Stan's POV

Damn it did I do something wrong? Whys he not texting me back? Whenever I did anything with Wendy she texted me. Not anymore though since we broke up a while ago and actually stayed apart this time after we realized it just wasn't working out.

Fuck! I slammed my phone down the table, not in anger but in fear. Did Kyle decide he doesn't want to talk to me anymore?

"AGH!"

I said out loud as I grabbed pieces of hair under my hat and held them tightly. Maybe I'm overthinking this. Maybe nothings wrong at all and Kyle's... phone died? Sure I'll go with that for now.

I put in earbuds and tried to do some homework, although it was difficult to fully focus I managed to get at least some done. I kept anxiously checking my phone to see if he texted back and finally, about 4 hours after I sent a fourth text at 8:30 a message popped up.

Sry dude. I fell asleep for a bit and just got ur message now. Y'all good?

Yeah just got a lil anxious I guess.

Oh? Why?

I stopped for a minute and stared at my phone while I tried to think of a response.

Hey, are we, uh, technically dating now?

Hmm I guess.

I went to jump off my chair but stopped myself at the last split second. I never would have known how amazing this felt! All these years of pretending to be in love with Wendy, probably just to try to convince myself these thoughts about Kyle were non existent. One text from him changed my mood for the better while Wendy's usually took a turn for the worst.

That's great! I'm going to go to sleep now though. See you tomorrow SBF (super boy friend)

I grinned as I lay down in bed, pretty proud of that new meaning for SBF. I was tired, both emotionally and physically. Fucking learning your best friends gay, admitting it to yourself THEN having the best make out you've ever dreamed of? Pretty exciting shit.

Pfft good one but yeah I'm going to bed again anyways. Good sleep SBF

I drifted off to sleep after that, feeling relaxed and happy at today's events.

About a week 1/2 later

"Stop!" Kyle hissed quietly as I touched his shoulder. I knew he didn't want to publicly display anything yet until he could tell his parents and I totally respected that. I didn't want anything out at all either. But it was during lunch block in an empty hallway and nobody was around.

I jerked my hand back and nodded, once, quickly. I will say I was a tad hurt but I got over it quickly.

"So, you playing in tonight's game? Gonna be a tough one since it's against those bastards down south."

He shook his head, a little sadly and answered,

"Nah I can't. I have to wait another week for my ribs. My black eye is almost gone now though!"

I looked at him. The purple ring around his eye was fairly faded but still noticeable. I nodded for support anyways. I still felt guilty I didn't break up the fight sooner and now Kyle had to suffer because of it.

"Come on don't look so down bro. I'll still come cheer for you!"

He swivelled his head around checking for anybody and saw a group of girls walking the same direction behind us. He waved to them and kept checking back as we made small talk about school and video games until they turned a corner. He looked down at his feet when he whispered,

"For every basket you get I'll... uh... well I'll... maybe-" Small curls of his red hair fell out of his hat as he shook his head and drew a deep breath. He looked at me as I waited patiently with a small smile and tried to reassure him by motioning to go on. God damn was he ever fucking cute sometimes.

"Every basket you make I'll give you a kiss!" He blurted out. With a glare he added,

"But that's all. Not 'helping'," he coughed the work 'doing' immediately after, "any more of your homework it anything else."

I just shook my head and laughed during this whole exchange.

"Okay sounds like a deal. I'll be waiting to get paid when I score 30 points." I emphasized the word paid using a wink, just to throw him off and get him more flustered than he already was. I knew I was playing with fire but was it ever worth it when I saw his eyes shift from shock, to a flash of embarrassment before it was taken by anger.

"Whatever!" He waved his hand around in front, the way he always does when he gets mad or irritated. "They've got that really good kid, you know, the one who wore the jersey 17? Shoots threes, quick on defense and could totally destroy you in terms of dribbling?"

Kyle's mouth opened in shock as he murmured, "Shit you know I didn't really mean it right? I know how you get about that and I'm really sorry. I was just a little confused and I over-"

I cut him off.

"It's fine. I know."
He looked up at me with deep regret in his bright green eyes.

"No it's not!" He protested but I just shook my head. I checked around before grabbing his hand and pulling him into the janitors closet. Stupid janitors never locked the doors on anything. His arms were around me and helping me tightly before I could turn the light on.

If anything I should be more upset than Kyle right now. Everyone on the team knows I'm not a very good dribbler, or playmaker in general but Kyle's the only one who really knows how deeply it effects me. It really shouldn't but for some reason I've almost quit the team multiple times over the years because I thought I was letting my team down every time the call was stolen from me or I threw up a bad pass. Eventually the coach worked things out and made me practice passing until I was decent, then put me in places where I could do things other than dribbling or passing. I usually ended up scoring a lot of points during games since I'm taller than most of the other kids and can shoot from nearly anywhere.

Kyle thought it was kind of silly to be worried about that type of thing but he helped me out anyways.

"Its all good. No need to beat yourself up over it dude."

I patted his back a few times and he broke away. I stared at him while he stared at a spot around a foot to the left from my shoulder. He never looks at me while he's talking anymore, probably from embarrassment. I wasn't fully paying attention on purpose until I reached forward and gently grabbed his chin. He stiffened before relaxing again as I turned his head so he was fully looking at me.

"Okay now I'm paying attention."

We just stared each other down for a solid few seconds before he asked,

"Will this make up for that terrible comment I said earlier?"

Before I could shrug my shoulders and tell him once again it was not a big deal, he had grabbed my collar and pulled me down into a kiss. I was surprised at first but I slowly folded my arms over the top of his back. When he pulled back and let go I did the same.

"I'd say it did. You're going to need about another... uh let's say 15 of those later."

He whacked my shoulder lightly and laughed. "I swear you better win this game."

We quickly embraced again before heading out of the room seconds before the bell went.

Kyle rushed off to grab his books but before he did he waved and yelled,

"See you after school!"

I waved back and went to my classes. I was pretty excited about the basketball game tonight, for more reasons than one. I just wished Kyle could play with us instead of sitting on the sidelines. If he didn't have that quick ass temper he wouldn't have to, but oh well that's what made him so great. Matches that hair of his as well.