His Only Desire (bxb)

[12] Stop Stalling

"Alright, up you get, lover boy," Mikaela said, walking into her brother's room and yanking open the blinds. A short whine escaped Jayce's mouth as the sun rays hit his face. He blinked, getting used to the light before glaring at Mikaela.

"What the hell?" Jayce croaked, voice hoarse from only just having been woken up. He rubbed his eyes as he slowly got out of his dazed state. "It's so early, what are you doing?"

"Waking you up. Or did you decide you aren't going to hang out with your basketball jock buddies?" Mikaela stated, crossing her arms and Jayce sighed, slowly forcing his legs to carry him out of his bed. Mikaela smiled to herself in triumph.

"I forgot about that..." Jayce murmured, rubbing his head as he checked his phone. Two missed calls from Cole. "Can't be too late to say I'm not coming, right?"

Mikaela walked up to her younger brother and placed a hand on his shoulder, a serious expression on her face. She knew that Jayce avoiding the guy he liked wouldn't change a thing, so if he wanted any sort of closure, he was going to need to go to that meet.

"You have to go, Jay," She told him, watching a frown etch on to his lips.

"What if he won't even talk to me?" He muttered, being well aware that would be the most likely outcome. Mikaela sighed, now frowning too.

"Then..." She started. "At least you'll have your answer, and you'll have to move on."

Jayce threw his phone onto his bed and ran a nervous hand through his hair. Deep down, he knew Mikaela was right, but he also knew moving on wouldn't be easy either. Especially when none of his friends or family knew about him; save for Mikaela.

"Fine." He simply responded and Mikaela nodded, heading toward his door to leave. But instead she turned back to face her brother with a smile.

"Good luck." She whispered to herself before leaving the room.

A bundle of nerves was an understatement for describing Jayce's current state. As he brushed his teeth, he couldn't think of anything other than Leon. Hell, he didn't even care about the basketball aspect of the meet.

He had to tell someone, Jayce decided. And he knew just who the right person was.

                          ***

"Jayce! Your friend is here!" Came Nate's voice all the way from downstairs. Jayce remained sat in his room, you guessed it, stalling.

But now that Cole had arrived, stalling was no longer an option.

Jayce groaned to himself as he left his room, slowly trampling down the stairs in an attempt to waste time. Cole was sat in the living room having a conversation with Nate and Mikaela, until he found Jayce at the bottom of the staircase.

"There he is. It was nice seeing you again, Mikaela. And you, 'lil guy," Cole said, ruffling Nate's hair and earning a noise of protest from the younger boy. Mikaela chuckled and waved and Cole departed.

"Hey, ready to go?" Cole greeted, and Jayce simply nodded. Cole noticed Jayce's behaviour and noted it down as strange. Jayce always responded verbally, never through action—unless, something was bothering him.

The two buckled themselves up when they'd entered Cole's car, and although Cole put his key in the keyhole, he didn't start up the vehicle. Jayce blinked, feeling Cole's gaze on the side of his face but not holding it.

"Alright, spit it out," Cole sighed, growing tired of waiting for Jayce's first word. Jayce turned to face him in innocent confusion.

"What?" He blurted. "I don't know what you're talking about."