Karam woke up slowly, blinking in confusion. "Where the hell am I?" He murmured softly. He heard a soft laugh from somewhere beside him, and turned to face it, jumping when he saw Mika watching him. His face flushed a light pink as he remembered what had happened earlier. "Uh- I-"

     "You're finally up," Mika said gently, reaching out one hand to touch Karam's hair. The younger boy flinched away from him, then relaxed quickly.

     "Sorry," they both said at the same time. Karam offered Mika a shy smile, and the elder grinned at him. Hesitantly, Karam sat up, blushing deeply and tugging the blankets up with him when he realized seconds after that he was shirtless.

     "What-"

     "Your shirt was wet," Mika explain quickly, also blushing. "Besides, sleeping in your school uniform probably wouldn't have been too comfortable. Sorry." He bit his lip. "I wsan't- trying to do anything. I just-"

     Karam shook his head quickly. "It's okay," he said softly. "It just confused me it all." He watched as Mika stood, walking over to a door in what the younger boy guessed was his room. He opened it and stepped inside, returning a few seconds later with a plain black T-shirt.

     "Here," he said, offering it to Karam. "You can wear this, if you'd like. Since your uniform is dirty and still wet and really not very comfortable."

      Karam nodded gratefully, extending one hand and taking the shirt from the older boy. "Thanks," he said quietly. Mika nodded.

     "I'm going to go back in there and change. You can come in in a second if you want," he added after a second. "You're gonna want some jeans. There's probably something in there somewhere that'll fit you." He shrugged. "You're more than welcome to come take a look."

     Karam nodded gratefully. "Thanks," he murmured as Mika walked back into what the younger boy now presumed to be a walk-in closet. Once Mika was safely out of site, he let the blanket drop and quickly tugged on the shirt. He hesitated for a second before getting up and walking over to Mika's closet. He still wore his boxers, which he was hightly grateful for, but he was still extremely embarrassed and a light blush covered his cheeks as he hesitantly stepped into the closet. He called Mika's name softly, and it took only a second for the older boy to peek out from behind a corner and smile at him.

     "Back wall, left corner. There should be something back there that'll fit you. That corner is kinda just where we put everything that doesn't fit me or my siblings or my cousins anymore. You'll probably find something that'll work."

     Karam nodded gratefully and walked over to the corner Mika had indicated, shifting curiously through the clothes he found there. It didn't take too long for him to find a pair of jeans that were his size. They were designer skinny jeans with tears down both legs - not something Karam typically wore - but he liked the way they looked. Besides, it was only temporary. He bit his lip and walked out towards the door. Mika was sitting cross-legged on his bed, reading a book when he stepped out of the closet, and he motioned for Karam to close the door behind him. He did so, stepping uncertainly towards him. Mika glanced up, smiling at him and gesturning for the smaller boy to sit on the bed beside him.

     "You can come over here," he said, his tone playful. "I don't bite."

     Karam rolled his eyes and sat down beside his new mentor, hesitating for a second before shifting closer and leaning against the older boy's shoulder. The elder automatically put his arm around the boy's waist, drawing him closer. Smiling contentedly, the younger of the pair snuggled closer to him, enjoying the warmth of the elder's body. They stayed that way for several moments before Mika spoke, gently pushing Karam off of him.

     "Hang on a second. Let me get into a more comfortable cuddling position." Karam blushed at the words, but shifted away so that Mika could move. The elder leaned back against his pillows now, his legs bent partly underneath him. "Here," he said, opening his arms for the younger to curl up with him. "Sit on my lap."

     Karam obeyed, blushing as he settled himself on the elder's lap. Mika smiled and wrapped both arms around the younger boy, having given up on reading his book. The younger snuggled contentedly into his mentor's shoulder, burying his face in the crook of the older boy's neck. There was something comforting about sitting like this, wrapped up in Mika's warm embrace. Somehow he knew that he was safe here; Mika would protect him from anything and everything that wanted to hurt him or frighten him in any way. It was nice to be protected like this. Although he wasn't the oldest of his cousins, they often turned to him for leadership and protection. And of course there was Jay. Karam loved his younger brother dearly, and the from the day that the younger boy was born he had deemed himself to be his little brother's protector. This was all fine, well, and good until you factored in the fact that Karam was shy and quiet and rather insecure; he needed someone to hold him and protect him and assure him that he was safe and that nothing would ever hurt him again. He sighed softly as he thought of this. He was a helpless romantic, and he knew it. Mika shifted, looking at him with concern.

     "Are you alright?" he asked gently, ruffling Karam's hair with one hand. Karam nodded quickly in response.

     "Yeah. I was just thinking about something, that's all." He returned to his position snuggled into the crook of the older boy's neck and the older boy smiled in amusement. Karam yawned against the flesh of Mika's neck, making the latter shiver.

     "Hey," he said teasingly, giving the younger boy's shoulder a playful push. "Down yawn on me."

     Karam yawned again in response, letting out a quiet hum and snuggling into Mika's shoulder once more. Mika kissed the boy's hair gently, his fingers toying with the hem of the shirt the younger was wearing. Karam shifted when Mika's fingers brushed against his skin, letting out a small sound somewhere between pleasure and protest, and Mika looked at him curiously, repeating the action. This time the noise was more protest than pleasure, and Karam nestled deeper into Mika's shoulder.

     "Mmstop," he mumbled, his voice muffled by the elder's shirt. Mika smirked mischiveously, slipping his hand up under Karam's shirt. The boy yelped, and would have jumped away from Mika had the elder not been holding onto him tightly.  "Mika," he gasped angrily, pushing the older boy's hand away. The elder laughed, hugging the boy tightly.

     "Sorry," he apologized, trying to control his laughter. "I wanted to see what you would do." Karam glared at him, and Mika smiled. "Oh come on," he managed between fits of laughter. "Why are you acting like this?"

     Karam frowned and pulled away from the older boy. "I-" he started uncertainly. "Well what the would you do if I were to do that to you?"

     Mika shrugged. "Dunno. I'd probably like it, actually."

     Karam blushed, hitting Mika's arm. "Shut up! You can't just say things like that!" Mika went to say something, but Karam stopped him. "W- why the hell did you say that, anyway?" he demanded. Mika shrugged.

     "Because it's true. I'd probably like it." He pulled Karam back aggainst his chest. "Look, Karam. I'm not trying to be erted or anything. It's just a statement of a fact. It is more than likely that I would enjoy it."

     "ert," Karam muttered. Mika shrugged.

     "Not really. It would be more erted if I said that every night I dream of having you in my bed, my or spreading your legs for me. But I'm not gonna say that. You know why? Because I don't think of you like that. So... not erted." Karam was blushing even more now, but he allowed Mika to hold him. "Karam," Mika said gently, rubbing the boy's back soothingly. "Just relax, okay?" He sighed then. "This line of conversation isn't getting us anywhere, is it?"

     "Not really," Karam said, beginning to relax once again. "Mika?" He waited until the older boy hummed in response, then spoke again. "I wanted to thank you for everything that you've done for me. I... I'm sorry... If I made you worry earlier."

     Mika shook his head. "You're fine," he said gently. He kissed Karam on the forehead gently, ruffling the boy's hair with a smile. "I don't mind it. I would have done it for anyone. I'm not mad at you or anything," he added more seriously. "Not only is it my job to protect you, but I would also like to consider you my friend and I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you."

     Karam blushed and looked away from the older boy. "I... Wh- why do you say that?" he asked shyly.

     Mika shrugged again. "I say what I think, Karam." He smiled, kissing the boy's forehead. "I see no point in lying to you or hiding anything from you. I mean, we're gonna be sharing a lot of things with each other as mentor and apprentice, so we might as well start now." He shrugged again. "I've never really seen a reason not to tell people the whole truth. I mean, if you're gonna be honset with someone, you might at well say everything that there is to say."

     "I guess that makes sense," Karam said softly. He sighed and buried his face in the crook of the boy's neck. "Mika..." he whispered. "I... I just want to... to ask you something."

     "What is it?" Mika asked, shifting into a more comfortable position. When Karam hesitated, he spoke again. "Come on. You know you can tell me anything, baby."

     "Well... It's just..." he sighed and shook his head. "Nevermind. It's not important. Just... nevermind."

     Mika shook his head, sighing softly. "You sure, baby? You can tell me anything you want to. I don't mind."

     Karam shook his head again. "No... It's nothing, Mika. I just... I'm just not sure how to feel about all of this right now. I just... Just forget it, okay? It wasn't anything improtant."

     "Alright..." Mika murmured. "I won't force you to tell me anything if you don't want to. Just... know that you can talk to me if you want to." Mika hugged him tightly, pulling him closer to his chest. "Anyway, do you want to do something? I mean, we can watch a movie or play a game or something..."

     "I..." Karam found himself blushing as he rested against the boy's chest. "I guess w- we could watch a movie or something..."

     Mika smiled in amusement, gently pushing Karam off of his lap and getting up. He retured a few moments later with a laptop, settling back down in his previous position, with the laptop on the bed infront of him. The older spread his arms, and Karam snuggled himself into the boy's chest once more. He didn't really pay much attention to the movie, and just slightly more to Mika's random comments. Instead, he contemplated his current situation. In any drama or fairy tale (or fanfiction story (not that Karam had ever read fanfiction)), the girl (or in this case, the shy boy) would confess her (his) crush on the older boy and then the older boy would admit that he, too, had a crush on her (him) and the two would kiss and live happily ever after. But this, Karam reasoned, was not a fairy tale or a drama (or a fanfiction), and as tempting as the idea might sound, the chances of it working out that way were slim to none. The more likely result was that it would just make the situation between then imcredibly awkward, which was the last thing he needed, since he was going to have to spend the next two years with Mika as his mentor (aka that person who was going to practically be his mom/teacher/babysitter/older brother for the next few years of his life as he made the always slightly awkward transition between child and adult). He sighed. He almost wished that he could just confess to Mika and see how it really would play out and then just reverse time if things went wrong. Unfortunately, time control was not in his list of discovered powers. As he thought, Karam could feel his eyelids growing heavier and, although he tried to fight it, he soon fell asleep against Mika for the second time that day. Mika noticed after a few moments and smiled to himself, pausing the movie and moving his laptop off of his bed so that Karam could lay down properly. He had had no intentions of falling asleep as well when he lay down next to Karam, but something about watching the younger boy sleep made his own eyes feel heavy, and within a few minutes both boys were sound asleep against each other, Karam snuggled against Mika's chest and clinging to his shirt lightly.

A/N

I'm sorry about how long this update took...

But it's longer ^^

Anyway... Thank you guys for sticking with me this long~ ^^

I love you my sweethearts ^^ Thank you so much ^^

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