||Wattys 2022 Shortlist||
Kian Advani was a closeted queer in his high school. Always in denial of his true feelings and emotions. So much so that he did everything to blend in with the rest of the straight crowd. But that didn't mean he wasn't att...
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Kian knew losing Enzo was inevitable.
From the moment his heart started fluttering with the mere thought of Enzo, their friendship was doomed. He knew it back then, and he knew it when Enzo approached him in California. Kian knew they were walking on thin ice. Somehow he didn't realize he would be drowning so deep in the cold water that he would breathe out only regrets.
That night he kissed Enzo like a dying man, and only a true love's kiss could help him stay alive.
After repeating the same mistake which broke them apart in the past, Kian went to the nearby bar. He got some more drunk, like old times, like an addict who needs a fix. Nothing helped, though.
Enzo's scent still consumed his senses. His lips still tingled with the feel of Enzo's lips, and his mind replayed the exact moment when he lost control again and again as his life suddenly fell into an endless loop of him kissing Enzo, his crush, who wasn't into guys. And fucking hell Kian was one.
Somewhere around his fifth round of Jack, he was finally losing the sense of his surroundings, and tormenting images blurred in his mind. Then he was stumbling out of the bar, resting his back against the back alley, where he had spent many nights, nights like this, either making out or blowing some steam out with random strangers, boys and girls alike. But that was another version of him. The one he had left far behind. Kian wasn't that guy anymore.
However, tonight he behaved like his past version, letting his desires take over his control. He went off the hook, and as he pulled out another joint from the box of cigarettes, the old Kian. The one who caused mindless destruction to himself was back.
By the time he finished the roll, his limbs were already giving up on his body. He was stoned, drunk, heartbroken, and so very clueless about his surroundings. He heard a small giggle from his side and could only make out blurry images of a guy and a girl leaning against the brick wall beside him. Kian stubbed out the burnt joint and tried pulling his liquifying limbs together, only to stumble and brace himself for a fall face-first on the rough ground.
Although, the impact never came.
A pair of strong hands held his body upright before he could break his nose and bleed his mistakes. He looked up through his half-mast eyes at his savior and met with a set of ocean blue eyes. The gentle tug of his lips and the slicked-up blond hair was exactly something Kian didn't hope to stumble upon.
"Christopherrrr," Kian dragged out the last letter a little too much, blinking in confusion at the blue-eyed royalty. Kian planted his hands on Chris's chest, then grinned at him. "Wow, you saved my face from breaking. Good timing there!"
"How much have you had to drink, stranger?" Chris released a scoff, tugging up Kian's body so that he didn't fall off.
"What a gentleman like you is doing in the back alley of a dingy bar? Or is this just a dream?" Kian blurted out in his muzzy accent.
