Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"So... you're the Bojan I've been hearing so much about."

Kris takes in the boy sitting on the opposite side of the room, still slightly resenting Jan for the fact that he wouldn't even be here if he hadn't forced them into a room together to "at least talk through the options." Both him and Jan had been considering finding something other than Buržuazija for a while now, but Kris isn't as convinced as him that this guy is the answer they're searching for.

Not that he necessarily doesn't like Bojan, considering he barely knows him. He has to hand it to him - he certainly seems to have confidence. Enough of it, in fact, to play one of Gušti's songs with fucking distortion and then have to nerve to try and convince Kris to join his band with all the bravado of an over-excited golden retriever.

…Which really does just about sum him up, doesn't it? Kris can picture it now: a little tail wagging enthusiastically to match the smug expression spreading over his face. "Oh, so you've heard a lot about me? What sorts of things?" he teases, leaning forward and looking at Kris expectantly. Kris narrows his eyes.

"Look, I know what you really want from me and I'm sorry, but no amount of flattery is going to change the fact you want to use me. My answer is no."

Bojan blinks, seeming genuinely taken-aback. He must be good at acting, Kris thinks.

"Use you?" he asks, confused. "As a guitarist in my band? I mean... use is a strong word, but if that's how you want to look at it, I guess. As a friend, though? Of course not. And I do hope we'll be friends."

Something twists in Kris' heart at those words, but he pushes it down and rolls his eyes instead. "You can drop the act, you know. You're not the first one to try this. You want me in your band to get to my dad and be able to score more gigs and become more mainstream, I know how it goes."

Bojan stares at him for a few seconds before laughing. Fucking laughing. A twinge of anger flashes in Kris' chest.

"What the fuck is so funny?" he demands, and Bojan finally stops laughing and looks at him.

"I don't want you because of your dad, silly," he begins, holding Kris' gaze sincerely. "I want you because of... well, you! You're so tall and pretty and-" He quickly cuts himself off, clearing his throat as he breaks eye-contact. Kris feels his face heat up slightly and briefly panics over whether he's visibly blushing, but hastily casts that thought aside when Bojan looks up at him again.

"And you're talented," he finishes, and- fuck, Kris wants to believe him, he really does, but...

"You're a good actor, Bojan," he gets out before he can stop himself, and almost wants to backtrack when he sees the way Bojan visibly deflates at his words. "I don't believe you."

He watches as Bojan huffs dramatically. "Why are you so fucking stubborn?"

Something in Kris switches at that. He stands up quickly so he can tower over Bojan. "Because!" he yells - why is he yelling? - as he clenches his fists. "Because why would I ever believe someone who has carefully rehearsed everything they think I want to hear in order to be as convincing as possible?"

Bojan scoffs and stands up too now, and Kris delights in the obvious height advantage he still has over him. "You think I carefully rehearsed all of that?" he asks. "As if I... what? Have some kind of ulterior motive? What if I just want you because you're… you?"

He pauses as if waiting for Kris to object, but he suddenly finds himself without any words to say, all too aware of how their chests are almost touching. At his silence, Bojan's expression softens slightly.

"What is it that's so hard to believe?" he asks gently. "That you're talented? That I want to be your friend?"

He pauses as Kris continues to avoid his gaze, and then he says "...That I think you're pretty?"

...Oh. Kris is vaguely aware of his heart skipping a beat at that, but attempts to ignore it and scramble for a response. He opens his mouth but nothing comes out, and he watches with increasing panic as Bojan studies him carefully until something that looks like recognition settles in his eyes.

"Ah. I see," Bojan starts, barely above a whisper, and Kris' panic rises even higher because what is he on about, what does he see?

And then Bojan closes the gap between them even more, gaze unmistakably dropping to Kris' lips for just one fleeting second.

Suddenly, Kris understands.

As if lured by some invisible force, he mirrors Bojan and also drops his gaze to his lips briefly, looking back up to see dark eyes watching him carefully. Kris holds his breath.

The next thing he knows, Bojan's hands are on his shoulders, anchoring himself up onto his tiptoes so that their faces are level, just centimetres apart, and finally, Kris thinks fuck it, and pulls Bojan in by the waist so harshly that he nearly loses his balance, and then they are kissing.

Oh God, they're kissing. He's kissing Bojan. Why is he kissing him again? The thoughts flash through Kris' mind faster than he cares to pay enough attention to any one of them, too lost in the new and unknown feelings.

The kiss isn't exactly gentle, yet it feels laced with the acknowledgement of something fragile, orchestrated movements as smooth and synchronised as a dance, passionate yet elegant. Kris almost feels dizzy, longing to hold on tighter to Bojan like a lifeline, to push further against him, to take and take and take-

And then he hears a noise escape his throat, quiet and barely there, but it's enough for the cold, malicious hands of reality to grasp him and pull him back down to its merciless realm. He pulls away from Bojan, breaking their kiss, wide-eyed, panting and shaking. Shit shit shit shit. What has he just done?

"I..." he begins, voice unsteady. He clears his throat. "I can't do this. My final answer is no."

He doesn't meet Bojan's gaze, he can't bear to look at him. Somehow, it's not just about rejecting being in his band anymore.

Before he can think about it anymore, he's turning around sharply and pushing through the door.

He just hopes Jan buys his half-baked excuse on why he doesn't want to leave Buržuazija.

Chapter Text

Kris watches with amusement as Bojan struggles to walk in a straight line, clearly intoxicated past a reasonable amount. It had taken quite a lot of convincing from Bojan to get him to tag along to this party, but he figures it had been worth it to come in the end, if only to see Bojan in this state.

"So, I couldn't convince the others to stay- what are you looking at me like that for?" Bojan says, frowning once he catches Kris' gaze.

Kris shakes his head with a fond smile. "Isn't that our cue to leave as well?"

Bojan huffs like a petulant child. "Not necess- necessessa- ugh, it doesn't have to be."

Barely holding in his laughter, Kris grabs one of Bojan's arms. "Considering you can barely string a sentence together anymore, I think we've stayed out long enough tonight," he says, tugging Bojan gently towards the door.

"What do you mean?" Bojan retorts, swaying precariously for a moment before Kris grips his waist. He pointedly decides to ignore the intimate contact. "I barely even had more to drink than you!"

"Exactly," Kris replies. "And I had enough. So therefore, you have too."

Bojan sighs dramatically as they walk out into the cool night air. "Are you saying I'm a lightweight?"

If he's being honest, Kris feels more than just a little drunk himself, but he at least can still think clearly enough to look after Bojan, who seems as if he definitely wouldn't be able to look after himself right now.

"Yes," Kris deadpans. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"That's mean," Bojan mutters, and Kris fights the urge to giggle.

They fall into a comfortable silence whilst they walk, taking in the atmosphere of the quiet night. Kris tries very hard not to focus on the contact he shares with Bojan as they're walking, attempting to convince himself that his heart isn't racing because of it.

He hadn't even really meant to become friends with Bojan, especially after what happened between them all those months ago. But with the amount of mutual friends they have, seeing each other often was always inevitable, and yet Kris still feels taken aback by how much he feels drawn to Bojan. If he thinks about it for too long, though, he starts to feel an uncomfortable tightness in his chest, and he refuses to acknowledge it further than that.

"You really should join my band, you know," Bojan says suddenly, cutting through the silence. Kris shakes himself out of his thoughts and turns to Bojan, sighing.

"So you keep saying," he replies, shaking his head fondly. Bojan, however, seems unsatisfied with that.

"And you keep refusing," he pouts, and Kris really shouldn't be finding that as adorable as he is.

He stubbornly pushes that thought to the side. "Why are you asking me again now, when you're drunk?"

Bojan gasps as if Kris had said something scandalous. "Are you implying that because I'm maybe just a little bit tipsy that I'm any less sincere?"

"No, just..." Kris hesitates. "You seem really insistent."

Bojan hums. "I enjoy your company a lot, Krisko."

Something warm floods Kris' chest at those words. "Well... thank you," he says quietly. "I really enjoy your company too."

Bojan smiles at Kris then, and the world seems to stand still for just a moment.

"Also, you should know there's free food at every band practise," Bojan says suddenly, and Kris looks at him skeptically.

"Is that so?"

"If it helps to convince you."

"So... that's a no?"

"Just tell me if it's convincing you or not and I'll tell you the answer… or maybe I won't, depending on what you say."

Kris sighs, trying and failing to avoid Bojan's gaze as he looks up at him expectantly. Eventually, he finds that he can't do anything but give in.

"Okay... fine. I'll join your band, if only to stop hearing you beg me every five minutes," he says, but he barely finishes his sentence before Bojan is squealing and tackling him into a hug as they come to a stop on the pavement.

It feels nice, it feels right to have Bojan this close to him, wrapped up in an embrace. He finds himself smiling, hugging Bojan tighter and subconsciously breathing in his familiar scent.

And then suddenly, in one quick movement, Bojan pulls away from him, places both his hands on either side of Kris' face, and tugs him forward into a kiss.

Kris panics. He freezes, mind reeling, fighting against himself to not kiss Bojan back, but it's too tempting, too addicting, he doesn't want Bojan to let him go...

Bojan pulls back with a start, fear etched onto his face. "Shit... Fuck, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have- I just got excited and-"

Kris' brain finally reboots and he jumps in to stop Bojan spiralling. "Hey, it's okay. You're... you're just drunk, it's fine. It doesn't matter."

The words are like glass as they leave Kris' throat, and it feels like a shard pierces his heart as Bojan nods shakily.

"Yeah... yeah, that was dumb," Bojan says. "Um... I'm really happy you want to join. It means a lot to me, clearly."

Kris laughs along with Bojan, although it falls flat and doesn't cut through the tension settling between them like a dark cloud. They walk the rest of the way to Bojan's house in near-silence, and once Kris makes sure he gets in safe, he heads home himself.

He's not sure if Bojan was drunk enough to forget the kiss, but they don't speak about it again.

Chapter Text

Kris isn't sure when he stopped paying attention to the plot of the film, but he suddenly realises that he doesn't have a clue what's been going on.

…Okay, that's not strictly true. Kris knows exactly when he stopped paying attention and it's when Bojan decided to curl up next to him and pillow his head on his chest, and then fall asleep if his even breaths and the way he's laying completely still for once in his life are anything to go by.

At first, Kris doesn't dare to move, and hardly dares to breathe, either. He tells himself it's simply because he doesn't want to disturb Bojan, but the truth is that he's frozen with something that feels a lot like fear. Sure, he's been this close to Bojan multiple times before, but this is different. This feels more significant. Delicate. Intimate.

After a while, Kris pulls his unfocused gaze from the laptop screen, finding himself staring instead at Bojan's side profile. He can't see his eyes from this angle, so he studies the shape of his jawline, the sharpness of his cheekbones and the slight pink tint colouring his cheeks. He's fucking gorgeous, Kris thinks, and the thought startles him, but he can't look away.

His hair looks soft, and Kris wants to run his hand through it. Is that weird? He contemplates for a moment, but his body seems to decide for him before his brain can do anything. His fingertips brush the brunette strands tentatively at first, and then with more confidence as he runs his fingers through it, letting it fan across his face when he lets go. No, wait, that won't do - he can't see him properly anymore. He pushes Bojan's hair back from his forehead, and then reaches out to trace the curve of his jaw before he can think twice about it.

He finds that his skin is also surprisingly soft, and he wonders what it would be like to press his lips against it - just briefly, of course. A perfectly acceptable, friendly kiss on the cheek. That's a normal thing to do to your friends, right? In fact…

Bojan is asleep and he looks so peaceful, so surely he wouldn't mind if Kris just-

He cups Bojan's jaw as he leans forward, pressing his lips gently to his cheek for a few seconds before pulling back and- oh shit, oh fuck.

As soon as he moves away, Bojan turns his head to face him, and Kris' blood turns to ice.

He doesn't look disgusted or horrified: in fact, he looks as though a hint of a smile is threatening to spread over his face in what might be delighted surprise, but Kris can't focus on any of that right now.

Did he wake him up? Or, even worse, was he actually awake the whole time? Surely he now thinks he's a weirdo-

Bojan sits up a little so he can look at Kris properly, startling him out of his thoughts, and- yes, he's definitely smiling properly now… Wait, what?

Kris holds his breath, unable to move, until Bojan finally speaks.

"You know, if you wanted to kiss me, you only had to ask," he says, and Kris has to replay the words in his head several times to ensure he heard him properly.

"I… what?" he replies dumbly, all other words abandoning him.

Bojan shakes his head fondly, and then reaches up to tuck a strand of Kris' hair behind his ear before he slides his hand down to rest on the back of Kris' neck. Kris tenses up instinctively but doesn't move away, instead holding Bojan's gaze which feels vaguely like he's being challenged to something… Oh.

Wordlessly, Bojan leans in further until Kris can feel his warm breath against his lips, and then finally closes the gap, kissing him softly.

It only lasts a few seconds, but it feels like it stretches on forever. Kris' heart is beating out of his chest and he feels frozen to the spot until he realises that he should be kissing him back, and then a warm, floaty feeling spreads through him just before they part.

He waits for a moment before he opens his eyes, and he sees Bojan studying him with a soft smile and a more prominent blush on his cheeks. Kris can't find anything to say, brain rendered to an operating speed of about 2% efficiency.

But it seems that no words are needed, as Bojan turns to lay against Kris again, this time even closer, and Kris immediately wraps an arm around him. He hears Bojan let out a happy sigh, and his stomach does a flip.

Both of them are now clearly lost on what the plot of the movie is, but neither of them care enough to rewind it.

Maybe they won't talk about this tomorrow, but for tonight, they can enjoy the warmth of each other's embrace.

Chapter Text

Kris is startled by a knock on his door, and when he goes to answer it, he's not quite sure who he's expecting.

But it certainly isn't Bojan Cvjetićanin.

"Kris! Hi, um... can I come in?"

Kris blinks in confusion. "I... guess so?"

He steps back to allow Bojan to pass and he immediately strolls towards the living room like it's his own house. Kris suppresses an eye roll as he closes the door and follows after him.

"What's up?"

Bojan turns around sharply and Kris can practically feel the energy radiating off of him.

"You know that demo of Gola you showed me the other day? Well, I've been thinking a lot and I really-"

Kris shakes his head trying to process everything with the speed at which Bojan is talking. "Wait, wait, slow down. Bojan, that was just- I mean it wasn't really anything, it was from a while back and I don't know, I just found a recording and thought… I don't know what I thought. That I should show it to you because it was interesting? You didn't seem like you agreed, though."

Bojan looks at Kris as though he has just suggested the most ridiculous thing ever. "No, it... it really sparked something in me. I spent the last couple of days finalising some lyrics and- fuck, I don't know why I ever-" He cuts himself off for a moment to take a deep breath. "Kris, I think we could really make it work."

Kris stands there, stunned into silence, watching the way Bojan looks at him expectantly. He can't really be saying...

"When you say we," Kris starts, voice quiet as if afraid speaking the words too loudly will shatter the concept entirely. "What exactly do you mean?"

A small smile finds its way onto Bojan's face, his expression a mixture of sheepish and excited. "I mean... I want to come back. I want the band to come back. All of us, together, making music again. It just feels right, doesn't it? And it's like I've been missing something so important ever since leaving and it's... it's this! Us! I've been missing us. We should be a band again."

A million emotions flood Kris all at once. Relief, happiness, elation... and yet under-pinning it all, a deep frustration for all the time wasted, for all the nights he had to endure without his one passion keeping him going, for all the days and weeks he barely even spoke to Bojan-

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he hears himself blurting out before he can stop himself. Bojan takes a small step back as if physically wounded, looking like a kicked puppy.

"...What?" he says quietly, and Kris huffs in annoyance.

"All that time you took after walking away out of the blue and you think that you can just... what? Walk back in like nothing happened?"

He knows he's being too harsh, but something inside of him twists uncomfortably as he realises just how much hurt he'd been suppressing. He's not quite sure exactly where it stems from.

After a moment, he meets Bojan's gaze as he speaks up again. "Of course not, Kris. I get that you're angry, and I guess maybe I made a mistake but I just... I just thought you'd be happy."

Kris' heart aches at that, and he sighs before taking a step towards Bojan and placing his hands on his shoulders. "I am happy. I'm sorry... I didn't realise how much I'd been holding back. I-" he swallows down the emotion he can feel rising up his throat. "I just missed you."

Bojan's expression softens, and he catches Kris' hands, pulling them off his shoulders so he can interlink their fingers. "I missed you too," he breathes, and Kris waits for him to add that he also missed everyone, but to his surprise, the addition never comes.

He wants to say something else, even if it's something dumb and meaningless to make this moment stretch on forever, because surely they can't stand here gazing into each other's eyes for much longer, and yet…

And yet Kris can't look away, can't bring himself to do anything, and the realisation scares him just as much as it thrills him.

Finally, somehow, he finds his voice, although it almost feels as if it's not his voice at all and instead comes from an unknown place within himself.

"How much?"

Bojan's eyes flicker with confusion for a millisecond as he processes what Kris is asking him, but the moment he realises the vulnerability laced within the question, something shifts in his gaze. Kris isn't sure exactly what it is, but he has just enough mental capacity left for one single thought to form in his mind.

He's so fucking gorgeous.

When Bojan parts his lips slightly, Kris is fully expecting him to give an answer, but instead he moves impossibly closer and Kris' breath catches in his throat. He instinctively moves back ever so slightly, until his brain catches up and he squeezes Bojan's hands tighter, giving himself the last push of courage to allow Bojan to close the gap between them.

The kiss is slow and gentle at first, so much so that it makes Kris feel light-headed. For perhaps the first time, he finally lets himself melt into the feeling, refusing to let his brain think for anything other than committing everything to memory.

Bojan kisses somehow with the perfect balance of desperation and gentleness, both taking the lead and responding to Kris so attentively it feels as if this has been destined for them both since the beginning of time. When Bojan slides his hands up Kris' arms and tangles his fingers in his hair, and Kris loops his arms around Bojan's waist to pull him in even closer, it's like a puzzle piece falling into place, or the final note of a melody ringing out in a perfect cadence.

Kris isn't sure if his lungs are burning with the lack of oxygen or with the sheer intensity of the moment, but when they part he takes in a deep, shuddering breath and his vision swims a little. Fuck.

Neither of them move, and neither of them speak for a while. Kris can see the way Bojan is thinking at a million miles a minute in his eyes, and he thinks he might even be able to hear the gears turning in his brain if he listens hard enough, and that suddenly terrifies him.

What if he thinks it was a mistake? What if he didn't mean it and it's just a joke somehow? What if-

"You didn't show me the lyrics," Kris finds himself saying, and Bojan freezes, looking taken-aback.

"What?" he replies after an almost-too-long pause. His tone sounds clipped.

Kris falters slightly. "The… lyrics. To Gola. You said you re-wrote them."

"Oh. Um… yeah." Bojan blinks, and then shakes himself out of whatever was plaguing him. "Hold on."

He digs his phone out of his pocket and Kris notices that his hands are shaking slightly. Is that because of him?

Within an hour, it's like the kiss never happened. Kris has the feeling that he should bring it up, that they need to talk about it, but it never seems like the right time. He wouldn't know what to say, anyway. Hey, you know when you kissed me? What the fuck was that about? Did you really mean for it to happen? Did you enjoy it as much as I-

Kris firmly pushes the thoughts and the memory of the kiss down into the corners of his mind, deciding that there's no reason for him to dwell on it.

It's not like it's going to happen again…

Chapter Text

Over the past few months, Kris has noticed that Bojan seems to be getting quite… close to Jan. They share glances, giggles and touches, and every time Kris catches their interactions, he pretends he doesn't see anything and tries not to think about it, and then tries not to think about why he doesn't want to think about it.

He knows that really it's quite irrational to notice or to let it bother him, since all of them are touchy and clingy and codependent, but he can't ignore the uneasy feeling that leaves him slightly nauseous whenever Bojan pays attention to someone who isn't him.

However, nothing has ever affected him quite as much as seeing the two of them actually kiss, and in front of an audience, no less.

He turns his head to Bojan as the song comes to an end just in time to see him leaning up and tilting his head backwards, Jan's hand on his shoulder gripping him tighter as he leans down to meet him halfway, and then…

Then Kris feels a deep ache in his chest as his world tilts on its axis.

Bojan smiles - no, smirks - as he steps out of Jan's embrace, and Kris quickly looks away before he can accidentally catch his eye without schooling his expression into something neutral and unbothered first.

His emotions slowly bubble up beneath the surface during the rest of the concert, and by the time they come off stage, his hands are balled up into fists and his jaw is clenched.

It's easier to feel anger than it is to feel sadness, easier to channel the pain into something nameable and have something to direct it at rather than simply being faced with an unknown, endless void and not knowing what to do with it.

Sadness has a reason, whereas anger can be irrational, and Kris certainly doesn't want to think about the reasons why seeing Bojan kiss someone else made him feel so impossibly sad and hopeless.

He waits until he has a brief moment alone with Bojan backstage, and then tries to approach him as calmly as he can.

Bojan smiles up at him. "Hey Kris! What's-"

Nope, nevermind. All of Kris' paper-thin patience leaves him in an instant when he locks gazes with Bojan.

He pushes Bojan back against the wall with just a little more force than is necessary, and watches as the air escapes his lungs and his eyes widen. The flames burning inside Kris shrink slightly as he gains back some of the control.

Bojan opens his mouth to speak, but Kris doesn't even let him. "Stop talking," he mutters harshly, and Bojan obediently snaps his jaw shut, something in his eyes shifting in what might be recognition. Kris can barely breathe.

After hesitating for the briefest of moments, he surges forwards and captures Bojan's lips in a bruising kiss, relief immediately flooding through him that he's the one who gets to do this again, no one else, not even Jan…

The image of the two of them kissing flashes in Kris' mind again, and he bites at Bojan's lip in retaliation, claiming, possessive. He hears Bojan let out a whine and it shoots straight through him, driving him even more insane and making him dizzy with want.

Kris' tongue finds its way into Bojan's mouth, drawing a gasp from him as his hands fly to the front of his shirt, clinging onto the fabric to pull Kris even closer, pressing himself against the wall even more. He's offering himself up, letting Kris take whatever he wants, and suddenly the desire to claim him becomes too overwhelming.

He pulls away so he can start kissing down Bojan's neck, hearing his short breaths turn into whimpers when he scrapes his teeth against his skin. Once he reaches just above his collarbone, he bites down with more force, sucking the skin into his mouth and Bojan moans. Loudly.

The sound makes Kris feel feral, his body prickling with warmth and blood rushing in his ears so forcefully that he almost doesn't hear when Bojan speaks.

"Kris- ah, fuck, Kris… wait, stop."

He feels Bojan's hands that were clutching the front of his shirt begin to push weakly at his chest and he staggers backwards, eyes immediately falling on the darkening mark on Bojan's neck. Jesus. He did that.

Bojan takes in a few deep breaths, face looking flushed and strands of hair falling into his eyes. "What are you doing?" he asks after a moment, and Kris freezes.

He hadn't thought before acting. He hadn't wanted to think, he just wanted to… to what?

"I… um-" he starts, then tries to swallow but finds that his mouth is dry. "I just- I was… I don't know."

It sounds pathetic even to his own ears, but Bojan looks somewhat like he was expecting the answer.

"Okay," he says, closing his eyes and letting out a breath. "And… do you know why you kissed me like that?"

God. He doesn't want to think about it, doesn't want to be faced with those questions, doesn't want Bojan to be looking at him like he is. He just wants to go back to kissing him, claiming him, marking him if he has to, anything to get him away from anyone else, especially…

Oh. He supposes he might be feeling-

Bojan lets out a small, bitter-sounding laugh. "You can't say it, can you?" he asks. Kris feels as if a bucket of ice water has been poured over him.

He tries to open his mouth to speak, but the words don't want to leave him - or rather, he doesn't want to speak them into existence.

"You can't," Bojan continues, this time not a question, and he sighs as he walks closer to Kris, stopping just a few centimetres away from him. "Don't expect me to start acting differently for your benefit if you can't even admit things to yourself, let alone to me. Okay?" he says, and Kris feels like his breath is stuck in his throat as he barely manages to nod wordlessly.

Their eye contact lingers for a few more seconds before Bojan turns to leave and Kris is on his own, nothing more than his racing thoughts to keep him company.

Fuck. Just… fuck.

Chapter Text

"What are you doing?"

Bojan jumps in surprise at the sound of Kris' voice as he enters the living room of their shared apartment, nearly dropping whatever it is he's currently holding mid-attempt to hang it up somewhere clearly out of his reach.

He exhales in relief when he turns to face Kris and lowers the hand he'd raised to his chest in fright. "I'm decorating! For Christmas," he explains brightly.

Kris looks at him blankly for a few seconds. "We already have a tree," he replies.

Bojan rolls his eyes. "We can't just have a tree. We should have some other Christmassy things too!" He turns back to his task and reaches high above his head, still no closer than before.

Kris watches in amusement for a moment before he notices the tasteful amount of Bojan's torso that becomes exposed when his shirt lifts up as he raises his arms, and he quickly tears his gaze away before he can get too flustered.

He clears his throat before speaking to ensure his voice doesn't waver. "You know, you could probably reach if you stood on a stool or something," he says. Bojan huffs stubbornly and attempts to stand higher on his tiptoes.

"Nope! I've got it, don't worry," His voice sounds strained and breathy when he speaks as he stretches, and Kris tries to ignore how that does something to him.

Instead, he says, "Don't you think you're maybe just a little bit too sho-"

"I'm not too short!" Bojan insists before Kris can even finish his sentence. "Look, I can do it and… I- fuck! Okay, fine. Maybe I could use a little help."

He steps back, defeated, and reluctantly hands Kris some kind of weird plant. Kris flashes him a triumphant smile as he takes it and looks up to see where Bojan was trying to hang it.

"No shame in asking for help from your much taller friend, Bojči," he teases. "You should have just asked me to begin wi- wait." As he lifts the mysterious plant to eye-level and gets a good look at it, he suddenly realises it looks an awful lot like… "Is this-"

"Mistletoe," Bojan finishes for him, and looks extremely pleased with himself when Kris turns to him, as if he was waiting for the penny to drop the entire time.

Kris pauses for a second. "Um… can I ask why?"

Bojan looks at Kris as if he's just asked the most ridiculous thing ever. "Because it's Christmas! And mistletoe is a Christmas thing," he says simply.

"No, what I mean is - why do we need it in our house?" Kris clarifies.

Tilting his head to the side for a moment, Bojan eventually shrugs. "Why not?"

Kris sighs and turns away from him, fiddling with the leaves in his hands. "And you want to hang it up… here?"

"Yeah," Bojan replies. "Is… that a problem?"

Alarm suddenly shoots through Kris, though he's not entirely sure why. "No! No, no, of course it's not a problem," he says in a rush. "It's just- um… you know what? Nevermind."

He quickly busies himself with hanging the mistletoe so he doesn't have to meet Bojan's gaze, but when he's done, Bojan catches his eye with a smirk before he can get in there first and change the subject. Fuck.

"What's wrong?" Bojan asks, deceptively sweet. "Afraid that we're both going to find ourselves standing underneath it so we have to kiss?"

Kris' breath involuntarily catches in his throat. There it is. The situation that insistently tapped at his subconscious the second he realised it was mistletoe. Strangely, though, he finds that he's not as panicked by the idea as he expected. Maybe he even feels excited.

He thinks of all the times he's kissed Bojan previously, all the memories he's tried so hard to repress, and finds that for once, the memories don't terrify him. In fact, he thinks of them quite fondly. He might even want to add to them.

In a striking moment of confidence, Kris meets Bojan's eyes and looks at him completely seriously. "Of course I'm not afraid of that. I wouldn't mind kissing you under the mistletoe. I'll do it right now, if you want me to."

He can tell that Bojan wasn't expecting to hear those words from Kris' mouth, as the cocky expression drops from his face and he looks genuinely surprised. A slight hint of nervousness creeps into Kris' chest, but he tries his best to push it down and not let it show.

However, when Bojan remains silent and averts his gaze to the floor, fear washes over Kris and his stomach drops.

"Oh God, I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to overstep," he rushes to say.

Bojan snaps his head up with wide eyes. "No no, Kris, you didn't, you… you definitely didn't overstep." He almost says the words with a laugh, but it sounds forced and anxious. Kris is utterly confused.

"Okay…" he says slowly, not knowing if he should feel relieved or not.

Running a hand through his hair, Bojan sighs. "Look, the thing is… I don't want to kiss you just under the mistletoe."

Kris blinks, trying to decipher what Bojan means, but he feels even more confused than before. "I don't understand," he says, and Bojan gives him a pained smile.

"I don't need an excuse to kiss you, Kris. I never did. I'd kiss you anywhere, I- I want to kiss you anywhere. I don't want it to just be a fleeting moment that we never talk about again, I want it to actually mean something. But… I know you don't feel the same way, and that's okay. I just had to let you know."

The more Bojan speaks, the more an electric feeling sparks within Kris and sends tingles throughout his body, mind lighting up and heart beating fast with dizzying delight. Bojan wants to kiss him. Actually, properly kiss him for real.

Lost in his thoughts, he realises too late that he's been staring at Bojan for too long as he takes a step to walk away. Kris panics and grabs him by the arm, halting him.

"Wait!" he says in alarm, faltering once Bojan looks up at him with his deep brown eyes. Fuck. He should say something, do something…

Without a word, he drags Bojan away from the mistletoe and then brings his hands up to cup his face. He stares at Bojan for a few seconds, watching as he takes in a steadying breath and flicks his gaze down to Kris' lips, and Kris can't wait any longer.

He presses his lips against Bojan's and they both immediately melt into the kiss, and it's just as earth-shattering as all the previous times they've kissed but in a completely different way. This time, it finally feels like they're both on the same wavelength, able to fully lose themselves in each other and let go.

Bojan kisses back almost frantically, clinging onto Kris with an edge of desperation that doesn't go unnoticed by Kris, who almost feels like he could pass out from the elation running through his veins.

After what feels like years, they pull back but remain close, heavy breaths falling against each other's mouths. Within their bubble of intimacy, Kris finally finds his voice.

"I do feel the same way," he murmurs, watching as Bojan opens his eyes to look at him, gentle adoration swimming in them. "And I want it to mean something too. Maybe I was scared before, or I just wasn't ready, but I am now."

Bojan's eyes crinkle at the corners as he smiles. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that," he says.

Kris lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding and runs his hand through Bojan's hair. "I think I've felt this way about you for longer than I cared to realise," he admits. "All that time I never thought to question… God, I'm such an idiot, I-"

He breaks off as Bojan presses another kiss to his lips, soft and gentle. "Then shut up and kiss me again, idiot," he breathes, meeting Kris' gaze fondly. A warm and tingly feeling spreads through him.

They have a lot of time to make up for.