CREEPSHOW

GRAYSON FELT SICK THE REST OF THE DAY. Instead of sitting with the girls at lunch, he was moping in his car. He jumped as his car door opened, even more surprised when he saw Steve get into his passenger seat.

"Steve, what are you doing?" Grayson asked. This day was bad enough and he didn't need Steve making it worse.

Steve looked more nervous than Grayson was annoyed. "Uh, I have to be quick, I told Nancy I was going to the bathroom. I just wanted to make sure that... last night? Never happened. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay, whatever now get out," the dark-haired boy spoke, clearly exasperated and on the verge of tears. There couldn't have been a worse time for Steve to butt in. He was already upset enough about Emma and then he was just being reminded of what a horrible person he was for cheating on Matthew. Now he had that reminder staring him in the face at his worst moment.

"Hey, wait, what's wrong?" the other boy asked, his voice shifting to concern as he noticed Grayson's mood. "You never cry."

"I cry all the time, Steve, I'm a fucking mess," Grayson sighed, leaning back against the headrest, "I told Emma I was gay."

Steve shrugged, "Okay, so? I thought she was okay with stuff like that? Or was that Elise?"

"Elise is the one who doesn't mind, but Emma, she just, she just ran. I-I never expected that from her. She's my best friend, she's not supposed to judge me for that shit."

"I mean, I was your boyfriend and I judged you for that shit," the boy chuckled in an attempt the lighten the mood. Grayson let out a small laugh, but the thought only made the urge to cry stronger.

"That's the first time you've ever called yourself that."

"What?"

"My boyfriend," Grayson pointed out, rubbing his eyes, "Well, I guess, ex-boyfriend, now. This is weird, right? I should be confiding in my actual boyfriend, not you."

Steve laughed, surprising Grayson. "Well, where is he, then? Ya know, I'm starting to think you're lying about this guy just to make me jealous. I mean, it's happened before."

"You're such a dumbass," the boy shook his head, smiling as he pushed Steve lightly by the shoulder, "No, he's real and he doesn't know it, but I fucked things up greatly between us and it's fucking killing me knowing he thinks everything's fine, but it's not fine, nothing is fucking fine."

"Hey, hey, hey," Steve immediately switched from joking to wrapping his arm around Grayson and pulling him in for a weird side-hug thing. Strangely enough, it was comfortable. Steve was always comfortable. "Things are gonna be okay, I mean, so what? We kissed once. Wow, I mean, saying that sounds weird. Not the point. I'm sure you'll be able to fix things with him, I mean, I'm sure if he saw how upset you are over it, he would understand that it was a mistake."

Except I don't think it was a mistake, Grayson wanted to say. Instead, he chose, "It wasn't even that. I told him I loved him."

"Okay, what's wrong with that?" Steve asked, sounding confused.

Whispering, as if there were other people in the car that could hear, Grayson said, "I don't think I do. Scratch that, I know I don't. Instead of telling him I'm some shitty cheater I told him I loved him, how fucked up is that?"

"Oh, God, I'm not qualified for this," Steve muttered, "Uh, shit, Gray. Why don't you just tell him the truth? I mean, I don't know who he is, but he seems nice enough if he's willing to put up with you."

Grayson giggled, recognizing the joke. It was something Steve would play around with when they were together. Any time Grayson would be difficult, Steve would joke about having to put up with him and the other's response would almost always be, "Oh, really?" Matthew and Grayson didn't have inside jokes like that. He never even realized that until now. Was that a bad sign? Probably.

This time, however, Grayson didn't have a snappy response. "I don't know why he does. I'm the worst."

"Don't say stuff like that," Steve sighed, "You aren't the worst. I mean, you're the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Steve..."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that," the boy retracted his statement, but it still hung in the air around them. "Should not have said that..."

The dark-haired boy laughed to himself, shaking his head. "Well, you shouldn't say stuff that isn't true. Clearly, I'm not the best thing that ever happened to you or else you would have never broken up with me and we wouldn't be having this problem right now."

"Do you have a sunshade? For your car?" Steve asked, causing Grayson to furrow his brows in confusion. Nodding, he reached between his seat and the center console and pulled it out.

"Why?"

"Because, we've both fucked up, but we already made a mistake, why not make another one?" the boy proposed, but Grayson still didn't quite understand what he was saying. With a sigh, he explained, "Gray, it's a fancy way of me saying I really want to kiss you again, but there are people everywhere so..."

The boy sighed, "Steve... what about Nancy or Matt— my boyfriend?"

"I know you don't wanna tell me who he is, so I'm going to ignore that," Steve noted, turning to face him until they were meeting eyes, "I'm not even like, officially dating Nancy. Why don't we just... not think about them right now?"

"That's fucked up, Steve. It's selfish and disrespectful to both of them."

"What if I wanna be selfish, right now?" Steve asked with a sigh, his eyes pleading. Interrupting Grayson's response, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Funny, Steve had only intended to be gone for five minutes and look where they were now. Soon enough, the parking lot cleared out. They were alone. The universe was a cruel mistress, Grayson thought. Steve raised an eyebrow.

Before his self-control could stop him, Grayson grabbed Steve's face gently and pressed their lips together. His self-destructive tendencies got the best of him, but things in his fucked up life were already sparking, he might as well set them on fire. Steve kissed him back, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him closer. It was hard to get close with the center console in between them. This brought Grayson right back to that night at the drive-in when they kissed in the back of the truck they were sitting in now. Grayson's lips were aflame with the bittersweet taste of Steve. His brain was screaming at him to stop, to take a second to think, but his heart kept telling him yes, keep going, so he listened to his heart.

When they pulled apart, they rested their foreheads against each other, Grayson muttering, "God, we're so fucked up."

"Maybe," was all Steve said before kissing the boy again. Fifth period be damned, they could go forever.

The worst part was that they weren't totally alone. Right by the entrance to the school, with a perfect view into Grayson's front seat, was Matthew. The boys were oblivious, but he was watching and he knew. He knew everything.

y'all really thought these boys could make out again without something going wrong lmao im so bad at slow burn but shit's only gonna get downhill from here and there's still five more episodes of season one so have fun!!