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Nightmares (Nischa)
They still remembered the incident. All of them. Ocean, Noel, Mischa, Ricky, Constance, and Penny. They remembered dying on that roller-coaster. On the Cyclone. They remember the afterlife, and how they all had to compete to be brought back. Karnak managed to gather up enough of his power to bring them all back, which eventually killed him. And they all remember it.
Mischa was asleep in the cold basement that his adoptive parents locked him up in with no blanket, no pillow, and a rock-hard mattress. He woke up in a cold sweat. He had a nightmare about that day. September 14th. The day he died. He was alive now, but dying and coming back to life does a lot to a person.
He immediately reached for his phone and scrolled through his text messages. He stopped when he saw Talia’s contact. Now, when he said he loved her, he was being serious. She just didn’t love him the same way. At least, not anymore. Turns out, she moved on pretty quickly when he died. He also couldn’t have his phone for those few months where all of the choir had to be in the hospital to recover. So Talia thought he was long gone for months.
One of the nurses who had his phone, however, told him the news. That Talia had moved on. He was obviously heartbroken but it wasn’t like there was anything he could do about it. He was stuck in Saskatchewan and she was happy.
Mischa opened the last text she sent him. It read “Міша! Я дуже радий, що з тобою все гаразд. Я знайшла хлопця. Хіба це не чудово?? Вибач, що не дочекався тебе. Я думав, ти пішов назавжди. Ви теж когось знайдете. Я в цьому впевнений!” (Translation): “Mischa! I’m so glad you’re okay. I have found a boyfriend. Isn’t that great?? I’m sorry I didn’t wait for you. I thought you were gone for good. You’ll find someone too. I’m sure of it!”
Mischa was happy for her. He was so glad that she was happy. But why couldn’t she be happy with him? Her new boyfriend was probably perfect for her. Sweet and caring and handsome and he actually lived in her country. Why did he have to go on that dumb rollercoaster? He should have saved up more money. He should’ve gone to her. He sighed. He didn’t have the energy to respond to her text.
He scrolled further and right under Talia’s contact was Noel’s. He felt his cheeks heat up. He remembered kissing Noel and he definitely remembered drinking vodka with him on Penny’s “birthday”. And how Noel rested his head on Mischa’s shoulder… Those weren’t things he could easily get out of his head, no matter how much he tried. Talia’s text appeared in his brain. “You’ll find someone too. I’m sure of it!” Maybe that person was Noel… But it couldn’t be. He didn’t feel anything for Noel… That’d be weird, right?
Just then, his phone vibrated in his hands, interrupting his train of thought. He checked the notification and it was from the choir group chat. Ocean created it to get to know the members more. She swore she’d be better about that since the accident, and she has been. But the group chat was mainly used for the kids to rant about their thoughts and feelings since the accident.
They have had a lot of feelings regarding the accident. But this time it was different. Ocean was the one who sent the text to the group chat. She said “Guys, I don’t know about anyone else but I had a really awful nightmare about that day. Can we all meet up or something? Maybe we could all debrief.” Before Mischa could text back, Noel replied. “Party at my house! Who’s in?” Mischa looked at the clock on his wall and texted back. “At 2 am? Really?”
Apparently, Mischa was the only one who found that strange. Everyone else replied to Noel saying how they’d be there in a matter of minutes. Mischa sighed. “I will be over soon.” Mischa stood up and looked down at what he was wearing. Gray sweatpants that sagged slightly, showing the waistband of his boxers, and a black t-shirt. He decided it was good enough, put on his white sneakers, his black zip-up hoodie, a gray beanie, and snuck out of the basement through the garage door.
After walking for about 15 minutes, he reached Noel’s house. Everyone was there already. He could tell as the lights were on and he could hear Ocean talking non-stop. He knocked and stood at the door, his hands stuffed in his pockets. Noel eventually opened the door and looked at him with wide eyes. “M-Mischa! Hi…” Mischa lifted his head to look at Noel.
He looked different than the last time Mischa saw him. It had been at least a few months since recovering in the hospital from… dying. For one, Noel wasn’t in his school uniform, like the last time Mischa saw him. He was in a short-sleeved, light blue shirt, and black cotton shorts. And another thing, his hair was longer. Not slicked with gel parted to the side like Mischa usually saw it. It was fluffier and parted in the middle. Not a single drop of gel. He looked really pretty.
Mischa cleared his throat. “…Hey…” They stood there in agonizingly awkward silence before Noel invited Mischa inside. When he stepped into the house, he noticed how nice it was. There were candles everywhere, the floor was terracotta tiles, the walls were a cream color, and the room was warmly lit. It looked old in a vintage way. Very fitting for Noel.
Mischa turned to him. “Uh… Nice house. Suits you.” Noel smiled. “Yeah, I think I might’ve begged my mom for our house to look this way. I’ve just been obsessed with this style my whole life.” Mischa smiled and nodded and looked at the others who were all sitting on the couch in front of a TV that was off at the moment. He hesitantly sat on the couch near all of them but far enough to still be isolated from their conversation.
He took this opportunity to really look at everyone. Constance was in a light pink sweatshirt and white shorts, Ocean was wearing a white t-shirt and red plaid pajama pants, Penny was in a pastel teal nightgown that reached her knees, and Ricky was in a black hoodie with a cat face on it and galaxy patterned pajama pants.
By this point, they had all noticed Mischa sitting there. Ocean spoke up first. “Mischa! You made it! How’re you feeling?” Mischa shrugged. His real answer? He was feeling awful. He was tired but he couldn’t sleep, his heart was broken, and he had to live in a basement. A cold, dingy basement.
But he didn’t say that. Instead, he said “I’m alright. What were you all talking about?” Ocean smiled. She loved having an opportunity to start yapping. “We were talking about what movie we should watch. Turns out we all had nightmares and none of us could sleep so I decided to suggest something that would put us to sleep like a romance movie but these guys-“ Noel, Constance, and Ricky all jumped in, (Ricky using ASL, of course), clamoring over each other, insisting that romance isn’t a boring genre.
Noel spoke up while sitting next to Mischa. “Romance is one of the greatest pleasures in life! Let’s just watch a documentary to fall asleep to. Those are boring.” Ocean protested. “But documentaries are so entertaining! How could you say they aren’t? They’re the greatest pleasures in- Oh…“
Noel raised an eyebrow at her and she sighed. “I see your point. But we still aren’t watching a documentary!” Mischa watched them argue for a bit before loudly clearing his throat to get everyone’s attention. “How about we play game? We get more tired that way.” Noel tilted his head. “What kind of game?”
Mischa glanced at him before immediately looking away, hiding the redness of his cheeks. “I dunno. You can decide.” He pointed at Ocean. “Little orphan a-hole. Decide.” Mischa knew her name, even though for a while, before the incident, he couldn’t have cared less about learning it. Now, he just refused to call her by her name specifically because he found it funny and just wanted to be immature.
Ocean eventually got used to it after weeks of Mischa calling her that and simply rolled her eyes. “I guess we could play a board game? Or ‘Truth or Dare’? Or ‘Never Have I Ever’?” Everyone seemed to like the idea of ‘Never Have I Ever’ but Mischa had no idea what the heck that was and was looking around at them, clearly lost, before Noel explained the rules to him.
“Okay, so the first person starts by saying a statement about something they have never done before starting with ‘Never have I ever’. So like, ‘never have I ever lost my virginity’ and anyone who at some point in their life has done the action that the first person says has to… drink? Are we playing with alcohol? Whatever, we’ll figure it out. Then the game continues around the circle, and the next person makes a statement. Does that make sense?”
Mischa was still a bit confused but got the gist of it and nodded. Noel spoke up so everyone could hear him. “Are we playing with alcohol? Are we comfortable with that?” Mischa opened his mouth to speak and Noel immediately turned to him. “Not you. I know you are.” Mischa shut his mouth and Noel asked again. Everyone nodded except Ocean. “I think that’s unsafe. We shouldn’t be drinking! We’re underage!” Noel groaned but listened. “Fine. We’ll do pickle juice then. Sounds good?” Everyone agreed.
After the pickle juice was all sorted into little shot glasses before them, Noel decided to go first. “Never have I ever… lived anywhere other than Uranium.” Mischa scoffed and took a shot of pickle juice without flinching. “Is my turn? Okay… Never have I ever gotten suspended from school.” Noel took a shot and Ocean quickly took the shot and put it down, afraid that anyone would see.
She looked up to see everyone staring at her. “W-What…?” Noel tilted his head. “What did you get suspended for?” Ocean let her gaze fall to the floor. “I punched a girl.” Everyone gasped. This time, Constance spoke up. “What? When?” Ocean sighed. “Listen, I’m not proud of it! I was in class and accidentally reminded the teacher that we had a test. Some girl in that class cornered me at lunch and she started calling me slurs and stuff… I guess she heard that I was a lesbian… But yeah she was really mad at me for making everyone take that test and I felt threatened and I just… punched her…”
Everyone gasped. Sure, Ocean had learned every type of martial arts ever but no one ever expected her to use those skills on anyone. And judging by the look on her face, she didn’t think she would use those skills on anyone either. But she did and she looked so guilty.
Mischa hugged her. He wasn’t close with Ocean at all but he wouldn’t wish that kind of bullying on anyone. “That was not fair of her.” He whispers in her ear. “If you need me to punch anyone for you, I will. Promise.” She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Okay, thanks. Don’t beat anyone up though. That’s a bad idea.” Mischa chuckled and pulled away.
It was Ocean’s turn now. “Never have I ever had a crush on my best friend.” Mischa silently reached for another shot of pickle juice along with Constance, Noel, Penny, and Ricky. No one questioned them but Mischa glanced over at Noel who was avoiding his gaze. Mischa didn’t like that. He didn’t like that he couldn’t look at Noel’s face or smile at him or anything.
They played ‘Never Have I Ever’ for a few more hours before getting bored. Constance groaned. “How are none of us tired enough to fall asleep yet?” Penny chimed in. “Well, maybe we could watch a movie? Only if you guys want to though.” Ricky sat up, grinned at her and signed, “I’d be okay with that…!” Everyone knew Ricky and Penny had a crush on each other. Even Ocean, who wasn’t too familiar with crushes or romance. It was so painfully obvious, they just wouldn’t confess to each other for some stupid reason.
Mischa chimed in. “We should watch Saw Five.” Ocean groaned and begged to watch something else. Noel chuckled at that. “Sure. We’ll watch Saw Five.” Ocean began to protest against that. “Come on! He’s probably already seen it like ten times! Why can’t we-” Noel cut her off. “It’s my house and I get to choose the movie!”
Mischa grinned, feeling quite superior that Noel chose his suggestion. Noel gathered several blankets and pillows, distributing them evenly amongst everyone. “Get comfy, everyone. Does anyone want snacks?”
Everyone raised their hands. Noel sighed and looked at Mischa. “Can you-” Mischa stood up. “Yes, I can help.” Mischa could spot a bit of pink dusting Noel’s cheeks before he led Mischa into the kitchen. “So there are chips in the cabinet. Can you grab them, please? I’ll work on getting the popcorn.” Mischa nodded and got the chip bags out of the cabinet and sorted them into bowls.
While he had his back turned to Noel, he cleared his throat. “It’s been a while since we last saw each other…” Noel paused and glanced over at Mischa. “Yeah… It has been…” Mischa turned to him and sat on the kitchen counter. “Do you have nightmares about it too…? The accident?” Noel bit the inside of his cheek. “Not just nightmares… I remember the good stuff too.”
Mischa raised an eyebrow. “What good stuff?” Noel shrugged. “I dunno. Getting closer with the kids in choir, finally getting to express myself… Having my first kiss…” He practically whispered the last part but Mischa heard it quite clearly. “...It was my first kiss too.” Noel’s perked up. “Seriously? But Talia-”
Mischa flinched at the mention of her name and Noel’s expression immediately softened. “Oh that’s not going well, is it…?” Mischa sighed. “Can I tell you something? I have not told anyone else.” Noel nodded silently, making sure to be patient with Mischa. The Ukrainian boy looked down at the ground before speaking. “She has found someone else. I found out in the hospital. Long distance was too much for her. And too much for me too…”
Noel just looked at him with so much sadness in his eyes. “How do you feel about that?” Mischa looked up at him and furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you mean?” Noel bit his lip. “Like… Are you heartbroken? Sad? Embarrassed…?” Mischa took a moment to think about it. Did he still love Talia? Maybe, but not as intensely as before. He accepted that she moved on and he needed to move on too.
“I think… I was sad… And full of rage…! But… She deserves someone that will be with her. Not over a phone…” Noel frowned. “You gonna be okay? You really loved her…” Mischa nodded. “It is time for me to move on. Maybe be less scary. Constance and Ricky were terrified of me before the accident. And you too, no?”
Noel chuckles. “Well, no, I don’t think I was ever scared of you. I just didn’t talk to you much because… you know, being gay in a small rural high school means getting made fun of. And me talking to any guy was basically a death sentence for them. It made them a target. I didn’t want you to get bullied too.”
Mischa finally looked up at Noel. “I have thick Ukrainian accent in small town in Canada. You think I don’t get made fun of?” Noel laughed softly. “I know, I know. I should’ve talked to you more. I’m sorry.” Mischa shrugged. “You can talk to me more now.” Noel’s cheeks became pink as he quickly turned to make the microwave popcorn.
Mischa twiddled his fingers. “You look different.” Noel turned back around. “Different how?” Mischa furrowed his brows. “You’re growing your hair out, yes?” Noel smiled. “You noticed…” Mischa shrugged. “It’s obvious, no?” Noel ran his hand through his hair. “Apparently not, considering you’re the only one who said anything.”
Mischa’s eyes widened. Had he really memorized what Noel looked like so much that he could tell if something was slightly off? Surely that was a normal thing to do for friends, right? “Well… It looks nice. Frames your face better.”
Noel smiled, took the microwave popcorn out of the microwave, and dumped it into a bowl. “We should go back out and watch the movie with everyone else.” Mischa nodded, grabbed the chips, and headed out with Noel. Once Noel started the movie, the choir all split off into their respective pairs to watch the movie.
Ocean and Constance sat together and Ricky and Penny sat together, leaving Mischa and Noel to sit shoulder to shoulder on a small portion of the couch.
Mischa grabbed them a blanket and set it on both their laps. Halfway through the movie, Mischa started to look around at everyone else. Constance and Ocean had fallen asleep on each other. Probably due to boredom. He then looked over at Ricky and Penny. Something Mischa wasn’t aware of before was that Penny was NOT a fan of horror movies, so Saw Five probably wasn’t the best movie choice.
Ricky, on the other hand, seemed absolutely fine with the horror. He had noticed Penny’s discomfort, however, and acted accordingly. When she wasn’t looking at him, he discreetly outstretched his arm behind her and wrapped his arm around Penny, gently pulling her closer to him. Mischa could see Penny grin at Ricky and rest her head on his shoulder. Mischa sighed and glanced over at Noel, who seemed genuinely invested in the movie.
He started to feel weird. Not sick, weird but emotionally weird. He was only used to feeling rage or passion. But this wasn’t either. He felt anxious. Mischa had an immense amount of butterflies in his stomach because he wanted to be close to Noel. Eventually, he decided that he was being dumb. He could do this. He took a deep breath and leaned over, plopping his head right on Noel’s shoulder. He felt Noel tense up and Mischa immediately felt himself sweating. He should’ve asked before doing that or at least given Noel a warning.
While Mischa was mentally cursing himself for being an idiot, Noel looked down at him. “You okay? Are you tired or something?” Mischa felt his cheeks turning red. “I… just wanted to be close to you…” Noel’s eyes widened. “And you’re being serious about this? You’re comfortable?” Mischa nodded, too embarrassed to say anything to add to that. Noel smiled. “Okay… Well, stay there for as long as you want then.” Mischa simply sat there in silence trying to regain his composure after that.
After the movie, everyone was asleep in the living room except for Noel and Mischa. Noel took the remote and turned off the TV. “Um… You wanna come into my room? There’s not really much to do here.” Mischa sat up, taking his head off Noel’s shoulder. “Are we leaving everyone else here?” Noel stood up and held his hand out to Mischa. “They’ll be fine. Besides, I wanna show you something.”
Mischa hesitantly took Noel’s hand as he was led into Noel’s room. His room was dimly lit and his ceiling and walls were covered in posters of France, the Eiffel Tower, and several french poets that Mischa didn’t recognize. He also had a gorgeous mahogany vanity with a little red wooden box on it. Noel picked up the box and sat on his bed, inviting Mischa to do the same. Once Mischa sat next to him, Noel began to speak.
“So… Remember when you said that ‘the world cut me down before any poems could even come out of me’?” Mischa chuckled. “I also called you tragic.” Noel smiled. “Yeah. That meant a lot to me…” He smiled then turned his attention back to the box. “But because of you, I actually got the motivation to write poems! And they’re all in this box. I’ve written maybe seven or eight so far. Do you wanna take a look at them? I trust you to tell me if they’re good or not.”
Mischa smiled. Wow, Noel trusted him. He wasn’t used to that. Even his own adoptive parents didn’t trust him but Noel did. “I would love to.” With that, Noel handed the box to Mischa, giving him full access to all of Noel’s poems. His private thoughts and feelings. He carefully opened the box to see yellowing paper with uneven edges with black ink on them. He took out one poem and noticed the beautiful cursive on it. He began to read the poem.
Mon Amour
In the quiet of the evening, soft and true, My heart whispers gently, "I love you." Stars above, a silent choir, Reflect the spark of our shared desire.
Your eyes, a world where I find peace, In your embrace, all worries cease. Hand in hand, through nights and days, In your love, I forever stay.
Mischa looked up at Noel. “I knew you were a true poet.” Noel grinned. “Seriously? You think it’s good?” Mischa carefully put the poem back in its box. “I think it’s magnificent. Did you write it with anyone in mind? It seems like a love poem.” Noel’s eyes widened as he suddenly took the box off Mischa’s lap. “Maybe. Who knows? Anyway, I think tha-”
He was cut off by a loud yelp coming from the living room. Noel quickly set the box down on his vanity and ran to the living room with Mischa following closely behind. Penny had woken up and was panting quite heavily. Everyone else had woken up by this point and they knew this sight all too well. She had a nightmare.
Ricky signed to her to get a better understanding of what happened while the rest of them stood by. It was probably better this way so she wouldn’t get overwhelmed by the noise of people talking. Ricky signed ‘Was it about the Cyclone accident?’ Penny simply nodded and took a deep breath. “I… remembered being chosen to be brought back to life. And when I came back to Earth, I didn’t notice that you were all brought back yet… I remembered feeling all alone and it was just really scary…”
Mischa bit the inside of his cheek. It must’ve been the hardest for Penny. She didn’t even remember her previous life and she was just brought back without knowing anything or anyone.
Eventually, Ricky got Penny to calm down, and he ended up holding her close to his chest, rubbing her back. Constance cleared her throat. “Okay, maybe we should actually start talking about how the incident affected us.” Ocean nodded. “Yeah! Talking it out will make us feel better! I’ll go first.”
Everyone sat down while Ocean began speaking. “So… Dying was obviously very scary. But I also realized that everything I was working so hard for could be taken away so easily. Getting the best grades or test scores meant nothing in the end. And my need to feel validated got in the way of me actually making friends. I never even tried to get to know you guys until after we died. And I really do love you guys… I hope l keep being a better person for you guys and myself, you know…?”
Mischa could see tears start forming in her eyes. The incident really hit her hard. Mischa began to clap for her. He knew how hard it was for her to develop and mature like she did and he was very proud of her. Eventually, everyone was clapping for her. Next, it was Constance’s turn.
“Okay well… I think I learned to appreciate my life more. I stopped feeling so crummy about stuff after the accident. I still get nightmares about what might have happened if Karnak couldn’t bring us all back. I would’ve been leaving my parents and my baby brother… And the last thought I would’ve had about them would’ve been negative.” She began anxiously fiddling with her fingers. “But I’m glad to be back! So… Yeah.”
Mischa applauded for her as well. He was really proud of everyone for being able to share out like that. And Constance and Ocean already seemed more at peace with themselves. Everyone turned to him and Ocean tilted her head. “What about you, Mischa?”
Mischa shook his head. “No, I am good. Mine is probably depressing. I do not need to share.” Noel gently rested his hand on Mischa’s shoulder. “No one cares if it’s too sad. We’re here to listen to each other.” Mischa shook his head. “Everyone else should share before I say my thing.” Noel sighed and looked at Ricky. “Do you wanna share, Ricky?”
Ricky was still holding Penny in his arms. She was practically asleep at this point. Ricky signed, “I don’t think I was really negatively affected by it. Now I have the courage to communicate with people and be who I am.” Mischa smiled. “You are very badass now that you can express yourself.” Ricky simply grinned, very happy that people thought he was cool now.
Noel turned to Mischa. “Are you ready to share now?” Mischa took off his beanie and ran his fingers through his hair. “What about you, Noel?” He sighed. “You all know how it affected me. Had my first kiss, got to be Monique for a bit, and was able to start writing poetry. Mischa, it’s your turn, come on.” Mischa sighed and let his gaze go to the ground.
“I do not think the death was the scary part for me. It was leaving behind my country and my-” He cut himself off. “…and Talia. And knowing that my adoptive parents would not have given me a proper funeral. When I came back from the hospital it was back to basement for me. No hugs or tears from them. They did not even tell me that they missed me. They truly do not care if I am dead or alive. And Talia… She found someone else. I lost her and I want to move on but I don’t know where to start and I just want someone to love. At least a little bit…”
By this point, Mischa was fighting back tears. He roughly wiped his tears away with his sleeve as he spoke with a shaky voice. “Sorry… Too much passion...” Suddenly, he felt Noel tightly wrap his arms around Mischa’s neck, hugging him tightly. Noel didn’t say anything, but Mischa was okay with that. He didn’t really feel like talking, anyway.
Noel could tell that Mischa was getting overwhelmed. A person can only hold back tears for so long. Noel eventually got the choir to settle down in the living room as most of them were tired enough to fall asleep right then and there anyway, and he led Mischa to his room, sitting him down on the bed. “Okay… You can cry here. I’m not going to judge you.”
With that, Mischa fully broke down. He hadn’t allowed himself to properly cry for months and was only able to let it out now. Between his sobs, he managed to get a few words out. “I-I miss her…” Noel hesitantly rubbed his back. “Who…? Talia…?” Mischa sniffled and cleared his throat. “M-My mom… I miss her…”
Noel froze. He was not prepared for that. He just hugged Mischa tightly, who, in response, sobbed harder than before. They sat there for at least 30 minutes before Mischa began to calm down and pulled away. Noel rubbed Mischa’s arm. “Better?” Mischa nodded and wiped his nose with his sleeve. “Thank you, poet.” Noel blushed. He really did love that nickname.
“So… Do you wanna talk about something else?” Noel tilted his head and looked at Mischa, waiting for a response. Mischa smiled weakly. “Yeah. I would like that. I like hearing you talk.” So that’s what Noel did. He talked to Mischa about his favorite poets and novelists. His favorites were Jane Austin, Emily Dickinson, and André Frénaud.
While he was talking, Noel noticed Mischa was staring at him. Like he was hanging onto every single one of Noel’s words. He slowly stopped talking. “Mischa…? Is something wrong?” Mischa seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in and smiled. “Yeah. I am okay. You are just… radiant when you talk about things you are passionate about.”
Noel blushed. Radiant? Jesus, was Mischa trying to get a reaction out of him? That must’ve been it. Noel rolled his eyes and playfully punched Mischa’s arm. “Uh huh. Sure.” Mischa frowned in response. “I’m sorry, was that insulting? In my country, we consider that compliment.”
Noel shrugged. “I just… It doesn’t feel real. You calling me radiant and stuff.” Mischa tilted his head. “Are you… not used to compliments?” Noel blushed. “It’s not that. I… have a hard time believing that people mean it when they’re nice to me.” Mischa pursed his lips as he thought about Noel’s answer. “You don’t feel worthy of nice things?” Noel nodded meekly. “I-I guess that’s it.”
Mischa thought for a moment. “Can I try something?” Noel raised an eyebrow before nodding. “Sure…?” Mischa gently rested a hand on Noel’s cheek, caressing it with his thumb. Noel had frozen up and turned completely pink. Mischa looked into his eyes. “Relax, poet. I won’t hurt you.” Noel let out a shaky exhale and forced himself to relax.
When Mischa felt Noel becoming less tense, he let his other hand run through Noel’s hair, still keeping a hand on Noel’s cheek. “You okay?” Noel let out a squeaky “Mhm!”, which made Mischa chuckle. “You know, I have never seen you so nervous. Is something on your mind?”
Noel sighed. “Um… Maybe I’ve been thinking about kissing you. J-Just a little though! I-I don’t think about it that often…!” This made Mischa grin from ear to ear. “Do you want to kiss me? Right now?” Noel sighed, looking away. “Yes, I do. Okay?”
Mischa turned Noel’s face so they could make eye contact. “I’ll be gentler than I was last time, Poet.” Noel just sat there blushing as he nodded. Mischa slowly leaned in and pressed his lips against Noel’s. He was right. He was gentler than last time they had kissed and somehow that filled Noel with even more butterflies than before. Noel reached up and let his fingers tangle in Mischa’s hair, tugging at it slightly, making Mischa groan in response.
When he pulled away, Mischa smiled at Noel and said “Я обожнюю тебе, мій поете.” Noel tilted his head, still panting a bit from the kiss. “W-What does that mean?” Mischa smiled and laid back on Noel’s bed. “It means ‘I adore you, my poet.” Noel’s eyes widened. “Oh wow. That’s… really sweet…”
Mischa smiled sweetly and Noel took a minute to recover from the kiss. “Mischa… Do you think we could-” Mischa looked up at him. “I wanna try dating you, мій поете. Can we go out next weekend?” Noel’s cheeks turned scarlet. “I-I would love that…! Yeah, that sounds good!”
Mischa smirked. “I will pick you up Saturday at 11am.” Noel simply nodded and struggled to suppress a yawn, but failed. Mischa noticed. “Tired, мій поете? We should sleep.” He got under the covers and patted the spot next to him inviting Noel to do the same.
After turning off the lights, Noel climbed into bed next to Mischa and let himself snuggle into Mischa’s chest and fall asleep. Mischa wrapped his arms around Noel and fell asleep soon after. And for the first time in months, Mischa had a good night’s rest.