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They'd been friends since Year 7.
Back when Chunkz still wore creased trousers and Aj's backpack looked bigger than his whole body. Back when the days felt like a series of chaos and chicken shop receipts, before anything serious ever had to matter.
They came up together in the same postcode, same jokes, same bus stop chats about nothing that grew into everything.
They survived school by sticking close. Same form group. Same maths table. Same lunchtime schemes.
When one got in trouble, the other was already making excuses. When one made a joke, the other laughed even when it wasn't funny.
That kind of bond. The invisible kind. The kind that grows underground, deeper than anyone notices, until one day it blooms and everyone around them acts like it's always been obvious.
Everyone assumed they'd dated.
How could they not? They moved like they shared the same breath. When one entered a room, the other followed. When they shot content, the energy was magnetic.
Chunkz would lean on Aj like gravity worked differently for them, shoulder against shoulder, grinning at him like the camera wasn't even there. Aj, despite hating any kind of physical contact-- he was quieter but always close, orbiting him without trying.
It was the kind of assumption that followed them from school corridors to youtube sets, from crowded green rooms to quiet late-night shoots.
The way Aj and Chunkz moved effortlessly close, constantly in sync, private jokes that no one else caught, it just looked like something had happened. Something deeper. Something quiet and old.
But they hadn't. Not even once.
Not a drunken mistake. Not a teenage kiss in the back of a party. Nothing.
Which made it worse.
Because for Aj, it hadn't not happened. Not in his head. Not in his chest.
He'd been in love with Chunkz since they were seventeen.
It wasn't even dramatic. No thunderclap moment, no shift in the atmosphere.
It was just a slow, steady knowing, realising that no one else made him laugh like that, that no one else made him feel safe enough to be soft.
It had crept up on him like the sun through his curtains in the morning, warm, gentle, impossible to ignore once it was there.
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They'd always been close. Not just in the casual "grew up together" way, but the kind of close that blurred, bent, broke boundaries in ways no one ever called out. It was always "Chunkz and Aj" never one without the other.
If Aj showed up to something solo, people asked where Chunkz was. If Chunkz was on a panel and Aj wasn't next to him, comments flooded with "Where's your other half?"
And then there was the way Chunkz spoke about him.
"My Aj" Chunkz would say offhandedly. Always with warmth, never with awareness.
"My Aj's funnier than me"
"My Aj doesn't miss"
"My Aj and I were talking about this the other day..."
Possessive. Careless. Intimate.
Chunkz said it like breathing. My Aj. My guy. My bredrin. My everything, if you listened close enough. He'd throw his arm around Aj's shoulders after shoots, tap his name first when shouting people out, lean on him like gravity preferred him more.
Aj let him.
Let him do it for years.
Smiled through it all. Nodded when people teased. Stayed quiet when fans tweeted essays on how "lowkey, this is soulmates in real time" And he said nothing, even though he'd known, God, he'd known for too long that it wasn't just friendship anymore. Not on his end.
Because Aj loved him.
He had for years.
Quietly. Unapologetically. In the stolen moments Chunkz didn't even realize were romantic. The late-night drives with old-school R&B playing, both of them humming half the lyrics.
The airport layovers where Aj watched him sleep with a neck pillow and a slight snore. The way Chunkz looked when he laughed hard like really laughed, head back, whole chest shaking, eyes shut. That laugh felt like a confession all on its own.
But Chunkz never saw it. Never caught the way Aj looked at him. Never noticed how his hand lingered too long when they were side-by-side on cramped couches. Never clocked how tightly Aj's jaw clenched every time someone else flirted with him on camera.
He didn't know. He couldn't know.
Because if he knew, if he had any idea what those words did to Aj, what that little bit of ownership tasted like when you'd been hungry for someone for years, he wouldn't have said it so freely.
Wouldn't have stood so close. Wouldn't have called Aj "baby" in jokes. Wouldn't have leaned his weight on Aj's chest when they were play-fighting, breath hot against his neck, laughing like his mouth wasn't right there.
Aj had been in love for years. Quietly. Consistently.
He didn't tell anyone, not because he was scared of what Chunkz would say, but because he already knew what he wouldn't. Chunkz wasn't cruel, but for a very very smart man-- he was oblivious.
Loud in every way but one. The way he loved was real, but unfocused. He loved everyone. His family. His fans. His friends. Aj... maybe just a little more. Maybe without realizing it.
And Aj couldn't gamble everything on a maybe.
So he swallowed it down. Year after year. Let himself live in the space beside the spotlight, close enough to feel warm but never close enough to touch it. He stayed loyal. Stayed near. Stayed silent.
Until the house party.
It was some mid-level influencer thing, barely interesting, loud music, bad cocktails. AJ wasn't even going to go, but Chunkz begged. "My Aj, you never come out anymore, man. Come on. Just for me?" and that was all it took.
He went. Watched Chunkz hold court like always, center of attention, cup in hand, laughing too loud, face lit up. He was magnetic. Beautiful. Aj hated how much he still noticed.
And then some girl leaned in too close. Smiling. Handsy. Whispering something into Chunkz's ear that made him laugh. Chunkz said something back, Aj couldn't hear it over the bass but the way she grabbed his wrist, like she owned a piece of him already.
Something cracked.
Not jealousy. Not anger. Just... enough.
Aj stepped outside before he did something stupid. Air cold. Wind biting. He gripped the railing of the stairs like it could ground him, staring out at nothing, trying to breathe around the weight in his chest.
He didn't hear Chunkz follow until the door clicked shut behind him.
"You good?" Chunkz asked.
Aj didn't look up.
"Yeah" Aj said.
Chunkz didn't move. Just stood there for a second, then walked closer, voice quieter now.
"You left without saying anything" Chunkz said.
Aj shrugged.
"Didn't wanna interrupt" Aj said.
"Interrupt what?" Chunkz asked as he frowned.
Aj laughed, dry and brittle.
"Whatever was going on inside" Aj said.
Silence.
"Aj..." Chunkz said.
Finally, he looked up. His voice didn't waver, didn't soften. Just honest. Tired.
"I can't keep doing this, man" Aj said.
"Doing what?" Chunkz asked as his brow creased.
"This" Aj said as he gestured vaguely.
"Playing backup. Pretending like I don't feel what I feel. Letting you call me 'my Aj' like it doesn't mean something. Watching you flirt with every breathing thing in the room and pretending it doesn't... kill me a little" Aj said.
Chunkz stared at him like the words didn't compute. Like he'd been hit in the face with a punchline he didn't understand.
"What are you saying?" Chunkz asked.
Aj huffed, exhaled everything he'd been holding for years.
"I'm in love with you. I've been in love with you. Since before youtube. Since before the views. Since you let me copy your homework in Year 11 and then walked me home like it was nothing" Aj said.
The silence that followed wasn't heavy, it was electric.
Chunkz was quiet. Still.
Then, finally, he stepped forward, slow, almost hesitant. He looked at AJ like he was trying to see him for the first time again.
"You love me" Chunkz said.
It wasn't a question.
Aj nodded.
"I always have" Aj said.
Another long silence. One second. Two.
Then Chunkz let out the tiniest, breathless laugh.
"I thought you'd never say it" Chunkz said.
Aj blinked.
"What?" Aj asked.
"You know" Chunkz said, almost smiling.
"I always thought I was imagining it" Chunkz said.
Aj blinked.
"What?" Aj said.
Chunkz reached up and cupped the side of his neck, thumb brushing gently across Aj's jaw
. "The way you look at me. The way I feel different when you're around. I thought... if I said anything, I'd mess it up" Chunkz said.
"You always called me yours" Aj whispered, voice breaking just slightly.
"I've been waiting" Chunkz said voice was low now, steady but heavy.
"You think I called you my Aj for no reason? I thought if I said it enough, you'd hear me properly. I didn't say it like a friend, bro" Chunkz said.
"You never told me" Aj said.
"I didn't know how. You were always just there. Safe. I thought if I crossed the line and you didn't feel the same, I'd lose everything" Chunkz said.
Chunkz was closer now, one hand rising slow, careful, fingertips brushing along Aj's jaw like he was scared to move too fast. Aj's eyes fluttered shut for just a second and when they opened again, Chunkz was already leaning in, lips just shy of his.
"I'm done waiting" Chunkz murmured.
And then he kissed him.
Soft. Deep. Meant. It wasn't frantic or rushed, it was full of years. It was the kind of kiss you give to someone you already belong to. The kind that said finally.
No hesitation. No question. Just warmth, pressure, the kind of kiss that rewrote timelines.
Aj melted. Into him. Into the years that had built up to this. Into the hands that held his face like something precious. Into the lips that finally knew what they wanted.
When they pulled apart, Aj rested his forehead against Chunkz's.
"So... what now?" Aj asked.
Chunkz smiled, real and wide and bright as it had always been.
"Next time someone asks" Chunkz whispered,
"I'm not saying we never dated. I'm saying you've been mine. Always" Chunkz said.
And Aj didn't say anything, just nodded, just held him.
Because there was nothing left to explain.
And just like that, the silence between them finally ended, replaced with something far louder. Belonging.