Em POV

I wake up with my hand in my pajama pants, wrapped around my dick. I jerked off last night after Edward finally went to sleep, but I'm hard as steel again. Warm and sleepy, I turn under the covers and stroke myself lazily as my eyes start to flutter open.

Edward's awake, too. He's sitting on the side of his bed, dressed for school already even though we have an hour before we have to leave. His elbows are resting on his knees and his head is in his hands.

Scheiße.

I sit up in bed and stretch my arms, yawning loudly so he'll know that I'm awake, but Edward doesn't look up.

"Good morning," I say, hoping to get a reaction out of him. He lifts his head and nods sharply, avoiding eye contact.

"Hey."

"How are your hands?" I ask, trying to will my erection down as I chat with Edward.

"Alright," he says quietly, staring at a poster on the wall.

"Edward," I start, but he interrupts me.

"What was that, dude? I'm not ... I mean, it's cool if you are, but I'm not gay. I definitely like girls," Edward says, his voice certain even though his expression is pained.

"I like girls, too," I tell him, shrugging my shoulders. "And guys. It has always been that way for me."

"I've always just liked girls," Edward says, finally meeting my eyes. "We should ... we should probably stop. What we've been doing."

"We can stop if you want to," I tell him sincerely. The last thing I want to do is push him, but I don't see anything wrong with exploring a little while we have this opportunity-sharing a bedroom with someone we're attracted to. We have all of this alone time to try new things. "But listen, Edward, I don't expect anything more. I like being your friend, and I like watching you ... well, you know. It doesn't have to be more complicated than that."

"You don't want us to like, be boyfriends?" Edward says, raising an eyebrow. I laugh, picturing Edward and I holding hands as we walk through his high school. Even back home, I keep my flirtations with boys quiet; it's just easier that way.

"Just friends," I assure him, speaking slowly as I think through my words. "Friends who appreciate each other. I think you're hot, and I want to have fun with you while I can. Try to think of it as ... we're just two guys who help each other out sometimes," I add, grinning as I nod at his injured hands. He's quiet for a minute, nodding his head slowly as he thinks.

"I'll think about it," he says, picking at a loose thread on his quilt. "I mean, if we keep ... if we do anything else, or whatever, we'll keep it just between us, right? Not tell anyone?"

"Ja," I assure him, climbing out of bed to get ready for school. "Just between us."