It's Us Crew Oneshots

first kiss oneshot

Richard was alone, as he usually always was.

Having been unable to bear the fight at the dinner table, he escaped to the roof for some peace and quiet - something he'd learned to cherish after the new additions to the D Gang. He wanted to tell them all to turn tail and run, but if he did, he didn't know what would happen to him. And so, he kept his trap shut, which was something he found himself doing a lot.

He'd never been much of an outgoing person in the first place, but this house made it so much worse.

He couldn't count the times he woke up every day dreading what was to come. At night, when he was asleep, he was fine, spare for the night terrors that plagued him. However, from the moment he would wake up, it was as if the world was suddenly coming into focus, and he realized that this was his reality. For the longest time, his mind had just glazed over it, but after coming back to life, he was frighteningly aware of the passage of time and every second spent in that house.

Richard took a shaky breath. He was seated on a flat section of the roof, away from windows and the prying eyes inside the house. Sitting there, heart pounding and breathing shallow as he shakily took a sip of soda, he could almost feel his panic attack quell in the quiet sunset. However, much like many things in his life, it didn't last, and the sudden noise of a sliding window startled him so badly that his hand flinched away and flung his soda can across the back lawn. It disappeared somewhere in the snow.

He sat there on the lawn chair he'd manage to sneak up along with the cooler several weeks ago. Richard wondered to himself if he should speak or stay quiet. Luckily, his brain made the decision for him by taking away his ability of speech. The young man folded his poncho around him, wondering if it'd be enough to hide him from whoever had come up here.

"Dick? Are you up here?" he heard. Dick stifled a surprised gasp as he shifted and turned just in time to see Don climb over. The single bell on his jester hat jingled as he landed next to Richard, his eyebrows raised. "Woah. Where'd all this come from?"

Dick glanced around, finally gaining the ability to speak once relief set in. It was just Don. "Oh, this? Yeah, some magical fairy came down one night and granted me a wish. I wished for this," he said. It was a terrible attempt at a sarcastic joke, but Don laughed anyways. He grabbed the spare lawn chair Richard had set to the side in case of... well, he didn't really know.

Don slid up next to Richard, leaning back against his chair. "What are you doing up here, man?" he asked, looking out to the sunset. Richard hesitated for a moment, wondering what a good response to that question would be. Should he lie? Tell the truth? Say "I dunno" and let the conversation drop?

"I... uh..." he fumbled, picking at his cuticles. "I just... had to get away, I guess..." He was afraid Don would ask him to elaborate, but luckily he didn't.

Instead, he did something worse. He looked up at Richard.

It caught him so off-guard, Richard was speechless for a long moment and didn't even comprehend what Don said. All he saw were Don's eyes: endless pools of honey that flashed in the setting sunlight, exuding such warmth that Richard felt his insides melt and his face heat up. His heartbeat quickened, and a thousand butterflies tickled the inside of his stomach.

Don sat up once he realized Richard hadn't heard what he said. "Sorry, what'd you say?" Dick was finally able to croak, forcing himself to tear his gaze away. Don let out a chuckle. That didn't help; Richard was panicking.

"I just asked what you do up here," the elf repeated. Why was he so close to him?

"Um... I just. You know, sit here and chill." Dick squeezed his eyes shut, cringing. Sit here and chill? What kind of response is that?

Don gave a snicker. "Nice."

Silence. Awkward silence. Don had obviously given his best to avoid it, but awkward silences we're common between the two. Neither knew why. Usually, it followed after one or the other gave some sort of odd remark, such as a compliment and a startled reply. Nowadays, though, the silences seemed to grow more common, which didn't used to happen before. It was almost every day.

In order to avoid dwelling on that mystery, Dick got up from his seat and walked to the edge of the roof. "Do a flip," Don remarked, getting an involuntary snort from Richard as he sat down at the edge. Dick looked over at the elf and patted the space next to him.

"Come watch the sunset with me," Richard invited.

Don stared at him, almost as though he were a statue, sat hunched over his knees.