Once Upon A Moonlight✅ {BOYXBOY}

Chapter 36: Past Pains

[GIF: FRED]

SAM'S POV:

It was roughly nine in the evening when Fred and I finally arrived back at his house. His exhibition game had gone well, though he had managed to somehow injure his ankle, with him scoring multiple goals for their team single-handedly. With Ryan in goal, Oliver as a defender and Fred as a striker, the trio were seemingly unstoppable. Sadly, the rest of the team weren't as in sync and communication was poor. They seemed hesitant to trust Fred's advice as their captain and I couldn't help but feel it was my fault, especially given that it was because of me that Fred was publicly expressing his feelings in order to defend me.

Nevertheless, Fred was able to show off his skills as both a leader and a soccer player and I felt immensely proud of him. On the other hand, our brief conversation before the game had caused a nagging thought to surface in my head. I had pretty much forgiven Fred for his actions over the last seven months - that much I was sure of - but my mind drifted back to the now very distant disco disaster. Anytime some kind of intimacy occurred between him and myself, I would remember how something I'd grown up considering so sacred was taken from me in a split second.

My first kiss.

To many people, it may not have seemed like a big deal. I, however, am not like many people. It hurt me when I recalled a drunk Fred stealing my first kiss and my hurt was not lessened by Fred knowing he had done. Yes, he had apologized but here were some things you couldn't take back.

"It's all just a big mess..." I mumbled to myself and flipped myself over onto my back. 

I was laying on Fred's bed with my head hanging slightly off the end as I waited for him to finish up in the bath. The steam had left the room feeling rather muggy but I was too anxious to head downstairs and face Mr and Mrs Clark. Whilst they were lovely people and incredibly caring, no doubt about that, they also kept on asking me how I felt. Don't get me wrong, it was wonderful to have somebody care about your wellbeing after spending so much time with him but after a while, it started to get on my nerves and served as a reminder that I hadn't seen my mother for such a long time.

As much as I wanted to visit her, I had been given strict order by the court to spend some time away from her to recuperate and recover in case any triggering memories butted their way into the forefront of my mind. Doctors had also given similar advice, suggesting it would be wise to avoid as much stress as possible.

"Fat chance of that." I tutted to myself and looked to the floor where Fred and I had piled up various papers and textbooks. 

Final exams were fast approaching, so avoiding stress was going to be impossible. I was already panicking immensely and we still had a few weeks until they went underway. I'd been spending most of my free time revising- and would've spent all of it doing so if Fred hadn't told me off for overworking myself.

Speaking of the devil, the ensuite door opened up and steam billowed out from the doorframe. A basically naked, minus that what was covered by his towel (thank goodness), stepped out into the bedroom. His blonde hair was still dripping wet and stray droplets of water on his biceps and upper torso only accentuated his muscles more. Seeing such a sight, I practically fell off the bed as I tried to avert my gaze. Instead, I ended up on the floor with a sore backside and a bright red face.

"Um, Sam?" He called out amused and I continued to face away from him. 

I pretended to be looking for a textbook as an excuse for not looking at him.

'What was I thinking? Of course, he was going to come out naked, it's a bathroom!' 

I mentally slapped myself, focusing on restoring the colour of my face to normal.