"No, I'm good. The only thing I really want is a bubble bath, but I'm good."

"Why can't you take a-"

I cut Eli off, "I can't get to the bathroom on my own, unless we find crutches, I can't really undress and redress on my own or get in a bathtub."

They seemed to understand.

"If you really want a bubble bath, I don't mind helping you. I have brothers I look after a lot. It's probably the same," Blake offered.

"You don't have to go that f-"

Harvey interrupted, "that's a great idea. Eli, could you grab the bandages for Blake so he can help rewrap Scott's bandages?"

"No problem."

"Wait, guys-"

"Have a nice bubble bath, night!"

They all left. Eli briefly returning to hand Blake bandages.

"I'm really alright, you don't have to help," I tried to reason.

Blake shook his head, "look, you're stuck here just like the rest of us, and you've got a sprained ankle while we don't. Least we can do is help you out a bit."

"But a bath?"

Blake shrugged, "are you really going to avoid bathing until your ankle heals?"

"Well, no-"

"Then this isn't an issue. I'll be right back." He grabbed some clothes from my bag and left with that and the bandages.

I could hear the bath start up.

I adjusted myself to sit on the edge of the bed. What else could I really do?

At this point, I'll just take the embarrassment. I did need a bubble bath and if I recall, I had a blue bath bomb in the bathroom as well.

Can't be embarrassed under all those blue bubbles.

Blake came back pretty quickly and wordlessly, scooped me into his arms bridal style, carrying me to the nearby bathroom. He gently set me on the edge of the tub, checking the water.

"There a blue bath bomb in the drawer. It would be fun to combine with some bubble bath," I said awkwardly

Blake smiled, it was slight, but he was amused, opening the drawer and quickly finding the bath bomb. He dropped it in along with the already added bubble bath, and the two of us watched the clear water turn teal, bubbling up in bubbles of the same color.

Nice.

"I'll look away so you can get undressed and get in. Just make sure to keep your ankle out of the water." Blake turned away from me, covering his eyes.

I appreciated that.

I shimmied out of my clothes to the best of my ability and slid backwards into the tub, my feet resting on the edge. I shifted so my bad ankle was on the ledge, while the rest of my was on the bath.

The water was warm and cozy??? Can water be cozy?

"You settled in?" He asked.

I felt my body warm a bit, remembering he was here. Right. "Uh, yeah."

I glanced at Blake, who turned around. He saw my sprained ankle was on the edge, and relaxed, glad I made sure to keep it elevated. He then went to grab some shampoo and body wash. He grabbed a loofah too, before sitting by the tub.

"You can relax for a bit, okay?"

I chuckled, "easy for you to say, you aren't getting pampered by people your best friend kidnapped."

Blake snorted, "when you phrase it like that, it does sound pretty strange and stressful."

"I'm just glad that you guys don't hate me for what Daisy did."

"We already told you, it's not your fault," Blake reminded. "I still can't believe she would out her best friend. What a bitch." He was angry , and I appreciated he was angry for my sake.

"I still can't believe it. She was pretty much my only friend too."

Blake smiled sadly, reaching out to ruffle my hair, "hey, we're you friends now. It's a strange start, but we're all in this together."

My lips quirked a bit upwards, "thanks. I'm glad it was you guys I got stuck with."

"Same here."

I relaxed a bit and didn't even notice that he put body wash on the loofa. Not until I felt it run down my arms.

When did he grab my arms?

Why was I so relaxed?

I just let the sensation cross my arms, back and chest. He was very gentle with his movements and it felt safe.

I should've felt weirded out, Blake and I barely knew each other, but here he was, doing what only couples really do for each other.

I just couldn't bring myself to care when he was so gentle with me.

He rinsed the soap off with the water before grabbing the shampoo, putting it in his hands and running them through my hair.

God I was relaxed.

We were both silent, but it wasn't awkward or bad, just, comforting.

"Also, I know this is awkward timing and all, but you don't have to worry about any of us judging you for being gay."

"Kinda guessed when you were getting mad for my sake."

Blake chuckled, grabbing the shower head to rinse my hair. "I was raised by some rocking lesbians, so it pisses me off that your supposed best friend would be such a bitch."

"God, I wish my parents were gay, then I wouldn't worry about coming out to them."

He smiled at that, "they'd probably adopt you if they could. I'm their only bio kid. Well, one of theirs, obviously, my six other siblings are adopted."

"Big family."

"Big indeed."

My bath was pretty much over. How was I getting out without embarrassing myself?

"I'm gonna drain the tub. I can face away and give you a towel to cover anything you want to before helping you out?"

Oh, that sounded fine. So I nodded. He leant over to pull the plug in the tub and quickly moved to set a towel on the edge of the tub, turning then to face away from me.

"I'm pretty sure everyone here isn't straight either. I can't confirm it, that's their business, but the other three definitely don't seem straight," Blake said casually.

"Are you trying to say something?"

Blake hummed softly. "I'm not sure where I am. I'm not straight, but I'm not 100% sure where I fall."

"So queer? Not really a label, but yeah."

"I guess," Blake said with a shrug. "But yeah, so that's more of the reason why I was pissed. I can come out to my family, but if I was outed, that would end my career."

I hummed in acknowledgement as the last of the water drained, grabbing the towel and somehow wrapping it around my waist.

"I've got the towel on."

He got up and turned to me, not looking much as he scooped me up and sat me in the toilet seat(which had a cover on it btw).

He handed me another towel and set a small pile of clothes right next to me, turning away.

I understood and dried off, quickly getting dressed.

"What should I do with the towels? Should we wash them immediately or-"

"I got it. Just leave them here for now."

"Oh." I dropped the towels on the floor and Blake scooped me into his arms again. He was delicate with me, when he really didn't need to be.

Still, I think I kinda liked it.

I liked that his hands touched my thighs and back.

I liked his touch.

He set me in my bed and got out the bandages, unwrapping my ankle.

We both stayed in silence as he wrapped it with new bandages. It wasn't as nice as when Eli did it...

But his fingers were dancing on me, upwards.

Maybe I was imagining it all, but he seemed to want to touch me more.

And god did i want him to touch me.

Not sexually.

God, no.

Not yet at least.

But... more of the gentle and rough presses against my skin. His fingers through my hair. Maybe, just maybe-

Blake interrupted my thought as he moved to stand up.

"You get a good nights sleep. See you in the morning."

"Oh, yeah! Goodnight! Thanks for helping me out."

"It was nothing." He was smiling and there was an emotion his eyes held that I couldn't quite read. He paused for a moment, keeping eyes contact with me, before leaving.

As soon as he goes, I snuggle up in bed and try to sleep.

For once, it's peaceful, and I drift off to thoughts of Blake and his gentle touches.