Page 56 of Tumbling Hearts

Though his heart gets jumpstarted, kicked into gear as Gene strums his guitar, repeating the same lyrics back that Ray just said.

“But that’s just how it is… I know it to be true… I love you,” Gene sings, making eye contact with Ray.

He keeps strumming, filling the bus with his sweet music. But no more words are said. Instead, Ray keeps staring at Gene, into those beautiful hazel eyes. There’s so much emotion swirling in them, trying to tell Ray something he can’t decipher. Whatever it is, he’s drawn to it—leaning in closer as if he has no other choice.

Something within his chest compels him to lift his hand, placing it on Gene’s cheek. It makes him stop strumming the guitar, but the music still lingers in Ray’s mind. Gene leans into Ray’s touch. His face is so warm, so close—if only they could close this distance, and lean in even further⁠—

“Hey Ray, you got any more of those Marathon Bars in your bag? I would just dig in but I figured I’d ask first—oh.”

Santiago’s voice jolts Ray’s lungs. Ray nearly chokes on his own spit as he pulls his hand off of Gene so quickly, causing him to cough. Putting his arm in front of his face, he coughs more into his elbow. He can hear Gene shudder a sigh, breath shaky.

“Oh, am I… interrupting something?” Santi puts a hand on his hip, staring down at them from the bus aisle.

“We were writing a song, and you came over to ask me about candy?” Ray frowns.

“Hey, so what? They’re really good.” Santi shrugs. “But, man. I have to ask, what were you doing just now? It almost looked like you guys were going to…” He trails off without finishing his sentence.

“We were, um, we were just…” Ray doesn’t have a good excuse. Everything he could possibly say would be an obvious lie. But what other choice does he have? “Just feeling the mood. We’re writing a love song.” At least worded like that, it’s still mostly true.

“A love song. With you two sitting all close like that. Riiiight.” Santi squints at them, bringing a hand up to rub his chin. “I think there’s something else going on.”

“What do you mean, ‘something else’?” Gene asks, trying to play it cool, Ray can tell.

“Well, I don’t know! I mean, I know you guys are best friends, but that seemed a little closer than I’d expect…”

Ray’s heart thuds madly, banging over and over against his chest.

This is it.

The moment someone finds out.

“Y-yeah, but there’s nothing wrong with just feeling affection for a friend, is there?” Ray says. “That’s all it is. Us being close.”

Santi shakes his head. “Oh, whatever. I don’t want to keep pestering you guys if you don’t want to talk about it. You don’t have to say any more.” He waves his hand in front of himself. “But anyway, about what I originally came over here for. You got the chocolate still in your bag, Ray?”

Ray couldn’t be more happy to talk about candy than right at that very moment. “Yeah, you can have some. Just grab a bar.”

“Alright, thanks, man. I’ll let you two… continue writing that love song, yeah?” Santi grins, giving them a wink.

“Yeah. We will.” Ray swallows.

And just like that, Santi gives them a wave, walking back toward the front of the bus where he was sitting with Maurice and the rest of the Brooms.

Ray lets out a slow, deep sigh. But as he does so, Gene reaches over, setting his palm on Ray’s thigh.

“Gene,” he whispers. “What are you doing? We just…”

“He’s gone, it’s fine,” Gene whispers back, smiling. “That went better than I expected.”

“Huh. Yeah, I guess so, right?”

Ray thinks back to the conversations he had with Santiago not too long ago, discussing Ray’s relationships, trouble with Carol, and how close he is with Gene. Santi never outright suggested anything romantic between Ray and Gene, seemingly oblivious to anything going on. But after stumbling upon what just happened here on the bus—them being so close to kissing—Santi might start putting the puzzle pieces together. Which…

What if Santi knowing the truth isn’t really a bad thing?

Santi is their closest friend out of everyone in the band. He’s honestly the most caring, sweet, understanding person Ray knows. But even if that is the case, Ray isn’t ready to talk about it. No, the timing doesn’t seem right, not unless he discusses it with Gene first, and especially not when Carol might wake up from her nap at any moment.

But before she does, he sets his hand on top of Gene’s on his thigh, savoring the warmth.