Karam leaned against the outer wall of the school, biting his lip as he stared at his phone. He was trying to figure out what, exactly, to say to Mika. The older boy had given him his phone number after the ceremony the previous day, and had told him to text him if he wanted to ask him anything or talk about anything. This was all fine, well, and good, except of course for the fact that, on top of being painfully shy, had a major crush on Mika and he had absolutely no idea how to talk to him without sounding like a blubbering idiot. He sighed again, his thumbs doing a nervous little dance over the screen before finally settling on just a simple message.

To: Mika <3

Hey, Mika. I'm a little bit lost... Help?

     He waited, nervously scuffing his foot across the ground. After a minute or so, his screen lit up and Karam jumped slightly.

From: Mika <3

Sure thing, kiddo. Where are you?

     Karam was about to reply when suddenly he got another message.

From: Mika <3

Nvm, I see you. I'll be there in a second, just let me shake Troy

     The young teen couldn't help but smile at this, looking up from his phone and looking around to see if he could spot Mika. After a second, he saw the older boy standing by the fountain, talking to Troy. Mika made a gesture towards where Karam was standing, and the boy suddenly found himself very curious as to what, exactly, his new mentor was saying. But Troy just nodded and turned, walking away from the main entrance. Mika turned and started towards him, and Karam quickly diverted his gaze in an effort to make it seem like he had not just been staring at them.

     "Hey," Mika called when he was only a few feet away. Karam was about to reply when the older boy continued. "Did you enjoy your view?" Mika's tone was playful and teasing, and he had a mischiveous look in his eyes. The blonde teen blushed at this, though admittedly as much from Mika's appearance and the way he spoke as from the comment itself. Mika noticed his blush and frowned a little, the mischiveous look fading.

      "You alright?" he asked gently. "I didn't mean anything from it, Karam, really I didn't. I- I'm sorry if I upset you."

     The blonde shook his head quickly. "N- no! It- It's not that you upset me or anything in particular it's just that..." Karam blushed even more and his next few words slurred together unintelligably. "Ijustkindasortamayormaynothaveareallybigcrushonyou..."

     Mika tilted his head to one side, raising one eyebrow. "You... what? I'm sorry, I didn't understand any of the back half of that."

     Karam's blush deepened even more. "I... It's nothing... I'm sorry." Tears welled up in his eyes and even as he spoke, Karam cursed himself for being so painfully shy. "You- You can go. I'm sorry. I'll just go find my cousin or something. I- I'm sorry." And with that, Karam turned and ran. He knew that Mika was following him; he could hear the older boy calling his name and asking him to stop and come back, but he didn't dare listen. Tears slid down his cheeks now and he continued cursing himself as he ran.

     'God dammit. Why the hell did I have to do that? Why did I do that? He was just playing around and I had to go and get worked up like an idiot because he looked really damn hot with that mischiveous look in his eyes and holy I freaking hate myself. He probably hates me now. God freaking dammit! Why do I have to be so shy all the time? Why am I incapable of just acting like a normal freaking person?!'

     He didn't know when, exactly, Mika stopped following him, but by the time he stopped to breath, the older boy was no where in sight. Karam continued walking. He was just outside the city now, and only a few city blocks lay between him and his favorite refuge: the park. Or more specifically, the lake and waterfall concealed in the forest in that park. He doubted that he was the only one who knew about the lake, but he was fairly certain that he was the only one who knew that there was a cave behind the waterfall. It wasn't a very large cave - you couldn't fit morethan three or four people in it comfortably, but Karam liked it that way. Once he had regain his breath, he jogged to the park and quickly made his way through the forest to the lake. As he had hoped, there was no one there. Moving rapidly, he climbed the rocks to the cave behind the waterfall and darted behind the water into the small cave. He couldn't have been there for more than a few minutes when suddenly someone stepped into the cave. He looked up, startled, and hurried to his feet as Mika entered.

     "Wha- What are you doing here?" He demanded, hurriedly wiping tears from his eyes. Mika signed softly, taking step closer to Karam and stretching his arms out to him.

     "Come here,"he whispered. Karam obeyed after a moment's hesitation, stepping forward until the older boy wrapped him in a tight hug. Mika's body was warm and he smelled of cinnamon and vanilla. Wrapped in his arms like this, Karam found himself struggling not to start crying again. Mika rubbed Karam's back gently, whispering soothing words into the teen's blonde hair.

     "It's alright," he said gently. 'It's alright. You're alright, Karam. You're okay." he paused for a long moment before speaking again. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, baby."

     Karam shook his head against Mika's chest. "It- It's fine. It- It wasn't really... anything that you did. I just-" he bit his lip, trying to hold back tears. "I'm sorry. Nevermind. Really, I'm fine. I just... got myself all worked up about something; I do it all the time. Don't worry about it."

     Now it was Mika's turn to shake his head, gently pushing Karam away from him. He looked into the younger boy's eyes as he spoke, one hand on Karam's cheek. "I will worry about it," he said firmly. "I will worry. You know why?" He paused as Karam shook his head uncertainly, meeting Mika's gaze shyly. "I'm going to worry about you because I care about you."

     "Because I'm your apprentice." Karam concluded, stepping away from Mika's touch and breaking his eye contact with the older boy.

     "Partly because of that, yes." Mika admitted. "But also because you're a kind, gentle, caring kid and I think that you're adorable and sweet. And I think that you need someone to help you and look after you."

     "Well I don't need any help from you," Karam snapped. "I can take care of myself."

     "You say that?" Mika asked, irritation seeping into his tone. "Do you really believe that? Because last time I checked, running off in tears is not 'okay', and in no way indicates that you are capable of taking care of yourself. What if you had gotten hurt? Then what would you do?"

     Karam lost it then, turning back to face Mika and half shouting at the older boy. "I don't know and I don't care but I'd be happy because at least then I wouldn't have to deal with you!" And with that he darted forward to run from the cave. Before he could get very far, however, Mika grabbed his wrist and yanked him back, pulling the younger boy to his chest and holding him there tightly.

     "What the is all of this? Why are you acting like this, Karam? We were fine just ten minutes ago and now you're acting like you hate me! What the ?"

      Karam whimpered and snuggled closer to Mika, somehow unable to resist the warmth and comfort of being close to the older boy. Mika started, confused by his new apprentice's actions, but relaxed again almost instantly, wrapping his arms around Karam once agian.

     "Come on," he said gently. "How about we go back to my place, okay? I'm absolutely loving the cave and all, but it's kinda cold and I have a thing against sitting on damp floors."

     Karam half laughed through the tears that were sliding down his cheeks. "But- won't we get in trouble?"

     "Whaddya mean?" Mika asked. "At school? Probably not. I can just tell them that you had a panic attack or something. And as for going to my place... my parents are out of town on a business trip, so unless they've gained psychic abilities, that shouldn't be an issue."

     Karam nodded weakly, letting Mika support most of his weight. The elder of the pair pressed a soft kiss to the younger's hair before scooping up in his arms, carrying him bridal style back down the barely noticable path that lead down from the cave. As Mika carried him, Karam found himself slowly starting to fall asleep. He tried to fight it at first, but eventually gave in and snuggled deeper into the dark haired male's shoulder. Mika smiled when he noticed that Karam had fallen asleep in his arms, shifting the boy slightly so that he was in a more comfortable position and letting his cheek rest on the boy's soft blonde hair. Something told him that this was going to be one hell of a relationship. But something else from somewhere deep inside his heart was telling him that in the end it would be worth all of the ups and downs and craziness that were inevitable. And he believed it.

A/N

So... Two months since the last update...

I'm sorry TT_TT

I don't mean to do this to you guys. But like school gets in the way and... yeah

But anyway, here you go.

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