Chapter Text
The cool breeze had come back once again, softly rustling through James’ black hair. The chill made him shiver a little, and he hugged his body closer to his legs, sidling up closer to Emma’s warmth.
He watched the two brothers share a quiet word, Ethan’s tense face indicating that they were probably discussing the night before and its events. James looked down at the ground. Ethan’s reassurance this morning had really meant the world to him, but seeing the younger twin walking around made his anxiety settle a little more conclusively.
Well, as best as anxiety could settle in a relatively short amount of time. James’ jaw clenched quickly, an unsettling feeling rising once more to the surface. Despite the fact he was resolutely happier that Grayson was alright, all the previous night has served to do was highlight how deep his emotions still ran.
Emotions that were only compounded by the way his heart ached for the boy.
Regardless, it was a futile mission.
Grayson was straight , god damn it.
He needed to just get that through his head, and stop reading so much into the other boys’ actions.
It was irrelevant what he felt because he was going to just have to bench those feelings. At least bench them for the foreseeable future, because- well, he rather would like to escape this forest with his sanity intact.
Which wasn’t looking likely if all he could imagine was Grayson’s rather buff arms carrying him away like a damsel in distress, never to return again.
He let out a deep breath, and Emma cracked one eye open, turning her head to look at him from where it rested on his arm. “You alright?” She murmured quietly, yawning widely.
James just smiled back at her. “Sure am, sister.”
At least I will be, once I get the fact that Grayson Dolan is straight through my head, he thought.
He settled his head back down on to her shoulder, and let the sun’s rays bathe him in a golden glow. Her jumper was made of soft cotton, enticingly comfortable to snuggle in to.
He closed his eyes and willed any errant thoughts to leave him alone.
Perhaps things weren’t the easiest currently, but at that moment, James just let the breeze wash over him, drifting off into a gentle sleep.
---
On the other side of camp from the sleeping duo, two brothers were locked in an intense conversation.
“Bro, James told me what happened last night. Are you doing ok?” Ethan’s voice was low and insistent, tension radiating off him in waves.
Grayson rubbed a hand down the back of his neck and grimaced. “It was… it was bad, E.” He sighed and looked away, jaw tightening.
“I bet, James looked properly shaken up this morning,” Ethan said. At this, Grayson looked towards the ground and winced. He knew just how bad it had been.
He could remember the panic setting in, the initial moments where he wasn’t sure if he was dying or not. He remembered James’ pale face glowing in the moonlight, the way he didn’t want to let him go.
“He was good, E. He knew exactly what to do.”
Ethan nodded. “His little bro is an asthmatic, you know? Thank god he was there, Gray.”
Ethan grabbed his younger brother by the wrist and pulled him closer.
“You got lucky, Gray. Please be careful.” Grayson looked up, eyes tightening. The way Ethan had said it didn’t sound like he was just talking about last night.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Grayson said, pulling his arm away.
Ethan shrugged. “Take it however you want to, bro.” With that, he walked away.
---
Whilst James’s method of going to sleep had been rather gentle, his method of waking was anything but.
One second, James was sleeping contently (albeit sitting up, leaning against Emma).
The next, he was face first in the ground .
Gasping loudly, he spat out little pieces of dirt and pushed himself to his arms.
Hearing the groaning next to him, he twisted sideways to see a similarly displaced Emma still face first in the dirt. Her white jumper was covered in brown sludge and dust, similar to the way his jumper was currently looking.
“What the actual f-” he started, groaning once again as he rolled over onto his back.
Taking note that he appeared to have no serious injuries, James surveyed his clothes. The Sisters logo running down his arm was now a suspiciously murky brown, and he tried futilely to brush the mud off his arms to no avail.
Emma sat up slowly, and James couldn’t help but let out a laugh at the mud currently streaked across her face. “Sister, you’re looking a little dirty there.”
Emma just glared back, blue eyes narrowing. “Am I just? Well you’re not exactly looking fabulous either, are you James ?” she hissed, accentuating his name.
It was then that the booming cackles of two people that were decidedly not them rang out across the clearing. Emma and James whipped around to see the twins holding onto each other in laughter, not a few meters away from them.
Grayson’s muscular arms clutched at his stomach as his mouth split open in laughter, Ethan slapping his upper thigh in amusement.
James’ jaw dropped open, and his eyes narrowed.
“What did you two do to us?” He asked shrilly, causing an abrupt end to the two’s laughter.
Ethan shot a suspicious look at Grayson before the two burst out in chuckles once more.
“Well, you two were asleep against each other… and you were probably going to fall anyway?” Ethan responded sheepishly, words broken by errant strays of laughter.
James stared at the two, before responding in an admittedly high voice, “Are you kidding me, Ethan Dolan?” He pinned the elder twin with a glare, before turning to the younger counterpart, “And don’t even get me started on you, Grayson- you’re both… you’re both… Ugh!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.
Beside him, he heard the soft peals of laughter that could only come from Emma.
He turned in shock, “Emma! This is not funny!”.
This only served in making the younger girl start cackling properly. “James- James, you have a little-” she broke off, clutching her stomach as she began to properly laugh.
James jumped to his feet and stormed away in mock anger, throwing his hands up. “You all are as bad as each other! I am going to go get changed , seeing as all my clothes are now covered in mud!” He huffed and moved across the camp.
He was almost to his tent before he was swung around by a hand, firmly grasped around his upper arm. He let out a little breath, before looking up into the green eyes of none other than Grayson.
The younger boy’s mouth was drawn up in a side smile, teeth glinting in the sunlight. His eyes were bright and sparkling with contained amusement. James raised his eyebrows, attempting to hide the way his skin flushed at the proximity.
Grayson lifted a tanned hand up to James’ face, cupping his chin gently, causing James to freeze completely before Grayson swiped a finger slowly over James’ cheekbone. Caught up in his green orbs, it took James a second to realize why Grayson had done that.
Eyes flickering to his hands, James’ jaw dropped for the second time.
Mud.
He freaking wiped mud on his face.
Grayson smirked.
“You got something there, James.”
MUD.
“Grayson Dolan!” James shrieked, pushing the bigger boy off him and stumbling backward.
He could hear the other boy’s cackles behind him, and as he unzipped his tent, his own face stretched up in a smile as he cheeks flushed.
He had to admit; it was a little funny.
Mud or not, these stupid moments were the ones he would always remember.