𝑏𝑦 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 || 𝙹𝚘𝚝𝚊𝙺𝚊𝚔

𝑖𝑥: You Should Smile More Often

Bright morning light shone onto Noriaki's eyelids, gradually waking him up. He opened his eyes, meeting Jotaro's turquoise gaze. Smiling to himself, he reached out and kissed his cheek. "Good morning, Jojo."

The ravenette leaned into him; he had woken up minutes prior. "Good morning, Nori."

The redhead yawned. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept well."

"Good. I did, too."

He nodded, kissing the other male's forehead. "Any dreams?"

His nightmare flashed before his eyes. "Probably, but I don't remember them. I hardly ever remember my dreams."

"Same here."

Noriaki sat up and stretched, reaching his arms high above his head. It was at this moment he realized he wasn't wearing a shirt and covered himself with the comforter, his face turning a bright pink. He remembered their exchange the night before, smiling to himself.

Jotaro chuckled and ruffled his red hair. "Relax. Nobody's going to come in here. Besides, even if they did, they'd have to knock first."

Noriaki looked at him, his hair an absolute mess. "But what about Miss Holly?"

"She's probably in the kitchen making us breakfast. Come on, let's get dressed."

He nodded, subconsciously letting the blanket drop from his body. Suddenly, he was incredibly self-conscious of his scars. Mostly, the large, pale red mark over his abdomen. The others on his arms and legs he didn't care about so much. But the scar on his stomach was a permanent reminder to him that he had died, even if only for a moment. He took one of Jotaro's old shirts and put it on, trying not to think about the look in his eyes when his life was fading away.

Meanwhile, Jotaro rummaged through his drawer for another clean shirt and felt his fingers brush against something. It felt like old paper, like a Polaroid. His curiosity got the better of him and he pulled it out. It was the photo of the Crusaders: him, Noriaki, Avdol, Polnareff, Joseph, and Iggy.

He stared at the photo, looking over every part of it. He remembered that day like it was yesterday.

Joseph held the Polaroid camera above his head, waving it around and nearly dropping it. "Come on, let's take a photo! It'll be fun!"

Jotaro took a huff from his cigarette. "Gramps, it's a waste of our time."

Noriaki chimed in, snatching Jotaro's cigarette from his mouth. "I'd like to take a photo, Mr. Joestar," he said, dodging a playful punch from the ravenette. "So I can remember my first friends."

Avdol nodded. "A photo does sound nice. We'd better hurry, however; the sun's about to set."

The Kujo had given up trying to get his cigarette back and instead calmly approached the redhead. "Hey, Noriaki. If we're gonna take a dumb photo, then you should hold the camera with Hierophant Green."

He smiled. "Good idea, Jojo."

"Trés bien!" Polnareff cheered while running from Iggy. "I wanna be in the front!!"

"What's that, Jojo?"

It wasn't until Noriaki said something that Jotaro realized he'd been standing there. He showed the photo to the redhead, who had worked his way underneath his arm. "Remember this?"

Noriaki smiled, pointing at the two teens. "Look at you." He turned to Jotaro. "You should smile more often, Jojo. You're so adorable when you do."

He produced a half-assed smile. "Like this?"

The freckled male laughed and kissed the ravenette on the cheek. "Like that," he said, watching his face turn pink.

The turquoise-eyed boy looked away, smiling gently. "Good grief, whatever."

His gaze went back to the photo. Then he moved his finger across to the Egyptian and the Frenchman and the little dog he was holding. "I miss them."

He held held him closer. "I miss them, too. Polnareff slightly less, but at least we have something to remember them by."

He nodded. "Do you want to go get breakfast now?"

"Sure. Put some of my clothes on and we'll head downstairs."

·～•✯•～·

"Good morning, you two~!" Holly exclaimed. She trotted up to each teen and pecked his cheek. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept well, Mom," Jotaro answered.

"So did I," Noriaki added.

The blonde woman clapped her hands together. "Great! I made waffles if you're hungry!"

"Thank you," said the redhead with a glance at Jotaro. He met his lavender gaze and looked swiftly away, feeling a blush warm his face. He got two plates from the cupboard and handed Noriaki one, letting him serve himself first.

"Do you want to eat on the veranda with me?"

"Sure." He picked up his plate and fork and smiled apologetically at Holly, who smiled in return. Go with him! she mouthed. He nodded a thank you! and followed the ravenette outside.

·～•✯•～·

A/N: hoo boy i haven't updated in a while 😬 sorry about that everyone, i get sidetracked with life stuff and stuff
but (late) happy pride!

Word Count: 815