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Today was the day he was going to confess to Teddy, Phil was sure of it. He's been waiting for this day ever since sixth grade, he planned out what he was going to say the night before with a bit of help from Susie.
“Hmm how about ‘Teddy, we have been friends since grade one and ever since my feelings have grown into something bigger” Susie suggested, walking back and forth in Phil's room
“That doesn't even sound like me, he would definitely know that I didn't think of that. I want what I'm gonna say to be… me? I don't know, I just want him to know that im being sincere and I dont wanna sound like a 8 year old” He sighed out, not really knowing how to explain what he's thinking of. Susie lightly smacked him for his comment.
“Then how about you go in without planning it?” a feminine voice perked up, sounding as if they were right behind the closed door. Phil stood up and quickly opened the door “Have you been there the whole time!?” He cried out, ears and face turning red.
The siblings' mother walked into his room, sat at his desk and crossed her legs. “Of course I have been, look Phil, sit down first.” He slowly walks to his bed sitting down, Susie following him.
“If you want to be sincere to Teddy, go tomorrow without planning what you're going to say, you'll be put on the spot and start blabbering the truth instead of saying something you memorized the day before. It's what your father did for me!”
“I guess I could try that, do you think it'll work?”
“If it worked on me then it will absolutely work on Teddy, just be yourself and he will appreciate it.”
“Teddy does appreciate when I tell the truth.. So I guess you're right, the only thing I'm scared about is what he's gonna say. I mean what if he’s disgusted and never talks to me again or he tells the whole school, then all of Derry will find out!”
“Phil, dear. I've seen the way you both look at each other, you can't fake that sort of passion.” She smiled, walking up and pulling Phil into a tight hug. “Don't worry, even if he doesn't feel the same way, Teddy is not the type of person to do that. He's a good kid”
He sees Susie nodding, glancing between both of them. She runs and jumps into the hug holding Phil even tighter. “Thanks mom and you to Suze.” He sits back down on his bed swinging his legs looking like something was on the boy's mind.
“Are you going to tell dad..?” Phil questioned with worry in his voice, “Not unless you want me too.”
“Well I just feel like it would be better if I told him, I don’t want him learning something about me and I'm not even the one to tell him” He breathed out, rubbing his neck. “But I do feel like he has his suspicions, if you found out before I even told you then dad definitely knows”
Phil woke up late, hearing his little sister yelling at him to get up. “Shit!” He jumps out of bed, gathering the best clothes he could find and runs to the bathroom to shower—possibly creating a new world record for how quick it was.
He's never felt this nervous before, the last time he felt like this was when he got in trouble with Mr. Uris. That was a terrifying memory he and Teddy never want to remember. He didn't even think he did anything that was remotely bad, all he did was drop off Teddy past his curfew. Which he thought was dumb—who still has a curfew at 13? But he decided to not voice his opinion, not wanting to upset Teddy even more.
“Good morning!” He yelled running down the stairs, almost tripping on the last step.
“Good luck today honey, make sure to eat!” His mother reminded him. He grabbed some food before running out the door and onto his bike. Biking as fast as possible to school—in the distance he sees short curly hair near the bike rack, waiting for him. Phil's stomach filled with butterflies at the thought of that—he smiled widely, waving at Teddy.
Locking his bike into the rack and eating the rest of his breakfast.
“Teddy! Today is gonna be a good day, I can feel it!”
“You're energetic for someone who was late” Teddy looked at Phil with those downturned eyes he loves so much.
He always thinks Teddy looks like a sad cat whenever they make eye contact—which is basically everyday. He could get lost in his green eyes for hours and wouldn't even notice how much time passed by. They remind him of aliens, not the ones they would see in horror movies, more like the ones in the comics that they would create together.
“Of course I am! How could I not be when I'm with my best friend in the whole world!” He ruffled Teddy's hair, not even thinking about his actions.
Okay so maybe he’s a bit too eager to tell Teddy how he truly feels but that doesn't mean he should suddenly gain confidence out of his ass. Who ruffles their friends' hair? definitely not this guy, though it does seem like Teddy didn't dislike it.
Teddy blushes and fixes his hair, watching the taller boy walk into the school right as the bell rang. He runs to catch up with Phil and matches his pace. “So, Teds.. wanna go for ice cream later? I really wanna try that new flavour they got! I also have something important to tell you” He trailed off while rubbing the back of his neck—a new habit he gained from his father whenever he was nervous.
“Yeah sure” slightly raising his eyebrow, curious about what Phil has to tell him.
“Nice! Okay! I planned that we go right after school unless you have to go home first, then we can meet later.”
“I can go after school, my parents aren't home until tomorrow and Donald is just gonna keep studying for his exams” Teddy stated, his voice going down an octave at the mention of his family. Maybe one day Phil will find out what that's about because he knows absolutely nothing about his house. Ever since they've been friends, their sleepovers or hangouts have always been at Phil's home, not that he minds it! His parents adore Teddy. It's just that he's never even been in Teddy's room let alone been near his house—besides the time he got in trouble, it was the first and last time he met Mr. Uris.
“That's awesome, okay then after we can go to the quarry or our hideout, you can choose!”
“The hideout, it's more comfortable” Teddy claimed, grabbing both books in his locker for their next class and giving one to the taller boy.
They keep their books in the same locker because Phil's locker is across the entire school. If he were to go there in between every class; he would be late to all of them. Plus they have all the same classes so it’s just easier.
They walk side by side, shoulders touching—making Phil's heart flutter with every touch.
“Did you do the homework last night?” Teddy suddenly asked. Phil turned his head away, remembering the conversation he had with his mother and Susie. “Well, I didn't have time Teds! I was preparing for World War Three—how can anyone worry about homework when the next war is right around the corner!”
Teddy rolled his eyes and sighed out “You’re gonna fail this class and im not going to help when you do”
After school, the duo walked out of their classroom and into the halls. With Teddy ahead of Phil he was able to see if anyone was around. Suddenly he gasped and stopped walking, before Phil could go into the next hall, Teddy pulled the back of his shirt–yanking the other back and making him fall onto the floor. “Ow- Teds! What was that for” he groaned out, grabbing onto the nearby wall to help him up.
“Sorry, I didn't mean that. Let's walk the long way.”
“What? Why, your locker is right there- oh” He looked around the corner, seeing 3 teenagers; probably around 15-16, writing something he couldn't make out on Teddy's locker with a permanent marker. Kids have been bullying the both of them for as long as he can remember but Teddy always got it the most–just for being Jewish and only hanging out with Phil—therefore making him queer. It's so stupid, why don't they ever pick on someone their own size and age–it's embarrassing how much Teddy bothers them when he's never even spoken five words to them. If Phil could make them bully him instead, he definitely would, he would do it in a heartbeat.
He felt a tug on his arm “Phil”
“Okay… yeah lets go the other way”
They walk toward the back of the school, going down the stairs and grabbing their bikes. Teddy puts his books in his bag, Phil mimicking his actions, he put his own book in his bag too.
They biked far away, avoiding the front of Derry high. After they knew they would be seen by the older kids they started biking towards the ice cream shop—with Phil talking about some other conspiracy he thought of and Teddy making small comments about it.
Once at the shop, they hop off their bikes, leaving their backpacks on the ground. Phil opened the door for Teddy and bowed down—causing Teddy to roll his eyes but still thanking him. “Which one do you want?” the man behind the counter said, sounding annoyed.
“Vanilla, in a cone please” Teddy told the man and looked at Phil—who was still choosing which one he wanted. “Hmm, ill try the butter pecan! in a cone too please” The man grabbed two cones and started scooping both the ice creams.
“Thatll be 25 cents for both.” The man gave Teddy and Phil their ice cream and napkins.
Teddy started to search in his pockets for coins. “Thank you for buying our ice cream and we hope you come again…” He suddenly heard, quickly looking up and seeing Phil near the register—smiling widely. “Come on teds lets go!”
“Wait, did you pay? I could've paid for mine.”
“Nonesense Teds! I was the one who invited you and as the gentleman I am, I'll pay for your ice cream!” He held the door open and once again—bowed down.
Phil felt a light smack on his head and looked up at Teddy.
“Next time im paying then” He blushed and walked out.
They both put their backpacks on and got onto their bikes—riding with one hand and eating the ice cream with the other, heading towards their hideout.
Once they got there, Phil ran up the stairs urging Teddy to hurry up, wanting to work on their comics.
After making a lot of progress on their story and finishing their ice cream, they relaxed for a bit. Teddy, listening to the other talk about whatever came to mind. Phil suddenly stopped talking and went quiet, remembering the reason why they got ice cream and came to their hang out. Teddy could see Phil's leg bouncing furiously, guessing what he was thinking of, he asked:“So.. what did you wanna tell me?” because of course Teddy didn't forget, he never forgets—Teddy has the best memory ever, it's one of the reasons he's passing all of his classes with over 90.
“Oh right” Phil, acting as if he forgot. “Uh, okay” he took a deep breath trying to regulate his breathing.
“Okay look Teddy I know that we’ve known each other since first grade and have been best friends ever since but my feelings have changed a lot over the years” Teddy felt his heart sink to the floor but kept his facial expression the same. “And I don't know if it's the spacecraft messing with my mind but I think I like you, like more than a friend…” Phil started chewing his lips while searching for relief, worry, joy or even disgust in Teddy's face but he saw nothing—this made his legs start to go numb out of fear.
Suddenly five seconds later, Teddy's eyes went wide and he saw his cheeks burn up. “Are- are you serious?”
That could either mean he likes him back or he's really angry so he asks: “Are you mad?”
“No!” Teddy shouted, startling Phil causing him to jump. “Uh sorry, no, no I'm not mad” he quickly recomposed himself, rubbing his face—trying to calm himself down.
“I just.. didn't expect anyone to like me”
Phil jolted, making a confused face. He slowly grabbed Teddy's hands and held them gently—rubbing them with his thumbs.
“Teds, you are absolutely amazing, you’re the best person I've ever met in this god forsaken town, you're the only reason I haven’t begged my parents to leave Derry. I can’t stand not being with you, every moment of the day I want to be right next to you”
“Okay, okay! I get it” He covered Phil's mouth so he wouldn’t hear anything else. “God Phil, you need to stop talking..” He looked away covering his own mouth with one hand, trying to hide the fact that he's smiling.
“I love when you let yourself smile, I love the sad look in your eyes, they're so beautiful! how could someone not want to look at them every single day.” Trying his best to talk through the other’s hand, knowing this will only get Teddy more flustered. “I love your curly hair-“
“Phil be quiet!” the boy said, putting both hands on the other's mouth and squeezing his face. Phil never knew how to shut up, wherever they were, Phil would constantly be talking. That's something Teddy loved about him, there's never an awkward situation when you're with him. Though they've both been in trouble quite a few times due to Phil's rambling.
“Gee I didn't think you felt like that but.. I do think I feel the same way”
Phil gasped, shockingly and quickly stood up, bringing Teddy with him and bringing him into a bear hug—squeezing him tightly. He pulled back and held the curly haired boy's face in his hands.
He looked at him for quite a while, never thinking his fantasies would become reality—he really hoped this wasn't some kind of messed up dream the aliens were projecting into his brain. What would people think about them? Would they even go public with this information, Phil wondered.
“Phil?” Teddy's face was bright red as he looked into Phil's eyes worryingly. Shit, it definitely looked like he was about to kiss him—Phil pulled back—still holding the other's face.
“Uh sorry teds!” he chuckled, sitting back down and quickly putting his hands on his lap, biting the inside of his cheek. He saw Teddy sit down right beside him, Phil felt a warm hand on top of his, making him look up. Teddy was looking at him, slightly smiling.
Phil rarely gets to see him smile—not even when they were younger. Teddy would always have this stern look on his face—guessing he got it from his dad because Donald has the same face. He’s probably seen the other smile about five times since grade one—this was a special occasion and he will cherish it forever.
His smile always made him feel fuzzy inside, it always made his mind go blank; losing his train of thought and making him blurt out words or sentences—which is what exactly happened now.
“Wanna be my boyfriend” Phil said at lightning speed not even asking it as a question.
“What- uh, yea.. yeah of course” He said, caught off guard.
“Oh my god, this is a dream come true” He pulls Teddy into another tight hug and doesn't let go.
“Is this why you felt it was gonna be a good day?”
“Maybe”