"Wake up," an angelic voice echoed in my mind.

I groaned, snuggling deeper into the soft warmth beneath my cheek.

"Get up, Cole," the voice became a little sharper, more agitated maybe. 

I didn't respond.

Before I knew what was happening, I was met by the cold hard surface of the floor.

"Ow," I rubbed my aching shoulder as I rolled onto my back. Looking up, I saw Jason standing above me with a smirk.

I narrowed my eyes at him. He totally pushed me off the bed.

"Don't look at me like that," he held out his hand for me to take, "I told you to get up."

Huffing, I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. I blushed when I realized we were really close together and took a step back.

"Grab some clothes," he said as he tossed a towel at my head. "We're going to the river."

I nodded and did as I was told.

×××

As we neared the river, the gentle trickle of moving water drifted to my ears.

I watched Jason's back as he led me through the trees. His dark colored t-shirt was tight enough that I could kind of make out his shoulder blades through the fabric. It was nice.

It wasn't long before the trees thinned and a river appeared before us.

"Here we are," Jason said and immediately started to strip off his shirt.

"W-what are you doing?" I quickly covered my eyes as he went for his pants.

"Taking a bath," I could practically hear how his lips curved.

I only opened my eyes again when I heard the splash of water.

"Well you could've told me before we walked all the way here. Now I have to wait," I huffed and dropped my stuff on a log.

I sat next to it and tried to ignore the gaze of the very naked angel that was smirking at me with his chin just above the water.

"Come on, Cole. The water is fine," he teased.

"I'm not getting in that water," I folded my arms over my chest.

"You'll be late for school if you wait," he pointed out with a shrug.  Smirking, he added, "And if you don't get in willingly, I'll just have to come out and get you."

He started to stand up and I quickly blushed and looked away as the surface of the water got dangerously low on his waist.

"Fine, fine. Stay where you are," I waited a moment before looking back to see him with the water at his chin again as he watched me.

When I stood up, he said, "Don't forget the soap," and turned around to give me some privacy.

With a shaky breath, I pulled off my shirt, revealing all sorts of ugly bruises. Some of them were in the shape of handprints, but others were just big and turning all sorts of colors.

I bit my lip, making sure Jason was still facing the other direction before slipping out of my pajama pants.

The thought of being naked in front of someone else, even my- the angel, made me sick to my stomach. I decided to keep my underwear on.

Grabbing the little shower caddy Jason had brought with, I placed it on a rock near the edge of the water and waded in.

"Can I look now?" he asked, running his fingers through his wet ebony hair.

"Yeah," I said as I fought the coldness of the river and lowered myself so it was at my chin.

"See, that wasn't so hard," Jason grinned as he waded over to the shower caddy and grabbed a shampoo bottle. After squeezing a bit into his hand, he held out the bottle to me. With a bit of reluctance, I moved closer to him to take it.

We both lathered up our hair before rinsing the suds off in the water and watching them drift downstream.

Then he grabbed a bar of soap from the caddy as well as two washcloths.

"Don't lose these in the current," he warned. Once he finished soaping up his own washcloth, he handed me the other with the bar of soap.

I quickly washed my body, relieved that I finally felt clean again. Once I was finished, I waded back to the shower caddy and dropped in my stuff. Jason came up beside me and dropped his in as well.

"You can have the purple toothbrush," he handed it to me, and we both stood there as we grabbed the toothpaste and brushed our teeth. After returning the toothbrush to the caddy, I looked at Jason.

Then, before I could even process what was happening, I was splashed with a face full of water. Jason laughed heartily, swimming backwards as I shot him a glare.

"What're you going to do about it, cupcake?" He laughed some more. I blushed a little at the name, but started to chase him regardless. He didn't try to get away too much at first, but when I started to get closer, he pushed himself back with his feet and splashed me with more water. I tried to splash him back too, though I'm not sure how much actually got him.

"Jason!" I growled as he continuously evaded me.

"Cole!" He mocked me.

Huffing frustratedly, I came up with a plan.

Moving towards him, I pretended to slip on a rock and went under with a yelp. I stayed under for as long as I could, and when he came closer to see if I was alright, I sprung up and pushed him down by the shoulders.

Now I was the one laughing, but that didn't last for long. I felt him grab my ankle, and before I could kick him off, I was pulled under too.

When we came up, we were both laughing, but it soon died down when we realized how close we were to each other.

Soon, we were engulfed by silence, and as I took in his beautiful features, I realized neither of us were making a move to back up.

It might have been my mind playing tricks on me, but I thought for a second I saw him leaning closer.

"Jason?" I asked.

"Yes, Cole?" he breathed after a moment, and I could feel his minty breath fan across my face.

I felt a blush creeping back up to my cheeks as he looked directly into my eyes. I nearly forgot I was supposed to answer, but the conversation we'd had the night before popped up in my mind.

"Are... Are you gay?" I asked, unable to stop my gaze from falling to his perfectly sculpted lips.

"Yeah, why?" he asked softly, though I figured he already knew what I was going to say next.

"Just wonderi-" he cut me off as he leaned all the way forward, gently connecting our lips.

My eyes fluttered closed, and I marvled at how soft his lips were.

My heart was pounding against my ribs and my stomach was doing flips as his right hand gently caressed my face.

Then, just as gently as he started it, he pulled away, looking into my dull grey eyes with a softness I had not known for a very long time.

And in that moment, I wished more than anything that that had been my first kiss.

But I was tainted, and if he knew that then he would never want me.

×××

A/N

Hello my little unicorns.

Quick survey...

If I make a writing contest book of prompts for submissions that are roughly the size of one of my chapters (or less), how many of you guys would be interested? Even if you didn't win a custom made first, second, or third place sticker, everyone who wants it will be given writing advice by yours truly. It will also help those of you who would like to get into writing but don't know where to start find some inspiration. Each writing prompt will help you expand into areas you may not have tried writing in before and hopefully help you grow as a writer.

I'll write something a little more explanatory about it if enough of you are interested.

Thanks!
-Anon