Rival Bands

Warm Shirts

Narrator's pov

They went back and forth like that for hours , taking it in turns to tell the other about something or someone in their lives . Gareth had found that y/n learnt the drums from his uncle , who taught him when he was really young , but only got more interested when he started middle school . The day went on with them playing different songs on repeat , talking about who they enjoyed listening to and what songs they were trying to learn . Luckily , there were no kids at all , probably because there were better parks in the town and this one was old and rickety - it was peaceful . A cold , small droplet of water fell onto Gareth's nose , making him look up at the sky . Grey clouds loomed above the tree branches , and soon one droplet became many . Shoving all the tapes into Gareth's bag , the pair shot up from their positions and bolted it to the fence .

"Go , go , go !" Gareth shouted , hopping on his bike , y/n close behind , "you can come to my house , it's closer ,"

"You sure ?" y/n yelled back , the loud noise of rain hard to hear through .

"Yeah , don't worry about it !"

"I was gonna say race you , but I don't have a clue where I'm going ," y/n laughed , legs peddling furiously behind the other teen .

Riding down winding roads and paths , the pair avoided the hammering rain as best they could , laughing when the other groaned at getting splashed . Soon enough , they came to a halt at a house , the garage already open for them . Running under the shelter , their bikes fell to the floor as they closed the garage door . Both the boys were undoubtedly soaked , so Gareth ripped open his bag to check on his tapes , a relieved sigh escaping his lips as he realized his bag held onto most of the moisture . As he emptied it  , a door opened and through stepped an older woman , presumably Gareth's mother .

"Oh my ! You two are soaked ! Let me get you some towels ," she left as quickly as she came , Gareth laughing awkwardly , scratching the back of his neck .

"That's my mum , she's such a worrier ," he looked away , fiddling with his soggy jacket before shrugging it off and dropping it into a basket , gesturing for the other to do the same .

As he did so , he heard Gareth's mother return , the door swinging open again .

"Here we go , my dear ," she handed them two warm towels , "I don't believe I've met you before , love , what's your name?"

She smiled warmly , y/n introducing himself politely while Gareth rubbed his wet hair with the towel .

"Well , y/n , you're welcome to stay as long as you want as long as your parents are okay with it , let me know if you need anything !" She waved as she left the room , taking the basket of their soaked jackets into the house .

"She seems nice ," y/n smiled .

Y/n's pov

I called out a thanks and turned back to Gareth , who had wrapped the towel around his shoulders .

"Didn't think I'd be meeting your parents so soon ," I smirked , now scrubbing the back of my head with the borrowed towel .

He scoffed in response and gestured for me to follow him into the house .

"You wanna borrow a shirt or something ?" he asked , walking with me up their carpeted stairs into his bedroom .

"How kind of you ," I joked , "yeah , thank you ,"

The rain pattered against his window , muffled by the glass . As I stood in the middle of the room , I took in my surroundings . His room wasn't cluttered , per say , but had posters pinned on every wall visible , with shelves full of books , figures and tapes , as well as a small collection of vinyls . His bed was shoved in the corner of the room by the window , grey covers messily made . His desk was coated with paper , books and pencils , making it hard to see the actual table part of it through the DnD character sheets and abandoned homework . Rather poetic , in my opinion - it perfectly described Gareth , poetically messy . Smiling , I looked up at his ceiling , a pattern of fairy lights webbed from each corner of the room .

"You don't mind this one , I do you ?" I turned my attention to the boy , crouched in front of his dresser with a tattered , over-sized 'KISS' t-shirt .

"Hell yeah , might have to steal this from you , actually ," I grinned and took the shirt .

"You wish ! I paid a stupid amount of money for that at a concert !" he scoffed , giving me an amused look .

"You could've at least gotten a size that was anywhere near what you are !" I held it up in front of me , seeing how it'd swallow either of us whole , maybe both of us if we somehow squeezed into it .

"It was the last one !" He pouted , lying his back against the draws .

Clicking my tongue in mock-disappointment , I turned around to tear off my soggy shirt that clung to my body , now shivering a bit from the coldness of the soaked fabric . As I took of my shirt , I could feel a pair of eyes burning holes into my torso as I let the wet shirt drop on top of the towel I'd discarded onto the floor . I decided to entertain the eyes that bore into me , stretching and tracing my ringed fingers along my skin , smirking out of his sight , making sure to drag out my motions . I threw on the shirt quickly and picked up the wet stuff , turning back around to face Gareth .

"Show's over , my dear ," I winked , throwing the towel over his face , earning a muted protest in return .

The shirt felt warm against my skin , coated in goosebumps , and I fiddled with the sleeves and collar , the worn fabric soft and comforting . I pulled off my wet jeans , the shirt reaching down to my knees , and added it to the pile of soggy clothing .

Gareth's pov

As I stared him up and down , he slowly traced the skin of his arms , his fingers touching all the bumps and scars , all the imperfections along his forearms and biceps as he painfully slowly undressed . Physically unable to tear my eyes away , I bathed in the sight of the half-dressed guy in the middle of my room , the dark aura of my unlit room sculpting around his frame .

Seriously , I couldn't look away . The way he moved was mesmerizing , my thoughts wandering way too far past the point of being straight . His fingers moved so gracefully along his skin , rings a little loose on his fingers , so they moved around at the contact of the smooth edges . I was sure my eyes were digging holes through his body as they gazed over his bare back , seeing more moles and marks in the grey-ish absence of sunlight - imagine what he'd look like in the softness of evening sunset , maybe in the middle of spring , when the sunset is a flurry of pink and orange - he'd look angelic . I wished he'd get dressed quicker , so I could tear myself free from this trance , but another part of me wished I could stay like this forever , watching as he shadowed shapes along his perfectly imperfect skin , maybe doing it with my own hands .

I came crashing down back to earth , back to reality as he pulled on the borrowed shirt . It was big on me anyway , and truthfully made me feel like a kid in his dad's shirt , but seeing it on y/n was different . It was adorable , the edge of the fabric brushing against his shivering knees - how can someone look so perfect ? It irritated me . I didn't even notice I was drooling over another guy , I was too encapsulated in the view .

He'd snapped me out of my trance , throwing a freezing cold , wet towel at me . I groaned in response .

"Not my fault you're too pretty for your own good ," I mumbled , throwing the towel to the side .

Realizing in an instant the gravity of what I'd said , my eyes widened as I smacked my hand over my mouth . Y/n turned around to face me , a look of surprise plastered on his face . Snapping my head away from his gaze , I looked anywhere other than his goddam eyes .

"You think I'm pretty ?"