umkansa - atwow highschool au

thirteen

neteyam

It had been three days since Neteyam hung out with Ao'nung. It had been three days since that moment when their faces were three inches away from each other. It had also been three days since Neteyam had spoken to Ao'nung. He didn't know what to say to him. He didn't know if Ao'nung felt the same butterflies he did when his fingertips made contact with his cheek. Hell he didn't even know if Ao'nung liked boys. All of these thoughts just brought Neteyam various amounts of stress that he couldn't handle right now. So not only has he not talked to Ao'nung but he's also been very distant from his family. He can tell they've noticed when Lo'ak walked in his room and said "Are you sure you're not mad at me? You aren't talking to me much anymore," Neteyam felt his heart sink to his stomach. All he felt was guilt in that moment, but he couldn't even bring himself to reply. It was like his mouth was glued shut and words we're fighting to escape behind his lips. So he just sat there. He sat there and he stared at his brother who was desperately waiting for a response. All Neteyam could do was nod. He hoped it was enough. But he soon realized it wasn't when he watched as Lo'ak's face slowly turned from curiosity to devastation. He watched as his brothers eyes slowly watered as he backed out of the room and closed the door. Neteyam wasn't trying to be cold. He wasn't mad at anyone but himself. He should have pulled away when he realized how close him and Ao'nung's faces were. Ao'nung hadn't spoken to him the rest of their hangout let alone looked at him. He just spoke to Lo'ak the rest of the time as Neteyam laid on his bed pretending to scroll through his phone. He was so confused. Was what happened wrong? It didn't feel wrong. It felt right. Neteyam had never felt what he felt in that moment. the solid 8 seconds they spent staring into each others eyes until rudely interrupted by his younger brother didn't feel wrong to him.

Neteyam decided to get out of his bed and talk to his brother. He didn't know if this was the right thing to do, but he did know that he couldn't keep these feelings to himself anymore. He knocked on Lo'ak's door as he rocked in place. The door creaked open until his slim, puffy eyed brother stood in the doorway. "Hey," Lo'ak whispered a small smile on his face. Neteyam engulfed his brother in a hug, resting his chin on Lo'ak's shoulder. "Oh- Are you okay?" Lo'ak asked patting his brother on his back. Neteyam just nodded. His brother wasn't the best at affection or comfort but Neteyam could tell he was trying his best. "What happened?" Neteyam stayed silent. He was significantly taller than his brother so he had to bend his head down slightly to comfortably rest his chin on his brother's shoulder. He felt tears threatening to overflow in his eyes, but refused to let them spill. He took a deep breath before letting go. They both walked into Lo'ak's room and sat on the rim of his bed. "So what's up?" Lo'ak asked again, this time with a slightly more concerned tone. Neteyam was beginning to think this may have been a bad idea. He shouldn't put his issues on his brother, it wasn't fair. "You can tell me bro. I won't laugh," Lo'ak laughed while saying that. Neteyam shot him a glare as he stood up making his way to the door. Lo'ak grabbed his brothers arm in an effort to stop him. "No no no wait, my fault, my fault, I swear I'm not gonna laugh starting now," he swiped his hand in front of his face, a serious expression displayed. Neteyam hesitated before taking a seat back on the bed. "Okay so, remember when Kiri invited Tsireya and Ao'nung over?" "Yeah, on Thursday? That was awesome! Me and him played video games, ate a bunch of junk and shit, then we-" Lo'ak stopped as he looked over and saw his brother giving him an intense stare. He cleared his throat and gestured for his brother to continue. "Anyways. When you left to go get us snacks. He cut my cheek while-" "He cut you!? I'm gonna kick his-" "No! Not like that!" Neteyam quickly shut that down as soon as he spotted Lo'ak's hands forming into fists. "We were playing uno and started throwing cards-" Neteyam hesitated. "Long story short a card cut my cheek somehow and it started bleeding a little. He felt really bad after and it was a complete accident. So basically like- he took his thumb and like- rubbed the blood off? And then he just stared at me. And I just stared back. And our faces were so close and my stomach got all bubbly and I could literally feel my face burning up and his breath-" "So... you like him?" Lo'ak interrupted. Neteyam quickly turned to face him. He hesitated for a brief moment. "I don't know," he whispered, shrugging his shoulders.