9

Two hours later, Winston rests his head against the brick exterior of one of the many buildings on campus and mutters, "What the fuck?"

It's not an exaggeration to say that Jason's response broke his brain a little; Winston has no idea how he got here. Or what he spent the last couple of hours doing. He thinks he went to class? Probably? He would have remembered if just spent all this time staring at a wall, right? Yes, he would have.

Probably.

Fuck.

"What the fuck?" Winston repeats and--softly--smashes his head against the wall. It's cold and harsh on his skin, autumn sinking into the world. Winston is actually kind of cold, now that he thinks about, which he realizes about two seconds later is because he's wearing naught but a short sleeved shirt and has been outside for anywhere between two seconds and fourteen weeks. Possibly years. It's kind of a blur.

"Winnie!" Gary calls behind him, voice distant but strong. He's got big lungs, probably thanks to all that time doing track in high school. Winston has seen pictures; Gary wore teeny tiny shorts paired with an old-fashioned mullet--- he looked ridiculous. But the look in his eyes was serious, and in the pictures when he was crossing the finish line, he always appeared blatantly excited.

"Win!" Gary calls once more, now significantly closer. His footsteps are audible, speeding toward Winston with a dedication that would be terrifying from someone else. A scant second later, Gary's hand lands on Winston's shoulder. "Hey, what are you doing?" Gary asks, sounding openly curious; nothing like the veiled attempts at digging out his secrets from beneath his skin Winston is still, somehow, expecting.

"Panicking," and stranger still, perhaps, is that Winston so easily reveals his secrets.

Gary hums. He shuffles over and leans his back on the wall next to Winston, looking him over from top to bottom. "You don't look hurt..." his eyebrows furrows, "Are you hurt on the inside?"

"Like internal bleeding?" Winston scrunches up his nose. "I don't think so. I'd feel that, right?"

"I don't know, sometimes people don't in those medical dramas." Then Gary shakes his head, "Anyway, what I meant was, are you okay? Why are you panicking? And why are you punching yourself via wall?"

Exhaling, Winston rests his head against the wall. "Jason said yes to the date."

"I know, I was there."

"He said yes," Winston emphasizes again, flopping around until he's also leaning on his back. He gazes up at the gentle sky, the sun on its downward spiral. Leans to the side until their shoulders are connected, and then he says once more, "I asked him out and he said yes."

"Would you like a hug?" asks Gary after a moment. "You seem kind of tense."

Winston exhales slowly, trying to keep his mood in check. It doesn't work very well, but he feels better for the slow breath, the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. Finally, he says, "Maybe." Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Gary frown at him, and he rises his shoulders a little before he catches himself and forcefully lowers them. He glances at Gary's again, and says, "Yes."

Gary nods. "Okay." Then he smiles, "I'm glad you told me, you know I love hugging you." A bright grin and he says in a clearly mischievous tone, "You're so squishy it's like hugging a pillow."

"You asshole," Winston giggles, turning and falling onto Gary in an appropriate act of revenge. Gary huffs as he catches him but holds on and hugs him tightly, and Winston shuts his eyes after a moment, hiding his face in Gary's neck.

When they let go, Winston sighs and brushes his hands over his eyes, leaning back against the wall. "Better?" Gary asks, also leaning again.

"Yeah," says Winston and knocks their shoulders together. They end up sorta leaning on each other as they watch the sun slowly move over the horizon, the tall buildings casting long shadows over the grounds. Winston checks his phone after some time has passed and the horizon is a rosy pink color.

It's almost time to run for the bus. "I can't believe I did this," Winston murmurs after another moment, pushing off the wall. Gary hums, following, and they meander along the path to the end of campus.

"You did do it, though," Gary points out.

"Yeah," says Winston.

He remembers Jason expression, the way he seemed to freeze, the way he stared at Winston. His fingers tingle as he remembers the blush, and the shyness so uncharacteristic to Jason's personality. Winston's not actually interacted much with him, admittedly, but Jason's free-ness with his emotions is obvious.

Jason Hill said yes, agreed to go out on a date with him, and Winston still kind of can't comprehend that.

(Isn't it too easy?)

"There, there," Gary says, and his lips are twitching in a decidedly amused way when he thinks Winston isn't looking but the jokes on him because Winston has a chronic issue of paying too much attention to things so he sees it perfectly. Gary adds, "Apparently the guy likes you too. Aren't you happy?"

And he even leers.

Winston hides his laugh behind a hand, coughing softly until he can look at Gary without grinning.

"I'm so happy I feel sick," says Winston after a second. He turns toward Gary and grabs onto his shoulders, Gary's eyes widening. "He fucking said yes, Gary! And now my stomach hurts! And my hands are sweating what must be an unhealthy amount!" Winston shakes Gary's shoulders and adds, "What am i going to do? I haven't been on a date in ages! What if i do something stupid?! What if accidentally call him ugly?!"

Gary blinks, "You do that often?"

"More than is wise," Winston nods.

"Anyway, you don't need to worry so much, Jason is a cool guy. If the date doesn't work out, he won't hold it against you."

"Saying don't worry doesn't actually make me worry less," mutters Winston but he lets go of Gary.

"Alright," Gary solemnly says. "Well, if you call him stupid he'll probably run screaming for the woods and tell everyone in school what a dick you are," is Gareth's sagely advise. Winston blinks; he feels like that's not very helpful, and he's not entirely sure how to react to it for a moment.

Inhaling sharply, Winston says, "Thanks."

Gary nods proudly. "No problem. I'm always happy to give a helping hand and assuage your fears."

Winston nods, licks his lips, and says, "I think I'm morally obligated to give you a noogie for that."

Gary peeps and jumps away from him. "Oh, look at that, I see a bus coming! We'd better hurry if we don't want to miss it!" and he sprints off, leaving Winston in the dust. For a moment he doesn't comprehend what's happened, and then he laughs--bright and shiny.

"Asshole," he mutters, adjusts his grip on his bag, and follows at a rather more sedate pace. There's no actual bus in sight, after all.