Solby One Shots ✔

76.experimenting with sexuality

"Colby?"

Colby takes his headphones off, having just heard Sam over his music. He spins his chair around. "Hey," he says cheerfully. "Done editing?"

Sam rolls his shoulders uncomfortably. "No. I just - I need your help with something."

Colby's concerned straight away Sam's looking at the carpet and tapping out a nervous beat against the doorframe. "What's wrong?" he asks, worried. "Are you ill?"

San rubs the back of his neck and shakes his head, still not looking at him. Colby stands up and goes over to him, pressing his hand to Sam's forehead. Sam's hair is soft across the back of his hand. "You don't feel warm," he murmurs.

"That's because I'm not sick," Sam murmurs.

"But something's wrong," Sam persists.

"I - yeah."

Colby leads Sam further into his room, where Sam curls up on the couch, hugging a pillow to his chest. "What's going on, Sam?" Colby asks. "Are you getting hate again?"

"I'm always getting hate," Sam says.

"Then what?"

Sam looks at him appraisingly for a moment, then says, "You can't laugh at me when I tell you this, okay?"

"Okay. I wouldn't laugh at you."

Sam smiles slightly. "Yeah." Then he takes a breath and says, "I think I might be gay, Colby."

It surprises Colby a little, but not as much as it probably should. Sam's had girlfriends in the past, which is probably where the main source of Colby's shock comes from. "Okay," he says. "Um? Thanks for trusting me?"

"You did not just quote a teen health booklet," Sam says.

"Sorry. I don't know what else to say."

Sam squirms.

"Something else?" Colby enquires gently.

"I just - I'm not really sure," Sam says, stumbling over his words a little. "Like I think I might be but - it's not exactly as if I've had any experience, what with thinking I was straight for the last twenty one years of my life and all."

"Oh," says Colby.

There's a long pause, during which what Sam's saying slowly starts to sink into Colby's brain. Just as he's registered what Sam's subtly suggesting, Sam looks up at him with wide blue eyes - the puppy-dog stare which, unfortunately, has worked on Colby since day one and shows no signs of losing effectiveness in the near future.

"Sam," Colby says warningly.

"Please, Colbs?" Sam begs. "I'm not going to know if I don't experiment and what if I get into a relationship with a guy and then realise I'm not gay at all? I need to know before I enter the gay world!"

"That's the most flamboyant thing you've ever said to me."

Sam doesn't answer. He continues to make his eyes at Colby, hugging the pillow. Colby hangs his head.

"The stuff I let you talk me into," he says reluctantly.

Sam perks up instantly, his eyes glittering. "So you'll do it?"

"Yeah," Colby says reluctantly.

"You've had boyfriends. You'll know what you're doing."

That isn't why Colby is reluctant. Colby is reluctant because he's been trying to resist snogging Sam for literally years and this is going to break every sliver of self-control he's ever had into a million irreparable pieces.