The clock hit 6:30. Braydin couldn't catch his breath. He kept a hand on the wall, sweating, attempting to regulate his breathing, but all he could do was pant and look exhausted. Blood dripped down his cheek and his left arm, and there was a large bruise on his shin starting to colorize. Titus tiredly fished around in his own drawers for the first aid kit, as the two had gotten a bit too carried away and ended up getting injured during the play fight.
    The room was dark, the only light coming from Titus's door slightly propped open. After finding the kit, Titus guided Braydin to his bed, sat him down, and plopped onto the bed next to him, opening up the kit. He handed Braydin the kit, but then Braydin winced.
    Braydin bit his lip. "Dude... I'm sore. You good with patching me up?"
    "Yeah," Titus took the kit back, "you're going to need to take the... my hoodie off, though."
    "Oh." Braydin's mouth felt dry, and suddenly he regretted asking. One, because he had to take Titus's hoodie off, and two, he didn't want to be in just the white tank underneath it.
    Titus rolled his eyes and spoke again. "You were going to have to take it off anyway, it's soaked and bloody. Also, it's not like I haven't seen any of that before. We had Fischlin together, dude. Our lockers were right next to each other."
    Braydin shyly nodded before obliging, slipping off the white hoodie and wincing. Titus took out a pair of tweezers and maneuvered to sit across from him, pulling out his desk's chair. He asked Braydin to stick his right arm out. He agreed, and before long, the blonde had already plucked out the first, largest piece he had seen in his forearm.
    All Braydin could see was Titus, looking absolutely wrecked, sweat and rainwater dripping out of his hair. He looked so focused, like he didn't want to mess up and hurt Braydin more. He wished he could admire more, but the stinging pains became overwhelming and he squeezed his eyes shut.
    "Hey," Braydin felt a hand on his lower thigh, hooking into his knee, "you okay? Need a moment?"
    "Well... um," Braydin shakily breathed, absolutely flushed and vulnerable. He looked down at his arm, almost all of the glass gone. He squeezed his eyes shut again. "I... uh, okay. Please."
    "Alright."
    Braydin's entire face was red. His breathing became labored, rigid, and Titus began dragging his thumb back and forth on his knee. "Come on, breathe. You got this, Braydin."
    "Just- hold on-" Braydin's hand shakily made its way to Titus's shoulder, gripping onto the white fabric.
    Minutes that felt like hours passed by. Now Titus had his eyes closed, too, holding their foreheads together. Before long, Titus felt Braydin's eyes slowly open, his long eyelashes dragging against Titus's skin.
    "You alright now?" Titus queried, pulling away just a couple inches and looking Braydin in the eyes. "You okay with me continuing?"
    Braydin gave him a small, nervous nod. He lowered his arm wrist down back onto his lap and Titus reached for the tweezers again. This time, he finished the arm, now just needing to clean it.

    "Braydin." Titus rasped.
    "Yeah?"
    "I need to clean your arm. Are you okay with that?"
    "Mhm..."
    Titus's hand slid up, now cupping the side of Braydin's thigh. Braydin felt the chill of his touch ripple throughout his whole body in waves. "You know, it's going to sting."
    "I know."
    "Okay." Titus leaned over to grab the alcohol wipes and Braydin began to tremble. As Titus was about to begin, Braydin impulsively wrapped his other arm around Titus's neck and pressed his face into his shoulder, squeezing his eyes shut. The only reaction was an oh, okay from the taller, and he began.
    Titus was methodical and efficient with it. It stung as much as Braydin had expected it to, but with the warm lavender dryer sheet scents with now only small remaining hints of the cologne of Titus's shirt up against his face, he knew he'd be okay.
    Titus was just about to finish when they heard the slightest creak emit from the doorway. "Well. Good evening."
    "Coach," Braydin choked out from Titus's shoulder.
    Brian looked at the two boys and Braydin began to pull away from Titus, but he spoke again. "No, you're okay. Repp, I texted your mom. She's alright with you staying over tonight, just as long as you two can get up tomorrow on time. Night, kids."
    Brian left, shutting the door. Braydin then tucked himself into Titus more, extremely embarrassed. He tugged at Titus's collar as he finished bandaging Braydin's arm, which he hadn't noticed because he was listening to Brian speak to him. When the last bandaid was placed, Titus patted Braydin's thigh and asked him to pull back so he could clean the cut on his face.
    While Titus gently cleaned out the cut with another wipe, Braydin delved deep into the ocean of Titus's eyes. They were such an ethereal, sky blue. Hypnotizing, mesmerizing, you name it. Titus was going to reach for a bandaid to cover his face, but instead cupped Braydin's face with his hand and ran a thumb across the freshly cleaned slit in his face.
    He felt sick. Not in a bad way, though. Braydin's arms remained balled in his lap. They sat knee-to-knee, Titus's hand cupping Braydin's thigh. The taller boy glazed over the other's cut before slowly pulling his vision to his eyes. Green, like fresh cut grass, crashing against the sky's vibrant blue. Titus's hand remained cupping his cheek, and the two had yet unintelligible feelings bubbling up in the heat of the moment. Both of their hearts beat sporadically, and they would have continued like that until they heard a loud crash; glass. How ironic.
    "Accimus! God dammit, clean that up!" Lisa, Titus's mom shrieked from the kitchen.
    Titus sharply sucked in a breath, spluttering. "I should... um, go help with- with that."
    Braydin forced out an alright, and Titus pulled him in gently for a quick two-second one-arm hug before quickly skittering out of the room. When Braydin could function again, he reached for the first aid kit and winced at the glass in his side, which he hadn't even noticed prior .
    As Braydin was about to pluck it out himself, he nearly jumped out of his skin. Titus had rushed back in and frightened him.
    "Hey, sorry. Ac broke a plate and– oh, jeez, sorry. I'll help you with that."
    "...Alright." Braydin sighed almost breathlessly.
    "Don't take this weirdly, dude." Titus averted eye contact.
    "Take what weirdly?"
    "...Could you take off your tank? Please?"
    "Why would I take that weird?" Braydin chuckled, "You just had your hand running up my thigh."
    Titus didn't respond to that. Braydin then slipped off his tank top and practically gasped for air as he felt the other boy's hand slip up the un-pierced side of his waist to tilt him over and pluck each shard out on the other side.
The process remained the same. Pull out the glass, wipe it down with an alcohol wipe, and bandage it. Yet throughout the entire process, Braydin couldn't help but pay attention to the big strong hand wrapped around his waist until it was gone.
"I'll grab you some clothes and you can sleep in that other room. You probably wouldn't want to sleep in here."
Braydin wanted to scream 'yes please, I do want to sleep in here actually,' but he didn't.
He couldn't.
"Okay," he just murmured, "I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"Need any help walking?" Titus asked, handing Braydin red flannel pants and a black t-shirt.
Braydin shook his head and gave Titus a huge, heart melting grin, barely visible in the dark room. "Thank you so much, Titus."
"Any time."