ajremix | [drabble][DCU, Ted, Booster, PG-13] In This Together

Title: In This Together
Fandom: DCU
Rating: PG-13 with continued underage boys kissing and slightly less burgeoning sexual awareness
Word Count: 918
Characters: Ted, Booster
In Response to: 30 days of Boostle - tiptoe
Summary: AU Ted-n-Mike story, sequel to Gets the Best of You. Ted's avoiding Mike. Mike doesn't like that.

Mike wasn't happy. There were many times he wasn't happy, but he was particularly not-happy and it all stemmed from his best friend who'd been acting weird for the last week or so. He didn't know what it was about and Ted always tried to play ignorant whenever Mike asked. But the fact remained- Ted was being skittish, having trouble meeting Mike's eyes, rarely paying attention and finding excuses to not hang out with him between classes or after school. The worst, of course, was when Ted had to lie about those excuses. Mike wasn't dumb- no one needed to see a dentist two days in a row without major problems and he knew Ted's water didn't break (okay, so Mike didn't know exactly what that mean, but there was no water, ergo Ted was lying).

The point was it hurt. A lot. Though Michelle helped make it a little better by asking if Mike wanted her to knock Ted around a little and Skeets helped some, too, by putting his head on Mike's lap and looking at him with big eyes until Mike couldn't help but pet him.

In the end, though, there was only one thing to do. Even though he didn't want to, Michelle's assurance of sisterly vengeance (among an actual long and persuasive discussion) had Mike pulling Ted to one of their many secret hideouts and saying, "We need to talk."

"Talk?" Ted's eyes were darting around, body tense and ready to bolt. "About what?"

"About you avoiding me."

"I'm not avoiding you."

"Yes you are! You are and you keep lying to me. If... If you don't," Mike's throat closed up and he looked down, trying to blink back the stinging in his eyes. "If you don't want to be friends anymore," his voice cracked as he tried to force out his words, "j... just say so. I won't... won't... bother," he had to clamp his mouth shut, lower lip trembling as he realized with horror he was about to start crying.

"What? Oh, no, Mike- no no no. C'mon, Mikey, hey." Ted's hands were on his shoulders, ducking into Mike's line of sight. "It's nothing like that, okay?"

"But you never want to hang out with me anymore." He took a big, shuddering breath. "I don't know what I did wrong. If you told me, I'd-"

"It's not, Mike. You didn't do anything wrong, I promise."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"It's, I-I just..." Ted stepped back, sitting down on the stone ledge with his legs curled up, trying to look as small as his voice as he said, "I don't want you to hate me."

Mike's watery eyes abruptly dried at that. "Hate you? For what?" He asked, plopping down next to his friend.

"'Cuz I kinda wanna kiss you."

"Pfft," Mike shoved at the other boy. "Yeah, I kinda wanna kiss you, too, remember?"

"I mean really kiss you."

"Really kiss me? What does that mean?"

"Like... like they do on tv." Ted looked up at Mike through his lashes and Mike couldn't help thinking he really liked how Ted looked- biting his lower lip, cheeks getting red, being all shy like that. It made Mike's heart thud in his chest. "A for real kiss."

That put a giddy kind of shiver at the base of Mike's spine and he scooted close to Ted. "A for real kiss like this?" He asked before leaning in and pressing his mouth against Ted's. He held it for a moment, long enough to feel Ted sigh against his lips before pulling back.

"Uh, not exactly." Ted licked his lips and, though the shyness was still there, a certain measure of boldness was back. "Like an open-mouth kiss."

Eight out of ten times, Mike liked Ted's ideas. This was firmly one of those eight times. "Oh. Like this." He leaned back in, and when his opened mouth pressed against Ted's again, Ted's mouth opened and something wet and warm pushed into Mike's mouth. It made him jump and squeak a bit. He recognized the flavor of Cheetos and knew it was Ted, licking at the taste of him. Ted made a whimpery little sound and Mike decided he really, really liked it and tried to get Ted to make that sound again.

Mike pressed in, sucking against Ted's tongue, ignoring the way their teeth clashed together. Ted was overwhelming him in ways he'd never done before and Mike lamented all the years he missed out on. Ted's hands were on Mike's shoulders, crumpling his shirt as he tried to pull Mike closer. They shifted around until Mike had a leg draped over Ted's lap, practically sitting on him as they kissed. Mike's blood hummed, making tingly little sparks go off all over his body and he couldn't stop the nameless need from trembling up his spine.

They eventually pulled away, panting hard. Mike couldn't help grinning. He didn't know why he was, just like he didn't know why he was laughing and hugging Ted, just did and was glad to have shared the moment with his best friend.

Ted pulled back a little bit, looking a little confused. "You," it took him a moment to blink the glazed look from his eyes and to find his breath again, "You don't think this is weird?"

"A little," Mike admitted with a cheeky smile, "but it's not a bad weird, is it?"

Ted grinned back, hand tightening and bringing Mike in just a little bit closer. "Not at all."