Three Simple Words

Chapter 18

Jess woke up before Thomas did but he made no move to get up. Truth be told, Jess had woken up early for the past week, ever since the other boy got here. Every morning he would lay there and look at the boy next to him.

It was the most peaceful he ever saw him, even before he was kicked out of his house. It was a nice change from the anxious boy that he was when he woke up. Jess could tell that he was locking himself away from the world, letting that pain consume him but he didn't know what to do.

Jess never got the impression that Thomas knew he could see through the façade but that didn't give him the right to confront the other boy. Hell, it wasn't like he could just prance on up to him and ask him to tell him what's wrong. He would just look like an idiot and Thomas would close off even more.

It was just that there were so many things that Jess didn't understand like why he never fought back against Wren or why he always pulled on his sleeves whenever he knew someone was watching him. It just didn't add up and Jess was scared that he wouldn't be able to get through to the other boy.

Jess's parents seemed oblivious to the depth of the other boy's pain but then so did Ariel. Sometimes he wished Thomas would just talk to him. Over the past week he seemed to be more comfortable around Jess but they still only talked about trivial things.

On top of all of this, the butterflies in Jess's stomach wouldn't go away. He tried everything he could think of but when he was near Thomas it felt like he would do anything, go anywhere for him. It wasn't like he minded being attracted to Thomas, it was hard not to, but he knew that nothing could come from it.

Still every time he was near him, his heart would practically leap out of his chest. The sun shined in from the large window and coated the other boy's honey colored hair in golden light.

The light also illuminated his scar right below his mouth. Jess only could dream of kissing that scar moving his way up to the lush pink lips. Whenever Thomas was with him, he would bite those lips and it drove Jess crazy but he knew he couldn't keep thinking like this. He was a friend and in pain, the last thing he needed was Jess to confess how he felt.

Still, he was all Jess could think about and as much as he tried to repress that, he knew it would never change. The other boy stirred and opened his chocolate brown eyes. Jess tried to look away but he couldn't bring himself to and Thomas awoke to find a pair of peculiar emerald eyes looking into his own.