Work Text:
"Honey just put your sweet lips on my lips
We should just kiss like real people do"
Knox admits it. No hesitations.
Whenever they’re asked by friends who said I love you first, he always says openly but shyly that he did and because it’s a great story, Charlie loves telling it to anyone they meet.
Story goes that on their third month of dating, after Charlie’s knee-injury from soccer was finally better, Knox and Charlie snuck out of Welton to have a proper date. They took to town on the early hours of a saturday and walked hand in hand, unafraid with the lack of people around. They went to the last screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, much to Knox’s dismay, who for the entire duration of the movie, was gripping on Charlie’s hand for dear life.
My hand lost blood circulation at one point, I’m sure.
Not true, but go on.
They then went on to eat at a 24/7 diner right across the movie theatre, inhabited by a middle-aged waitress who looked like her favorite breakfast was cigarettes and whiskey and a man on the bar sipping coffee. They sit at the corner booth and decided to order a sundae to split. Only to be reprimanded twice by the waitress when they started flicking their spoons full of ice cream at each other.
And they cruised around town doing what normal 16,17 year olds did; they ran past shops, jumped on benches, urinated on street signs, and yawped on the rooftops of the world. They laughed and giggled until the entire town was just as lively and effervescent as they felt. The world truly felt like their oyster.
And on their way back to their dorms, when they pass by the lake, Charlie taught Knox how to skip rocks, after the other admitted he’s never done it. And while Charlie was in the middle of trying to demonstrate the perfect angle to do so because “it’s all about the stance, Knoxious!”, Knox couldn’t help but blurt it out, reasoning it to himself that Carpe Diem wasn’t only about actions but also about words.
“I love you” Knox just blurts, almost rather too quickly, and Charlie looks back at him like he just...well, told him he loved him and before they know it, a whole second of silence passes by.
“What?” Charlie asks, his brain momentarily blanking.
“I...” Knox nervously starts, not knowing where this would end “I...love you. I just wanted you to know...that” he explains, slightly out of breath. And when a genuine smile breaks out of Charlie’s face, along with a “You fucking sap”, all Knox remembers is both of them dropping the stones they held and kissing each other, messily yet full of love; love that dripped from their lips like honey.
And by the time Charlie ends the story, he bows ever so dramatically while the people listening applaud his wonderful retelling (with Todd usually asking him to retell it again).
So no, Knox doesn’t mind Charlie telling the story.
...Even though it’s not exactly true.
Because the truth is, Knox knew he wasn’t the first to say it.
A very loopy, anesthesia-filled Charlie after his soccer injury, was wheeled up to their room, being under the care of his roommate, Knox. It didn’t take long before Charlie kept repeating to Knox over and over again how much he loved him and how he would someday “marry the absolute shit” out of him. Knox enjoyed the honesty and sincerity while it lasted and like the pain-killers, Charlie’s memories about it left the following day.
Knox never brought it up. Because other than the fact that he gets to keep the memory to himself, he loves that Charlie has a version that gives him joy. Being loaded up with drugs and a busted knee wasn’t as romantic or as nearly half as good of a story.
Knox will never admit it. No hesitations.