Delirious confessions
(AN: This is a one-shot, I was fed up of not having a complete fiction up here and so wala here you have it, and its got slashy goodness, I say I'm quite happy with it)
Kyle PoV
"James slow down!" Kyle shouted after his reckless friend who was about to give him a panic attack. Kyle watched closely as James wrapped his legs and arms around a thick piece of rope to pull himself up a higher platform which would begin the next arrangement of obstacles, Kyle was sweating slightly from the heat and he could feel a glisten of sweat on his lower back, watching James stand on the platform which swayed gently from his weight didn't help this as Kyle got more nervous the more unsteady James looked.
Kyle groaned in frustration watching James speed up, completely ignoring Kyle's protests and instead doing the exact opposite, running close to full speed across a 40cm wide beam with only two screws to nail it down, the sound of the wood tilting and groaning as James managed to distribute his weight evenly so he didn't topple off was lost within the other sounds permeating the forest.
Kyle attempted to block out the nuisance noises of things like the trees and birds so he could focus solely on any noise which could indicate something going terribly wrong but it wasn't proving easy considering they were in the middle of bloody no where.
It was a bright day and the sun was flickering through the overhead canopy sprinkling the ground with spots of sunlight here and there dusting the ground. The trees the surrounded them kept the heat the sun gave out in and made it a sweltering temperature to train in, hot enough that they had both shucked their shirts off as soon as they had reached the course and began their first attempt on the course taking to the challenge like money men in all their bare chested finery.
Kyle thought James looked rather good in the simple blue sport shorts and trainers he wore and even though he was so far in front, Kyle could still make out a matching sheen of sweat across James tanned skin to match his own.
They had been on the training course for all of ten minuets and James' stunts had almost gone dangerously wrong seven times, each time Kyle's breath had hitched in distress picturing his best friend splattered across the muddy ground spread-eagled and glassy eyed.
Kyle shudders at the image and clutched to the bark of the tree, which supported the planks of wood he was paused on, those were the kind of thoughts, which had him snapping at James every now and again that he was being an absolute idiot.
The course they were on had been used in C.H.E.R.U.B training for a long time, some even thought that it had been used to train and test the original C.H.E.R.U.B agents, it gave off the impression of long lasting wear from the aged colour of the fitted in attachments as well as how it looked as if it was groan out of the landscape itself.
It wasn't often used apart from in initial training and for touch ups if the mission controller thought it was necessary because it was a two hour drive away from campus and C.H.E.R.U.B agents normally didn't have two hours to spare unless they wanted to give up there free time. It was built out of the natural terrain of the forest the only changes were the few adjustments C.H.E.R.U.B had felt were needed for the safety of the agents.
To get to the end of the course an agent would have to perform various leaps, jumps, shuffles, rolls, crawls, dives, climbs…to manoeuvre around the various obstacles they found in there path. This normally wouldn't be too bad, any C.H.E.R.U.B agent worth there salt could perform various daring feats easily so they were prepared for missions they took part in so yes the course was fine, that is until you add the fact that the course is placed at various heights above the ground from 20 to 30 ft stretching from tree top to rocky surface stretched above a large gap in the branches over hanging a large creek.
Any small mistake could mean a plummet to the ground to various consequences with varying degrees of severity, no one had died on the course, or else it would have been shut down immediately, but plenty had broken various bones and there had been one girl who had come dangerously close to a serious spine injury. The course had been fixed after that case to prevent a repeat.
However even after the changes had been made it was still common for people to walk away with broken bones.
Which was why Kyle wished James would slow the fuck down so Kyle wouldn't have to scrape his best friend of the ground to present to his little sister with nothing to say but I told you so. He would then likely retreat to his room and admittedly refuse to come out until someone told him it had been a nasty nightmare and his best friend/crush hadn't died on his watch.
Kyle blushed red thinking about James as his crush but he didn't really have another word for it. He wasn't so sappy as to call it love; all he knew is that seeing James sweaty without his shirt brought out certain desires in Kyle as it had done for a few months now. Crush sounded so juvenile though, Kyle thought James was more of an extremely sexy friend who Kyle had the urge to kiss senselessly from time to time.
It was getting rather bothersome because he was certain that sometime soon James would notice that he was acting weird around him, James was oblivious most of the time but not that oblivious. Kyle really didn't want to think about what James would do if he found out, nothing good, probably have a hissy fit and refuse to talk to Kyle ever again.
Kyle dragged his thoughts away from that direction; they were not good thoughts to be thinking with James himself only a few meters away.
They had done the course many times before and nothing had happened, Kyle would grant James that, it was also probably one of the reasons James was being so careless because he didn't see the danger but that didn't mean the danger wasn't there, the other reason would most likely be because this was the first time they had been at the course without any supervision to tell him what to do and watch them the entire time.
A few days ago they had been called into the mission control building and were told they were going on a mission together soon, the mission would be set in a town which was surrounded by forests, one of the forests housing an up and coming drug lord who lured in teenagers from the town to use as peddlers for his product as well as go betweens to reach a larger market. The setting of the mission was why Zara had trusted and sent them to work together on the type of terrain the course was set in, because by their research they were similar.
Trusted that was to not be stupid or reckless or and idiot which Kyle had recently labelled James all three.
Kyle sucked air in between his teethe as his eyes zeroed in on where James' feet were wobbling precariously on one of the smaller platforms, he was mentally berating himself for getting sucked into his thoughts instead of watching out for his idiot James.
James' two feet only just fitting side by side on the thin piece of wood, Kyle wondered if this would be the time he heard James shout out as he fell over the edge.
James foot continued to wobble for a few more seconds before he caught his balance and stood straight on the platform, confident in his stance once again James turned slightly to throw a smug grin towards Kyle screaming his arrogance which Kyle normally found slightly endearing but at the present time he felt like wiping that smug smirk of his face because of the stress he was going through on such a nice day.
"Aww did I scare you there Kyle, didn't you have faith in my awesome abilities?" James taunted having caught the look of fear on Kyle's face when he'd turned around to tell Kyle how silly he was being and that he was worrying for no reason.
"James you idiot, your going to hurt yourself or get killed if you don't slow down your pace and take it easy" Kyle decided to ignore James' taunting not wanting to admit his worry if James was going to be such a prat about it.
"Look, Kyle, we both know this course is a piece of cake for us, we've never got hurt on it, so calm down and realize nothing is going to happen already" James smiled before taking of again and Kyle knew that something was now almost certain to go wrong.
This was just like James, always taking stupid risks and not thinking things through, some things hadn't changed from when Kyle had first met James at Nebraska house.
Kyle bemoaned his fate. It was just his luck to fancy a best friend who is not only one of the most straightest guys Kyle knew so straight he would snap in half if he saw a guy look at him that way but he also fancied his friend who was not likely to live until his thirties, although Kyle had recently lowered that time scale to the next day or maybe even hour.
James PoV
James huffed in annoyance which was gradually growing to replace the thrill and excitement he'd felt when they had first got in the car almost two and a half hours ago, his positive had lasted until just recently but were quickly waning as he realised his expectations for the days event were sadly off.
He always enjoyed missions with Kyle the most because they were always the most fun, it was easy to have a good time when on a secret mission with your best friend because James always loved the feeling of being sent on a mission and it only increased when he got to share it with a friend.
He hadn't done any major preparation for a mission before; normally he would get his briefing and then set off a few days later because the C.H.E.R.U.B life style kept you in a constant good shape and he wouldn't need any touch ups.
The only reason they were doing any preparation now is because the mission controllers believed they would be placed in circumstances which would mean they needed to practice jumping through tress like an every day Tarzan, James was picturing being sent to a jungle of some kind and thought of himself as a king of the jungle swooping from tree to tree.
His main thought driving towards the old training course was that they would have a fun time hanging out, alone for once without their other friends or interruptions, which strangely had made James rather cheerful. Now James looked back on his naïve thoughts on the day, of how they would spend their day performing wild tricks mucking around without any overbearing supervision in the lazy sunshine and he shook his head in despair, which was not how things turned out.
James would always think of Kyle as his best friend and the number one choice to hangout with (unless Kyle got shirty about James distracting him from his homework) he'd even rather Kyle over Kerry most days even though she was closer to his age and an attractive girl, whenever he tried to hang out with Kerry she got all bitchy and in his face complaining about everything he did or said and he often left with a slap which he felt was undeserved.
So with Kyle being James ultimate best friend you'd think the day would have went superbly but the whole time they'd been on the course Kyle had been nagging and shouting at James which only made James confused and frustrated because he couldn't work out what his problem was.
He'd even freaked out when James pretended to slip and fall on top of him for a laugh when he was climbing a rope ladder just above Kyle's head, Kyle seemed to get really angry and his face had tinted red, James thought he was over reacting but either way he made sure to stay a good way in front of his older friend from then figuring that Kyle didn't want him in his way as a distraction, which bummed his mood a whole lot but decided if that's what Kyle wanted then he may as well help him out by speeding up in front, but the nagging hadn't stopped only increasing and at a louder volume so that his voice carried towards James and James was just getting fed up with this attitude.
James glanced back towards Kyle to wonder why he hadn't been shouted at for a while, as it was sadly an irregular occurrence.
He was glad that nothing seemed seriously wrong with his friends but he also noticed a faint tinge or red on his cheeks as he look glazed at one of the nearby tree barks, James raised his eyes and wondered what on earth could cause Kyle to blush out here, unless it was his own thoughts.
It was unlikely Kyle was thinking of anything dirty because Kyle was a very proper person, though he was still a teenager conceded James so there was still a possibility but this wasn't the time for thoughts like that! James thought incredulously. James like a good daydreams of a certain persuasion as much as the next guy but even he wouldn't think the best place for these thoughts were high up in the treetops with the rather solid ground beneath you, what if you forgot yourself and fell off the edge.
James watched concernedly at he preoccupied friend until he watched Kyle shake himself out of it and concentrate back on what he was doing (crawling up a net frame) James then turned around to continue his way to the finish.
They had been told to improve their time and had given them three hours to accomplish this at which time the coach would be coming to pick them up and take them back to campus, they still had two and a half hours left to go an James wanted to get through the course as many times as possible, he thought he was making good time when he saw the red flag signalling the end in the near distance between various tree branches.
He thought distractedly back on the blush that had appeared on Kyle's face, wondering what his thoughts were. His friend was gay so it was a likely guess that another guy had been involved, possibly clothed probably not, possibly standing probably not, unannounced to James his mind conjured a vivid image of two guys writhing sensuously against each other rubbing there bare chests together as there tongues battled in a fiery duel of passion, they were led down with Kyle on top of the other, eventually moving so that he could look down whilst straddling the others waist it was at this point in the fantasy that James realised he was picturing two guys making out, if this wasn't enough to freeze his brain, when he realised he had been imagining himself with Kyle it was definitely was.
He stopped still, mouth gaping open and flushed cheeks vaguely thankfully that Kyle couldn't see his face but concentrating on more important things like where the hell that had come from!
He knew he hadn't been a squirmy around the topic of Kyle's sexuality lately and James figured that came with familiarity and accepting it as a normal thing for Kyle, he also knew that every now and again he had been noticing if Kyle was having a good day, appearance wise and yes he had found himself slightly distracted by Kyle's defined abs when they had both taken off there shirts at the start of the course, but he had dismissed these, they were not that significant or at least he hadn't thought so. Picturing Kyle snogging him senseless was significant though and it had stopped his tracks dead.
So dead in fact that his foot slid of one of the wooden rungs on the ladder which had led downwards to the end of the course, he had been so preoccupied in his thoughts that he hadn't been checking where he placed his feet and when he did slip he hadn't reacted in enough time to catch hold more firmly of the ladder and he felt his stomach drop as he fell away from the ladder and back wards.
A thousand thoughts were going through James head, some as stilly as what he had for tea the night before or where he had left his history homework, he also saw lots of Kyle, Kyle at Nebraska, Kyle after James had found out his friend was gay, Kyle and him on a mission and Kyle had his game face on, Kyle shouting at James to slow down and the ironic thought that the one time he had slowed down to a stop was the time he had fell. What stood out most was the still fresh image of Kyle and the guy he now discerned as himself writhing against one another, what a weird thought to have as you plummet to the ground, James had thought he would see something less sexually charged in his last moments but he wasn't going to complain, maybe Kerry was right when she called him a horny bastard.
He felt a sharp hit to his head, which throbbed painfully cutting off any thoughts apart from how much his head hurt.
When he had fell backwards he had fell towards a tree which he had hit his head on then preceded to scrape his back against the bark on the rest of the way down cutting into his skin and causing more bleeding to go with his head injury which was bleeding profusely. Not that he could see any of this he just noticed warm liquid running into his eyes and obscuring his vision along with feeling all the injuries he was procuring. But Kyle sure did.
Kyle PoV
Kyle snapped his head towards James when he heard a shout of surprise, he berated himself for not keeping a closer eye on his friend he had gotten slack when he'd seen the finish line in sight.
To his horror his eyes followed James decent to the earth taking note of the shocked wide eyes which ripped Kyle's heart apart from the terror he was feeling, he visibly reeled back when he watched and heard the smack of James' head connecting with the tree trunk and the resulting gush of blood that always came with head injuries, hopefully there was only so much blood because the head always bled lots and not because there was any serious damage.
Who was he kidding of course there was serious damage!
When James finally reached the floor after what seemed like a torturous amount of time Kyle was prompted into action and he quickly made his way to the ground as well no longer caring about pacing and only concentrating on his fallen friend. He was glad for small miracles like how they had been at one of the lowest parts of the course when James fell so his chances were improved.
He scrabbled across the leafy ground his heart throbbing in his throat and water forming in his eyes. Damn it why did this have to happen, why does James have to be such an idiot!
Kyle bent horridly over James and attempted to see if he was conscious or not, he lifted one of James' closed eyelids and watched the pupil roll back inside James' head, this was not good he shouldn't be unconscious with a head injury because he could have a concussion. Kyle tried to wake James without agitating any possible injuries. The obvious injuries were his head and back but Kyle could see any obvious broken bones and he didn't want to check in case he made things worse so he'd need James to tell him where he hurt.
All cherubs had training in healing small things or things which would need quick treatment without a doctor but Kyle had never been any good at the lessons and only knew simple bandages as well as things like bleeding is bad and infections could occur, really simple things, they didn't even have a first aid kit!
Kyle was panicking now and he pinched James' thigh hard to get a response, to his luck James' eyelashes fluttered so Kyle pinched his other leg and gratefully watched as James opened his eyes and groaned. James eyes weren't focused and they looked as if they were rolling around in their sockets.
"James, James can you say something tell me where it hurts" Kyle's voice was shaky and hoarse but he saw James attempt to focus his eyes on Kyle's before close his lids in defeat obviously not able to do it.
"Everywhere" he groaned and winced as his injuries gave a very noticeable throb.
This was not good, Kyle thought, of all the things that could happen. They still have a bit over an hour before anyone came to help and then a two hour ride back to campus, he needed to get James more comfortable and stop the blooding to his wounds but any shirt he could use as possible bandage material was abandoned back at the start of the course. It was a more direct route there on the ground than going through the course and was only a five minute walk but he didn't want to leave James alone, Kyle could already see James slipping away and pinched him again as that seemed to work to keep him awake.
"James we need to get back to the start of the course, James do you understand" Kyle hadn't thought he'd heard but James nodded shakily and lifted his arms up.
The relief Kyle felt that James was moving and was receptive was so great that it felt like it was flooding his body, he wad still shaky and slightly panicking, seeing James as hurt as he was wasn't helping at all, but now that he had some kind of control of the situation and a plan he was more steady.
They just needed to get back to there t-shirts and every thing would be okay.
Kyle knew he wasn't thinking the most logically but what else would you expect, a C.H.E.R.U.B who kept a cool head in a disaster, yeah right, oh yeah that what people would expect, Kyle had never been the most cool headed in regards to James though.
He reached down and looped one of James' scrapped arms around his neck and held it in place he then lifted James with a little effort so that his weight was resting on Kyle so he could support him. He and James staggered a bit getting used to the new position before Kyle found his balance and steadied them. He then placed his other arm around James and to avoid touch most of the wounds found his hand on James hip, Kyle flushed and couldn't help but think if this was under any other circumstance… James would probably attempt to punch him.
Getting back on track he'd looked at James face to find James eyes closed as he rested his head on Kyle's shoulder.
"James stay awake, you cant go to sleep" Kyle commanded in as strong a voice as he could managed at the time, Kyle started moving forward hoping the movement would stop James from getting too restful.
"I'm awake" James grumbled impetuously "just hurds to open my eyes 'cus every dings so dizzy" to Kyle James sounded slightly delirious and he tried to speed up their pace, not that it would matter much but that way he felt like he was doing something constructive to help.
After walking in silence with the sounds of the forest continuing on as if nothing had happened Kyle started to worry and become paranoid that James was sleeping, he couldn't prevent James' fall so the least he could do was prevent further damage, he looked down at James slightly pinched face and focused on the rise and fall of his chest proving that things weren't the worst they could have been.
"James, I need you to talk to me to keep awake" Kyle was a little more calm now and it showed in how his voice was steadier and he no longer felt his eyes prickling. The pit in his stomach also seemed to have grown smaller.
James looked blearily up at Kyle and pursed his lips in thought, the pain was clouding his thoughts, but Kyle said to talk
"Whad should I dalk aboud" James slurred the words but they were perfectly understandable and Kyle wondered if it was normal to act like this after a bash to the head.
"Anything" Kyle shot off quickly "Talk about what ever you want" yes that what Kyle needed, as long as James was talking he was okay. James seemed to think hard about what to talk about, all those options! He finally settled and looked winningly up at Kyle, or as winningly as he could do with blood on his face and leave in his hair and a pale face.
"You know your red shird wid the whide words?" James asked innocently. Kyle didn't know where this was going but figured it didn't really matter.
"Yeah I lost it a few weeks ago" Kyle said knowing James wouldn't go on without a reply.
"Nuh uh, didn' lose id, I dole it 'cus all my shirds in da wash, didn' wan do give id back" James said slightly childishly "I liked id" he explained as if that was that. Kyle couldn't wrap his head around the thought of James wearing one of his t shirts, he could think of a few other situations where James would have to borrow a t-shirt from him, he also felt the first small smile tug his mouth since James had gotten hurt, James could keep his shirt if he wanted, as long as Kyle got to see it, it was probably a little big on James because Kyle was taller.
"I liked it too" Kyle raised his eyebrows down at James good-naturedly and James just grinned cheekily before letting out a moan of pain. Kyle squeezed James hip to get his attention, which seemed to have wondered off.
"Huh, oh yeah talking," James paused to think for a couple of seconds "oh I know, once when I woke you up you were sleeping naked, and you just got up and walked right passed me into the shower, I could see your bottom and everything" James pointedly bored his eyes into Kyle a little dementedly trying to get his point across.
Kyle didn't remember when this had happened, it could be any of the time James had woken him and he'd been too tired to notice much but that didn't really matter what mattered was that James was talking about seeing him naked, sure it was bound to happen eventually living on campus together but if James was in his right mind he wouldn't mention it, that hit to the head must have done something more than Kyle had thought.
"How about you talk about something else," Kyle suggested evasively blushing like mad, James just sniggered
"N-A-K-E-D what does that spell naked!" James sung, the most liveliest he'd been so far, but it only lasted a few seconds before he collapsed more heavily on Kyle who took more of his weight, Kyle could see their t-shirts in sight as well as the green flag at the start of the course, it had taken longer than Kyle thought to get him and James both back to the start because it had been slow going but now he was almost there and then they would only have to wait another forty five minuets for help to arrive.
A few more stumbled steps were taken until Kyle gently led James to rest upon the leaf covered ground; he was weary of James' injuries and concentrated on James' face to see if he was hurting him. When he finally got James on the ground with only a few winces Kyle slowly knelt down with his hands still on James shoulders to keep him up right.
James was staring dazedly round at their new surroundings and when Kyle reached over to grab their shirts James wildly swung his arm out to hit Kyle and glared heatedly at him.
"What was that for?" Kyle was both shocked and confused, what had he done to get that reaction out of James?
"No shird, don pud it back on, bedder widout it" James explained still scowling and Kyle understood that James obviously thought Kyle was going to put James' t-shirt on top of his wounds, it was understandable why he was so angry, that would have hurt like a bitch.
"Don't worry James, I won't put your shirt on, I know it would hurt you" he continued to reach for the shirts figuring that he had reassured James of his worry but was once against stopped by a wildly flying hand.
"What is it now James?" Kyle was trying not to get angry or annoyed at James but this was getting ridiculous, he just wanted to use the shirts to make bandages to stop the injuries which were still bleeding, was it so much hassle for James to let Kyle stop him from bleeding to death, then again James could be remembering what a mess Kyle had made out of making makeshift bandages in the emergency first aid class they had taken, James, his test subject, had ended up looking like a very colourful mummy.
"No shird, you bedder as you are" ahh Kyle understood, and he blushed bright red it even travelled down onto his chest which James could see because, yes, Kyle wasn't wearing his shirt, even though Kyle had seen his shirt on the floor and known he was shirtless he hadn't been so conscious of it until now. Kyle hoped James wouldn't remember anything he had said whilst delirious; it would be far to embarrassing for both of them.
Kyle noticed James was still glaring at him, obviously needing a reassurance that Kyle wouldn't put his shirt back on, what a weird day this had been, stressful and weird.
"uh, don't, don't worry, I'm only making bandages" Kyle stuttered out, his blush returning full force whilst a little voice at the back of his head was nattering smugly on about how James clearly thought he was fit and was attracted to him physically, but Kyle pushed those voices away because they would be no help, especially when James was returned back to normal.
James smiled sloppily obviously happy as his acquiescent and started humming an off tune song which had no resemblance of any song Kyle had heard. Kyle tried once again to reach for the shirts and this time made it with no resistance, he set to ripping the shirts into various strips which would fit around James injuries wishing he was better at this, he was just lucky none of James' injuries seemed to be bleeding too heavily.
When he had done as well as he could do James turned slightly so that he could look up at Kyle.
"Danks, your always lookin afder me Kyle, your very special like dat" James mumbled softly and Kyle smiled gently, the most he had expected was a very manly thanks, a pat on the back and then to forget about it, Kyle thought that maybe James wasn't too bad in his delirious state even when he was very confusing. "Yes very special" and then to Kyle's shock James leant up and pressed a small chaste kiss to his cheek.
Kyle's eyes were wide as he watched James settle back down with a grin on his face looking rather happy about himself, Kyle on the other hand couldn't get his mind around James kissing him. Since when had James kissed boys? Since never Kyle knew that, James would probably be horrified by himself. Yes James was probably just grateful for Kyle helping him out and had wanted to repay him with his thanks and in his delirium his mind hadn't realised what he was doing, yes that was rational that must be what happened. But what if… no Kyle should stop right there, James had a nasty hit to the head none of what he had done had been his actions.
His distressed thoughts must have been showing on his face because James was looking at him concernedly, which Kyle thought was so very cute which just made him more distressed.
"Kyle, are yous okay I jus wan'ed to kiss yous, cus I real-" Kyle quickly covered James mouth with his hand to stop James from blurting any more things he would be embarrassed about when back to good health, it would only make James angry at him and it was getting his hopes stupidly high that James could like him and that couldn't happen.
"Shush now James, just hum until they come to pick us up I think you need to conserve your energy, but don't fall asleep" yeah conserve your energy and my nerves, Kyle thought.
James stated to hum his broken tune again and Kyle focused on it wondering if there was any pattern to the small noises and getting lost in running his fingers through James hair, gently removing the mud and braking up the dried blood. To his estimation they only had a few more minuets until they were due to be picked up, he just hoped they wouldn't be late, after all they didn't know what kind of situation James and Kyle had gotten into.
It was in the last few moments until they were picked up that Kyle wondered why he or James hadn't brought a phone with them, okay so he admitted it was very much like James to forget his phone but why he had, this was just one more reason that James getting hurt and this whole situation was his fault.
He had warned James but Kyle should have known that would just make James more stubborn and by telling James to slow down it was only natural James would speed up, James was probably going to hate him for everything once he was fixed.
An approaching cars engine interrupted his despondent thoughts; finally this ordeal would be over.
The car sped up, whoever was driving must have realised something had gone wrong. The door to the car opened and it was one of Kyle's friends who exited. It was Jeremy who was one of the training helpers for the younger C.H.E.R.U.B.s and he ran towards them whilst Kyle stayed kneeled by James side.
"What happened to him" Jeremy asked even as he helped Kyle to gently lift James up and carry him over to the car, wasting no time which Kyle was grateful for even if he was asking stupid questions.
"He fell of the frame, what else do you think happened, neither of us had phones so we had to wait." Kyle bit his lip and scowled as Jeremy shot him a reproving look for leaving his phone behind, he knew he'd messed up.
"Do you know what his injuries are?" they led James down along the back seat of the car and Kyle was extra careful as he led his back and head softly on the seat.
"Yeah, I think he may have a concussion, he's been acting, funny, his back is also pretty scraped up but I don't think he broke anything"
"Lucky for him I guess he must have been quite low on the course" Kyle just nodded his head sharply and after making sure James wouldn't move too much as they drove back to campus he made his way to the front seats.
Kyle was glad that Jeremy didn't waste his time in getting back into the car and strapping himself in, if he had then Kyle wasn't sure what he would have done, probably something stupid like drive off without him, even in the state he was. Kyle was also glad Jeremy seemed to sense that Kyle wasn't in the mood for talking and kept quiet.
Now that everything was almost over and James was relatively safe his brain was going back over the day, from the annoyance to the lust, the panic and the embarrassment and right now he just wanted to get James back and take a nice long nap because he was exhausted. So exhausted that he practically sleepwalked and ran on auto pilot as they got James to the campus medical building where James was taken by the on-campus doctor and no one was allowed to see him until they had checked him out and started mending his injuries, he only vaguely heard them as they said James was fine and there was nothing majorly wrong with him. What he clearly remembered was collapsing on his bed and submitting to slumber.
James PoV
Waking up and not knowing where you are is always a weird experience and one which James didn't like very much. When he'd opened his eyes and saw the white walls blaring at his sleep ridden eyes he reflexively slammed them shut against the offending brightness. Once he'd got the nerve to open them again he did so much more slowly taking in his surroundings, which were as is most often associated with a bright white room, no not a mental institute then the walls would be padded, but a hospital type room.
He shifted around to look at more of the room but quickly noticed that his head was throbbing and he was attached to an IV bag. Ow yes he remembered that he had been rather reckless yesterday and had fallen of the frame of the course, great what must Kyle think
And with one thought of Kyle's name James' eyes widened
"Crap, crap, crapity, crap, crap" James whispered to the quiet room, what on earth had he done. James groaned in distress as he thought over all that he had told and done to Kyle yesterday.
Shit! He had kissed Kyle. James slid down until his head was covered by the blankets and he wondered just when he had decided that he wanted to make Kyle hate him. Kyle was never going to talk to him again; he'd screwed up big time. It was only yesterday he had started picturing kissing Kyle and the result was all his injuries so that was a disaster, and yet he want on and actually kissed Kyle and the result was Kyle most probably refusing to ever speak to him again, just because Kyle was gay didn't mean he wouldn't find it weird that his best friend had a crush on him, why on earth did James have to have been born with a mouth, if he couldn't talk he wouldn't be in this situation.
James couldn't decide whether he was relived or hurt that Kyle hadn't came to see him during the day, after all Lauren and Bruce had came with well wishing telling him to get better, but other than that the only person he saw was the doctor who came in to check he was recovering and change his IV bag.
After sleeping on it the next day he decided that he was decidedly hurt, even if he had been acting weird when he was injured Kyle was his best friend and James thought he was his and yet Kyle didn't seem to care that he was stuck on bed rest with needles poking in his arm and a bashed up body.
Kerry came to visit him only to see him scowling at a spot somewhere on the wall and hurt shining in his eyes as he often did when no one was visiting him.
"James?" Kerry asked tentatively and James swung his scowl round to face her before smoothing out his face and smiling at Kerry, which she could tell was forced, this just wouldn't do James needed to relax and when he was angry he was far from relaxed.
"What's up James, what's wrong" Kerry moved into the room on sock clad feet having taken them of so her muddy boots didn't mark the stainless white floor, she sat gently on the edge of his bed and brushed a strand of blond hair away form his face gently. She didn't expect much but a gruff nothing and for him to swat her hand away but instead she watched his face as he seemed to struggle before his face screwed up and he let out a choked gasp.
It took Kerry a little before she realised what was happening after all she had never seen James cry before, but sure enough thick tears were gathering and falling down his cheeks as his shoulders shook, Kerry didn't know how James would react to her comfort but as his friend she felt the need to make him feel better and so she leaned down and enfolded him in her arms and he burrowed his head in the crook of her neck, whatever was upsetting him must be quite serious for him to break down like that.
James felt so exhausted physically mentally and emotionally, and he just wanted to curl into a ball and forget the day at the training course ever happened, he wanted to forget he had every mucked thing up with Kyle so spectacularly. He needed to tell someone he couldn't keep it in and Kerry was here and she was comforting him which he felt a bit weird about but it was nice of her, and that if how Kerry was left to decipher his babblings on managing to pick up 'head' 'think' 'shirt' 'naked' 'kiss' and a repeat of Kyle's name numerous times.
"Slow down James, lets try this again" she gently removed herself from James and he quickly brushed the tears from his face. Kerry watched as James took a deep steadying breath to collect him self and then place his head in his hands. Kerry still couldn't hear much of what he was saying but one thing that she did catch shocked her senseless
"You kissed Kyle!" Kerry exclaimed only to be shushed loudly by James who was looking very distraught by it being said out loud by another.
James nodded meekly and kept his head buried in his hands.
"but, why" James could tell that Kerry was confused, as she should, after all she was his on of girlfriend since he'd came to cherub and now he was telling her he had kissed a boy, kissed Kyle. When it looked like James was going to continue to mumble into his hands Kerry gently grabbed his writs and pulled them away from his face.
James shrugged not knowing what to say but Kerry looked sternly at him until he talked.
"I, think, I might like him" James' answer was so quiet but Kerry caught it and sat wondering what to do, James wasn't into guys, she could testify to that, but yet he said he likes Kyle, James might be stupid most of the time but he often knew what he wanted and if he told Kerry that he wanted Kyle then it wasn't because he wasn't healed properly or he was confused about the difference between best friends and, well boyfriends. That brought a quirky grin to Kerry's face, James having a boyfriend.
James saw Kerry's smile and instantly got defensive
"If you're just going to laugh then you can-"
"No, no James its not that it just don't you think this is a bit ironic after all you had been pretty freaked out when you found out Kyle was into guys" James stared at her a moment before groaning and hiding his face in his pillow.
"This is so stupid, and Kyle wont even speak to me" James muffled statement shocked Kerry more than James admitting to liking Kyle.
"I seriously doubt that Kyle would avoid you just because you kissed him when you were clearly suffering from a concussion" Kerry was smiling at James but stopped when she saw his eyes getting watery again.
'He must be really tired' she thought
"But then why hasn't he come to visit me since I've been here three days and he's the one that brought me here I know he has no school work to do because Zara let us off to get ready for the mission" Kerry held James as he cried for the second time in front of her until he fell into an exhausted sleep, maybe when he woke up he would be more like himself.
Kyle PoV
Kyle was worried, James was going to be released tomorrow and he wasn't sure what to do. So far it had been easy to avoid James because he was stuck in bed, but when James can once again walk then it was surely going to be much harder. He also felt bad about avoiding James but he didn't want to see James, as soon as James saw him he was going to fly into a fit of rage and shout at Kyle for letting him embarrass himself, he would shout at Kyle for letting him kiss him, but what Kyle dreaded most was when James would tell him that he hadn't meant any of it but he thought it would be better if they weren't friends any more.
Because that what James would do he was sure of it, he hadn't been comfortable with Kyle when he had found out he was into guys and this was surely going to make him feel awkward, they also had the mission they were due to go on once James was fully recovered where they would spend inordinate amounts of time together.
He was heading to Zara's office prepared to tell her exactly why he and James could no longer go on this mission together, when a fist slammed into his face.
He turned to look at his attacker to see a furious Kerry standing before him her fist still clenched.
"Kerry, what the hell?" why on earth was Kerry attacking him like this he hadn't done anything to upset her and yet fists were being thrown.
"That's for being an insensitive arsehole and making James cry" she spat at him, and his mouth popped open in surprise, why did Kerry think he had made James cry he hadn't seen him for days, and James doesn't cry anyway what was Kerry talking about, she was very passionate about what it was though if his jaw had any say in it, he touched it tenderly and felt it smart. That was going to leave a bruise.
"Kerry, what are you on about? I haven't seen James in days"
"EXACTLY" she exploded and Kyle resisted the urge to take several steps back, Kerry was looking rather wild with her hair all out of place and anger in her eyes, if what she said was true and James really had been crying then it was probably what had gotten her into such a state and Kyle felt the need to go see and make sure James was okay, but no James wouldn't want that he'd want Kyle to stay far away as possible because he hated Kyle.
"I don't get-"
"James thinks you're avoiding him you idiot, he thinks you don't want to be his friend any more just because he kissed you and I think he said something about you and naked but it wasn't clear" Kerry finally gritted out clearly not pleased by Kyle being so obtuse. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for him to explain his behaviour.
"But he hates me I know it, as soon as I see him he's going to tell me to bugger of and that he doesn't ever want to see me again" Kyle explained with only the slightest whine in his voice as he valiantly ignored her reference to James talking about him being naked, it was only acknowledged by the slight rending in his cheeks.
"Kyle you're very rarely stupid, please don't choose now to let your guy brains prevail, you have made James very upset and mot probably very angry at you for avoiding him and he feels like you no longer want to be his friend just like you believe him to think the same, but James is the one with a nock to the head having fell from quite a height, he had an excuse for being stupid where as you have none, you need to apologise for avoiding him and talk this out otherwise you very well might loose your friend" Kerry was very much not amused by having to sort out the boys issues but she felt it was her duty to help them. They would make a nice couple anyway.
Kyle couldn't get his head around what Kerry was saying, if what she said was true then he had most likely royal screwed things up, and knowing he had hurt James so much ripped into him like a knife. He began to make his way to where James was being kept, he would make this better and talk things out like Kerry said.
Kerry was glad that Kyle was now seeing reason but she still stopped him from heading to James straight away, James would be much to exhausted for that conversation especially so soon after her own chat with him.
"Let him rest now, you should talk to him when he gets out tomorrow," when she saw Kyle looking distressed and ready to oppose she kept talking with a bit more force "He needs to rest you'll only make things worse right now" the possibility of making things worse between them appeared to have halted any of Kyle's plans to go an see James and he nodded before walking off with a wave goodbye.
After today Kerry was not at all deterred from her beliefs the each and every male was and idiot, Kyle had his moments of actual thought but this just proved it.
Kyle wasn't happy about leaving his talk with James until another day, it would be another day James would believe that Kyle was avoiding him, which he had completely stopped part way into his chat with Kerry. He wanted to see James so bad but Kerry's warning kept him off, James was too important to loose from simple impatience.
The next day when he got up he went about his normal morning routine in his sleep hazed mind, it wasn't until he was just exiting the bath room having brushed his teeth and relived himself that he noticed the time and realised that James would already be settling back into his room, so without anything further he immediately set of to go see him, it was only as he was half way there that he noticed he was still in his sleep clothes and that his hair wasn't brushed to his normally neat standards, but when he didn't notice he couldn't wait to see James and continued on his way, this was much more important than brushed hair.
He reached James' door and knocked decisively on James' door, he would make everything better, just so long as James didn't hate him. He faltered a bit when thinking about James hating him but brought himself back when he heard a shouted 'come in' from inside. That was James' voice, he hadn't headed it for almost four days and it sent a shock up his spine.
His heart beat faster than was necessarily good for him as he opened the door and walked in to see James in there trying to pull a shirt around a sling on his arm. Kyle hadn't notice that James had injured his arm but that was irrelevant next to the image of a frustrated semi shirtless James stood before Kyle.
When James looked up his eyes widened slightly before closing off
"What do you want?" James asked, Kyle was scared by his toned of voice, not because it was so frightening or even cold but because there was almost no inflection of emotion in it, he had spoken completely blank and robotic. Kerry was right, he really had messed things up good, he wasn't sure where to start so just headed right into what he thought of as a very important conversation.
"look, I'm sorry for not, for not visiting you when you were injured, I had thought that you wouldn't want to see me after all that had happened, I figured that you, hated me" Kyle finished meekly, the idea of James hating him really affected him more than it probably should.
James stared at him, trying to figure out if he was being truthful, hoping he was but not being able to believe.
"After everything that happened, then you just ignored me, that was not cool, but I understand that you're uncomfortable with me now, after what I happened, I mean I kissed you, that's, that, well yeah either way I get it that you'd rather not have to hang out with me any more" James fidgeted with the shirt that was still hanging around his neck.
Kyle's brain couldn't fathom what James meant, he clearly regretted kissing Kyle, but he also thought Kyle hadn't wanted to talk to him, Kerry had told him as much but hearing it come form James was different.
"James, I don't want to stop talking to you, you're my best friend I thought you didn't want to talk to me because I had taken advantage of you in your vulnerable state" Kyle confessed brushing his hand against the back of his neck and trying to keep his eyes on James face and away from his bare stomach and low hanging jeans.
'Yeah best friend you're having bad thoughts about' Kyle reprimanded himself.
"So it was just a misunderstanding and everything is okay yeah" Kyle continued, looking at James, that was it they both wanted to stay friends and, that was it, nothing else… Kyle shut his brain down; more thoughts would be bad for his mental health.
James nodded his head in silent agreement.
"Right then I should go let you get dressed" Kyle said and he turned away from James. With Kyle's back facing him James frustrated, tugged his shirt from round his neck with his good hand. This did not please James, everything was back to normal and they were friends, but James had been hoping for more, even if it was quiet and at the back of his mind he had wanted this to pan out differently.
James looked at Kyle's back, which was just about to leave his doorway and wondered stubbornly why couldn't this conversation go differently, he wasn't no pansy ass.
"Kyle, wait" James called Kyle to a stop and Kyle turned around his brain randomly noting the now missing shirt and taking in James collarbones. He stepped back into the room and looked questionably at James. James took a fortifying breath
"I meant the things I did and said" Kyle still looked on in question and slightly confused. "I really do like you're red shirt, and when I saw you're everything it wad a very nice everything and I'm sure there are plenty other times that I could have rambled on about in my delirium if you hadn't stopped me, like the time I fell asleep on you when we were watching a film and I woke up still led on you and you were running your fingers through my hair and I pretended to stay asleep so you wouldn't stop, and, and I wanted to kiss you but not just on the cheek" James rushed his words out, feeling much more nervous than he had ever felt even when in a deadly situation on a mission.
Kyle looked at James who stood there bare chest confessing to wanting to kiss him, and he wondered why he was still standing there and also mightily relived that he had rushed off to find James only after having brushed his teeth otherwise what he was about to do wouldn't be nearly as pleasurable.
He approached James more calmly than he had thought was possible, his bare feet padding against the carpet until he reached a stop in front of James.
"I like you James, a lot" Kyle confessed as he reached out one of his hands to run it through James until it rested at the back of James neck, he hadn't realised just how much he played with James' hair until then and he only obscurely registered it now, after all there was something much more important going on now. And James was smiling at him finally setting all Kyle's earlier worries about James hating him at ease.
"I like you too, Kyle, a lot" Kyle leant in closer to James, giving him plenty of warning about what Kyle was going to do, he still wasn't entirely sure about what James was thinking because he was mostly working off what Kerry had said, and she hadn't said anything about James liking him. When James didn't instantly shift away he leaned in further and pressed his lips to James', James startled a bit even knowing that he was going to kiss Kyle, the feel of Kyle's, another guys lips against his was very peculiar to start with but then he settled back and returned the kiss and moved his good arm up to wrap around Kyle's neck and hold him closer.
It did feel very peculiar, much different than any of the girls he kissed, but better and it felt as if Kyle's lips were scorching his in that single touch. James was about to move away when he felt Kyle gently lick at his bottom lip asking for entrance, he barely even thought about it as he opened his mouth to allow him entry, his head was getting dizzy but oxygen was a secondary priority next to the feel of Kyle's tongue against his as they twirled together. He was in pure bliss and moaned in displeasure when Kyle started to pull away from him.
"Well I certainly never thought our talk would end like that" Kyle breath heavily as he caught he breath back, his hand still stroking the short hairs on James' neck whilst his other rested against James' lower back.
James had, that had been exactly what he was aiming for even if he hadn't known exactly what it would be like.
"Hmmm, s'good though" James murmured looking from Kyle's lips to his eyes while he replayed the kiss in his mind, it was very good.
"Yeah, very" Kyle said, his breathing having calmed down now as he stood relaxed with his arms around James.
James leaned back from Kyle
"Can you help me put my shirt on?" James asked and glanced over at the forgotten shirt on his bed.
"Sure" Kyle released James and moved over to pick up the shirt "hey this is my shirt" he exclaimed when he shook it out to get rid of some of the creases. James rolled his eyes.
"You did say I could keep it" James pointed out smartly as Kyle place it back around his neck and making his hair go static. Kyle grinned at the now fond memory, funny how memories become fond so quickly when they were once embarrassment.
"Yeah and at the time I had thought that you could keep it, only as long as I got to see you in it" he confided in James who wore a bemused look, he looked slightly ridiculous with one arm in the sleeve of his shirt and his other still hanging out the bottom.
"Well now's your chance, though I'm quite insulted that you wanted to see me clothed" James pointed out with fake out rage on his face which soon turned into laughter as he watched Kyle turn red. "You know I never did get to fully appreciate your blushing when I was mostly delirious, it's a shame really"
Kyle yanked slightly on the front of James t-shirt causing him to fall into Kyle who pressed kiss lips firmly against James who was happy to respond to the spontaneous kiss.
"Shush you, now be quiet whilst I finish with your shirt" Kyle jokingly glared at him when he ignored his instructions and pressed one more chaste kiss against Kyle's lips, revelling in the ability to do so before stepping back and allowing Kyle to dress him whilst pressing his lips into a line to stifle his laughter at the entire situation. Maybe Kerry was right and they were ridiculous.
(AN: TaaDaa the end, and it has been beautifully checked over for mistakes by my friend and evil accomplice 'badasschick01' so thanks to her and I hope you liked it.)