Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

 " Im sorry Jeremy..you're a really sweet guy and you did save a lot of people but... well i dont see us working out. I really like you but I’ve had time to think it through and i think i saw my acceptance to date you as a thank you. It was wrong of me and im sorry, but i still think you’re a nice guy and i will gladly stay as your friend, if its ok with you?" 

 Christine looked up at Jeremy. It was obvious that this decision made her feel terrible to say the least. But her honesty was best in this situation, it was better not to hurt Jeremy then lead him on. At least now he can strive for a person with better qualities for him, and loved him equally back. Jeremy sighed obviously heart-broken but nodded respectfully. The girl he literally obsessed over for months held his hopes up and then dropped then down as quickly. He should've guessed it. It was too good to be true. 

 "Its ok Christine, we can always be friends, im just glad you told me how you really feel." He smiled down at her "Im glad were at least able to have this."

 "I am too."

 That was months ago. Jeremy moved on from Christine not long after, he was truly happy to have her as a friend, though now he definitely wasnt getting any experience to pass on. The first week he wallowed in self pity and contemplated drinking some green Mountain Dew, anything, but then Michael made an entrance. A.K.A bursting through Jeremy's door and throwing chips at him and a nice slushie from seven eleven , cherry red, well it was actually some crack pot name like "lightening period blood of Dracula we suck each others dicks as we make up these names to stay cool" red, in a large cup. Jeremy gladly accepted he gifts. Michael stayed with him that whole day to make sure he was truly ok, and they stayed home the next day. They played video games, mostly a plug in pac-man, it provided the perfect amount of anger and blood rush of pushing the joystick in the direction you need to go to almost break it because the goddamn ghosts are on your ass, but calm enough with the simple graphics and satisfactory feeling of passing each level that it slowly cheered Jeremy up though sadly they hadn’t made it to level 256. He forgot why he was sad in the first place. When They went back to school seeing Christine didnt hurt anymore. They were friends after all. After the events of the squip Jeremy, Michael, Rich, (sometimes) Jake, Brooke, Chloe, and Christine all became a group and though he wasnt as popular, he was content with his friends. They sat with each other all at lunch and talked of small things of course though the first thing said is to Jeremy.

  "Have you heard from it?"

 To be completely honest Jeremy was getting bored of answering the same thing after a while. It was always no. He was actually concerned. He had heard the squips voice after everything went down but the squip can’t seem to actually do anything. Why did I hear his voice?

 After school as he was walking home Michael caught up to him. He was a little out of breath catching up to Jeremy’s faster pace.

 "Hey Jer, I was wondering can I stay over your place. My parents are away for the weekend and I dont want to be alone the whole time."

 "Yeah! Thats fine I'm sure dad wont mind." He looked at his slightly chubby friend and smiled. It was around four O'clock  and michael was still wearing the sweatshirt he always does. The only problem is it was about 80 degrees.

 "Micheal?"

 "hmm?"

 "Why are you wearing the sweatshirt in this weather?"

 "Itll save me in sudden global warming."

 "What?"

 "Just wait."

 “I’m just saying if you wanted to be prepared that way you might also want to bring like heat pads just in case?” 

“Noted.” Michael answered tapping the side of his head.

  Jeremy stifled out a chuckle and covered his mouth before busting out laughing, Micheal laughed too, rounding a corner they ended up at Jeremy’s house. They came through the front door and went up to Jeremy's room. Jeremy threw down his back pack and flopped on his bed, Michael did the same and plopped next to him. They were quiet for a second before Michael announced he was going to go take a shower.

 "hey Jer can i borrow a shirt and boxers?"

 "yeah ill get them" He got up and went to his draws looking through them, he picked a plain black shirt that was quite baggy and a pair of boxers. He turned around and nearly dropped the articles of clothing when he saw michael without his sweatshirt on. He was in a simple plain white tank and his skin was beautifully tanned, and Jeremy didnt know why he was breathing heavier or why his cheeks were turning pink. He stared for a while before michael snapped him out of it. 

 "...you ok?" he asked carefully taking the clothes out of his hands.

 "U-um yeah...." 

   Later that night Jeremy sat awake as Michael sat sleeping next to him. Michael looked peaceful though why he asked for a shirt was beyond Jeremy he ended up putting his sweatshirt back on anyways. Should’ve just went shirtless...I shouldn’t be thinking about my friend shirtless. He thought to himself, he tried to just think of something else not so...Different. He looked again at his friend watching him breathe in and out slowly, he didnt know why he was being like this. Laying down again he sighed and rolled over. Shutting his eyes tight he felt everything getting heavier and sooner he was asleep.

  "Hey jer" Micheal said leaning next to him.

  "Yeah?"

  "what was wrong with you earlier?" 

  "W-wrong?"

   "Yeah you seen me without my sweatshirt and basically started drooling. Wasn’t even like shirtless and you looked shitless."

   "O-oh i-" Michael cut him off with a sudden kiss, it was rough and passionate. And man did Jeremy like it. It felt like something he didn’t even know he craved had just been given. His heart was racing and he was nervous and happy at the same time. Was this what he wanted? He moaned into the kiss and pulled Micheal back onto him. Their movements were sloppy as they grabbed at each other. Jeremy going for Michaels hair , grabbing and pulling the strands between his fingers. Michael grabbed Jeremy's hips and left a few marks just from the grip. He felt the blood rush in him, and Michael felt the effects of that on his thigh. He smirked into the kiss and let out an animalistic growl and he began grinding against him. Jeremy moaned, gosh did he love this, he loved this? he loved this!, he really loved this, he really loved 

  "Michael" Jeremy said said in a breathy moan sitting up in his bed. He grabbed his chest and looked around, the clock read 2:25 . He looked to his side and saw Michael sound asleep, he looked down and saw he had a little problem. 'Shit shit shit no no no no no wait did....did i just have a wet dream about michael?' he thought to himself. He looked at michael again and his heart skipped a beat. 

 'fuck.'

Chapter Text

  It was 10 a.m. when Michael woke up to the sound of a hummingbird attacking a local tree. He yawned and stretched his legs; the sound of the satisfying pops from mid back to toes gave him the perfect amount of energy to at least roll over. The bed was empty to no surprise. Between the pair he definitely wasn’t the early bird. Pushing himself up he stretched his arms and back and shook his head, then began fumbling around in search for something in his pockets. Eventually he found what he was looking for; a tiny sandwich baggie with just enough sunshine in it to have a morning blunt. 

 He made his way to the window and opened it. He was a respectful guest after all and not everyone likes the smell of marijuana. He rolled a backwood and grabbed his lighter (also in the sandwich baggie for safe keeping) after all nothing was better for the anxieties of life then a little sunshine. Looking out the window as he exhaled he looked at the clouds and sighed.

mornings like these.... He thought to himself. Who wouldn’t pay for a chance to wake up to this sunshine (literally), no cars outside and I got a whole night with Jeremy and woke up in his bed

He smiled then frowned with a slight blush. Not like..waking up in your best friends bed is a big deal...plenty of people do it.. He took another hit and coughed, he searched for something else to catch his eye. Anything else to change his thoughts to something more PG, after all he can’t think about his urge to h*ld Jeremy’s h*nd or maybe one day just look into his eyes and tell him...tell him...

ugh why am I like this? I know he just went out with Christine and just cause they’re over doesn’t mean I can just waltz up to him and be like “hey jer! I’ve had a small teeny tiny little huge crush on you for years now and some nights I want to just hold you in my arms so badly if my pillow was a person it’d be dead by now! Pretty neat right?” Ha...like that’d work. Risking a rock solid friendship for someone who isn’t even gay... he doesn’t even know how I feel. He can’t know I can’t lose him.

Another hit 

make the thoughts go away

exhale 

make them go away damn it  

one more hit 

 Sitting on the floor by the window he took a long drag and tapped it out on the windowsill above him. Exhaling he felt his shoulders go down slowly and his heart feeling sore like someone was trying to pull it through his stomach but also flatten it into him. He hated this, his best friend of all people! He knew there were other guys not only at their school but also like...in the whole world... that could take his place in his heart. But Michael knew better too, it’s been years already, this wasn’t a middle school crush that went away when they went under the bleachers with some chick from your home room. This was more then he wanted to admit and comprehend, the more he thought and tried not to think the more he just knew deep down Jeremy was his life, or at least a decent part of it. The memories, the time, it all just was pieces to an equation that would never be solved. He knew math well enough to know you never get the right answer, so you pick the closest thing to it. Jeremy was just his friend albeit his best friend, but just a friend nonetheless. 

His stomach growled, grunting he pulled himself up and went down stairs to grab something. 

 Jeremy had woken up early and said goodbye to his dad as he went on a grocery run. He sat down in the kitchen and fixed his pants discreetly. 

Every guy wakes up with one don’t worry is not from being close to Michael all night, smelling his cologne coming off of him, smelling the small hint of Michael’s habit stuck onto his hoodie and probably skin at this point, that dream... what was that about anyways? Well we are close so maybe it was a matter of time?  Again pretty sure all people eventually have wet dreams about their best friends...and  ...and...he could picture Michael kissing him again. 

“WHY CANT I JUST BE NORMAL??” He yelled quite loudly. 

“Probably because you got possessed by a computer and turned the school to zombies during opening night and then saved everyone but mostly made the audience reeeeally confused” Michael stated matter-of-factly as he walked in the kitchen and started going through the cabinets looking for Pop-Tarts. He found a pack and sat across from Jeremy. 

“Any other morning questions?” 

“Haha very funny Rich gave the squip to me in the first place, never mentioned zombies in the pamphlet.” 

“You took a pill from Rich” 

“Touché, what took you so long to join me?” 

“Aw you miss me? You know besides school ten a.m is a rare occurrence for me.”  

 Jeremy chuckled and got up to get a glass of water. He felt an urge to say yes and no for all the wrong reasons. 

“So I had the weirdest dream last night.” Micheal said nonchalantly. 

“Oh what about?” Jeremy asked pushing away the thoughts of his own dream. 

“Well it was me and you and we were in the lunchroom but no one else was there... we were talking about something important and you really wanted to say it  but something was preventing you and then the room turned blue then bright white and you were gone and I was alone. There was also an uneaten corndog on the table and we both know the school would not pay the money for corndogs.” 

“So the weird part was the corndog?” Jeremy asked sitting back down. 

“Um yeah?” Micheal joked getting up to throw away the packaging.

”just some morning banter, what about you anything weird happen in your head last night?” 

Jeremy froze mid sip. He slowly let the water back out into the cup and put it down. “Heh um no...like you know me I don’t usually remember my dreams if there were any.” 

“Yeah...wanna go play mortal kombat?” Michael asked happily. 

“Sure.” Jeremy said getting up to join him. 

 Some would say three hours is a while already of gaming. Those people also never played the Sims. Michael was doing a lot better then Jeremy, and was definitely letting him know. 

“You jealous cause I have a way with the machine?” 

“You’re only so good because you smoke and don’t move for 8+ hours” Jeremy jabbed back. 

“Oh yeah?”

 “Yeah!” Jeremy answered 

Michael laughed and grabbed Jeremy’s forearm bringing it around his back. 

“I’m not saying it!” 

“Say uncle!” 

“Never!”  Jeremy tried to flip around and grab Michael’s arm, a power struggle ensued with both of them laughing and grunting, Jeremy was on the couch on his knees using his height to what he thought would be an advantage, Michael on the couch sitting using that to what he thought would be his advantage (his arm and pure determination) reaching under Jeremy with his free arm he tried to push him off the couch which worked...sorta. Like some sick comedy when Jeremy fell back he kept his grip and brought Michael down with him. Jeremy fell flat on his back with Michael falling on top stopping himself from colliding faces with only his arm as he managed to hold himself just an inch away. 

The moments after that were silent. Both of them were red both from activity and from embarrassment. They’re were breathing heavily before Michael chuckled nervously and quickly got up. 

“I guess I win?” 

Jeremy looked dazed on the floor. His heart was beating fast and he felt amazing and nauseated at the same time. He snapped to and chuckled.

”Yeah.. you win.” His stomach felt weird. 

“Be right back” he said walking towards the doorway. 

“You going to take a hot piss?” Michael asked jokingly. 

“Sure” Jeremy smiled as he walked away. 

Michael sat on the couch again and put his head in his hands. For a second he wish it was like a romantic comedy and out of no where they’d just....they’d just... he shook his head and looked up at the ceiling.

just friends

Chapter Text

Though he calmly excused himself and walked out the doorway to avoid suspicion, Jeremy felt himself practically sprint down the hall to the bathroom. His face felt flushed and his mind was racing. There was a pit in his stomach he couldn't fight off but he had to.

"For fucks sake it was just wrestling!" he thought to himself. Aggressively pushing the handle on the sink back and staring at the water flowing out of the faucet Jeremy tried to make his mind go blank. Thoughts raced back and forth, most of them making noise but never a cohesive thought, while others echoed as they hit every corner of his brain. He took a deep breath and cupped his hands under the running water splashing it onto his face. He blinked a few times and spit some of the water out that had gotten into his mouth. Grabbing the hand towel hanging up next to the sink he wiped the rest of the water away and stared into his reflection.

"You're ok, it's ok, nothing is going on, and it's all in your head," he told himself not breaking eye contact with the mirror. If this was a different type of story the mirror would do something scary, but alas all there was was a nerdy scrawny teen looking back at him. Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary to Jeremy's dismay. He sighed placing both hands on the cold countertop and leaning forward to get a better look at himself.

"You. Dont. Like. Micha-" There was a loud bang on the bathroom door that nearly made Jeremy shit himself. Maybe he should've used the bathroom before his personal drama scene started to unfold, but in fairness who takes a shit when horny? Too many conflicting emotions.

"Jer? Did you drown in there? If you did tell me now because I'm going to have to mentally prepare for that it's going to be a very confusing conversation to have with your dad....." Michael trailed off on the other side of the bathroom door.

"No i-im good I just had to take a dump too I'll be out in a second!" Jeremy yelled back to him. Michaels's interruption seemed to take his mind off of things for a second, which is surprising since he was the thing on his mind. Jeremy reached for the toilet handle and gave the toilet a flush so Michael had confirmation he'd be out soon. Then he thought about the question asked of him.

"Michael you still out there?'

"Yeah, why?"

"How the hell would I be in the situation to drown in if I was taking a leak?"

"I don't know what you do in your private time man, you could've been thirsty! Now hurry up so I can continue kicking your ass!" He heard Michael laugh and then the sounds of his footsteps going down the hallway. Jeremy stood in confusion for a minute before wiping the remaining water off the counter and taking one more deep breath. Now it's time to go back out there. 

Michael sat by himself in the living room. He tried not to think about what had taken place just a moment before, he also tried not to think about the subtle hints of red on Jeremy's cheeks, and he ESPECIALLY tried not to think about how hot Jeremy looked to him at that moment because that would be wrong. Not the gay thoughts but more the gay thoughts for his lifelong friend. "Thank whatever above that humans can't read thoughts especially if there are walls in the way," he thought to himself.  "well at least I hope that's not something I just missed out on that be super lame" 

He pondered for a while on the thought that secretly every other human could read minds and he just magically was left out. Could they tell he also couldn't read thoughts? Were they making fun of him and his virgin mind? He looked up from his thoughts as if to ask Jeremy his ideas on the matter when he realized he still hadn't come back yet. 

"Damn, what's taking him so long?" Michael thought to himself. He stood and made his way to the bathroom, about halfway down the hall he could hear water running.

"Oh maybe he's finally done" 

Michael curled his fist getting ready to bang on the door. After all one little scare outta do him some good. Just then he heard murmuring from the bathroom. Curiously he put his ear up to the door. He could hear Jeremy muttering something to himself but couldn't quite make out the words. He shrugged figuring it was just Jeremy getting to himself again about some little thing and so he turned his attention back to his original idea. Banging on the door as loud as he could he swore he heard Jeremy go through the roof.

"Jer? Did you drown in there? If you did tell me now because I'm going to have to mentally prepare for that it's going to be a very confusing conversation to have with your dad....." Michael asked jokingly. He did wonder what the hell he was doing in there though to take that long.

"No i-im good I just had to take a dump too I'll be out in a second!" Jeremy yelled back to him.  

There was silence for a moment as Michael stood on the other side of the door. Maybe the silence was waiting to be filled by something very important. Maybe there was something they both wanted to ask each other. Michael wouldn't get to sit on that thought though for much longer as the silence was filled with a question. Not THE question but a question...

"Michael you still out there?" Jeremy asked muffled a little by the bathroom door.

"Yeah, why?"

"How the hell would I be in the situation to drown in if I was taking a leak?"

"I don't know what you do in your private time man, you could've been thirsty! Now hurry up so I can continue kicking your ass!" Michael laughed and turned back towards the living room. As he walked his mind wandered back to wondering what exactly Jeremy was saying and doing in the bathroom.

He sat on the couch and waited for his friend to come back as he thought more and more. Though with everything he had been feeling lately it didn't take too long for him to jump pretty far to conclusions.

He felt his face turning red.

A second to two later he heard the click of the bathroom door opening and decided whatever was wrong could be figured out another time and so he put a mental pin to definitely finish that thought later that night.