Unspoken - 31. Primo Bacio

I was shaken gently awake, though it was still quiet and dark, by Nicolo, who stage-whispered at me “Sveglia, Alex, dovresti vedere questo.”

He helped me sit up and clamber up to my knees, and carefully pulled aside the curtain to the window above our headboard. It faced the backyard, and though still bleary eyed, I could see there was less light than there should have been, though the moon was full and bright. Through the small gap, we could see that there were two bodies lazily paddling and kicking about in the pool. The pool lights were dimmed, so we couldn’t tell exactly who it was, but Bryce’s haircut gave him away. The other boy was clearly one of the nine guests Bryce had. They were having a sleepover, to celebrate Bryce’s first lead role, The Rat King - which wasn’t technically a lead role but we counted it as such! - in a complete ballet. At only fifteen. We were so fucking proud. Justin; Jamie, who had a role in the ballet too; Parker, who was in the school’s chorus with Bryce; Ethan; Kyle; Peter; Ryan; Alex the weeb; and Brandon. Nicolo gently and stealthily unlocked the window and lifted it just enough to be able to hear what was going on below. At the moment it was just some splashy noises as they slowly moved about. The pool was generous in size, but they remained pretty close together. We’d never explicitly ruled out swimming at night, really our only two rules thus far had been no skinny dipping - which Nicolo and I had admittedly broken more than once - and no one swims alone. We weren’t going to admonish them for a calming night dip.

Shortly, they closed together and made their way to the back edge, and lifted themselves so they were sitting on the side, feet dangling in the pool still. I was pleased to see they were wearing swimsuits. The guest leant back on his hands, looking up at the starry summer sky. Bryce stood, then, and walked over to the small pumphouse and flicked off the pool lights. There was enough moonlight to see still, quite a bit, and as he sat back down, mimicking the guest, he too looked up at the moon. Nicolo whispered “Credo che quello sia Parker.”

I think Nicolo was right. With the pool lights not creating a well of darkness, we could see them better. Parker wasn’t the only blonde in the house, but he was the only one anywhere near that light of a blonde, and we could see the hot pink swimsuit that Bryce had given him months ago. Glancing down from their faces, I could see that their hands were just barely touching.

“You were amazing up there Bry,” Parker spoke but softly in his lilting voice.

“Y-yeah? Thanks. I was scared I was gonna fuck it up. Era fantastico.”

“Naw Bry, you killed it up there!”

“Y-yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I like the way you speak Italian randomly. It’s cool.”

“Y-yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I really like your voice. You’re a much better singer than I am.”

“Naw Bry, you know that’s not true, I’m just a counter-tenor and you’re a tenor. Different pitches!”

“You really think so?”

“Yeah Bry, you’re just as good.”

There was a short pause.

“You…you looked really…really cute in your tights…”

My eyes widened. Nicolo and I shared a quick glance. We’d both thought that they were sweet on each-other, and there was that one time I thought they were about to kiss, but I don’t recall hearing either of them admit feelings openly.

“Y-yeah?” Bryce dropped his gaze from the moon to look at the other boy.

“Yeah.” Breathed Parker, who shifted his own gaze to Bryce. His left hand lifted, and tentatively, slowly, placed it on top of Bryce’s right. Bryce looked down at Parker’s hand on his, before looking back up at him.

“Pensavo-“ Nicolo whispered hastily, and I smacked at him to shut the hell up.

“I… like you, Bry.”

“M-mi piachi anche tu….”

Their eyes locked, and their faces slowly started leaning closer. Their eyes drifted shut, and they came closer. Before they could manage a kiss, though, they started tilting their heads to the side. They both went the same way, though, and ended up poking each-other’s noses. They jumped back a bit, both giggling. Parker let out a “fuck” as Bryce said “cazzo,” but they trailed off, starting to lean closer again. This time they kept their eyes open, and slowly their lips made contact. It was a short kiss, and they pulled back, Parker letting out a shuddering heavy breath, with Bryce exclaiming “Madonna…” They leant in to kiss again, longer still, and I noticed that their legs had stopped moving, and the pool was still, reflecting the image of the moon high and bright in the sky.