☆𝐫𝐞ꜱ𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭☆

3. ♡

"What were you doing?! Why were you cuddling me?!"

John glared at him, his cheeks flushed red. Of course that didn't go unnoticed by Arlo, he was just confused on why John was blushing.

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John crossed his arms and glared at Arlo. Of course it wasn't all that threatening due to his face being red.

"Look I have no idea why I was hugging you, I must've done it in my sleep." Arlo sighed.

"Trust me, I would've never cuddled you if I were awake."

For some reason, hearing those words fall out of Arlo's mouth made John's stomach twist. He didn't understand why, but he felt...hurt? John tried to brush off the feeling, but he just ended up feeling confused and upset. Arlo noticed the hurt in John's eyes, but chose not to say anything.
He was curious as to why he was upset though, he couldn't have taken offense from the small insult right? Maybe he could ask him about it later, if he isn't stubborn of course..

'Why am I so hurt from hearing those words? I hate him.' John thought

'Even thinking about feeling anything for him makes me sick.' he stuck his tongue out in disgust.
John snapped out of his thoughts, he forgot Arlo was still there.

"What the hell are you sticking your tongue out for?" Arlo narrowed his eyes at John.

"Nothing! Now if you don't mind I'm going to go shower." John stood up from the bed, the black haired boy grabbed some clothes from his backpack. Then he walked towards the bathroom door, purposely bumping into Arlo's shoulder while doing so.
The blond glanced back at him, the other boy merely scoffed and continued walking.

'That little...I SWEAR ILL KILL HIM!' Arlo mentally cursed.

The two men seemed to have forgotten that Isen was still in the room.
Isen quietly giggled to himself as he spread the photo around on instagram.
'John and Arlo would so kill me if they found out...Good thing I have this alt account!' He thought mischievously.
'Oh wait I was supposed to go with Blyke...SHIT!' The writer quickly stood up from the other bed and ran out of the room still wearing pajamas.

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John stood under the shower head, he let the warm water stream down his body. Steam from the shower filled the bathroom. The water made his fluffy out-of-control hair be smooth and mopped down. Water also rushed down his muscular figure, it highlighted his nicely structured abs.

'How relaxing..' He let out a low sigh.

'I wonder what happened last night though..Why was he holding me so compassionately?' John bit his lip in embarrassment. He didn't understand the butterflies in his stomach.

'Maybe if I try to remember...' John quickly realized that was a mistake as the memories of last night finally came back to him.
His face turned bright red and he felt heat rush to his stomach.
John remembered Arlo comfortingly holding him after a nightmare, he didn't want to believe it was real.

'How..embarrassing..'

Now Arlo knew about his nightmares, John feared he would hold it against him. He sighed and ran his fingers through his soaked hair.

'Why did he comfort me..? Arlo's not like that, he hates me and I hate him.' the black haired boy thought.

'Maybe I'm looking into things too much, I'm sure this will change absolutely nothing.' John didn't realize just how wrong he really was.

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About an hour had passed, Blyke and Isen were about to leave for breakfast. They stood beside each other in the doorway. John and Arlo sat on opposite beds from each other, the tension between them was still sharp enough to cut. The two men decided to just abandon the conflict they had this morning.
Neither of them wanted things to be even more awkward between them. Arlo held a shirt in his hands and John was just staring at him, clearly lost in his thoughts. It was strange, John found himself spacing out more often than usual.

"Don't forget, breakfast ends at 9, then we meet in the lobby at 10!" Blyke said, slightly narrowed his eyes at John before promptly shutting the door and leaving.

As soon as the two other boys left, Arlo began pulling his shirt off.
John's eyes widened and he quickly turned his head the other way.
"What the hell are you doing? Don't change in front of me!" he shouted, still peeking at Arlo's abs from the corner of his eye.

"Why not? We're both men after all." the blond turned towards John, he tilted his head in confusion.

'Why is John so flustered over me taking my shirt off?' Arlo thought, he didn't notice he was smirking at the shorter male. He admired his expression.
Arlo was tempted to tease him, but he still needed to get ready for the day. When did he start thinking those things anyway?

"Hey, it's just us two now. Can you explain what's going on?" John finally turned his head back to face Arlo, a small blush still present on his cheeks.
"I followed Sera..I watched her teleport away with some guy at a park." he sighed, his expression turning serious with concern.

"Right before they left, her ability aura was really weak-"

"You followed her? Creep." The other male cut John off, the side of his mouth slightly curved into a smile. It was a very small smile, it went unnoticed by John.

"Oh please like you're one to talk, holding me all lovingly this morning." The black haired boy jokingly rolled his eyes at Arlo.

"Shut up! I thought I said don't mention that!" The blond huffed before hitting the back of John's head.

"Ow!" John rubbed the back of his head in pain, he then glared at Arlo.

John's golden eyes widened when he saw how flustered the other boy was getting. He didn't want to admit it but he thought seeing him so embarrassed was...cute?
The warm feeling in his stomach returned, and he still didn't understand why. He had an idea of it could be, but denied the thought entirely. John didn't want to make things awkward, he was enjoying their interaction and didn't want it to be over yet.
Arlo also found himself questioning the warmth in his stomach, usually he and John would spend their time mindlessly bickering. He enjoyed not arguing with John for a change, and Arlo found himself fondly smiling at the other boy.
However, it was only for a second as he quickly turned his head away and snapped out of his thoughts.

"Ahem..You we're saying?" Arlo spoke, his serious tone returning.

'And just like that we're back to our usual selves..' John frowned, missing the energy from a couple seconds ago.

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end of chapter 3