I'm always here (NovaHD)

'James. Get up, you fucker.' A snapping sound meant someone had just flicked on the lightswitch.
James groaned and opened his eyes, squinting at the bright light. Aleks was stood over him, looking down with eyebrows raised, a small smirk playing on his lips.
'What do you want, Aleksandr.'
'Damn dude c'mon, it's Tuesday remember! We gotta stream!'
'Ughhhhhhh..' James rolled over and buried his head under his pillow. 'Go away.'
'James. James please. James I can't do this without you. I need you, man!' Aleks repeatedly poked him on the shoulder.
'If I get up, will you fuck off?!'
'Yes!' And I already set everything up, so hurry and get your ass out of bed.' Aleks left the room, but not before stopping by the lightswitch and flicking it on and off several times.
'Get OUT of here!' James yelled, sitting up and throwing his pillow at the other boy.



It was a Tuesday evening, the day that Aleks and James usually streamed live on Twitch. None of the other creatures were there however, Jordan, Dan and Eddie had all gone to a small games convention in California. James had chosen to stay because of his recent back pain, on some days it was unbearable, but luckily it had been checked out and he was waiting for a follow up appointment at the doctors. Aleks on the other hand, had been visiting family and had been unable to attend the convention, he had only arrived back yesterday and had driven over to the creature house from his apartment that night for the usual live stream.



Aleks was sitting at the desk when James appeared. He'd showered, and subsequently looked slightly ruffled as he'd just half-heartedly dried his hair and hurried down the stairs.
'What up dude.' Aleks said absent-mindedly, as he made some final checks on the computer.
'What's up? Me, I'm up, because somebody rudely awakened me.'
'We gotta stream you fuck!'
'Mhmm whatever.' James walked over and sat beside Aleks. He smelt strongly of deoderant and toothpaste, and Aleks turned his head in surprise at the sudden aroma.
'What?'
'Nothing.' Aleks turned his head back towards the screen. 'You just smell really good is all.'
'Oh, well thank you. Just doing my best for the stream, y'know. The all important stream.'
'Shut up. Okay, we should be live in three, two..'



Aleks put the computer into sleep mode and leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms out.
'I'd say that was a pretty successful stream,' he breathed out a sigh of relief and placed his hands behind his head.
'As always, as always.'
'See? Totally worth waking up for.'
'Always worth waking up to see your face staring down at me.' James stood up. 'Man, I'm hungry.'
'Wanna go grab some food?' Aleks offered.
'As long as there are no bears involved this time,'
'Hey I saved your life that night!'
'The fuck you did! I saved my own life!' The two carried on bickering as they walked out of the door.



Aleks carefully drove into the driveway and parked his car. 'Take all your garbage with you, I don't want your shit littering my car.'
'I'll do what the fuck I like.'
'I'm warning you dude. Don't do it.' Aleks raised his eyebrows and stared at James seriously. James stared back, then picked up his plastic cup that had contained his drink and placed it on the floor between his feet.
'What're you gonna do it about it huh?'
Aleks raised his hands as if to hit James, who giggled 'shiiiit' and hurriedly opened the passenger door and leapt out of the car. He hadn't gone more than a few yards when he fell to the ground with a yelp of pain.
'Yeah that's what you get, you fuck!' Aleks yelled, laughing. James continued to lie on the floor however, wincing.
'Dude?' Aleks started quickly walking over to him. 'James?!' then ran and knelt by his side. 'What is it James, what's wrong?'
The other man had his eyes closed, his face wracked with pain.
'Is it your back?'
James gave a slight nod in reply, his teeth clenched.
'Oh man, um, do you want me to call an ambulance or something?'
A shake of the head. 'Painkillers. In my room.'
'Okay right, gotcha!' Aleks jumped up and ran to the door. His hands fumbled with keys, he cursed himself for being so clumsy. Once inside, he dashed up to James' room and looked around wildly. He spied a packet of painkillers on the desk and snatched them up, before running down to the kitchen and filling up a glass with water. He knew James hated taking pills without a drink. His hands were shaking, a few droplets of water spilt onto his fingers as he hurried hack to James, who was still lying on the ground, breathing heavily.
'James, here.' Aleks popped a pill out of the packaging. 'Uh..how are you gonna..wait,' he gently lifted James' head onto his knee. He placed the pill in James' mouth and held the glass of water up to his lips. James swallowed and then let his head relax on Aleks' leg, groaning softly. Aleks didn't know how long the painkillers would take to work, but he was hardly about to leave his best friend in this state. He shifted slightly so he could sit down properly, but didn't remove James' head from where it was.
'Thanks..' he heard James mumble.
'It's okay man, just hang in there.' Aleks hesistantly reached out a hand and began to soothingly stroke James' head. 'I'm just here.'



It was much later on, and after the painkiller had kicked in, James was able to make it into the house. He'd said it was important to lie on a hard surface to help his back, so Aleks had brought pillows and the duvet from James' room and James was now lying just outside his room on the landing. He was watching a video on his laptop when Aleks came and sat beside him.
'How are you feeling?' Aleks enquired.
'Better. Those painkillers work wonders.'
'Ahh, s'good.'
'Hey man,' James turned his head to face Aleks. 'I gotta thank you, I would've been fucked if you hadn't been here.'
'Ahh it's cool dude, friends gotta look out for each other right?'
'Yeah but..ah just, thank you, Aleks.'
His friend smiled, a light blush grazing his cheeks. 'Don't worry about it,'
James reached out and ruffled the Russians hair, and turned back towards his laptop screen. Aleks slid his back down the wall until he was lying next to James, and closed his eyes. The fading light, the quiet buzz from the laptop, the warmth of the body next to his, were all making him feel very drowsy all of a sudden..



James awoke the next morning, and suddenly became aware of a small pressure on his left shoulder. He glanced down to see Aleks' head resting there. The younger boy was fast asleep, breathing in and out slowly, his eyes tight shut. James didn't have the heart to wake him up, and besides, there was something about the heat radiating from Aleks' body, and the way he looked so content cuddled up against his shoulder, that was adorable, and he wasn't going to lie, he sort of liked it. James closed his eyes again, letting his head drop onto Aleks'.

The next time he woke there was nobody beside him. He stretched, and without thinking he stood up and walked down to the kitchen. Aleks was there, stood at the counter in skinny jeans and a hoodie. He was drinking coffee, which he nearly spat out when James entered.
'Dude! Your back!'
'What? Oh yeah..' James wriggled his shoulders and back. 'Everything feels fine!'
'Should you be up though?' Aleks looks concerned. 'It was pretty bad last night..'
'It'll be fine, stop worrying!' James walked over to his friend, turning to shuffle between Aleks and the counter. As their faces passed eachother, James caught the lingering smell of coffee on Aleks breath, mixed with deoderant and shampoo. His own breath caught in his throat, and his eyes flickered up to meet the other boys'. Aleks' mouth was partly open, he ran his tongue over his lips and swallowed nervously. James stood still for a couple of seconds, then dipped his head and carried on walking to the coffee machine. Aleks breathed out shakily, running his hand through his hair, unsure of what had just happened.
'Although..' James said, pouring coffee into a mug. 'I'm not sure why it's better because somebody was sleeping on me all night.' He glanced at Aleks, who was still staring at the floor. He looked up, not meeting James' eyes and shrugged sheepishly.
'Yeah, I'm really sorry dude, I guess I was more tired than I thought..'
James raised his eyebrows, grabbed his mug, and headed towards the door. Just before he left the room, he turned to face Aleks, whose cheeks had flushed red.
'I didn't say I minded.'