-

The way he was looking at me.

"So, this is what you do at these things? Hide out... in a tree house?" Maybe my newfound courage came from the knowledge that Wyatt wasn't exactly completely straight.

We were sitting thigh to thigh in the treehouse now, the vodka must've made me bold.

What him being queer meant for me, I wasn't sure... who's to say he even liked me that way? Maybe I had confidence because he hadn't stopped looking at me since we entered this cubicle.

It was only around 6 by 6, with a little wooden desk and chair and a makeshift platform bed. In the center of the room was a rug that had probably been there since the 80s. There was a lamp in the corner, lit by candle. I wondered how often he came here.

String lights, likely battery powered lined the ceiling and if it weren't for that, I wouldn't have been able to see anything. But the glow of the lamp highlighted the little peaks in his face.

The valleys under his eyes, he didn't sleep much, mountains where cheekbones rise, big lips, a rounded out Cupid's bow. Long lashes, his hair tied back falling loose and framing his face.

And we were sat across from each other on this plush rug, Wyatt's eyes hadn't left mine. The brownie was kicking in.

"Yeah, I kinda have a little social anxiety so, two years ago I found this spot." He shrugged. "I think it's been around longer than the warehouse parties to be honest."

I nodded. Really, I didn't know what to say. "I couldn't tell you were anxious."

"You keep me sane." It was a joke, it had to be. Still, I couldn't help but watch the corners of his lips quirk up. He laid back, I took the opportunity to watch his face scrunch up and he sighed.

"... Quinn's kinda all over me..." he frowned. "I think she likes me."

"You think?"

Wyatt's eyes blew wide as if his friends hadn't already made it obvious.

"Does she like me?" Boy, was he oblivious? "That would explain a lot."

"Tina was right."

"About?"

Everyone likes you.

I settled for silence. And he did as well.

We sat for a bit. And just when I didn't think I could do it, I opened my mouth. To avoid asking what I wanted to ask, I settled for a "Do you have any of those joints?"

Wyatt looked at me like I'd grown a second head.

"Joints? ... Like weed?"

"Yeah."

"... You smoke?"

"Yeah." That's a lie. "No. I think I um, I think I wanna try."

"Are you sure?"

"There's a first time for everything right?"

Wyatt smiled, his eyes were widening then, he smiled for just a moment and bit his bottom lip.

I watched.

He continued.

"Well, yeah, but my first time I, like, had a panic attack." He laughed. "But I have anxiety so... Y-you have to feel like safe and stuff."

"I feel safe."

He nodded.

A few seconds went by and he pulled a saran-wrapped brownie out of his pocket and handed it to me.

"A brownie?"

"It has weed in it. It'll take a second to kick in but I prefer this over smoking. Plus, my mom has a nose like a bloodhound."

I guess. Unwrapping it from the plastic film, I went to plop it in my mouth.

Wyatt stopped me with alarming eyes, his hand on mine. I dropped the brownie, he caught it.

"No. No, just like a bite."

Hiding the blush on my face, I watched him take the first bite, and then I followed.

"Helena caught Vince coming in one night and made him sleep in the shed cause he smelled like weed."

"The shed?"

"There's a bed in there." Wyatt smiled, and stifled a laugh, just like I knew he would. My heart grew two sizes. "It's his bedroom now."

"Why is he so cool?"

"You think my brother's cool?"

"A little, yeah." He laughed again, and I was a goner. "My mom went into my room last summer and sniffed out a three-five. She wasn't that mad though, I just said it was for my anxiety."

"Is your anxiety bad?"

"It's not super bad but I was bullied a lot in middle school, so..."

Wyatt shrugged, he leaned back a bit and when I thought he'd close off, he turned towards me. "My dad was big on alternative medicine, especially the use of medicinal marijuana, he did a paper on it in undergrad. Dr. Stevens decided that as long as it was safe and I didn't overdo it, she wouldn't get super pissed. My cousin actually gets it for me from this dispensary in South Carolina."

"Your mom's really cool."

"She's alright."

-

"How do you feel?"

"Like I'm floating... Like time is moving really slow but like in a good way."

"Yeah."

"Yeah, it's like I'm in a movie but like sometimes I'm also watching the movie."

"Who do I play?"

"The boy next door." Wyatt slouched further into the cushions, cornering himself in, for some reason I found that hilarious.

And now we were both lying on the floor, eyes on the fairy lights that spiraled on the ceiling. "The cool one that everyone wants to hang out with."

"You're cool."

"I didn't get invited to this party."

But he was turning over now, onto his stomach. When I looked up, his eyes were on mine, an indiscernible look in his. "I invited you."

"And you brought the pretty Australian girl." It had bite, and I didn't have it in me to feel embarrassed.

"I wanted to bring you. It's why I asked you."

Wow. "Oh."

Wyatt bit his lip and he was still looking at me that same way. My skin buzzed, I could feel it in my chest, I could feel it everywhere. His brows narrowed.

"You're really bad at catching hints, huh?" It was paired with a shrug and he was turning back over, the top of his head pressed to mine. I was melting into the floor at his confession, "Gabe, I've been tryna ask you out for like a year now."

"Oh." It's all I could say.

"Yeah."  He giggled again, this time he was nervous. "Yeah, I have been obsessed with you since I met you."

"I thought you had pretty eyes, they're so big, and-and blue... they're like, they're almost clear sometimes. I-it's like you're just always so stunned by everything."

"You're- you're absolutely gorgeous, Gabe."

"—"

He didn't cut me off, he just smiled. Just looked at his heart in his hands and smiled.

"Wy..."

Maybe he thought I was asking.

"I like being around you, you know? It feels good, like- like we're supposed to orbit... I think we make sense."

"Me too."

"I -uh- I thought you were dating Dalton, I mean the way he looks at you... the way he looked at me when I saw you guys at the park... I just- I didn't think I stood a chance."

"I'd get it if I waited too long."

He was stumbling over his words now, saying so many it was hard to keep up. "I didn't wanna not try. Tina said you liked me and I didn't actually believe it... I didn't know if you were, um... gay- or like- like into me or..."

"I, uh, when I asked you to the planetarium... I thought you might have liked me too." He bit his lip and I couldn't speak.

"But then you canceled, you know, and then I saw you with Dalton and — And I- I feel like I've put my foot in my mouth now and—"

I didn't know what to say so I kissed him.

Like I'm floating.