Why, after all of the advances in medicine, there was still no cure for the common cold was beyond him. So now he was off duty for a few days, with nothing to do but lie in bed.

Members of the crew kept visiting him though, and he was grateful for the company. At the moment, he was in the middle of a chess match with Data, getting his ass kicked, as usual. He enjoyed it though, because the only way to better yourself, was to play the best.

He was in deep thought over his next move, when the chime to his door sounded. Will groaned at the loss of concentration.

"Come in." The door swished open, and in walked Wesley.

"Sorry to disturb you, Commander, but my mom was busy with an engineering accident in sickbay, and I wasn't doing anything, so she asked me to bring you this." He held up his hand to show he was carrying a hypo.

Will tilted his head, baring his neck so that Wesley could give him the hypo.

"Go on ahead Wes." Wesley walked over to the bed and pressed the hypo to Will's neck.

"Thanks Wes."

"You're welcome Commander."

"You know what Wes, I'm laying in bed with a cold, and we're both off duty - I think you can call me Will."

"Yes sir. Um, I mean Will."

"Commander." Will jumped. He had forgotten that Data was still there. That was strange.

"Yes Data."

"I must return to the bridge. Shall I return at a later time to finish our game?"

"Yes Data, I'd enjoy that." With Data gone, there was suddenly a tension in the air that wasn't there before, and Wesley seemed oddly nervous.

"Well, I should leave and let you rest." He started to turn, but Will didn't really want to see him go.

"Wes, wait. Why don't you stay and keep me company for a while? We can put an old movie on." Wesley looked like he going to refuse, but surprised Will by turning around and smiling at him.

"Yeah, sure. I'd like that." Will shifted in his bed, so that Wesley could take a seat next to him. He noticed that Wesley was careful to stay near the edge of the bed and not let any part of his body touch Will's, and also, Wesley seemed to be fairly tense. Will hoped the kid would relax soon.

They put on some old mystery that kept them both captivated for a while. He felt himself starting to get sleepy, so he settled himself into a more comfortable position in case he did fall asleep.

"Are you sure you don't want me to leave, Comm- Will? You need your rest."

"No, don't worry about it Wes."

"Can I get you anything?"

"I'm okay for now. Thanks."

They both returned their attention to the movie, and Will found himself slowly drifting off. As he did, he realized that Wesley had shifted in the bed, and was now relaxing comfortably against Will's side.

Something stirred inside of Will, something he couldn't quite name, something he wasn't sure he wanted to name. He fell asleep with a warmth spread throughout his body and a smile on his face.

He woke slowly, warm and comfortable, fingers running through his hair. Despite his stuffy nose and sore throat, he felt good. He didn't want to move. It was then that he realized he was lying on a lap, not on his pillow, and he inhaled sharply when he remembered who had been in his quarters last.

At the intake of breath, the fingers had stopped running through his hair.

"Sorry Will, you kind of curled up around me when you fell asleep."

"I see."

"How are you feeling?" There were so many things he could have answered that with, but something made him decide to go with the truth.

"Comfortable."

"So, I guess I should keep running my fingers through you hair then?"

"Mmhmm." Wesley laughed and starting moving his fingers again. Will shifted and pressed himself even closer to Wesley.

He was really comfortable, and he didn't even want to begin to think about what that meant. He was idly using his fingers to trace patterns on Wesley's thigh, when Wesley scooted down the bed, Will's head now in line with Wesley's shoulder.

He situated himself so that his head was resting on Wesley, with his nose pressing into the kid's neck, and an arm slung over his waist. Wesley had wrapped his arms around Will and one hand was still stroking his hair, and he was using his other hand to run his fingers lightly up and down Will's arm.

They stayed like that for a while, comfortable and completely relaxed. Will wished he could breath through his nose, so he could smell that fresh, clean scent that he associated with Wesley.

"I'm gonna fall asleep again, Wes." Wesley chuckled.

"I think I can help with that," and before he could respond, Wesley had scooted the rest of they way down to bring them face-to-face. He knew what was coming, and felt helpless to stop it. He watched as Wesley closed the distance between them, and couldn't help the small moan as Wesley pressed their lips together.

It was everything a first kiss should be, and even though Will knew that this was wrong, he couldn't help but feel that this was exactly right, that this was exactly as it should be.

He allowed Wesley to deepen the kiss as his hands roamed over the kid's slender body. Wesley's hand was just about to slide up under his shirt when the chime sounded.

Wesley was out of the bed in a flash, straightening himself as he settled into the seat that Data had vacated earlier. Will took a couple of deep breaths, making sure he didn't look anything except sick, and called out for the person to enter. It was Geordi, coming to spend time with Will so that he wouldn't expire from boredom.

Will looked over at Wesley and saw the disappointment he felt reflected in Wesley's eyes. He wondered if he would ever be allowed a stolen moment with him again.

The swish of his door opening woke him from a restless sleep. His coughing hadn't allowed for much sleep, even with the meds. He had barely opened his eyes when he felt the presence of a person next to his bed.

"It's just me, Will." Will smiled and lifted the covers off of his bed, scooting over to the side as he did. Wesley crawled into bed, pressing himself against Will. He took the covers and placed them over the two of them, and wrapped his arms around Wesley. He had no idea how the kid had done it, but he didn't care. All that mattered was that Wesley was here now.

Will had no idea what was happening and what would come of it, but here and now, he pressed his lips to Wesley's and let themselves fly free under the cover of darkness.