My Heart Is Nuclear

When You're Around Me I'm Radioactive

WARNING: This chapter includes light smut. 
Also, happy early Valentines Day! 🥳

Shayne's P.O.V

When I wake up, Damien's already gone. I can't remember anything that happened last night, but for some reason a feeling of awkwardness looms around me when I try to remember what happened. When I get out of bed I realize that I'm fully clothed, I must have fallen asleep with my clothes still on. When I walk outside to the showers, I spot Damien hanging around with Noah, Mari and Courtney. Once Damien realizes that I'm looking at him he quickly turns his head around and pretends like he hasn't noticed me. Strange. The longer I look, the more memories pop up, vague memories, that is. After some deciphering I remember vaguely that I cried, and that Courtney had something to do with the reason for my crying. Once I arrive inside the showers I force myself to take my mind off of it for a bit, but it's unsuccesful. Once I get undressed and step into the showers I try my hardest to remember what happened last night. We're shooting another competition in a few minutes, but after we're done I'm making sure to approach Damien and ask him what happened.

Damien's P.O.V

The entire day I haven't thought about a single thing other than Shayne proclaiming his love for me last night. When I woke up, I thought that there wasn't any other explanation than it being a dream, but it seemed so real. As soon as I woke up I quickly fled before Shayne awoke, and got myself ready for the next competition. We're shooting "Operation in Real Life" today. When everyone has arrived we start shooting the video, Shayne and I awkwardly make eye contact, the way his eyes change when he looks at me makes me doubt that I dreamed him telling he loves me. During the team picking, my team picks me to do the honours of playing. Maybe it's for the better, otherwise I'd have to stand behind Shayne, and everyone'd notice something sticking out. Mari and I walk to the operation table, it's Mari's turn, so I still have to wait for a bit. While Mari's going, I make a few quips here and there, but in reality I'm not focussing on the game at all, I'm focussing on Shayne. The more I look at Shayne, the more I can feel blood streaming down, I imagine myself touching his huge chest and his flexing biceps. When I realize that my penis has become hard, I quickly hide it under the operation table, looking around if anyone caught me, but luckily everyone was focused on the game.

When it's my turn, Shayne cracks multiple jokes, which gets me thinking. Was he so drunk that he completely forgot about last night, and doesn't remember anything that happened? Maybe I've got my hopes up for absolutely nothing. The game eventually ends with me carrying Mushroom Clout to a win after defeating Mari in a Sudden Death round, my entire team gathers around me to congratulate me. While I'm glancing at team Toxicitea, I see Shayne smiling at me, unlike his other teammates who are generally disappointed by losing. When I realize that it makes me blush, I quickly turn my head around to my teammates, to make sure Shayne doesn't notice.

Shayne's P.O.V

As I see Damien playing, more memories are starting to come back to me. An image of me running from him in the nightclub plays on repeat in my head. After a while the memory of me crying in a bathroom and Damien and Courtney sitting together comes back, I feel the dreadful feeling again that I felt that night. I recover the memory of tears rolling down my face in our cabin with me sitting on our bed, and Damien standing there.
'Why was I crying?' While Damien's on his comeback streak I do my best to decipher a coherent scenario based on these memories, and just then the penny drops. I confessed my love to Damien last night. Joven brings me back to reality when he taps me on the shoulder to see if I'm alright.
'I'm okay, I-I was just in my mind for a bit,' I put on a fake smile and pretend to focus on the game. Joven reassuringly smiles and nods his head, and starts cheering for Damien as he succesfully collects the Adam's Apple. It's a close competition, but ultimately Damien wins by defeating Mari in a quick sudden-death round. The moment the cameras stop rolling we congratulate eachother, and I make eye contact with Damien and smile at him. He quickly turns his head as his cheeks turn red.

I realize that now is the time to get rid of my conflicting feelings and tell Damien the truth, my smile immediately sinks when I realize that the chance is huge that I'll lose Damien if I confess my true feelings to him, but it just doesn't feel right if I keep this all to myself. I need to tell him the truth, for both my and Damien's sake.

'D-Damien,' I immediately approach him after Sarah announces that we're free to go.
'Hey Shayne,' he smiles at me while he puts his arms behind his back.
'Can we, uh, go back to our cabin and like, talk?' I struggle to even form a coherent sentence. 'S-Sorry... that made no sense.' I add quickly, as I can feel my heart starting to pump faster.
'You can do this Topp...' I reassure myself and repeat my point: 'Damien, I-I need to tell you something, let's talk about it in our cabin.'
Hopefully my fake smile doesn't give away how nerve-racking this is. Damien nods and let's out a 'Sure man,' as he follows me to the cabin. Once we get inside, I change out of my Toxicitea shirt with a light-grey short sleeve shirt I quickly grab from the bed. Damien follows through as he takes off his Mushroom Clout uniform and replaces it with a dark blue and red-striped tanktop. As he is changing I can't help but glance at his exposed torso.
'It's not the time for that!' I give myself a metaphorical slap in the face.
'What did you wanna talk about?' Damien says as he sits down on the bed, with his left arm leaning on his pillow. This is it. This is the moment I'm confessing my true feelings I've been bottling up for two years, and the moment I'll lose Damien as a friend forever. The only thing that's uncertain is what our status will be after I tell him the truth.
Before I open my mouth, I let out a big sigh and sit on the opposite side of the bed from Damien.
'Damien... I wanna start off with this: I'm terribly sorry for what I'm about to do to you.' A tear starts rolling down my cheek, and multiple tears follow. I can see a look of confusion on Damien's face, but even though his current mood, he still brings a barrage of encouraging words towards me.
'S-Shayne, t-tell everything that you feel you need to get out...' Damien assures while I notice him leaning in closer to me.
I follow Damien's instructions and start venting.

'Well Damien, I have been bottling this up for... the past 2 years? Eversince we've met actually.' I sigh again and I cry uncontrollably. 'I need to get this out, b-but I don't wanna lose you as a friend Damien...'
'Shayne, y-you can tell me anything.' He pats me on the back, this scene reminds me of last night, which was awfully familiar. His patting gives me the courage to finally come clean.
'L-last night I remember telling you the same thing but-' I can immediately see him raising his eyebrows, he knows exactly what I'm going to tell him.
'-now I have to tell you for real... to confirm that what I said last night was true.'
The words struggle to leave my mouth, but out of sheer will I speak clearly through my breaking voice and tears.
'Damien... the truth is... I love you.'
My first instinct is to curl up and loudly cry, I faintly hear Damien mumbling in himself in surprise. I continue to cry, until I feel his hand getting laid on my shoulder, and his angelic voice clearly stating something.
'Shayne... you're not the only one who feels this way.'