Aloveen Rising

25. Love Sparks

Blake opened his eyes and froze in shock as he took in the situation, not only had he fallen asleep on the couch but Ethan was huddled against his chest with Blake's arms around him. Careful not to wake him, Blake slowly let him go and got up, he splashed his face with cold water and stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror.

He tried to think back to the night before, he'd had a couple of drinks at dinner but that wasn't enough to make him do anything stupid. He fought to stay calm, It's ok, I can ask Ethan he thought, He would tell me if we did anything.

Despite his best efforts he still felt uneasy, his phone buzzed shaking him from his thoughts. The hospital was calling, he glanced at the time and swore. He grabbed his nurse scrubs and his keys then ran out the door.

Even while sleeping Ethan heard the door close and slowly woke up, the warmth that had been surrounding him quickly faded away. He frowned and headed for the shower, his neck felt tight and his body ached, the hot water eased it slightly but the feeling never faded properly.

He dried himself and threw his towel back on the rack, the heat from the shower lingered on his skin as he dressed, keeping him warm. His phone vibrated and he made an awkward lunge for it nearly tripping over his own feet,

"Come stay the night," he heard Nate say before the line went dead,

He snorted in amusement then shrugged, he didn't have anything better to do and he hadn't spent a lot of time with them lately. He packed a light bag to take with him and looked around the apartment, he tidied the cushions they had messed up last night then wrote Blake a short note. Finally, he left, above him, the sky was for once clear of clouds, as he got closer to their house his nerves grew.

He knocked on the door hesitantly as if unsure of what was waiting behind it, moments later the door opened with a clunk and he was facing Nate,

Nate looked a little surprised, "You got here faster than I expected,"

"I missed you guys,"

"Jace and I missed you too," Nate said putting an arm around his shoulder, "Come on, We were about to eat lunch,"

He left his bag by the door and followed Nate through the house stopping dead in the kitchen doorway,

"Jake," he said in surprise,

Jake looked up and put down his bread, "Hi Ethan," he said sounding less confident than Ethan had ever heard him,

"Nate didn't mention you were here," Ethan said shooting him a glare, he looked back at Jake, "I'm glad you are though,"

Jake smiled and Ethan could see the relief on his face,

"Sit down," Jacie told him as Nate grabbed him a glass,

The only spare seat was next to Jake and Ethan gladly took it, sitting down he began to feel nervous again, it was a small table and he was practically touching shoulders with Jake. He tried to distract himself with the food. They had made chicken rolls with a colourful mix of salad with cheese and mayonnaise. Despite his meal, his thoughts were on Jake who caught him staring multiple times and each time Ethan turned red and looked away. Finally, Jacie brought out doughnuts and to Ethan's surprise Jake reached for the same one as him and their hands met over the plate,

Jake turned to him, "I thought you hated cinnamon,"

Ethan felt himself going red again, "I do but last time we had doughnuts there was only the one chocolate one and you gave it to me. I thought you should have your favourite this time,"

Jake smiled and took the chocolate one, "Thank you,"

He nodded feeling slightly embarrassed and finally after cleaning up they sat down and talked. It felt like it always did and to Ethan's surprise, the butterflies which had been absent for a while began to stir in his stomach.