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Billy sighed as he reentered the school. This whole thing was Jason's idea, so the least he could do would be to show up on time, no? Just because Billy had agreed to help Jason didn't mean that he didn't have his own things to do. And those things might not seem important to Jason, but that didn't give him the right to be rude. Billy took in a deep breath and prepared to explain all of this to Jason, and then he pushed open the door to the locker room.
The locker room was not one of Billy's favorite places in the school. He resented Jason just a bit for making him go there, especially since he still couldn't entirely understand why Jason was there in the first place. He wouldn't play football anymore, and he had to be careful with his injury. Yet he still insisted on participating in as many of the practices and drills as he could each day after school. Had he not, they could have left right after the last bell and Billy would already be home working on his next project.
Billy looked around in surprise at the fact that the locker room seemed to be empty. He expected that he would run into the entire football team, and he felt a sense of gratitude that was not the case. But there was also no sign of Jason. Until...was that someone singing? Billy heard a quiet melody coming from the back of the locker room, and he found himself slowly walking toward it. He turned the corner around one of the locker bays and there he saw the source of the sound--Jason. In the showers. Soaping himself up. Naked. Billy jumped back behind the lockers and peeked around them. There was a serene aura around Jason as he quietly sang to himself, and Billy had never really seen Jason like this before. Of course, he had never seen him naked either. He'd imagined what-- Billy stopped his own thought as he realized he was sporting an erection inside his jeans. He decided the whole situation was too awkward, and he could just patiently wait for Jason out in the parking lot. He turned and ran out of the locker room, knocking over a trash can along the way, but he was too nervous and distracted to set it upright.
When Billy settled into the driver's seat and closed the door, he tried to slow his breathing and compose himself. But he knew sheer force of will was not going to work this time. Not after what he had just seen and experienced. So, with his eyes fixed squarely on the door of the school and his mind wandering back just a few minutes, he unbuckled his belt, unzipped his jeans, and prepared to relieve himself manually.
***
Jason stopped humming and turned to look toward the locker bays. It sounded like someone had slammed a locker or knocked something over. He called out, but there was no response. Figuring he was hearing things, Jason shrugged and turned off the shower. He toweled off quickly, knowing that he was late and Billy was probably waiting for him, and he would be disappointed. Jason knew that it was rude to keep Billy waiting like this, but he also thought it would be worse to show up smelling of sweat and looking gross. That is not the kind of impression he wanted Billy to have of him.
After he was fully dressed, Jason took a quick look down each row of lockers, just to be sure no one else had come in while he was in the shower. But it was the large trash can on its side that he saw when he left that confirmed he wasn't hearing things after all. He just wasn't sure if it had fallen over on its own or if someone had helped it along its way. But how would it fall over on its own?
Once outside, he could see Billy waiting fo him, an intense look on his face. Jason sighed, then smiled and waved, knowing he would need to apologize profusely--again. But the look on Billy's face changed when he saw Jason, the intensity giving way to a look of...concern? Confusion? Jason wasn't entirely sure, but by the time he was opening the passenger door, Billy was smiling back at him and he knew things would be okay.
"Hey, sorry," Jason said as he settled into his seat and fastened his seatbelt. "Practice ran a bit long, and I needed to move a little more slowly than normal after today."
"It's okay," Billy muttered in response as he started up the car and backed out of the parking space. Jason thought there was something off about Billy's demeanor, but he wasn't sure. So he didn't say anything as they pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street.
***
"No, I'm busy. Thursday too." Billy felt a little bad about lying to Jason. But there was a part of him who was beginning to feel like a glorified taxi service. He knew that Jason appreciated his assistance, but he couldn't help wondering what he was getting back from the arrangement. And it was a sense that left him feeling bad, because he was not a greedy person. He liked helping others. And he liked Jason. And maybe that last part was the real problem. He liked Jason in a way that Jason would probably never reciprocate. As the feelings first started--after Billy stopped trying to convince himself they were something else that he could rationalize away--he hoped they wouldn't get in the way of the two of them being friends. But after seeing Jason earlier that day, and the guilt that came from what he saw and what he did after, he firmly made up his mind that they needed a break. Well, a one-on-one break--they would still need to see each other when gathering with the rest of the team.
"Look, I've gotta go. Maybe sometime next week. I'll let you know." Billy frowned as he pressed "End" on his phone screen. A quick jerkoff in the car or a cold shower was not going to help him here. Not at all.
***
Jason knew no one would describe him as the most observant young man, but he knew something was wrong when Billy ended their call. He used to be so enthusiastic about the time they spent hanging out, Billy helping Jason get to where he needed to go and Jason helping him with his project of the moment. And Jason always felt great when hanging out with Billy too. There was something in the way Billy smiled at him--a smile he realized he had not seen Billy flash at anyone else--and a sense Jason always felt that he could be himself around Billy. Billy represented probably the first real sense of safety Jason had felt.
At that realization, Jason shook his head and smiled. He thought back to the events of earlier in the day. The knocked over trash can in the locker room. The look on Billy's face when he first came out of the school. The way Billy seemed so flustered--perhaps even a little out of breath--when Jason climbed into the passenger seat. The sense that even though they were right next to each other for the next two hours, Billy seemed like he was miles away. And the few times he glanced over and caught Billy staring at him when he wasn't paying attention. It suddenly all made sense. But then Jason's smile turned into a frown. Because at the same time, none of it made sense at all.
Jason knew he had some thinking to do, and he was definitely going to need to sleep on this. He opened his door and called down to his parents that he was going to turn in early. He stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed. There were so many thoughts running through his head that he wondered if his brain might ever stop. But as he drifted off to sleep, there was only one thought that remained.
***
Billy ignored the sound of the doorbell and looked back at the book he was reading. He had successfully managed to put off hanging out with Jason for over a week now. And his mother had been instructed that if Jason came by the house, she was to tell him that Billy wasn't feeling well and would call him later. Which is why he was surprised to hear his mother's voice from the living room.
"Billy! You have a guest."
Billy shook his head and set his book on the nightstand. He wondered if maybe it was someone else from the team stopping by to round them all up for an emergency meeting. But if that was the case, calling would certainly have been much faster. He stopped frozen in the doorway when he turned to see Jason standing by the front door in a tuxedo and holding a garment bag.
"What is this about?" Billy was more confused than he had been at any point during the previous two weeks.
"It's prom night," Jason replied with a smile. That smile. It could easily be Billy's undoing. "So I came by to ask you to be my date." Out of the corner of his eye, Billy noticed his mother had quietly slipped from the room."
Billy shook his head. "You probably shouldn't do that. I mean, I know I never told you, but you should know that I--" His words were interrupted as Jason kissed him.
"I know. I figured it out."
Billy shook his head again. "But you're str--"
"Straight?" Jason nodded. "I thought so too. But I've done a lot of thinking about you, what you mean to me, how I feel about you, what it would be like to be with you. And I'm thinking I'm at least bi. But what I know for sure is that I want this." He motioned between the two of them. "So what do you say? Will you go to the prom with me?"
Billy looked at the garment bag. "Is that--"
"Matching tuxes. And don't worry, I got your measurements from your mom, so it should fit."
At that moment, Billy's mom came back into the room and handed Jason a glass of water. "Go on, William. You shouldn't keep this nice young man of yours waiting all night."
Billy smiled and snatched up the garment bag. He ran to the bathroom to freshen up. This was turning into the strangest night of his life--perhaps even stranger than the night they discovered their powers. But that had worked out well in the end, and he was certain this whole situation would too.