Work Text:
Benrey huffed as they stared up at the ceiling while fidgeting with their sleeve, their face twisted in a mixed expression. Physically, they were feeling better than they were a few days ago, but emotionally? They didn't know how to feel, really. They had shared a bed with the man who sworn he hated them. Now there were a bunch of conflicting emotions in their head.
They sat up with a sigh, their gaze drifting down to the bedsheet. Their heart twisted, and their hand tightened around their hoodie sleeve—which was actually one of Gordon's that they'd stolen. It was practically theirs now, though. Either Gordon didn't notice, or he didn't care enough to take it back.
They didn't realize how different sleeping together (literally, they had to remind themself,) would make them feel. On one hand, they felt pretty good. They were almost proud of themself for being able to bring out that softer side of Gordon. But on the other hand, Gordon had been acting distant all week, and Benrey's 99% sure it's because of them.
Maybe they made him uncomfortable. The thought made them curl into themselves, burying their face into their knees and hiding their face from the empty room. They didn't want to ruin the decent friendship that they thought was beginning to form between them. It had taken them almost half a decade to get where they were now—they weren't about to lose it all because they were sick and needy.
Fine. That's it. They were going to talk to Gordon.
They threw their legs over the side of the bed, making their way out of their room. They expected to see him in the living room, but they didn't find him there. Instead, they spotted him out on the balcony. They confidently marched over, sliding the glass door open and leaning against the doorway.
"yo. feetman. can we-"
"Not now, Benrey." Gordon cut them off with a sigh, rubbing his eyes beneath his glasses. "The last thing I need right now is to hear some of your bullshit. Work was pretty horrible today." He muttered, leaning against the railing and staring down at the road below. Benrey tensed.
Well, there goes all of their confidence. They immediately just wanted to turn around and leave and never talk to him about anything ever again.
That wasn't going to fix anything, though, so they took a deep breath and stepped closer, shutting the door behind them.
"uh, no, i actually.." They trailed off, anxiously tugging on their sleeve. "wanted to talk to ya. about..." They swallowed hard. "'bout us."
Gordon tensed instantly. He looked seconds away from vaulting himself off the balcony just to avoid having this conversation. Benrey seemed to pick up on that.
"we don't gotta if you don't wanna. but i think it's important." They mumbled unsurely, leaning back against the glass door and shoving their hands in their pockets.
"You never seemed to care about that before." Gordon replied, glancing at Benrey out of the corners of his eyes. Benrey looked away.
"things change, i guess." They shrugged. Gordon sighed, before moving to lean against the wall next to them.
"Tell me what's up." He encouraged. Benrey froze completely. Maybe they weren't as ready for this as they thought.
"y'know what. forget it. it's not really that important after all. see ya, feetman." they pushed off the door and turned, hand moving for the handle. They were suddenly stopped by his hand grasping onto their oversized sleeve, and their eyes flicked towards him faster than they should've.
"We can't keep beating around the bush, man. Talk to me." He said softly, nudging them closer. "It's fine, I... I want you to feel like you can talk to me. Like a..." He paused, taking in their stunned expression. "Like a friend."
Benrey didn't blink. They didn't move an inch for atleast a minute. Gordon didn't let up his grip, just incase they went through with just running away. But their unwavering stare was beginning to get a little concerning.
Before he could say anything about it, Benrey blinked. Their body relaxed, even if just slightly.
"k. guess we gotta address the elephant." He watched as they turned again, leaning back against the door then sliding down it, sitting down with their back to the glass. He hesitated before following suit.
Neither of them said anything at first. They kept quiet for a long while. Eventually, Benrey broke the silence.
"uh. 'm sorry if i made ya uncomfortable or somethin'. you're doin' the thing where you get all quiet for like a week straight. so, uh..." They shrugged one shoulder. "sorry if i made ya feel bad or weird or.. whatever.
Gordon sighed, shaking his head as he stared up at the star filled sky. He opened his mouth to reply, but Benrey kept going.
"i, uh, i think you're pretty cool, though. unfortunately." They stared down at their lap. "can't hate you no matter how nerdy you get. 's stupid. you're stupid. gordon stupidman." They hesitated, their mouth spitting out words faster than their brain can even think.
"but, uh, i like that, for some dumb reason. i like that you're stupid." They finally finished, their gaze wandering the balcony, frantically looking at anything that wasn't Gordon. "so... yeah. there you have it."
It went quiet for a bit. Benrey eventually forced themselves to glance over at Gordon. They had to bite back a snicker at his expression. His eyes were as wide as saucers, his mouth hung open, and his face was red. They've never seen him like this before.
After a few minutes of gaping like a fish out of water, he got some words out.
"You- you... Me? You like–" He stammered, blinking rapidly before shaking his head and shutting his mouth. His eyes remained wide.
"uh, yeah, thats what i just said. idiot." They shrugged, eyes flickering to the floor of the balcony. Gordon shakily exhaled, running his hand through his hair.
"Wow..." He whispered, still not taking his eyes off of Benrey. "That's... unexpected." He rubbed the back of his neck, slowly looking away for the first time in about 5 minutes. They went quiet again after that.
Benrey almost hoped he wouldn't respond. They were certain they were going to live with never speaking a word about their true feelings. And now that it was out in the open, they wanted nothing more than to noclip into the Earth and become one with the soil forever.
Finally, Gordon sighed.
"I... I like you too."
Benrey's eyes widened, and their gaze flicked to Gordon once more. "...holy shit." They mumbled, slowly curling into themselves. They let out a loud, heavy sigh. "wow. okay. that's- that's gay as hell, man."
Gordon smiled, turning to look at Benrey. "You're the one who started this conversation. Seems like you're also 'gay as hell'." He lightly bumped their shoulder with his, grinning as their cheeks flushed. They opened their mouth to retort, but it died on their tongue.
"...yeah. maybe i am. what's it to you?" They mumbled instead, rubbing their shoulder. Gordon chuckled, and Benrey stared up at him with a grin. He just sighed and shook his head, leaning in to wrap his arm around Benrey's shoulder. They squeaked when they were pulled into his side.
"oh." He whispered, hesitating before getting comfortable against his side. "this is nice. could get use to this." They mumbled, turning to bury their face into Gordon's shoulder. He smiled and rubbed their arm, tracing random circles into their sleeve with his thumb.
"Yeah, me too." He replied, leaning his head against the top of theirs. He wouldn't mind making this a normal thing between them. "..And, uh, for the record, you didn't make me uncomfortable. I... I enjoyed our time together."
"oh. cool. win for benrey."
He knew they'd have to talk more about their relationship later. What they were to each other, what this means for them going forward. But right now, he was content with keeping Benrey in his arms for however long they'd let him.
"love you. stupid feetman." They said, their voice muffled as they curled against his side, hiding their burning red face. Gordon pulled them impossibly closer.
"I love you too, Ben." He replied softly, his eyes closing as he pressed his face into their hair.
Yeah, he's fine staying like this for a bit longer.