He Convinced Me To Love Him

chapter two

I wake up the next morning to a bit more sunlight. I unzip my tent and look around, not seeing any signs of Brad. I shrug and make my way to the bathroom. I walk in and see Brad at the sink, clothes off, washing himself. He sees me in the mirror and puts a towel on.

"I'm so sorry. I just haven't cleaned myself up in the past week an-" I put my hand up.

"It's okay. I just needed to use the restroom." I say. I try to ignore the other boy. But I can't help it. I've never seen him without a shirt on. Now I just saw him naked. I do my business and wash my hands, where a still cleaning Brad is.

"I saw you got a tent as well," he says, not daring to make any eye contact.

"Yeah. I figured it would be a bit warmer." I say. I look over at him and notice that he had a cut on his cheek. I grab a paper towel and put some water on it. I put it on the cut. He looks over at me.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you hate me?" Brad asks. I look down, trying to avoid seeing his dick.

"I- I don't know." I say. I look at the paper towel and throw it away, hoping that it was enough to make the wound stop bleeding.

"I know what you think of me. That I'm some douche. That I want to fuck every girl in school. Well I don't. Because I'm gay." he says. I look at him with wide eyes.

"You are?" I ask. I try to keep the shock out of my voice.

"Yeah. I um. I actually think being stuck with you here has made me realize it. Just because I've had time to think." he says. I feel my heart race. He puts some pants on and looks in the mirror at his cut, which his still bleeding.

"Come on. Let's get you some supplies," I say. I grab his wrist and walk to the first aid section. Sadly, the only bandages are on the top shelf. And neither of us are tall enough to reach. I start to climb up, carefully. I look down and my throat leaps into my mouth. I'm higher up than I thought. I grab the bandages but lose my grip on the shelf. I fall backwards, waiting for the ground to come in the middle to meet me. But instead, I fall into a pair of strong arms. I blush and look up at Brad. I look into his eyes. For real. For the first time. His blue eyes shine in the dark.

"You okay?" he asks, looking at me with concern. I nod and stand back up, opening the package of bandages. I see a bottle of rubbing alcohol. I grab it and put some of it on Brad's face, feeling my heart strain when he hisses from the burn.

"How did you get this?"

"I was trying to find your favorite snack. I noticed at school that you really like takis. It was dark, so I tripped and hit my face on a price tag." he says. I feel my heart stop.

"You pay attention to my favorite snack?" I ask. He nods. I hold his head still and put the bandage on the cut.

"I guess I kinda had a crush on you at one point. You're just so unapologetically you. But I guess we'll never get a chance to try it out." he pats my back and walks back to the front of the store. I feel my heart break. I didn't realize that he actually had feelings for me. And I had treated him like shit. I fall to my knees and silently cry, feeling like the biggest dick in the world.