Artie was relieved when Sam started being able to eat properly again. He had been starting to get worried that he was going to have to get the hospital involved, which would be very unpleasant. But nope, Sam was well again, and Artie really wanted to celebrate, but…

[srry I've got to study for finals.]

He sent the text with a sigh. It was true, obviously. He did have plenty of work to do before he could relax, but that was only part of the reason he had been avoiding Sam since he had been feeling better.

Something about Sam had been unsettling him. It left his head spinning and his stomach acting up in a way that made him worry that he had come down with the flu after all. But he hadn't thrown up, and these feelings were at their worst when he was near Sam. He couldn't get out of being near Sam, though, since it wasn't like he could leave his sick friend alone. It wasn't that he wanted to cut him out of his life, just that he wanted a little space to figure out what the hell was wrong with him.

His phone buzzed. [no probs :) just wanted to thank u for taking care of me. ur gonna kik but]

Artie smiled at his phone despite himself, but then he frowned when the unfamiliar feelings in his stomach started up again. Whatever it was needed to stop, because he had finals to conquer, and these distractions were not helping anything.

[thanks ^_^]

Sam's confidence in him was appreciated, though, no matter what else he was feeling. He set his phone aside, ignoring it as it buzzed once more. He had to turn back to studying and ignore the itch he had to check to see if it was Sam again.

After a few minutes, he couldn't resist any longer, and his hand darted out to snag his phone and check it.

[np. lemme kno when ur done]

He breathed deeply. That might not be for a week. He had a lot to accomplish and not a lot of time to accomplish it in.

[It might be awhile]

The reply came fast.

[ill wait]

Artie wanted to chuck his phone at the wall or something. He settled for turning it off altogether. He was never going to get any studying done if he kept thinking about Sam. His stupid best friend Sam, with his stupid conscientiousness, his stupid puppy dog eyes, his stupid slight southern accent that he brought out every once in a while, and, of course, his stupid kissable lips. Artie still couldn't believe he had lent over to kiss him like that. He couldn't believe that he wanted more. That he had asked for more, as if kissing someone else's soulmate once wasn't bad enough.

Sex was one thing; most people could separate sex and intimacy. But to kiss somebody slowly and tenderly for whatever unidentifiable feeling it was that drove him… that was different. That was wrong. It wasn't his place to be kissing Sam- or anyone he knew- like that. And yet, all he really wanted to be doing was watching some stupid movie and kissing Sam. What the hell.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, he realized it was almost three am. Maybe it was lack of sleep affecting his judgment. That had to be it. So he sighed, took his clothes off and went to bed. Or, at least, he tried to.

Artie normally ended up crashing whenever he went to bed, especially after a late night study session but he couldn't quite get to sleep. He was too busy tossing and turning, trying to find a comfortable position. He tried doing everything he could think of- more blankets, fewer blankets, turn the temperature up, crank it back down, sleep in different positions. But none of it worked because he was thinking about Sam and what this all meant.

Maybe it was a fluke. Maybe the kiss was just a result of him coming down with something. Or Sam somehow infecting him with the flu. Flu made people crazy, right? Hopefully. Or, and Artie swallowed hard as he had the thought, maybe the people who had speculated about him were right.

Maybe he was broken. Not just his back, which honestly, Artie was fine with, but maybe something in there was what alerted you to your soulmate, made your color vision click in. So who was to say that Sam wasn't his soulmate after all? Maybe Artie had just fucked it up, so they'd never get to see colors. He knew, deep down, that that wasn't a possibility, but he wanted so hard to be true, so he didn't have to deal with his dumbass feelings anymore. He could just let them exist if he properly belonged with Sam. It was enough to let him drift off to a fitful sleep.

Suddenly, he was woken up by someone crawling under the covers with him. He would have jumped, but somehow he knew he was Sam, which meant it was okay. Sure enough, when he turned around, he recognized Sam's outline. Artie smiled, still sleepy, and pulled him close and started kissing Sam just like he had before. This time there was no sickness, no almost passing out, and Sam kissed him back with equal passion. Artie enjoyed how soft and full Sam's lips were, and they kept kissing leisurely until suddenly, Sam turned them so Sam was straddling him.

Wait, what was happening? This didn't seem like Sam at all; Sam would ask first before kissing him deeper and running his hands down his body, taking advantage of the fact that Artie usually slept naked. His intent was clear, and Artie didn't know if he was ready.

But, hold up again, since when wasn't he ready? He in particular was pretty open for the casual sex, and Sam had been his friend forever, so really, it was more confusing that he hadn't had sex with Sam yet, not that Sam was trying to get into his pants (or lack thereof) right now. Why was he even hesitant about this? Sam was hot, he was kind, he was trustworthy, and hell, he had more going for him than a lot of the other people Artie had ended up having sex with. There'd be nothing special about it, whenever it happened.

With a gasp, Artie sat up in bed, completely alone. He grasped around, but Sam wasn't there. No body heat from where he should have been either. It had just been some stupid dream. He wanted to scream into his pillow. This was supposed to have been easy, not complicated. Figuring he wasn't going to get much more sleep after that dream, he decided to get up and study for a few more hours before class.

Out of habit, he turned on his phone and checked for what he might have missed. There were a few messages from his classmates, also doing some late night studying, but what caught his eye were the seven messages from Sam.

[how does NASA organize their company parties?]

[they planet. :O what did jay-z call his girlfriend before they got married?]

[Feyonce :D y cant a bike stand on its own?]

And it went on like that for three more messages. Artie was trying and failing to contain his laughter.

[b/c he neverlands. 8) i hope this cheers u up a little bit after all ur studying! ur like the smartest guy i kno but still good luck, artie]

Artie took a big breath and decided to hell with it. He just wanted to get on with his work, and stop denying himself just because he had a few weird feelings every once in a while. Sam was too good a friend to roll away from, and he knew that Sam wanted him in his life, too. So being weird and emotional wouldn't help either of them.

He buckled down and decided to do some editing on one of his final projects. That was preferable to hitting the books for a few hours, and it'd help clear his mind, now that his mind was made up.