-10 years ago-
***

First date.
How was that supposed to happen?? Was it even going to happen?!

Adam stared up at the ceiling of his bunk bed in silence as his mind jumped all over the place.

A solid week had passed since the two had sneaked out on their star filled escapade and had shared a kiss.
After that moment though, when they returned, Commander Iverson had been waiting for them with a hard punishment.

Since then, he and Shiro had been cleaning the hover bikes, halls, emptying trash cans, scraping off the undersides of desks and running hot sweaty laps around the facility all week as their consequence. Once they finished all the punishment along with their schoolwork, both boys when they got to their dorm room had passed out from exhaustion. Resulting in the two barely having a moment to talk about what had happened between them.

Adam now had finally finished his rounds of work and lay in his bed tired and also worried. His mind overthinking everything that related to him and his crush.

Was that kiss, that moment between them, nothing more then that one time? Was Shiro the kind of person to only do it once and never again?!

And what if Shiro had just got caught up in the moment? What if Adam's confession and the star filled night along with teenage hormones, was the only reason that kiss happened in the first place??
Was it all just a insignificant blur for Shiro? Or possibly something more?

Burying his head into his pillow, he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to stop thinking about it.

He was practically torturing himself thinking like this.

Adam picked up his favorite novel that lay next to his pillow and tried to focus on the words in the page and let them engulf him, but his mind had other plans and continued to taunt him relentlessly.

Not even a book, A BOOK!, could distract Adam from his churning stomach and heart.

Regretfully laying the book down, he turned to stare at the door and tried to just let himself be blank.

Adam's ears then perked up as he heard footsteps coming down the hall and stop at his door.
In a minute, Shiro entered, his face slightly red from heat and work.

His ears turning scarlet along with his face, he stared at Shiro feeling his heartbeat start to accelerate.

So much for not thinking about his crush...
Now Shiro stood before him, looking quite hot literally and figuratively...

Shiro's clothes stuck to him very noticeably, the fabric clinging to the teen's skin and showing several muscles Adam already knew that were there. Years of training at the Garrison had given everyone good muscles, but Shiro's seemed to be sculpted from the Greeks themselves. His Herculean build with his broad shoulders and defined chest and arms made Adam want to bury his face in embarrassment.
His crush's was hair also stuck to the side of his forehead, random strands over his eyebrows as he wiped his sweaty face before glancing at him and smiling weakly.

Having a slight panic attack at being caught staring, not only staring but watching open mouthed at him..., Adam threw himself back into his pillow and turned towards the wall.

Praying that he would go straight to the showers and ignore him.

Shiro's footsteps made their way over to the closet and after some rustling, he heard him stop and felt Shiro standing over him.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Adam didn't move or make a sound, his heart beating very rapidly and making his breath louder then normal and shaky.

Only one thought circled his brain and it was to do nothing.
Doing nothing was the only way out of this disaster... he wasn't ready to talk to him yet— especially not after seeing Shiro looking THAT cute.

He knew he would only make himself an utter fool. Better to just wait and let him pass.

"You alright?", Shiro asked gently breaking Adam's panicked thoughts.

Oh crap. Oh crap, he's talking to me, he's talking to me, he's talking to me... Adam thought over and over as he lay still as a statue.

His whole body was so tense, his shoulders practically came up to his ears as he lay there in his 'sleep' position.

Shiro sighed as he looked at his friend's sad attempt at feigning exhaustion and rest, "Well, if you're okay... I guess I'm heading to the showers. I'll be back in a bit.", he told him before leaving the room and shutting the door.

As he heard the door slide shut, Adam cracked open an eyelid and breathed out in relief before turning onto his back and gazing up at Shiro's bunk overhead.

His face was still flaming as he covered his face with his hands from embarrassment, relief and regret.

Why couldn't he have just taken that chance to talk to him back?

Adam sat up and stood, looking at himself in the mirror trying to call himself down.
His own face stared back at him, it's face flushed with red and the glasses bending light so his eyes were hidden.

Pushing back some hair, he took several deep breaths.

Maybe he should try to talk to Shiro..? What was stopping him besides his overly anxious heart?

Adam knew there was a chance he'd make an idiot of himself, but downright ignoring Shiro wasn't going to make things any better between them.
He should at least have said 'hi', but he had to go and pretend that he was asleep.

And now the more Adam thought about it, the more obvious it seemed how he was ignoring and avoiding his crush.

Leaning against the full length wall mirror, he groaned as his stomach flipped. He then caught sight of Shiro's hairbrush and almost fell over.

Snatching the brush up from the table a little too quickly, Adam silently thanked the universe for this opportunity.
Now he had an excuse to talk to him and maybe quickly explain to him why he had been rude, and he could all do it naturally because of Shiro's forgotten item!!

Adam felt ridiculously relieved and happy for this small excuse, knowing he would be way to nervous to go straight to Shiro himself without any other reasons.

Now energized and feeling no fear of the meeting he planned, Adam quickly made his way out of his dorm and to the school showers.
Coming to a quick halt as he ran down the halls, he stopped as he saw Shiro talking with another boy.

It seemed Shiro had just finished his shower and was pretty much dried off— talking with someone else who had appeared to use the showers recently as well.

Adam tried to look at it reasonably as he started to feel a terrible pit in his stomach.
Shiro was a very social guy, who was also popular and well-liked within the Garrison, Adam reasoned. Just because he was talking to another guy his age at the showers didn't mean it meant anything. They were most likely exchanging stories of jokes or whatever it was social people actually did.
The other teen though was brushing a hand through his wet hair, making him look like he was almost flirting.
A guy who also had looks of his own and compared to Adam looked a lot more attractive. Heck, that guy was almost as attractive as Takashi... Adam was nowhere near that pretty or anywhere nearly social. And he was also a very social person too... the complete opposite of Adam, who preferred to be alone with his books then being surrounded by friends.

Adam thoughts slipped as he gripped the hairbrush, frozen with indecision.

Part of him just wanted to run away, while the rest wanted to try to give Shiro the hairbrush.
It honestly felt ridiculous to Adam that he couldn't make up his mind.

All he had to do was walk over there... that's all he had to do.
But trying to walk into the middle of the two boy's conversation made him want to hide back in his pillow.

Adam shook his head harshly and straightened his shoulders, summoning every ounce of bravery and social skills he possessed.
Granted he didn't have much in either of those compartments, especially when two very attractive boys were already talking to each other and laughing, but it was still something more then he had a few seconds ago.

Taking a few shaky steps towards them, Adam edged forward, clutching the brush handle so tightly his fingers were starting to turn white.

Just as he was about to open his mouth and make himself known, someone else's voice started talking, cutting him off before he even began.

"So yeah, the whole thing was pretty crazy.", the other teen smiled, "But it isn't as bad as trying to convince your mother that your crazy dog actually did eat your homework. I'm pretty sure she still doesn't believe me even though the mutt's gone and chewed through some of our old books."

Shiro laughed, "Well, to be fair... I think I would have a hard time believing that cliché excuse."

"Yeah me too.", the teen admitted, "But I had the soggy chewed up evidence!", he protested rubbing the back of his hair, "I'm just telling you right now, that the dog excuse is overused and totally unfair to victims like me."

Rubbing his wet head with a towel briefly before resting it around his shoulders, he looked back at him and shrugged, "Well it makes for a fun story doesn't it? I don't think I've ever heard a couple of the crazy things you end up telling me.", he grinned.

"Well, my family is pretty nuts, so you can thank them for that. It's kinda embarrassing."

"It only makes you unique, there's nothing to be embarrassed about here. You're unmatched when it comes to crazy storytelling!", he reassured, "In fact, have you ever considered being a stand-up comedian in your free time? You have a lot of relatable moments and a good sense of humor."

Adam had open and closed his mouth several times as the conversation continued, waiting for an opening. But every time, his voice failed just thinking about the two stopping and staring at him.
He was starting to feel more intrusive as it continued but couldn't bring himself to interrupt.

The other boy let out an amused laugh, "Comedian?? You really think I'd be good at something like that?"

"Well yeah, you don't?"

"I've never really thought about it... but it sounds fun!", he beamed, "I'd have to test it out on you first though, the last thing I want is a dead crowd."

Shiro waved it away, "I'm sure you'll be fine! Just talk to them like you talk to me!"

Adam felt a sense of foreboding as he watched the other teen open his mouth to answer.

"Well... I can't exactly do that.", he said slowly, "You're different Shiro."

"Different? How?", Shiro responded good naturally, "I'm sure all your friends will love your stories! There's nothing special about me to think your stuff is funny!"

The teen boy blushed as he ran his fingers through his wet hair again, "Umm... the thing is... you are special Shiro. And you're special 'cause I've wanted to hang out with you in a way more than friends.", swallowing nervously, he smiled at him expectantly, "So like I was wondering, if you know, if you'd like to go out with me?"

*so maybe this is really cliché but... :3*