A/N: This chapter was beta'd by the lovely MysticSilverAngel, who has been doing an awesome job correcting my errors! Props! Also, thanks to those who reviewed- all three of you! Wooo!

I hope you guys like this chapter!

Disclaimer Applies.

Chapter 2- Confusion

They were fourteen, and everything was changing. The dark haired boy, now a hero, walked alongside his long-time friend. His companion's straw colored hair fluttered softly in the wind, reflecting the gentle glow of the moonlight. The hero and his friend had escaped the Yule Ball, where their peers were busy chatting and dancing, in favor of walking around the lake.

The two strolled along in silence, the only sound being that of the pure white snow crunching under their feet. The blonde boy watched as tiny ivory snowflakes danced through the air, eventually landing in the ebony tresses of his friend. They'd stick in his silken locks for a moment, before melting away, white fading into black. The hero's ruddy cheeks were flushed from the cold and occasionally he would blink, causing his inky black eyelashes to fan out against them. Sometimes, his small pink tongue would dart out from between his chapped, chewed lips to wet them.

"Is there something on my face?" As the hero spoke, white, visible puffs of air slipped from his mouth and swirled in front of his face, before evaporating.

The blonde's thin lips stretched into a sly smile. His blue eyes shone with the kind of mischievousness that only a teenage boy could have, before he scooped up a handful of unblemished snow and, quick as lightning, sent it hurling through the air.

The snow struck its target on the side of his head. "Now there is!" The blonde joyfully informed his companion. The clump of smooth, spotless snow slowly slid down the side of the hero's face, running over the flushed cheeks and down the smooth chin, before hitting the ground with a wet smack.

The sound seemed to have triggered something deep within both boys, for suddenly they were hurling shining, white projectiles through the air. Their carefree laughter echoed into the night as the two danced around each other in a snow-filled blur.

Their dance came to an abrupt end, however, when the hero tripped on a hidden tree root. He instinctively tried to steady himself by gripping the nearest thing to him, which happened to be his blonde comrade. His hands balled up in the front of the Irish boy's robes, tugging the bigger boy with him as he fell. As if in slow motion, the two tumbled to the ground, the Irish boy landing on top of the hero.

The blonde watched his friend, noting the blush that spread up his neck and painted the boy's cheeks a pretty red. The hero's midnight hair spread across the shimmering whiteness below him, creating a striking contrast. His bowed lips were open, forming a little 'o' of surprise, through which his hot breath escaped him and curled through the air.

Without warning, as if he was controlled by an outside force, the Irish boy lowered his head ever-so-slightly and pressed his lips to the ones below him. The kiss was innocent and chase, just the barest press of skin to skin.

Suddenly, the hero was aware of everything: the cold snow under him that seeped wetly through his robes, the warm body above him that lay between his thighs, the smoothness of the lips pressed against his own, the uncomfortable ball of white-hot something in his stomach that, all of a sudden, seemed to explode.

Panic and adrenaline raced through his veins, spreading from the tips of his fingers to the tips of his toes to the roots of his hair. The feeling was suffocating and foreign; it sped the beating of his frantic heart and made his stomach clench and his thighs shake. His head seemed to overflow with different thoughts and emotions, all of them conflicting and creating a roller coaster of feeling that swelled inside the hero, exciting and frightening him at once.

The hero's verdant eyes snapped open and he hurriedly shoved the other boy off of him. He picked himself up from the ground, not looking back as he bolted away from his friend and disappeared into the night. The darkness surrounded and comforted him; it hid him from everyone and everything and the boy was grateful.

The blonde sat in the adulterated snow where his comrade had left him. His blue eyes shone with hurt and bewilderment; his head pounded and his heart weakly beat inside his chest. Every beat seemed painful and slow. "Wait! Come back!" The enveloping darkness must have swallowed up his words, rendering them useless, for the hero did not return.

A/N: Review if you want! I'd greatly appreciate it : )

-PeopleBoreMe