Alone and together started off as an excruciatingly painful experience. The awkward feeling in the car was so potent Ethan thought he might be suffocating in it. The two had spoken before and had fine conversations. The issue here was that Ethan couldn’t get himself to relax. He kept going back and forth between wanting to talk and be himself or staying quiet so he wouldn’t say something embarrassing. 

Chris had been a bit at a loss about what he could do to fix it. Chris was very different from Ethan when it came to conversations. Ethan was a leader, spilling out a thousand words per minute and eagerly waiting to add a comment to any tale. He wasn’t a bad listener, per se, but he could control a conversation, definitely. Chris, on the other hand, was far more adaptable. He generally listened to others, taking in what they had to say, but if a conversation required it, he could control and ask questions and talk until the other person was comfortable. This worked perfectly between the two of them. Ethan would control a conversation happily and hear what Chris had to say happily, then if he got shy and froze up, Chris could coax him out again.

But for the first couple of minutes of their drive, Chris couldn’t get Ethan to talk. He didn’t want to have to fill all the silence, he wanted to hear what Ethan had to say. He wanted to hear the energetic boy rattle on nonstop for as long as he liked. But Ethan wouldn’t budge.

Finally, Chris got the unknowingly brilliant idea to ask Ethan if he wanted to play his music. Ethan had nodded. The motion had been so small Chris nearly missed it, but when he saw it he handed his aux cord to Ethan so he could play his music. Ethan had been silently setting it up when he suddenly noticed a song. It was from a new artist Ethan had quickly gotten obsessed with but very few people knew about her. The urge to go on a rant about the singer was strong but Ethan tried to hold it back. How did he know it wouldn’t lead to him doing something stupid later?

Glancing at Chris from the corner of his eye, the man’s strong jaw clenching and his hands tightening on the wheel as he concentrated on driving into the next lane, Ethan suddenly wanted to take that chance.

“Hey, have you heard of Iyla before?”

Chris waited until he had successfully made the switch before glancing over at Ethan. Ethan, who looked up at him expectantly, had that excited glint in his eye again. Chris smiled but shook his head.

“No, I haven’t.”

Ethan sat up, pulling on his seat belt and nearly bursting with pent-up energy. Glancing over at the lighter boy again, Chris just knew that Ethan was going to loosen up again. He could see it.

“Well, she is this amazing R&B artist that I’ve been listening to recently. She has this one song called Cash Rules that has-”

And that was it. Ethan went on to tell Chris his entire experience finding out about and listening to Iyla’s music, and Chris smiled, happily listening to the tale. Ethan went on to play a few of her songs and Chris introduced Ethan to a smaller artist himself. From there the conversation was effortless. 

Well, effortless in the sense that it came easy to both of them. However, Ethan got tired out from talking and sitting in a car where all he saw was an open road and nature. Somehow, the combination made him inexplicably tired and he fell asleep about an hour into the drive. 

Chris had watched the entire thing unfold from the driver’s seat. The transition from being talkative and energetic, to understanding and quiet, then asleep was adorable to watch. Chris heard some unfamiliar pop ballad play in the background as he stole a few too many looks Ethan’s way. 

When he had accidentally swerved that car, Chris was snapped back into focus and didn’t spare another look Ethan’s way. At least that’s what he told himself. In actuality, he got a couple more looks, but there was no more swerving on his part for the rest of the drive.

Probably about half an hour later, Chris realized that his car was dangerously low on gas. He mentally cursed himself for the silly mistake. He should have filled up before he picked up Ethan and River, but since he primarily used his car for school, he didn’t need to fill up that often and usually let it slip until the car was almost empty. It was embarrassing to have to call the other drivers and admit that he was low on gas and they needed to stop at a gas station. To make the entire process a bit easier, Chris drove ahead to find a station himself with the other cars trailing behind. 

In a couple of minutes, one popped up, the type of stop that looked as if it was made just for the highway. Chris pulled into the station and drove over to a pump before stopping with a relieved sigh. He was just about to get out to fill the tank when his gaze happened upon Ethan again. He had a hand under his face so only his forehead was touching the glass and his lips were slightly opened, allowing him to breathe through his mouth. It was a totally normal way to sleep, yet it seemed special to Chris. 

His eyes caught the subtle curve of Ethan’s light eyelashes and the pink hue and slight acne on Ethan’s pale cheeks. He even saw the chapped appearance of Ethan’s lips yet it all just drew his body closer. Chris reached out, wishing to touch Ethan’s soft, stubble-free jaw. He just wanted to feel it for a little bit, see what it was like. Chris closed his fist, stopping himself just short of actually reaching Ethan. 

As Chris finally got out of the car, he decided that he wouldn’t let himself get caught up again. His sexuality and preferences were private and, as far as he knew, perfectly okay to have. After the first year or two of confusion, he realized there wasn’t anything wrong with his brain and he didn’t aid with fixing something about him. But, if he started touching cute guys without their permission, then he definitely was going to need some help.

Chris watched silently as Aiden jogged over to their car and knocked on Ethan’s windshield. Ethan’s voice was muffled but he heard Aiden’s next words.

“Get up! We’re going to buy some snacks!”

—————

When the large group got to the resort, their first order of business was getting food in their stomachs. Any other plans would be momentarily halted until the rumbling stomachs had been quieted. After the meal, everyone in their group except for the parents and younger ones decided to go looking around the place. They wished to see if there was anything interesting to do during the next couple of days, but it was so typical of them to do so. A large group of teenagers laughed noisily at whichever joke had just been told, and caused a ‘ruckus’ as they moved through the resort. Luckily, no staff seemed to mind and after looking through an arcade, gym, and a lower sports area, they were ready to get back to their rooms and find where they would be staying.

Ethan had been relaxed and calm up to this point. He was already having a great time with his friends and people he hoped to call friends by the end of the weekend, and he just wanted to get to his bed and crash. However, the surprises were not over for him.

Aiden’s father had asked around, wanting to find out who was okay in which rooms and who was secretly avoiding dorming with someone else. Knowing this along with the fact that each resort suite had two rooms and a pullout bed inside, he assigned the rooms.

Out of all the possible combinations, Ethan ended up dorming with Chris. Ethan couldn’t even talk when he first heard the news. Usually, when a string of situations came up like this, a friend had carefully organized it so that their friend was forced to interact with their crush. It was what a lot of the nosier friends did whereas the normal ones simply teased when such situations arose naturally. But none of Ethan’s friends knew about said crush. And, even if they did, none of them would have been able to coordinate such a perfectly frustrating situation as this. Ethan would be spending not only his days with his crush but his nights too. He turned away from the group and hid his face behind his hand as he silently screamed.

Was someone cursing him? Wishing him the utmost frustration during what may be the peak of his attraction and affection toward the darker male not even ten feet away?

Ethan swallowed back his strong reaction and turned back to the group. His timing was impeccable because Chris and their final roommate, Courtney, were walking up to him right at that second.

“You know what room we’re sleeping in right?” Chris asked, holding what Ethan noticed to be their key cards. Ethan took note of the defined veins on Chris’s hands, signaling how strong his hands must have been. Ethan brought his gaze back up to Chris’s eyes and shook his head sheepishly.

“I must have zoned out,” he admitted honestly, remembering the questions he had asked the universe as he’d zoned out. “Sorry.”

Chris smiled gently and Ethan knew the taller man had forgiven him. Or, more accurately, that he had never been upset in the first place.

“It’s alright. Let’s get our stuff from my car and I’ll show you where we have to put them.”

As the two walked down the steps of the outer building to the parking lot, the conversation was light but fun. Ethan decided to listen to one of Chris’s funny stories this time and was pleased to find out more about him. He realized that throughout this entire thing, he was probably just overreacting. This weekend would likely be far more fun than frustration for him with Chris around.