2:00 am

it's been 7 hours since stell and paulo started their movie night and the younger is now fast asleep, beside his bestfriend. stell was lying on the right side of his body, facing the older.

paulo reached for the remote on the sofa and turned off the television, telling himself that he should sleep as well. he was about to stand to bring the dirty dishes to the kitchen but eyes landed on his best friend's face, and he couldn't help but stare at him.

he was in pain, paulo. looking at stell was more painful rather than joyful, knowing that he's falling for another person. slowly, he reached for the younger's hair and gently combed a few stray strands away from his eyes.

paulo whispered.

a stray tear streamed down paulo's cheek as he tries to calm himself down, making sure he won't wake stell up.

paulo gently brushed his thumb against stell's lower lip, remembering how it used to feel like against his own and regretting why he didn't kiss him back before.

more tears came out of paulo's eyes but he was quick to wipe them away. he slowly lied down, careful not to wake the other but it didn't work because stell still felt paulo lying down beside him.

the dirty dishes were long forgotten now as stell opened his arm, welcoming paulo in a hug as the older snuggled closer to him to let him be engulfed in stell's embrace. they've been doing this for years but this time, it felt different for paulo because unfortunately, he has now fallen inlove with stell, his best friend.