ForceBook: Love Out Loud (fanfic)

Summary: After the whirlwind weekend of the 2023 Love Out Loud Fan Fest, Book needs a hug to get to sleep; so does Force. (Rated G)

Word count: 625 (one shot)

Tags: Best friends, sharing a bed, cuddling/snuggling, I love yous, ambiguous relationship, fluff without plot

Reblogs, kudos, and comments appreciated 🥰

To quote my buddy and beta @sssneakiest, "RPF happens."

because the thing about vegaspete is. they see each other, right? they see each other truly, every piece of each other, underneath every mask and they don't flinch. they just dig deeper. the dizzying joy and paralysing fear of being seen after a lifetime in shadow, the way noone ever has before, and the bone-deep knowledge that noone ever will again

they couldn't look away if they wanted to (they don't want to) because it selfishly (selflessly) means they get seen in return. every piece of darkness they twist out from one another is reflected back at them and it doesn't matter that it hurts (it only matters that it hurts) because. if you're upset it means it's important. if you're hurt it means you're alive. it means it's real.

they can only see each other because of who they already are. because vegas is curious and pete is compassionate. because vegas is cruel and bitter and insecure and pete is sarcastic and stubborn and calculating.

vegas has spent his life being told he isn't good enough, he's disgusting, a freak, a failure. and pete tells him; these are other people's words choking you, you can choose to be free of them. it's not about you, it's about them. so make it about you. and pete has adjusted himself to a life without wants, where he's whatever other people need from him. he's useless, without feeling, inhuman. and vegas tells him; i can see what you want without you having to ask, without you even knowing it was missing. you can want what you want, freely. make it about you, let it out.

they've looked into each others souls and torn away at the walls until they've found the pitiful darkness lurking there, and instead of hating it hiding it being disgusted by it, they coax it out and encourage it, they say; this exists and it is part of you, and you should own it for yourself, not anyone else. you are not a monster. you're in need of love. you need feeding.

and without even realising it, loving the darkness they find in the other also means loving the darkness within themselves because it's one and the same. you can't cringe away at seeing your own reflection if it's held fast within someone else, if they love it and love you and if you love them back it means you love yourself.

selfish and selfless love