Chapter 15: The Walk to Pulse
Kyle was practically vibrating on the sidewalk, bouncing on the balls of his feet like a kid waiting for the ice cream truck. He kept checking his phone, swiping at the screen, locking it, then unlocking it again. Joaquin leaned against the brick wall with his arms crossed, watching the whole spectacle with an amused grin.
"You're gonna wear a hole in the pavement, man."
"I'm not anxious," Kyle said, a little too fast. "I'm just. Ready. For a good night."
"Mhm." Joaquin's grin widened. "You've checked your phone, like, forty times in the past five minutes."
"I'm just making sure I didn't miss anything." Kyle shoved his phone into his back pocket, then immediately pulled it out again. "What do you think he'll wear? I never asked if he had club clothes."
"Does it matter? He could show up in a tarp and you'd still look at him like he hung the moon."
Kyle's cheeks flushed, which was saying something under the amber glow of the streetlights. "I would not."
"Suuuure."
"Suuuure."
Kyle opened his mouth to argue, but the words died in his throat. Roha was rounding the corner, and the streetlights hit him like a spotlight on a stage.
The bright orange and blue tank top hugged his shoulders like it was made for him. The slim jeans sat on his hips, clean lines, no wrinkles. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail, showing off the sharp angles of his jaw. He looked like he'd stepped out of a magazine, one of those ones Joaquin left on the coffee table that Kyle pretended not to read.
Kyle's brain produced exactly one word. "Whoa."
Roha stopped a few feet away, tilting his head. "Is something wrong?"
"No. Nothing. Everything's fine. Great. Good." Kyle forced his mouth to catch up with his brain. "You look. Really good."
"I chose this outfit today," Roha said, a hint of pride in his voice. "It felt appropriate for a club."
"Appropriate," Kyle repeated, letting out a breathy laugh. "Yeah. That's. One word for it."
Joaquin pushed off the wall and circled Roha once, slow, like he was inspecting a new car. "Okay, seriously, where'd you shop? Because I've been looking for that exact cut of tank top for weeks."
"A store," Roha said. "There were many options."
Joaquin squinted at him, then shrugged. "Works for me. Come on, we gotta meet Nell before the line gets insane."
They fell into step together, the three of them, and Joaquin immediately launched into a monologue about Pulse, its sound system, its lighting rig, the rumor that a famous DJ was making a surprise appearance. Kyle nodded along, but his attention kept drifting to Roha, to the way the tank top moved with his shoulders, to the ponytail that swung gently with each step.
He caught himself grinning like an idiot. He didn't even try to stop it.
The street gave way to a main drag, and the crowd thickened. Neon signs flickered overhead, painting the sidewalk in waves of magenta and electric blue. Groups clustered outside bars and bodegas, laughing, shouting, spilling drinks onto the curb.
Kyle fell into step beside Roha, close enough that their arms brushed every few strides. "So. You ready for this?"
"I believe so," Roha said. "Though I admit I'm curious about what makes Pulse different from the other clubs."
"Everything," Kyle said, beaming. "Joaquin's been talking about it for weeks. State of the art sound system, insane light show, and the drinks are supposedly top tier. It's gonna be huge."
Roha nodded, absorbing the information like he always did. Kyle liked that about him, the way he treated even mundane details like they mattered.
"Hey," Kyle said, bumping his shoulder gently. "Thanks for coming tonight."
Roha glanced at him, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I wanted to be here."
Kyle's heart did a little flip. He was still getting used to that, the way Roha could say something so simple and make it feel like the biggest deal in the world.
Pulse came into view a few blocks later. The club occupied a massive converted warehouse, its facade a black glass monolith that pulsed with a slow, rhythmic glow like a heartbeat. A velvet rope stretched across the entrance, held in place by two bouncers who looked like they could bench press a car. A line of people snaked around the corner, chatting and checking IDs.
"Nell!" Joaquin cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted across the sidewalk. "Over here!"
Nell was weaving through the crowd, a leather jacket slung over one shoulder, her phone in her other hand. She spotted them and broke into a grin, picking up her pace. Her eyes landed on Roha, and she did a double take.
"Well, damn." She stopped in front of him, looking him up and down. "Look at you. Did you get a whole new wardrobe or what?"
Roha tilted his head. "I selected this outfit earlier today. Is it incorrect?"
"It's very correct." Nell's grin widened. Then her gaze slid to Kyle, and the grin turned knowing. "So you brought the whole crew tonight. Cute."
Kyle felt his cheeks heat again. "Yeah, well. He's part of the crew now. You said so."
"I did say so." Nell raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't mean I expected you to actually listen."
Before Kyle could respond, Joaquin clapped his hands together. "Alright, alright. I'm gonna go talk to the door. Hold this spot."
He sauntered up to the velvet rope, exchanged a few words with the bouncer, and gave a two-fingered salute over his shoulder. The bouncer unclipped the rope without a second glance. Joaquin waved them over.
"Everyone in?" Nell said, already moving. "Because I am not missing that DJ set."
They slipped through the rope together, the rush of cool air from inside washing over them as the doors swung open. Pulse hit them all at once. The bass was a physical thing, thrumming through the floor and up through Kyle's sneakers. A cascade of violet and gold lights swept across a cavernous room, catching on bodies already moving. The ceiling was a lattice of mirrors and screens, pulsing in time with the beat. It smelled like perfume and sweat and something sweet, probably the signature cocktails Joaquin wouldn't shut up about.
"Okay," Nell shouted over the music. "This is insane."
"I told you!" Joaquin was already disappearing toward the bar. "Drinks are on me, don't argue."
Kyle grabbed Roha's wrist and pulled him toward the dance floor. The crowd parted around them like water, and for a moment Kyle just let the music wash over him, letting himself become part of the noise and the light.
Then he turned to Roha, and his breath caught.
Roha was already moving. Not stiff, not hesitant. His hips swayed in a rhythm that matched the beat perfectly, his shoulders loose, his head tilted back just slightly so the ponytail brushed his neck. He looked like he'd been dancing his whole life, like this was where he was always meant to be.
Kyle stared. "You're dancing."
"Yes," Roha said, not missing a step. "Is that surprising?"
"You were so stiff at Vex. And at Circuit you barely moved."
"I was observing then." Roha stepped closer, close enough that Kyle could feel the warmth radiating off him. "Now I understand the purpose."
"What's the purpose?"
Roha's hand found Kyle's hip, light but deliberate. "This."
Kyle forgot how to breathe. Then he forgot how to do anything except match Roha's rhythm, their bodies finding the same groove like they'd been doing this forever. The lights swept over them, orange and blue flashing across Roha's tank top, and Kyle caught himself grinning so hard his cheeks hurt.
A tap on his shoulder broke the spell. Nell was behind him, jerking her head toward a quieter corner near the back wall. She mouthed something he couldn't catch.
Kyle squeezed Roha's hand. "Be right back. Don't go anywhere."
"I won't," Roha said. The promise landed somewhere deep in Kyle's chest.
Kyle followed Nell to the corner, where the bass was still loud but at least they could hear each other. Nell crossed her arms and gave him the look, the one that meant he wasn't getting out of this conversation.
"So? Spill. What's going on with you and Roha?"
"Nothing's going on." Kyle winced at his own lie. "Okay, fine. We hung out yesterday. And then he slept over."
Nell's eyebrows shot up. "Slept over? Like, slept over slept over?"
"Not like that." Kyle rubbed the back of his neck. "We didn't, you know. Do anything."
"But something happened."
Kyle hesitated. The memory of the night came back in fragments. Roha's hands on his chest, the way he'd looked at Kyle like he was something precious, the weight of him in the bed.
"It was still amazing," he said finally. "And he was still there when I woke up. He didn't leave."
Nell's expression softened. She uncrossed her arms, reaching out to squeeze Kyle's shoulder. "That's the part that matters."
"I know." Kyle risked a glance back at the dance floor, where Roha was still moving, still glowing under the lights, a bright spot of orange and blue in a sea of darkness. "I like him a lot, Nell. Like, a lot a lot. And I want to spend as much time with him as I can. I don't know where it's going, but I don't want it to stop."
Nell followed his gaze, and when she looked back at him, her smile was genuine. "Good. You deserve that. Just don't screw it up."
"Thanks. Real encouraging."
"Anytime." She bumped his shoulder. "Now go dance with your man before someone else tries to snag him. Because he is looking good tonight."
Kyle looked back at the dance floor. A guy in a silver shirt had drifted close to Roha, leaning in to say something. Roha listened, polite as ever, then shook his head. The guy shrugged and moved on.
Kyle was already moving before he could think about it, weaving through the crowd until he was back at Roha's side. He slid his hand into Roha's and pulled him closer.
"Sorry about that. Nell needed to interrogate me."
"Interrogate?" Roha's brow furrowed, but there was no real worry in it.
"Don't worry about it." Kyle grinned and stepped in closer, close enough that the music vibrated through both of them. "She just wanted to make sure you were treating me right."
"And am I?"
Kyle answered with a kiss. It was quick, soft, the kind that tasted like the citrus cocktail Joaquin had pressed into his hand earlier. Roha's hand found the small of his back and lingered there, steady and warm.
When Kyle pulled back, Roha was smiling. Actually smiling, not the small quirk of a lip he gave when he was amused. A real one.
"That's my answer," Kyle said.
They stayed like that, swaying in place as the beat shifted into something slower, smoother. Kyle let his forehead rest against Roha's shoulder and closed his eyes for a second. The bass thrummed through his chest, the lights flashed orange and gold behind his eyelids, and Roha's arms were wrapped around him like this was the easiest thing in the world.
This was it. This was the feeling Kyle chased every weekend, the one he'd been looking for in crowded clubs and dark dance floors and strangers who never remembered his name in the morning. He'd thought it was about the music, or the lights, or the rush of a new place. But it wasn't. It was this. It was Roha's heartbeat, steady and real under his ear. It was the way Roha's thumb traced soft circles against his spine. It was being here, right now, with someone who actually wanted to be with him.
Kyle lifted his head and looked at Roha properly. The ponytail framed his face, all sharp lines and soft shadows. The tank top glowed under the lights. He was so stupidly beautiful it made Kyle's chest ache.
"Hey," Kyle said.
"Yes?"
"I'm happy." He said it like a confession, like a secret. "Like, really happy. Right now."
Roha's expression softened. He tucked a strand of Kyle's pink hair behind his ear, a gesture so tender it made Kyle's breath catch. "I'm glad."
"I mean it. This whole thing, you and me. I don't know what it is yet, but I want to figure it out. I want you around." Kyle laughed at himself, a little breathless. "Sorry, I'm being weird. It's the music. Or the drinks. Or the. You."
"You're not being weird." Roha's hand settled against Kyle's cheek, thumb brushing his jaw. "I want to be around too."
Kyle kissed him again, slower this time. Roha's lips parted against his, and the kiss deepened just enough to make Kyle's knees feel unreliable. The crowd around them faded, the music turned to background noise, and there was only this. Only Roha's hands on his waist and the solid warmth of him and the certainty that this was where Kyle wanted to be, tonight and tomorrow and every night after.
They danced close for a long time, wrapped up in each other while the lights swept overhead. Nell's knowing smile flickered at the edge of Kyle's vision, but she didn't come over. She just raised her drink in a quiet toast and turned back to the crowd.
Kyle caught her eye and grinned, and she winked before disappearing into the throng.
He turned back to Roha and pulled him closer, sliding his arms around his neck. The orange and blue tank top was warm under his hands, the beach of Roha's shoulders broad beneath his palms. Kyle pressed his cheek to Roha's and let himself just be happy, music thrumming through them both like a second heartbeat.
Tonight was perfect. He was just here, in the lights, in the noise, in Roha's arms.