Smile (Solangelo)

Part 5

Jase was a camper now.

He stayed in Cabin 11, he ate dinner with them, and he never left me alone. He was either saying I smelled like death (very funny) or walking around with Clarisse, the Ares kid, being fascinated by every little thing.

"What the hell?" He'd exclaim. "You guys have the most metal rock wall ever."

"Yeah," Clarisse would reply with a snarky tone. "Hey, wanna race to the top?"

And that's the story of how Jase Lee ended up in the infirmary, totally ruining my last day there.

Appearently I had been knocked out for most of my first day, and I was cool with that.

Will came in, it was around noon, and he took a seat on the edge of my bed.

"Lift up your shirt," he demanded in a blunt tone of voice.

"What?" I asked. "No!"

"Do you want those bandages off, or not?" I quickly lifted my shirt up to my collarbone.

Will brushed his hands over my stomach, feeling for injuries. (Apollo kids were awesome like that, unlike their father. [Get rekt, Apollo.])

His fingers trailed to my chest. I could have sworn I didn't get scratched there, but I let the doctor do his work. His eyes followed wherever his hands went, and both lingered once they got to the center of my chest. We made eye contact, and he quickly started to examine my stomach a bit more.

I will admit, the alignment of the sunlight and Will's blue eyes did look extremely attractive, but he doesn't need to know that. It was just sheer chance I happened to be looking at his eyes.

"Yup, looks like these can come off," Will said, trying to air away his awkwardness. I was sure he didn't need to even go near my chest now.

"Hey!" A husky voice yelled from the other side of the curtain separating beds. "Can you two just part? I can feel the sexual tension from here!"

"Jase," I groaned.

He's an ass, Will mouthed at me as he chucked the soiled bandages in the trash.

Will settled down next to me on the bed, we were both sitting up with our feet dangling off the edge. "Hey, Nico?" Will asked, his voice soft and a bit shaky.

"'Sup?"

"Would you be mad if-" Will started to say, but stopped. He was shaking so badly, that I wouldn't even be mad if he took a piss on my mother's grave.

"Will, you're acting like a scared puppy," I said. "I wouldn't be mad at you for anything."

"Anything?" Will wasn't shaking as bad. His nerves had calmed.

"Anything," I repeated. Will smiled, at that was enough for me to be happy.

What I did not expect for his lips to be crashing down on mine .5 seconds later. It wasn't so bad, to be honest. At least he wasn't actually taking a piss on my mother's grave.

His lips started moving against mine, but I was too shocked to remember how to even talk.

He was kissing me. Best Friend Will was kissing me.

And how do I feel about this?

Well, I am gay as hell, sure. But am I gay as hell for Will Solace?

Soon, his tongue got involved. He licked my bottom lip, biting it a little. Will was trying to get a reaction out of me, I knew that much.

But where did this sudden action even come from?

Then I remember, all those times he's made passes at me that I just blew off. That's where this came from.

I'd never expect him to kiss me, though!

My lips parted due to the pressure, and I backed away. I didn't look at Will. I didn't want to look at him. My eyes traveled all around the room. The awkward tension between us was so thick I could cut it with a knife.

It wasn't difficult to tell that we were both blushing red as hell.

"So.." Will said awkwardly, sliding his hand under my chin. I still didn't look at him as I nudged his hand away. He took the hind. "I'm sorry."

"I accept your apology," I mumbled.

Life lesson: Never say "it's fine" to an apology unless it really is fine. If you say that it's fine, the other person will assume they can do it again. Remember that.

"I'm really sorry," he muttered. "I shouldn't have done it."

"No," I said. "It was a nice experience."

"But your body language and tone of voice-"

"I never said I won't take you into consideration." For the first time in fifteen minutes, I looked at Will Solace.

He was lit up like a Christmas tree. "Consideration sounds nice."

"But for now," I smiled at him, "you're still Best Friend Will. Until I say otherwise."

That's what's so nice about Will. He respected personal space, he respected comfort zones. He wouldn't force anyone to do anything unless it would improve their wellness.

"Sounds good to me." Will ruffled my hair and left the room to deal with Jase's fake vomit sounds.