E L I J A H
It had been three weeks since Elijah's little accident and they were nearing the semester end assessments after which a little break was scheduled for them to relax so that they could step into the second half of their year. Elijah's basketball team had started rigorous practices again, since Coach Amy was hoping to get them all properly trained before the next tournament.
Arius had made it a habit to come watch Elijah play as much as could. The first day he had walked in with his grey beanie and black sweater looking a little lost as he searched for Elijah, the blonde haired boy had been absolutely ecstatic and very moved that Arius wanted to come watch him play. They didn't really talk about it exclusively but the shy smiles they shared after his practice had ended sufficed.
Needless to say, the two of them had started hanging out a lot more than usual. They almost spent the whole day together, other than the times they had other commitments. And even then, they'd find their way back to each other in the theater practice room or the basketball court.
Elijah was on his way to the library after snacking with Ryder who had promptly fallen asleep post their tiring day at school. Since she was part of the student council, they were making preparations to host the annual ball in honour of the Founders of Stonewall High. Elijah had heard that it was done on a pretty large scale, the decorations, the food, the transformation of the venue. Everything was expected to look absolutely stunning.
He jogged up the stairs and cursed under his breath. He was late again. He greeted the librarian with a quick smile and ran to the end of the hallway, making a sharp left turn where he found the other boy sitting cross legged on the floor where he had his eyes screwed up in concentration as he bit his pen.
He was wearing his glasses again today and Elijah cheered and squealed internally. He loved it when Arius wore glasses.
He had only ever seen him wear glasses in his room as he read a novel by his bedside lamp.
"You're late again!" Arius muttered, without looking up, scribbling something on his book.
"Am I ever on time?" Elijah laughed, throwing his book bag on the floor and sitting down next to Arius.
"I'd take you for an imposter if you ever did come on time." Arius said, his lips tilting just enough to catch Elijah's attention.
He finally looked up and raised his left eyebrow, smiling at Elijah.
"You look hot in those glasses." Elijah breathed out, almost whispering.
"I know." Arius smirked this time, after running his hand through his curls, making Elijah wish he was the one doing it instead.
He reached out and gripped Arius's neck, pulling him close. Their lips danced together, molding into each other's as Elijah's hands sank into Arius's hair, tugging slightly. Arius placed his right hand against Elijah's stomach and the other one around his back as they kissed fervently, communicating their growing longing for each other through gentle nips and swipes of tongues.
"Mmmpf-as much as I'd like- ah" Arius groaned mid-sentence.
His eyes rolled into the back of his head and his breathing became laboured as Elijah smiled against his skin, leaving a trail of open mouthed kisses on the side of his neck. Just as Arius tilted his neck to give Elijah more access, the latter moved back, releasing his hair after placing a sweet little kiss on Arius's Adam's apple.
"You were saying?" He asked innocently, blinking his eyes as he pulled out his physics text book.
"What a fucking tease." Arius almost growled, his voice going almost an octave lower which only made Elijah laugh.
"Shh, we're in a library Johnson, keep it down." Elijah said, looking around.
"Oh shut the fuck up, does it look like I care?" Arius rolled his eyes.
Elijah smiled to himself as he opened his book. Arius was really attractive when he was all hot and bothered.
The two boys slipped into a casual silence, doing their own thing. Elijah had picked a particularly easy topic to study for the day and he was done within half an hour. He pulled out his phone and texted Ryder, reminding her to get dressed and attend the student council meeting that was set to begin in fifteen minutes. The members would all be having dinner and spending the next few nights in the Union block.
He opened Jake's chat, asking him if he was free after dinner so that they could go for a walk just like old times.
Jake really needed it. And Elijah too, he missed Jake.
Jake replied that he couldn't today, as he was leaving to his town in an hour. His uncle and Toby were picking him up.
Elijah packed up his bag and slipped his phone into his pocket, suddenly overcome with worry for Jake. If he was going as far as skipping school right before their assessments began, he must've been feeling pretty bad.
"What's wrong?" Arius questioned, flipping a page.
Elijah sighed and rested his head against the other boy's shoulder.
"It's Jake. I hope he gets through this okay, you know?" Elijah mumbled in a small voice, turning slightly so he could see the other boy.
"I know he will. Sometimes all you can do is keep moving forward no matter what happens." Arius said, looking back at him.
"Yeah, but-ugh." Elijah groaned.
"Besides, he's got wonderful friends like you, Ryder, Tirzah and everyone else around. Sooner or later, he'll be okay."
"I guess." Elijah said, sitting up straight.
"Okay let me just pack everything so we can go get dinner yeah?" Arius said, ruffling Elijah's hair affectionately.
Elijah quickly snagged his glasses from Arius's face and put them on, adjusting them on the bridge of his nose.
Arius shook his head, a ghost of a smile appearing on his lips.
In a few minutes, they were out of the library, Arius having borrowed another fat book from the fiction section.
"Look who decided to show up!" Viggo said loudly, pulling Arius in for a bear hug. He wiggled his eyebrows at Elijah as everyone said their hello's.
Tirzah was busy serenading Kaz with her near-terrible vocals as he struggled to keep a straight face.
"One, touching one
Reaching out, touching me, touching you"
Everyone cheered her on as she dramatically lifted her fork and spoon into the air and closed her eyes.
"Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
I've been inclined
To believe they never would
Oh no, no"
"She's just so adorable isn't she?" Elijah said to Arius as he bobbed his head along.
"She is! You know what else is?" Arius asked, shoving a forkful of vegetables into his mouth.
"What?"
"You in my glasses." Arius replied.
Elijah let out a short burst of laughter and smacked the other boy's head. He took off the glasses and tucked them into his shirt, not wanting anybody to point it out and make either of them awkward, although he doubted that would happen. Everyone was focused on Tirzah's wooing of Kaz.
Well, everyone except Jake and Ryder.
They were done with dinner and walking back to their dorms. As everyone separated and said goodbye, Elijah continued to walk with Viggo and Arius. It was their thing now, Elijah would always walk Arius back to his room, remaining true to his word spoken months ago.
"Goodnight idiots, sleep well! I'll see you guys in the morning!" Elijah said, giving Viggo a quick bro-hug and Arius a slightly longer one.
"See you."
"Goodnight!"
Elijah turned back around and hummed the tune of Sweet Caroline, as he walked back to his room. Today would be another lonely night since Ryder was away planning and organising and what not.
He texted his mum and Abby goodnight and plugged his phone. Changing into a pair of pjs and one of Abby's big t-shirts that he had stolen, he slumped on the bed, not really feeling sleepy at all.
He pulled out his sketch pad and his pencils from the drawer and continued sketching his previous drawing that had been left incomplete. It was a rough sketch of Viggo and Jake playing football in their jerseys.
Ever since he could remember, Elijah had always loved sketching the people he adored and spent time with. If there was anybody that meant something to him, they'd surely been a part of his little sketchpad that looked like a little powerhouse of accurate representation and pure talent.
Although he did it just to relax and genuinely enjoyed the process, lately he hadn't been doing it much due to their packed, hectic schedules.
As his pencils began to outline the stands in the stadium, he heard a swift knock on the door.
He already knew who was on the other side of the door, no one else would be coming to his room at 12:43 am.
He swung the door open to find a slightly breathless, haggard looking Arius. He looked like had attempted to pull his hair out and his hands were shaking slightly.
Elijah could tell that he'd just had a panic attack or an anxiety attack.
"Viggo's asleep, I didn't want to wake him up so I was wondering if I-"
Elijah took him by the arm and gently pulled him inside, shutting the door.
"Hey, hey it's okay. Take deep breaths yeah? I'll get you some water." Elijah cooed, stroking the other boy's back.
He was back in no time, a bar of chocolate and a glass of water in his hands, just like the other times he had accompanied the boy during his stressful episodes.
Elijah placed the empty glass on the table and pulled him in for a hug gently, wrapping his arms around him, trying to make him feel as warm and secure as possible.
It took some time for Arius to respond but he eventually melted into the embrace, burying his face into Elijah's neck and clutching the front of his shirt as his breathing pattern evened.
"You're kind of sweating, let's get you changed okay?" Elijah said softly, pulling back from the hug and rummaging in his closet for another loose t-shirt that Arius could borrow. He knew Arius preffered oversized clothes and he had found just the one.
He gestured for Arius to pull up his thick red hoodie which the other boy did rather slowly. Elijah patiently waited for him to remove his hoodie and slipped the shirt over Arius's head. He picked up the hoodie and attempted to fold it as neatly as possible, placing it in his closet for the night.
They both sat down on the edge of the bed, Elijah slowly rubbing Arius's back.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Elijah asked softly.
Arius shook his head. He had calmed down, but was being very quiet. And Elijah understood, he always understood.
"Okay, I'm just going to get you a glass of milk, can you open Netflix and start Schitt's Creek for me?" Elijah said, standing up.
"Uh huh." Arius mumbled, moving back on the bed and, making himself comfortable.
Elijah quickly prepared the hot chocolate that he knew Arius loved so much and turned off the lights, climbing into the bed with Arius.
Arius held the comforter open for him as he slipped in, adjusting himself.
They watched the show together, Arius sipping on his drink ever so slowly.
Once he was done, Arius moved closer to Elijah and lay his head on his chest gently, letting out a tiny little sigh of relief. He pulled his knees up to his waist, snuggling right into Elijah's side.
He slung his arm across Elijah's torso, almost hugging him but not quite. It was the first time Elijah was seeing Arius's arm from this close.
H
is prosthesis.
Elija gingerly slipped his palm under it and lifted it up, examining it closely.
Arius tensed up at the action, becoming stiff all over again. But he eased into it and relaxed after realising that Elijah was just curious. Elijah ran his fingers along the length of his arm, feeling every nook and cranny, memorising every bend and every bump almost religiously.
"Honestly, I think it looks kind of cool and badass you know?" Elijah chuckled, finally letting go of the arm, but slipping his fingers into Arius's and holding his hand.
"You think so?" Arius questioned, lifting his head from Elijah's chest and looking at him with wide eyes.
Elijah's heart skipped a beat, those damned butterflies returning to the pit of his stomach and his vision blurring everything else out but Arius.
He was reminded once again, that Arius owned the most beautiful pair of eyes Elijah had ever seen, his long, dark lashes framing them perfectly.
"Yeah, I do." He replied, breaking eye contact, because Arius Johnson made him feel fucking shy when he looked at him like that.
Arius gave him one of his tired, sleepy smiles and yawned.
"Can we go to sleep?" Arius asked, slipping down further, his head finally placed on the pillow.
"Of course, just give me a second." Elijah turned off the television, washed Arius's mug and returned to the brown haired boy's side.
"Want to hold you." Arius said sleepily, pouting slightly as he made room for Elijah. The latter chuckled and nodded, facing the wall as he lay down.
He always omitted words from sentences when he was sleepy.
Arius wrapped his arm around Elijah's waist resting his face against his neck and pulled him impossibly close, cuddling right up to him.
Elijah would've never guessed that this boy who was holding him to his chest was a giant baby. But he loved it. He loved the fact that he got to see this side of Arius, the soft, affectionate side that he was sure not many people saw.
He was worried about him though, something had happened and Elijah knew better than to pry and try to make him talk about it. He was worried for his two best pals as well. Lately it seemed like everyone around Elijah was having a really difficult time. He hoped they'd be okay soon.
That night, Elijah fell asleep in the arms of the boy he had grown to love.
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A/N
Hi guys! So this is a chapter that's dedicated entirely to my two baby boys. As most of you can probably tell, they've grown quite comfortable around each other, although not attaching any labels to their friendship/relationship. This chapter is aimed at showcasing their comfort level with each other and now that we've done that, we'll be proceeding to other parts of the story!
If y'all have questions regarding any characters, or anything for that matter, go ahead and ask me in the comment section!
On another note, I just checked the total number of reads this story got and to my delight, it's hit 11k reads. More than anything that I had hoped to receive when I had just started out. Thank you to all of my readers for being patient with me and choosing to read this story about friendship and love.
I'm forever humbled and grateful.
Much Love XD. Thank You!