The weekend had already brought more surprises in two hours than Ethan expected to see in half a year. It literally wasn’t even twelve yet and Ethan had his mind blown. He’d just woken up a couple hours earlier and wished to see his best friend. He thought the two of them could chat and plan out the rest of their day. 

When he was going to enter Aiden’s room, he heard Aiden lie that he had a crush on Ethan before he admitted that he was crushing on Aaron. The Aaron option was obviously more welcomed, but both options had shocked Ethan immensely. He was the best friend yet he had no idea that Aiden was crushing on his ex-crush’s boyfriend. It was an incredibly complicated situation to suddenly find himself in. However, Ethan was biased. At the end of the day—while he loved Scarlett—he wouldn’t be upset if Aiden was accidentally the cause of a breakup between her and Aaron.

After all of that early morning drama, Ethan was sent to tell those in some of the other rooms that they were going to meet up in Aiden’s parents’ room for breakfast. Being his social butterfly self, Ethan was happy to oblige. He hummed to himself happily and skipped on over to his room. His head was bobbing as he got out his room key and opened the door, but his humming was abruptly halted when he crashed into a chest. Chris’s chest, of course. Courtney’s chest would have been far more yielding compared to the firm wall Chris created with his body.

“God, are you alright?” Chris asked, his hands coming up to hold onto Ethan’s forearms. Ethan sucked in a sharp breath. No, he certainly was not alright now that Chris had to touch him more than he already was. Ethan discreetly cleared his throat and started to pull back from Chris’s body. When he stepped back, however, his heart almost stopped. 

Chris had clearly been showering before Ethan saw him. His tight curls had pearls of water suspended between them and occasionally one would fall down his temple or the back of his neck. His scooped neck shirt clung even tighter to his chest and muscles due to the dampness of his skin, making Ethan’s mouth water and the tightness and visible brown skin. And, finally, his eyes were a bit swollen simply because he’d just woken up. But, it made his clear skin appear even clearer and soft to the touch. It also gave Chris a younger look that was adorable and still incredibly attractive.

Ethan had been caught off guard since he’d been humming and dancing before they collided, two things he tried to do when he was totally alone. It made him feel a bit more awkward. But that, coupled with seeing what Chris looked like so early in the morning, turned Ethan into a stuttering mess.

“H-hey Chris,” Ethan said, trying to keep his smile from looking awkward in front of the taller man. “Um, s-sorry about that.”

Ethan’s eyes were blown wide, Chris noticed. He had on one of the two expressions he wore when he was uncomfortable around Chris. Usually, his face was down turned and he tried to ignore Chris’s gaze and seem nonchalant. Other times, however, he would have that wide-eyed look he was wearing right now. Chris had easily deduced that Ethan was closing himself off when he wore the first expression, but the second one was far more confusing. What did he see when he looked at Chris that made his bright eyes grow so wide? Chris desperately wanted to find out but he had to keep his desire contained to two simple words.

“No problem.”

They didn’t even come close to telling Ethan how curious Chris was about him. Ethan had given him stories and jokes but they were never about him, not really. They were about things he was interested in or found funny, but Chris still had a long way to go before he knew who Ethan Sterling was. He wanted to figure out why Ethan was making that face and why it was directed at him. Some of this want must have been translated in his eyes because Ethan’s gaze shifted to the floor between them and his head ducked to follow.

Ethan had closed himself off.

“Y-yeah ok, breakfast is in Aiden’s parents’ room so, yeah . . .” Ethan blushed and wrung his hands at the sound of his own voice. He had rushed the words out and pushed them all into one awkward sentence because he felt embarrassed—and slightly ashamed. He had spent the last few seconds practically undressing Chris with his eyes and had gotten a bit heated by his own thoughts. He had no idea that Chris’s desire to get to know him may also include getting to know Ethan’s lips and body as well. There was only one way to find out, but Ethan was oblivious to the fact that he even had a chance!

As Ethan spoke and took some steps away from the door, Chris had gotten enough space to walk out of their doorway and into the outdoor hall. Seeing the new opportunity being presented, Ethan walked into the room. This made it very clear to Chris that he was ending that conversation.

“Alright-”

Chris began to talk, not wanting to take the hint, but Ethan was already closing the door on him and cut him off. At this point, Chris was forced to accept it and went off to the other room with a heavy sigh. The second the door clicked into place, Ethan sighed and let his forehead thump against it.

“That was rude.” He muttered softly to himself, thumping his forehead against the door again. He had to stop letting how nervous, crush-crazy he felt get the best of him. Putting the crush aspect aside, he really wanted to have Chris as a friend. The black man was sweet, funny, and had fantastic music taste. That was hard to come by these days. Ethan wasn’t going to let his crazy feelings ruin a good relationship, he silently promised himself.

Feeling far more confident than he was a couple of seconds ago, Ethan turned around and called Courtney. He didn’t really feel like going through the suite looking for her, and he especially didn’t like the idea of accidentally seeing her before she was ready. He saw straight porn once and that was the last time he hoped to see a girl naked.

Courtney came into the room faster than what was normal and Ethan’s eyebrows raised at the sight of her. Courtney was one of Scarlett Hale’s close friends and, being quite popular, it was no surprise that she liked to dress nicely and wore makeup often. Today, however, Ethan could tell that she had put in more effort than usual.

She wore a full face of “natural” makeup, a loose crop top, and a pair of sweatpants that clung to her thighs and ass like second skin. Mentally, Ethan’s brain looked like a wall in Sherlock’s study. He was trying hard to figure out why she was so done up. He went through the options in his head as he asked a casual yet important question.

“Where are you going?”

Courtney tugged on and shifted her crop top as her gaze left Ethan’s to float around the room. 

“Nowhere.” She told him dismissively. She bit on her bottom lip, the skin shining with a layer of peachy lip gloss, as she began to ‘discreetly’ look into the other rooms. Finally, after she likely did not see any sign of him, she turned to Ethan. “Hey, where’s Chris?”

And Ethan had his answer. It was terribly sobering for him to find out that Courtney was trying to get involved with Chris. She was a clearly attractive girl who claimed to have gotten her wide hips from her Venezuelan background. And, she was probably already friends with Chris. Their friend groups were deeply connected and a part of the same circles at school. So, overall, it made far more sense for her, the attractive popular female, to end up with Chris.

Ethan wanted to curl up into a disappointed, gay ball, but there was no way he could let Courtney know about his turmoil. She would go on to be suspicious and concerned—because annoyingly enough, she was a good person—and Ethan would have to think up a lie to explain while he was curled up on the floor. No, he’d much rather just joke about the situation and act as if he has no involvement in Courtney’s love life. She was aiming for Ethan’s hardcore crush, but to her, it would seem like he was a simple bystander, amused by the situation. So, he called her out.

“Oh, I see.” Ethan drawled, crossing his arms and sending Courtney a smirk. “You’re trying to impress Chris, aren’t you?”

Calling her out and teasing her about it would be Ethan’s normal reaction if he wasn’t distressed, so he tried to emulate that and seem normal. He guessed he’d done it perfectly judging by the deep blush that bloomed on Courtney’s cheeks. Her nonchalant stance had been stiffened by his accusation. She stood up straight, her shoulders drawing up defensively as she struggled to find what to say.

“N-no, I just wanted to . . .” Courtney’s voice trailed off and Ethan rightly assumed that she couldn’t come up with an alternative excuse. “You better not tell him!” 

Ethan didn’t respond right away, dropped his smirk, and stared at her straight on. Her face, which had been contorted fiercely to seem meaner than she was, fell and became shy and nervous. She looked at Ethan pleadingly, momentarily baring her soul. 

“Please.”

Ethan’s expression softened. Despite the conflict of interest presented by his knowledge of her interest in Chris, his plan wasn’t to be cruel. He didn’t want to be mean and he certainly didn’t plan on using this information against her. Ethan was being honest when he said his next words.

“Don’t worry,” He told her as he smiled gently. He was pleased when he saw her relax. “I wouldn’t even think of it.”

The relief he saw on her face made him momentarily regret his decision. He didn’t want to be nice to her or want to want to be kind to her. He liked her as a person and respected her feelings, but he also wished he could do something to keep her from leaving the room and likely saddling up next to Chris for the rest of the day. Then, Ethan felt guilty for wishing so badly against her.

When they both left the room a couple of minutes later, Ethan went to the next room while Courtney followed Chris to the Moore’s suite. At that moment, Ethan felt the complicated combination of emotions arise again.

He would just have to hope that Chris wasn’t interested in her so he could save himself the heartbreak for a little longer. Even if it was bound to happen as long as he still liked Chris, he wanted to save himself the pain for as long as possible.