"Noooooo!" the blood-curdling scream split the evening air, startling birds from their perches in the trees outside the house.

Haru frowned at his friend. "It's only a horror movie," he said.

Mako adamantly shook his head. "Haru, I hate horror movies! And this one looks like a particularly awful one!" He gestured wildly to the DVD cover that was lying, deceptively innocent, on Haru's dining table.

"Look – "Asylum of Death"! "Six university students go into an old asylum for a dare and find a surprise waiting for them!" It's R18, anyway! Where'd you even get it?!"

"Nagisa lent it to me."

"Wha – Nagisa? Where did he get it?"

Haru shrugged, evidently bored. "I'll make popcorn."

"Th-that's not a fair bribe!"

"Are you going to watch it or not?"

"No!"

Haru moved his cerulean gaze to meet Mako's eyes, and looked at him steadily, mouth in a slight pout. Mako could feel himself beginning to weaken.

"No, Haru! Please!" Makoto whined.

Haru didn't shift his eyes.

After a few seconds, Mako sighed. "Ugh! Haru!"

The shorter boy turned away into the kitchen, evidently satisfied.

"Wh – I –" Mako muttered to himself, staggering to the couch and flopping down. "This better be some really good popcorn."

"Aaaah! No!" Mako covered his eyes. "I can't look!"

He jumped when he felt a cool hand on his arm. "Mako," Haru said patiently. "It's only the credits."

"But they have scary music!" The jade-eyed boy wailed, simultaneously stuffing popcorn into his mouth and retreating under a blanket.

Haru sighed. "It's not that bad."

"Yes, it is!" Mako squawked, but settled a little and managed to unpry his hands from his face.

Haru reached over and flicked the lights off, inducing a strangled yelp from Mako. The sun had already set, and the only light in the room came from the flickering television screen. Haru's sharp features were illuminated in the glow.

Makoto let out a whimper of fear. "Haru~!"

Sick of his best friend's whining, Haru turned his face to the screen and clicked "play", making Mako pull the blanket up to his eyes again.

The title of the movie flashed up in the middle of the screen, along with a blood-curdling shriek that made Mako jump so violently he knocked over the bowl of popcorn. Kernels exploded everywhere and Makoto's mouth went into an o-shape, momentarily distracted from his terror.

"Oh, Haru, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do – after all the trouble you went to – ugh, I – "

Haru calmly reached over and picked up a kernel resting in Mako's lap.

"It's okay," he said. "It's still edible." With that, he popped it into his mouth.

Makoto's face felt as hot as a stove. "Uh…" he said, searching for something, anything, he could say that would defuse the tension in the room.

Did he know where that kernel was?

Haru gave a faint smirk and fixed his eyes on the screen, where a group of teenagers seemed to be playing Truth or Dare.

Mako gazed down at his lap, where the popcorn rested, trying to calm his racing heart. He was being an idiot. Haru couldn't have realised what he was doing.

Mako's phone buzzed. Grateful for the distraction, he flipped it open and saw that Nagisa was calling.

"Haru, it's Nagisa. Can I pick up…?"

The dark-haired boy nodded and paused the movie.

"Nagisa?"

"Mako-chan~!" The blond's familiar voice brought a smile to Makoto's lips. "I'm so bored! What are you doing?"

"I'm at Haru's, we're watching a movie together."

A heavy thud rang out from Nagisa's end of the line. "You and Haru-chan are having a sleepover?" Mako could hear the delight in the smaller boy's voice at this piece of information, and he blushed.

"No! Uh, well, yes, but it's just a movie! Stop suggesting – you're implying –"

At Nagisa's giggle, even more blood rushed to Mako's face. "I'll leave you guys alone! Oh – and use condoms!"

The dial tone rung in Makoto's ears as he spluttered. "N-Nagisa!"

Haru let out a soft chuckle from beside him, and Mako froze. Haru hardly ever laughed, and only if he found something really and truly funny. This wasn't funny, it was just embarrassing.

"H-Haru, I'm so sorry – I swear, Nagisa – I don't –"

Still smiling slightly, Haru played the movie again, and Mako retreated beneath his blanket.

After a few seconds, he glanced over at Haru, only to meet his blue eyes. They both hastily looked away, towards the television, where the teens were getting into a car.

They watched in silence for a few minutes, reasonably uneventfully. But Mako's knee began to automatically jiggle up and down as the teenagers stopped outside the old, run-down asylum.

"Haru…" Makoto squeaked, clutching the hem of the blanket with white knuckles.

His friend didn't answer, just kept staring at where the scene was playing out.

With a loud crash, the teenagers threw a rock through a low window, and climbed through one by one.

"Why would you willingly go into a place like that?" Mako asked, semi-hysterically.

"Because there would be no plotline otherwise," Haru said, reaching over and taking Makoto's shaking hand. "Now, I want to watch the movie."

Mako's face flushed beet red. "Um… okay." He wished he could wipe his sweaty palm on his pant leg. Haru's hand was cool and soft and holding it calmed Makoto's nerves somewhat.

It wasn't like they'd never held hands before. They'd practically grown up with their hands interlocked.

It's not a big deal, Mako told himself. He was reading into it too much.

Creepy music filled the room from the speakers, and Mako forgot everything and squeezed Haru's hand like it was a lifeline.

Onscreen, one of the girls decided it would be a good idea to go off alone down a dark corridor, and Mako almost choked in fear. "It's so quiet," he muttered, a few octaves above his ordinary voice.

And then something jumped out of the shadows, and Mako's shriek was even louder than the girl's, and without thinking Mako launched himself at his best friend and clutched at him, his terror overtaking his embarrassment.

When he could form a coherent thought, he realised he was clinging to Haru, his head buried in the smaller boy's chest.

"S-sorry," Mako stammered. "I, um…" he went to pull away, but Haru shook his head.

'It's okay," he said. "You can stay there." When Mako looked up at his friend, he saw a slight blush on his friend's cheeks.

"O-okay." Mako looked back to the screen, where the girl lay in a pool of blood, and instinctively shrunk back against Haru's chest.

The murderer slunk back into the shadows, and Makoto whimpered.

Ten minutes, three bloody killings, and a few squeaks of terror later, Mako's nose was located somewhere in Haru's neck, and he was shaking like he was freezing cold. Another blood-curdling scream echoed around the room, and Makoto flinched away, hiding his face deep in his friend's shoulder. Then all was silent, and Mako couldn't stop himself from looking up. The screen was shadowed, and Mako's heartbeat was loud in his ears.

"Mako," Haru said. Mako sat up a little straighter and looked at his friend.
"Ye-"

A loud scream emanated from the speakers, and without thinking, Mako flinched towards Haru. Their noses bashed together, and –

And –

Their lips bashed too.

Mako's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and his head felt fuzzy.

Something was wrong. Haru wasn't pulling away. Makoto sat, frozen, his heart beating like a caged butterfly. Thoughts were fluttering around inside his head like falling leaves.

What is going on?

I'm not gay.

But…

And then all traces of comprehensible thought were wiped from his head, because Haru had murmured "F*ck it," against his lips and had reached round and he was pulling Mako down and their lips were moving in sync and Mako didn't feel any of the fireworks talked about in his mother's romance novels… no, Makoto felt explosions, wild and violent and unpredictable, and he and his best friend were making out on the couch while a horror movie played in the background, and though the distant screams weren't the most romantic of background noises, Mako couldn't care less, couldn't care less they were two boys, couldn't care less about what people would say, because Haru's hands were hooked around his neck, and all felt right with the world.

After a few seconds, or maybe it was hours, Mako pulled away and rested his forehead against Haru's.

He was smiling from ear-to-ear, and he probably looked ridiculous, but he didn't care.

Haru's eyes panned up Mako's face, from his lips to his wide eyes, and then Haru's mouth curled into a small smile.

"We should really watch movies like this more often," Haru said, before pulling Mako in for another kiss.

Mako smiled against the other boy's lips.

And nodded.

A/N: First Free! fanfiction! Yay! I hope it wasn't too cheesy, too fluffy, too long, too short, whatever. I'm sorry if the characters seemed kind of OOC… please comment what you thought! :) Also, I'm planning to upload a few more Free! Oneshots, so please check them out on my Tumblr: .com

Thanks! :) xx