𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐘 / 𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐙𝐙 𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐑

III

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A NAUSEATING YET UNFORTUNATELY
familiar smell had invaded the minuscule area of West Ham once again. The origins of the mysterious odor were unknown. But, did it really matter? All the people of the quaint town needed was to be ridden of it as soon as possible. And until it was, buses were sent to haul their children away to the ever so amazing outdoors on a class camping trip.

After a short goodbye hug session with his mom, in which he falsely assured her he would be okay, Henry had boarded the bus, sitting alone since his few friends had already paired up with others, leaving him forgotten.

He was already thinking to himself about how miserable this trip would be. The outdoors were not Henry's forte in any way shape or form. The first and only time he went camping was when he and Harry were both eight. He had tripped over a twisted tree root and broken his left foot.

Henry felt a tapping on his shoulder, resulting in him pulling out an AirPod and looking up from his seat to meet Grizz's warm brown eyes.

Henry looked at him in confusion. "Um, Hi?"

Grizz smiled kindly towards the younger Bingham brother, wiping his hands on his pants. "Um..can I..can I sit with you?"

Henry nodded, scooting his backpack into the floor of the bus, making room for Grizz to sit beside him. "Yeah, sure."

Grizz smiled, sitting and turning ever so slightly to face Henry. "What were you listening to?" He pointed to the AirPod case he was smoothing over with his thumb.

Henry shrugged, running a hand through his slightly damp brown locks. "I don't really know, to be honest. I just had them in so nobody would talk to me."

Grizz nodded, taking a mental note not to be so chatty. "Right. Sorry."

Henry backtracked, not having intended to hurt Grizz's feelings. "No! I mean, sorry. That came out wrong."

Grizz shook his head, pulling his hair into a small man bun with an elastic on his wrist. "It's okay. I know you aren't much of a people person."

Henry let out a laugh, once again comparing himself to Harry. "My brother got the social capability, as well as the attractive genes."

Henry always felt inferior to his brother. Whilst he was significantly more intelligent, he was never the athletic son his father wanted for so long, and he would never be the one to give his mom grandchildren.

Grizz frowned slightly. "You shouldn't talk down to yourself so much. You're a cu- um, cool- you're a cool dude."

He shrugged, letting out a yawn. "I suppose."

Without realizing his actions, Henry laid his tired head on Grizz's shoulder, leaving Grizz to watch the - in his opinion - better Bingham brother as he drifted to off into a peaceful sleep.

Grizz smiled down at the brunette boy, taking time to study the smallest details of his face. His dimples, his thick lashes, the light freckles sprinkled across his nose and rosy cheeks.

Grizz felt his eyelids become heavy, and eventually close as his vision faded into darkness.

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The weak white lights of the bus flickered on as the West Ham's high school population all woke from their slumber, looking around at one another in sleepy confusion.

The bus driver bellowed from the driver's seat, looking at the teenagers through the mirror. "Bad weather-mudslide! You're back home!"

Grizz wiped at his eyes sleepily, trying to wake himself up. "H-Henry, wake up," he spoke gently, nudging the boy sleeping on his shoulder.

Henry whined, his lashes fluttering as he woke up, looking around before meeting Grizz's gaze. "What happened?" He asked, seeing students exiting the bus.

Grizz smiled to himself, noticing Henry's hair was ruffled from his sleep. He composed his expression, trying to stay professional. "We're back home, the weather was too rough."

Henry nodded, letting out a soft yawn. "Great, now I won't have to worry about being eaten by a grizzly bear." Henry laughed to himself, clearly still exhausted. "Get it? Your name is Grizz."

Grizz snickered, picking up Henry's backpack for him. "Come on Sleeping Beauty, let's get you home."

Henry stood up, following Grizz off the bus before tripping over the last step off the bus, and crashing into Grizz.

The pair of brunette boys fell onto the ground, rolling into the grass as Henry landed laying on top of Grizz. 

Henry's cheeks flushed red. "I-I am so sorry! Are you okay?"  He rolled off of Grizz, hoping he didn't make the other boy uncomfortable or anything.

Grizz nodded. "Yeah, don't sweat it. I'm goo-"

Henry interrupted him. "Wait, where is everyone else?" He questioned in concern, realizing there were no other teens or adults around, as Harry would've yelled out and called him a fag based on how he fell onto Grizz by now.

Grizz looked around, realizing all the other students had already went home. He let out a warm laugh. "It took me a good minute to wake you up. I'm sure everyone else was eager to get home and back to bed."

Henry swallowed, a feeling of uneasiness settling into his belly. "Yeah, okay.  Sorry about earlier- if I made you uncomfortable," he spoke, looking downward, scared to meet Grizz's eyes.  He had lost enough friends due to his suspiciously yet extremely unintentional homosexual tendencies.  He didn't want to add Grizz to that list of people.

Grizz noticed the how Henry's voice got quiet as he apologized, like saying he was sorry was an old habit. "Hey," he spoke in a gentle voice, "Why are you apologizing?"

Henry felt his throat tighten up a bit, picking at his cuticles. "Sorry. I guess I'm used to saying sorry for everything I do."

Grizz stood up off of the wet lawn, holding his hand out to help Henry up. "Come on. I'll walk you home. I'm assuming Harry took your car?"

Henry let out a laugh, taking Grizz's hand thankfully. "You assume correctly."

As the pair walked home, and that unsettling ball of emotion rolled around within Henry, the boys didn't realize that the morning would bring a million different worries and concerns.

This moment between two teenagers was their last moment of innocence, of normalcy.

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Chapter two is done!

What are your thoughts?

Still hate Harry?

Thoughts on Grizz and Henry in this chapter?

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