his parents had finally agreed to have them properly fixed, and they were now all the same length and straightened. Cary’s hair was still blonde and shone gold in the sun, his skin was still slightly tanned with a proclivity to be dirt covered. One of Cary’s deep blue eyes opened and he looked at Joe.

“...What?” the blonde asked.

Joe looked down, blushing a little. “Nothin’.”

When he was sure Cary had looked away, he glanced back up.

Cary chuckled as their eyes caught. “You’re staring at me.”

“Just... thinkin’ about how you got so much taller than me,” Joe mumbled into his arms.

Cary smacked him on the head lightly.

“Hey!” Joe cried, propping himself up on his elbows. Cary’s hand slid down from the top of his head to cup his jaw, thumb stroking over his skin roughly. The blonde leaned up and kissed Joe on the lips lightly.

Joe blinked.

Cary sat up and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, fetching one out and lighting it quickly. His chest lifted as he sucked in the first of the smoke, and he blew it back out as he lay down again. Joe stared at him, still lost for words. Cary put his arm out and gestured for Joe to come closer.

Joe wiggled until he was laying the same way as Cary, and then cautiously lay down, resting his head on Cary’s shoulder.

“Will you shut up and be happy now?” Cary asked.

Joe snuggled closer to the sun-warmed skin and sighed, shutting his eyes. “Okay.”

The end.