Pike (02.05am): its 2am do u know where ur bfs at???
Spikey Boy (02.06am): loitering
Pike (02.06am): rude
Pike (02.06am): also tru when ru getting off???
Pike (02.07am): sometime soon right ;) ;) ;)
Spikey Boy (02.09am): shouldnt i be saying that
Pike (02.09am): yeah but wuld u
Spikey Boy (02.10am): no
Pike (02.10am): exactly
Pike glanced up from his phone towards the windows of the corner store. From where he sat on the curb outside all he could see of Carter was the very top of his head, right above a Tecate ad. He’d been waiting for what felt like ages even though it was probably more like fifteen minutes, and Carter should have been closing up already. He frowned at what little of Carter’s head he could see, trying to telepathically get him to hurry the fuck up.
He would’ve gone in to maybe help with closing - he was like, super good at cleaning up okay - but ever since the “incident” Abu hadn’t trusted them together in the shop at closing time. It wasn’t that Pike blamed him, but come on. They were adults not some snotty kids, first of all, and it was just the one time (that they got caught) it’s not like they made a habit of getting up in each other’s business every night or whatever.
Besides, Pike just really, really wanted to see Carter right then. And like, be around him, like right next to him, and touch him. Like, hold his hand or whatever. He wanted to be with him so bad it was making that spot right below the middle of his ribcage hurt a little from the tension. He didn’t care what they were gonna do or where they were gonna go or whatever as long as he could just be around his boyfriend like, for the next forever. That’d be great, that’d be like, super great.
His phone buzzed in his hand, and he dropped his gaze to see Carter had responded with be out soon.
Good, Pike thought, standing up from the curb as the wanting buzzed through him even harder, all nervous energy flaring through his joints to the tips of this fingers and toes. He was all a-flutter or whatever, couldn’t sit still for the life of him right then. Tucking his phone back into his pocket, he walked down the longer length of the shop just to give himself something to do. The street was empty, and though several cars had passed by on the main street since he’d arrived traffic was practically nonexistent. Beneath the orange glow of the streetlamps the world looked a little eerie, a little off, but in a familiar way. He was always wandering around dark streets lately, what with the night shift at work an all. He’d gotten used to the still of it, the quiet hush of the passing cars broken now and then by sudden bursts of rowdy music and voices.
He didn’t exactly like it - the world felt a little empty at two in the morning - but he’d gotten used to it.
By the time he’d paced his way back to the front door, Carter was stepping outside.
“Can you get the grate?” Carter asked, locking the front door, and Pike pulled the steel gate over as he passed so that Carter could lock that up as well.
"Finally," Carter said with a groan, turning to Pike and wrapping him up in a hug. "Tonight dragged so bad…"
Pike practically melted into him, wrapping his arms around Carter's neck and pulling close, "I was waiting out here forever and its cold. D'you feel how cold I am?"
"Poor baby," Carter chuckled, arms tightening around Pike’s middle as he pulled him into a soft kiss. Well, if anything could warm him up it was definitely Carter’s kiss, and Carter’s arms around him, and the way Carter just sorta seemed to put absolutely everything into even the softest and gentlest kisses.
It was kind of funny, how absolutely everything about Carter drove Pike wild - sometimes lowkey wild and sometimes absolutely bonkers wild, but always wild like, deep-down-inside-in-his-being wild. When they’d first gotten to know each other, and when Carter had first brought up the whole past-lives thing, Pike wasn’t really sure he got what Carter was talking about. Not the past-lives thing, he got that just fine. Practically every night he was reliving something that’d happened to a different him, in a different world or time or whatever. But the whole connection thing - the way Carter said it felt when he met someone he knew from before, like they were magnets or something. Pike just didn’t get that. Sometimes, he’d gotten a certain type of feeling when seeing someone or meeting them for the first time, like a different sort of deja vu that had him thinking he’d had to have met them before, but nothing like what Carter had described.
But he thought he was starting to understand, maybe. Or maybe he was just really, really, head over heels for Carter, but he was pretty sure he had never felt like this for someone before, and he’d been deep in love before. But it hadn’t been this and it hadn’t felt like every time they saw each other something inside of him felt like it was finally whole again, like he’d been missing something all his life. He was pretty sure he would’ve remembered feeling that way before, it was pretty amazing. For the first time in his life, he had moments where something made absolute, wonderful, unexpected sense.
“So,” Carter asked, face still close enough their noses were touching, “What’s the plan?”
“Okay so this might sound a little crazy,” Pike began, loosening his hold on Carter’s neck a little.
“Crazy.” Carter nodded slowly, “All right.”
“Bowling.”
Carter raised an eyebrow, head tilting slightly to one side.
“What?” Pike asked, brows furrowing.
“That’s crazy to you?”
“I mean, it’s like almost three in the morning?” Pike shrugged, “And I said it was only a little crazy.”
“That isn’t crazy,” Carter said with a snort. “I thought you meant, trespassing crazy, or-or skinny dipping in Lake Michigan crazy.”
“Listen, that was ONE time, it was an old cemetery and the gate was practically falling apart so it didn’t even count,” Pike said, “And rain check on the second one because it’s fucking March and I don’t wanna get pneumonia and die.”
“Rain check accepted,” Carter said with a smirk, a twinkle in his brown eyes that promised he wouldn’t forget. “Where’s this all night bowling alley then?”
“Not far,” Pike leaned close to kiss Carter’s cheek before pulling away and grabbing his hand. “Come on, let’s find your car.”
“I knew it,” Carter sighed, letting Pike pull him after him. “You only want me for my wheels.”
“Obviously.”
“Obviously.”
The driver was short, especially in the dead of night, but as they pulled into the parking lot it was apparent that the late - or early? - hour hadn’t put a damper on the business. The lot wasn’t packed but it was definitely far more full than they’d expected, and they had to park half the lot away from the entrance. The night air was crisp with a chill, and their breath clouded in the air.
“It’s Cosmic Wednesday,” Pike said, looking over at Carter with a grin.
“Ohhh, with the black lights and stuff?” Carter asked, excitement in his voice. “I fucking love blacklight bowling.”
The entrance to the bowling alley was lit normally, but once they passed the blacked-out double doors they were plunged into near darkness, lit only by the dayglo marks on the carpeting and walls and blacklit balls. They checked in at the front desk, and after securing a lane and shoes they headed down the safety-lit stairs to drop their stuff at a station.
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“You don’t have to take the heaviest,” Carter said with a smirk as they walked over to the racks, “You might not be able to handle it.”
“Oh babe, you should know by now, my ball handling skills are legendary,” Pike replied with a grin and a wink. Carter laughed, giving him a good-natured shove.
They both ended up with 12-pounders, Carter’s a marbled blue and purple while Pike’s was a neon green that glowed fiercely under the black light. Pike went to get drinks while Carter plugged their names in. He headed back, two plastic cups of beer in hand and an all-night drinks bracelet on his wrist, humming happily to himself. It totally felt like a good night, like a real good night. And yeah, he’d seen Carter only a couple nights ago but he was really happy he got to go out with him then. He hadn’t been sure if his boyfriend would be up for it when he texted him after getting off from work but Carter had seemed just as enthusiastic about it as he was.
"Ready to get your ass whupped?" Carter asked, grinning up at Pike as he approached.
"Uh, no," Pike bumped Carter's shoulder with his hip, setting their drinks down on the stations counter. "You're gonna be the one crying about losing."
"We'll see about that," Carter said, standing up, running his hand across Pike’s back as he stepped around him. "I'm going first."
"That...that doesn't sound fair-hey!"
They played a couple long games, made even longer because they probably spent as much time joking around and chatting as they did actually playing. And Pike might’ve shaken his ass a few times when it was his turn to bowl to get Carter to laugh, and he might’ve tried to poke Carter’s side when he went up or throw out real bad flirty lines to try to throw him off, but the most fun had to be when he got to sit back and just watch him. Watch the way Carter hefted the ball, watch the way his whole stance shifted as he tried to concentrate on the throw. Watch the way his face lit up after a strike, the way his lips curled in a crooked smirk when he turned to Pike to tell him it was his turn. He could watch Carter for hours, honestly. Like he was watching him right then, grinning up at Carter as he walked over.
“Which one is that?” Carter asked, running his fingers through Pike’s hair. Pike leaned into his touch, eyes dropping to his empty cup.
“Uh,” he tried to remember, which was probably not a positive sign, “Third?”
“Right,” Carter gave him a look but no more than that, and though Pike felt a little chagrined it couldn’t put a damper on his good mood, especially when Carter leaned down to press a kiss to the top of his head. “Your turn, babe.”
They played a while longer, the lanes growing emptier and emptier as other patrons finally decided to go home. Pike had gone back for a few more drinks between turns and Carter hadn’t even said anything about it and by the time they left the bowling alley he was feeling real good, that kind of good where everything and anything felt like, the best. Absolutely.
“Hey,” Pike said, hooking his arm through Carters and stumbling a little into him, “Car-Car you’re real cute, you know that?”
He kissed Carter on the cheek, then on the lips when the other man turned towards him, feeling Carter’s smile against his own. Carter’s hand was on his face, tracing a line from his chin to his ear before settling comfortably at the back of his head, sending shudders across Pike’s skin as it did. They kissed again, short but sweet enough to tremble a little warmth inside Pike’s chest.
“Let’s get going,” Carter said softly, thumb brushing across Pike’s cheek.
“I guess,” Pike sighed, making no move to pull away, “If we gotta.”
“I don’t think they’ll let us just stay here, babe,” Carter laughed, pulling away enough to start walking again. Pike didn’t really want to move, really, it was a nice night and Carter was nice and they were having fun, but Carter gave his arm a tug and he went along anyway. The car wasn’t far and soon enough Carter was unlocking the doors and they were getting inside.
“Hey,” Pike said, settling into the passenger’s seat. Maybe sort of melting into the passenger's seat. He unzipped his jacket, pulling the seatbelt across his chest at Carter’s reminder, and just sort of grinned over at his boyfriend. Wow but he felt good, like real good and warm and happy, and he kind of wanted to cuddle Carter right then, kiss him some more, but they were in the car already and Carter was pulling out of their parking spot. Pike watched as he turned his head to look behind as they backed up, eyeing the stretch of dark skin hungrily, wanting to kiss the distance between Carter’s ear and his shoulder all nice and slow - but, but they were driving. That was going to be a no, Pike was pretty sure.
“Hey,” He started again, and this time Carter looked over at him, “Let’s go to the beach.”
“Didn’t think you’d wanna use that rain check so quick,” Carter said with a slow smile, his eyes all warm, like he felt how good the atmosphere was right then too and the thought made Pike’s heart beat a little faster in his chest. “Thought you said it was too cold.”
“Well, yeah,” Pike settling a little lower in the seat, wondering if Carter could hear his heart beating real fast like that. “But like, we could maybe walk around or something?”
“Or something,” Carter chuckled, but he headed east towards the lake anyways. They chatted as they drove, Pike singing along with a few songs when the urge hit him to. The city was very slowly beginning to wake up the further towards the lake they went, people beginning to appear on the streets in an eery, almost magical sort of way, like they weren’t quite yet supposed to be out there but were anyways. Cars passed them more often, but somehow nearing-5am in the city still held some sort of eerie, nearly liminal feel to it. The buildings still felt a little unreal, shrouded in the early morning darkness right before sunrise, and if Pike didn’t focus hard enough the few people he saw out on their early morning commute could’ve been nothing more than ghosts in the murky morning.
By the time they’d gotten to the beach he was warm and drowsy and contemplating existence in a very roundabout way, to the backdrop of Carter humming along to the radio. The eastern sky was about two shades lighter than absolute dark, but it was still difficult to see where the lake ended and the horizon began. Just one, long dark expanse stretched towards the east, like the water just went on forever.
“When do you think the police patrol’s gonna come by?” Carter asked as he parked the car.
“Do they do that still?” Pike asked, struggling a little as he pulled off his flannel jacket. He was seriously way to warm for it right then.
“Yeah?” Carter replied, and when Pike opened the door to step outside he added, “You should take your jacket.”
“Don’t need it,” Pike said a little too confidently as he closed the car door behind. The early morning chill hit him immediately, but it felt crisp, refreshing, after the warmth of the bowling alley and how stuffy he’d started getting in the car. He felt awake all of a sudden, seeing the world in crystal clarity. There were a few trees before him, bordering the path down to the beach, and he headed off between them.
“Hey, wait up,” Carter called out, and PIke turned - with only a slight wobble - to see his boyfriend running up to him. Pike held a hand out to him and Carter took it, their fingers twining together easily. They headed down the path to the beach together, gravel crunching under their feet for a long time before it gave way to ragged grass, and then sand. Above them the sky was dark, and if there were any stars they were hidden behind the scraggly clouds and the light pollution from the city. Still, it was a nice night sky, the only night sky Pike had ever known and therefore familiar enough to be comforting.
“Look,” He said, pointing up at the sky in a break between the clouds. “That…’s that the Big Dipper?”
“I think so,” Carter said, stepping behind Pike to wrap his arms around him and put his chin on Pike’s shoulder, head tilting back. “Yeah, or it’s the Little Dipper.”
Pike pushed back against Carter’s chest, pressing his face against Carter’s to steal some of his warmth. He really should’ve taken his jacket - it was way colder than he had imagined it being, and what had been a pleasant chill before was quickly becoming just plain cold. He shuddered, wrapping his arms around Carter’s where they’d settled at his waist..
“Told you to take your jacket,” Carter said, squeezing Pike in a tighter hug. He pressed a kiss to his cheek, nuzzling against it as he chuckled, “You’re freezing!”
“I know, I know, you’re the smart one,” Pike grumbled, “I thought I’d be okay.”
“C’mere,” Carter said, trying to turn Pike around, but Pike resisted, pulling back a bit with a grin.
“No.”
“C’mon,” Carter said with a smirk, grabbing at his shirt as Pike tried to pull free, “Let me warm you up.”
“No-” Pike started laughing as Carter dragged him back close to him, letting his boyfriend pull him close.
“Here, gimme your hands,” Carter said, unzipping his jacket and leading Pike’s cold hands inside of it.
“Mmhmm, okay,” Pike nodded, cuddling up against Carter so his boyfriend could wrap his jacket around them both as well as he could. “See, leaving my jacket was a good idea.”
“So this was your plan all along?” Carter said with a grin, nuzzling against Pike’s cheek.
“Totally, absolutely,” Pike replied, pressing even closer until he could swear he could feel Carter’s heartbeat through their shirts. He kissed Carter’s neck, right under his ear, then again a little lower, and Carter’s arms tightened around him. He nipped at Carter’s skin, pulling back a little to meet his gaze, adding cheekily, “Good plan, huh?”
Carter’s response was a kiss, a nice and deep one too, that Pike felt all the way from the top of his head to the tips of his toes, a full body headrush. He whimpered happily, deepening the kiss even more, gripping at the back of Carter’s shirt. He was warm again, no, he was absolutely on fire, cold didn’t exist anymore, it was just him and Carter and the way Carter’s tongue moved against his and the way their arms gripped each other even tighter than should have been possible. Sometimes, it was real hard for Pike to accept what Carter said about them, about how they were linked from a different life, about how they had something deeper - but sometimes it was just so fucking apparent how much they belonged together, how perfectly they fit with each other. Sometimes, when they were together and Pike let himself stop overthinking things, he could feel just how much they belonged like this, together.
Pike loved Carter so much in this life, but in times like that, when they were indescribably connected, he could believe that they’d loved each other in other lives as well.