There was a hesitant hint in my step as I walked towards Brandon and Liam's room. I didn't know what to expect. With a deep breath in, I knocked on the door. "Yeah?" I heard Brandon's voice. Deeming it safe to open the door, I turned the doorknob and pushed it open. A peek inside the room, and I saw that he was alone in the room, lying on his bed, his phone in his hand.

"Can I enter your dungeon?" I asked him, as my eyes roamed over the unmade bed, and the luggage all strewn over the floor. It was a mess. Typical of them.

"Am I Malfoy or what?" he argued, sitting up a bit and I rolled my eyes, "Come in."

I opened the door a little wider and stepped inside. My feet immediately landed upon a gooey pile of something, which should rather remain unexplained for the sanity of the mind.

"Ew." I cringed, having trouble digesting the thought of what that pile had meant. Whatever it was, I had no courage to question about it. Calming myself, I tried not to gag and rubbed my slipper clad feet on the carpet. The thought of cleaning this up made me pity my mother, unless she scolded them into tidying this place up before they left.

"Are you going to stand over there the whole day?" Brandon asked, stuffing a pillow under his head and arching an eyebrow.

"Of course not. Mom sent me here to get your foot bandaged up," I replied, holding up the medical kit in my hand.

"I'm fine, you don't ne--"

"If you want to get better, then shut up."

"Fine," he grumbled, and shifted forward, "Are you going to stand there or get started?"

"Yeah, yeah." I quickly went over and sat on the edge of the bed. Silently cursing myself to let Brandon catch me off guard two times, I rolled my eyes. Do I just drift off somewhere or what? Taking out all the supplies, I noticed Brandon switching on the TV from the corner of my eyes. It flashed a black screen two times, made a gurgling noise, and then flashed a white screen three times, before it settled on a channel with tipsy looking color.

We had a LCD downstairs.

The movie caught my eye. "No! Don't change the channel!" I screamed as Brandon moved towards the remote. My hands were occupied with wrapping up his foot, so I desperately shook my head to stop him.

He chuckled at my reaction. "Why?" I was offended that I had to explain it to him.

"Real Steel is coming on. How can you not, not watch it?"

"You like that robot movie? I thought girls like the Barbie stuff." He laughed at his own joke and I gave him a look that made it clear he had committed the biggest sin of his life.

"Brandon dear, I advise that if you ever want a date, you should learn the skill of keeping your mouth shut!" He looked shocked at my words for a second, but then he broke out into a laugh.

"God, I was joking! Calm down." He laughed harder when I glared at him and he ruffled my hair, messing them to the point of disbelief. Revenge. I had to take revenge.

"Be grateful that you're hurt, or else I would have pounced on you to get your head straight!"

"Pounced on me?" His laughter faded, but his eyes held the amusement. He arched his eyebrow in a really suggestive way and I exploded.

"Get your mind out of the gutter!" I screamed at him and got up and left the room, banging the door behind me.

This selfish, idiotic, narcissistic, too handsome bastard!

After a minute of fuming, I realized that I had left the medical kit inside his room. Getting even angrier at that fact, I stormed back to his room and banged the door open. I had expected him to be in the same position he was before but Brandon was standing there with weight on his uninjured leg, the kit in his hand, all packed up and in place. His lips were pressed into a small line as if he was trying hard not to smile at me. Such a hard task, huh.

I narrowed my eyes at him, strode forward and snatched the kit away from his hands. I turned away to make another elegant exit, but he caught my hand before I could do that. "What?" I looked back and pouted, giving him my signature glare.

"Thank you," he said, a smile lighting up his face and catching me off-guard.

I blinked a few times, not able to process what he had just said. He didn't just show his gratitude to me, did he?

My mouth remained open, rendered speechless at the turn of events with those two simple words. He didn't give me time to react as he bent down to my eye level. Softly turning me towards him, and without breaking our eye contact, he inched closer. I closed my mouth and gulped, not expecting this proximity. My heart thumped so fast that I was afraid it would burst out of my chest.

He closed his eyes and softly, and I say daringly, placed his lips on my cheek, giving me a small peck.

I felt his soft lips pressed onto my right cheek, and even the slight stubble on his face. His lips lingered for a while before he sheepishly moved back. As soon as that happened and I gained my personal space, the blood rushed back into my head.

Not aware of what I was doing, I croaked out, "You're welcome." Pulling my hand away from his grasp, I made the most logical decision at that point of time and sprinted out of his room and into mine.

Slamming my door shut, I leaned against it, taking in deep breaths to calm my erratic heart beat down. My palm on my face burnt with the heat of my inflamed cheek. A million butterflies fought a battle worse than the fight in the Avengers movie in my stomach. Even my knees felt too weak for me to stand without support. Never had my body reacted so strongly to someone before. I bit my lip and blushed, covering my face with my hands as I slid down into a sitting position. A happy sort of energy settled in me and forgoing my fears for that moment, I just relished in the comfort of being appreciated and being desired.

***

"Do you know why they don't let in elephants in public swimming pool?" I asked Brandon, poking his head that buried in his hands. He looked up with a sigh and stared at me.

I urged him on to reply, and giving up, he said, "Probably because they are too big to fit in here?" He pointed towards the swimming pool area around us in an obvious manner, and I grinned.

"Nope." I shook my head. "They are not allowed because.. they might let down their trunks! " I exclaimed and Brandon looked almost choked. I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing aloud at his expression.

"You know trunks and trunks." I pointed to his trunks and then acted out an imaginary trunk. He palmed his head and muttered something. His expression was conflicted between glaring at me and trying to assess the stupidity of my question (or me).

"Tyler, really? Is that your way to cheer me up?" He gave me a disappointed stare, and I chuckled.

"Oops, I'm caught." I grinned, and reluctantly, he smiled back. He shook his head when he caught himself doing that. I winked at him, happy to see the resulting smile that I had been trying to bring on for the past twenty minutes. "Now that's the Brandon I like!"

My laughter echoed in the empty swimming pool area, and for a second, Brandon widened his eyes. I saw him quickly cover it up with a big smile, which only made me grin wider. "So, you're saying that." Brandon inched closer, and I instinctively inched a little back. "Then—"

He was cut short as the sound of a strong whistle marred the air. I jumped up, startled, and looked at the door from where the sound had come from.

"Brandon Sawyer, next!" the coach shouted out and Brandon immediately lost his smile. He looked over at Richard standing outside the medical facility room, and grimaced. Seth walked out, indicating that it was Brandon's turn to get examined by the medic next. "It's alright, man. Everything would be okay," Seth said as he walked over to us and assured Brandon, giving him a pat on the back with his hand. He quickly jogged over to the practicing area, where others were working out.

Brandon grudgingly got up and made small progress towards the medical examination room. Everyone had to undergo a medical test, and had to be deemed physically fit to be able to perform in the competition tomorrow.

This time I didn't offer my help to Brandon as he walked. I knew he hated to rely on someone.

I followed him silently, pretty much because I had nothing better to do other than that. Yup, I was totally turning into a nosy person. Stopping short outside the room, I looked on as the medical examiner laid Brandon on the bed, and pulled the curtain over. Richard too headed inside, closing the door behind him. The wait was nerve-wrecking. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Seth, Liam and Leo running towards me.

Hmm, that was one good sight.

"Did you find out? Is he allowed to participate?" Liam asked me as soon as he was in hearing distance.

"They haven't finished yet."

Our head snapped towards the door as it opened. An air of disappointment filled the air when it was only Richard who came out of the door. "The foot looks healed," he said. The words were magic to our ears, and the droopy shoulders straightened up, a collective sigh releasing from us.

Richard continued, "Doctor said due to proper care his foot is almost healed. So, he's allowed to participate."

I grinned, ecstatic to the core."Really?" Hearing it again made it all the more real.

"You all can come inside if you want."

Seth and Leo grinned, racing towards the room, and Liam and I followed. A giddy feeling rose up my chest as I entered. Brandon was settled on a chair, but his expression wasn't as elated as ours. I exchanged a confused glance with Liam . He shook his head and walked over to Brandon. Clapping Brandon's back, Liam grinned at him. Contrary to what I expected, the gesture made Brandon bite his lip, looking over at me with a sullen expression.

"Actually--" Brandon started and both Leo and Seth quieted down. "Richard and I discussed that it would be wise if I only participated in the relay race."

"What?" Liam asked him, and then looked at Richard questioningly.

"It's not fully healed yet and he has won enough medals last year to qualify him for a scholarship in a college if he wants. There is no need to take any risks." He crossed his hands over his chest, blocking out any further argument on this matter.

"He's right. I'll just try my best for the relay, is that okay?" He looked over at all of them, and I could see it in his eyes that he was desperate to be accepted back. The three of them looked at each other, and I felt nervous in his stead about their answer. Leo broke the silence with his answer.

It had me grinning from ear to ear.

"Man, do you even need to ask?" He slapped Brandon's back, which thankfully had a cloth to cover it unlike the three of them.

"I told ya!" I chuckled. Brandon stared at me. His eyes were so full of unrestrained happiness and lightheartedness that I felt a hundred pounds of weight lifted off of my chest.

"You're drooling," Leo whispered low in my ear, and I snapped my mouth shut. Instinctively my hand went to the corner of my mouth to feel that it was dry. I gave him a side glare, and he sauntered away, laughing at the top of his voice.

"Is he going to practice today, Richard?" I asked him, and he nodded.

"Yes, Tyler. Now it would be best if you could leave the boys to practice for tomorrow's competition." I nodded at him, and waved goodbye to all of them.

After a few steps away from them, I paused, remembering something. I turned back to tell him. "And Brandon?" I shouted, earning all of their attention.

"Yeah?" he shouted back, a grin stretching over his mouth.

"Don't forget about the date you have tomorrow night! Everything has been settled!" I shouted, and winked at him, as Liam and Seth gave us curious glances.

"Ugh, fuck you!" Brandon groaned aloud, and I laughed, running away from there before the boys started pestering me for explanations.

*****