fic: you are here
Title: you are here
Fandom: American Idol RPF
Rating: R
Pairings: Adam/Kris
Word Count: ~11,000
Summary: Since when have you been a morning person? (SIX FLAGS, YO. High school AU.)
A/N: The last update was supposed to be 'five completely normal afternoons and one that really wasn't' - but I got really carried away with writing the 'one' that it kind of took on a life of its own. When I crossed the 5,000-word mark before I had even written half of the things I wanted to put in, I decided to just post it separately.
This entire series is a big ball of self-indulgence, and this installment is the most indulgent of them all, for realsies. I had so much fun writing it, and I hope you guys enjoy reading. :)
Master post of previous installments: here
The whole story (in chronological order) is up at AO3 here.
Adam barely has the energy to slam the snooze button on his alarm let alone throw it across the room, but he tries to do it anyway just with the power of his wrath.
It doesn't quite work.
It's still dark outside, why the hell did he set his alarm for six in the morning on a Saturday? He'd been on the phone with Kris until almost two - they only hung up because they had to - oh. Saturday. The week after finals. Senior trip to Six Flags. Right. Adam sighs and sits up, hating everything that's ever lived in the history of the universe. Or something. God, it should be a crime to ever be required to wake up before the sun has even risen.
It's a modern miracle that he makes it into and out of the shower without falling and breaking something, and it takes all of his concentration to pull on the outfit he laid out the night before (Kris's idea). His phone lights up with a text from Kris: Tell me why we're doing this again? and Adam squints at the screen, trying to string together enough brain cells to form a real answer and to get his thumbs to actually type it. An entire minute passes by with him just staring, and then another message comes in. I'm bringing coffee. I really hope you didn't fall in the shower. Be there in 20. I love you. Oh. Awesome, then.
Adam smiles, suddenly feeling a lot more awake, and types in a quick I'm alive. I love you too, and not just coz you're bringing me coffee <3 <3 <3 (the hearts are extremely difficult to type, but he pulls through somehow, Kris totally deserves them). He moves in slow, deliberate movements, pulling on his sneakers and stuffing his iPod into his pre-packed backpack (again, Kris's idea) before going downstairs. He grabs the pack of batteries his mom left on the kitchen counter, pours a glass of OJ, and polishes off the plate of bacon and eggs he finds sitting in the microwave. He sits at the table and kind of stares into the middle distance for God knows how long before his phone lights up again.
We're outside
The pre-dawn sky is a pretty, pinkish blue, and Adam smiles when he sees Kris leaning on the car idling at the sidewalk.
"Good morning," Kris says, pushing a large tumbler into Adam's hands. "Mama says you drink too much coffee, but she's giving you a pass on this one."
"Morning, baby," Adam murmurs before dropping a soft kiss on Kris's lips. "I love your mom."
Kris smirks and opens the door for him. Adam slides in the backseat and meets Kris's dad's eyes in the rearview mirror. "Morning, dad," he says before taking a big gulp of coffee. It's mixed just the way he likes, and he sighs in satisfaction, feeling it warming him up and getting his synapses firing. God bless caffeine.
The car shifts when Kris gets in. "Good morning, Adam," Kris's dad says as they roll down the street. "How's your mom doing?"
"She's a little better," Adam says, thinking of the sniffly, coughing mess his mom has been since Wednesday. "She'll just be resting all weekend, trying to heal."
"That's good to hear. Kim's dropping by with soup later, she hasn't babied anyone in a while, it'll be good for both of them."
They all laugh, and Adam feels a happy warmth spread in his chest - not just because of the coffee. "Mom would love that. Please tell her thank you for me."
"It's no problem, son. Do you know Neil's plans for the day? Kim doesn't know how much pie she should bring," Neil says with a wink.
Adam snorts. "Neil's working on some summer project, he's been holed up in his room for days. I'm sure he'll come down for pie."
"I'll make sure Kim sets aside a couple of slices just for you, then." It's kind of hilarious how their families know each other so well.
The rest of the drive is mostly silent, Kris and Adam sip their coffee as Neil hums along to the radio. The streets are empty, quiet, and Adam feels a sense of peace wash over him as he watches the houses go by.
---
The school parking lot is half-full - there are two huge buses parked in one corner and other parents dropping off kids that look like they'd just rolled out of bed. It's strange to see the school in the early morning light, the sun rising just beyond the bleachers. Adam spots Alisan as she jumps down from their huge SUV, Matt and Anoop talking to Mrs. K., and Andrew waving to them from his perch at the main entrance.
"I'll text you when we leave Six Flags, and then when we get off the highway," Kris says before he kisses his dad on the cheek. "Thanks, dad."
"Thanks, dad," Adam echoes with a smile before sliding out of the car. They wave as he drives off, and Adam waits for Kris to finish cramming the money his dad gave him into his wallet. They thread their fingers together and walk to where Andrew is sitting.
"Hey."
"Hey," they answer simultaneously, gingerly sitting on the ground next to him. "You're early, man," Kris grunts.
"I've only been here five minutes. Is that coffee?" Andrew asks hopefully.
Kris smiles and hands his tumbler over. "Yep. Go nuts."
Andrew takes a sip, sighing as he swallows. "God, that's good. Our machine at home's broken. I don't know how normal people function this early in the day without coffee."
"Amen," Adam answers, his arm lifting up as Kris slumps against him. "Can't believe I woke up before freakin' sunrise."
"Six Flags, man," Matt says, walking up to them with a wide grin that's unnerving to see at seven fifteen in the morning. "It's gonna be awesome."
"Since when have you been a morning person?" Kris asks.
"Since this morning," Anoop pipes up, sounding weary. He drops on the ground in front of them. "It's been exhausting, let me tell you."
Alisan skips toward them, looking much too awake - seriously, how is Adam friends with these people? - Tommy, Cale and Ryland in tow, a digital camera in her hands. "Smile!" she says, cheery, and it's too much. Adam just really wants his bed. He leans his head on top of Kris's and grimaces at the camera. He sighs heavily when Alisan actually twirls around and takes a picture of the boys behind her.
"Blackmail material right there," Cale says with a yawn.
"I know all her passwords, those pictures will never see the light of day," Adam growls, draining the rest of his coffee. "How can any of you even stay standing?"
"I fell asleep at eight last night," Alisan answers, more than a little smug. "I've been up since four, it's insane."
"That's awful," Andrew says bitterly. Adam would give him a high five if he wasn't so busy trying to hold his head up. "Morning people suck."
Alisan just shrugs and chats with Matt and Ryland about the best strategy to tackle the entire park in the least amount of time. That seems to perk Anoop up - he takes out a map from his bag and stands up to point things out to them. It's insanely dorky and hilarious and Adam loves and hates his friends.
Mrs. K. comes up to their group and ticks off their names on a clipboard. "Buses load at seven thirty, you're all in number one - that's the big, blue one on the left." They all murmur their thanks and bicker over seating arrangements the moment she steps away.
"I call whatever seat is in front of Lee. He always brings the most snacks," Tommy says.
"Dibs on the seat next to you," Andrew says.
"I got you, right, 'Noopie?" Matt asks, and Anoop just rolls his eyes.
---
The parking lot fills up with more of their classmates, and the noise level goes further and further up as the sun rises higher in the sky. At some point, Adam reluctantly gets to his feet and stretches to get ready for the long bus ride. Kris stands, too, raising his arms and yawning. "Do you want the window seat?" he asks, reaching for Adam's hands.
Adam smiles, squeezing Kris's fingers and pulling, pressing backward with all of his weight. "You brought me coffee, you get the window seat," he says. From the corner of his eye, he spots Alisan pointing her camera at them, and he makes a face at her. "I think I'm just gonna pass out anyway, so it doesn't really matter."
"God, yes, sleep please," Kris says, his mouth opening in a cute little yawn. "We really shouldn't have stayed up so late."
"Lesson learned," Adam murmurs, deciding that he's done stretching and pulls Kris into a hug. "Today'll be fun, though. Six Flags, baby."
"Mmm yes. Cotton candy. Corn dogs. Rootbeer floats," Kris murmurs into his shoulder.
Adam pecks the top of his head before pulling away and tugging him to the buses. Danielle, Megan, Scarlett and Lee join their small crowd as they walk across the parking lot. They say hi to their other classmates, exchange hugs and high fives, and it's a senior class clusterfuck before Mr. D.'s voice drifts over the noise and tells them to get on the buses or else.
Matt manages to be the first person to get on, and he saves the back rows of seats for them. The boys crowd the last row while the rest of them follow suit. Adam and Kris end up in front of Megan and Danielle, with Scarlett and Lee in the row next to them. It's freezing on the bus, and Adam tucks Kris into his jacket before pulling on his own. The bus fills up quickly enough, and after a roll call and some announcements from Mr. D. up front, the bus pulls away from the lot.
At least three huge bags of chips are opened immediately, and the chatter on the bus settles into a volume that Adam has long been used to. Kris falls asleep on his shoulder twenty minutes in, and Adam follows soon after, Kris's slow breaths and the rocking of the bus better than any lullaby.
The next time Adam opens his eyes, more than an hour has passed and there's a crick in his neck. Kris is slumped against the window, asleep, left hand loosely twined in Adam's right. Adam cranes his neck and looks around - almost everyone around him is asleep, too. Andrew waves at him from his seat, looking up from where he and Tommy are watching something on someone's iPod. Adam smirks at the hilarious sight of Matt and Anoop's heads pressed together in sleep, and he reaches into his bag to get his camera, determined to capture this beautiful moment.
Andrew and Tommy snicker as Adam takes a couple of shots, then grin wildly when Adam points the camera at them. When Adam turns and sits back down, Kris's eyes are open.
"We're still two hours away, baby. Go back to sleep."
Kris smiles at him blearily. "Why're you awake?"
"I dunno." Adam wraps his arm around Kris's shoulders and gently pulls him down. "C'mon, sleep time."
Their doze is interrupted an hour later by a collective bathroom break at a gas station - Kris insists they both have to go - and they wake up for the last time about half an hour before they get to Six Flags, when it gets too loud in the bus to sleep any longer. Adam watches the trees go by and feels excitement start to bubble up in his stomach. An entire day at an amusement park with his boyfriend and their best friends; they can do whatever they want, however many times they want. They don't even have to drive themselves home. It's going to be a fantastic day.
---
"Seriously? Right now?"
Kris drops his bag at his feet and looks up at Adam, expression challenging. "Yes, right now. You'll thank me later."
Adam rolls his eyes and lets Kris slather sunscreen all over his face and down his neck and arms. Kris's hands are gentle but firm, his touch long-familiar. It was only really a token protest - Adam knows he needs this, and come on, of course he's not gonna say no to having Kris's hands all over him. Adam wrinkles his nose when Kris finishes, and says, "close your eyes, baby," before doing the same thing.
Kris tips his chin up, eyes closed, mouth quirked on a half-grin, ever trusting. Adam loves him, he really does.
They wipe their hands on some tissue paper and dart forward to where their friends are huddled. They agree to split up in two groups and meet back up for lunch. The sun is pleasantly warm, beating down on them as they walk and explore for a bit. He and Kris are with Danielle, Megan, Cale and Tommy, and they make plans to save the splashy rides for later and not have the big roller coasters be the first thing they do. Tommy suggests the Ferris wheel - the sun isn't too high up yet, and that way, they can see the entire park for real, get a feel for the place.
---
Adam's first mistake was pairing up with Kris.
He thought it would be nice, and at least a little romantic, getting to ride the Ferris wheel with his boyfriend. Floating to the sky and seeing the world from up high, sharing a quiet, peaceful moment far away from everything they know, or whatever. Well, he was wrong.
Kris is an absolute menace.
The cars are circular, and they start out sitting close together, Kris's hand on Adam's knee. Once they start moving, though, Kris scoots to the opposite side and curls his arms around the railing, tilting forward to stare down at the ground. His little butt is wiggling - in excitement? Adam has no idea - like he's a five year old on a sugar high. All the movement makes their car move in scary, jerky movements, and Adam has to try really hard to keep from hyperventilating. At one point Kris bends over the edge to yell something at Cale and Tommy in the car below them. Adam's eyes widen in horror and he grabs the back of Kris's pants to keep him from going over.
"Kristopher! If you don't sit your ass on that chair, I'm going to let you fall to a splattery death!" Adam shrieks.
Abruptly, Kris turns around and all but bounces in his seat. It makes their car jolt in ten thousand terrifying ways, and Adam clutches at the middle rail, knuckles going white.
"You're not scared of heights," Kris says speculatively, unfazed, and Adam thinks he really can't be blamed if he commits boyfriendicide sometime in the next five minutes.
"I'm not, but you keep moving around and it's like an earthquake while we're fifty feet in the air. And then suddenly you're halfway to falling out of this thing! Pardon me for being a little concerned," Adam huffs. His heart is pounding and he can't quite catch his breath.
Kris goes quiet and still, just looking at him, eyes soft. In one smooth movement, he's pressed up next to Adam again, hands gently unwrapping Adam's fingers from the rail. He rubs their hands together - presumably for Adam's circulation - all while smiling his stupid, crooked Kris smile. He kisses Adam's palms before setting them back down on Adam's lap and tipping his head on Adam's shoulder. "Got excited. I'm sorry," he says.
Adam sighs and drops a kiss on Kris's hair. "You scared me."
Kris curls closer, wrapping an arm around Adam's waist and squeezing. "I didn't mean to. Won't happen again, promise," he murmurs into the curve of Adam's neck.
They're all the way at the top now, the wind ruffling their hair, and it's quiet all around them. Adam can see for miles - sprawling towns and rolling hills out in the distance. The park is all laid out below them, full of possiblility. He breathes in deep, loving the fresh air and the familiar scent of Kris's shampoo. He feels peaceful, here, and he feels sorry when they start their descent.
"Did you see anything you wanted to do?" Kris asks after a prolonged silence.
"All of it?" Adam laughs. "I'm really not picky. I'm sure we'll get to everything eventually."
"And we'll come back here tonight, right?"
"Yes, please."
---
It seems that Megan hasn't had her fill of heights, and she insists on riding the wave swinger right after the Ferris wheel. It's exhilarating, being so high up, the wind whipping his face and and flattening his hair on his head. Adam can't help the full belly laugh he lets out about halfway through, and when Danielle catches his eye, they both catch the giggles. Even when they're back on solid ground, he can't keep off the huge smile on his face. Kris throws him a puzzled glance, but just bears Adam's weight when he tips sideways, a little breathless and a lot giddy.
Cale challenges Kris to a race around the go karts, and of course Kris doesn't even try to resist. The rest of them beg off, slumping on a nearby picnic bench, peeling off layers and slurping cold juice from a huge cup they all share. Danielle takes a map of the park from an information booth and they try to decide what to do before they have to meet up with everybody else for lunch. Mostly they people-watch, looking at families and groups of friends milling around, enjoying the day. There are lots of small children and even smaller babies, cheeks ruddy from the heat, and Adam waves at them goofily whenever they catch his eye. They spot at least two groups of people from school, and they all stop by the table to say hi and report on what they'd already done.
It's a little less than half hour before Kris and Cale find them, grinning and elbowing each other like five year olds.
"I totally kicked Cale's ass," Kris crows as he drops down next to Adam on the bench.
"I got stuck behind that dude who didn't know what he was doing! You're just too chicken to do a rematch," Cale rolls his eyes and smiles good-naturedly after he takes a sip from the juice cup.
Kris shakes his head, expression smug. "No, I just didn't want to keep these guys waiting. I stalled my engine at the starting line and I still finished first. Clearly, I'm the real winner."
"No, I refuse to accept it. We'll get Andrew here later and I swear he's going to kick your ass," Cale says as he points a dramatic finger at Kris's face. Kris just laughs and bats it away before taking the juice cup from Cale's hands and slurping loudly. "So what's next?"
"I'm thinking we should go on one of the big coasters next," Danielle says, pushing the map toward Kris and pointing at the one nearest them. "So we'll have time to, like, recover and just chill before lunch. And then we can do the other one later this afternoon."
"Awesome!" Tommy exclaims. He gets up and starts bouncing on his toes. "I'm so ready for this."
"I apologize in advance if I throw up on any of you," Megan says, suddenly going pale. She's more than fine with heights, but she's never been able to handle the twists, turns, and loops of even minor roller coasters.
Kris looks at her, concerned. "You don't have to go if you don't want to, Meg. I'll stay with you if you want."
"No, no, I need to - I really wanna see if I can. I wanna try. I'm not gonna freak out, I promise," she answers, insistent. She rubs her hands together and stands up too, tucking her hand under the crook of Cale's bent arm. "Let's do this."
Adam throws the empty cup into a trash can, and smiles gratefully when he turns around and Kris is holding up his backpack for him. Kris grabs his hand and drops a quick peck on his lips before turning to the rest of the group.
"Bathroom first?" Kris asks with a sheepish smile.
---
The line to Kingda Ka is the longest they've encountered all day, and Adam's just thankful for the roof above them as they wait and watch the sun rise higher in the sky. Adam calculates that they'll finish the ride with just enough time to meet up with everyone for lunch. Cale and Megan are chatting with some other kids from their senior class standing near them, while Tommy and Danielle are watching something on Tommy's iPod. Kris is precariously perched on a rail with Adam standing between his raised knees; they're leaning on each other, weight balanced between them, hands loosely entwined. The rumbles of the coaster is loud and surrounds them completely, and as they get closer and closer to the front of the line, Adam starts to get more and more tense. He feels cold all over, a little shaky, and he jumps about a foot when Kris presses a soft kiss on his head.
"You gonna share with the class?" Kris asks a few silent minutes later, and there goes Adam's hope that Kris would just wave off his extreme reaction.
Adam takes a deep breath and shakes his head resolutely. It's not even Adam's first time on anything like this, but no amount of rationalization can calm his pounding heart. His joints feel stiff, every bit of movement feels forced. It's just a roller coaster, Adam tells himself. Tall and twisty and steep and intimidating, but it's all just fancy metal. Thousands of people ride it every day, and it's never any problem. You were excited for this. Get it together. But no amount of rationalization can stop his body's extreme physical reaction to just standing in line.
"Breathe, Adam," Kris says into his ear, voice calm and steady. Adam leans back until he's pressed fully against Kris's chest, feeling the rhythm of his lungs, trying to match his slow, even breathing. It feels like yoga, or like a twisted kind of Lamaze, just breathing together like this, and Adam feels more and more calm with every exhale. He's hyper-focused on this, on just them; he blocks everything else out even if his eyes are still wide open.
The next thing he knows, they're next in line.
They slide into their seats, and Adam somehow manages to maintain his even breathing as he pulls down the harness. The attendant walks along the coaster, checking everything, and Adam's heart starts pounding again, not with fear this time, but with excitement. He shares a large, manic grin with Kris, and he - along with Danielle on his other side, and the others in front of them - lets out a loud yell the moment they start moving.
Here we go.
---
Adam's knees are shaking, Kris's arm around him is basically the only thing keeping him upright, and he knows his face is blotchy and red from the wind and the copious amounts of obnoxious yelling, but all he wants is to get right back on that thing and do it all over again.
"Holy fuck!" Tommy exclaims, sounding giddy and drunk. "Shit, let's go again. C'mon, let's do it again!"
Kris giggles into Adam's shoulder, hand fisting at the back of his shirt, and Adam laughs too, for no reason. For every reason.
Somehow they manage to pull themselves onto a nearby picnic table without injury. Adam looks around at his friends, and they're all wearing the same shell-shocked, exhilarated, glazed expressions. He feels another hysterical laugh bubble up in his stomach and he doesn't even try to keep it in. He laughs and laughs until he's bent in half, until he's choking on his own breaths, until Kris is rubbing his hands up and down his back. So this is what being an adrenaline junkie is like, he thinks, and yeah, he can see why people do this kind of thing all the time. It's like what being on stage makes him feel, only shot up to a thousand, and it makes his head spin, makes his limbs feel like jelly.
They all just stare at each other for what feels like a long time, giggling at odd intervals. Adam glances up and watches the twists and turns of the coaster, a little amazed and a lot exhilarated that he was just on that thing and he's here now, alive and whole. He really needs to go back on before the day ends.
Kris is the one who pulls enough brain cells together to stand up and then come back with a huge-ass bottle of water. They all coo at him gratefully before taking turns guzzling. It seems they all come back to themselves after that, and when Adam glances at his watch, they're late for lunch.
"Alisan's gonna get mad," Kris says, pulling Adam up by the hand. "And c'mon, I think I'm starving."
"I want a huge, hulking cheeseburger," Cale says in a dreamy voice as they walk (only just a little unsteadily) to their previously-established meeting point. Danielle's clinging to Tommy's arm, which is just weird and counterintuitive, but with some kind of miracle of physics, they stumble in a vaguely forward manner. Cale's arm is loosely wrapped around Megan's shoulders, who thankfully doesn't even look close to barfing, and whose eyes light up at Cale's food suggestion. And as they have been the whole day, Kris's fingers are threaded tightly between his, a natural, perfect fit, something Adam feels like he's always known. He swings their hands back and forth, feeling a little goofy, and Kris grins at him.
When they step into the food pavilion, Adam immediately spots their group of friends sitting at a long table. Matt raises his arm and waves frantically, and Adam laughs as he waves back. The place looks like a cardiologist's nightmare - countless stalls selling artery-blocking greasy food, heaping desserts, and piles and piles of candy. It's loud and full, but thankfully several degrees lower in temperature than the stifling heat out in the sun.
It looks like the rest of their friends had just come from the water rides - their clothes still a little damp, hair still dripping. Their reunion is boisterous and noisy, exchanging stories about their adventures and Alisan berating them for being late. Their group had already decided on a lunch strategy: they're getting four giant pizza boxes to share among them, the rest is every man for himself. They've been going on pizza runs together in various group permutations for at least five years, so they just leave it to Danielle and Andrew to order what approximates their usual. The first group get up to get their drinks and other extras, while Adam sits with the people he's been with all day, gazing all around the pavilion and trying to decide what else to get. The pizza would normally be more than enough for him, but they're at Six Flags, and they're kind of obliged to ingest as much food as humanly possible.
Kris nudges his elbow. "Cheese fries?"
Adam nods his head emphatically. "Yes, definitely. And it's Cold Stone for dessert, so don't even."
"I know, we already said. Pizza, cheese fries... you think we should get burgers?"
"Overkill. I want some meat, but the turkey leg just looks like a terrible idea."
Kris snorts a laugh and perches his chin on Adam's shoulder. "No on the turkey leg, then. Chicken fingers?"
"Maaaaaybe. Okay, yes, but that's only if the other guys come back and we don't get food envy."
"Sounds fair. And hey, we're doing the carnival games after this. Let's see if I can win something for you."
Adam hums and nuzzles the side of Kris's head. "What if I want to win you something?"
"We can do that, too," Kris says, leaning into his touch. "Though I don't think it's a good idea to win those gigantic stuffed animals. I don't wanna carry those around the rest of the day."
"Deal."
There's no ensuing food envy when their friends come back to the table one by one with heaps of food on their trays, so they settle on their original menu. They split up with the unspoken understanding that they'll take care of their own drinks, and Adam takes on cheese fries duty with Kris's "if you find a deep-fried weird thing, get it for me, okay?" in mind. The lines are long everywhere, but Adam's not too bothered by it; he feels mellow and light, like nothing can bring him down, the gorgeous day and being with some of his favorite people buoying him. It's possible he scares the cashier with the happy smile he can't seem to wipe off his face.
On his way back, Adam spots a stall selling deep-fried desserts, and he grins at the amazingly gross menu - ice cream, Twinkies, Snickers bars, funnel cake, cookie dough. He picks the most phallic one - Snickers bar - just for fun, and raises a saucy eyebrow at Kris when he gets back to the table.
"You got me a deep-fried dildo?" Kris asks. "I'm touched."
The table bursts out in surprised laughter, and Adam grins wildly.
It's a mess of food and giggles and ridiculous conversation for a solid hour as they dig in. The pizza is exquisite, the mix of sauce and cheese something Adam hasn't yet tasted in all his years of being a self-proclaimed pizza connoisseur. The cheese fries are extra cheesy, and the salsa Kris got for their chicken fingers is weirdly spicy in the most intriguing way. He tries to leave space for dessert to no avail - everything's so wonderful and wonderfully unhealthy, Adam can't help but fill himself up. He wishes that he can live here, just eat all of this food every single day until he dies old and fat and goddamn satisfied.
Before he knows it, his plate is empty and he's licking off the last of the melted cheese from his fingers. His eyes dart to his left and he sees that Kris is staring at his mouth. Adam takes a surreptitious look around the table and is grateful to see that no one's paying attention to them - Lee and Ryland are in a corndog eating contest, gross. He takes his entire index and middle fingers in his mouth and swirls his tongue as obscenely as humanly possible (which is rather obscene, if he says so himself; he's learned a lot in all the time he and Kris have been together). Kris swallows loudly and darts his eyes up to Adam's, glaring at him when he sees Adam's self-satisfied expression. Adam just winks and sucks at his fingers eagerly, waiting a few long moments before letting his eyes roll at the back of his head.
Kris just narrows his eyes challengingly and picks up the deep-fried Snickers bar from their shared tray. An intense curl of want grips Adam's entire lower body just at the thought of what Kris is about to do; Adam's already half-hard in his jeans when Kris starts in on the thing like the cocksucking genius Adam knows very well that he is. Kris plays it up like a fucking champ: puckering his lips as he takes a bite, licking at the bits of caramel that drip from the chocolate bar, groaning like a fucking porn star every time he swallows. Adam just gapes at him like a fish, unbelievably turned on and completely unsurprised as well; Kris has always been the only person who can ever beat Adam at his game, and it's one of the (many, many, many) reasons why Adam loves him so completely.
Adam drops Kris's sharp-focus gaze and takes a large gulp of his cherry Coke, munching hard on an ice cube as he tries to stay still in his seat. His mind is whirring, alternating between unbearably vivid images of Kris's lips wrapped around his dick, head bobbing up and down as spit and precome dribble down to his chin and useless, fleeting flashes of the most unsexy things Adam can think of as he tries (wildly, unsuccessfully) to make his raging hard-on disappear.
Kris smiles at him in amused sympathy and thankfully doesn't even try to touch Adam just yet. Adam opens his mouth to say something - he doesn't know what - but the sound of loud coughing interrupts their silent conversation. Lee's up on his feet, waving his arms in the air in victory, and Ryland is guzzling all the water left in his bottle, body shuddering hacking coughs. Everyone else is laughing or covering their eyes in disgust. His friends are ridiculous, and Adam feels a wave of gratitude, and not just because they took his attention away from Kris.
---
All their food is finished, but nobody's willing to stand up just yet. They're slumped in their seats, either staring dazedly into the middle distance or groaning as they rub their fuller-than-they've-ever-been stomachs.
"I take it no one wants dessert?" Anoop pipes up.
Scarlett groans loudly. "No one's allowed to mention the F-word or anything related to the F-word for at least the next hour."
"F-word?"
"Food," three people answer simultaneously. Adam wants to giggle, but he thinks that if his stomach moves even just a little, he's going to hurl.
Kris seems to be the least-troubled one out of all of them, and he lets Adam throw his legs on his lap so Adam can recline as much as he can. Adam closes his eyes, enjoying the movement of Kris's hands on his shins. Kris's fingers feel so nice, even through denim. He vaguely hears a few people get up to go somewhere, but no one talks directly to him or Kris, so he just keeps his eyes shut.
Some time later, he feels his feet get dropped onto an empty seat. When Adam opens his eyes and looks around, their table is half empty and Kris is sitting beside him. All the comfort in the world is in Kris's smile. "Close your eyes," he says, hands ghosting over Adam's stomach.
Adam smiles back, then sighs helplessly when Kris starts to massage his belly.
Adam thinks this shouldn't feel as good as it does, but he can immediately tell that it's helping. Kris's hands are so very, very gentle, moving as if Adam's made of porcelain, his touch unmistakably knowing, and it makes Adam pretty much melt into his seat. After a few minutes of careful rubbing, Kris starts humming, some soft, random tune, and Adam feels so overwhelmed, an impossible wave of pure, aching feeling washing over him.
He slits his eyes open and catches Kris's fond gaze. Stupid, useless, inadequate words get stuck in Adam's throat.
"Better?" Kris asks with a sweet, disarming smile, hands still petting at Adam's stomach.
Adam stills Kris's hands and dips forward, kissing him slow and deep. "I love you," he murmurs, and just like when he said it the first time and every time after that, he doesn't think he's ever felt it as much as he does in this moment.
Kris pulls away, a crazy-wide grin on his lips. "I love you back."
---
Half an hour later, none of them are still all too keen on going on any rides. They're more than content to wait out their digestive systems - not to mention the harsh rays from the sun - right there in the food pavilion, but when Kris jumps up and makes noises about playing carnival games, he's met with some interest.
That's how Adam ends up with Kris, Danielle, Ryland and Anoop in a semi-crowded, loud (and covered, thankfully) carnival-like corner of the park. Kris's face lights up when they enter, and he almost skips to the first empty stall he spots - shooting baskets.
Anoop half-jogs to catch up, calling out, "You're on, Allen!"
Adam exchanges exasperated looks with Danielle before following. He takes his time to look around, and it looks like a haphazard collection of probably-rigged, run-of-the-mill carnival games - darts, coin toss, ring toss, the milk bottles, that thing where you hit something with a hammer to show how strong you are. Adam thinks he can spot some old school arcade games at the corner too - Pacman, Mario, some kind of spaceship-y stuff. There are rows and rows of cute, tacky prizes displayed on walls - stuffed animals, plush toys, weird hats, bead necklaces, slinkies, bags - everything you would never actually spend money on but try your hardest to win anyway.
Kris and Anoop yell good-naturedly at each other while Ryland trash talks, and Adam thinks it's the funniest thing he's seen all day. He stands back and yells obnoxious, cutesy cheers whenever Kris sinks a basket.
"Shoot that ball, Kris!"
"Look at my baby go!" he shrieks when Kris hits three in a row, and that's when Danielle and Ryland lose it, folding in half as they laugh hysterically. Adam forgets to be the supportive cheerleader boyfriend when the game gets tense - 10 seconds left and Anoop is only down by one basket. Adam's hands fist tight on his sides, his nails digging into his palm, and he bounces up on his toes until the buzzer sounds and Kris squeaks in one last basket to win it.
Kris raises his arms in smug victory, and Anoop playfully mimes punching him in the face. Adam, Danielle and Ryland would make awful cheerleaders in real life, but they faux-fawn over Kris anyway, heaping hyperbolic praise on his skills on the court.
"I like a man who's good with his hands!"
"You handle those balls, Kris!"
Kris laughs so hard he almost falls over.
Once the giggle fit runs out, Anoop beelines to what looks like a badass archery game, and Danielle drags Ryland to the darts booth, loudly demanding an obnoxious prize. Adam drapes his arms over Kris's shoulders from behind and nuzzles his ear. "Will you go steady with me, stud?"
"Who can say no to that?" Kris says, turning around to drop a small kiss on Adam's lips. "Now it's your turn to win something."
Adam can't figure out which game would be the easiest to win, so they try them all. They're both hopeless at the coin toss and the ring toss - they only get dinosaur and dragon shaped silly bandz for their trouble. Adam is much better at darts, hitting four balloons with five darts on his third round, and he chooses a Mad Hatter-like top hat the size of his head. Kris takes on the milk bottles like a pro, winning a stuffed black-grey wolf with piercing blue eyes.
Kris holds the wolf up beside Adam's head. "He'll be you, when you're not around. But you'll always be around, won't you," he says with a soft, private grin. "It's gonna be just you and me."
Just them. New York. Summer is the only thing standing between them and freedom, and Adam feels a familiar tangle of emotion - that combination of love, excitement and nerves - that always churns the pit of his stomach when he thinks of their future. It's so close now, they're making final decisions on apartments soon enough, and then decorating, and packing, and living. Adam can't wait.
"Always, baby."
---
When they get back to the food pavilion with their spoils of war, the others are raring to go back into the park. They make a unanimous decision to ride something harmless and mellow before making their way back up to the big ones.
"Which ride, though? The Tunnel of Love?" Matt says, cracking up at his own joke.
Nobody else laughs, though, and Ryland just shrugs. "Why not? It'll be slow."
"And shaded," Tommy pipes up, not even trying to hide his wicked grin.
"Dibs on Danielle!" Alisan cries before grabbing Danielle's hand and skipping out into the sun. The line isn't particularly long, and soon enough they're paired off and gingerly sliding into boats.
They've done a ton of cliché things - it's part of the territory, being boyfriends in high school - but Adam thinks this is probably the cliché of all clichés. They pounce on each other the very second their boat enters the dark passage, and it makes for a sloppy kiss, their teeth clicking and hands fumbling, but it's good, it's great, and Adam has felt deprived all day. They play it fast and loose, Adam's hand immediately drifting up Kris's shirt, reveling in the full-body shudder he gets when he runs his nails down Kris's back. Kris and his tongue are especially enthusiastic, happily exploring every centimeter of Adam's mouth. It's not too long before Kris groans and flips over, planting himself on Adam's lap and grinding down hard. Adam barely manages to bite back the loud moan from the back of his throat. It feels so incredibly good to have Kris on top of him, surrounding him, the planes of his body familiar under his hands, the fierce press of Kris's lips against his.
It's humbling, to have been blessed with so much.
Adam pulls away, his hands framing Kris's face. Kris makes a little whining, frustrated noise, hands clutching hard at Adam's shoulders. Adam just smiles, thumbing at Kris's flushed cheeks. "You're the best thing in my life," Adam whispers, an ache in his throat. It's nothing they haven't said to each other before, but it rolls slowly off Adam's tongue, heavy with importance.
Kris stares at him for a few long moments, expression impossible to read in the dark. His hand absently brushes through Adam's hair, and Adam leans into the touch. "It's always going to be you," Kris says as his fingers curl around the back of Adam's head, leaning down for a gentle kiss, hardly anything more than a press of lips. "You're all of it, Adam. Everything."
It's all slow, soft, lazy kisses after that, hands gliding on soft skin. Somewhere along the way, Adam manages to ease Kris off his lap and tuck him into his side, hand rubbing wide circles on Kris's back. They both flinch when their boat exits back into the sun.
Needless to say, it's Adam's favorite ride by far.
---
Once they're back on dry land, they decide to split up into their earlier groups, promising to meet up at Nitro at six so they can all go on it together, and then have dinner before the fireworks display.
It's a long, winding line to get to the water rides, but it's more than worth it when they get there - it's wild and exciting and gets legit insane for a little bit, and the 40-foot drop at the very end is nothing to sneeze at. Adam climbs out of the ride soaked from the waist up. Tommy and Megan's entire right sides and Cale and Danielle's left sides are dripping, which is the most hilarious thing ever. Kris gets the worst of it - he emerges drenched from head to foot, no inch of him spared.
They scope out a bathroom far enough away from the water ride for it to not be too wet or crowded, and they make good use of the spare set of clothes they brought. Once they're newly dry, Kris pulls out the bottle of sunscreen again and insists on slathering a new layer on Adam.
"You'll thank me later," Kris huffs as he rubs down Adam's arms. "It's not my fault your skin's so delicate."
Adam can't help the stupid smile that spreads on his face.
---
It's a whirlwind of random rides after that - they get on the twirling teacups because Danielle asks; on the merry-go-round because no red-blooded human can resist, no matter what age (Adam gets on a pony so pretty it could be a unicorn); two classic wooden coasters, light and easy; the 4-D film theater (better than all of them had expected, and Adam's pretty sure he'll have nightmares that involve hoards of insects crawling all over him because of it); the pirate ship on a pendulum (from which Adam emerged queasy and pale).
Kris and Adam beg off a second go-round on Kingda Ka, claiming long lines and heat exhaustion, but mostly it's because Adam doesn't think he can take three huge coaster rides in one day, especially with his stomach already churning. He knows his limits, and two will be more than enough, no matter how exhilarating they can be.
Instead, he and Kris settle down on a picnic table with a huge-ass sundae from Cold Stone. It's the sweetest, creamiest, most sinful thing either of them has ever tasted, and there's absolutely no embarrassment in the loud, orgasmic sounds they make after every bite.
"Where has this been all my life, oh my God," Adam exclaims.
"I think we're in heaven. This thing just can't be real," Kris murmurs disbelievingly. He raises his hand to feed Adam a bite and inspects the contents of the gigantic cup. "No, but really. How --"
Adam tries to mumble around his bite of perfection, but all that comes out is a mess of disjointed syllables. Kris shakes his head at him, amused and indulgent.
They eat as slowly as they possibly can, but they reach the bottom of the cup eventually, and they play-fight over the lost bits of ice cream and chocolate syrup. Adam giggles helplessly when Kris tugs him closer and drops small, quick kisses on his lips. "Yummy," Kris murmurs, and Adam just smiles, feeling warm all over.
After finishing off yet another bottle of water (they really should've thought about the hydration situation before they left; spending so much money on water just feels wrong), they find an empty bench near the Kingda Ka exit. It's not quite sunset yet, but it's close, and Adam tips his head up, enjoying the pleasant touch of heat on his skin. He then remembers the camera he'd stuffed in his bag - Alisan, Matt and Megan have been taking shot after shot after shot since they got to the park that Adam hasn't bothered to even take his out until now. He wordlessly drapes an arm around Kris and holds his other hand up to take a picture. They both laugh when they peer at the viewscreen - their heads are pressed together and they're pulling the exact same stupid face.
Adam kisses Kris's hair and says "smile, baby" before lifting his arm and taking another picture. It's a pretty good one, similar to maybe a hundred others they've taken in the last year - brilliant eyes, matching smiles, a small glimpse of Adam's arm wrapped around Kris's neck - something to treasure, still, maybe one he can add to the haphazard collage he'd mounted above his desk at home.
"We should go into one of those photo booth things," Kris says as he slouches further into the curve of Adam's arm, fitting himself in perfectly. "I wanna do that before we leave."
Adam puts the camera back in his bag and stares idly around the park, watching a pretty large crowd of people milling around. "Of course," he says. "There was probably one at the arcade place and we just missed it."
"After dinner, then." Kris tangles their fingers together and crosses his legs, the picture of complete relaxation. It's not a problem for either of them to stay quiet as they wait, occasionally waving back to toddlers and petting dogs that sidle up to them and sniff at their shoes. There's so much joy in this place, and Adam can feel it in the warmth of the air, in the shouts of laughter they hear every few seconds.
Tommy, Cale, Danielle and Megan stumble toward them eventually, all giggles and heavy breaths and red faces. Adam laughs at them, not even putting up a fight when Megan drapes herself on his lap with a loud sigh.
"I take it you guys had fun?" Adam asks.
"Tommy wanted to go again, but we didn't want you guys to keep waiting," Danielle says from somewhere to Adam's left.
"We don't mind," Kris says, only about half playful.
"Nah, Nitro's coming up soon," Tommy says excitedly. "We have time for one more ride, right? I want all of us on it."
They end up riding the wave swinger for the second time, and as Adam's hair whips on his forehead and the sun starts to set between the distant mountains, he throws his head back and feels.
---
Everything's loud when they meet back up with the others, mixing together and exchanging stories as they fall into the (45-minute long) line for Nitro. Alisan talks Adam's ear off as they scroll through the pictures she'd taken, and Adam laughs at the increasingly ridiculous stories she tells; the rest of the group is talking just as loudly and laughing just as often around them.
Scarlett calls for a full group picture about ten minutes in, and a kind mom standing with a pair of twins in front of them volunteers to take it. Kris sidles up to Adam then, face still red from laughing at whatever Lee and Anoop had been telling him. Adam tugs him close so his back presses up against Adam's front, Adam's chin grazing the top of his head. They mug for multiple cameras and thank the woman for her trouble.
It's rowdy and insane and Adam's so busy clutching at his sides with laughter at the dirty-old-man-at-the-carousel story that Scarlett's telling him that he forgets to be nervous. Before he knows it, they're settling on their seats and Kris is looking at him, excitement in his eyes.
"This is gonna be awesome," Kris says, reaching out to squeeze Adam's hand.
Adam squeezes back and takes a deep, steadying breath. The car starts to move and he tips his head up, glancing at the winking stars that were starting to appear in the sky.
It really is.
---
Dinner is a lot more low-key, just burgers and fries back at the food pavilion. Pretty much everyone's still chattering, but it's a little more subdued now. It's like everyone's had their fill of the park, movements gone slow and sluggish, vowels dragging as they talk.
Adam sips from the giant cup of orange juice that he and Kris are sharing and just lets his mind drift, the swirl of conversation around him barely registering as he traces his steps in his head, remembering everything he did that day and trying to stamp the best parts in his memory. It's the end of an era, kind of; this is the last school-sanctioned thing he's ever going to do in his life. The future is a blank slate before him, waiting to be filled.
Well. Not so blank, really.
Adam glances to his right and lets his gaze rest on Kris for a long moment. He's huddled with Megan, giggling and pointing as they scroll through the pictures she's taken. Adam takes all of him in - the slump of his shoulders, the curve of his back, his lips quirked in his ridiculous Kris smile - every single part of him familiar and treasured. When Adam thinks of the future, Kris is always there. This boy - this man - who he honestly can't imagine his life without. It's unbelievably naïve; Adam knows very well that all the odds are against them, but he doesn't care. Neither of them do. They're going to try their hardest and they're going to make this work, somehow.
"Penny for your thoughts?" And of course it's Kris, like he can tell exactly what Adam's been thinking about. He's pulled his chair up against Adam's, smile soft and considering and just a little bit sleepy.
Adam just shakes his head and smiles, fingers dancing playfully on Kris's arm. Kris tilts closer, nudging Adam's side, and Adam realizes he has Megan's camera in his hands.
"There's some good ones of you," Kris says as he scrolls.
It's a crazy collection - there's a ton of Megan paired with everyone in various poses, facial expressions and backgrounds; a few from the bus that morning, all of them caught with mouths open and slack in sleep; a bunch from when Megan ran a few steps in front of them and took group pictures as they walked; about a dozen or so group shots from lunch, the line at Nitro and dinner. They pause for long moments on the artsy ones - some creatively-angled shots of the park and various portraits of their friends taken without their knowledge. There's a gorgeous one of Kris's profile framed by a burst of sunlight; Danielle's goofy smile over her shoulder; Cale balanced on his haunches as he showed off balloon animals to a cute little girl in pigtails; a serious talk between Anoop and Tommy on a bench, heads bent together; Adam's head tipped back in a huge laugh, mouth wide open and eyes squeezed shut; Alisan on her tiptoes, energy captured in the blur of her arms; Scarlett's hands in Lee's backpack and Lee's head twisted around, mouth tilted on an affectionate smile.
Kris stops for a long time at the shots of the two of them together - Kris curled into Adam's chest as they slept on the bus; Kris's forehead scrunched in concentration as he slathered sunscreen down Adam's neck; their arms wrapped loosely around each other as they waited in line at some ride; Adam's black-tipped fingers twisted in one of Kris's belt loops. Adam catches Kris's serious expression and hides his ridiculously sappy smile in Kris's shoulder. He makes a mental note to ask Megan to make copies. These ones are definitely for keeps.
---
They find a great place to watch the fireworks from - this little clearing where there's more than enough space for all of them to stand or sit comfortably, the sky clear and dark above them. They take pictures and goof off while they wait, passing around a huge bag of gummy worms that they'd all chipped in to get. Adam's sitting comfortably between Kris's legs and is in the middle of a best-of-three-turned-five-turned-seven-about-to-turn-nine thumb war with Lee when the park announcer yells something about their very special firework presentation. The lights dim, and it begins.
Adam leans back into Kris's chest and sighs, deep and happy, when Kris's arms slide around his waist. The spot they chose turns out to be better than expected - the view is perfect, the bursts of light filling the dark sky above them, big and colorful and blindingly bright. The reds and blues and flashing golds make Adam's breath catch in his throat as he revels in the magnificence of it all. It's a very impressive display, made infinitely better by how Adam can feel every time Kris's chest rumbles with his little gasps of awe.
It ends with a bang, literally - what looks (and sounds) like at least two dozen different fireworks burst all at once, crowding and overlapping tricks and colors and sounds up above until all that's left is brilliant gold drifting down like confetti from the sky.
---
The last ride of the day could not have been more different from the first.
The Ferris wheel feels taller, somehow. The sky is dark, the moon standing guard and the stars twinkling mischievously. Below them, the park - the surrounding towns, and even some parts of the distant mountains - is all lit up and flashy, shining like some larger-than-life city that Adam had been convinced only exists in his dreams.
It doesn't even matter that he's starting to feel the ache of overused muscles up and down his legs; that when he gets off the ride, his bones will probably creak and his backpack will feel like two hundred pounds on his shoulders; that the wind is making his hair stick up in the most unflattering way; that they're in for a three hour long bus ride that will likely be hell on his back and on his ass.
They're curled together in the middle of the car, pressed close, and Kris sighs, content and sleepy, as he slides an arm around Adam's waist. There's no wiggling or yelling, no surprised anger. There's just the serene silence of the shared moment, the two of them enjoying each other's company, reflecting on the events of the day. Even after so long, spending time like this with Kris still feels like a luxury - not that Adam thinks it would be taken away from him somehow, nor has he ever felt that he should cling to it in selfish desperation; it's just that it's something to be treasured, always, even when they don't get to spend an entire day in a huge-ass amusement park. Adam has always been able to find joy in the most mundane, has always been all for living his life to the fullest, and that's only been heightened when Kris became the one that he shared everything with.
"So this day was awesome," Adam says, more than a little drowsy.
Kris snorts. "Understatement much, babe? But yeah. Today was really, really nice."
"Today was amazeballs, then. How about that."
Adam can feel Kris's lips curve into a smirk. "Mmm. I'll take it."
"I kinda wish I'd taken more pictures. But other than that, I don't think day could have been better."
"I dunno, I could use another deep-fried dildo right now," Kris says.
Adam laughs into Kris's hair, and when Kris giggles back, he feels like he's floating.
---
It's a ten minute walk from the Ferris wheel to the parking lot, and Adam has to fight to stay upright every step of the way. He focuses on the feel of Kris's fingers loosely twined with his and the light chatter he can hear over his shoulder (Cale and Scarlett are halfheartedly bickering about how certain M&M and Skittles colors taste different) - those are pretty much the only things that are keeping his brain from completely shutting off to sleep.
Kris steers them both to the bus without incident, and Adam only stumbles a little bit as they walk to their seats. Adam lets Kris take off his backpack and lifts his heavy arms obediently for Kris to pull his jacket on. He's very gently guided onto the window seat, and drops off as soon as his forehead touches the itchy curtain.
The next time Adam opens his eyes, the bus is dark and unmoving. He can only barely hear hushed bits of conversation - a quick look around and out the window tells him that almost everyone is asleep, and they're stuck in a traffic jam.
Kris is leaning completely away from him, all the way to the left, his head lolling precariously off the back of his seat. It looks uncomfortable as all hell. Adam draws an arm around Kris's shoulders and pulls him to his chest, smiling lightly when Kris rubs his face in his shirt like an affectionate cat. Kris snuffles a little as he fits himself into Adam, finding his little nooks and crannies even in sleep. Adam noses at Kris's hair, finding the achingly familiar scent of his shampoo underneath the bit of sweat and cotton candy, and closes his eyes.
---
"I thought that was supposed to be a scary story, Tommy," Kris is saying as he tries and mostly fails to keep his laughs under his breath.
Adam slits his eyes open, recoiling slightly when he finds that the lights have been turned on. The chatter is a little louder this time around, but the bus still isn't moving. Kris is kneeling on his seat and facing backward, munching on something as he chats with someone - Ryland, maybe? - about ghosts. Or something. Adam reaches out blindly and catches a fistful of Kris's hoodie.
Kris turns his head, lips curling in a soft, sweet smile when he looks Adam over. He sits back on his shins and kisses Adam's nose. "Hey, sleepyhead," Kris murmurs.
Adam tilts his head, smiling when Kris takes the cue and presses a light kiss on his lips. "Hi."
Kris pulls out a bottle from somewhere when Adam clears his throat. The water isn't cold anymore, but it's nice, sliding down his dry throat. Adam still feels drowsy and a little lost, but he immediately notices when the conversation around him slows down - Ryland has everyone's attention as he tells a story about a ghost that's haunted their school for decades. It's an old basketball coach that got killed in a freak accident and has been spotted all over since then - most often in boys' bathroom mirrors in the gym, sitting in his old office, creeping around the corners of the basketball court, crossing the huge field, hanging out at the bleachers outside.
He and Kris share a mildly freaked out look at that last detail, and all of a sudden, a disturbingly vivid scenario paints itself in Adam's head: he's sitting at the bleachers with Kris on the night of their first kiss, only when he starts to lean in, his eyes catch sight of a ghost watching them from three rows down.
Adam shudders and forces himself to think of happier, non-scary things, but it doesn't quite work. It gets worse when Ryland lists out some more horror stories about seeing ghosts in the bathroom mirror and walking past classrooms and messing up lockers, and the others chime in about other things they'd heard - ghosts peeking out from under that huge oak right outside the music wing, glimpses of mysterious somethings up in the auditorium rafters, that unsettling feeling of walking down an empty hallway alone.
He's not freaking out. Really. He isn't.
Only - he is, a little bit.
Adam avoids looking out the darkened windows and focuses on Kris beside him, who's suddenly gone quiet. Kris smiles gratefully when Adam rubs his arm - Adam meant for it to soothe Kris, but it works really well as something to calm himself down, too. A huge bag of Doritos is pushed onto them right then, and the tension dissipates; soon, Adam's munching happily in no time at all, joining in the listing out of unintentionally funny scenes in awful horror movies.
He and Kris are still kneeling on their seats, bickering with Megan and Danielle over leftover candy corn as the bus rolls into the school parking lot.
---
The tiredness creeps back in as Kris's dad drives them home.
Kris is uncharacteristically alert for this time of night, strong arm wrapped tightly across Adam's waist as they walk to the door. The house is quiet - Adam vaguely remembers telling his mom not to wait up - and Kris wordlessly pulls out Adam's keys from the front pocket of his backpack. They shuffle up the stairs slowly, and before Adam knows it, Kris is kneeling in front of him, tugging down his jeans.
"I like where this is going," Adam slurs.
Kris snorts indelicately as he gets back up on his feet and pulls off Adam's shirt. Adam's only beginning to form the idea of pulling Kris onto the bed with him when he blinks - suddenly he's already lying down, and gentle, knowing hands are tucking a blanket over his shoulders. Oh.
"I want to keep you," is all Adam can manage.
Kris smiles at him, huge and silly and brilliant, and Adam sighs in satisfaction. He loves getting right. "All yours," Kris answers.
Kris putters around the room a bit - distantly, Adam knows that when he wakes up, his phone will be on the nightstand, his backpack on his desk, his laundry in the basket. Kris has always been considerate like that, and Adam has never forgotten how to be grateful for it. Two blinks later, Kris's hands are on either side of Adam's head, and Adam doesn't even need to think to tip his chin up for a long, sweet goodnight kiss.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Sweet dreams, love."
Adam sighs and murmurs something probably unintelligible. The last thing he's aware of is Kris's thumb caressing his cheek, and it's the perfect end to a really amazing day.
A/N part deux: For the schmoop_bingo prompt amusement park. I (obviously) played fast and loose with the park details - I just really wanted to throw in all the tropes I could think of. ...and then some. Oops? :)
Fandom: American Idol RPF
Rating: R
Pairings: Adam/Kris
Word Count: ~11,000
Summary: Since when have you been a morning person? (SIX FLAGS, YO. High school AU.)
A/N: The last update was supposed to be 'five completely normal afternoons and one that really wasn't' - but I got really carried away with writing the 'one' that it kind of took on a life of its own. When I crossed the 5,000-word mark before I had even written half of the things I wanted to put in, I decided to just post it separately.
This entire series is a big ball of self-indulgence, and this installment is the most indulgent of them all, for realsies. I had so much fun writing it, and I hope you guys enjoy reading. :)
Master post of previous installments: here
The whole story (in chronological order) is up at AO3 here.
Adam barely has the energy to slam the snooze button on his alarm let alone throw it across the room, but he tries to do it anyway just with the power of his wrath.
It doesn't quite work.
It's still dark outside, why the hell did he set his alarm for six in the morning on a Saturday? He'd been on the phone with Kris until almost two - they only hung up because they had to - oh. Saturday. The week after finals. Senior trip to Six Flags. Right. Adam sighs and sits up, hating everything that's ever lived in the history of the universe. Or something. God, it should be a crime to ever be required to wake up before the sun has even risen.
It's a modern miracle that he makes it into and out of the shower without falling and breaking something, and it takes all of his concentration to pull on the outfit he laid out the night before (Kris's idea). His phone lights up with a text from Kris: Tell me why we're doing this again? and Adam squints at the screen, trying to string together enough brain cells to form a real answer and to get his thumbs to actually type it. An entire minute passes by with him just staring, and then another message comes in. I'm bringing coffee. I really hope you didn't fall in the shower. Be there in 20. I love you. Oh. Awesome, then.
Adam smiles, suddenly feeling a lot more awake, and types in a quick I'm alive. I love you too, and not just coz you're bringing me coffee <3 <3 <3 (the hearts are extremely difficult to type, but he pulls through somehow, Kris totally deserves them). He moves in slow, deliberate movements, pulling on his sneakers and stuffing his iPod into his pre-packed backpack (again, Kris's idea) before going downstairs. He grabs the pack of batteries his mom left on the kitchen counter, pours a glass of OJ, and polishes off the plate of bacon and eggs he finds sitting in the microwave. He sits at the table and kind of stares into the middle distance for God knows how long before his phone lights up again.
We're outside
The pre-dawn sky is a pretty, pinkish blue, and Adam smiles when he sees Kris leaning on the car idling at the sidewalk.
"Good morning," Kris says, pushing a large tumbler into Adam's hands. "Mama says you drink too much coffee, but she's giving you a pass on this one."
"Morning, baby," Adam murmurs before dropping a soft kiss on Kris's lips. "I love your mom."
Kris smirks and opens the door for him. Adam slides in the backseat and meets Kris's dad's eyes in the rearview mirror. "Morning, dad," he says before taking a big gulp of coffee. It's mixed just the way he likes, and he sighs in satisfaction, feeling it warming him up and getting his synapses firing. God bless caffeine.
The car shifts when Kris gets in. "Good morning, Adam," Kris's dad says as they roll down the street. "How's your mom doing?"
"She's a little better," Adam says, thinking of the sniffly, coughing mess his mom has been since Wednesday. "She'll just be resting all weekend, trying to heal."
"That's good to hear. Kim's dropping by with soup later, she hasn't babied anyone in a while, it'll be good for both of them."
They all laugh, and Adam feels a happy warmth spread in his chest - not just because of the coffee. "Mom would love that. Please tell her thank you for me."
"It's no problem, son. Do you know Neil's plans for the day? Kim doesn't know how much pie she should bring," Neil says with a wink.
Adam snorts. "Neil's working on some summer project, he's been holed up in his room for days. I'm sure he'll come down for pie."
"I'll make sure Kim sets aside a couple of slices just for you, then." It's kind of hilarious how their families know each other so well.
The rest of the drive is mostly silent, Kris and Adam sip their coffee as Neil hums along to the radio. The streets are empty, quiet, and Adam feels a sense of peace wash over him as he watches the houses go by.
---
The school parking lot is half-full - there are two huge buses parked in one corner and other parents dropping off kids that look like they'd just rolled out of bed. It's strange to see the school in the early morning light, the sun rising just beyond the bleachers. Adam spots Alisan as she jumps down from their huge SUV, Matt and Anoop talking to Mrs. K., and Andrew waving to them from his perch at the main entrance.
"I'll text you when we leave Six Flags, and then when we get off the highway," Kris says before he kisses his dad on the cheek. "Thanks, dad."
"Thanks, dad," Adam echoes with a smile before sliding out of the car. They wave as he drives off, and Adam waits for Kris to finish cramming the money his dad gave him into his wallet. They thread their fingers together and walk to where Andrew is sitting.
"Hey."
"Hey," they answer simultaneously, gingerly sitting on the ground next to him. "You're early, man," Kris grunts.
"I've only been here five minutes. Is that coffee?" Andrew asks hopefully.
Kris smiles and hands his tumbler over. "Yep. Go nuts."
Andrew takes a sip, sighing as he swallows. "God, that's good. Our machine at home's broken. I don't know how normal people function this early in the day without coffee."
"Amen," Adam answers, his arm lifting up as Kris slumps against him. "Can't believe I woke up before freakin' sunrise."
"Six Flags, man," Matt says, walking up to them with a wide grin that's unnerving to see at seven fifteen in the morning. "It's gonna be awesome."
"Since when have you been a morning person?" Kris asks.
"Since this morning," Anoop pipes up, sounding weary. He drops on the ground in front of them. "It's been exhausting, let me tell you."
Alisan skips toward them, looking much too awake - seriously, how is Adam friends with these people? - Tommy, Cale and Ryland in tow, a digital camera in her hands. "Smile!" she says, cheery, and it's too much. Adam just really wants his bed. He leans his head on top of Kris's and grimaces at the camera. He sighs heavily when Alisan actually twirls around and takes a picture of the boys behind her.
"Blackmail material right there," Cale says with a yawn.
"I know all her passwords, those pictures will never see the light of day," Adam growls, draining the rest of his coffee. "How can any of you even stay standing?"
"I fell asleep at eight last night," Alisan answers, more than a little smug. "I've been up since four, it's insane."
"That's awful," Andrew says bitterly. Adam would give him a high five if he wasn't so busy trying to hold his head up. "Morning people suck."
Alisan just shrugs and chats with Matt and Ryland about the best strategy to tackle the entire park in the least amount of time. That seems to perk Anoop up - he takes out a map from his bag and stands up to point things out to them. It's insanely dorky and hilarious and Adam loves and hates his friends.
Mrs. K. comes up to their group and ticks off their names on a clipboard. "Buses load at seven thirty, you're all in number one - that's the big, blue one on the left." They all murmur their thanks and bicker over seating arrangements the moment she steps away.
"I call whatever seat is in front of Lee. He always brings the most snacks," Tommy says.
"Dibs on the seat next to you," Andrew says.
"I got you, right, 'Noopie?" Matt asks, and Anoop just rolls his eyes.
---
The parking lot fills up with more of their classmates, and the noise level goes further and further up as the sun rises higher in the sky. At some point, Adam reluctantly gets to his feet and stretches to get ready for the long bus ride. Kris stands, too, raising his arms and yawning. "Do you want the window seat?" he asks, reaching for Adam's hands.
Adam smiles, squeezing Kris's fingers and pulling, pressing backward with all of his weight. "You brought me coffee, you get the window seat," he says. From the corner of his eye, he spots Alisan pointing her camera at them, and he makes a face at her. "I think I'm just gonna pass out anyway, so it doesn't really matter."
"God, yes, sleep please," Kris says, his mouth opening in a cute little yawn. "We really shouldn't have stayed up so late."
"Lesson learned," Adam murmurs, deciding that he's done stretching and pulls Kris into a hug. "Today'll be fun, though. Six Flags, baby."
"Mmm yes. Cotton candy. Corn dogs. Rootbeer floats," Kris murmurs into his shoulder.
Adam pecks the top of his head before pulling away and tugging him to the buses. Danielle, Megan, Scarlett and Lee join their small crowd as they walk across the parking lot. They say hi to their other classmates, exchange hugs and high fives, and it's a senior class clusterfuck before Mr. D.'s voice drifts over the noise and tells them to get on the buses or else.
Matt manages to be the first person to get on, and he saves the back rows of seats for them. The boys crowd the last row while the rest of them follow suit. Adam and Kris end up in front of Megan and Danielle, with Scarlett and Lee in the row next to them. It's freezing on the bus, and Adam tucks Kris into his jacket before pulling on his own. The bus fills up quickly enough, and after a roll call and some announcements from Mr. D. up front, the bus pulls away from the lot.
At least three huge bags of chips are opened immediately, and the chatter on the bus settles into a volume that Adam has long been used to. Kris falls asleep on his shoulder twenty minutes in, and Adam follows soon after, Kris's slow breaths and the rocking of the bus better than any lullaby.
The next time Adam opens his eyes, more than an hour has passed and there's a crick in his neck. Kris is slumped against the window, asleep, left hand loosely twined in Adam's right. Adam cranes his neck and looks around - almost everyone around him is asleep, too. Andrew waves at him from his seat, looking up from where he and Tommy are watching something on someone's iPod. Adam smirks at the hilarious sight of Matt and Anoop's heads pressed together in sleep, and he reaches into his bag to get his camera, determined to capture this beautiful moment.
Andrew and Tommy snicker as Adam takes a couple of shots, then grin wildly when Adam points the camera at them. When Adam turns and sits back down, Kris's eyes are open.
"We're still two hours away, baby. Go back to sleep."
Kris smiles at him blearily. "Why're you awake?"
"I dunno." Adam wraps his arm around Kris's shoulders and gently pulls him down. "C'mon, sleep time."
Their doze is interrupted an hour later by a collective bathroom break at a gas station - Kris insists they both have to go - and they wake up for the last time about half an hour before they get to Six Flags, when it gets too loud in the bus to sleep any longer. Adam watches the trees go by and feels excitement start to bubble up in his stomach. An entire day at an amusement park with his boyfriend and their best friends; they can do whatever they want, however many times they want. They don't even have to drive themselves home. It's going to be a fantastic day.
---
"Seriously? Right now?"
Kris drops his bag at his feet and looks up at Adam, expression challenging. "Yes, right now. You'll thank me later."
Adam rolls his eyes and lets Kris slather sunscreen all over his face and down his neck and arms. Kris's hands are gentle but firm, his touch long-familiar. It was only really a token protest - Adam knows he needs this, and come on, of course he's not gonna say no to having Kris's hands all over him. Adam wrinkles his nose when Kris finishes, and says, "close your eyes, baby," before doing the same thing.
Kris tips his chin up, eyes closed, mouth quirked on a half-grin, ever trusting. Adam loves him, he really does.
They wipe their hands on some tissue paper and dart forward to where their friends are huddled. They agree to split up in two groups and meet back up for lunch. The sun is pleasantly warm, beating down on them as they walk and explore for a bit. He and Kris are with Danielle, Megan, Cale and Tommy, and they make plans to save the splashy rides for later and not have the big roller coasters be the first thing they do. Tommy suggests the Ferris wheel - the sun isn't too high up yet, and that way, they can see the entire park for real, get a feel for the place.
---
Adam's first mistake was pairing up with Kris.
He thought it would be nice, and at least a little romantic, getting to ride the Ferris wheel with his boyfriend. Floating to the sky and seeing the world from up high, sharing a quiet, peaceful moment far away from everything they know, or whatever. Well, he was wrong.
Kris is an absolute menace.
The cars are circular, and they start out sitting close together, Kris's hand on Adam's knee. Once they start moving, though, Kris scoots to the opposite side and curls his arms around the railing, tilting forward to stare down at the ground. His little butt is wiggling - in excitement? Adam has no idea - like he's a five year old on a sugar high. All the movement makes their car move in scary, jerky movements, and Adam has to try really hard to keep from hyperventilating. At one point Kris bends over the edge to yell something at Cale and Tommy in the car below them. Adam's eyes widen in horror and he grabs the back of Kris's pants to keep him from going over.
"Kristopher! If you don't sit your ass on that chair, I'm going to let you fall to a splattery death!" Adam shrieks.
Abruptly, Kris turns around and all but bounces in his seat. It makes their car jolt in ten thousand terrifying ways, and Adam clutches at the middle rail, knuckles going white.
"You're not scared of heights," Kris says speculatively, unfazed, and Adam thinks he really can't be blamed if he commits boyfriendicide sometime in the next five minutes.
"I'm not, but you keep moving around and it's like an earthquake while we're fifty feet in the air. And then suddenly you're halfway to falling out of this thing! Pardon me for being a little concerned," Adam huffs. His heart is pounding and he can't quite catch his breath.
Kris goes quiet and still, just looking at him, eyes soft. In one smooth movement, he's pressed up next to Adam again, hands gently unwrapping Adam's fingers from the rail. He rubs their hands together - presumably for Adam's circulation - all while smiling his stupid, crooked Kris smile. He kisses Adam's palms before setting them back down on Adam's lap and tipping his head on Adam's shoulder. "Got excited. I'm sorry," he says.
Adam sighs and drops a kiss on Kris's hair. "You scared me."
Kris curls closer, wrapping an arm around Adam's waist and squeezing. "I didn't mean to. Won't happen again, promise," he murmurs into the curve of Adam's neck.
They're all the way at the top now, the wind ruffling their hair, and it's quiet all around them. Adam can see for miles - sprawling towns and rolling hills out in the distance. The park is all laid out below them, full of possiblility. He breathes in deep, loving the fresh air and the familiar scent of Kris's shampoo. He feels peaceful, here, and he feels sorry when they start their descent.
"Did you see anything you wanted to do?" Kris asks after a prolonged silence.
"All of it?" Adam laughs. "I'm really not picky. I'm sure we'll get to everything eventually."
"And we'll come back here tonight, right?"
"Yes, please."
---
It seems that Megan hasn't had her fill of heights, and she insists on riding the wave swinger right after the Ferris wheel. It's exhilarating, being so high up, the wind whipping his face and and flattening his hair on his head. Adam can't help the full belly laugh he lets out about halfway through, and when Danielle catches his eye, they both catch the giggles. Even when they're back on solid ground, he can't keep off the huge smile on his face. Kris throws him a puzzled glance, but just bears Adam's weight when he tips sideways, a little breathless and a lot giddy.
Cale challenges Kris to a race around the go karts, and of course Kris doesn't even try to resist. The rest of them beg off, slumping on a nearby picnic bench, peeling off layers and slurping cold juice from a huge cup they all share. Danielle takes a map of the park from an information booth and they try to decide what to do before they have to meet up with everybody else for lunch. Mostly they people-watch, looking at families and groups of friends milling around, enjoying the day. There are lots of small children and even smaller babies, cheeks ruddy from the heat, and Adam waves at them goofily whenever they catch his eye. They spot at least two groups of people from school, and they all stop by the table to say hi and report on what they'd already done.
It's a little less than half hour before Kris and Cale find them, grinning and elbowing each other like five year olds.
"I totally kicked Cale's ass," Kris crows as he drops down next to Adam on the bench.
"I got stuck behind that dude who didn't know what he was doing! You're just too chicken to do a rematch," Cale rolls his eyes and smiles good-naturedly after he takes a sip from the juice cup.
Kris shakes his head, expression smug. "No, I just didn't want to keep these guys waiting. I stalled my engine at the starting line and I still finished first. Clearly, I'm the real winner."
"No, I refuse to accept it. We'll get Andrew here later and I swear he's going to kick your ass," Cale says as he points a dramatic finger at Kris's face. Kris just laughs and bats it away before taking the juice cup from Cale's hands and slurping loudly. "So what's next?"
"I'm thinking we should go on one of the big coasters next," Danielle says, pushing the map toward Kris and pointing at the one nearest them. "So we'll have time to, like, recover and just chill before lunch. And then we can do the other one later this afternoon."
"Awesome!" Tommy exclaims. He gets up and starts bouncing on his toes. "I'm so ready for this."
"I apologize in advance if I throw up on any of you," Megan says, suddenly going pale. She's more than fine with heights, but she's never been able to handle the twists, turns, and loops of even minor roller coasters.
Kris looks at her, concerned. "You don't have to go if you don't want to, Meg. I'll stay with you if you want."
"No, no, I need to - I really wanna see if I can. I wanna try. I'm not gonna freak out, I promise," she answers, insistent. She rubs her hands together and stands up too, tucking her hand under the crook of Cale's bent arm. "Let's do this."
Adam throws the empty cup into a trash can, and smiles gratefully when he turns around and Kris is holding up his backpack for him. Kris grabs his hand and drops a quick peck on his lips before turning to the rest of the group.
"Bathroom first?" Kris asks with a sheepish smile.
---
The line to Kingda Ka is the longest they've encountered all day, and Adam's just thankful for the roof above them as they wait and watch the sun rise higher in the sky. Adam calculates that they'll finish the ride with just enough time to meet up with everyone for lunch. Cale and Megan are chatting with some other kids from their senior class standing near them, while Tommy and Danielle are watching something on Tommy's iPod. Kris is precariously perched on a rail with Adam standing between his raised knees; they're leaning on each other, weight balanced between them, hands loosely entwined. The rumbles of the coaster is loud and surrounds them completely, and as they get closer and closer to the front of the line, Adam starts to get more and more tense. He feels cold all over, a little shaky, and he jumps about a foot when Kris presses a soft kiss on his head.
"You gonna share with the class?" Kris asks a few silent minutes later, and there goes Adam's hope that Kris would just wave off his extreme reaction.
Adam takes a deep breath and shakes his head resolutely. It's not even Adam's first time on anything like this, but no amount of rationalization can calm his pounding heart. His joints feel stiff, every bit of movement feels forced. It's just a roller coaster, Adam tells himself. Tall and twisty and steep and intimidating, but it's all just fancy metal. Thousands of people ride it every day, and it's never any problem. You were excited for this. Get it together. But no amount of rationalization can stop his body's extreme physical reaction to just standing in line.
"Breathe, Adam," Kris says into his ear, voice calm and steady. Adam leans back until he's pressed fully against Kris's chest, feeling the rhythm of his lungs, trying to match his slow, even breathing. It feels like yoga, or like a twisted kind of Lamaze, just breathing together like this, and Adam feels more and more calm with every exhale. He's hyper-focused on this, on just them; he blocks everything else out even if his eyes are still wide open.
The next thing he knows, they're next in line.
They slide into their seats, and Adam somehow manages to maintain his even breathing as he pulls down the harness. The attendant walks along the coaster, checking everything, and Adam's heart starts pounding again, not with fear this time, but with excitement. He shares a large, manic grin with Kris, and he - along with Danielle on his other side, and the others in front of them - lets out a loud yell the moment they start moving.
Here we go.
---
Adam's knees are shaking, Kris's arm around him is basically the only thing keeping him upright, and he knows his face is blotchy and red from the wind and the copious amounts of obnoxious yelling, but all he wants is to get right back on that thing and do it all over again.
"Holy fuck!" Tommy exclaims, sounding giddy and drunk. "Shit, let's go again. C'mon, let's do it again!"
Kris giggles into Adam's shoulder, hand fisting at the back of his shirt, and Adam laughs too, for no reason. For every reason.
Somehow they manage to pull themselves onto a nearby picnic table without injury. Adam looks around at his friends, and they're all wearing the same shell-shocked, exhilarated, glazed expressions. He feels another hysterical laugh bubble up in his stomach and he doesn't even try to keep it in. He laughs and laughs until he's bent in half, until he's choking on his own breaths, until Kris is rubbing his hands up and down his back. So this is what being an adrenaline junkie is like, he thinks, and yeah, he can see why people do this kind of thing all the time. It's like what being on stage makes him feel, only shot up to a thousand, and it makes his head spin, makes his limbs feel like jelly.
They all just stare at each other for what feels like a long time, giggling at odd intervals. Adam glances up and watches the twists and turns of the coaster, a little amazed and a lot exhilarated that he was just on that thing and he's here now, alive and whole. He really needs to go back on before the day ends.
Kris is the one who pulls enough brain cells together to stand up and then come back with a huge-ass bottle of water. They all coo at him gratefully before taking turns guzzling. It seems they all come back to themselves after that, and when Adam glances at his watch, they're late for lunch.
"Alisan's gonna get mad," Kris says, pulling Adam up by the hand. "And c'mon, I think I'm starving."
"I want a huge, hulking cheeseburger," Cale says in a dreamy voice as they walk (only just a little unsteadily) to their previously-established meeting point. Danielle's clinging to Tommy's arm, which is just weird and counterintuitive, but with some kind of miracle of physics, they stumble in a vaguely forward manner. Cale's arm is loosely wrapped around Megan's shoulders, who thankfully doesn't even look close to barfing, and whose eyes light up at Cale's food suggestion. And as they have been the whole day, Kris's fingers are threaded tightly between his, a natural, perfect fit, something Adam feels like he's always known. He swings their hands back and forth, feeling a little goofy, and Kris grins at him.
When they step into the food pavilion, Adam immediately spots their group of friends sitting at a long table. Matt raises his arm and waves frantically, and Adam laughs as he waves back. The place looks like a cardiologist's nightmare - countless stalls selling artery-blocking greasy food, heaping desserts, and piles and piles of candy. It's loud and full, but thankfully several degrees lower in temperature than the stifling heat out in the sun.
It looks like the rest of their friends had just come from the water rides - their clothes still a little damp, hair still dripping. Their reunion is boisterous and noisy, exchanging stories about their adventures and Alisan berating them for being late. Their group had already decided on a lunch strategy: they're getting four giant pizza boxes to share among them, the rest is every man for himself. They've been going on pizza runs together in various group permutations for at least five years, so they just leave it to Danielle and Andrew to order what approximates their usual. The first group get up to get their drinks and other extras, while Adam sits with the people he's been with all day, gazing all around the pavilion and trying to decide what else to get. The pizza would normally be more than enough for him, but they're at Six Flags, and they're kind of obliged to ingest as much food as humanly possible.
Kris nudges his elbow. "Cheese fries?"
Adam nods his head emphatically. "Yes, definitely. And it's Cold Stone for dessert, so don't even."
"I know, we already said. Pizza, cheese fries... you think we should get burgers?"
"Overkill. I want some meat, but the turkey leg just looks like a terrible idea."
Kris snorts a laugh and perches his chin on Adam's shoulder. "No on the turkey leg, then. Chicken fingers?"
"Maaaaaybe. Okay, yes, but that's only if the other guys come back and we don't get food envy."
"Sounds fair. And hey, we're doing the carnival games after this. Let's see if I can win something for you."
Adam hums and nuzzles the side of Kris's head. "What if I want to win you something?"
"We can do that, too," Kris says, leaning into his touch. "Though I don't think it's a good idea to win those gigantic stuffed animals. I don't wanna carry those around the rest of the day."
"Deal."
There's no ensuing food envy when their friends come back to the table one by one with heaps of food on their trays, so they settle on their original menu. They split up with the unspoken understanding that they'll take care of their own drinks, and Adam takes on cheese fries duty with Kris's "if you find a deep-fried weird thing, get it for me, okay?" in mind. The lines are long everywhere, but Adam's not too bothered by it; he feels mellow and light, like nothing can bring him down, the gorgeous day and being with some of his favorite people buoying him. It's possible he scares the cashier with the happy smile he can't seem to wipe off his face.
On his way back, Adam spots a stall selling deep-fried desserts, and he grins at the amazingly gross menu - ice cream, Twinkies, Snickers bars, funnel cake, cookie dough. He picks the most phallic one - Snickers bar - just for fun, and raises a saucy eyebrow at Kris when he gets back to the table.
"You got me a deep-fried dildo?" Kris asks. "I'm touched."
The table bursts out in surprised laughter, and Adam grins wildly.
It's a mess of food and giggles and ridiculous conversation for a solid hour as they dig in. The pizza is exquisite, the mix of sauce and cheese something Adam hasn't yet tasted in all his years of being a self-proclaimed pizza connoisseur. The cheese fries are extra cheesy, and the salsa Kris got for their chicken fingers is weirdly spicy in the most intriguing way. He tries to leave space for dessert to no avail - everything's so wonderful and wonderfully unhealthy, Adam can't help but fill himself up. He wishes that he can live here, just eat all of this food every single day until he dies old and fat and goddamn satisfied.
Before he knows it, his plate is empty and he's licking off the last of the melted cheese from his fingers. His eyes dart to his left and he sees that Kris is staring at his mouth. Adam takes a surreptitious look around the table and is grateful to see that no one's paying attention to them - Lee and Ryland are in a corndog eating contest, gross. He takes his entire index and middle fingers in his mouth and swirls his tongue as obscenely as humanly possible (which is rather obscene, if he says so himself; he's learned a lot in all the time he and Kris have been together). Kris swallows loudly and darts his eyes up to Adam's, glaring at him when he sees Adam's self-satisfied expression. Adam just winks and sucks at his fingers eagerly, waiting a few long moments before letting his eyes roll at the back of his head.
Kris just narrows his eyes challengingly and picks up the deep-fried Snickers bar from their shared tray. An intense curl of want grips Adam's entire lower body just at the thought of what Kris is about to do; Adam's already half-hard in his jeans when Kris starts in on the thing like the cocksucking genius Adam knows very well that he is. Kris plays it up like a fucking champ: puckering his lips as he takes a bite, licking at the bits of caramel that drip from the chocolate bar, groaning like a fucking porn star every time he swallows. Adam just gapes at him like a fish, unbelievably turned on and completely unsurprised as well; Kris has always been the only person who can ever beat Adam at his game, and it's one of the (many, many, many) reasons why Adam loves him so completely.
Adam drops Kris's sharp-focus gaze and takes a large gulp of his cherry Coke, munching hard on an ice cube as he tries to stay still in his seat. His mind is whirring, alternating between unbearably vivid images of Kris's lips wrapped around his dick, head bobbing up and down as spit and precome dribble down to his chin and useless, fleeting flashes of the most unsexy things Adam can think of as he tries (wildly, unsuccessfully) to make his raging hard-on disappear.
Kris smiles at him in amused sympathy and thankfully doesn't even try to touch Adam just yet. Adam opens his mouth to say something - he doesn't know what - but the sound of loud coughing interrupts their silent conversation. Lee's up on his feet, waving his arms in the air in victory, and Ryland is guzzling all the water left in his bottle, body shuddering hacking coughs. Everyone else is laughing or covering their eyes in disgust. His friends are ridiculous, and Adam feels a wave of gratitude, and not just because they took his attention away from Kris.
---
All their food is finished, but nobody's willing to stand up just yet. They're slumped in their seats, either staring dazedly into the middle distance or groaning as they rub their fuller-than-they've-ever-been stomachs.
"I take it no one wants dessert?" Anoop pipes up.
Scarlett groans loudly. "No one's allowed to mention the F-word or anything related to the F-word for at least the next hour."
"F-word?"
"Food," three people answer simultaneously. Adam wants to giggle, but he thinks that if his stomach moves even just a little, he's going to hurl.
Kris seems to be the least-troubled one out of all of them, and he lets Adam throw his legs on his lap so Adam can recline as much as he can. Adam closes his eyes, enjoying the movement of Kris's hands on his shins. Kris's fingers feel so nice, even through denim. He vaguely hears a few people get up to go somewhere, but no one talks directly to him or Kris, so he just keeps his eyes shut.
Some time later, he feels his feet get dropped onto an empty seat. When Adam opens his eyes and looks around, their table is half empty and Kris is sitting beside him. All the comfort in the world is in Kris's smile. "Close your eyes," he says, hands ghosting over Adam's stomach.
Adam smiles back, then sighs helplessly when Kris starts to massage his belly.
Adam thinks this shouldn't feel as good as it does, but he can immediately tell that it's helping. Kris's hands are so very, very gentle, moving as if Adam's made of porcelain, his touch unmistakably knowing, and it makes Adam pretty much melt into his seat. After a few minutes of careful rubbing, Kris starts humming, some soft, random tune, and Adam feels so overwhelmed, an impossible wave of pure, aching feeling washing over him.
He slits his eyes open and catches Kris's fond gaze. Stupid, useless, inadequate words get stuck in Adam's throat.
"Better?" Kris asks with a sweet, disarming smile, hands still petting at Adam's stomach.
Adam stills Kris's hands and dips forward, kissing him slow and deep. "I love you," he murmurs, and just like when he said it the first time and every time after that, he doesn't think he's ever felt it as much as he does in this moment.
Kris pulls away, a crazy-wide grin on his lips. "I love you back."
---
Half an hour later, none of them are still all too keen on going on any rides. They're more than content to wait out their digestive systems - not to mention the harsh rays from the sun - right there in the food pavilion, but when Kris jumps up and makes noises about playing carnival games, he's met with some interest.
That's how Adam ends up with Kris, Danielle, Ryland and Anoop in a semi-crowded, loud (and covered, thankfully) carnival-like corner of the park. Kris's face lights up when they enter, and he almost skips to the first empty stall he spots - shooting baskets.
Anoop half-jogs to catch up, calling out, "You're on, Allen!"
Adam exchanges exasperated looks with Danielle before following. He takes his time to look around, and it looks like a haphazard collection of probably-rigged, run-of-the-mill carnival games - darts, coin toss, ring toss, the milk bottles, that thing where you hit something with a hammer to show how strong you are. Adam thinks he can spot some old school arcade games at the corner too - Pacman, Mario, some kind of spaceship-y stuff. There are rows and rows of cute, tacky prizes displayed on walls - stuffed animals, plush toys, weird hats, bead necklaces, slinkies, bags - everything you would never actually spend money on but try your hardest to win anyway.
Kris and Anoop yell good-naturedly at each other while Ryland trash talks, and Adam thinks it's the funniest thing he's seen all day. He stands back and yells obnoxious, cutesy cheers whenever Kris sinks a basket.
"Shoot that ball, Kris!"
"Look at my baby go!" he shrieks when Kris hits three in a row, and that's when Danielle and Ryland lose it, folding in half as they laugh hysterically. Adam forgets to be the supportive cheerleader boyfriend when the game gets tense - 10 seconds left and Anoop is only down by one basket. Adam's hands fist tight on his sides, his nails digging into his palm, and he bounces up on his toes until the buzzer sounds and Kris squeaks in one last basket to win it.
Kris raises his arms in smug victory, and Anoop playfully mimes punching him in the face. Adam, Danielle and Ryland would make awful cheerleaders in real life, but they faux-fawn over Kris anyway, heaping hyperbolic praise on his skills on the court.
"I like a man who's good with his hands!"
"You handle those balls, Kris!"
Kris laughs so hard he almost falls over.
Once the giggle fit runs out, Anoop beelines to what looks like a badass archery game, and Danielle drags Ryland to the darts booth, loudly demanding an obnoxious prize. Adam drapes his arms over Kris's shoulders from behind and nuzzles his ear. "Will you go steady with me, stud?"
"Who can say no to that?" Kris says, turning around to drop a small kiss on Adam's lips. "Now it's your turn to win something."
Adam can't figure out which game would be the easiest to win, so they try them all. They're both hopeless at the coin toss and the ring toss - they only get dinosaur and dragon shaped silly bandz for their trouble. Adam is much better at darts, hitting four balloons with five darts on his third round, and he chooses a Mad Hatter-like top hat the size of his head. Kris takes on the milk bottles like a pro, winning a stuffed black-grey wolf with piercing blue eyes.
Kris holds the wolf up beside Adam's head. "He'll be you, when you're not around. But you'll always be around, won't you," he says with a soft, private grin. "It's gonna be just you and me."
Just them. New York. Summer is the only thing standing between them and freedom, and Adam feels a familiar tangle of emotion - that combination of love, excitement and nerves - that always churns the pit of his stomach when he thinks of their future. It's so close now, they're making final decisions on apartments soon enough, and then decorating, and packing, and living. Adam can't wait.
"Always, baby."
---
When they get back to the food pavilion with their spoils of war, the others are raring to go back into the park. They make a unanimous decision to ride something harmless and mellow before making their way back up to the big ones.
"Which ride, though? The Tunnel of Love?" Matt says, cracking up at his own joke.
Nobody else laughs, though, and Ryland just shrugs. "Why not? It'll be slow."
"And shaded," Tommy pipes up, not even trying to hide his wicked grin.
"Dibs on Danielle!" Alisan cries before grabbing Danielle's hand and skipping out into the sun. The line isn't particularly long, and soon enough they're paired off and gingerly sliding into boats.
They've done a ton of cliché things - it's part of the territory, being boyfriends in high school - but Adam thinks this is probably the cliché of all clichés. They pounce on each other the very second their boat enters the dark passage, and it makes for a sloppy kiss, their teeth clicking and hands fumbling, but it's good, it's great, and Adam has felt deprived all day. They play it fast and loose, Adam's hand immediately drifting up Kris's shirt, reveling in the full-body shudder he gets when he runs his nails down Kris's back. Kris and his tongue are especially enthusiastic, happily exploring every centimeter of Adam's mouth. It's not too long before Kris groans and flips over, planting himself on Adam's lap and grinding down hard. Adam barely manages to bite back the loud moan from the back of his throat. It feels so incredibly good to have Kris on top of him, surrounding him, the planes of his body familiar under his hands, the fierce press of Kris's lips against his.
It's humbling, to have been blessed with so much.
Adam pulls away, his hands framing Kris's face. Kris makes a little whining, frustrated noise, hands clutching hard at Adam's shoulders. Adam just smiles, thumbing at Kris's flushed cheeks. "You're the best thing in my life," Adam whispers, an ache in his throat. It's nothing they haven't said to each other before, but it rolls slowly off Adam's tongue, heavy with importance.
Kris stares at him for a few long moments, expression impossible to read in the dark. His hand absently brushes through Adam's hair, and Adam leans into the touch. "It's always going to be you," Kris says as his fingers curl around the back of Adam's head, leaning down for a gentle kiss, hardly anything more than a press of lips. "You're all of it, Adam. Everything."
It's all slow, soft, lazy kisses after that, hands gliding on soft skin. Somewhere along the way, Adam manages to ease Kris off his lap and tuck him into his side, hand rubbing wide circles on Kris's back. They both flinch when their boat exits back into the sun.
Needless to say, it's Adam's favorite ride by far.
---
Once they're back on dry land, they decide to split up into their earlier groups, promising to meet up at Nitro at six so they can all go on it together, and then have dinner before the fireworks display.
It's a long, winding line to get to the water rides, but it's more than worth it when they get there - it's wild and exciting and gets legit insane for a little bit, and the 40-foot drop at the very end is nothing to sneeze at. Adam climbs out of the ride soaked from the waist up. Tommy and Megan's entire right sides and Cale and Danielle's left sides are dripping, which is the most hilarious thing ever. Kris gets the worst of it - he emerges drenched from head to foot, no inch of him spared.
They scope out a bathroom far enough away from the water ride for it to not be too wet or crowded, and they make good use of the spare set of clothes they brought. Once they're newly dry, Kris pulls out the bottle of sunscreen again and insists on slathering a new layer on Adam.
"You'll thank me later," Kris huffs as he rubs down Adam's arms. "It's not my fault your skin's so delicate."
Adam can't help the stupid smile that spreads on his face.
---
It's a whirlwind of random rides after that - they get on the twirling teacups because Danielle asks; on the merry-go-round because no red-blooded human can resist, no matter what age (Adam gets on a pony so pretty it could be a unicorn); two classic wooden coasters, light and easy; the 4-D film theater (better than all of them had expected, and Adam's pretty sure he'll have nightmares that involve hoards of insects crawling all over him because of it); the pirate ship on a pendulum (from which Adam emerged queasy and pale).
Kris and Adam beg off a second go-round on Kingda Ka, claiming long lines and heat exhaustion, but mostly it's because Adam doesn't think he can take three huge coaster rides in one day, especially with his stomach already churning. He knows his limits, and two will be more than enough, no matter how exhilarating they can be.
Instead, he and Kris settle down on a picnic table with a huge-ass sundae from Cold Stone. It's the sweetest, creamiest, most sinful thing either of them has ever tasted, and there's absolutely no embarrassment in the loud, orgasmic sounds they make after every bite.
"Where has this been all my life, oh my God," Adam exclaims.
"I think we're in heaven. This thing just can't be real," Kris murmurs disbelievingly. He raises his hand to feed Adam a bite and inspects the contents of the gigantic cup. "No, but really. How --"
Adam tries to mumble around his bite of perfection, but all that comes out is a mess of disjointed syllables. Kris shakes his head at him, amused and indulgent.
They eat as slowly as they possibly can, but they reach the bottom of the cup eventually, and they play-fight over the lost bits of ice cream and chocolate syrup. Adam giggles helplessly when Kris tugs him closer and drops small, quick kisses on his lips. "Yummy," Kris murmurs, and Adam just smiles, feeling warm all over.
After finishing off yet another bottle of water (they really should've thought about the hydration situation before they left; spending so much money on water just feels wrong), they find an empty bench near the Kingda Ka exit. It's not quite sunset yet, but it's close, and Adam tips his head up, enjoying the pleasant touch of heat on his skin. He then remembers the camera he'd stuffed in his bag - Alisan, Matt and Megan have been taking shot after shot after shot since they got to the park that Adam hasn't bothered to even take his out until now. He wordlessly drapes an arm around Kris and holds his other hand up to take a picture. They both laugh when they peer at the viewscreen - their heads are pressed together and they're pulling the exact same stupid face.
Adam kisses Kris's hair and says "smile, baby" before lifting his arm and taking another picture. It's a pretty good one, similar to maybe a hundred others they've taken in the last year - brilliant eyes, matching smiles, a small glimpse of Adam's arm wrapped around Kris's neck - something to treasure, still, maybe one he can add to the haphazard collage he'd mounted above his desk at home.
"We should go into one of those photo booth things," Kris says as he slouches further into the curve of Adam's arm, fitting himself in perfectly. "I wanna do that before we leave."
Adam puts the camera back in his bag and stares idly around the park, watching a pretty large crowd of people milling around. "Of course," he says. "There was probably one at the arcade place and we just missed it."
"After dinner, then." Kris tangles their fingers together and crosses his legs, the picture of complete relaxation. It's not a problem for either of them to stay quiet as they wait, occasionally waving back to toddlers and petting dogs that sidle up to them and sniff at their shoes. There's so much joy in this place, and Adam can feel it in the warmth of the air, in the shouts of laughter they hear every few seconds.
Tommy, Cale, Danielle and Megan stumble toward them eventually, all giggles and heavy breaths and red faces. Adam laughs at them, not even putting up a fight when Megan drapes herself on his lap with a loud sigh.
"I take it you guys had fun?" Adam asks.
"Tommy wanted to go again, but we didn't want you guys to keep waiting," Danielle says from somewhere to Adam's left.
"We don't mind," Kris says, only about half playful.
"Nah, Nitro's coming up soon," Tommy says excitedly. "We have time for one more ride, right? I want all of us on it."
They end up riding the wave swinger for the second time, and as Adam's hair whips on his forehead and the sun starts to set between the distant mountains, he throws his head back and feels.
---
Everything's loud when they meet back up with the others, mixing together and exchanging stories as they fall into the (45-minute long) line for Nitro. Alisan talks Adam's ear off as they scroll through the pictures she'd taken, and Adam laughs at the increasingly ridiculous stories she tells; the rest of the group is talking just as loudly and laughing just as often around them.
Scarlett calls for a full group picture about ten minutes in, and a kind mom standing with a pair of twins in front of them volunteers to take it. Kris sidles up to Adam then, face still red from laughing at whatever Lee and Anoop had been telling him. Adam tugs him close so his back presses up against Adam's front, Adam's chin grazing the top of his head. They mug for multiple cameras and thank the woman for her trouble.
It's rowdy and insane and Adam's so busy clutching at his sides with laughter at the dirty-old-man-at-the-carousel story that Scarlett's telling him that he forgets to be nervous. Before he knows it, they're settling on their seats and Kris is looking at him, excitement in his eyes.
"This is gonna be awesome," Kris says, reaching out to squeeze Adam's hand.
Adam squeezes back and takes a deep, steadying breath. The car starts to move and he tips his head up, glancing at the winking stars that were starting to appear in the sky.
It really is.
---
Dinner is a lot more low-key, just burgers and fries back at the food pavilion. Pretty much everyone's still chattering, but it's a little more subdued now. It's like everyone's had their fill of the park, movements gone slow and sluggish, vowels dragging as they talk.
Adam sips from the giant cup of orange juice that he and Kris are sharing and just lets his mind drift, the swirl of conversation around him barely registering as he traces his steps in his head, remembering everything he did that day and trying to stamp the best parts in his memory. It's the end of an era, kind of; this is the last school-sanctioned thing he's ever going to do in his life. The future is a blank slate before him, waiting to be filled.
Well. Not so blank, really.
Adam glances to his right and lets his gaze rest on Kris for a long moment. He's huddled with Megan, giggling and pointing as they scroll through the pictures she's taken. Adam takes all of him in - the slump of his shoulders, the curve of his back, his lips quirked in his ridiculous Kris smile - every single part of him familiar and treasured. When Adam thinks of the future, Kris is always there. This boy - this man - who he honestly can't imagine his life without. It's unbelievably naïve; Adam knows very well that all the odds are against them, but he doesn't care. Neither of them do. They're going to try their hardest and they're going to make this work, somehow.
"Penny for your thoughts?" And of course it's Kris, like he can tell exactly what Adam's been thinking about. He's pulled his chair up against Adam's, smile soft and considering and just a little bit sleepy.
Adam just shakes his head and smiles, fingers dancing playfully on Kris's arm. Kris tilts closer, nudging Adam's side, and Adam realizes he has Megan's camera in his hands.
"There's some good ones of you," Kris says as he scrolls.
It's a crazy collection - there's a ton of Megan paired with everyone in various poses, facial expressions and backgrounds; a few from the bus that morning, all of them caught with mouths open and slack in sleep; a bunch from when Megan ran a few steps in front of them and took group pictures as they walked; about a dozen or so group shots from lunch, the line at Nitro and dinner. They pause for long moments on the artsy ones - some creatively-angled shots of the park and various portraits of their friends taken without their knowledge. There's a gorgeous one of Kris's profile framed by a burst of sunlight; Danielle's goofy smile over her shoulder; Cale balanced on his haunches as he showed off balloon animals to a cute little girl in pigtails; a serious talk between Anoop and Tommy on a bench, heads bent together; Adam's head tipped back in a huge laugh, mouth wide open and eyes squeezed shut; Alisan on her tiptoes, energy captured in the blur of her arms; Scarlett's hands in Lee's backpack and Lee's head twisted around, mouth tilted on an affectionate smile.
Kris stops for a long time at the shots of the two of them together - Kris curled into Adam's chest as they slept on the bus; Kris's forehead scrunched in concentration as he slathered sunscreen down Adam's neck; their arms wrapped loosely around each other as they waited in line at some ride; Adam's black-tipped fingers twisted in one of Kris's belt loops. Adam catches Kris's serious expression and hides his ridiculously sappy smile in Kris's shoulder. He makes a mental note to ask Megan to make copies. These ones are definitely for keeps.
---
They find a great place to watch the fireworks from - this little clearing where there's more than enough space for all of them to stand or sit comfortably, the sky clear and dark above them. They take pictures and goof off while they wait, passing around a huge bag of gummy worms that they'd all chipped in to get. Adam's sitting comfortably between Kris's legs and is in the middle of a best-of-three-turned-five-turned-seven-about-to-turn-nine thumb war with Lee when the park announcer yells something about their very special firework presentation. The lights dim, and it begins.
Adam leans back into Kris's chest and sighs, deep and happy, when Kris's arms slide around his waist. The spot they chose turns out to be better than expected - the view is perfect, the bursts of light filling the dark sky above them, big and colorful and blindingly bright. The reds and blues and flashing golds make Adam's breath catch in his throat as he revels in the magnificence of it all. It's a very impressive display, made infinitely better by how Adam can feel every time Kris's chest rumbles with his little gasps of awe.
It ends with a bang, literally - what looks (and sounds) like at least two dozen different fireworks burst all at once, crowding and overlapping tricks and colors and sounds up above until all that's left is brilliant gold drifting down like confetti from the sky.
---
The last ride of the day could not have been more different from the first.
The Ferris wheel feels taller, somehow. The sky is dark, the moon standing guard and the stars twinkling mischievously. Below them, the park - the surrounding towns, and even some parts of the distant mountains - is all lit up and flashy, shining like some larger-than-life city that Adam had been convinced only exists in his dreams.
It doesn't even matter that he's starting to feel the ache of overused muscles up and down his legs; that when he gets off the ride, his bones will probably creak and his backpack will feel like two hundred pounds on his shoulders; that the wind is making his hair stick up in the most unflattering way; that they're in for a three hour long bus ride that will likely be hell on his back and on his ass.
They're curled together in the middle of the car, pressed close, and Kris sighs, content and sleepy, as he slides an arm around Adam's waist. There's no wiggling or yelling, no surprised anger. There's just the serene silence of the shared moment, the two of them enjoying each other's company, reflecting on the events of the day. Even after so long, spending time like this with Kris still feels like a luxury - not that Adam thinks it would be taken away from him somehow, nor has he ever felt that he should cling to it in selfish desperation; it's just that it's something to be treasured, always, even when they don't get to spend an entire day in a huge-ass amusement park. Adam has always been able to find joy in the most mundane, has always been all for living his life to the fullest, and that's only been heightened when Kris became the one that he shared everything with.
"So this day was awesome," Adam says, more than a little drowsy.
Kris snorts. "Understatement much, babe? But yeah. Today was really, really nice."
"Today was amazeballs, then. How about that."
Adam can feel Kris's lips curve into a smirk. "Mmm. I'll take it."
"I kinda wish I'd taken more pictures. But other than that, I don't think day could have been better."
"I dunno, I could use another deep-fried dildo right now," Kris says.
Adam laughs into Kris's hair, and when Kris giggles back, he feels like he's floating.
---
It's a ten minute walk from the Ferris wheel to the parking lot, and Adam has to fight to stay upright every step of the way. He focuses on the feel of Kris's fingers loosely twined with his and the light chatter he can hear over his shoulder (Cale and Scarlett are halfheartedly bickering about how certain M&M and Skittles colors taste different) - those are pretty much the only things that are keeping his brain from completely shutting off to sleep.
Kris steers them both to the bus without incident, and Adam only stumbles a little bit as they walk to their seats. Adam lets Kris take off his backpack and lifts his heavy arms obediently for Kris to pull his jacket on. He's very gently guided onto the window seat, and drops off as soon as his forehead touches the itchy curtain.
The next time Adam opens his eyes, the bus is dark and unmoving. He can only barely hear hushed bits of conversation - a quick look around and out the window tells him that almost everyone is asleep, and they're stuck in a traffic jam.
Kris is leaning completely away from him, all the way to the left, his head lolling precariously off the back of his seat. It looks uncomfortable as all hell. Adam draws an arm around Kris's shoulders and pulls him to his chest, smiling lightly when Kris rubs his face in his shirt like an affectionate cat. Kris snuffles a little as he fits himself into Adam, finding his little nooks and crannies even in sleep. Adam noses at Kris's hair, finding the achingly familiar scent of his shampoo underneath the bit of sweat and cotton candy, and closes his eyes.
---
"I thought that was supposed to be a scary story, Tommy," Kris is saying as he tries and mostly fails to keep his laughs under his breath.
Adam slits his eyes open, recoiling slightly when he finds that the lights have been turned on. The chatter is a little louder this time around, but the bus still isn't moving. Kris is kneeling on his seat and facing backward, munching on something as he chats with someone - Ryland, maybe? - about ghosts. Or something. Adam reaches out blindly and catches a fistful of Kris's hoodie.
Kris turns his head, lips curling in a soft, sweet smile when he looks Adam over. He sits back on his shins and kisses Adam's nose. "Hey, sleepyhead," Kris murmurs.
Adam tilts his head, smiling when Kris takes the cue and presses a light kiss on his lips. "Hi."
Kris pulls out a bottle from somewhere when Adam clears his throat. The water isn't cold anymore, but it's nice, sliding down his dry throat. Adam still feels drowsy and a little lost, but he immediately notices when the conversation around him slows down - Ryland has everyone's attention as he tells a story about a ghost that's haunted their school for decades. It's an old basketball coach that got killed in a freak accident and has been spotted all over since then - most often in boys' bathroom mirrors in the gym, sitting in his old office, creeping around the corners of the basketball court, crossing the huge field, hanging out at the bleachers outside.
He and Kris share a mildly freaked out look at that last detail, and all of a sudden, a disturbingly vivid scenario paints itself in Adam's head: he's sitting at the bleachers with Kris on the night of their first kiss, only when he starts to lean in, his eyes catch sight of a ghost watching them from three rows down.
Adam shudders and forces himself to think of happier, non-scary things, but it doesn't quite work. It gets worse when Ryland lists out some more horror stories about seeing ghosts in the bathroom mirror and walking past classrooms and messing up lockers, and the others chime in about other things they'd heard - ghosts peeking out from under that huge oak right outside the music wing, glimpses of mysterious somethings up in the auditorium rafters, that unsettling feeling of walking down an empty hallway alone.
He's not freaking out. Really. He isn't.
Only - he is, a little bit.
Adam avoids looking out the darkened windows and focuses on Kris beside him, who's suddenly gone quiet. Kris smiles gratefully when Adam rubs his arm - Adam meant for it to soothe Kris, but it works really well as something to calm himself down, too. A huge bag of Doritos is pushed onto them right then, and the tension dissipates; soon, Adam's munching happily in no time at all, joining in the listing out of unintentionally funny scenes in awful horror movies.
He and Kris are still kneeling on their seats, bickering with Megan and Danielle over leftover candy corn as the bus rolls into the school parking lot.
---
The tiredness creeps back in as Kris's dad drives them home.
Kris is uncharacteristically alert for this time of night, strong arm wrapped tightly across Adam's waist as they walk to the door. The house is quiet - Adam vaguely remembers telling his mom not to wait up - and Kris wordlessly pulls out Adam's keys from the front pocket of his backpack. They shuffle up the stairs slowly, and before Adam knows it, Kris is kneeling in front of him, tugging down his jeans.
"I like where this is going," Adam slurs.
Kris snorts indelicately as he gets back up on his feet and pulls off Adam's shirt. Adam's only beginning to form the idea of pulling Kris onto the bed with him when he blinks - suddenly he's already lying down, and gentle, knowing hands are tucking a blanket over his shoulders. Oh.
"I want to keep you," is all Adam can manage.
Kris smiles at him, huge and silly and brilliant, and Adam sighs in satisfaction. He loves getting right. "All yours," Kris answers.
Kris putters around the room a bit - distantly, Adam knows that when he wakes up, his phone will be on the nightstand, his backpack on his desk, his laundry in the basket. Kris has always been considerate like that, and Adam has never forgotten how to be grateful for it. Two blinks later, Kris's hands are on either side of Adam's head, and Adam doesn't even need to think to tip his chin up for a long, sweet goodnight kiss.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Sweet dreams, love."
Adam sighs and murmurs something probably unintelligible. The last thing he's aware of is Kris's thumb caressing his cheek, and it's the perfect end to a really amazing day.
A/N part deux: For the schmoop_bingo prompt amusement park. I (obviously) played fast and loose with the park details - I just really wanted to throw in all the tropes I could think of. ...and then some. Oops? :)