"Zombie!"

The name of said nightmarish creature was shouted by one laid back, Bob Marley praising, slushy loving, social outcast known as Michael Mell. He leaned to the side, in sync as always with his best friend.

Jeremy Heere smirked a little as he managed to avoid the pixelated brain eater, escaping depths of danger in the cafetorium. The boy's yelled back and forth a few more warnings, battling their way out together. Their avatars ran out of the zombie infested town center to recharge health. Now at a calmer part of the game, it took a few minutes of silence and mainly weak plot subtext, to which they mocked or ignored, before Jeremy finally spoke up about a pressing matter.

"Dude, since when did your basement become Antarctica? It's so cold I can feel bumps on my shirt from my frozen nipples." Jeremy said, the casual and light hearted conversation like any other between them.

"At least it's not like your room. That heat trap is hot as a young Rob Lowe." Michael giggled, keeping the almost teasing tone alive.

Jeremy smiled a bit, avoiding virtual death again. "Preach, man."

"Yes Jeremy, let your gay thoughts control you." The Filipino boy cooed.

Jeremy giggled lightly. "Okay, if we are going down that road, then aren't you at least going to attempt to win me over with a catchy slogan? You know, like, 'join the dark side, we have cookies' but lgbt addition?" he asked, giggling as they reached a checkpoint for that level.

"Hmm, yeah, okay, how does, 'join the gay side, we have dick' sound?" he asked, smiling a bit at the outburst of giggles that one earned.

Underneath the giggles they shared in that moment there was a question that had been bothering Michael for a while... for maybe a few months now he had been imagining how to ask Jeremy this, although the question itself had been haunting Michael for well over a year now ever since Jeremy had started to reciprocate the little gestures Michael had made throughout time to just be closer to Jeremy in general

How did Jeremy identify? Michael often wondered if there even a way to bring that up without insinuating something? Usually he would fantasize about the perfect scenario... Jeremy being gay, and possibly liking Michael... sure the dork wasn't completely oblivious to the looks he got from his beanpole best friend sometimes. Almost wanting or, maybe craving would sum it up a bit better, but with the fear of himself behind it... it was possible Michael didn't pick up on those gazes in full, but he was at minimum not as oblivious as Jeremy, who hadn't noticed years of pining.

Now, Michael weighed the option of possibly of sneaking it into this conversation now... there was a considerable possibility that that would work...

Michael paused the game, looking over at Jeremy. Jeremy his best friend. Jeremy his crush. Jeremy his favorite person. Jeremy his player two. Just ask, it is not that big of a deal, he attempted to tell himself, "I was wondering though, Jer, how-"

But just as the question was set to finally slip out, the interrupting blair of Jeremy's phone would cut off that course of action.

"One sec, its my dad." Jeremy smiled as the mario theme ceased and was replaced by distant chatter of a small conversation between father and son.

"Yeah, love ya too, okay, bye dad." Jeremy sighed, hanging up. "I told him I would stay here for dinner, but go home after." Jeremy smiled. It happened to be a Wednesday, and while both boys knew they could get away with a school night sleepover, neither felt like bombing the unit math test because they stayed up gaming till 4 am. Once was enough-

Michael acknowledged the plan with a small nod, and told the boy that sounded like a good idea. Now, that out of the way Jeremy refocused on the previous topic. "Anyways, what were you wondering? How what?" he asked.

SHIT! "Uh, oh yeah, how would you like to borrow my sweatshirt? You know, before you freeze your man tits off." Michael saved, smiling.

Jeremy let out a small laugh. "Yeah. Me and my man tits would most definitely love that." He agreed, watching the boy take off his classic red hoodie and hand it over with a cheerful smile.

He slipped on the hoodie, feeling a familiar warmth and sense of comfort. The smell of vanilla, lavender, and hint of weed brought a smile to his face. It reminded him of the feeling he got every time that smell was intoxicating him in a tight hug or when the winter weather in New Jersey turned Michael's bedroom, located off the side of the basement, into a near frozen habitat and a blanket was no match for the body heat provided in a cuddle session.

Michael watched the boy, feeling a rising in his chest as Jeremy's eyes were closed. He watched the boy smile that half sigh of comfort Jeremy did out of habit whenever he felt legitimately happy and at peace with his slightly awkward self.

Michael never minded that Jeremy was awkward. It gave him more confidence knowing he wasn't the only one with insecurities, and in all honesty, he found some of Jeremy's nervous ticks and shy persona adorable.

Michael liked watching when the boy's hands would shake, or getting to playfully tease him for how his voice still cracks constantly, or breaking a sweat by just looking at . No wonder the boy was so skinny.

The way Jeremy slouched and held himself, was both adorable and upsetting to Michael. On one hand, Jeremy looked adorable when he shrunk down, stuttering out an answer in class, but on the other... it meant he was really self conscious. Michael simply couldn't see why though... he was perfect.

"Boys! Supper time!" called one of Michael's moms. From the high pitched, soothing tone, Jeremy could identify it to be Naomi. The two snapped out of their dazes, then jogged up the stairs, smiling as the smell of a home cooked meal making Michael groan in pleasure. "Mmmm, momma, masarap ito." he complimented, hopping up and gliding across the countertop.

"Ah, salamat mahal ko, now tush off the counter, your mum just cleaned it. C'mon, bumaba, bumaba." Kim, Michael's other mom, smiled.

Michael jumped down, smiling at Jeremy who was only slightly confused, having practically grown up there he picked up a few phrases in Tagalog.

"Come sit at the table boys." Naomi chirped. The two were sitting within seconds, eager to eat whatever it was that Kim had cooked up. Placing a hot dish on the table, Kim smiled at her son, or practically sons. Mashed potatoes, salmon, and asparagus was the choice meal of the night.

The Mell family was not rich, but still pretty far from poor. Kim happened to be a local Lawyer, Naomi a retail agent. They made enough to not worry about monthly bills and go on a nice vacation from time to time. The red house with a suitable purple and white trim was located about a quarter mile down Broughton Road, known for being a nice and typically welcoming and accepting part of the neighborhood, only about two miles, give or take a bit, from the high school both Jeremy and Michael attended.

The school, Oakwood Regional High School, was just on the outskirts of the small New Jersey town center, which contained a mall (the most up to date feature of the entire town, not being huge, but decent sized), a movie theater, one community college, a stretch of boutiques and small shops, three or four restaurants (not including anything in the mall), and a frozen yogurt place. The old brick highschool only had maybe 500-800 attending students, making it another addition to the town where everyone seemed to know everything about everyone. If there were an ambulance to race the streets around mid afternoon, a good 75% of the towns people would know what the cause was by sunset.

Between the Mell residence and Oakwood High was the Heere household. On Homer Street, a small, grey house, bigger on the inside, or at least it felt that way in it's warm presence, stood, almost appearing slightly lopsided. It consisted of two main floors, a damp and dark basement, and dry, untouched since the day Rebecca Heere had moved out, attic. Although small and a bit dirty from time to time, for Jeremiah Yancey Heere and Elijah Jabez Heere, aka EJ Heere, aka Mr. Heere, aka Jeremy's Heere's dad, it was enough. The house was about a half mile from Michael's and mile and a half from Oakwood High.

"So what have you boys been up to down there?" Naomi asked sweetly. She Served each of them, looking up to see which would answer.

"The usual. Video games." Jeremy peeped, thanking Naomi for the food.

Kim sat down, next to Naomi and across from Michael, smirking slightly. "Hmm... on which level did Jeremy end up in your jacket?" She asked, smirking at the now blushing boys. "Micha, I swear... ikaw ay nasa ibabaw ng iyong ulo sa batang iyon."

Michael's cheeks turned bright red, relieved that Jeremy looked beyond confused. "Momma! Alam mo na hindi ko ito matutulungan..." He muttered.

"Leave the boy alone, Kim." Naomi giggled, watching jeremy resort to hiding behind his food. Quite literally, that kid was the messiest eater she had ever met. "Jeremy, sweetie, you have mashed potatoes all over your face." She said, still giggling.

Jeremy blushed then flashed a smile. "That means they're good." He replied, licking his lips.

"God Jeremy," Michael began as the whole table laughed. "C'mere you idiot." He giggled, picking up his napkin and leaning in.

Both boy's locked eyed, freezing up a bit, until they continued to smile. Michael licked the napkin, to which Jeremy mumbled a 'gross' and giggled a bit more. Michael began to clean off the boy's face, rolling his eyes and smiling at Jeremy.

He finished wiping down the idiot's face, smiling as they locked eye. Then they just stared... Jeremy looked vulnerable again. Michael looked... different. He had a look on his face that Jeremy recognized, but didn't understand.

It would take a long time, but eventually, whether the realization was weeks, months, or years in the future, there would be a moment where it clicked for Jeremy. He would figure out that that look was love.

But for now they just broke into more giggles. Everything was normal in the Mell house. Jeremy was normal, Michael was himself. They were two stupid teenage boys, young, happy, and falling in love.