Midnight Kisses

The light from the full moon shined down on the two teenage boys wandering across the soccer field. They talked as they made their way toward the far side of the field that sloped downward into the woods, standing so close to each other that their shoulders bumped every couple of seconds. But neither of them seemed to notice the contact—possibly because it was so normal for them—and kept close to each even as they sat down together on the hill. If anything, the redhead seemed to lean closer to the dark haired boy, smiling as he listened to him talk. The movement went unnoticed by the smaller boy though, and he kept rambling just like he had every night so far that summer.

“You know what I’ve been thinking about lately? Why my handwriting sucks even though I spend more than half the day writing. It doesn’t make any sense,” Ashton said, staring off into the woods. “I mean, shouldn’t my handwriting be really nice because of it? After spending so much time practicing it you’d think that, wouldn’t you?”

“Mhm,” Jeremiah nodded, his smile growing even bigger.

“I just don’t get it,” Ashton told him. “You’re handwriting’s beautiful and you don’t even try! Why can’t mine be like yours?”

The redhead chuckled, watching the boy next to him with adoring eyes. Only Ashton would be so obsessed with what his handwriting looked like. It was such a trivial and silly thing for the dark haired boy to care about that Jeremiah couldn’t help but find it completely adorable.

“Don’t laugh, Miah!” Ashton exclaimed, turning to look at his friend. “This is serious! Especially for you!”

“Oh?” Jeremiah asked with a grin and a raised eyebrow. “How so?”

“Well…what happens if my handwriting gets even more atrocious?” Ashton inquired, giving him a wide eyed anxious look. “How will you read my stories?”

“You’ll just have to read them to me, won’t you?” Jeremiah said, smiling as he playfully nudged Ashton with his shoulder.

Ashton pushed him back and mocked glared at him for a few seconds before turned toward the woods again with a small smile. “Yeah. I guess so.”

Jeremiah continued to smile as he watched the smaller boy hug his knees to his chest as he stared out at the trees. Even with just the full moon for light, the redhead could clearly see Ashton and he let his eyes roam over him, taking in every inch of the dark haired boy’s face. Although he had already memorized all of Ashton’s features, Jeremiah couldn’t help but stare at him as they sat quietly together. Jeremiah could spend hours like that. In fact, he would love it if he could.

The silence between them wasn’t a big deal; the two of them had been friends long enough for it not to be awkward between them. The two of them were just as comfortable with being silent as they were talking to each other. They just liked the other’s company; it didn’t matter what they were doing as long as they were together.

“Have you ever noticed how if you listen to something for a long time, it starts to sound like something else?” Ashton asked randomly, not waiting for Jeremiah to answer him before continuing. “Because right now the crickets kinda sound like their saying ‘honey roasted peanuts’. Do you hear it?”

“No,” Jeremiah laughed, shaking his head as he gave Ashton an amused smile.

“Listen,” Ashton said, turning to face the redhead again.

Jeremiah did what he was told, keeping his eyes locked with Ashton’s. He listened to the crickets and after a while, it did sound like the chirping was saying something. But it wasn’t the same thing Ashton had heard. Maybe it was just the little voice in Jeremiah’s mind nagging him, but he was pretty sure the crickets were saying ‘Tell him. Tell him,’ over and over again. Either way, Jeremiah knew he should listen despite how just the thought of it made the redheaded boy nervous. He had to do and was going to do it, though. Ashton’s blue eyes were getting too hard for Jeremiah to resist.

“Do you hear it?” Ashton asked in a whisper.

“Yeah,” Jeremiah said, not bothering to mention that he didn’t hear the same thing as him.

“Told you,” The dark haired boy said with a smile. He turned back toward the woods. “It’s really cool but weird at the same time, don’t you think? And it’s kinda making me want some honey roasted peanuts, even though I don’t really like them.”

“Ashie…” Jeremiah mumbled quietly, trying to get his attention. But Ashton didn’t hear him and continued talking.

“They’re addicting. It has to do with the sweetness and the saltiness of them, I think. I don’t really like sweet and salty together, but once I start eating something like that it’s hard to stop. Like chocolate covered pretzels.”

“Ashie…” Jeremiah tried again, raising his voice a little bit. Ashton still didn’t hear him, though, and it made the redhead bite his lip. He really needed to tell him before he lost his nerve.

“You know what’s weird, though? I like kettle corn and that’s sweet and salty. You were there when I first tried it, remember? Actually, you had to convince me to try it and I liked it even though I don’t like sweet and salty things. Why do you think that is? I think it might be because I love popcorn. Yeah. That’s probably it.”

“Ashie,” Jeremiah said, his voice back to his normal volume. But Ashton still didn’t hear him since he was too absorbed in his ramble and the redhead gave an exasperated sigh. He stared at Ashton in slight frustration, trying to think of a way to get the boy’s attention. As he gazed at him, only one thing seemed to go through Jeremiah’s mind, taking over all other thoughts.

“I wonder why I don’t like sweet and salty things, though. I mean, I like chocolate and pretzels separately. So shouldn’t I like them togeth—”

Ashton blinked, too shocked by the feeling of Jeremiah’s lips on his cheek to finish what he was saying. Actually, he couldn’t even remember what he was talking about because he was so surprised. He turned toward the redhead, gaping and Jeremiah stared back at him, looking equally shocked at his own action as Ashton was. Neither of them could speak, but after a moment Jeremiah looked away from Ashton, down at his hands.

“I’m sorry,” He mumbled. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

Ashton stayed silent and just kept gawking with his lips parted slightly. Jeremiah glanced up at him quickly when it had been silent for over twenty seconds then averted his eyes back down to his lap.

“Ashie…I didn’t mean it,” He said but then corrected himself. “Well, I did mean it, but not exactly like that…I wanted to tell you first before I just went ahead and kissed you…”

The dark haired boy still didn’t say anything, the complete opposite of earlier when it had seemed like he hadn’t known how to shut up. Now it was like he didn’t know how to speak.

Jeremiah looked up at him again with an upset expression. The redhead stared at Ashton for a moment, biting his lip. “I…I’ve been trying to tell you for a while now. But every time I try, I lose my nerve. Like…I’ll think I have enough courage to tell you, but then I’ll look at you and I can’t do it because you’re just so…you. But I want to tell you so bad…”

“Tell me what?” Ashton asked, finally able to find his voice again. And even though it had been barely audible, Jeremiah had heard him. But he didn’t say anything at first and just stared deep into Ashton’s blue eyes with his amber ones for what seemed like the longest minute of both of their lives.

“I think…” Jeremiah began then drifted off, feeling really nervous and scared. But he took a deep breath and made himself continue. “Ashie, I think I love you.”

Ashton’s eyes widened and he was once again speechless as he stared at the boy next to him. Jeremiah stared back for a few seconds before he couldn’t take looking into Ashton’s eyes without knowing what he was thinking and had to turn his gaze back to the ground. There was a sinking feeling in his stomach, as well as a horrible ripping sensation in his chest. He tried to ignore them both along with the tightness of his throat.

“I’m sorry,” Jeremiah whispered. “I shouldn’t have told you…”

Jeremiah’s hair hung in his face, making it even harder for Ashton to see his expression. He could guess what it most likely looked like though, and the dark haired boy hated it, especially when he knew he had accidently caused it. Ashton had never meant to make Jeremiah upset. In fact, he had only ever wanted to make him happy and had done his best to do that since the beginning of their friendship. But the pain in Jeremiah’s voice was clear and Ashton knew it was because the younger boy thought he was rejecting him by not saying anything. It wasn’t true, though; he wasn’t rejecting him. Ashton was just so surprised at what Jeremiah had told him that he was speechless and unable to do much of anything else except stare. And the redhead had taken his reaction the completely the wrong way. He knew he needed to tell Jeremiah that he wasn’t appalled at him like the boy thought he was. It was the completely opposite, really.

“Miah…” Ashton said quietly, but Jeremiah was either ignoring him or didn’t hear him. He sucked on his lip uncertainly. “Miah…?”

There was still no answer from him and Ashton took a deep breath, gazing at him longingly. Jeremiah was more than just a best friend; he was Ashton’s Miah while Ashton was his Ashie. Ashton owed him everything. The least he could do was tell Jeremiah the truth after the redhead had confessed his feelings for him. And like the younger boy had said, Ashton knew how hard it was because he had tried before and couldn’t do it either. But that wasn’t an excuse now and Ashton knew it.

Slowly, but resolutely, Ashton reached over with his left hand and lifted Jeremiah’s chin up so the boy was looking at him. The moment their eyes met, the dark haired boy smiled.

“Have you seriously never noticed how the main character in most of my stories was always a blue eyed boy with brown hair?” Ashton asked, cocking his head to the side. “And that he always fell in love with a redhead with amber colored eyes?”

“No…” Jeremiah said, staring deep into Ashton’s eyes. “Well…yeah, I did. But I thought it was just a coincidence and didn’t really mean anything.”

Ashton shook his head, still smiling as he brushed his thumb along Jeremiah’s jaw. “I do it purposely because…because I thought it would make you realize…”

“Realize what?” Jeremiah asked, his voice uncharacteristically small. Ashton smiled wider and leaned closer to the redhead so their foreheads were touching.

“That I love you too,” Ashton said in a whisper, cupping Jeremiah’s face between his hands. “Have since I was old enough to understand what love was.”

“How old was that?” Jeremiah asked, his eyes falling close and his heart racing.

“When we were six, on the first day of kindergarten. I was so scared, but then you gave me a hug and said ‘It’ll be okay, Ashie. I’ll hold your hand all day’.” Ashton said, laughing a little. “And you did. That’s when I knew that I never wanted you to let go.”

Jeremiah opened his eyes and stared at Ashton. “I didn’t want to, either. But I didn’t realize it until we were ten and someone called you Ashie.”

“I remember that,” Ashton grinned. “You got so mad and told the kid that you were the only one who could call me that because I was your Ashie, no one else’s.”

“Yeah…” Jeremiah said, placing a hand on top of Ashton’s. “Then you looked at me with these huge eyes and just stared at me for like three minutes before you smiled that huge smile of yours you only do when you’re really happy. I remember that when I saw it, I told myself that I wanted to be the only one you smiled like that for.”

“You are the only one I smile like that for,” Ashton told him as he wrapped his arms around the redhead’s neck and hugged him.

“Ashie…” Jeremiah whispered, pulling the smaller boy away from him so he could look him in the eye. He stared down into the blue orbs for a moment before he let his eyes flicker down to the boy’s lip. “Ashie…I really want to kiss you. For real this time.”

Ashton grinned, nodding a little, and Jeremiah cupped his face gently between his hands. He kept his amber eyes locked on Ashton’s blue ones as he pulled him forward. Both of their hearts felt like they were about to pound out of their chests. But neither of them cared once their lips brushed, lightly at first then more fervently, and their mouths soon melded together perfectly.

Arms wrapped around waists and necks while fingers ran through hair and lips moved against lips. Jeremiah held Ashton close as he kissed him slowly, savoring every single second of it. And Ashton pulled him closer by his hair, shyly running his tongue across his bottom lip for permission to enter Jeremiah’s mouth. The redhead gave it to him, meeting Aston’s tongue with his own. They fell back onto the grass in each other’s arms as their tongues danced together. There was no fight for dominance. Everything was in perfect balance between them as they kissed and held each other. Every second, every touch, and every breath they shared because that was how it was supposed to be. There was nothing or anyone else besides them. Everything else wasn’t important. It was only the two of them, even after they broke apart to breathe.

“I love you,” Jeremiah whispered, running his fingers along Ashton’s cheek.

“I love you too,” Ashton whispered back, leaning back down until their lips touched again.

And it was only Ashie and Miah.

The End
(for real this time)

Thank you everyone who has taken the time to read and review this. You all are amazing. And I'm sorry that I'm not writing Jeremiah and Ashton their own story. I just can't do it (no plot ideas). But I love you! And thanks again! *hugs*