(Wholesome chapter! Wholesome chapter!)
{About A Month Later}
~Darius POV~
I woke up with a book on my face. I picked up the book, looked at it, and tossed it aside. Guess it was so boring that I fell asleep while reading. I felt something on my face and looked down. Alador's fluffy brown hair rubbed against my face. He's on my chest. He's laying on top of me asleep. Why did he do this?
{Half An Hour Later}
Alador stared at me with a smile. His chin rested on his hands on my chest. Eber poked his head out from behind Alador's.
"Are you going to move?" I asked.
"No." Alador answered, happily.
"Can I convince you to move?" I asked.
"No." He answered again.
"You know I could just push you off." I reminded him.
"But you won't." He noted.
"What will it take to get you off?" I asked.
"Cuddles and snuggles." Alador answered.
"You're so needy." I told them.
Eber said he knew that. Alador pouted. I sighed.
"You're lucky I love you." I said.
"So, cuddles and snuggles?" Alador asked, excitedly.
"Yeah." I answered. "Just calm down a little."
"Yes!" Alador exclaimed.
He got up and grabbed his big fluffy blanket. I sat up and he wrapped it around us. Eber growled that Alador dropped him on the floor.
"Eber says that when you got up, you dropped him on the floor." I told Alador.
Alador stared at the demon for a second. He lifted the blanket for Eber to join the cuddling. Eber, easily bribed into forgiveness with cuddles, joined in. Alador snuggled up to me.
"Je t'aime Darius." He told me.
"Je t'aime aussi Alador." I replied. "Even though you're needy."
"I'm not needy!" He snapped.
~Alador POV~
Darius nuzzled my cheek. I laughed.
"So, why did you lay on my chest?" He asked.
"I knew you wouldn't move me and I wanted cuddles and snuggles." I answered. "I didn't mean to fall asleep though. Eber showed up while I was asleep."
"Evil masterminds." Darius joked.
I grinned at him. Eber fell asleep.
"You know, I never asked about when you fell for me." I noted.
"Hm? It's not important." Darius told me.
"It is to me and I wanna know." I replied. "You already know when I fell for you. Isn't it fair I know when you fell for me?"
"You really wanna know?" He asked.
"Yes." I answered. "Tell me."
"Fine." He sighed.
"We were 13." He started.
[Flashback To Roughly 5 Years Prior]
~13yro Darius POV~
I poked Alador's shoulder. He's out cold.
"Of all the witches, he's the last I expected to see fall asleep in class." I said.
I checked my bag. Aha! Pink nail polish! I stole it from mom to see if she noticed. It's been 6 weeks.
{A Little While Later}
I tried not to laugh as I finished painting Alador's nails. He's going to be so mad
"What are you doing?" Someone asked.
I looked over. Lilith Clawthorne poked her head into the classroom.
"He fell asleep in class. I'm pranking him." I told her.
She nodded then left. Her sister's a troublemaker, she knows not to get involved unless she wants to get pranked back.
"Hmm..mmm." Alador groaned, slowly waking up.
Quickly, I capped the nail polish bottle and slipped it into my pocket.
"What are you do...ing? What's on my hands?" Alador asked, looking at his nails.
"Nail polish." I answered, barely keeping it together.
"I kind of like it." He told me.
That backfired.
"You were supposed to get mad." I rolled my eyes.
"Why? It looks nice." He replied.
"Here." I said, taking the nail polish from my pocket and handing it to him. "You can keep this."
"Are you sure?" He asked, taking it.
"Yep. I stole it from my mom. She has like 100s of that specific brand and color, she'll never know." I answered. "Plus I hate the feeling of nail polish so it'd be a wasted with me."
"Thank you!" He said, a giant smile on his face.
That's cute. I knew he was cute and I've told him that he's cute before but this is a different kind of cute, a kind I can't tell him...wait, Darius, no! Don't think of him as cute in that way! I mean, he is but no! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it now!
{A Few Days Later}
"Darius, wanna see something cool?" Alador asked.
"Sure." I shrugged.
He summoned a staff. I stared at him in amazement.
"I got my staff!" He told me.
"What? How? We're not supposed to get our staffs until next year!" I responded.
"My dad works at the gardens. He got me some palistrom wood." He explained.
"You carved a rat?" I asked.
"Yes. I think rats are cute." He answered as his palisman disconnected from the stick. "His name is Benjamin Rattington."
He nuzzled with his palisman. Then he lifted the palisman up to my face and it nuzzled my cheek.
"Okay, I get it. That's adorable." I laughed. "Stop it! That tickles!"
"I haven't rode my staff yet. I wanted to wait until I was with you! We can fly on it together!" Alador admitted, connecting Benjamin Rattington on the stick.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah! Come on!" He said.
He got on his staff and I got on behind him. He tried to get it to fly but nothing worked.
"I don't know what I'm doing." He laughed.
I laughed too. After a few more tries, he got the staff into the air. It took off. After about a minute or two, we stopped.
"We are really high up right now." I said, trying not to look down.
"Whoa..." Alador said. "The Isles look so amazing."
I looked over. The sun was setting. The colors danced across the sky, illuminating Everything nicely. The Boiling isles almost glowed.
Alador leaned back on me, his head on my shoulder. Oh thank titan, I'm dark. If I wasn't, Alador would see me blushing.
"This is so amazing! I'm glad I waited! I would've hated missing the opportunity to see this view with you!" Alador told me.
"Mhm." I said, trying desperately to focus on the view. "It looks beautiful."
Why do I feel this way?! Yes, I'm gay but I've known Alador for 6 years! I can't like him! He's my best friend and he's straight! It's weird! I'm in so much trouble if this gets out...
[Flashback End]
~Alador POV~
"Aw." I said.
"Aw?" Darius asked. "Why 'Aw'?"
"That was sweet." I answered. "You panicked when you fell for me!"
"You panicked when you fell for me." He noted.
"That's beyond the point." I rolled my eyes. "I panicked because you're a guy and I thought I was straight. You panicked because I was your best friend."
"Was? You still are." He told me.
"Boyfriend-best friend is different from best friend." I told him.
"You're weird." He said, pulling the blanket over my head.
I laughed and pulled it back to where it was before.
"4 years." I realized. "You kept quiet about your feelings for 4 years!"
"If I'd said anything, you'd have run the opposite direction. As you said, you thought you were straight." He reminded me.
I nodded.
"I love you." I said. "A lot. Just a lot."
"I love you too." He replied.
He kissed my forehead.