"What are you doing?" Ethan asked Benny, who quickly put away the book he had in his hands. Ethan saw that it was green and not that big.
"Nothing." Benny said in a rushed voice. Ethan narrowed his eyes.
"Benny, I don't believe you. What was that book about?"
"It's nothing." He squeaked out. Ethan sighed and let it go. They both went back to their game, Benny's book hidden away in his backpack.
The next day
"You're stressing over a book?" Sarah frowned. "Why? Was it about comics or something?"
Ethan sighed. As always his geek reputation preceded him.
"No, but the way he was into it. Benny's never into anything. He's Benny!"
Sarah smirked. "Are you jealous that Benny's paying more attention to something other than you?"
Ethan blushed. Sarah smiled a knowing smile.
"Look, no...it isn't that." Ethan flushed a deeper shade of red and Sarah's face softened.
"Ethan it's okay. I understand."
Ethan groaned under his breath. He went home that day feeling mortinfied. Sarah knew that he, Ethan Morgan, liked Benny as more than a friend. How emberrasing was that? Just two months ago he was crazy about her and now...
Ethan just couldn't argue with that funny, fuzzy feeling that started every time that he was around Bennny, but part of him was scared. He couldn't just wake up and say, out of nowhere, that he liked boys. That was wrong. His parents would hate him. Benny would hate him. Ethan sighed as he looked around his room then sat on his bed.
Well, it was already done, but not written in stone. Right now, Ethan's main worry should be Benny's book.
And he would figure out what was so important about that book even it if was the good or bad At the moment they pointed to bad.
"Hey, E, stop being a space cadet!"
Ethan turned to Benny and saw him smile cockily.
"What?"
"I lost you, dude. Are you okay? You feel kinda hot?"
Ethan pushed his hand away with a sigh. "Fine. Just fine."
Benny's eyesbrows furrowed but after a moment of Ethan not meeting his eyes, he shrugged and turned back to their homework. Ethan could feel Benny watch him every once in a while, he ignored it.
It was only when they were done with homework and sat in the couch to watch t.v. that Ethan turned to Benny.
"Hey, Benny, what was that book you had the other day?"
Benny shook his head, face completely serious.
Ethan looked at him suspicious before he could ask anything, Benny stood up. "Sorry, can't tell you. I'll go get more soda, okay?"
Ethan watched him go, stomach churning from the anxiety of it all.
For the next couple of days Benny would keep things secret. He enjoyed teasing Ethan whenever he could. He just didn't know how much it really affected Ethan. And Sarah, she was worried not of Benny or his stupid, little book but of Ethan.
She made it her daily job to babysit him instead of Jane and Jane helped. She loved her brother as hard as that was to believe. So with a couple of days gone, Jane caught on to a few things. For example one day she said,
"Why is Benny always with that book?" and "Is he angry with you?"
"No he's not!" Ethan would say, because honestly, Benny was a lot o fhings, but he would never get angry with Ethan.
In the end though, they still worried about him and Benny kept his stupid book a secret. It was all starting to make Ethan angry.
But he left it alone for as long as he could. But then Benny began to not come over or anything. And then it was just Sarah, Rory and Jane who kept him company.
At school, it was Sarah, Rory, and then Erica. It just never got better. Ethan was seriously confused by then, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.
He knocked on the Weir house and Grandma Weir answered.
"Ethan, I haven't seen you over here in ages."
Ethan blushed, laughing nervously. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine, dear. Are you looking for Benny?"
Ethan nodded.
"Well, he's not here right now, but you can wait if you 'd like."
Ethan stopped listening after Grandmahad said Benny wasn't there.
"He's not here? Where is he?"
"He said he was visiting a friend." Grandma said.
Ethan looked away, the feeling of betrayal sinking in.
"Okay, thank you, Grama Weir." Ethan began to walk away.
"Ethan, wait, would you like me to tell him something for you?"
Ethan shook his head. "No thank you. I'll tell him myself."
He left to his house and locked himself in his room. He fell asleep after all these weird thoughts ran throguh his head:
Was Benny forgetting about him? He had another friend? Why didn't he say something?
When Ethan woke up, his mind was clearer than before. However, his mouth was dry and he felt hot.
"You're awake?"
Ethan looked at Benny in surprise.
"What are you soind here?" Ethan got up and began to change clothes.
"I come over to play all the time, E. It's not likeI come over to do anything else."
"Well, you haven't been coming over, so it makes me think that you dont want to hang out with me anymore."
Benny rolled his eyes good-naturedly, "E, do you hear yourself? Who else would I want to hang out with other than my best friend?"
"That's a lie and you know why? I went too look for you the other day and guess what your Grandma says? That you're out with a friend?"
Benny had to laugh which pissed Ethan off, but seeing the look on Ethan's face, he coughed and sighed.
"I'm sorry, E. It's just"
"Just what?"
"Calm down."
Ethan sighed. "I think you should leave." He said angrily.
Benny blinked in surprise. Ethan could barely believe he had said that too, but he had. And then he had to stare Benny down until he either fessed up or left.
Benny looked at him camly before grabbing his bag and leaving Ethan's room. Ethan stared at the spot where Benny had just been standing and couldn't believe for his life that Benny had actually left.
When he finally got his senses and ran after Benny, it was already too late. Benny had already closed the door behind him.
Ethan told everything to Sarah when she went to babysit on friday. She listened to all he had to say, and when he was done, she sighed and honestly told him, "I think you were both stupid for doing what you did. You should have never told him to leave and he should have never left." She rolled her eyes. "Boys."
"What do I do?" Ethan asked almost pathetically.
"You tell him you're srorry." Sarah shrugged. "I mean, he won't do it now, he's too busy doing God knows what. So I think you'll be the bigger person if you go apologize."
Ethan didn't say anything for a moment.
"Listen to me, Ethan. You need to talk to him. You're obviously in love with him and you have to tell him."
"What?" Ethan squeaked out, face red and surprised.
Sarah sighed and prepeated herself. "Tell him you love him."
"No." Ethan said with finality. At that moment, Benny turned the corner and the two boys had a stare off. Ethan's anger came back, but with it, Sarah's proposition came, too. Ethan's face heated up and he turned away from Benny, passed over Sarah and went to his classroom, never once turning back.
It wasn't until Ethan was done dressing back to his clothes from his P.E. ones that he once again bumped into Benny. And he literally bumped into him.
"I'm sorry." Ethan said, not seeing it was Benny.
"It was about time you apologized." Benny said seriously.
Ethan glared and moved to leave, when Benny stopped him.
"Ethan wait."
"Let me go." Ethan pulledaway and sighed. "What?"
"Why are you angry with me?"
"Honestly?"
"Yes."
"It's because of that stupid book!" Ethan glared at the book in Benny's hands and sighed. "I don't care if you have friends, but its because of that book that you began to not hang out with me."
Benny listened to this with a smirk on his lips. "So what you're saying is that you're jealous?"
Ethan blushed and glared. "No, Benny! I am not jealous. I'm angry at the book."
"Because I'm paying more attention to the book than you?"
"You know what? Forget it."
Ethan stormed awaynow more humiliated than he had ever been.
He spent the rest of the day bored and in quiet reflection. Benny would not be allowed anywhere near his mind. His room was another matter entirely. By seven, with an innocent smile, Benny went over to Ethan's house, said hello to Mr and Mrs Morgan then went to see Ethan. And when Ethan saw him he did not feel surpised, if anything he felt angry. And that was because in Benny's hands was that damn book.
"Wait! I know how you are, E. Before you even try to get angry hear me out, would you?" He sighed and sat at the foot of the looked at the book with a closed expression before wordlessly giving it to Ethan, who looked at it confused.
"Read it." Benny motnioned to it. Ethan stared at him, expecting some foul play, before he opened the cover and gasped.
Inside were a lot of moving pictures and words that described all the adventures he and his friends had had. There were also little side notes by Benny, mostly saying how it had been Rory's fault.
Ethan flipped a couple of pages, a pleased smile on his face, before he turned to Benny.
"What is this?"
"This." Benny took the book from Ethan. "Was a gift for your birthday."
Ethan blushed, emberrased.
"How did you make this?" Ethan asked in awe.
Benny shrugged. "a little bit of magic,..and Sarah." When Ethan gave him an incredulous look, Benny continued on saying, "I asked her not to tell you anything. It was supposed to be a surprise."
"A surprise? You were basically showing it off."
"I know, I know, but that was only because I wanted to add suspense and drama. The expression on your face would have been priceless!" Then Benny relaxed and looked at Ethan warmly. "It was priceless." He said softly with...Ethan began to feel a bit light-headed and tried to ignore the fuzzy feeling that started in the base of his stomach.
"Um, you know what? I'm sorry. This was the best birthday gift ever."
"Yeah, it is. And you just ruined this great surprise." Benny handed him the book. "But I still did love your reaction."
Ethan blushed. And he sighed. There was the feeling again. He turned away and as he held the book, Ethan felt like something in him changed and it scared him. It scared him a lot. He turned to Benny and took a slow step closer.
"Ethan?" Benny began to stand up, but Ethan stopped him by shaking his head.
"Close your eyes."
Something flashed in Benny's green eyes, before he closed them just as Ethan had asked. Ethan breathed in quietly as he reached the taller boy. He kneeled down, not touching him, and his heart beat wildly in his chest. His face heated up and he, for a second, thought about the current situation. But not even his logical mind could stop what happed next.
Ethan grabbed Benny by his shoulders and pulled him down slightly, making their lips press together in a chaste kiss.
Ethan was ready to pull away when Benny grabbed him by his hips, and made him stand. They had to break the kiss then. They looked into each other's eyes, clouded by a feeling neither could describe, but sure they both understood, before Ethan leaned down, and straddled Benny's lap. They continued to kiss, Ethan began to feelheated and only pulled awya when he felt Benny get hard.
He got off his lap and gasped.
"I'm sorry." Benny said blushing, Ethan shook his head.
"No, I'm sorry." I shouldn't- I don't know what came over me."
Both Boys went into silence and would not meet each other's eyes. Ethan was, literally, dying of emberrasment in his mind.
How stupid could he be? Benny must hate him? What the hell was that about? Ethan didn't kiss boys, that was wrong. It was wrong.
Oh god.
Before he let himself freak out, he turned to Benny and sighed. "I kissed you." Benny nodded silently. "It is wrong that I want to do it again?"
"No." Benny said, voice strained with need. They both get up from their respeective cornsers and met in a hungry, needy kiss.
Days later
"The dorks look happy." Etrica said,looking at her nails.
Sarah smiled knowingly. "Yeah, come on."
Rory popped out of nowhere."Can I come?" He asked, excitedly, but with a tone of question. Sarah smiled, rolling her eyes good-naturedly.
"Let's go."
The threee vampires left leaving Benny and Ethan talking in hushed voices. Laughing. In Ethan's backpack was the book Benny had worked so hard on and the thing that had brought them so close together. All in all, the best early birthday gift ever.
The End