//------------------------------// // Chapter Eight: The first Step // Story: Together Forever // by CodenameOne //------------------------------// Chapter Eight The first step Spike stared down at his friend, looking into his eyes for...something. Assurance, confirmation. Deceit. He... You love me? Like, love LOVE? "I...um..." Spike said, too flustered to say anything. He couldn't imagine that his best friend was actually attracted to him and loved him. He might not be IN love with him but he wanted to be, and that was enough for the Dragon. Lickety began to get a little nervous as Spike continued to fumble and stutter; was he pleasantly shocked? Or was he about to reject him? The colt's fears were assuaged when Spike leaned down and hugged him, holding him tight against his body, his claws feeling the fur between them and the closeness conveying the steady thump of his heart. Spike blushed as he felt Lickety's heart beating faster, implying that the colt was excited to be this close to him. Pulling back from the hug Spike kept his hands firmly grasped on Lickety's shoulders, looking into his deep blue eyes, feeling like he could get lost in their beauty. "I love you too, Lickety Split" Spike cooed, a smile on his face. Lickety blushed and his heart soared at the sight; he couldn't wait to get out of this hospital and get with his friend. "So...do you want to, go...out? Or something?" Lickety asked, unsure if they were actually going to get together or not. A little laugh escaped Spike's mouth and he said "yes, Lickety, I want to go out on a date. I want to boyfriend/boyfriend, in layman's terms." "Oh thank Celestia" Lickety responded, relieved. The two pulled back as the door opened and in stepped Twilight Sparkle and Lickety's mom, looks of concern on both their faces. Mrs. Split rushed over to her son and hugged him tight, tears streaming from her eyes. "Are you OK, Lickety? Spike?" Twilight asked. "Yes. Lickety was the one that was hurt, I had to carry him back here. Doc said he'd be OK" Spike explained. "Thank goodness" Twilight and Mrs. Split said in unison. "What happened anyway? The doctor said he'd broken his leg; how?!" Mrs. Split inquired, watching as Spike looked back and forth at each other. "I, um...tripped and fell in a trench. Hit it off a rock" Lickety said, looking at Spike; the look in his eye said 'that's all I'm willing to say right now'. "You need to be more careful, sweetie!" Mrs. Split said, hugging her son and peppering his cheek with kisses. "Mom, stooop! You're embarrassing me!" Lickety pleaded, a sheepish smile on his face as Spike and Twilight watched with smiles of their own. "When can you leave?" Twilight asked. "Tonight!" the voice of the doctor declared, the group looking back as he trotted through the door, a clipboard held by his magic. "We'll have to fit a cast and put him in a wheelchair, both for a week, but he can go by tonight." "Thank you, doctor. And thank you too, Spike. If it weren't for you... I don't want to imagine what might've happened" Mrs. Split said, lending Spike a hug; her hug budget seemed to be quite high today. "No problem, Mrs. Split. I had to help him; what kind of friend wouldn't?" *-*-* Later that night Lickety had been fitted with a cast and put in a wheelchair and discharged from the hospital, Spike wheeling him out with Twilight and Mrs. Split. On the way to the Splits' house Twilight said that Spike could spend the night there is the Mrs. would allow it. Of course she did. Now, at their destination, Spike bid Twilight a good night and the rest of the entourage went inside, Spike having a little trouble getting the wheelchair up the front stairs. Once inside Spike said "man, I don't even want to know how bad it'll be to roll you all the way upstairs." "You could always carry me" Lickety joked, a sly smile on his face. "Yeah, with a rose in my mouth and the sunset behind me" Spike replied, restraining himself from bursting out laughing. "OK, OK, you two, enough joking around. It's getting late, why don't we all go to bed? I'm sure you're tired, honey" Mrs. Split said to her son. The colt in question yawned and said "yeah, I am. Today's events really tuckered me out." "Yeah, I'm pretty tired too. Come on, Lickety!" Spike exclaimed, scooping him up out of the wheelchair with a yelp of surprise from the colt as the Dragon thundered up the stairs. Silly boys Mrs. Split thought. Spike threw the door to Lickety's room open and gently dumped the colt on his bed, another yelp accompanying the move. Spike found the yelps cute and blushed. "Geez, someone's eager to get me in bed" Lickety joked, making Spike blush even harder. "Oh, you know it" the Dragon replied, smiling. Spike sat down on the bed and looked around, his smile fading and face souring as realized there was no real place for him to sleep for the night; he didn't think to bring a sleeping bag when he left the library this morning. "Um, Lickety...there's no place for me to sleep. Maybe I should go home..." Spike stated dejectedly; he really wanted to spend the night with his friend. "You can sleep in the bed with me, if you want" Lickety suggested, a blush of his own coming to his face. "Oh, um, I'm not... I don't think..." Spike stuttered, avoiding Lickety's gaze for a few seconds before caving in, looking down into his eyes, seeing the desire for him within. "OK... Scoot over, please" Spike said, crawling into bed on his hands and knees, making Lickety blush even harder as he watched the Dragon's limber body working its muscles as he crawled, seemingly seductively, next to Lickety on the bed. Lickety did as told and watched as Spike slipped himself under the covers, rolling onto his side so he could better face the colt. The bed was a little small for two, especially for an almost fully-grown colt and a tall teenage Dragon, so the two were forced to cuddle really close, which made both of them blush as their bodies pressed together and as they felt each other's hearts beat. "Y-you comfy?" Lickety said, smiling as he looked into Spike's eyes. "I-I should ask you that, you're the one with the cast. How do you feel? Anything bothering you?" the Dragon inquired. "I'm fine; sheets and blanket are comfy, pillow is comfy, the cast's not really bugging me, and... And I'm snuggled up with the sweetest and cutest Dragon in all of Equestria" Lickety answered. Spike blushed once again and they cuddled tighter, Lickety burying his face into Spike's neck and sighing contently. Nothing could make this moment more perfect. Spike kissed Lickety on the forehead and put his lips right next to the colt's ears, whispering "I love you." Well, almost nothing. *-*-* Author's note: this chapter was kind of hard to write; both because I had a little trouble writing the actual chapter, and because it reminds me of how alone I am. All the lovey-dovey conversations between Spike and Lickety are manifestations of the desires and fantasies I have about actually having those conversations with someone else, whether they be a girl or another boy(preferably a boy). Legal note: Lickety Split, Spike the Dragon, Twilight Sparkle, and all related characters belong to Hasbro.