/// So anyway I'm gonna start the 30 day oneshot challenge now. This is day number One. Did anyone get that SWS reference? ;) ///

After the teacher finished calling roll, and confirmed that we all made it to the retreat site safely, it was time for the retreat to start. I was with my best friend Frank, although right now I was expressing my annoyance with his actions on the bus. "Why did you have to fall asleep?" I groaned. I wasn't actually mad at him. I could never force myself to be mad at Frank.

"Because I was tired! And it's what- a one hour drive? I wasn't going to just stay awake that long on an uncomfortable bus. And anyway, you were right there like a pillow-"

"You fucking drooled on my shoulder!" I whisper-yelled so that the teachers wouldn't be able to tell me off for cursing. Frank glared at me and crossed his arms.

"It's your fault for not waking me up then, if you're really that annoyed." He turned away from me and wandered off somewhere else in the group of students, leaving me by myself. I sighed. I shouldn't be such an ass to him, he is like my only friend.

"Alright guys, so we'll have free time for the first couple of hours here. Basic rules are to not wander off the campsite, don't do anything dumb, don't vandalize or set anything on fire, and don't get into any fights. Alright, have fun." When the teachers got done explaining everything, I looked around, hopefully to find Frank again.

I couldn't see him, and I frowned a little. I hoped he wasn't still upset with me. Deciding it would be useless to look for him, I started following a trail until I ended up in a forest. A hike might do me good, I decided.

The forest was peaceful for the most part. I saw lots of birds and squirrels, things I didn't see often in the city. Well, besides Pigeons, but these birds were more elegant than pigeons. Besides a flock of vultures that was swarming up ahead...

It seemed that while I was in the woods, I had wandered off the trail. In fact, I couldn't even see the trail anymore.

That was when I realized I had no idea where I came from.

"Oh god..." I muttered, looking around frantically to try and find sight of the camp. Still, nothing. Shit, now I'm out in the woods where no one can find me. It would be a great opportunity for someone to murder me right now, and that's really what worried me the most.

I leaned back against a tree and slumped down so that I was sitting. Well, I thought at least they can't sneak up from behind me now.

I pulled out my phone from my pocket. Maybe I could call Frank. But when I looked up in the top right corner of the screen, it showed that I had not a single bar of service.

I groaned and put my phone back, bringing my knees up to my chest. I rested my head down in my arms and felt like crying, but I wasn't going to cry. If they found me anytime soon, I sure as hell didn't want to be found crying.

When I heard leaves crunching and sticks breaking near me, my breath stopped. I looked up anxiously to see someone walking towards me. Upon focusing my eyes, I noticed it was Frank.

He looked at me with wide eyes when he noticed me sat down, and he hurried over to me. "Gerard? What are you doing here? Why do you look like you've been panicking?"

"Probably because I have been panicking," I laughed humorlessly. He sat down beside me and looked at me with concern.

"Why?"

"I'm fucking lost, Frank." I knew that I probably should be nicer. My rudeness was what landed me here in the first place. "I'm sorry I'm just upset and scared and I know I upset you and that makes me even more worried-"

"Hey Gerard, it's okay," he reassured. "Anyway I'm sure it shouldn't be too hard to get back. Camp was..." he looked around, trying to find what direction the retreat site was in. "Shit. Maybe we are lost."

"Well yeah, that's kind of what I've been getting at."

We sat for awhile with no words exchanged between the both of us. It was worse that it wasn't even a comfortable silence, it was just tense and strange.

I decided I had enough of the silence.

"I'm sorry for being a prick earlier," I spoke quietly. "I didn't mean to come off that rude, I thought we were just joking."

He surprised me by taking my hand in both of his and holding it. "It's fine Gee, really. I overreacted. I was just cranky because I had just woken up." He smiled softly at me and I smiled back.

"Well what the hell are we supposed to do now?" I breathed out, still holding onto his hands.

"Call someone?"

"Already tried it," I sighed. "There's no service in these woods. Fucking stupid if you ask me."

"Damnit... well I'm sure they're going to call roll when everyone gets back from free time. It won't be long before they notice we're missing and they go out to search for us." I nodded, trying to stay calm, but in reality I was really fucking terrified. I think Frank noticed it. He reached out with one of his hands, still keeping the other on mine, and he brushed a few strands of loose hair out of my eyes so he could look at them. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asked with concern laced in his voice.

"S'nothing," I murmured, barely audible. But he could still hear me.

"I know you're lying Gee, c'mon just tell the truth. You know I won't judge you." And I knew he wouldn't but I was still nervous. But I also knew that he wouldn't let it go, so I had to try and overcome the nerves.

"I just- I feel vulnerable in the woods, okay? I don't like it. It's creepy and eerie... and it'll be sunset in a few minutes. I don't want to be out here in the dark," I said, my eyes starting to water from the worry.

"Hey, hey," he turned my head with his hand so that I was looking him directly in the eyes. "I'll protect you, okay? It'll be fine Gee I promise." He pulled me toward him and engulfed me in a hug, and I had to admit that it felt very safe. I buried my face in his hoodie, as if that would somehow shield me from any danger. It sounded like a good idea at the time.

I could start to hear crickets, which meant it was getting dark, and I tensed up. I knew Frank felt it because he held onto me tighter, pressing a small kiss on the top of my head to reassure me.

~~~

I don't know how I felt asleep, given the circumstances and how scared I was, but when I woke up I noticed I wasn't in the woods anymore with Frank. I was in a bed, in what looked like a cabin, and I was facing a wall, so I had no idea who was with me.

I decided to turn around and I felt relieved to see that Frank was my roommate. He was still asleep it looked like, and I turned on my side facing the wall again.

Suddenly I realized that it meant someone had to come searching for us, and that meant we might get in trouble. I hated getting in trouble, especially on trips, because they always took them so seriously.

I didn't know what time it was. It was still dark outside, because there was a window on the cabin and it wasn't lit up. The window was pretty creepy though, so I made sure to not look at.

I couldn't really go to sleep at this point.

I was confused when the bed sunk next to me and I looked over and saw Frank getting under the blankets where I was. He shuffled over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, laying his head next to my chest. "What are you doing?" I asked quietly.

"I can tell you're not asleep, so I figured I'd keep you company."

I sighed and ruffled his hair a little bit. "Aren't you tired though? I don't want to keep you awake."

"I'm not tired. It hasn't even been that long since we've been out of the woods," he commented. Then suddenly, I became aware that I still had no idea how we got out.

"Speaking of which, when did they find us?" I dreaded the answer, because I knew they were going to lecture us in the morning.

"Um... they actually never found us. You fell asleep and I decided to try and found our way back so I carried you..." I blushed as I realized that Frank had been holding me practically the entire time. I also felt really insecure.

He probably had to stop a couple of times to carry all my weight. I was heavy. I knew it.

"Sorry," I mumbled, and he looked up at me worried.

"Why are you sorry?" He seemed genuinely confused, and I sighed.

"You had to carry me that whole time and well, I'm not the lightest person." I pressed my lips firmly together, not wanting to see his reaction. He was probably disgusted with my body.

"Why don't you realize you're beautiful?" He asked, sitting up and leaning over my face, cupping it in one of his hands. "Your body is perfect Gee, you don't have anything to apologize for. Don't you ever apologize for who you are. I love you because of who you are." I was kind of surprised. He had never told me he loved me in real life before. He had told me over text sometimes, obviously in a friendly way, and I knew this was friendly too. For some reason that made me more disappointed than it should've.

"Thanks. I love you too." I replied. He smiled softly at me and I had no choice but to return it.

Even after he had finished with his whole 'speech,' he didn't leave his position which was a bit strange to me, and I didn't really know how to feel about it. I shifted around kind of awkwardly, and I think he took that as a negative sign because he finally moved off of me and laid down back where he was before on my bed.

I didn't want him to feel uncomfortable though, so I moved close to him and rested my head on his shoulder. I sighed in happiness when he snuggled closer with me.

I didn't know what this feeling was but it was... very strange. It was foreign. And it only happened around Frank, and that's what was confusing to me.

"You feel it to. Don't you?" I heard Frank whisper suddenly, and I was pretty confused. Could he read my mind?

"Feel what?" I asked hesitantly.

"The air conditioning. It just kicked in randomly." I had to prevent myself from signing in relief.

"Yeah. It's chilly," I groaned. In reality, I hadn't noticed it at all, because I was so focused on Frank, but now I could totally tell the temperature change in the room.

"Come here," Frank urged me closer to him so that we were right next to each other, arms wrapped around each other closely. "This should help us stay warm."

I liked having Frank really close to me. We had always been pretty touchy with each other, and up until recently it had seemed normal to me. But now it was a bit off, and it felt... better, for some reason. It felt more exciting than normal.

Frank was looking at me and I was staring straight back at him, but I didn't realize it in time to catch myself before my eyes fell to his lips. And that's when I realized how badly I wanted right then to kiss him. And with that knowledge, that's when I realized that I liked him in a totally homo non-platonic way.

And with Frank being Frank and noticing every little thing I do, he totally noticed that I was staring at his lips the whole time as well. When I realized this, I could feel myself blush in the dark, and I averted my eyes from his face, rather opting to rest my head on his chest. 

He pushed me off of him slightly which made me nervous, and I didn't want to look him in the eyes, but he made me when he tilted my chin up. I was worried about what he was going to say.

To my surprise, he didn't say anything.

But what he did do was pull my head towards him and kiss me.

I instantly kissed back, as if it was just an instinct, and I was amazed at how soft his lips were against mine. I realized all at once how right I was for wanting to kiss him, because it was by far the best experience I ever had up to this point in my life.

I became lost in his kiss. It was mesmerizing.