Chapter 17

Thursday

Nick woke up without a heavy Alex on his chest today. Actually, Alex wasn't even in their bed. Nick sat up in bed and heard the shower running as well as something else. Nick rubbed his eyes and got out of bed when he realised Alex was singing in the shower. And he was good at it. Nick walked towards the locked door and listened closely to his voice. It was surprisingly nice and smooth.

Suddenly, the shower stopped. Nick panicked and jumped back onto the bed. Alex exited wearing bather shorts and no shirt.

"What's with the get up?" Nick asked.

"I probably should've woken you up earlier and told you but today we're going kayaking with our roommate so that's me and you!" Alex replied.

"Oh."

"What's up?"

"Well, I didn't bring any bathers..."

"Well I guess you'll have to go naked," Alex joked. "I have a spare pair of trunks if you want to borrow them."

"Really? Um.. Thanks man."

"Anything for you, Piano Boy." Nick rolled his eyes as he said this.

~~

The students stood at the bank of a river nearby the cabin waiting for further instructions. Nick felt awkward in the oversized shorts he was wearing. The weather was clear and warm with a slight breeze, slightly messing up Nick's hair. About twenty kayaks were lining the shore awaiting passengers to fill their seats. Ms. Bradley stepped in front of the group of students and directed their attention towards her.

"Okay, guys! Get in your pairs and we'll assign you all to a kayak. But, before we do, I'm going to be explaining the route you guys must take so we know where you are at all times. We don't want you getting lost, do we?" Ms. Bradley proceeded telling the students the short route that they were allowed to stick to during this activity.

"Front or back, Piano Boy?" Alex asked Nick.

"Well, I guess I'll take the front."

"Alright. Any-"

"Don't say it," Nick said, cutting Alex off from finishing his sentence. Alex looked at Nick in surprised and was greeted with a joking grin from him. Alex smiled back as they put on their life jackets. "We should wait for the rest to go and hold up the rear. You cool with that?" Alex asked.

"Yea, that's fine. Why's that?"

"Uhh... *ahem* Well..." Alex stammered.

"Well go on, spit it out!"

"I've... Never gone kayaking before..."

"..." Nick looked blankly at Alex for a moment before bursting out in laughter.

"C'mon, Piano Boy, don't laugh at me, I'm serious!" Alex said lightly chuckling with Nick.

"Wow, the big, strong, talented, popular Alex can't kayak? That, is gold!" Nick said through his laughing.

"Well, if you're such an expert, you can just teach me, right?"

"Hmm... How much will you pay me?"

"Good one." Alex said.

Nick started wading into the river's water, the muddy ground going in between his toes. He takes the kayak out to about his waist and encouraged Alex to get in the Kayak while he stabilises it. Alex not so gracefully made his way into the back seat of the kayak, allowing Nick to easily hop into the front seat. Nick handed Alex one of the paddles as Nick started to row. Alex dipped his paddle into the water and pushed along with Nick, mediocrely imitating Nick's movements, rocking the kayak as he pushed the water, still not used to having to keep his balance this much.

Nick turned his head around after about a minute when Alex started getting the hang of the paddling and being able to keep his balance in the kayak. "Hey, look at you go! You're a natural!" Nick said gleefully.

"Yea, well, I guess I just have a good teacher." Alex said with a smile.

"I didn't even say anything! You just copied what I was doing and it worked!" Nick laughed.

"Don't tempt me, Piano Boy!" As Alex said this, he started rocking the kayak side to side, almost allowing the surrounding water to enter the Kayak.

"ALEX STOP!!" Nick exclaimed while laughing, doing his best to counteract Alex's movement.

"And what if I don't!" Alex said, also laughing. He felt something cold trickled down his leg and onto his foot. Alex looked down and realised a little bit of water has entered the kayak. The boys stopped rocking and continued rowing lightly down the river, now realising that they were alone. With no one in front of them due to Alex's delays, and assumedly the teachers at the end and the bank at the beginning, there was no one around. The boys stopped rowing for a moment just to let the kayak glide across the water's surface and embrace the surrounding nature.

Alex looked around and relaxed in his seat, listening to the birds and frogs that could be audible from the trees and shores either side of them. He looked forward to see the back of Nick's neck with a bit of damp brown hair from the splashing of the river. Alex couldn't take his eyes off of him as he took in every little detail he could see. The way the back of his hair sits, the colour of it while it was damp, the smoothness of his skin, the tan line he noticed just above his shirt's collar, the definition of Nick's shoulder bones and average sized muscles. He lost his focus as he sat blushing as Nick lifted his paddle to continue rowing to pick up a little more speed, before stopping again.

Still staring, Alex started unknowingly losing his balance, tipping the kayak to the right slowly, but surely. A little bit of water started flowing in as Nick noticed.

"A-Alex, keep your balance please. Ale-!" Nick said, alerting Alex of what he was doing. Alex, started freaking out, trying to sit back up and balance the kayak again, but it was too late. The two of them yelped as the kayak tipped entirely over, throwing both boys into the river's cool water.

Nick and Alex scrambled their way back to the surface, their life jackets assisting in keeping them afloat. The two boys looked at each other and paused. They immediately started laughing at each other, both swimming over to the upturned vessel. Alex grabbed the edge and about to try flip it back over but was stopped by Nick.

"Wait, hold on a second. Watch this." Nick said right before diving under the water. Alex waited patiently for something to happen, but Nick didn't come back up.

"Piano Boy? Where did you go?" Alex was about to start panicking, but Nick's head popped up in front of him, smiling and laughing.

"Are you that thick in the head, Alex?"

"What do you mean?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Alex responded, calming down now knowing Nick is fine.

"Ugh, come with me," Nick said, grabbing Alex's hand and pulling him under the water's surface. Alex couldn't see anything but the colour of the river water and Nick. He allowed him to pull him a short distance to the left, before resurfacing underneath the flipped kayak.

"See?" Nick said as they resurfaced, only their head and shoulders visible in the makeshift "shelter" the kayak creates. "I kind of assumed that you haven't done this before since you've never been kayaking."

"Oh. Well now I just feel stupid," Alex said with a smile. They both looked at each other for a second before they started laughing together.

As their laughing calmed down, just their soft smiles staring at each other in the hot air under the kayak. Nick and Alex with locked eyes, stared at each other for a period of time before Nick realised how close their faces are. Nick started to blush, realising Alex wasn't looking away or seeming uncomfortable. Nick stared deeply into his eyes, taking in every detail of his sharp, emerald eyes, his wet hair and his open lips as Alex breathed in and out, both of their hot breath's increasing the temperature of their small space.

Then Nick felt it.

The butterflies.

The fluttering in his stomach quickly intensified like more were appearing over and over. He realised he still was holding Alex's hand, who obviously didn't seem to object to.

Bobbing in the water, the two boys slowly drifted closer and closer together until they were only inches apart. Nick felt like he was about to explode. Was he about to have his first kiss? And to THE Alex...?

Alex then spoke, extremely softly, "U-Um, we should... We should probably get back in before the teachers get worried about us..."

"Y-Yeah..."

After Nick agreed, they continued to stare at each other for another second before Alex finally slowly went under the surface to reappear outside the kayak. Nick followed and helped him flip the kayak and struggle back in, both relatively quiet after what just happened.

'What was that??!!' Nick thought the rest of the trip, the butterflies' wings still fluttering in his stomach.

'Wow... Why... Is he so damn cute?! Does he know? Oh, God. He probably thinks I'm so weird now...' Alex thought to himself afterwards. 'Why couldn't I look away!!??'

~~

The pair arrived at the end of the route and saw the rest of the students either standing around or talking, or some sitting and eating lunch. All the other kayaks were already banked at the shore. Ms. Bradley was waiting at the edge of the water.

"Ah, finally! 'Bout time, boys! What took you so long?" Ms. Bradley said as they came closer the shore, slowing down to allow them to get out.

"Well... Alex lost focus and tipped the kayak by accident like the dummy he is." Nick said jokingly, giving Alex a little nudge with his elbow as they walked out of the water onto the river bank.

"Well, I can see that now. Make sure you two have a shower when we get back, otherwise you're going to stink for the rest of the day," Ms. Bradly said.

"Yes, Miss," the boys responded. As they walked past her, the two looked at each other and just laughed as they went to go get some lunch from the barbecue provided. Alex seemed to loosen up again as the rest of the day continued into the afternoon.