"Cam, why are your Superman boxers on my laptop?"

I shifted the heavy, dark black duffel bag in my arms, my eyes glued to the possibly dirty pair of underwear thrown over my open laptop.

My best friend was sprawled out across my baby blue comforter, his head tilted slightly as he glanced over his shoulder at me.

"It looked like a nice place to leave them out to dry." He responded, barely paying attention anymore.

He had let his full attention fall back on the black Samsung dancing back and forth between hands, which meant one of two things.

One; he was trying to reel in some poor, innocent soul that didn't know what she was getting herself into.

Two; he was talking to Jacob, his older brother, who had been away at college for almost two months and had scheudled to come back and visit us in a few days for Cam's seventeenth birthday.

Either way, it was obvious that he had no desire to move the boxers.

"Cameron." I repeated, trying to make my voice sound as sweet as possible, "Move your damn underwear before I throw them out my window." He made a gesture with his hand, waving me off like I was some sort of annoying bug.

"Cam!" I walked over and sat on his bare back, flicking the back of his head repeatedly until he finally whirled around and glared at me.

"What are you doing?" He mumbled.

"I could ask the same thing. What the hell has you so distracted?" I looked over his shoulder at a picture of some girl I recognized from school, probably his new target.

"Cam-"

"I don't want to hear your stupid lecture again, Blake." He tossed his phone on to my pillow by the window and rolled over, taking me down with him. I gasped, busting into a fit of giggles once I was beside him, his arm draped over his stomach as he smiled at his current advantage over me.

With one move, he could be on top of me, pinning me down to my own bed and forcing me to say something like how great he was if I wanted to be able to move.

"Jakey's gonna be home in a couple hours." He poked my stomach with a suggestive look, "Which means you're going to have a clear few of him in his bedroom again. You can fantasize about how much you want him to ban-"

"Shut up!" I pushed him away playfully, feeling warmth spread up my neck and into my cheeks.

"It's gross, you know. Hearing all about your naughty little fantasizes about my brother." I groaned, slapping my hand against Cam's chest again, in hopes it would shut him up.

"Why are you even in my room?" I grumbled after I was done rolling around in my embarrassment.

"Because your casa is my casa, baby." He winked, nudging me. I sat up, staring down at him in disgust.

"Did you just call m baby?"

"I did, Blake. What are you going to do about it?" He slowly brought his hands up to shield his face, grinning.

"Just don't hurt my money makers." I was about to ask him what he meant by the plural, then decided I'd be better off letting my mind steer clear of Cam's dirty puns.

"If you want to keep coming over here, then you need to get rid of your boxers before I burn them all." I reached over and grabbed his Superman boxers from were they were aloof on top of my laptop and tossed them on to his face.

"I thought you were going to throw them out the window." He muttred, blinking in confusion as he started to pry himself off his spot on my bed, leaving his permanet indent in the blankets.

I let my eyes follow him as he stood up, his head nearly slamming into the lowered roof in my room.

Cam was pretty tall, but not tall enough to stand out in a freak of nature kind of way. I'd met Mr. Mendoza before he left, and he had definetly passed his height gene down to both of his boys.

The rest of Cam was all his mother. The playful and lively brown eyes that would occasionally get a few golden and green specks thrown into the mix in different lighting. The carefree smile that would always hint at his a full, open mouthed smile that would brighten an entire room.

"Are you checking me out?" Cam narrowed his eyes at me, "I knew this day would come, I just thought it would have been sooner." I grabbed my stuffed panda and chucked it at him.

"As if, Cam. You're like. . . like my brother." I shuddered dramatically, "Never, in a million years, would I check you out." He threw his hand over his chest in feign hurt.

"Blake, that hurt my precious and fragile heart." I rolled my eyes, patting his six back without a second thought as I passed by.

"Where's my Metallica shirt?" He scanned the room, biting at his lip, "You better not have let Wes-"

"It's in my top drawer." I cut him off, not wanting to hear him go on and on about Wes.

I knew that Wesley and Cam didn't get along, the feeling was entirely mutual, and I felt that it all had to do with me.

Cam had been my best friend since we were kids, when we had met the day of my eighth birthday. We'd been best friends for ten years and nothing had been able to come between our unbreakable bond.

Nobody except for Wesley and Shay Harper. I'd met them my second day of sixth grade, while Cam had been visiting his dying aunt. Wes and Shay had been the other two to our square for the last six years, even if Cam rarely spoke to either of them.

"You kids need to hurry up or you'll be late. One more tardy slip for you mister, and you'll be in some trouble." My mom appeared in the doorway, a smile stretching across her face as she watched Cam stumble around as he slid his shirt over his head.

"Grab your notes, nerd." Just as he said it I heard a loud crashing noise from across the small space between our houses. Cam and I both looked up to find Cam's older brother, Jacob, standing in front of broken vase in nothing but boxers in the middle of his bedroom. I found my cheeks start to drain of color when I saw him.

Get a hold of yourself, Blake. He was no more than a childhood crush, it isn't-

"I'll be over to greet you both in a second." He called out before ducking out of view. Cam wiggled his eyebrows suggestively as I stumbled over his huge duffel bag.

"I know someone who's going to be having some very naughty thoughts all day."

*

"Was it like a brotherly kind of hug or a couple hug?" Shay questioned, breaking off another piece of her Hershey bar and handing it over to Wes with a small smile.

"I don't know." I scratched the back of my neck, glancing toward Mr. Ments to make sure he couldn't hear us talk over the rest of the commotion in the room.

"The hug lasted like a second longer than usual. Do you think that meant anything? Or was it just because we haven't seen each other in forever?" I added, catching Wes shaking his head out of the corner of my eye.

"It's against the law for you guys to even be together, Blake. He's like twenty one and you're only seventeen." Wes mumbled, avoiding my questioning look.

"He's nineteen, Wes. And I'm almost eighteen." I tucked a strand of my chocolate brown locks behind my ear.

"It's still considered illegal for you to be together." He shot back.

"Wes, can't you just be supportive for once?" Shay sent a glare over her shoulder at our friend. He shrugged, staring down at the chunk of chocolate in his hand with a sour look.

"I'm sorry if I don't want to hear about how bad Blake wants to sleep with that prick, Shay." I recoiled back against my chair, feeling as if Wes had just punched me.

Did I really sound that desperate?

"Tell me, Wes. If there was a girl you really liked, wouldn't you try to figure out if there was any possible way she could like you back?" Wes' amber eyes flicker with an emotion that was gone too quickly for me to catch before he shook his head with a sideways glance in my direction.

"No." He whispered, "Because she wouldn't ever think I was anything but another shadow on the wall. There would never be any hope that she'd love me back."

*

I was surprised to find Jacob standing outside of the school, leaning back against his car, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"Jake, hey!" I swear that my voice rose an octive.

"Skittles!" He exclaimed, pulling me into a tight hug. I felt my arms slide around his waist without hesitation, I could feel his nose nuzzle it's way into my hair.

"I hate that nickname." I was surprised I could even choke out a coherent sentence.

"I know." He pulled back, his hands still gripping my shoulders, "That's why I call you it." I laughed quietly, ready to ask what he was doing here when I felt a hand get thrown over my shoulder.

"Sorry to break up this beautiful reuinion, but I'm starving." Cam said through a yawn, shaking his head.

"You're an idiot, Cameron." Jacob shook his head and held the passengers door open.

"I second that." I elbowed Cam playfully and climbed into the front seat of a Jake's car. It wasn't until Cam was in the back seat, his feet stretched out across the entire back, that he looked me in the eye and winked.

The more logical part of me knew that the wink didn't mean anything, but in that moment, it was the twelve year old Blake Hart that saw the look, that saw her childhood crush climbing into the drivers seat with a knowing look on his face.

Cam had told Jacob about my crush on him, and I'd be stuck in the car with them for at least another hour.

***AN**

Hope you guys enjoyed!

Let me know what you thought!

~ChasingMadness24