Isaiah walked up the stairs and turned the corner to go to Caleb's room just in time to see the lights turn on. He wondered why he would even turn them off but decided not to occupy himself with trying to figure it out. He looked at the water in his hands that were shaking with nerves, he tried to but couldn't seem to stop the water from vibrating in the glass. With every step he took he felt his anxiety building; he stopped for a second to regain his composure and leaned against the wall taking a deep breath. Isaiah looked at the ceiling for several seconds which felt like an eternity, Isaiah exhaled as he felt his heart rate start to slow and walked into the bedroom.

"Here," said Isaiah passing Caleb his glass of water.

"Yeah, thanks." Caleb took the glass in his hand and took a sip then sat with the glass in his hands. He rested his elbows on his knees and looked down at the glass in his hands. Isaiah sat down next to him and took a drink from his glass.

"I broke a glass, by the way," Isaiah looked at him expecting some kind of reaction but not sure what kind. "Jonathan came downstairs behind me and scared the piss outta me, and I dropped it." Isaiah shook his head now feeling stupid for even bringing it up. "I cleaned it up though."

"No worries; just a glass," Caleb laughed quietly, "If that's the worst thing I have to clean up after the party, then that'll be good news."

"I suppose." Isaiah shook his head realizing how trivial a single glass was after what he saw scattered about on the tables downstairs.

"Yeah, so we should get back to bed, eh?" Caleb sat up straight and looked at him.

"That's probably a good idea." Isaiah looked over at Caleb and then down at his glass, it was clear to him that Caleb was just going to forget what happened if he let him. "I think I should sleep on the floor." Isaiah stood up and stepped away from the bed.

"I thought I told you about that already." Just as Isaiah was about to get out of arms reach Caleb reached out abruptly and grabbed his hand.

"Caleb, what are you doing?" Isaiah looked at Caleb's hand holding his unsure of what was about to happen, then looked up at him. Isaiah could see an almost blank look in Caleb's eyes as if he wasn't thinking about what he was doing. He looked like he was lost in a sea of his own emotions but wasn't sure how to display the right ones.

"I…" Caleb paused as he stared at their hands then slowly followed his gaze up Isaiah's arm to look him in the face. "I don't know." Isaiah felt Caleb tug on his hand and resisted him slightly out of fear.

"I should go home, Caleb. You're drunk." Isaiah stared for a few brief seconds as he felt Caleb's grip tightening on his hand. With quickness and ease, Caleb abruptly pulled Isaiah down onto the bed.

"Don't be scared," he whispered.

"I'm not scared, Caleb." Caleb stared at Isaiah intently, his head slightly turned to the side as if he was about to kiss him. Their gaze had locked, and Isaiah stared into Caleb's deep brown eyes he wasn't scared, he was just nervous. He could feel his heart fluttering in his chest, and he could already tell his skin had flushed.

"Well…" Caleb placed released Isaiah's hand and moved his hand up Isaiah's arm and eventually rested his hand on his neck. "I am." Caleb started to pull him into a kiss, Isaiah resisted for a split second but then released himself to Caleb's guide as their lips touched. Even though they had kissed earlier Isaiah was overcome with emotion as if Caleb's feelings were pouring into him. This was different than before it was under Caleb's control, and they were both fully awake. Isaiah could feel Caleb trembling as they kissed, his entire body shook with nerves and anticipation. Isaiah knew he was nervous and scared, but he could also tell how confused he was. The short kiss seemed to feel like an eternity before Isaiah pulled away, he put his hand on Caleb's face trying to make him feel more comfortable and gazed into his eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" whispered Isaiah.

"I don't know, I…" Caleb pulled back from him and looked away nervously.

"Jonathan is awake. What if we get caught?"

"I'm sorry. Just forget about it. I shouldn't have brought you into this mess. I feel like such an idiot." Caleb sat back on the bed, clearly angry at himself. Isaiah sat and looked at him for a few seconds. Caleb looked so helpless and lost he didn't want him to feel as though he didn't want this to keep going, because he did. Isaiah wanted this more than anything else he could even fathom and he had to let Caleb know.

"No, no it's okay. I don't mean it like that, Caleb. It's just… come here." Isaiah let out a sigh, not able to think of the words he wanted to get across to him. He slid over to Caleb and put his arms around him, he could feel Caleb shivering in his arms. Isaiah knew the kind of confusion he was going through having gone through it himself before admitting to himself who he was. Right now, he was sure Caleb was thinking what were his friends going to think, would his parents still love him, was his life over, was he going to be as alone as he felt right now for the rest of his life? Isaiah also knew that the answer was no and that the feeling would pass as soon as Caleb surrounded himself with the people that truly loved him not the people who liked him for his ability to play the game or his money or his looks.

"Am I wrong for feeling this way?" Caleb buried his face in Isaiah's shoulder.

"It's okay. We don't have to do anything you don't want to." Isaiah rubbed the back of Caleb's head as he whispered to him reassuringly. Isaiah could feel Caleb's hand start to rub his back slowly.

"I've never done anything like this before," Caleb whispered. Isaiah pulled back and pushed Caleb to a straight sitting position as he pulled from the hug, so he could look him in the eye.

"Neither have I." Isaiah tried to sound as reassuring as he could to let Caleb know he wanted this as much as he did, but it was all just as new to him as it was to Caleb. Caleb stared intently at Isaiah as he raised his hand placing it on Caleb's neck then moving it up to his face.

"I'm so scared." Caleb gazed into Isaiah's eyes, his gaze not faltering as he stared.

"Don't be." Isaiah pulled Caleb gently further up onto the bed taking Isaiah's lead Caleb slowly edged himself up onto the pillow, and Isaiah laid down beside him facing him. Caleb undid his shirt quickly and left it hanging open but then stopped seemingly unsure of where to go next.

"I don't know what to do," said Caleb embarrassed.

"Whatever you want." Isaiah smiled at him and rubbed the tips of his fingers down Caleb's chest and stomach. Caleb's olive skin was every bit as soft as Isaiah had imagined it would be all the time staring in the shower couldn't have prepared Isaiah for what he was feeling as his fingers moved along the ripples of Caleb's abdomen. Isaiah stopped briefly and slowly slid the tips of his fingers into Caleb's jeans and boxers, he could feel the soft hair just barely on the tips of his fingers. "How does that feel?"

"Good." Caleb rubbed the back of his hand against Isaiah's chest and stared for a long few seconds. Isaiah smiled at him when Caleb suddenly and awkwardly pulled Isaiah on top of him. Caught off guard, Isaiah braced himself on one arm and looked down at Caleb who was still very nervous about his inexperience. "Sorry." Caleb reached out and touched Isaiah's face for a brief second before Isaiah leaned in and kissed him briefly. Isaiah rubbed Caleb's strong chest he then pulled back from the kiss and smiled softly at him. Isaiah rested himself on his knees but was sitting on Caleb's pelvis. Caleb's expression was intent on him as he put his hands up Isaiah's shirt slowly moving his hands from his chest to his stomach. Isaiah no longer felt the same nervousness, but he could still feel his heart rushing from excitement as Caleb gestured for him to lift off his shirt. Isaiah lifted his shirt over his head and Caleb sat rubbing his stomach with the back of his hand as they stared at each other in silence. Isaiah smiled at him.

"What?" Caleb looked at Isaiah confused, probably worried that he was doing something wrong. Isaiah could see that something was on his mind. "You've got something on your mind I can tell." He rubbed his hand through Caleb's soft dark hair as Caleb took a deep breath then exhaled and looked away, Isaiah's hand fell from his hair to his face and then rested on Caleb's chest. Caleb returned his attention to him shortly. Isaiah couldn't believe how perfect everything was going, he was so happy that he hadn't wasted all this time on Caleb.

"It's just that…" Caleb paused and smiled but the smile faded as he began to speak again. "I think back, and you don't know how many times I was in the shower, I would imagine what it would be like to touch you like this." Isaiah felt Caleb apply a bit of pressure to his abdomen. "I remember the first day you tried out for the team. I fought with the coach to get you on board," Caleb laughed nervously as he continued, "I managed to convince him that you would be a great runner for the team, even though you were so much smaller than the rest of us. I would just look at you and you never seemed to notice so I kept looking." Caleb raised his hand and touched Isaiah's chin with his two fingers. "I loved your little dimple in your chin and just watching you move." Isaiah stared blankly in disbelief for a second as he began to connect the pieces of their puzzle. All the awkward smiles, the times Caleb had stuck up for him against the other guys on the team and even earlier in the evening when Caleb had asked him to help him pick a shirt. ******He thought back to the first time Caleb had stuck up for him, it was one of the first practices he had been to.

"God damn faggot," yelled Jonathan. The practice had just ended, and the team had gathered in the locker room except for Caleb who had gone for a meeting with the coach. Isaiah looked at Jonathan still in his workout clothing. Jonathan for some reason thought Isaiah was looking at him, there was no reason for him to look as he found no attraction to him. Jonathan's personality was more than enough to overshadow anything that might make him attractive. "Don't look at me or I'll knock your ass out!" Isaiah looked away and tried to go back to getting his pack out of his locker. He wasn't comfortable being in the locker room with the team yet and this was why. Somehow a rumour about Isaiah's sexuality had started to spread since he joined the team. He suspected that Jonathan was behind it but had no proof and no one would listen to him anyway so why bother? He opened his locker and could feel Jonathan still looking at him. There was no question in his mind Isaiah was terrified of Jonathan and knowing that the coach wasn't there to stop him he didn't know what was about to happen. Isaiah was holding his emotions in check trying not to cry in fear of what was about to happen. "Maybe I should beat your ass anyway faggot you don't belong here." Isaiah put his book bag on his back and stood still for a few seconds not wanting to turn around. Isaiah took a deep breath and turned around to leave taking a step forward with his head down. Jonathan stepped in front of him, standing face to face, so close that Isaiah could feel his breath on his face. "Where are you going? Shouldn't you shower before you go back to class, or is that too much temptation for you?" Isaiah looked up at Jonathan still managing to keep his emotions in check.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly. Jonathan cracked a smile at him knowing that he was striking fear into someone, giving him obvious satisfaction with himself. Isaiah tried to get by him taking a step to the left and then to the right. Jonathan matched his step blocking his attempts to get by. "Can you please just let me go?" Isaiah pleaded with him ready to lose control of his emotions. Jonathan stayed quiet and Isaiah looked down at his feet sure that he was about to cry. Without warning, Jonathan brought his hands up and slammed Isaiah into the wall with great ease. Isaiah hit the wall and slid down having lost his breath from the impact and tried desperately to get up, but couldn't as he gasp for air. Jonathan bent down and pulled Isaiah to his feet and drew back his fist as he was about to punch him. Isaiah closed his eyes ready to take the hit.

"Hey!" Isaiah heard Caleb's voice somewhere from the left and opened his eyes. Jonathan turned his head and quickly let him fall to the ground gasping. Isaiah lost control of himself and was no longer able to control his emotions. He lay there in the middle of his worst nightmare, practically crying his eyes out in front of the team on his first day. "Man, what the hell's going on here?" Caleb asked quickly as he rushed over and knelt by Isaiah's side. "What the hell did you do to him?" Caleb looked up at Jonathan who was just standing there watching. "You know you can't be doing this type of shit to people," explained Caleb.

"I didn't do anything he just freaked out," lied Jonathan. Caleb looked up at Jonathan feeling insulted by the fact that Jonathan thought he was that stupid. "What's wrong, I was seeing if he was okay."

"Bull shit," said Caleb, "You're suspended for the next three games."

"Awe man are you kidding me!" yelled Jonathan frustrated.

"Yes, now get the hell out of here or I'm making it six games!" Caleb stood up and the team had started to gather just as Isaiah started crying just a few seconds earlier. Jonathan stormed out with his duffel bag in hand and Caleb looked around at the rest of the team. All of them were either dressed to leave or still in their workout gear. "All right, all of you, get out of here for a few minutes please." Everyone stood staring. "I'm sorry was I speaking Spanish? Clear the fuck out!" Caleb stood and watched the team scurrying to get out of the locker room. He looked down at Isaiah who was still crying at his feet. After a few long seconds, the team cleared the locker room. Caleb knelt by Isaiah and rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked in a gentle tone. Isaiah cried out loud not able to hold it back anymore, the sound of his crying echoing through the locker room. Caleb was awkward for a second then pulled Isaiah into a comforting hug. "Hey man it's okay, you did great today," Caleb comforted.

"But I'm never going to hear the end of this now," Isaiah stuttered between words. Isaiah was referring to him breaking down crying in front of the team. These guys were football players, they were going to tear him apart for this.

"Don't worry I'll make sure it's never brought up again," assured Caleb. Isaiah was able to get control of his emotions and started to calm down.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it'll be fine."